Monthly Archives: October 2012

Virtual Packing: Apps for Paris

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As your styleaspirations.com writer is away in Paris (lucky!), I have been asked to post a guest writer article. Friends simply know me as “Traveler” from The Gray Suit blog. I was asked to find Paris-specific goods to pack.

So, how about virtual packing? Pack the apps to leave space for all those clothes! Here are some of my top suggestions for virtual items you’ll want for Paris.

Styleaspirations.com readers will love the Chic Walks app that will guide you to all kinds of shopping experiences. If you want luxury, discount, brand names or little-known boutiques – you’ll be able to find it here.

Are you a foodie? Then you must pack Patricia Wells’ Food Lover’s Guide to Paris app! With maps, blurbs and a well-organized directory – you’re quickly on your way to an amazing dinner, market or glass of wine!

If you’re like me, you enjoy navigating the streets like a local and not standing out as a tourist by studying maps as crowds rush by. Find the routes you need to take on the Paris Metro app. Plan out your routes and then walk confidently and chicly amidst the Parisians.

How about discreetly reading guidebook information on your ebook or tablet? Lonely Planet ebooks will save space in your bag and also look sleeker. Take it a step further and download Lonely Planet apps – access audio tours, city guides and phrase books. Don’t miss out!

What travel apps help you when you’re abroad?

Everybody Bonjours!

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Amazon.com

That’s right, dear readers, today I’m going where Everybody Bonjours– Paris! This will be Baby Boy’s first trip abroad, and I couldn’t be more excited to introduce him to a country and city with such rich culture. In preparation for our trip, we’ve been reading this lovely book.

In my absence, Traveler from the fantastic blog, TheGraySuit.blogspot.com will be stopping by next week with a Paris travel-related post! Traveler is a fan of traveling, Hitchcock, Bourbon, cocktails, high teas, sporty ballet flats, trains, daydreaming, and a girl after my own heart! So please stop by and say hello to Traveler!

Until then, Au Revoir!

GOOP for Birchbox

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I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz surrounding Birchbox, the monthly beauty product sample subscription service, so when GOOP announced a couple of weeks ago that it was partnering with the company for release of a special Birchbox, I decided it was time to try it out. I signed up for a one-year subscription, which is $10 per month.

I know that GOOP (and Gwyneth Paltrow) has received a lot of flack, but I’m a huge fan of her lifestyle newsletter and website. Gwyneth has enviable style in spades. Although many of the items- from $750 brogues to time-intensive recipes, are truly aspirational for me, the newsletter doesn’t leave me feeling sour. Instead, this seemingly Wonder Woman inspires me to do more.

My Birchbox, pictured above, arrived last week. Inside were the following items, packed with a description of each items and the purchase price of a full size version at the Birchbox website. Read on for the full list of products, my experience, and whether I think I should Purchase the item in full size or Pass on it.

Essie nail polish in a fall pick. My nail polish, called Carry On, is a deep burgundy that I plan to try out at my next pedicure- tomorrow! I don’t tend to buy nail polish though, so this one is a Pass for me.

Jouer Lip Enhancer is like a cream for your lips. I appreciate that it’s practically scent free and seems to do a good job of moitsurizing my lips. I would Purchase this.

Malin & Goetz peppermint shampoo. This item has been the biggest surprise for me. Though Malin & Goetz has become quite a cult brand, and I often pass by their uptown store, I just didn’t quite expect this particular product to live up to the hype. But it did. The peppermint scent is really invigorating but it’s not too overpowering once you’re out of the shower. Unlike many shampoos, it doesn’t flatten my hair down. This is definitely a Purchase for me.

Supergood City Sunscreen Serum: This is a pretty good sunscreen, but the texture is heavier my daily sunscreen’s texture and the Supergood sunscreen only has 30 SPF. This is a Pass for Me.

Luna Fiber Chocolate Raspberry bar: I plan to snack on this while traveling over the weekend! Given my past experience with Luna bars, I would Purchase it.

With Birchbox it feels like Christmas comes every month! Birchbox would make a great gift for any occasion. What I love most about Birchbox, though, is that it gets me to try beauty products that I wouldn’t otherwise try.

