ragscene

Sex And The City - The "It" Shoe - Christian Dior or Steve MAdden?

2008-06-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

So if you're like me and thousands of other women, you have probably seen the Sex and The City movie or are planning to in the next couple week. And if you're like me, you were curious to see all the new, fun and sometimes crazy fashion items worn by the cast. There are a couple things that stood out to everyone who saw the movie, im sure...one is the pyramid studded belt that Carries wears throughout the movie. The other is the peep toe heel that she wears a few times. Personally I LOVE THIS SHOE. I think its so hot, modern, trendy and feminine all at the same time. Needless to say, the originals by Christian Dior (called the Extreme Dior Gladiator Platform - what a name!) will run you a sweet $770. If youre lucky, you can afford but if you're like me and looking for a decent "similiar" shoe, i think i have found it! Its from Steven Madden and called the MADALYNN BLACK MULTI. It looks a little more rugged than the original but cute none the less. I guess they anticipate that it will be a best seller so you can pre-order if now and it will be shipped by 6/26. You can also get 10% off when you join their mailing list. Click on the pic below. Enjoy!

Rachel Pally Long Shirred Dresses

2008-05-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

I've never been a huge Rachel Pally fan but today I fell in love with a couple of her dresses. Ever since I saw my friend Sandy wear this hot floor length striped dress to a graduation almost 8 years ago, I've had my eyes out for a cute long striped dress. I totally adore this one and its just in time for summer and in tune with the sailor trend right now. The leaf print is adorable too. I found these on Pink Mascara where you get $15 off right now.

Steve Madden Toggas & Azucar

2008-05-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't really been into buying shoes lately except the occasional pair of cheap flat slip ons. I cant even remember the last time i stepped into a Charles David, Guess or the Nordstroms shoe section. Just like clothes, it seems the like cute shoes are getting more and more expensive (with the popularity of Jimmy Choos, Manolos, Randall Loefflers, etc). Although many more cute, more affordable brands have been popping up as well(Jeffrey Campbell, Dolce Vita, Seychelles, etc). I dont know why but Steven Madden always seem to surprise me the with perfect pair of shoes. You see it, try it on and then feel so great that its affordable. Steven Madden and Gap always seem to have that one item im looking for when i least expect it. Here are some cute shoes ive seen recently.

Toggas - I think these shoes are so hot and perfect for day or night, with jeans or dresses. They're just under $100 and totally affordable.

Azucar - Now these are some cute sandals and just in time for summer. I wouldn't mind getting these in every color.

Looks like theres tons of other cute wedges and sandals on the steve madden site. You can even get 15% off your order by following the link below.

Join our email list and receive 15% off your next order at SteveMadden.com.

Summer Dresses

2008-05-09T00:25:00.000-07:00

Now that it's getting warmer, I have added reason to indulge in more summer dresses. I love jersey knit babydolls. Not only are they cute, but they hide my ever expanding waistline. I feel like i cant buy enough of them because there is always a new pattern, color or a slightly different style. I'm partial to the experts in this category namely Ella Moss & Splendid.

I have to say though that my my favorite brand for jersey dresses is T-Bags. I feel like im completely obsessed with this brand. I love their patterns, colors, fit and the styles, especially the full length dresses. I feel like you can wear T-bags dresses day or night, casual or dressy, and they still hide your tummy!

Ever since T-bags made this look popular, i've been seeing the full length, patterned dress everywhere - dvf to bebe. Anyway, happy summer dress shopping. You can see some cute dresses at Fashion Chateau but they can get pricey. If thats the case, Forever21 is always a good bet for a simple dress. =)

Korean Contemporary Fashion Designers

2008-03-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

So lately i've been noticing all the korean designer labels popping up out there. Not that I'm surprised given all the korean girls who attend fashion school. It was just a matter of time before we saw them out there. Some of my favorite fashion lines from korean designers are MK2K & CLU. I'm always interested in the background of a designer (where they went to school, interned, etc). I suppose I'm somewhat living vicariously through them. Anyway, here's some info on cool new and more established labels.

