Giving Lucky Another Look

Lucky, September 2013, the first issue for new Editor-in-Chief Eva Chen.

After a great article in The Business of Fashion about Eva Chen, newly-installed Editor-in-Chief of Lucky magazine, I’ve decided to give it another look. One of my favorite beauty writers, Jean Godfrey-June, is there and for awhile last year I would buy issues just to read her columns, but I stopped after the rest of the magazine failed to inspire me. The slant seemed geared toward high school girls who shop just to shop. Don’t get me wrong, I love girls in high school, but I know what they are looking for in clothes and accessories and what I’m looking for are not the same. Also, I despise fast fashion. It feels so wasteful.

Eva Chen, the new Editor-in-Chief of Lucky.

I’m finding the September issue of Lucky more mature than before, more about clothes and accessories I can imagine in the closet several years down the road, and—dare I say it?—more relatable than Vogue, since it features a mix of high-end dream purchases alongside more budget-friendly pieces. I think Ms. Chen and her team put together a great—and fun—first issue.

I can definitely relate to this look. In fact, I own everything I need to recreate it!

I also love these (although make mine with a lower heel!).

Ms. Chen’s appointment to Editor-in-Chief is notable for a couple of reasons—she is the first Asian-American to be at the top of the masthead of a Condé Nast magazine; at 33 she is the youngest EIC at a major American fashion magazine; and Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue, selected her for the position, making me wonder about both of their futures.

I know some of my favorite bloggers are Lucky contributors so I ask you: Do you read Lucky? In print or online? Do you expect the magazine will change under a newer (and younger) Editor-in-Chief?

Give me your thoughts on this one!

UPDATE:

When I sent out a tweet saying I was enjoying the September issue of Lucky, Eva Chen herself got back to me, saying for another week subscriptions are just $3! What? Talk about the nice price. This is being offered through Amazon and it includes 5 issues, both digitally and in print. I don’t have a tablet but I will definitely take 5 print issues for $3, I’d be crazy not to! Click here if you want more details. Do note that Amazon says the subscription will auto-renew in 6 months unless you take steps to cancel it. Also note that if you are a current subscriber Condé Nast will add 5 issues to your current subscription.

Late Summer Nails, ICU Eyewear Giveaway (Last Call!), and Neon Reminder

I have temporarily given up my traditional red or pale nail in favor of these two colors that I am smitten with right now. I have been wearing navy and white pretty much since mid-July and I love the look of both of these shades against those neutrals.

Two-Fingered Salute by butter London is an amazing sage green with golden-pink microshimmer underneath. It’s very hard to photograph so I took a picture against a navy background and with a flash to give you an idea of the color. It is a gorgeous—and unexpected!—green.

Two-Fingered Salute by butter London.

Bachelorette Bash by Essie is a bright hot pink. There is no shimmer in it at all and it pairs so well with navy and white. If you want a brief break from red, this is the color for you!

Bachelorette Bash by Essie: A Tippi-approved color!

Bachelorette Bash by Essie with Tippi as background model.

Through the end of today you can still vote on your favorite pair of ICU Eyewear readers for a chance to win that pair! I won the pair of blue readers you can see on my sidebar but these also caught my eye.

This pair of ICU Eyewear readers goes especially well with the Essie polish!

Vote on your favorite pair of readers (they have the Dr. Dean line for men and Wink for women) and find out instantly whether you won them! If not, you get a 40% off coupon for a pair purchased from their website, good through October 1, 2013.

Enter the giveaway here.

A necklace by Duchessa Jewels.

A reminder to all you neon foxes out there that Adrienne of The Rich Life (on a budget) and I are still accepting photos for “How I Wear My: Neon”. Send either of us a picture of your neon style by September 3, 2013. Let the Duchessa Jewels necklace above, which features Swarovski crystals in a neon pink setting, inspire you!

Thank you to ICU Eyewear for sponsoring this post.

Barbara Berger Got the Neon Memo (So Did My Son, Years Ago)

Detail from the 2008-9 necklace Imprisoned in Fluo by Daniel Von Weinberger.

