Spring is officially here, but for those of us up north, it’s still pretty darn cold! It’s like we’re being taunted–cute summer dresses in the shops, bright colors are everywhere, but you’re still stuck in your winter wear. What to do?

Get yourself some tights!

Basic black tights (I usually get mine at Target) are perfect for wearing under those frilly summer dresses–just add a cute cardigan to keep your top half warm as well.

But tights don’t just come in black anymore–you can find a whole range of crazy colors (and patterns) at places like American Apparel, H&M and Urban Outfitters. Brightly colored tights look great peaking out from under your drab winter coat, or paired with your usual basic black/grey/brown winter dresses and sweaters.

So you don’t have to wait to buy that new flower-print halter dress you’ve been eying…just make sure to grab a pair of tights on your way to the register!

The Setting: an American Apparel store in Brooklyn
The Characters: 2 girls, about 13 years old, and me

And, scene:

I am waiting to try on some cropped cotton pants, which will be perfect for the new gym I joined.

“Ugh, this is SO tight, I look SO fat!” says one 13 year old girl. She and her friend are occupying the only dressing rooms.

She emerges, in a backless leotard and a skin-tight mini skirt.

Her friend emerges as well, in gold lame hot pants.

“No, you look cute! I like it!”

“But like, you can see my back.”

“Yeah but it’s so cute! My ass looks huge in these,” she says, as they stand in the open dressing room, preening and posing in front of the harshly lit mirror. I am still waiting, but they don’t seem to notice, instead gazing like Narcissus at the river. How inappropriate, I think, that 13-year-old girls are trying on gold lame hot pants. Then I look around and see the life-sized photographs of underage models staring down at me. They look drugged out. They are overly sexualized. Suddenly I don’t want the pants anymore. I throw them down and leave. Read More »

This afternoon at approximately 3 p.m. EST, I fell out of love with the Internet.

Our love affair began about ten years ago, when I was roughly ten years old and in the fourth grade. It was a rather blissful decade: I was exposed to the wonders of AOL Instant Messenger in 7th grade, the social networking phenom MySpace in high school (that inspired me to not only chop off all my hair but also get my lip, eyebrow and nose pierced!) and became obsessed with the world of Facebook once I hit college.

But today, I finally realized what a huge pain in the ass the Internet really is. Read More »

I may not be one of those girls who are into labels, but I am the kind of girl who is into bags.

Call me stereotypical, but I love getting a new bag, a new pair of shoes, a new wallet. And for a deal? And online? Pinch me!

KateSpade.com is currently in the throes of an amazing online sample sale where you can snag anything from a new purse to a new diaper bag (hey, I don’t judge…) for up to 60% off of the retail price. And they aren’t offering up bottom of the barrel duds either.

Everything they are offering seems to be top-notch and, to this shopper who is more H&M than D&G, it’s all beautiful but not stuffy.

Some of the best pieces are found in the handbag section.

This animal print bag is small enough to carry without feeling overloaded and packs enough punch to add some spice to an otherwise simple outfit. And the Hudson bag? It’s so chic and simple that it’s an investment worth making! And at more than half off…now’s the time!

Quantity is limited so scrounge up some cash and get on it! Online sample sales are few and far between so you better take advantage of this pre-holiday convenience, ladies! Read More »

I was on the phone with my friend MK last night and I was like: “MK, Did you SEE Gossip Girl last week?”

And she was like: “Oh my God, Lauren. I’m totes obsessed.”

And I was like, “Obvs, MK! The horrible acting, the great music (anybody else catch Peter, Bjorn and John in the first scene?), the awesome clothes, what’s NOT to love??”

We clearly share a mutual love for all things fashion and all things cheesy teen television, which is why I was so excited about to let MK in on my little Gossip Girl fashion secret:

There is now an online Gossip Girl store.

Not that I would buy (or could afford) Serena’s $450 dollar Tory Burch sequin dress that she wore on her date with Dan, but unlike poor little me, these characters have stylists.

And obvs, they’re much better than raisin-faced Rachel Zoe.

The best part about fashion is the way the individual pieces are mixed. And although I consider myself fashion forward, sometimes I don’t know how the hell to spice up a great piece. I usually just throw on something lowbrow and have all-together missed an opportunity to show my personality by mixing and matching pieces I wouldn’t necessarily expect.

Which is why I was taken by the styles on Gossip Girl in the first place. If you weren’t obsessed with Serena’s gold dress cum cropped jean jacket and black tights ensemble, you, my friend have got problems. It was fab. Check out the Gossip Girl Fashion Gallery after the jump! Read More »

MTV has gone above and beyond lame by giving Lauren Conrad her own fashion line—and making it expensive as hell.

The annoying blond from The Hills (doesn’t narrow it down at all, does it?) has been an intern at Teen Vogue for a while, and I guess after two years of licking envelopes and putting dresses back on hangers, MTV decided she had enough training to put out her own line of boring, expensive crap.

Looking like stuff you could pick up at Forever 21 or H&M for $20, Conrad’s designs (named after herself. How imaginative) range from an $85 to $150 dollars, totally slamming the door on any of her teenage fans who don’t have their parents credit card handy.