Currently there is a 4 week wait for a women’s Birchbox membership.

Have you tried Birchbox? What was your experience?
Aside from magazines and other reading materials, do you subscribe to a monthly service?

Carolina Herrera Spring 2013 Fashion Presentation

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Last week I was honored to be invited to my first fashion presentation- at Carolina Herrera’s Madison Avenue showroom.  It was a lovely event, complete with a light brunch and gifts of Vie Luxe candles for attendees.  Unfortunately Mrs. Herrera did not grace us with her presence; however, I once saw her standing on the first floor of her showroom as I was passing by outside.  Of course, she was perfectly coiffed and wearing her signature white button down shirt with elegant espadrilles.

Carolina Herrera, known for creating luxurious, feminine fashion that epitomizes ladylike chic, has dressed stylish women from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to Renee Zellweger.   She is a recipient of Spain’s Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts and winner of both the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Womenswear Designer of the Year (2004) and the CFDA Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award (2008).

Even though Carolina Herrera’s price points may be beyond most of our budgets, we can still find inspiration for our own personal styleaspirations.  I captured photos of some of the looks that most inspired me.  In order to not create a disturbance, I sat in the second row, so my iPhone photos are not the greatest.  I have supplemented them with runway photos of the looks that I viewed.

At the presentation I attended, the models’ makeup was soft with shimmering lipstick.  Their faces were pale and highlighted with dabs of blush.  The models’ hair was manipulated into minimalist, sleek ponytails that did not detract from the beauty of the clothing.

In Ms. Herrera’s Spring 2013 collection, ivory dominated, along with orange, seafoam green, yellow, and black.  Many of the pieces were printed with geometric or abstract patterns.  The collection focused on knee length and floor length sleeveless dresses, often worn with thin belts.  The cuts and materials, such as chiffon, crepe, and organza, lent to the overall light and soft draping effect of the clothing.  A few of the dresses had tiny buttons running down the back, a la Pippa Middleton as maid of honor.  There were a couple of pants outfits featured with a decidedly 70’s vibe; high waisted pants with a fuller leg were paired with a drapey bow blouse.  The collection was worn with criss-crossing stacked heeled sandals in complementing colors.

It’s difficult to see in the photo, but my favorite piece was a pale seafoam green dress in a jacquard-type print that had a high waist and a fuller skirt. The dress was also made into a longer evening gown. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate clearer photos of these pieces. I loved the colors and the simplicity of these pieces. Inspired by 1950’s fashion, they seemed to elicit the most admiration from the group.

What do you think of Carolina Herrera’s Spring 2013 collection? 
Which designer’s presentation would you most like to attend? 
Which designers’ Spring 2013 collections do you prefer?

 

Submerged Soles

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Photo credit: PacificCoastNews.com

Photo credit: PacificCoastNews.com

As I was speed walking up Madison Avenue the other day, this delightfully provocative shoe display at Barneys jumped out at me.  Although Barneys adjacent display of 500 stilettos racing around a multi-level track, aka the “Barneys 500,” certainly caught my eye, it was this “Swimming with the Louboutins” display that really stole the show.  It’s difficult not to notice highly sought after, sky high Christian Louboutin heels submerged in a tank of pink goldfish.

These displays play on pop culture references- the Indy 500 and a memorable quote from The Godfather, exemplifying Barneys traditional tag line, Taste, luxury, humor, (or wit, depending on your personal preference).  One of the fashion world’s favorite styling strategies in the past few years has been employing a combination of high and low priced items into one ensemble.  Perhaps Barneys is creating its own high-low ensemble by advertising a high priced product with what New York Magazine, publisher of a weekly approval matrix that discriminates between high brow versus low brow, would likely deem a low brow cultural reference?

Visit Barneys to view videos of these fantastic displays, or, better yet, visit in person.

Barneys:  660 Madison Avenue, New York, NY

Have any store windows or other forms of advertising caught your attention recently?

What are you feelings about these displays?  Do you have any insight into the meaning behind the displays?

In your opinion, does using a “low brow” cultural reference to advertise a “high brow” product diminish the prestige of that product or does it make it even more desirable?