When I first saw this completely over-the-top nutty neon necklace by Belgian jewelry designer Daniel Von Weinberger I didn’t know what to think of it, to tell you the truth. It’s currently on view at The Museum of Arts and Design, part of the exhibit Fashion Jewelry: The Collection of Barbara Berger and has to be the wildest piece there. It’s hard to tell at first glance that it even is a necklace. But seeing it again—and it is on the cover of the exhibit catalog, where you can get a better sense of what it is and how big it is—I think I love it.

The necklace in full (and I mean full).

I love that it’s neon, love that it’s crazy and witty, love that there is a little man in that explosion of color! The necklace is titled Imprisoned in Fluo, after all.

The exhibit catalog.

So Barbara Berger, costume jewelry collector extraordinaire, definitely gets the appeal of neon. You know who else does, and has since he was little?

My son.

My son and his neon bike helmet.

When he needed a bike helmet a few years ago he begged for this neon one which I resisted at first. So bright, I thought, so gaudy! I went ahead and got it for him and then realized later how brilliant his choice was—I could always find him when he was riding around on his scooter or bike in the park. Even in a sea of kids you can’t miss that helmet! Since then, I have noticed a few other boys with this helmet. It seems my son started a trend. He’s always been a big fan of neon and wears flashes of it somewhere on his person every single day.

I can always find him when he wears it!

All of this is a long way of saying that Adrienne of The Rich Life (on a budget) and I (and Barbara Berger, and my son too, I’m sure) would love for you to join us for “How I Wear My: Neon” for September. Just send a photo of how you are styling your neon to Adrienne or me no later than September 3, 2013.

Styling ICU Eyewear

While I wait for my blue readers by ICU Eyewear to arrive—which I won in their giveaway!—I thought I’d style them a little.

Now, Dear Reader, you know I am committed to jeans, maybe more than I should be, so there are no pants shown here because I can tell you that when the readers show up at my apartment and I put them on for the first time I will be wearing jeans, either dark blue or white.

But when I take my ICU Eyewear readers out for a night on the town, this is what will join them!

Zara blazer, blouse and necklace by J. Crew.

I love this necklace in summer.

Since it’s late August, I’m thinking navy blue linen shirt, white blazer, sparkly necklace, and butter LONDON polish in Queen Vic, a great color as we begin the transition to fall. The blue readers will fit right in, don’t you think?

butter LONDON in Queen Vic.

Speaking of blue, I love this poster for the new movie Blue Jasmine. I can tell you I will be wearing the readers on my head a lot, just like Cate Blanchett is wearing her sunglasses in this photo.

I will wear the readers in my hair, like Cate wears her sunglasses!

(Completely unrelated side note, I saw this movie last week and Cate Blanchett will get an Oscar nod, and possibly a Best Actress Oscar, for her part in this film. She is that good.)

Another great set of readers from ICU Eyewear up for grabs. Tiger stripes go with everything!

The ICU Eyewear giveaway is still ongoing, through August 27, 2013. Vote on your favorite pair of readers (they have the Dr. Dean line for men and Wink for women) and find out instantly whether you won them! If not, you get a 40% off coupon for a pair of readers purchased from their website, good through October 1, 2013.

They are giving away 1,000 pairs so why not vote for your chance to win! Enter the giveaway here. One entry per email address. Good luck!

Thank you to ICU Eyewear for sponsoring this post.

Black Eyelet Skirt & London Blue Topaz Necklace

I am joined here by Heidi, my parents’ dachshund. I love that dog!

I was going to show this skirt for the “How I Wear My: Casual Party Outfit” post but have been so into my white jeans this summer that I decided to focus on them instead. My friend Ana of Mrs. American Made asked if I would share pictures of my eyelet skirt since she has been doing some sewing this summer and I told her I had made it. Hey Ana, this post is for you!

