Gone are the days of dainty purses and miniscule wallets. They’re fine for special events, sure, but for everyday use, it looks like women are turning to real bags. Huge bags. The kind of bag into which you fit half your life- and then never find it again. Giant black holes slung on our shoulders sucking in every stray business card, matchbook, and penny that cross their paths.

At one time Big Bags were strictly for use by mommies, to carry Bandaids and nail clippers and tissues and lip balm and the million-and-one other things that kids may require on a daily basis.

Now my own Big Bag is stocked with Bandaids and nail clippers and tissues and lip balm, and I definitely have zero children in tow. The bottom is littered with old receipts, seven pens and gum wrappers. My Metrocards are slipping between the pages of my three notepads and my laptop is a constant companion. There’s even a hardcover copy of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen somewhere in there. My iPod headphones are tangled up in my cell phone charger. Every credit card I’ve ever owned is jammed into my wallet that contains no cash. Three lipsticks are rolling around stuck inside of the lining.

Sound familiar? Read More »

I was invited to an All White Boat Party a few weeks back. It was mandatory to wear white, head to toe, to this club-like cruise around Manhattan. So, right away, my first thoughts were: what am I going to wear?!

After shopping for what felt like days, I settled on this adorable two piece set; a pair of fitted, white capri’s with rhinestones on the pockets and a white t-back scoop tank that made my boobs look ferosh.

When we packed on the bus to head into the city, more than 50 people piled on in all different white outfits. The guys were lookin’ dapper in their white linen pants and crisp white button downs. The girls were looking…erm…well, let’s just say that I was the only one dressed, classy, yet sexy.

Most girls were wearing see through, skin tight, mini-dresses. One chick was wearing a sparkled bra from Victoria’s Secret as a shirt. No jacket. No cover up. No lie.

One girl’s dress was so low (like, I could see her belly button low) that we all got a nice glimpse of her nipple.

Again, no lie. Read More »

I love Target. I get all my work clothes from there, plus all the generic little add-ons to my play clothes. I mean, is there anyone out there who isn’t obsessed with this store? So, when I took my weekly shopping trip there this weekend, I was totally stoked to see the newest addition to the Go International line!

I skipped through the aisles. I danced to the dressing room. I filled my cart with every last piece of the line from Richard Chai. His collection features clothes that range from business casual to Plain Jane casual. Chai’s fun yet subtle use of color runs throughout the line, while he still maintains a more sophisticated air than you would expect from a line at Target.

But, while this line has many good things to offer (the colors are fun without being over the top, most of the looks classic), it just fell short for me. (I know, I was surprised too!) A lot of the clothes felt a little too old and the cuts of the shirts made me feel shapeless. It also seriously lacked a fun and flirty side that previous Go collections flaunted. The summer line, for example, was all about, “Look at me! I’m flirty and sophisticated! Wouldn’t this outfit look great with a margarita?” Read More »

Let’s face it, when you’re a college chic on a budget it’s hard enough to afford the actual fashion and celeb magazines (what are they these days $4.95?), let alone the glorious, “I will be poor for the rest of my life if I actually buy that” fashions that are inside.

It’s like that boy you love that you know has a girlfriend and yet you flirt with him anyways…a major tease that you knowingly setting yourself up for disappointment only to be left without the boy (or in this case, Jimmy Choo’s).

So what’s a girl on a major budget to do (aside from salivating all over this month’s Vogue)?

Consider me your new best friend (or personal shopper). Your own Rachel Zoe, if you will. Each week, I’ll take a new celeb or couture look and do all the leg work for you. I’ll find a similar style on a real girl’s budget. Now all you have to do is order it, throw it on and go.

This Week: Jessica Simpson’s Red Wrap Dress

Red Wrap Dress from Victoria’s Secret. A wrap dress is such a great wardrobe staple. This one is a little bit of a longer sleeve than the one Jessica is wearing, which is a great piece to take you from summer to fall. Wear it now with a wedge and in October with tights and a great boot… and if red isn’t your color, it comes in Black and Blue too! Read More »

Purple is in right now. I first caught wind of this when my friend was bemoaning the fact that eggplant purple is trendy and that every girl who wears it looks like Barney. However, when we went shopping the next day she tried on a purple top and looked made her look more like Barbie than Barney. She broke down and fell for the color like a supermodel on a slippery runway.

I started seeing it more, especially when I went shopping with my boyfriend. “Shopping” as in we walked around looking at things we couldn’t afford. Purple everywhere! Purple Dior shoes, Armani dresses, Louis bags. Stupid college budget.

Purple is super trendy right now, and though it may be pink’s retarded cousin, it does looks pretty damn hot. So, here are some of the cutest purple finds for the fall, to be worn with feistiness. Read More »

Ah, 90210. I remember sitting on my couch in middle school, my legging-clad legs propped up on the coffee table and my boys size extra small plaid shirt tied to one side around my waist, watching every episode religiously. I mean, these kids were so cool and had such dramatic lives and how awesome was it that they got to go to school by the beach?! I loved everyone, except Donna — who was whiny and had horrible fashion sense — and often dreamed that my high school experience would be full of ex-boyfriends, accidental drug overdoses, trips to Paris, and constant sexual tension.