MK2K
Designer: Michelle Kim
Background: Used to design for contemporary label 213. MK2K debuted in 2006. Specializing in knits, that can easily be layered. You can find this brand at Macys and boutiques.

GRACE SUN
Designer: Grace Sun
Background: Entered fashion at the age of 33. You go Grace Sun! =) Studied at Parsons and interned at Phillip Lim & Rachel Roy. Found at boutiques as well as Barneys, NM & Ron Herman.

CLU
Designer: Seung Lee and Jin Lee
Background: Clu is couture for the "t-shirt" and the brand revolves around a basic tshirt design. The dresses are so cute!

JENNY HAN
Designer: Jenny Han
Background: The line started in 2004. Known for her beautiful fabrics and adornments. Feminine & romantic. Find your special occasion dress here.

LEWIS CHO
Designer: Annie Lewis and Helen Cho
Background: The 2 met while working for Anna Sui. Known for their versatile pieces for day or night.

DEMYLEE
Designer: Demy Lee
Background: Attended Parsons School of Design. She's worked at Calvin Klein, Gap Inc., and Tory Burch’s. She specializes in sweaters. Who doesnt love cashmere?

EUGENIA KIM
Designer: Eugenia Kim
Background: She was discovered while wearing one of her own hats (after shaving her head!). She designs the hottest hats. I'm sure you've seen them on everyone from JLo to Ashlee Simpson.

MINYOUNG LEE
Designer: Minyoung Lee
Background: Attended Parsons and has designed for the Calypso brand. Cute Knits. Think Velvet meets T-Bags.

YUMI KIM
Designer: Kim Phan
Background: Shes not korean but has the most korean name of all! Attended San Diego State University. Worked in music, but always had a passion for fashion. Cute dresses and tops with a vintage twist.

Sale Alert!

2008-03-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

Daftbird
3/8 (9am-1pm)
112 W. 9th St., #710 Los Angeles 90015
Everything priced at $5 - tees, tops sweats bottoms and accessories!
65%-95% savings - So cute, such a steal!

Milk and Satine
3/7-3/9
8209 W. 3rd St., and 8117 W. 3rd St., Los AngelesSave 50%-80% on designer clothing and shoes by Stella McCartney, Jovovich-Hawk, Alexander Wang and more

Sale Alert! BCBG, Ella Moss & Splendid

2008-02-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

Ella Moss, BCBG, and Splendid Sample sale
3/1 (10am-4pm) save 50%-70% on dresses, tops, swimwear, hoodies, etc
Marriott Residence Inn, 1177 S. Beverly Dr., Los Angeles 90035

This isnt the warehouse sale that BCBG holds once or twice a year. I'm tempted to go because i love Ella Moss & Splendid but given that it's being held at a hotel, it doesnt look to be that big. So with such big brand names and a relatively small location, im guessing the lines are going to be very long. Go prepared - go early, take a snack, and dont drink alot of water or coffee.

The New "IT" Bag? Mulberry Mabel?

2008-02-22T22:59:00.000-08:00

Where have I been? This is the new must have bag that all the celebrities have been toting? Is it still the "IT" bag or has it passed? I have no idea but ive seen recent pics of everyone from Kate Moss, Misha Barton, Claudia Shiffer & Jessica Alba carrying one of these. If you're like me, you're probably not too familiar with the Mulberry brand. The quick 411 is that its a classic English Brand. Their sales jumped last quarter 36% mostly in part to the bag you see on the left. The purple patent is the most popular color. The brand is somewhat hard to find in the US but they sell it at some nordstroms and i've heard they have a boutique in New York. Anyone out there have any more information on this brand? Just from the pics on their website, I love the bags. Prices seem to run $995 and up for a medium size bag. What do you guys think?

I cant wait! Mariah Carey

2008-02-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

If you guys know me, you know im a HUGE mariah carey fan! Some people laugh at me but I know that they bump all her songs in private. Some of my favorite songs of hers are "breakdown", "we belong together" & "honey" and my favorite album is Butterfly. Yes, i like her better after she divorced her controlling husband and started making the kind of music she really wanted to make. Anyway she has a new album coming out. You know im going to order it presale as soon as it's available and you should too!
Listen to her new single entitled "Touch by body" on her Myspace here.