After clicking through the small array of rayon shirts and dresses (and a headscarf that costs $25.00), I can’t decide which pisses me off more; the fact that MTV has become so obsessed with money that it no longer applies to normal people, or the fact that girls will actually buy expensive stuff designed by a chick who has no official training whatsoever.

All I’m saying is, if I’m going to buy something that’s almost 90% rayon, I’ll push past the 10-year-olds to the Wet Seal at my neighborhood mall.

Check out the entire Lauren Conrad Collection after the jump! Read More »

As much as I love a great outfit, I’ve never really loved the process of shopping. Especially living in New Jersey, shopping can be a tedious day of avoiding teenybopper mallrats, parking lot rage, and bad dressing room lighting.

It seems though, despite my lack of love for the sport of shopping, somewhere along the line, I have become a bag lady.

After reading that the average woman owns 111 bags in her lifetime, I decided to survey my own collection. And for someone that’s not crazy about shopping, I have a crazy collection of purses.

I currently have 37 bags in my possession. From clutches to oversize totes, bright red to basic black, I can pay off a good chunk of my student loans if I opened up a used bag boutique.

Out of the 37, I only regularly wear a handful and have never even touched a few of them after buying them. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t own any fancy (read: hideous) designer bags; most of my totes come from H&M and flea markets. My current favorite, a bright red leather oversize bag was gleefully excavated from a table full of bags at a Pennsylvania flea market. For $2.50. Seriously. I carry a purse that costs less than a Happy Meal. Read More »

At least Britney Spears is an inspiration to someone.

TMZ has posted a video of artist Ryan Crotty’s alarming “installation” which was based off of the life of everyone’s favorite trainwreck.

Basically a baby doll being force-fed a Pepsi with it’s hand shoved into a bag of Cheetos, Crotty’s art was paraded down the streets of Los Angeles and –thank God– it was all captured by TMZ.

I want to hate on this “artist” so badly, you guys. You have no idea. With his dated “trendy” neckerchief and stupid oversized glasses, he looks no different than any East Village hipster (what’s the LA equivalent? Anyone?).

You know he’s a Perez-reading, VH1-watching, beer guzzling (probably only Pabst, though) dude…except he’s a “creative”-type.

You know what I mean. He shops at H&M and answers to no one!

Ugh. Spare me. This is art? This is what inspires the masses? This is the best we can do?

Either way, can we all agree that with this mockery of art, Britney has officially jumped the shark? Okay, so she’s a bad mother. Kevin Federline is suing her. She’s a crack-pot with bad taste in…everything. Read More »

I noticed this trend FOREVER ago, but didn’t want to say anything in hopes that everyone else wouldn’t notice. Because, well, I really want one.

I really, really want a straw fedora and I can’t for the life of me find one again. I saw one, a month ago at H&M and should have bought it but at the time didn’t even have the seven bucks. So sad.

Now that the trend has made it to the pages of People, I guess I can now openly talk about my love for the fedora because it’s obvious that they are everywhere. And even though everybody is doing it, I’m still going to get one because I’m totally obsessed.

Perhaps tan linen for fall or thick black wool for winter? They are the perfect it’s raining/I haven’t showered/it’s too sunny because I’m hungover hat.

Plus, they add that fabulous touch to any outfit that just makes you look… extra fab. Read More »

Following the trends can be quite problematic. Especially when you are trying to find the trends on the cheap before every mass retailer has picked it up. And by that point, you’re so over it because EVERYONE has one. Sound familiar? It’s pretty much the story of my life.

Before I get to the trend (sigh, big bags are out). I’m going to tell you a story. And then I’m going to tell you how to remedy our little situation.

In October of 2005, I saw a Calvin Klein ad where the model was wearing FLAT BOOTS. And not just flat boots, but black patent leather pointy toe snakeskin flat boots. And at that point, not only did I want a pair of boots sans their heel, I wanted them right THEN before they became über popular.

Now you can find a pair anywhere. Forever 21, H&M, Payless: they all jumped on the flat boot bandwagon, but a year and a half after I wanted a pair. That year, I spent my fall break in New York and decided that I would find a decently priced (i.e. around 200 dollars) pair of boots. I knew I couldn’t find them for less, if I could even find them at all.

I dragged my then boyfriend to every shoe store in Manhattan looking for a pair of flat boots. Poor guy. That was a rough shopping day.

I knew what I wanted but could not find them for less than 500 bucks. And my college budget sure wasn’t able to afford a pair of shoes THAT expensive.

Eventually, at the end of the day, I found them. My beautiful flat boots were just sitting there on the shelf in a tiny unassuming shoe store on 14th street. And when I went back to school, everyone made fun of my shoes and I was like whatever, bitches! Just you wait!

So now for the new fall trend that can’t be found: small shoulder bags or saddle bags. Whatever you want to call them. Big bags are out for those in the know. As much as I love my big bag, I am a bit tired of lugging so much crap around and having so much accumulate within its cavernous interior. So I am going to embrace this new trend before it becomes too trendy. Problem is, every little bag comes with a big price. Read More »