Street Chic

This girl's outfit caught my eye obviously due to the neon bag, but the interesting thing for me is that I'm not usually a fan of lace, but here I actually like it and think it works great.  I love the evening look of the skirt turned into a daytime outfit when paired with a simple blouse in a bright blue color that works great with the bright yellow of the bag - it's color mixing from Art 101 at its best!  Then given that all the pieces are solid colors, she takes a very graphic shoe in a graffiti print which pulls it all together - love this!

A  very short lace skirt turned into a daytime look

The punches of color are spot on for this season and next

The bag color is very trendy but the bag style is very ladylike

Shoes as a work of art

Christmas

These are a few of my favorite things:

Liquor

Luxury

and Lacroix

(Shirt by Christian Siriano)

(Glazed python pants by Christian Lacroix)

Happy Holidays from Fashion Baggage!

List Time

The tree in our building lobby

The festive day is almost here.  I've got my list ready so here's hoping I have a visitor tonight coming down my chimney with TONS of gifts!

Deja Vu

Let them eat cake

Neiman Marcus - Mermaid Bar 

Picking and choosing

Sweater by Nina Ricci

The Sampler

My favorite - a grilled cheese

While shopping in Dallas for holiday items, I spent a small fortune at Neiman Marcus - ouch!  They have started sending out rewards cards that give you free money to spend in the store on items like alterations, valet, gift wrapping, etc. so I decided to use the bulk of my gift card at The Mermaid Bar to have lunch with my man.  It's the perfect place to see and be seen, and the food is actually pretty darn good.  Some of my favorites are the grilled cheese with a side of home-made chips, and David loves the chicken salad sandwich with tortilla soup, and I can't forget a slice of decadent cake.  Just like the cab rides in New York with their repetitive tv commercials, I found myself back in the store eating the same food and using the same gift card (but of course in a different outfit).  This last time, I found a pair of shoes that will be going home with me for Christmas so I'm starting to worry that this kind of Sunday leisurely lunching is starting to break the bank!

Perk card

Another lunch - another visit

Suit by Kaufmanfranco

One of my favorite video commercials that ran all the time in a NY cab last time I was there

The Glamour Issue

You know I love me some sparkle so this time of the year is very much to my liking in terms of a little glamour as people prepare to get festive for the holidays and turn up the volume with their ensembles.  They aren't afraid of a little glitz, and I say it never hurt anyone so it got me to thinking back to a few shows I saw in New York.  Of course those were spring shows for next year, but they still incorporated some show stopping pieces so I decided a little pizzazz should be all year round and not just for the holidays.  I saw it of course for evening at Venexiana where I even ran into a power glamour lady - Jackie Collins who was sitting front row picking out her choices coming down the runway.  After the show, I had a little photo op with her before heading on to see some more razz-ma-tazz at Christian Siriano.  His show turned up the color this season with an interesting and slightly quirky color combination of putty and sand mixed with neon green and neon coral.  I actually loved it.  He had his usual layers upon layers of ruffles, but this time incorporated accordion pleats that were so light they flowed down the catwalk.  Both shows left me wanting more - one was slightly old-school glamour (which is always elegant) and one was more modern urban glitz (which is funky girl turned fancy), but both made me want to be festive and make everyday a holiday party.

Venexiana spring/summer 2012 show - jeweled, ruffled, and gathered

Fancy pleats

Layered with dots

Now that's a ruffle!

Observing the show - Jackie Collins

Go for the gold

Love the gold and pink colors together

Ball gowns galore

Sequined and sheer
(All clothing pictured above from the Venexiana spring/summer 2012 show)

Jackie Collins (and me)

Love this silhouette
(All clothing pictured below from the Christian Siriano spring/summer 2012 show)

So chic - super slim sleeveless top with super blousey trousers

Muted layers

A day look with a pop of neon

Exaggerated shoulders

Acid green

A coral finale

So pretty in micro pleats

All the girls

Christian Siriano

Streamlined for Summer

Sometimes simple is better, but that of course doesn't have to mean plain.  An outfit can still be simple but have lots of great finely-tuned details, and that is definitely the case with the spring/summer 2012 men's collection from Rochambeau.  This was our first time to see this presentation, and David loved it.  It was all about easy, toss-on pieces that required no fuss and no thought really given their almost monochromatic color palate but that still gave an end result of a totally pulled together look.  The cuts and shapes were some of his favorites and made us both major fans.  We both want to see more - I can't wait for the next season showing in February, and David can't wait for these pieces to hit the stores for purchase!

A basic suit with exaggerated leather lapels

Slinky fabrics for warmer days

Love the suit with shorts instead of pants and notice the barely there lapel on the jacket

David's favorite suit - LOVE these pants!

Wide waistband and multiple pleats 

A leather vest adds a little edge

All clothing from Rochambeau spring/summer 2012 show