Fashion Friday: Rachel Zoe's New Clothing Line

Good morning and welcome to Fashion Friday!  I just made that up all of 4 seconds ago but since I've been meaning to post Rachel Zoe's new line for like, forever, I figured we'll just call this Fashion Friday.   Today's post features Rachel Zoe--Mix master extraordinaire!  In-between dressing starlets, filming a TV show, and otherwise building her empire while being pregnant, she debuted her new clothing line this past January in NYC prior to fashion week.  Her pieces will range from $250-$700 and you'll see a bit of 70's influence in her sharply-cut tuxedo jackets and flare-below-the knee suits.  Neiman's, Bergdorf's, Saks, Bloomies, and Nordstrom's have all snapped it up and I'm looking forward to seeing how each of them style it in their own way.  Below are just a few of my favorites and you can skip over to style.com to see the full line.  

This vest looks eerily similar to the one she sold on HSN last year..  I bought it and then returned it.  Let's hope the fit is better this year.  But I love the inside gold zippers on those jeans, the boots, and the bag!

Another example to prove menswear-style tailoring isn't going away anytime soon.  Thankfully the bow-tie blouse brings a feminine element into it.

 I love this look!  Very Dolce Gabbana and is FO SHO on my to-buy list this fall

 Drapey and disco-y, this is what she's known for.  You can bet this will be her biggest hit.

  

 Love this look but have no idea when I would ever wear shorts with a suit, overcoat, and ankle boots in NWA?  It's either hella-hot during shorts season, or you'd look ridiculous sloshing through the snow in the winter.

 And this is wear I draw the line..  This is WAY too similar to that gorilla-arm trend that debuted in NY last week.  This is man-repelling in it's greatest glory.  I'd love to get a guy's opinion on this.  Guys?  Man-repelling?

 See??  As evidenced by Peter Som's furry thing.  Rag & Bone is guilty of this trend too.  No thanks.

Back to Zoe's collection--

I love this Military-inspired coat and flared jean

 And lastly, another beautiful and slightly feminine overcoat as a dress.  I totally dig it.

What do you think of these pieces?  I give it a thumbs-up and will refer back to this when it's 110 degrees outside and I think fall can't get here soon enough.

Happy Friday and have a fabulous weekend peeps!
Betsy

Colah me happy, dahling

Happy Hump Day everyone!  To spice up your Wednesday, I thought I'd inject a little color into it. And since pink is now my color du jour, I'm going to start with some of my favorite beauties.  

I stopped and stared when I first found this photo.  Wasn't sure if I liked it or not.  And then I thought, "Wait!  It's pink!  Of course I love it!"  

Especially the white frame, feminine curves, the colorful rug, chandelier, the large mirror, okay, I love everything about this room.

 And I about fell out of my chair this morning when I stumbled upon a PINK CLAW-FOOT BATHTUB!  I die!

I've always loved a rainbow library.  You know, because they're everywhere.  Sarcastic.

I could stare at the room below for hours studying all of the ways they mixed different shades of turquoise together.  And it makes me even more excited knowing we're getting in bookshelves in this same color next week on our next container!!

This is one of my favorite prints we currently have in the store right now-

 (images via pininterest, Jonathan Adler, House of Turquoise, The Estate of Things)

Have a colorful Wednesday!
Betsy

Luxe City Guides

We've been eyeing these guides since our early days over to Shanghai where the always-swanky Shanghai Tang stores have been stocking them for years.  Being bright, colorful, and ingeniously graphic on the outer cover, they're hard to miss and are just begging to be picked up and flipped through.  So when this past Christmas came around and The Fiance had already bought himself an iPad, and the shirt I bought him for his birthday months before was still sitting in it's box in his utility room, I was stuck thinking of the perfect Christmas present for The Man Who Already Has It All.  Alas, I remember these fancy little travel guides that he hunts down every time we're within 100ft of a Shanghai Tang store.  I bought him one of their gift sets with our favorite cities in them like Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.  We hadn't even been to Paris yet but I already knew it was going to be a favorite.  And it is!  I could go on for days about why these guides are the PERFECT and ONLY city guide I would rely on.  For starters, they're written in the wittiest manner and cause me to chortle in my chair as they sass me through city after glorious city.  Here's an excerpt from the New York guide just to give you a little taste:

May I help you?

TRANSLATION: You look too poor to shop here.

Think New York, think Manhattan. For a city bought for just 60 guilders in 1626, she ain’t doing too badly. Nary brutal winters, nor stifling summers can dampen the indefatigable gumption of this most iconic of all iconic cities. From cupcakes to knishes, and Mesopotamian art to molecular gastronomy, this unendingly fascinating hub of metropolitan life self-invents on an hourly basis. Majestic, grand, kitsch, the tops, the bottoms, the kit and the kaboodle, NY is one huge and mercurial melting pot. Fashion forward, status conscious, food and culture epicentric, exasperating, exhilarating and never out of the spotlight; welcome to the extraordinary Gotham City.

LUXE New York. Triple threat, darling.