Mariah Carey
New Album: E=MC2
In Stores: April 15

Forever 21 vs Everyone else

2008-02-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

There was a point in time where I wouldn't have been caught dead in clothing from Forever 21. At that time, even if i wanted to I was unable to find anything cute or decently made at the store. I would also get annoyed when I would see bad imitations of the clothes i had bought from more established brands hanging in the windows at forever 21. Well things have changed. Not only has the quality gotten better at Forever 21 but so have the imitations! From the cut to the colors, i have see items that are indistinguishable for the undiscerning eye. I've seen knocks offs from everyone including Marc Jacobs, 12th Street Cynthia Vincent, Christopher Deane, Velvet and many more. Now I'm not saying that there isnt a big difference between the designer item and Forever21 but its not so so obvious anymore. You know something is going on when your fashionista friend who loves boutiques & bloomindales now seems to be shopping more at Forever21. I also have a hipster guy friend who made fun of me by saying he wouldn't shop at Forever21 if he were a girl because he didn't want to look like all the other high schoolers. This Fred Segal Shopper is now buying some clothing from Heritage 1981 hehe . Anyway to make my point, I'm now a fan of Forever21 and so are my friends.
To leave you here are a couple quick shots that i found of "similiar" items.

Mike & Chris Graham

Forever 21

Sale Alert! Barneys New York & Saint Grace

2008-02-06T23:14:00.000-08:00

So I've never been to the Barneys sale but i heard you can great deals if you go early. Here are the details.
Barney's Warehouse sale:
Starts 2/7. Save 50%-80%
Sought after designs in men's, women's and kids clothing and accessories. Santa Monica Airport Hanger, 3021 Airport Ave, Santa Monica. Thru 2/18. 310-276-4400.

Saint Grace Sample Sale/ Warehouse sale
2/8 (10am-5pm)-2/9 (10am-3pm). Save 50%-80%
Women's fun signature tops, dresses, tees, cardigans, bottoms and more in cashmere, cotton and wool jerseys. Saint Grace Warehouse, 2222 E. Washington Blvd. Unit C, Los Angeles, 90021

My New Obession

2008-02-04T21:23:00.000-08:00

Macarons are my new obsession. How can you not automatically like anything so cute, round & vibrant! These french cookies could look like mac make up palettes! These goodies come in different flavors such as pistachio, rosewater, latte, hazelnut, lemon & tropical. Hence the bright colors. They're soft and delicate and yummy! I've tried them at a couple places in Los Angeles including
1. Paulette
2. La Provence
3. Boule
For the price and size, i liked La provence the best. They also have great cupcakes~! Let me know if you guys know of any other great places for macarons. For those of you who arent too familiar with macarons, heres the difference between Macarons and your typical macaroons.
Macaron: the macaron is made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar. This sweet pastry came out of the French courts' baker's oven as round meringue-like domes with a flat base.
Macaroons: Basically the american version of macarons, usually made with coconut.
Happy eating!

Cashmere Mafia Versus Lipstick Jungle

2008-01-30T23:32:00.001-08:00

There's been a lot of attention recently to the 2 new "sex in the city" shows this season (i guess it was finally time). All I can say is that im really excited for Lipstick Jungle on NBC. It's set to air 2/7 at 10 pm. Just from the pictures, Lipstick Jungle intriques me more. The girls just look so much hotter (I'm a sucker for good marketing). I did catch the first episode of Cashmere mafia and i wasn't too impressed. Both shows are supposed to have story and character elements from sex in the city but from what i've read. Lipstick Jungle seems to be the winner in this race. Here are some comparisons on the shows.