Sadly, reality isn’t half as fun as fiction. But happily, 90210 is coming BACK to prime time TV later on this year! The promos and whispers have finally begun to surface, and one interesting (but I mean, how are the two related?) tie-in with the 90210 resurgence is OPI nail polish. Apparently, OPI is bringing out a “90210 inspired collection” of polish colors with names inspired by either the new cast or the old one — we’re not sure which.

It’ll be interesting to see how a company ties in nail polish to a series, but I’m sure today’s consumer culture will not disappoint. If, however, they try to make a color that has to do with Donna — stay the eff away. It will look ugly, and quite possibly make people suddenly decide you’re too annoying to live.

[Editor’s Note: check out the Mom Jeans on every single cast member in the above pic. PRICELESS]

I. Love. Plaid.

I don’t know what it is about that winsome pattern, but I can’t get enough.

I suspect it has something to do with the years I spent looking at fashion magazines with my mother. Every September, from the time I was 11 until I was 17, my mom would come home with a copy of the Seventeen: Back To School issue. And we devoured that sh*t.

And for some reason, every September without fail, that magazine would be busting at the seams with plaid. Plaid dresses, plaid shirts, plaid fricking socks–is plaid in every fall? The answer, my friends, is yes.

I don’t read Seventeen’s Back to School issue anymore (although my mother still does), but plaid don’t fade and neither do my love.

So here, for your viewing pleasure, is the creme of the crop of this season’s fall plaids. Pair with otherwise simple pieces, a smile, and a nostalgia that time will never defeat. Ahhhh. Plaid. Read More »

I love fashion. I even love everything that is just soo ridiculous about fashion. Like how sweaters are in store windows in July and bathing suits in January. Or how friends will tease you for buying into a trend that “is so ugly it makes me want to vomit all over you” only to be wearing it three months later (while you have already moved on to something else -that they want to “vomit all over” -all over again).

Or how magazines will spend an entire season convincing you to get rid of your wide-legs because “Skinny is here to stay!” and then four months later, all you see in the same magazine are super-duper-I could fit 5 kegs in here-wide legs that are a “Must Have” for the upcoming season… “Wide legs are here to stay!” Riiiight.

And I even love what is perhaps, the most ridiculous concept about fashion: nothing is really ever all that original. Sure Marc Jacobs (whom I adore and would date if he wasn’t on another team) makes Flannel look effortlessly chic- but at the same time, my brothers wore plaid flannels in high school along with Doc Martens and their Walkman clipped inside their Z. Cavaricci’s (ah the 90’s….).

I’m usually all for fashion comebacks. Since I’m a vintage junkie, I will jump at the chance to wear something that was once the IT style. Partly because I’m a sappy nostalgic- I love the idea of wearing bell bottoms and imagining what my life would have been like had I grown up in the 70’s. I like to give fashion the benefit of the doubt. I enjoy playing dressup. I do believe that a flannel top could be cute. And aside from the recent seasons of awful Maternity wear, I usually look forward to the “New” (recycled) trends coming out each season- wondering what era will be in this year. Read More »

This could be the fiercest Thursday since the morning after Christian Siriano took the top honor on the last season of Project Runway. Yes, my friends, today is the day that the Hot Tranny Mess of a designer launches his line on Bluefly.com!

I have been waiting a long time for this day, but after looking at his designs I realize that I am not quite sure what I was waiting for. The stuff is beautiful, don’t get me wrong; the detailing is intricate and interesting, the line is extremely diverse considering the lack of color and it all looks incredibly well made. It’s just that, well, it’s not like I can fit into that sh*t. You know, cuz I have more than 2% body fat.

Oh, and I don’t have an extra $10,000 lying around to spend on skirts and jackets.

But, even if Posh Spice is the only person who can afford/fit into this line, Little Siriano sure didn’t dissapoint. This kid has SERIOUS talent and I can’t wait for him to start designing for Target (do it, Christian. DO IT!).

Judge for yourself below: Read More »

When I was 12 I had thick bangs, giant braces and a wardrobe that consisted of my brothers’ yellow-crusted-arm-pitted-hand-me-downs. I wore Umbros – one leg green, one leg purple – and maroon reverse fit jeans (read: mom jeans). I thought I was super stylish when I threw on one of my brother’s flannel button downs…and only buttoned the middle one!

I realize times have changed and fashion is a lot more accessible to the youngsters, but this girl is really making me feel like sh*t. Even now. And I really love my wardrobe. Or, I did, until I started seeing hers.

I don’t really know who this chicadee is and I totally question who is really behind the writing of this blog (because there is no way in hell a 12 year old could write this way….and if she can, I hate her even more), but none of that really matters. This little fashionista clearly exists…and obviously does so just to make us normal people feel bad about ourselves.

The whole thing is just crazy. She struts her chic NYC style down the hallways of her middle school. She rocks vintage frocks as she jumps the swings on the playground. And she can rock a look like this without looking totally ridiculous. Read More »