How relevant is the creativity and humor/wit of a product’s advertising to your decision to purchase a particular brand?

Pieces of Art

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These two items made their way into my home tonight.  I didn’t realize until later this evening, when I was jogging around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, how appropriate they are together.  The first is a card that I picked up at an antique and gifts store.  The quote is inspiring and encapsulates what I aspire to achieve with my appearance.

And if I wear this lovely vintage costume bow pin, from yet another antique store in my neighborhood, I think I will live up to the quote.  As readers will come to know, I’m a sucker for bows.  This piece is reminiscent of Chanel jewelry and I plan to wear it as part of a Chanel-esque ensemble:  with a black boucle jacket and perhaps a strand of pearls or two.

I looked at the vintage bow pin twice tonight before it ended up at home with me.  I caught a glimpse of it as I was making my way up our street, but the price tag was hidden.  I returned later on in the day and asked to view it.  At $22 and in perfect condition, it could have been a guiltless impulse purchase.  Except today, it wasn’t.  Despite the affordable price tag, as I tell myself, a purchase is still a purchase.  And with my vacation starting this Friday, a vacation that will undoubtedly include a good measure of shopping, I hesitated.  I have certainly spent more on impulse purchases, but I didn’t feel inclined to make this impulse purchase tonight.  So I went home and I told my husband about the pin; I even showed him the blurry photo of it that I snapped on my iPhone.  He didn’t urge me to buy it when I told him about it, so I decided to let it go for the time being.  Part of me hoped that he would purchase it for me.

Not even a couple of hours later, my husband handed me something small wrapped in a white paper towel and scotch tape.  I instantly knew that it was the bow pin.  Even though I have received wonderful gifts from my husband that cost exceedingly more than this pin, I was incredibly moved by his thoughtfulness.  He listened and he bought me something that I really love.  Something that will bring me joy each time I wear it, for both my simple love of the design and the memory of his thoughtfulness.

This pin is a good reminder that the price tag (and I believe this to be true in either direction) is irrelevant when you find something that you really love,  of course, as long as you can afford it.  An item does not have to have a special brand or provenance; it simply needs to be like a piece of art, whose value is subjectively determined by the person who owns it.  To put it simply, if you love something that you own, that’s all that matters.

I realize that my personal taste will not appeal to everyone as we all have our own unique style.  What I hope to do with this blog, however, is to offer something beyond exploring my personal styleaspirations.  I hope to engage my readers in discussions about what material items really mean to us in our lives, why we choose particular items to wear and to bring in to our homes.  Thus, I hope to encourage you to surround yourselves with items you truly love and enjoy, your own pieces of art.

 

Enough about me.  Have you ever received an unexpected gift that moved you?  What was it?

Assuming that you can afford the item, do you believe that price tag is irrelevant when you find something that you really love?

What would you consider to be a piece of art that you can wear?

Luxe Lather

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My best friend from college spent a semester studying abroad in Firenze.  Lucky for me, she returned bearing a gift of three Santa Maria Novella soaps, each beautifully wrapped in the SMN’s embellished boxes and wrappings.

For the past seven years, these soaps have been on display in the various apartments in which I have lived.  I thought they were too pretty to use.  Recently, however, I was faced with the predicament of either using the SMN soap or my husband’s earthier drugstore soap.  I decided I had waited long enough to enjoy the SMN soaps.  I reasoned that since there’s a SMN outpost in NYC, I could replace the bars if I wished.  I started with an almost spicy scented bar, which I found fragrant and decadent.  When that bar disappeared, I moved onto Santa Maria Novella’s olive oil bar.  I could use this soap every day for the rest of my life.  The scent is subtly alluring and the texture of the soap is creamy.  Using this soap elevates my shower experience.

SMN has a history as rich as the quality of its product.  Founded in Florence by the Dominican Friars in 1221, and later opening as a pharmacy sponsored by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, SMN credited with creating the first “Eau de Cologne.”

At $25 a bar, this soap truly is a luxury.  But we’ll see how long my gifted bar lasts.  Don’t be surprised if I’m soon hopping a downtown train to Soho for another one.