Christian Louboutin is celebrating 20 yrs in the business by releasing an anthology of his work. One of Hollywood's favorite shoes designers, currently embroiled in the second round of a lawsuit to protect the signature red soles from being copied by others, his personal history is as important as his signature shoes (Ironically, he created a pair of shoes in 2002 for the company is currently suing). The key takeaway from the book is his desire to be different, and his love of shoes. He had no idea as a club going youngster and self professed purposed underachiever he'd end up designing shoes. I'd like this book for my birthday please ;).  It is cheaper than an actual PAIR of Louboutins.

You want to show your fabulous personality when going to an award show. Check out some ideas on what to wear in either the completed look or scroll thru the looks to accentuate your current ensemble!

We would be remiss if we did not mention the following places you need to visit tonight in NYC for #FNO:

Missoni For Target pop up shop: 1095 Sixth Avenue, open 6pm - 11pm

As mentioned in our Fashion Round Up in August, the premiere of the Missoni for Target pop up shop officially is September 13th.  Unofficially, Target has a pop up shop that opens to the public tonight for Fashion Night out.  The store opens its doors at 6pm, where you are greeted by Angela and Margherita Missoni. If you buy $100 or more of Missoni for Target items (easy to do) and are one of the first 20 people, you'll also get a photo with the lovely Missoni ladies.  If you don't snag and buy in enough time, you'll still be entered to win a gift bag of Missoni for Target items picked out by the Missoni ladies themselves!

Victoria's Secret - Meet the Angels: 591-593 Broadway

Supermodels Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Erin Heatherton and Lily Aldridge will be on hand at Victoria’s Secret SoHo.  Usually you have to make a purchase to take a pic with them from 7-10 pm and snap up a FNO-exclusive gift.

 

You have read about this fantabulous documentary.  You may have even booked a ticket to be in Paris when it premieres on October 7th on their national TV station.  Tonight, as a preview to Fashion Week 2011, theoutnet.com is hosting a viewing in NYC at the Paris Theatre tonight, Wednesday, September 7th. Our invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. *pouty sigh*

We did, however, get invited to the afterparty, where they have tied in fashion to philathropy.  In keeping with the stiletto theme of the movie, for every pair of fabulous shoes to walk through the door at the afterparty, they will donate a pair of shoes to Sole4Souls, a non-profit created to assist those in need all over the world by collecting and donating gently worn shoes.

Wanna be our +1?  Comment directly on the blog (not Facebook, not twitter) and you never know!

Fashion Night Out is this Thursday, September 8th,  and combing thru the 1077 listings (NYC alone) to ensure you get the most bang for your time (6pm - 9pm is the suggested, some places are open later) is a true test.  To make sure you know where you should head, here are listings according to your expertise level in attendance for FNO (Novice, Browser, Destination)

FNO Novice

Rather than roam the streets, going to a department store is the easiest option at mainstays like Macy's, Blomingdales, Lord & Taylor, Saks 5th Ave, Bergdorf Goodman, and Barney's.  Some highlights:

Macy's
151 West 34th Street New York NY
Kelly Rowland, Joss Stone, Theophilus London, Tommy Hilfiger, DJ Samantha Ronson, Rachel Roy, Amar'e Stoudemire, Karolina Kurkova, Arlenis Sosa Miss J Alexander, and Andrew Zimmern

Bloomingdales:

59th Street & Lexington Avenue

Rachel Zoe, designers Laurel Berman and Susana Monaco of  Black Halo, Edun's founder Ali Hewson and Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk from HBO's How To Make It in America, Milly designer Michelle Smith at Clinique.

Lord & Taylor:
Suze Yalof Schwartz, Solange Knowles, Vince Camuto, Ivanka Trump, Lloyd Boston, NY Jets Flight Crew Cheerleaders, Sam Edelman

Bergdorf Goodman
745 Fifth Avenue New York NY 10001
Jason Wu FNO Doll signing, Audrianna Cole, The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn, Oscar De La Renta

Barneys New York
660 Madison Avenue (between 60th and 61st streets)
Tavi (if you don’t know who this teen fashionista is, google), Daphne Guiness, Alexander Wang, Simon Doonan, Alexa Hampton
On Sept 8th (ALL DAY) 10% of the proceeds from their Madison Ave store/Barneys.com will go to the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

FNO Browser:
You want to check out neighborhoods, maybe go on a scavenger hunt, and have fun so check:

Barbie Loves FNO
Join Barbie and her favorite CFDA designers for the ULTIMATE FASHION HUNT and the chance to win some of the fall's haute-est looks. Fashionistas can shop for Barbie's closet via a city-wide mobile scavenger hunt with QR code clues and free rides aboard the Official FNO Bus. Locate doll-size fashions and accessories from Rogan, Tracy Reese, Alice+Olivia, and Alexis Bittar at the designers' stores and be entered to win life-sized versions. More info at www.BarbieLovesFNO.com
Make sure to hop aboard the bus at any of the following locations:

• 34th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue
• 14th Street between Hudson and 8th Avenue
• Bleecker Street between West 4th Street and West 10th Street
• Broadway between Spring Street and Broome Street
• Houston Street between Bowery Street and 2nd Avenue
• 1st Avenue between St. Marks and 9th Street
• 14th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
• Madison Avenue between 49th Street and 50th Street
• Time Warner Circle at 57th Street
• Fifth Avenue between 38th Street and 39th Street

Alice + Olivia
755 Madison Ave New York, NY

‘Eingmaster,’ Stacey Bendet will host a carnival with popcorn and cotton candy while customers can engage in retro games. Shoppers can enter to win fabulous raffle prizes, and have their hair styled by Sebastian

Dipityque
971 Madison Avenue New York NY
Cocktail party and "Fashion Hunt" between 6 and 8pm.  You will be asked to find our special Diptyque item of the night and take a photo of it. At 8pm the three winners of our boutique contest will received an Eau de Toilet for the first prize, an Eau de Cologne for the second prize and a candle for the third prize. To participate to our contest you will have to drop your contact and answer a fashion secret question. We will also be offering nice gratis to the clients and gift sample bags to the visitors.

Teen Vogue Block Party
Bleecker Street & West 11th Street New York NY
Teen Vogue will be taking over Bleecker Street at 11th Street and inviting girls to come out for a Fashion's Night Out block party that will include free manicures from essie, among other fun elements. essie's celebrity manicurist, Elle Gerstein, will also be on hand to talk nails with the girls and dish on her celebrity clients' favorite nail looks. Rock out to the sounds of pop star Sky Ferreira and get your hands on limited-edition sneakers designed by our editors.

FNO Destination
You know who you want to see.  Get to these events early and check out the amazing FNO experiences:

Lacoste
551 Madison Avenue New York NY
LACOSTE Loves NYC! There are hot dog carts with jumbo pretzels.  Patron popsicles and cocktails, a professional photo shoot, and hot new clothes from Lacoste. Be sure to come camera ready because you never know what celebs you'll bump into. RSVP: LACOSTEFNO@lacoste-usa.com Share the love! www.lacostelovesnyc.com

Manolo Blahnik
31 West 54th Street
Blahnik.  SJP.  Milkshakes. SJP designed Blahnik shoe reveal @ 6:30pm (and SJP autograph session until 7:30pm.  Really, can we die now?!  If you can’t get @ the truck when its in front of Manolo Blahnik, they’ll be at the following places:

• 42nd Street and Broadway from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
• Washington Street and West 14th Street from 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
• Prince Street and West Broadway from 3:45 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• 58th Street and 5th Avenue from 5:15 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Tracy Reese
641 Hudson St New York
Dance the night away at Tracy Reese’s FNO dance-a-thon with DJ Tiger Lily!

CHANEL
15 East 57th Street New York NY
139 Spring Street New York NY 10012
737 Madison Avenue New York NY
Be the first to get your hands on the newest CHANEL Nail Colour Collection, Les Jeans de Chanel – created exclusively for Fashion's Night Out by Peter Philips, Creative Director of CHANEL Makeup.  Complimentary mini manicure featuring these exclusive hues.

Christian Louboutin
59 Horatio St NY NY
Get the ‘do did with Frederic Fekkai, lashes zoomed up at the eyelash bar with MAKEUP FOREVER and get your hands on the Daffodile Brodee platform pump and the Sweet Charity Brodee cross body bag.  Fabulousness at every angle.  

This extensive list doesn't interest your fashion sensibilities?  You have a list ready to go?  Get your list together at http://fashionsnightout.com/fno and share with us!

