No time to wait for Esty to ship? Get that cute little piece of crafty heaven on your ride home... so very excited the City Bird world is expanding. Brother & sister duo Andy and Emily Linn open their second venture, Nest, in the old Bureau of Urban Design space. The Bureau was one of the first cool shops to open when I lived in Detroit. I shed a momentary tear while grabbing  my wallet to support Nest. 

I can't make it tonight but am stopping by ASAP to do some xmas shopping.


Support local stores that's my holiday wish!


A few of my favorites...

near perfect boots

Ever see a pair of shoes walking by and they end up haunting you forever? One of my boutique buyers had the coolest pair of boots from Tory Burch. Gorgeous, easy to wear, mid-calf black leather with an easy square 3 inch heel and sexy gold buckles running up the side. Of course, purchased last year so my hopes of finding THE exact pair were dashed... but those beauties stuck in my mind ever since.

BUT - I found this pair of Jeffery Campbell's on Revolve last night. After a good night's sleep, I still love 'em and think it worth the $181. Not the spitting image of the TB boots but an excellent option for every day.

Thursday Date Night!

Seeing My Week With Marilyn on Thursday with my mom. Already amazing with Michelle Williams with what little I've seen of her in this role.

i've returned!

at long last... after a year in NYC I've moved back to Detroit to pursue matters of the heart and hopefully open my own business. until i finally become my own boss, pretty party is just an amusing way to connect with fashion friendly people.

julie's junya

Junya Watanabe / style.com

Colette is my favorite online stop and hopefully boutique when I make my way to Paris. Often times when not devouring what's new, I just let site's music play - excellent soundtrack for painting nails or organizing shoes. On one of my recent searches I came across above Junya Watanabe dress (colette's version here) which captures my wardrobe essence right now. 

Since being in new york, my style is evolving (thanks to no stuffy NM clothing rules). Letting down my hair a bit shall we say and the juices are staring to flow. 

Something about this entire Spring 2011 collection speaks to me. The odd faceless /seamate/old school bathing suit/nautical references. It's kinda all over the place but it feels feminine and sexy to me. These longer proportions feel so much more  modern to me than that of the 1940's skirt, deep cleavage we had last Fall. 

Marc Jacobs / style.com

It's just me I'm sure but not sexy... at all. I'm sorry. Maybe on the model on the runway but on the street for real. If we are going full coverage, let's do with with some interest in draping, tailoring, or cut. Not just with shit tons of fabric. (no disrespect here - I'm fully aware of the time and energy it takes to create looks like this.)

Off to Queen Anne Spanish Institute for a dose of Balenciaga. Happy Saturday!

coolest shoes ever

Isabel Toledo's striped Vamp heel ($45) from Payless.com ordered last night in a flurry after seeing in Lucky Magazine this month. So much style, so little $$. They remind me of Prada's Spring 2010 shoes... sorry that brand is coming up a lot here. No, I don't get any freebies. 

Prada here...

at home with lauren santo domingo

I fell in love w/ Lauren Santo Domingo's Flatiron loft previewed on Vogue.com this month. As a lady who does know/buy couture and the finer things in life, her home is cool (not sure what I was expecting) and full of interesting, weird furniture (rhino bar, mushroom stool) and trinkets (ebay science kit, bronze dog statue) that define her sense of style (and her husband too, I'm sure.) She probably had the help of a designer, however aesthetic/input is not traceable when you look at LSD's space.

Satisfying interior design, regardless of budget, seems warmest and most inviting as an edited mix of collectibles and pieces you love that represent your life and times.

Her dressing/working space...

A quick perusal of 1st Dibs today w/ Eric Cohler and I stumbled across this James Galanos dress (aka 1960's Backless Hostess Halter Dress) which immediately brought to mind Prada's Spring 2011 for colors and stripes and Jil Sander for skirt style. Both collections I loved so it's not a surprise this dress caught my eye. 


Given my 5'5 stature and more than curvy physique, 6ft of stripes will not do my body any favors. I am, however, greatly looking forward to the tall, willowy ingénues and celebrities doing this very cool girl looks as their own.

If I were a patronessa de couture, this would most certainly be in my line up.

Looks for Prada and Jil respectively.

This caged pewter sandal is hopefully the newest addition to my sexy shoe collection... of which there aren't so many. From Alexandre Birman's spring collection at Holt Renfrew.  I am a huge fan of AB; his shoes are always sexy, well-made, comfortable and not extraordinarily expensive.

Hermes + Mcdonalds

One of my favorite things to think about... designer fast food (and puppie teepees.) I had a branding idea for Mcdonald's during NYC Fashion Week last year that occurred while enjoying a burger on a road trip. Finding ways to "upmarket" preferred brands of mine is a favored pastime. I guess I'm not the only thinking about merging the brand spectrum. Hermes + Mcdonalds.

See more Top 100 2010 Trends here.

Seducer or Madman?

Chanel Spring 2011 style.com

I giggle thinking about my beefcake/man's man boyfriend who is devoted to jeans and tee shirts in this Chanel Spring 2011 look. This look is editorialized in January magazines and it cracks me up every time I see it.

Inspiration for this season comes from Last Year in Marienbad which I haven't seen, but from the trailer, is chalk full of 1960's film noir goodness that is right up a fashion designer's alley: lots of visual, stimulating images. A line in the movie asks if the main character is "a madman or seducer?" Karl is usually a seducer in my opinion but this one has me leaning towards madman.

A white four pocket Chanel jacket for me. Lovely.
For my man... questionable. Very questionable. (unless that man is my gay best friend.)
For my 5 year old son. Not over my dead body.

What do you think?

I'm back

For all of my two readers, I'm back after a long pause in posting. A move to NYC occupied a good deal of my time and energy, but I find myself thinking about this space and wanting to continue my experiment in online writing. So here I am... a Midwest gal in NYC trying to delve into the fashion business without losing selling my soul to a label clad devil.