Category — Fashionista / Wannabista

Namaste!

She’s Shopping India:
In this colorful country nothing catches the eye more than the colorful, flowing, feminine sarees worn by Indian women. Though a relatively new fashion, sarees were adopted by women across this vast country, and are still the typical everyday uniform of woman of all ages, social classes, and incomes.

Wafting in the breeze on the back of a motorcycle, slipping the sash over their face to protect them from prying eyes, a dozen hanging over a tree branch drying in the afternoon sun, gracefully lifted to climb the steep temple stairs: you simply can’t help but notice a saree.

Pink and gold paisley, red heavily embroidered with flashing mirrors, yellow and blue with sequins, green sofly woven with coral and white flowers: Moi had to have one, or two.

Off to one of the many fabric shops to select a saree. I don’t plan to ever wear a saree. The 6 yard saree material includes a coordinating section of fabric, enough to make a matching fitted t-shirt that is worn under the saree. Or the same saree can be made into a set of panjabi, a matching shirt and pants outfit that is also frequently worn as it is easier to wear, and considered more modern.

Ranging from a silk acrylic blend to printed cottons to hand embroidered silk crepe to jewel-encrusted hand-woven silks, a saree can cost less than $20 to thousands of dollars. And one of the many tailor shops can customize your saree into a custom fit shirt or pants, or whatever else you might choose.

In Moi suitcase are two sarees for gifts, one saree I will use as a curtain in SoFlo, and 4 shirts and one panjabi bottom custom made from sarees I selected. Sewing them up is very inexpensive, typically around 150 rupees ($3) and can be completed in a few hours or overnight and delivered to your hotel.

Moi tip: different regions of India specialize in different styles of sarees. If you love a soft pastel paisley pattern surrounding you in Varanassi, don’t assume it is available in Jaipur where the local custom might dictate bold colors and patterns.

Namaste!

She’s Shopping India:
Traveling in foreign and exotic locations often tempts us into luxury purchases we might not have made at home. Mexico is famous for it’s gold and silver. Amsterdam for diamonds. And India for precious and semi-precious stones: rubies and emeralds and sapphires, oh my!

Just because you’re away from home and the safety of the family jeweler (ok, Moi doesn’t have one either, but it sounds so luxurious!) doesn’t mean you have to be taken in by every jewelry con man. Moi is lucky enough to be traveling through India with a woman intent on purchasing a few bejeweled momentos: and this lady travels with her own loup!

She’s not a gemologist, but Moi did learn a few tips on buying stones:

- travel with a loup. Or borrow the jeweler’s.

- check the stone for carbon spots: little black dots that are natural to real stones. Carbon spots are a good thing to prove the stones are real, but you don’t want too many in a stone. Red spots are also natural, but too many red spots are also bad.

- real stones are dense, not porous. You can usually see clearly through colored glass. Real precious stones: diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, will be more cloudy, with shades of color from their facets. Verify they are not dyed stones, or that semi-precious stones are not real stone dust mixed with glue.

- don’t immediately walk in and announce your price limit. When you find a stone you like, ask to see a less expensive and a more expensive piece. Then ask the jeweler to explain what makes the expensive piece more valuable.

- ask for a certificate of authenticity, detailing exactly what you are purchasing.

- and if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Even though in most shops you can haggle the price down 40-60%, you can’t buy something wonderful for nothing.

If you don’t know your stones and aren’t comfortable haggling, go to one of the government approved Cottage Industries. They’re in major cities throughout India. They sell everything from jewelry to pashminas to sarees to tea to marble tables to swords and daggers…and everything in between.

Prices are fixed, but there is an honored guarantee. You get what you paid for, or you can return it. Although you can’t haggle down the price, don’t be afraid to ask for a discount: if you’re buying 2 rings and a necklace, ask for their best price. If you’re gifting all your friends with pashminas, consider 5 and ask for the 6th free. You might get lucky! A 10-15% discount just for asking is very typical.

India is a land of hospitality, and our hosts want their guests to be happy.

Moi tip: if you’re thinking of buying real stones on vacation, do your homework: check out prices and quality before you go.

Namaste from India!

She’s Shopping India:
Pashmina scarves are a classic accessory to add a burst of color to your coat, a little warmth to your neck or some style to your ensemble.

Pashmina is the type of wool found on the throat, chin, face and underbelly of adult and baby mountain goats in the Kashmir Provinces. The finer the pashmina, the lighter, softer and more expensive the scarf. 100% pure pashmina is the most expensive and warmest scarf, so soft and fine you can pull it through a wedding band.

Pashmina has become almost a generic term for any wool blend scarf, regardless if it’s 100% acrylic or 100% pashmina. Whether you’re buying at a bazaar in Jaipur for $200, or a street corner in New York City at 4 for $20, or at Macy’s in Chicago for $55, you want to get what you’re paying for.

If you’re paying 4/$20, it’s a pretty sure thing you’re buying 100% acrylic. But if you’re paying $55 and the tag promises 80% pashmina, 20% silk (most “pashminas” are a pashmina wool/silk blend), how can you be sure it’s not acrylic?