Usually we're praising Vogue Italia's cutting edge fashion pages, fantastic editorials, and their love for women of color:

A Black Issue - 2008

The Black Issue Featuring Barbie - 2010 (A tribute to Black Barbie's 30th Anniversary)

The Black Allure - 2011

Vogue Black - A subwebsite of all things fashionable from the black perspective. (Also have another underrepresented fashion subset covered - Vogue Curvy)

So to see this tweet about "Slave" earrings featured on Vogue Italia's website was a bit jarring. According to the author of the piece, these type of earrings are currently in fashion:

*Insert blank face here*

The post goes on to describe hoop earrings:

"If the name brings to the mind the decorative traditions of the women of colour who were brought to the southern Unites States during the slave trade, the latest interpretation is pure freedom."

Wowzers.  So much wrong here, its hard to start in one place. Vogue.it usually does so right for recently projecting positive images of women of color. Its historically incorrect, condescending, and just uber wrong.

 

If you don't know these names:

Tracy Reese

June Ambrose

Bevy Smith

Claire Sulmers

DJ Kiss

Tai Beauchamp

Get to know them there as they are featured in Essence Magazine September 2011 issue.  These dynamic women show how much fun it is to be stylish, have fun, and be a businesswoman all at the same time.

There isn't really a day that goes by that shoes are not discussed/purchased/fixed/sold/contemplated by women. Multiple pairs of the same color, style, heel height are purchased, without technically rhyme or reason.   This is essentially the premise of an upcoming documentary by Julie Benasra called" God Save My Shoes". From the website:

“God Save My Shoes” is the first documentary film to explore the intimate relationship between women and shoes. The film attempts to understand what makes shoes the most seductive and addictive item in a woman’s closet, and how an article of clothing designed to protect the feet has come to outshine all other accessories in the world of fashion.

The documentary will be released October 4th, 2011 on French TV Canal Plus.  Some previews:

Trailer

 

Inside Manolo Blahnik's studio (he calls the platform trend dead)

 

 

Inside Christian Louboutin's studio

 

 

Inside US Vogue's Shoe closet (last seen on SATC when Carrie first started writing for VOGUE)

 

 

Either a trip to France first week of October is happening (hey, some amazing shoes would be picked up), or this needs to be released in the US ASAP!!! Someone needs to pick this up!!!! We're not talking action movie theater opening weekend numbers, but chick flick big (and those guys who have preferences toward a lady in high heels will sneak to see the movie as well).

Loads of fashion news this past week.  In case you missed it, here's a wrap up:

Christian Louboutin Loses Trademark Fight

If there is nothing you know about Christian Louboutin, remember that he makes fantastic shoes with signature red soles.  He filed suit against luxury designer YSL in April 2011 because of a red shoe the french designer house created had a similar red sole.  A judge ruled against Louboutin this past Wednesday, stating in the judgement “Because in the fashion industry color serves ornamental and aesthetic functions vital to robust competition,” Judge Marrero ruled, “the court finds that Louboutin is unlikely to be able to prove that its red outsole brand is entitled to trademark protection, even if it has gained enough protection in the market to have secondary meaning.”  Louboutin's lawyers are considering what other options they have to protect the signature shoe bottom.

In the meantime, anyone from YSL to Payless can now manufacture red sole shoes.  Wonder if people will start showing their shoe linings to prove they have a true Christian Louboutin?

Hello Kitty - Liberty of London

A special Hello Kitty Line is releasing at Liberty of London.  The uber cute makeup and accessories will debut end of September.  There is also some fantastic prints that will be on the walls of the store, making a cute "where's Hello Kitty" game.

(courtesy of Liberty)

 

(courtesy of racked.com)

Serendipity on Sale

Do you want to know what $1000 tastes like?  Serendipity, the famous dessert bar in NYC, created a signature "Golden Sundae" that has the following ingredients:

Five scoops of the richest Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla and covered in 23K edible gold leaf. The sundae is drizzled with the world’s most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porcelana, and covered with chunks of rare Chuao chocolate, which is created from cocoa beans harvested by the Caribbean Sea on Venezuela’s coast. The masterpiece is suffused with exotic candied fruits from Paris, gold dragets, truffles and marzipan cherries. It is topped with a tiny glass bowl of Grand Passion Caviar, an exclusive dessert caviar, made of salt-free American Golden caviar, known for its sparkling golden color. It’s sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange and Armagnac. The sundae is served in a Baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet with an 18K gold spoon to partake in the indulgence, served with a petite mother of pearl spoon and topped with a gilded sugar flower.

Giltcity.com has it for sale at 50% (yes, thats $500 for ice cream).  I beleive you keep the goblet and spoon as a souvenier.

Fashion Love:

Dr. Marten's Women Zita boot.  Love!!!!!!!

