Spring Fashion 2009: J.Crew

I have to admit, I didn't find too much in new arrivals over at the J.Crew website that really grabbed my attention. But did find a few things. Mostly because I love how J.Crew puts looks together.





Love the nautical/beachy look with a great loose fitting, navy striped tunic paired with classic khakis.




I noticed J.Crew had a lot of beachy tunics this spring and I love this one paired with simple shorts.




I adore this oxford, especially that green, seafoamy color. J.Crew calls it "fresh mint."




Love the pink/white contrast here. This short sleeved cardigan is bright and perfect for spring.




This is my favorite look from J.Crew this spring. I'm a big fan of pairing yellow and blue together. In fact, I recently bought a pair of yellow chino shorts very similar (more like nearly identical) to these. The cardigan adds a neutral color and creates a great layered look.




From the girls section of Crewcuts, I love the adorable pockets on what would otherwise be just another pair of khaki shorts. They also come in white and pink.




I'm not big on jean shorts, but I'm so in love with these! I only wish J.Crew made them for women!




As for the boys, I really liked these beach shorts.



Not too bad, J.Crew. Not your best collection, but not bad.

Spring Fashion 2009: Ralph Lauren Runway Collection

I know I'm a little late with this, but I decided that since I plan on covering the spring fashions of my favorite lines, I should include Ralph Lauren's runway collection, which showed last fall in New York. The fall collection just showed at fashion week in New York, which I'll post after I finish the spring lines.

So, I've gathered all my favorite items from my favorite stores, so I'll post them whenever I get a chance over the next few days or so. These are just my favorite looks from the spring collection, you can find pictures of the whole collection here. The collection is just gorgeous. Ralph sticks to what made him famous - glamour, luxury, class - and the end result is exquisite. If you want to see the pictures in more detail, you can click on them to see their original (usually larger) size (same goes for all my posts). Well, let's take a look!





The theme of the show was exotic travels in Africa and this safari-inspired outfit was the opening look of the show. I love how the ruggedness of the blouse, hat and bag grounds the brightness of the pants. The show is essentially divided in three sub-themes and, in addition to opening the show, this look opens the safari theme that is dominated by neutral tones and cargo embellishments.




I seriously love that bag. I have this thing for large handbags and this one is gorgeous! Love the shorts and jacket.




Simple, chic gold dress.




One of the reasons I love fashion week (and high fashion in general) is the artistic license designers use in their effort to tell a story through clothes. It's fabulously over-the-top, which is the idea. I mean, I don't know many (or any, for that matter) people that would wear a turban, but that's not the point. It's artistic, it's telling a story, and it looks amazing in the context of the runway. Also, that canteen? Awesome! Nice touch.




This section moves from rugged to glamourous and features crips whites and creamy ivories. Keeping the brown embellishments make the white stand out. It looks so sharp.




These pants are a recurring theme that add fluidity to the show and keeps the show from being choppy by jumping between vastly different looks. They tie the whole line together.




That white trench is gorgeous. And where can I get that luggage?! Just beautiful.




I really liked this flowing dress, especially the ruching detail on the bodice.




Great detailing on the blouse.




I really love this blouse (dress?). And the African-inspired necklace really compliments the look.




By now you've probably realized that this section was my favorite considering how many pictures I posted. I just found it to be the embodiment of glamour and sophistication.




The last section moves into a decidedly Moroccan/North African/Saharan theme. Love the juxtaposition of black and gold in these looks. Again, that necklace is beautiful.




Great contrast between a basic little black dress and an exotic, intricate turban.




Great tailored suit and that little bit of gold popping out at the neck really makes the look.




The gold embellishment makes this otherwise average dress.




This was the final look and boy is it a showstopper. Great cut and color. The model (the flawless Ubah Hassan) looks gorgeous, her skin glows next to the gold fabric. Again, the detail in the turban is wonderful. Ubah Hassan and Valentina Zelyaeva (the model in the opening look) are also the faces of Ralph Lauren and their opening and closing looks are (were, I suppose, since this collection came out months ago) featured in the spring campaign. Check them out (click to enlarge):








Makes you want to hop on a plane to Africa, doesn't it?!