India has introduced Moi to the pashmina fire drill:

- When shopping for pashminas, bring matches

- light one strand of the pashmina fringe with a match

- immediately extinguish the strand with your thumb and pointer finger

If it smells like burning rubber and there is a black sooty streak on your thumb and finger, it’s an acrylic blend. Burning silk smells like burning hair, and doesn’t leave any soot.

Moi tip: any reputable pashmina dealer in India will respect you for performing the fire drill. Macy’s will probably arrest you.

Moi is hard at work shopping the bazaars of India, researching exotic shopping tips to share with you. Until you get Moi first India road trip report, here are some ideas on wearing your memories as jewelry that Moi recently shared with The Antiques Diva:

Souvenirs de la Reine

Moi attended a black tie at the Waldorf last week (I like to keep mentioning that…it makes me happy!) and one of Moi table companions was an UES Mom who was lamenting the problems of tracking down some cute Little Bit togs by Stella McCartney for GapKids and BabyGap.  As I wasn’t in Little Bit shopping mode at that particular moment (my delectable trio des chocolats was being served) I sort of drifted through her trials, until I realized that the problem was this collection is in short supply!

Just arriving in Gap stores last week perfectly timed for the holiday season, not every store carries the Stella GapKids collection: it’s only in select stores, in limited quantities. How’s that for creating demand:  designer to the stars (Stella McCartney is regularly seen on gal-pals Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore, and Madonna), young mother of 3, environmentalist, celebrity since birth (surely you’ve heard of Paul McCartney hint: Beatles! and wife Linda hint: animal rights activist and vegetarian cookbook author) and lots of PR in all the fashion and celebrity mags!

The collection follows the designer’s aesthetics:

• mini-me, of the moment styling with leggings, military jackets, winter shorts, hi-tops and hoodies
• vegetarian and organic conviction: no leather or fur products
• high-moderate prices starting at $14 for leggings up to $98 for jackets and dresses

On-line or or at a Gap store near you…if you’re lucky! Better hurry, this stuff is too cute and Mommies everywhere will be snatching it up…rumour has it Angelina has already stocked up!

Lucky Moi can combine her passions for antiquing, shopping and gift-giving this weekend in NYC… and so can you! With over 500 dealers, two days may not be enough time to lose yourself in the fun, outrageous and unique vintage stuff being displayed and offered for sale. Jewelry, furniture, artwork, collectibles, toys, books: you can shop for everyone from Grandpa to baby K to your BFF and not worry about giving duplicates. And very possibly get a great bargain while you’re at it!

At this type of show I can easily entertain myself for hours: I can go down the same row but from the opposite direction and find all new wonders to admire and inquire about. And TBG was totally engrossed in a booth specializing in vintage college sports gear: who knew?

Need a hostess gift? Maybe the set of 6 bronze metal napkin rings I saw last year. Nephew is a sci fi fan? How about a Star Trek poster or figurine. Mom is a great cook? What about that out-of-print cookbook. Your daughter is addicted to Mad Men? Check out that Bakelite bracelet. Just be sure to bring your gift list…and credit cards.

If you’re searching for a special gift for someone, this is where to start. And the show’s promoters have come up with another angle to entice you to buy:

Be Green – Buy Vintage

The Pier Antiques Show is Saturday and Sunday, November 14 and 15, at Pier 94 in NYC (near the cruise ship docks on the Hudson). Admission $15: but check online and in the paper for reduced admission coupons.

While you’re at the show, don’t miss Fashion Alley, a vintage fashion market that boasts Hot Shopping: Unique, Fabulous and Affordable. Also at Pier 94 this show features clothes, jewelry, handbags and accessories. My visit last year hand me torn between Hermès scarves and Chanel bags, while TBG spent his time searching out classic cufflinks and moneyclips.

But don’t worry, there’s plenty that’s very affordable, and dealers negotiate: they need to make sales! But maybe bring your checkbook and credit cards, just in case!

See you at Pier 94!

On my fast-paced walk down Columbus Ave, Moi once again stopped to admire a gorgeously arranged display window: sexy and chic and very feminine, I’d often admired Only Hearts, but never ventured inside. Somehow, the skeptical back of my brain told me that this store must sell coffee cups and key chains emblazoned with heart logos, but my eyes finally convinced me to enter.

First several vintage kimonos caught my eye…then a display case filled with vintage and faux vintage jewels…and bits of silky and ribbony lingerie…shoes and boots…dresses and blouses…candles and perfume, and bien sur, coffee mugs with heart logos. All organized like a somewhat messy but very chic walk-in closet: a closet Moi needed to investigate.

I was enchanted: why hadn’t I stopped at this new store already! To my complete surprise I was told Only Hearts had been on Columbus Ave over 20 years, originally just down the street. And now there were locations not only on the Upper West Side and in SoHo, but in California and Rome…as in Italy! They even have an internet salesroom! Yes, its a very American store, but its sexy, romantic casual under-and-outer clothes has appeal beyond NYC.