Fashion Fail:

Horrible pink/purple LV fake - #fail

 

Missoni for Target Full Lookbook Released

The fashion world is waiting with breath that is baited for the upcoming Missioni for Target collection. The 300 piece collaboration with one of Italy's most well known knit design houses features clothing, shoes to home goods, and even a bike. The Missoni for Target will be available on Sept. 13th on Target.com and in stores. As Missoni pieces are distinctive, and for some the strong graphic patterns may be too much, we reccommend you put one key piece into the mix of your regular wardrobe rather than take the entire collection and wear it head to toe.  Some images that we've gotten very excited over (view the whole collection here):

SHUUUUUUZ! Perfect 4 fall/winter.  Suggest you buy two pair.

We'd be signing in the rain in these beauties.  There is a matching umbrella as well(so much more fun than an old boring black one).

A tote and a clutch that is so chic its criminal.

Personally have about three of these style floppy hats. This classic will never go out of style.

 

This combo will change any plain black/beige/brown wool jacket/coat and liven it up.

Get your christmas shopping done early and pick these beautiful scarves up for the women in your life (Mom, Grandma, teacher, babysitter, daughter).

Ignore the matchy-matchyness of the whole outfit image and imagine the shrug with jeans, a turtleneck and boots.  Or the headband with a cream colored suit/dress.  The design is so amazing.

This entire outfit could be considered retro.  I consider it classic.  As with the outfit above, taking separate pieces and pairing it with simple items will allow the signature Missoni pattern to shine.

Store your magazines, papers, and other items in these stylish patterned boxes.

We all want to be super organized.  These fantastic office supplies will make it even easier to stay that way.

This bowl is all things fabulous.  Perfect for the mantle, or dining room table, or a great housewarming gift.

This whole set is going in the house and all old cocktail items are being thrown away to accomodate.

 

 

Not to leave the men out, these stylish scarves will look wonderful with a classic coat.  Make sure to pick up a couple for gifts as well.

Personally know at least three guys who would rock the heck out of these hats.

 

 

 

So you are giving Mother Earth some love and have decided that biking to work/school/shop is the way you will get around your city/town.  One of the biggest issues a biker has (besides avoiding cars who do not pay attention to the bike lane) is apparel - either you look like you're going to compete with Lance Armstrong, or you wear your gym clothes, or you wear your work clothes.  Getting dirty is inevitable, and you want to have a cyclist gear without looking like a cyclist.

Enter Levi's jeans answer to the urban commuter cyclist - The Commuter

This denim line specifically addresses "performance, convenience, safety, mobility and protection needs...Commuter products feature Sanitized™ hygiene function, which provides protection against odors for long-lasting freshness and comfort, and 3M Scotchlite™ which subtly integrates 300,000 candle watt reflectivity into key areas of the garments" as per the press release.

Essentially, its build to make sure if you sweat when biking, you won't offend anyone at the office when you get there. The two key pieces, a jacket and 3 different styles of jeans, have hundreds of features to make the urban commuter's life easier (listed below).

Commuter by Levi’s^® Trucker Jacket :

• NanoSphere^® Technology - water resistant, dirt repellant, durable and protective
• 3M Reflectivity – 3M Scotchlite™ Reflective Tape integrated on waistband adjusters and concealed for off the bike utility
• Sanitized^® built-in hygiene function – for long-lasting protection against odors
• iPod front pocket – for modern convenience
• Slight Drop tail – provides additional coverage
• Touring Pockets – easy to reach rear storage with low-profile pockets
• Accordion Sleeves – additional fabric that expands when in the riding stance for increased mobility
• Angled front pockets – for easy access in all modes
• Elongated cuffs – covers partial hand when riding

(take a look at the back of the jacket closely- there are three pockets back there!)

Commuter by Levi’s^® 511™ Skinny Jean:

• Utility waist band – specially designed for u-lock storage
• Higher back rise – providing additional coverage when riding (!!!!! AWESOME!!!!)
• NanoSphere^®Technology – applied to make fabric water resistant, dirt repellant and durable
• 3M Reflectivity – 3M Scotchlite™ Reflective Tape on interior cuff offers high level of visibility
• Sanitized^® built-in hygiene function – for long-lasting protection against odors
• Reinforced Fabric – in crotch, back pockets and belt loop for durability
• Performance Stretch Fabric – more stretchable for added mobility and comfort

(belt loop for the bike lock - awesome!)

 

Since this is the first offering for this line, we hope the future offerings will include a women's version Trucker jacket and pants (we bike too)!