Spring Fashion 2009: Brooks Brothers' Country Club Line (Plus, an Inauguration Bonus!)

I was going to just cover Brooks' main spring collection, but I decided to go with the Country Club line first. I just love it. Their advertising campaign for it is, as usual for Brooks, perfect. Check it out:

I also enjoyed this campaign I received in my e-mail for their resort line:




But let's take a look at Country Club's spring items for 2009.


Country Club Sleeveless Pique Slim Fit Polo



I just love this look, with the navy and white. This polo also comes in three other colors: white, orange sherbert and desert rose.


Sea Island Cotton Shell




Sea Island Cotton Cardigan



Gotta love a great twin set and this one is divine. It also comes in navy, which I prefer. But then again, I prefer nearly everything in navy! So I tried to switch it up by picturing the other two colors.


Country Club Short Sleeve Argyle Sweater



Pink and green argyle?! LOVE!


Country Club Sleeveless Knit Dress with Polo Collar



I adore the look of a casual polo dress and this yellow is fabulous. It also comes in lobster (peach) and wedgewood (periwinkle).


Country Club Cotton Stripe Skirt



I prefered this striped skirt over the solid ones they offer.


Country Club Cricket V-Neck Sweater



I really love this sweater. So simple and classy.


Country Club Silk and Cotton Argyle V-Neck Sweater



More evidence of my argyle fetish.


Country Club Two-Button Blazer



They also had a double-breasted version of this blazer, but I like the more casual look of the two button.


Country Club Vintage Golfer and Tennis Cuff Links





Cuteness!


Country Club Picnic Basket



This picnic basket makes me smile. Perfect accessory for a gorgeous Saturday in the park.



Bonus time! I had wanted to post my favorite inauguration designer fashion sketches for Michelle Obama, but I haven't really gotten around to it. Well, I have now! These were the ones that caught my eye. My absolute favorites are the red Monique Lhuillier for evening and the white Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel for day.

Christian Lacroix:

Diane von Furstenberg:




Isaac Mizrahi:




Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel:




Michael Kors:




Monique Lhuillier:




Oscar de la Renta:




Peter Som:




Tracy Reese:

Best Article EVAH!!!

I haven't had a lot of time lately but I love this article so I had to post it. Every year, the DTH runs this 1990 article by former columnist Ian Williams on every Tar Heel's favorite topic (basketball) and the million dollar question (Why do we hate Duke so much?). I find it rather insightful and it always makes me smile.

I recall a strange and hazy time about four and a half years ago, fretting in the sweltering heat of Hinton James 244, sitting on my bed while the rest of the residents scurried outside.

My suitemate from Brevard was parading his spittle collection, a particularly nauseating mass of his oral waste that he kept in three 2-liter bottles above the door. My roommate spoke in a dialect from Edenton that barely passed for anything on our side of the language tree, and the only things I had to wear in the 105-degree weather were corduroy pants from my goofball private high school. Tripping over the bricks, showing up for classes in rooms miles away from where the classes were taught and getting lost by the water tower, I might as well have had a huge placard wrapped around my neck that said "Oh so clueless" and a number to call in case anybody found me peeing in his yard.

But there was a time before that. I call it The Time When I Thought I Wanted to Go to Duke.

For some unexplainable reasons having to do with planetary alignment or a chemical imbalance, I was set on going to that university in Durham. My high school in Virginia brainwashed us all into thinking that if we didn't end up going to either Duke, UVa. or one of the Ivys we would surely end up stocking Pampers at Wal-Mart. So off I scuttled to those schools, all bushy-tailed and bated, hopin' to impress some institutes of higher learning. By the time I got to visiting Duke, however, the luster of college had begun to dull into a bleak haze.

My tour guide's name was Lorna - no lie - and she spoke in a loud, brash voice that seemed to shake the leaves from the cute little shrubberies. "And on your left is Duke Chapel, the centerpiece of our Gothic campus. Our university is considered by many to be the most beautiful campus in America."