And the Hong Kong version:

Looking for Suzy Wong?  Well, she's dead. Get over it.

Welcome to LUXE City Guide’s home town! Despite naughty sisters Beijing and Shanghai constantly trying to steal her glittering crown, Hong Kong still reigns supreme as Asia’s predominant shopping, dining and style destination. Excess, success and 24 hr party times are always on the menu in this mile-a-minute metropolis famed for its high-rise living and high-end labels. From the ultra-efficient airport to the cacophony of sights, sounds, smells and activity of the island you’re in for a rollercoaster good time. Whether you want star names like Robuchon, Ducasse, Nobu or Gagnaire, or prefer to dine in an alley next to a sizzling wok, Hong Kong packs it all in. So, when you’re looking for the savvy choices in the city that makes New York look like a spinster aunt, it’s worth remembering that what we don’t know about this city ain’t worth jack. Walk this way…

LUXE Hong Kong. You won't go far Wong. 

See?  They're quirky and well, slightly offensive if you don't fit their ideal demographic, but they're tons of fun and spot on in their recommendations.  We wouldn't have found our favorite Paris bistro had it not been for these guides.  They'll give you turn-by-turn directions and the chicest advise on where to stay, what to eat, and what to avoid.  

Here's me in Paris studiously scoping out our guidebook before our next excursion.

You can visit their site here:  Luxe City Guides.  So grab a suitcase, a Luxe City Guide, and GO!

2011 Design Trend: Eclectic

Good morning fellow love-looking-at-beautiful-homes lovers!

I hope everyone had an exceptional weekend and were able to enjoy the unusually warm weather.  I'm on my third cup of coffee this morning and I'm about to take a Sudafed to cope with annoying allergies, which means I'll be bouncing off the walls in approximately 45 minutes.  So I better hurry up and post this before I lose all concentration for the next 4 hours.  

A design trend we've taken note of for 2011 is the eclectic-look which mixes various styles, periods, and cultures into a cohesive look.  It happens to be one of my favorite looks since we love to collect pieces from all over the world (and we have a store full of it), but besides that, when I see these images, it makes me wonder where the occupants have traveled and what were their experiences?  Too often, I come across people that question why we go to the places we visit because they have no desire to leave the U.S.  We are incredibly fortunate to see and do what we have.  Every time we travel, whether it's simply across a few states or across a continent, I go into it with an open mind and an open opinion so that the experience itself will teach me to view the world from another perspective.  Plus, I just love schlepping suitcases and totes full of laptops and iPads through airports!  What's not to love about that, right?!...  It's easy to look like you've been all over the world with this trend (without the schlepping) since the point of it is to mix and match!  It's so much more interesting to shake things up!  Sometimes it's as simple as adding a new accessory to perk up the room.  We'll be getting our next container of worldly goods next week and I can't wait to share them with you :)   

(Image sources: Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Sketch 42, Atlanta Homes Design, Full House, Bill Hudgins)

Happy Monday!

Betsy

Art Imitating Life Imitating Fashion

Good morning!

I'm in an especially good mood today since The Fiance returns home from Hong Kong tomorrow! It's been quite a productive morning and I thought I would share with you a post from one of my favorite bloggers, Sketch 42. She's an artist and free-lance writer in New York City and blogs about interior design, fashion, reality TV and pretty much whatever she feels like. It's all done with amazing style and I admire her creativity. These images are straight from her post a few weeks ago and you can find it here.

I'm on a pink kick here lately and am in love with ALL shades of pink! I have several spring outfits picked out involving pink, I'm considering doing pink in every room of the house, and The Fiance has a secret fear that our wedding is going to be Pepto Bismol pink (which it's not), but I can understand why he feels that way after seeing all of the pink fabrics and accessories that I've been collecting. He also thinks that all of this pink is a subliminal message that I want to have a baby, which I DON'T. Ok on that note, take a look at the pretties below:

Yellows and blues are another of my favorites right now.
We rock this trend in the store too:

And then there are the fun primary colors that look so rich when layered on top of a neutral beige room. How cool are those pendants? And we have a stone warrior that looks very similar to the budda statue in the center. I'm too lazy to create a collage for just my warrior dude.

I don't know where she found these images but they're simply stunning! I'd love to just hunt down pretty photos like these all day long. And eat bon bons. And never go to the gym again. I'm just kidding, but they are lovely images.

Be sure to check out her blog! I'm sure you'll find it just as inspiring as I do.

Have a great week!

Betsy

Happy Valentine's

My oh my, I've lost a bit of my creative juices in the last few weeks since it's been over a month since the last blog post.  We've been traveling quite a bit, which is no excuse since I'm usually inspired wherever I go, but I just hadn't had any new creative thoughts worthy of blogging about.  

Picture below perfectly describes the situation at hand.

                                                  

And I've tried A LOT of this and it hasn't worked so well..

Maybe I just need to visit here:

Happy Valentine's and I promise to get some juices back :)

(Images via This is Glamour, Four Seasons Bora Bora, unknown) 

See you soon,
Betsy