CM: 4 Manhattan career women
LJ: 3 Mantattan career women
CM: In the professions of hotel, cosmetics, finance and magazines
LJ: In the professions of fashion design, movies, magazines
CM: Seems patently contrived. The girls are wound too tight
LJ: Seems not so contrived. The girls seem to have more fun.
CM: Darren Star who also created SITC serves as executive producer
LJ: Candace Bushnell serves as an executive producer (I'm sure you all know who that is)

Anyhow, I haven't really watched the shows to make my own comparison but i am excited. Here's a bio of one of the characters on Lipstick Jungle.

Victory (played by Lindsey Price from 90210) was once the most celebrated up-and-coming fashion designer in the business, until the New York Times trashed her new fall collection. She must now pick up the pieces of her shattered life and rebuild her career, as she relies on her friends and the new man in her life, multi-billionaire Joe Bennett (Andrew Price), to help her get back on her Jimmy Choo's.

There you go. I'm pretty sure I'm hooked already. If you guys have seen either show, let me know what you think.

Angelina Jolie at the SAG awards

2008-01-28T22:57:00.000-08:00

Yay or nay? Personally i love Angelina Jolie's dress at the SAG awards It's vintage Hermes. Although i know its not, i think it looks sort of Resort wear like. With a switch in fabric and more colorful print, you can totally wear it on vacation. I tend to like resort wear because you can wear vibrant, comfortable, super cute clothes. Heres an articl e from the LA Times image section that describes how designers are now putting more of an emphasis on their resort collections. Everyone from Christian Dior (who has a runway show for resort now) to J.crew (who now has a resort line) is now putting more of an emphasis on resort.

2008-01-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

The Los Angeles sample and warehouse sales that were a plenty late last year have definitely slowed down. There were so many in november and december that I had to thoughtfully choose which ones I absolutely had to go to and which ones I could skip. Part of me is glad that the sales have slowed down because my wallet couldn't handle it. For those of you that are ready to keep shopping. here are a few happening this weekend

Inago Warehouse Sale
9500 Jeffereson BLvd., Culver City, 90232 310.287.0687 Cash/ CC only
Fridays- Saturday 10am-5pm during January.
Save 40%-80% on womens' designer apparel & accessories. Inago is a boutique on 3rd street but their warehouse is in Culver city. I went to this sale a while back and bought a botkier bag for 50% off!

Jenny Han Sample / Overstock Sale
719 S. Los Angeles St., #1106, Los Angeles 90014. Cash/ CC only
Friday 1/25-Sunday 1/27 (10am-4pm).
Save 50% off retail to 75% off wholesale. Her pieces are pretty cute and you’ve probably seen them at Macy’s. To check out what you might be buying, check out her Spring 2008 show at LA fashion week.

Happy weekend and happy shopping!

2008-01-23T10:53:00.001-08:00

I've been really into checking out second hand and vintage stores much to the help of another blogger (http://www.stylebytes.net/). She has the cutest outfits and buys a large percentage of them at second hand stores. I've never had much of an eye for second hand clothing but the possibility of finding something great is fun. I recently bought a brown bomber jacket (that I've been receiving complements on) from It's A Wrap (http://www.itsawraphollywood.com/).. It was pretty much new when i bought it and cost $40. I thought it was a steal. The store carries a lot of production clothing worn on studio sets. Many times you can be buying brand new clothing with the tags still on it. Here are some other places that might be work checking out.

High End Vintage stores on Wilshire Blvd

Haute Seconds
2721 Wilshire Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90403
(saw a few Botkier bags)

Great Labels
1126 Wilshire Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90401
(saw lots of designer handbags and some really cute marc jacobs boots. Unfortunately still too expensive)

Flea Markets In the City

Melrose Trading Post
7850 Melrose Ave Fairfax High School Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323) 651-5200

Rose Bowl Flea Market
1001 Rose Bowl Dr Pasadena, CA 91103 (323) 560-7469

Pasadena City College Flea Market
1570 E Colorado Blvd Pasadena, CA 91199 (626) 585-7906

The Newest Kid on the Block

South Park Flea Market
Eighth Street and Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA (866) 966-9495. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays

I've been wanting to check out some fleamarkets. Anyone want to come with me?

2008-01-23T10:32:00.001-08:00

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