I have worn this outfit a few times, even to a child’s birthday party in July when I thought I better give my white jeans a rest. I have been seeing eyelet everywhere this summer, in skirts, dresses, and blouses and I still love it. I have a feeling it will be around next summer too.

After my white jeans, this is my favorite outfit this summer.

Shown here with a pale slip underneath.

I specifically didn’t line the skirt so I could wear it with a pale slip. The wonderful Terri at RAGS Against the Machine sent me a gorgeous blue slip she thrifted to wear underneath the skirt and I love the effect. It can be hard to see in photographs but it is a lovely combination of black and blue, one of my favorites. Thank you, Terri!

Under the eyelet is a blue slip, a gift from Terri of RAGS Against the Machine.

Oh do I love this necklace by my friend Nerida, who sells them at Duchessa Jewels.

The necklace is by Nerida of Duchessa Jewels. My mother owns two of her necklaces and this London Blue Topaz is my favorite. Nerida, like me, was obsessed by Anna Wintour’s collet necklaces, took advantage of her location in Hong Kong to find a manufacturer to make similar ones (without that pesky thousands-of-dollars price tag that Anna’s cost, being original Georgian collet necklaces!), and sells them at Duchessa Jewels. Do pay her a visit, either at her jewelry site or her blog Art For Interiors. She has a great eye and loves pattern, bold color, and big jewelry!

Gazing off into the middle distance, Heidi is ready for her close up!

Since I was wearing all black, it seemed appropriate that Heidi, my parents’ dachshund, got into the pictures with me. With her silky black coat with touches of bronze, her penchant for barbecue (bits of which I feed her on the sly) and getting into trouble, this is a dog after my own heart.

Have you been wearing eyelet this summer? Or big sparkly necklaces?

Do you love a dachshund like I do?

Attempting to join Patti’s Visible Monday party over at Not Dead Yet Style for the first time!

Wink by ICU Eyewear

Sweets, confetti, and cute readers from Wink by ICU Eyewear. Count me in!

Earlier this year, at her impromptu Oscar-watching party, a dear friend of mine saw me holding out my phone to read a text and said, “You need readers.”

I said, “No I don’t.”

“Yes you do.” She smiled, took the pair off the top of her head, and handed them to me. I put them on.

Well.

The text (from my mother, if you’d like to know, and we were talking about how great Jane Fonda looked) became clearer and sharper, without my having to hold the phone out any further away from my eyes.

“Huh,” I said.

My friend gave me her I-told-you-so smile.

I love this blue geometric-patterned pair.

I didn’t rush out to buy a pair of readers, but I noticed at my local CVS that most of the readers they had are too strong for me (I only need a +1.00 at this stage) and they were all terribly boring in terms of style. They had black, brown, hot pink, frameless, and that was it.

My friend gave me her readers before she left on summer vacation with a new pair and I will admit, I’ve been using them more than I thought I would. Sometimes for texting, but you know when they are most helpful, when precision and clarity are even more important?

When tweezing eyebrows!

Since the readers I have are secondhand I am in the market for a new pair. So it was interesting timing that I heard from ICU Eyewear about their Wink readers for women. They are very affordable and there are lots of styles to choose from. Guys can get in on the act too with the Dr. Dean line. I don’t have any hang-ups about wearing glasses—if I need them, I need them. To me a pair of readers (or several) would be just another accessory where I can have a bit of fun with the style or colors.

So in that respect, Wink by ICU Eyewear has turned my head!

Here, kitty kitty. These make me think of tiger stripes. So of course I love them.

If you are in the market for readers too, give ICU Eyewear a look! Even better, vote on your favorite pair, and you might just win them for free! ICU Eyewear is giving away 1,000 pairs of reading glasses from both the Dr. Dean and Wink collections.

I am also digging these with the flowers.

Enter the Read In Style Giveaway here. One entry per email address. You can enter through August 27, 2013.

Good luck and let me know if you win a pair!

Thank you to ICU Eyewear for sponsoring this post!

Last Call: PUNK: Chaos to Couture

A 2009-2010 Alexander McQueen coatdress of black synthetic materials. Look at that tailoring!