On my first visit, I left with a new strapless bra to wear for an upcoming black tie night at the Waldorf Astoria (I’m excited, very old New York!) and a card filled with scribblings of items I want to check on my next visit, and maybe give TBG for his shopping list. Their website even boasts never-worn vintage lingerie: I need to check that out! More than eye candy, Only Hearts is affordable luxury.

Once I returned chez moi and checked out the Only Hearts website, I learned more about the store creator and lingerie designer Helena Stuart. I love her philosophy: I don’t want my clothes to age after one season. I believe in building a wardrobe, and I want my customer to be able to wear my clothes for years and not feel dated. I want her to look appealing, without giving too much away. As a woman I understand what fits a woman’s body, and I understand how to capture the male gaze.

Slow down, smell the roses: don’t just look at the windows, go on in and touch the hearts!

I love it when a chic trendy designer offers product at a lower price point when they’re hot…not when they’re on a downward spiral. Target is a master at this…every season they offer lower priced exclusives from some hot fashion and home designers.

This season Rachel Roy is taking it to the streets with her new line at Macy’s, Rachel Rachel Roy.  It’s a young NYC look that will definitely work it around the country, and has pieces that will work at any age. Affordable fun fashions by Rachel…what’s not to like?

swing jacket by Rachel Rachel Roy

I’m Shopping Now!

So you go green or are cutting expenses or you need some exercise: whatever the reason, you’re biking it. But you’re still a girlie-girl: and girlie girls have stuff.

And how’s a chic biker chick going to carry all that stuff while keeping both hands on her handlebars and not mess up her outfit?

biker chic bags by Po Campo

Chicago biker chics Maria and Emily are designing tres chic biker bags that attach to your handlebars or back wheel, and come in great colors and cool designs. Po Campo bags come in pretty-girl colors like pink and blue, and funky patterns too.  Fashionable and Functional: that’s they’re motto for these water-resistant and light-weight bags.

They’re sold at a dozen stores in  ChiTown, or on the internet if you’re not lucky enough to be a ChicChick. More stylish and practical biker chic designs coming soon.

Tres cool, tres practical!

We’ve had a long wet summer and Sunday both the temp dropped and the rains came: what I’d been dreading was facing me smack in the mirror: I needed to wear jeans.

The last 5 years have been crazy…7 moves, 2 of them international!  TBG lost both his parents. We built a new house, then sold it less than a year later. Locked out of moving into our new condo due to asbestos problems. 8 surgeries between us, including a quintuple bypass and the big C. What the hell is going on here!

Could it get any worse? Mai oui! In the drama, I gained 42 pounds. I managed to camouflage as best as I could, but going up 4 sizes in your ass isn’t easy to camouflage. The big shocker was having to buy a new spring skirt this April, and finding out I’d gone up another size.

So the last 6 months I’ve taken the pounds off, and I’m back in my old size. I’ve re-stocked my t’s, skirts, and dresses. But now, with the Fall weather creeping in, I needed new jeans. I never wore jeans last year, not once.  I started researching my options: nothing trendy or torn or frayed. No logos on the butt. No mom jeans or peeking cracks. And long enough for my 34″ inseams. Oh, and not too expensive while I’m dreaming!

What did I find?

• Gap’s 1969 line looked good and offered a variety of fits,  and was reasonably priced, and wouldn’t be too humiliating trying to figure out my size
• SheFinds.com says “a black wash…sexy and slimming…dark jeans can be worn casual or slimming”. Sounds promising
• O Mag listed great jeans for less than $65…what’s not to like?
• InStyle had an ultimate jeans guide which showed dozens of stars in jeans…and scared me to death!

But InStyle also had a suggestion that turned out to be my best jeans buying guide: Shop Your Closet

Through all those 7 moves,the most recent downsizing from a 4 bed 4000+ house to a small 2 bed 2 bath city apartment, I’d thrown away everything from books to records to clothes to dishes to linens to furniture, and stashed excess in 4 storage units in 3 different states. Sunday I managed to pull from the far corners of my cramped city closet 7 pairs of  jeans carefully chosen years ago that will see me through the next few months. I shopped:

• 2 pairs of Halogen, one dark blue, one black, button flys
  

  from my fave boutique

• 1 pair of DKNY, super casual but a little chic, a little too big but wearable
• 1 pair of white cords, which were too small when I bought them (but a great deal!)
• 1 pair of tan Dana Buchmans, still with the tags on … they’re out of business now!
• 1 pair of Gap faded blues 5 pockets, zip fly, slight flare. Classics
• 1 pair of Banana Republic black zip front straight legs khakis

All long, without tatters or embellishments or anything too young or too hip or too tight or too too.

I swear I didn’t know they were there. I was certain I’d thrown the painful reminders away before we moved here 18 months ago. But something about the InStyle article made me look in my closet Sunday morning, as the rain poured down and TBG waited for me to get ready to go see a movie. To the corners of my closet I can’t possible reach, on the top shelf where I needed a chair to squeeze myself up there, to pull down a stack of fabric from my past. To fearfully unfold them, slip them on, and zip them closed. They fit. No one could me more surprised, and happy, than Moi.

My tiny little closet. My favorite boutique.