Category — Fashionista / Wannabista

Bonjour de Paris!

Yes, you can go home again. Today I’m faire du lèche-vitrines (window shopping) on Passy, my old neighborhood in Paris as it’s a national holiday in France (Pentecost). Most of the stores are open today, but not Carel on Passy at Mozart.

So I’m gazing in the window at this fab white raincape without a price, wistfully sucking down my frappuccino from the Starbucks at Passy Plaza. I’ll be back…

Moi tip: In addition to great shops, Passy Plaza offers free wifi!

Friday I made a field trip to Chelsea to personally check-out the much hyped Limelight Marketplace: a former Episcopal church turned trendy and exclusive Gothic nightclub, now reincarnated as a bubble-gum bright and squeaky clean mini-mall whose doors are open to everyone. Calling themselves New York’s Festival of Shops, squeaky clean is definitely the image they’re trying to project.

All the PR is paying off: open just  a week, and Limelight was packed with trendy New Yorkers and tourists.

Limelight definitely has the cool factor: the developers kept many of the original architectural details: stained glass windows, swooping stone archways, dark and hidden stairways. [Read more →]

Mother’s Day is Sunday…Moi has a few shopping ideas for the special Mom or Grandmom or Fairy GodMom in your life.

Breakfast in bed or on the terrace will be extra sweet with Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves…just like Grandma used to make.

This heart-shaped Quimper dish will remind her every day of how much you care.  Hand-painted and signed, at $42 it’s a collector’s item she’ll treasure.

Your favorite Yummy Mummy will love these books that poke a bit of humor at the world of motherhood…and have conveniently short chapters for the busy mommy. Moi fave to gift is Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonay. $10.07 at Amazon, and they guarantee delivery by Sunday!

Louis Vuitton European City Guide 2010 is the chic Mom’s insider guide to 31 European cities. Whether she’s crossing the Atlantic soon, or indulging in some arm-chair travels, she’ll love to discover the over 2000 insiders’ tips to traveling in style. $130 for this boxed set of 9 soft-back books. Available in LV stores or on-line. Moi tip: this set will look tres chic just sitting on her bookshelf!

Trendy Mom will love one of the funky iPhone 3G covers by Kate Spade. She’s fun, she’s practical, and she’ll love how slim this iPhone case is, and how easy to find in the bottom of her bag! At $35 with free shipping, you can’t go wrong!

And for the Mom who’s hard to shop for, gift her a special treat from Treasures Online Brocante by The Antiques Diva. A Chanel bracelet, an 18th Century blue and white Delft tile, a vintage Moët et Chandon champagne bucket: whatever you choose, shopping with The Antiques Diva is sure to please!

Moi son M sent me an email with this title a couple weeks ago (surely you didn’t think it was his mom who could work such crafty magic!) And in honor of Earth Day here’s my going green tip:

Apparently this woman and her son have a recycling fashion business: she takes your old castoff sweaters and reknits them into something fabulous. Who knew? (I think the son’s job is to update the website : ).

At $30 per reknit it seems to be working: Reknit limits to only 30 orders per month, and sold out early in April. After all he only has one mom.

This is a brand-new venture, just getting started in January. In the past few months his mom has reknit new sweaters, hats, scarves and socks. You can even vote on what next months’ reknit will be: baby bib, thong (I don’t want to know), sweatbands and dog sweaters. I can see Mignette wearing one of Moi old reknit Christmas sweaters: how cool is that?

Moi note: don’t you just love mother / son collaborations? Reknit is my new fave, I love the upcoming CookieBar by Dorie Greenspan and son Josh. Do you have any mother / son collaborations to share?

We’re back in SoFlo, grabbing some sunshine and palm trees to escape the NYC monsoons. First stop, Furst in Delray Beach. Sacre Bleu: they’re gone! A little investigation and desperation later, we discovered Furst just moved up the block, and are still in business. And had a sale going on!

An hour later, this shiny red bag belonged to Moi!

We discovered Ronald and Flavie Furst several years ago, at their Delray Beach shop. I experienced a bit of déjà vu when I entered the shop, then realized I had seen similar handmade, one-of-a-kind bags in some of my favorite shops in NYC: Furst had a store there for years, and his bags are still carried in NYC boutiques. I liked the bags because:

• they’re practical: light weight, multi-functional straps, weatherproof
• they’re unique: the color combinations, style and flexibility are stand-outs
• they’re affordable: typically $200-400 with great sales!

[Read more →]

…it was time to move in…

TBG, Mignette and I flew to Florida on a cold November morning to close on our new condo, and a couple days later, accept delivery of our scarily huge shipment of household soup-to-nuts that had been in storage up North for over 6 years. We brought a couple suitcases of summer clothes, and purchased a blow-up mattress to use until our shipment arrived. We had 10 days vacation to get organized and settled, before we had to return to Europe. As we landed at the Palm Beach airport, we waited at the baggage carousel for our new life to begin.

And waited, and waited. Moi bag did not arrive. As we prepared to head over to the claims department and try and track down my missing suitcase, TBG suddently realized he knew where the bag was: in the trunk of our car, parked at LaGuardia airport in New York City. Most of the bags had fit into our back seat, but my extra-large suitcase was stuffed into the trunk. Mignette was my carry-on. I had not one item of clothing, nor cosmetics, no books: nothing. (But TBG had both his carry-on and his suitcase, and his briefcase; even Mignette had everything she needed for the next 48 hours). Dilmena.

[Read more →]

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