Today, oddly, is the last day to view the exhibit PUNK: Chaos to Couture at the Met. I don’t know why they decided to close it on a Wednesday, but they must have their reasons. I wonder if the Met has had better attendance numbers with this exhibit than last year’s Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations. I think it will be a long time—if ever—before they can repeat the runaway success of Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.

Speaking of McQueen, my favorite pieces in the punk exhibit had to be his dresses made to look as if they were sewn out of black bubble wrap and garbage bags. I’m still dying of love when I see them.

These dresses were some of the last McQueen designed.

If you made it to this exhibit, let me know what you thought of it!

I will be very curious what next year’s Costume Institute exhibit will be. I hope they will focus on something a little more historical than punk. How about you?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
New York NY 10028
Now open on Mondays!

It All Started With a Missoni Cardigan

The sweater that started it all!

Adrienne of The Rich Life (on a budget) and I decided to start a Facebook page, and Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts devoted to our “How I Wear My” series, which we began nearly two years ago on a whim when we discovered that we had each purchased the same Missoni for Target cardigan.

I still love to wear this cardigan in fall.

Nearly two years’ worth of fun, fabulous, and stylish monthly posts later, featuring all you fine foxes out there who join us for our different themes, and I have to say, “How I Wear My” has been one of the most satisfying things I have ever done in terms of the people I’ve met, the things I’ve learned, and the inspiration I get with each post!

I still love the way Adrienne styled this. Yes to white jeans and Louis Vuitton bag!

Won’t you come like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and check us out on Instagram and Pinterest? And then please start looking through your closet—or checking out the sales!—and put together a look for “How I Wear My: Neon” for September. You know it’ll be (crazy bright) fun!

Such a gorgeous shot!

Find “How I Wear My” at:

Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and Pinterest.

I Love a Wedding!

Dress by S.L. Fashions, shoes by Nina, necklace by J. Crew.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending—rather impromptu—the wedding of the daughter of family friends. I can’t remember the last time I went to a wedding and it’s been so long since I went to a formal event of any kind that I had to break the Shopping Ban to get a new dress. Thankfully the shopping gods were on my side because I found this dress on sale at Macy’s, it fit me perfectly, it was the last one, and I had a pair of shoes that went with it that I actually bought two years ago and have never worn!

Unfortunately, I am in Virginia right now and said shoes were back in New York. My husband kindly sent them to me via UPS and I was all set.

My mother and I drove five hours to get to the wedding. Damn that DC traffic!We literally pulled into the parking lot three minutes before the ceremony was about to start, ran into the country club, threw on our dresses in the ladies’ room, ditched our street clothes in the coat room, and hurried to the hall where the vows were to take place! The ceremony was delayed about 15 minutes, so hallelujah—we made it!

My mother wore a periwinkle lace dress and strappy silver sandals.

This dress was thankfully quick to put on!

A detail of the skirt. I love ribbon roses and embroidery!

This baby Chanel bag is great for special occasions.

The fashion gods were also on my side because getting ready for the wedding was easier than getting dressed on any given day—I put on the dress and shoes and I was done.

I wore my J. Crew necklace—I have been wearing this necklace a lot, I didn’t realize I would love it this much and it goes with everything!—and carried my baby Chanel bag. The shoes are by Nina and I got them at DSW. If you ever need evening or bridal shoes, I highly recommend this brand—elegant designs, great prices (these were about $50 two years ago), and fairly comfortable as well.

Black satin peep-toe pumps by Nina.

One of the bridesmaids handed me her lovely bouquet as I was leaving. How wonderful!

I never get tired of white and pink roses (or carnations and hydrangeas).

Marriage is not easy, I will be the first to tell you, but it is still very sweet to see two people so crazy about each other, in beautiful clothes, surrounded by family and friends, celebrating their love for one another, and making a commitment to it as they begin their life together. It still touches my heart. I wish Hillary and Darren all the best!

The newlyweds!

Have you attended a wedding this summer?