"Umm, excuse me," I said, "Where do all the kids live?"

"The kids," she said, in a voice of utter disdain reserved only for parents whose child had been very, very naughty. "The Duke student body mostly lives in the buildings you are looking at right here, with the beautiful Gothic architecture."

"Well, how hard are the classes here? Would I be studying all the time?"

She fixed her cruel New Jersey gaze on my frightened 17-year-old soul. "Look, that's totally assuming you even get in here at all. I know tons of people that would have given their left arm to get in here. And not only that, but - Oh, hi, Thad!" Some senior named Thad wearing Vuarnets and baggy khaki shorts ambled up with an evil Gleem smile.

"Leadin' the kids around, eh Lorna?" he asked, and cackled like the frat Grinch.

"Yeah," she giggled, and the two whispered to each other while exchanging muffled laughs.

I was herded into the cafeteria and stuck in a line for pizza, while Lorna went off into the crowd with some of her friends. A scowling guy slapped a piece of rubber pepperoni pizza on my plate, and as I walked across the room to sit down, I tripped on one of those Gothic little cherub things on the floor and sent my pizza flying 20 feet onto the sweater of a girl named Annabeth, a junior English major from Bridgeport, Conn.

"Oh my God!" she squealed, and every face in the entire joint looked right at me. Thad the sunglasses man started to clap, and half of the cafeteria joined in my humiliation.

Suddenly, I was back in third grade, and all the boys and girls were pointing and laughing at the picture I'd drawn of my family. Suddenly, I was sitting alone at the side of the blacktop while everyone else got picked for the dodgeball team. Suddenly, I was lying in the Iowa snow, getting my ribs kicked by five guys who thought I'd stolen their football. I had no escape.

And that's when I decided to go to Carolina. I had never seen the place, had never heard of Chapel Hill and I picked Hinton James because it had a laundry room. After a while I grew used to the town - I didn't get lost behind the water tower; I learned what Gardner Hall was; and I began to enjoy the company of my suitemate, despite his spittle collection. I also developed a taste for basketball, and during the games I noticed that we had certain heated rivalries - whenever we played one of those teams, I got tense and dug holes in the seat.

Now I realize that school spirit is a pretty goofy thing to some people, but I'll tell you something: I hate Duke with an infernal passion undying. I hate every leaf of every tree on that sickening campus. I hate every fake cherub Gothic piece of crap that litters the buildings like hemorrhoidal testaments to imagined superiority. When I see those Dookie boneheads shoe-polishing their faces navy blue on television, squandering their parents' money with their fratty elitist bad sportsmanship antics and Saab stories, I want to puke all over Durham.

So this is my request, boys of basketball: Tonight, I not only want you to win, I want Krzyzewski calling home to his mother with tears in his eyes. I want Alaa Abdelnaby to throw up brick after brick. I want Rick Fox to take Christian Laettner to the hoop so many times that poor Christian will be dazed on the bench with an Etch-a-Sketch and a box of Crayola crayons. I want Bobby Hurley to trip on his shoelaces and fly into a fat alumnus from Wilmington. Send Thad and Lorna home with their blue tails between their legs.

God bless them Tar Heel boys!

And that, my friends, is why Duke is the bane of our existence! Go Tar Heels!

Random News

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers! I didn't really care who won this game. Seriously, I was completely indifferent. I didn't know there were still two NFL teams left that I didn't either love, like or completely hate! Discover something new every day!

Anoop made it to the second round in Hollywood on American Idol!

In other Chapel Hill-related news, it's snowing! Yes, again! That's two significant snows this winter. Amazing! Let's hope the university administration can make a reasonable decision about how to handle such foreign weather this time.

Perhaps most importantly, many of my favorite stores are having big winter sales! J. Crew (still soaring after their success with the Obama girls), Ralph Lauren, L.L. Bean, and Brooks Brothers (70% off select women's shoes!).

Of course, winter sales mean these stores are coming out with their spring lines! Hopefully, I'll get around to covering those when I have more time. Until then!