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Fashion BS Episode 026 - The Young & The Guest List




Fashion BS Radio Partnership


A whole radio show around fashion? Color me very excited to announce that I am partnered with Fashion BS Radio. So you will be getting updates about them here on OFG. I think you will enjoy their radio show as much as I do. Some of their fabulous guests have included Jason Wu, Philip Bloch, Nigel Barker, Bethany Frankel and many many others. Check it out!
Fashion BS Radio

Coat Conundrum


Well it's January and I'm not crazy about arctic weather so I've been dreaming of Tortola.. but I digress.
So this year I decided it was time to finally replace the black walking sleeping bag of a down coat from Eddie Bauer that my mother bought me in (I'm almost embarrassed to say) 1989. As a Californian my Mother was very concerned about me keeping warm when she I left for boarding school on the east coast-she used to joke that the definition of a sweater was something you put on when you Mother is cold.
Well this coat has been the mother of all coats-nothings going to get through and I nicknamed it a homeless person's wet dream. Besides being functional it is about a - 3 on the fashion scales and made me look liked a giant charred marshmallow who needs to lose 50 pounds. (ps I'm like a size 4). So I decided that I at least have to replace it with a puffer that's in my color palette-like brown. So search high and low I did. What I found was a full length puffer from bluefly.com and it's pretty sleek for that sort of thing. The stitching is slimming, the hood is lined in fur but alas it is not as warm as the black marshmallows which I'm dying to actually give away to the homeless. So I'm left wondering what to do since I thought this new coat would be the new holy grail of coats for New York city life. My 70's fur is fabulous (thanks again Mom) but it has no hood and isn't long enough for deep deep freeze. So please weigh in..do I keep the black marshmallow for those super cold days or give it to someone who really needs it?

By the way check out Bill Cunningham's piece on puffer coats: He's always on point.

Medicine Cabinet Makeover


As part of the greening process of my life..I have recently changed my diet for health reasons I decided to take a hard look at all of the products in my life. Everything is under scrutiny and review. Toothpaste, shampoo, moisturizer, facial cleanser, mascara, and the whole lot.
Without getting too technical here I used www.CosmeticDatabase.com to figure out what products were really worth their snuff and which ones were hype. See there are many companies jumping onto the 'natural' bandwagon in skin and beauty but few are delivering true organic, and non chemical products without harsh preservatives. Even within products lines there are some products which are better than others. For example there are some burt's bee's that are great and some that do not score so well from cosmetic database (0 being good). Pretty much everything in the drug store has a bad list of ingredients-forget Aveno! But Vaseline 100% petroleum passed with a flying zero. Here's a list of the new ones' which I brought into my life:
Juice Beauty Green Apple moisturizer sp 15
Korres Natural Mascara
Lush imperalis moisturizer
Lush fresh mask Ayesha
Pangea Organics Blood orange cleanser
Kiss My Face Exfoliating Cleanser
Tom's of Maine Toothpaste with no fluoride or SLS
Onurth French Lavender Relaxing oil
Aubrey Organics Rosa Mosqueta Nourishing shampoo
Burt's Bee's grapefruit conditioner

Good places to find healthy products-Whole foods, health food stores, and a few from Ricky's.

One's I plan to check out as they are online:
Belle's Botanicals http://www.belles-botanicals.com/
Herbalize http://www.herbaliz.com/
Non-Toxic http://www.nontoxicskincare.com.au/
I'm super excited to order BEE LESS VATA from Solavedi http://www.solavedi.com/

A sad ending for Casey Johnson


I am saddened to hear about the passing of Casey Johnson. I met Casey Johnson 10 years ago and sadly it was very clear to me that she had a drug and alcohol addiction. These are serious family diseases that can be arrested but not cured. There are very few families I know untouched by addiction. What some may not know is that Casey Johnson was on the short list as Paris Hilton's sidekick on the reality show The Simple Life. For reasons we may never know she didn't accept the challenge. I wonder if things would have been different for her. How easy it is in cities like New York and LA to make society and parties your whole life. Makes me wonder if you didn't have to work would you? And how would you stay sane?
Was it easier to be the poor little rich girl stereotype? Was she overwhelmed by the the daunting task of making something of herself while always being smaller than Johnson&Johnson? The movie Metropolitan explores these topics of children of the wealthy often feel they can never be as successful as their parents. Sadly in new york it feels as if we have more Casey Johnsons than Ivanka Trumps.


The web has been flooded with articles about her:
The Frisky

The Improper


Gawker

CNN

Movies of Grandeur


Sometimes I watch movies just for the costumes...ok well a lot of times I watch them only for that reason. But right now The Young Victoria is playing at the cinemas and it is not only visually stunning but a great story. I recommend it highly and suggest you visit the Clearview Chelsea Cinema if you are in New York City because they have a few costumes by Sandy Powell on display in their foyer. A wonderful escape into royalty and grandeur during this cold winter.
A good DVD option is the classic The Lady Eve
Happy viewing!

Bra-leluiah


I never thought I would tout Victoria's Secret...especially since they haven't paid me a dime but I'm going to. (BTW-all of my posts are strictly editorial)
As a small chested woman I have always been personally challenged when it came to finding a brassiere that fit me well and that I could stand more for than 20 minutes. The wireless ones always left me flat chested looking. I've tried so many and most of the time go commando because frankly it's more comfortable and I can't stand the thought of wearing a bra that is frankly slightly bigger than my actual cup size and that's my usual conundrum. For a while I thought I might be a AA but this has always been denied by 'bra experts'. So I finally broke down and tried the Very Sexy Push Up Wireless Bra with success. It is not only comfy it's giving me the best cleavage of my life. It just goes to show you that I should always follow the advise I impart on my clients-'TRY TRY TRY AGAIN until you find one that fits'.
I'm sure you know where to find them but they are having a sale right now. I think I may just order a couple more..
www.victoriassecret.com

A new era for women-glamourous till we die

Anyone else jumping for joy for the fact that 'older' are finally being portrayed in the movie as hot? I am! It seems that over 40 set is the new 30. You go Meryl, Julianne Moore in Single Man, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, and Judi Dench in Nine. I laughed so hard during 'It's Complicated' but was even more delighted by the fact that Meryl just glowed her way through the whole movie. My Mom is a gorgeous woman over 60 and it's about time Hollywood stopped putting these women out to pasture.
Thank you.

Onurth for a new earth


Skincare handcrafted and made with the purest ingrediants. Synthetic free, organic, unrefined, and made in small batches. Music to my ears. I've recently gone through a medicine cabinet makeover shake up and this is one of the lines that is here to stay. I discovered them 2 years ago at the holiday market at Bryant park and initially bought at few items as Christmas gifts. But something amazing happened-the women who I gave these products too flipped over them and asked for them again. Now it's a holiday tradition and I have personally fallen for them too. The serums are amazing, the relaxing oil is by my bedside and I use just before bed as it's a delicious blend that includes my favorite scent lavender. My cousin swears by the rose hydrolat... I could go on and on. But please check out their story and philosophy on their website and support our local artisans making wonderful products.
www.onurth.com

The next 2nd 'other' livingroom


I simply cannot wait! A chic upscale cocktail lounge opening up a stone's throw from my atelier in the former post office by the people who brought us the Campbell Apartment?
Color me happy. Will it be inexpensive? No, but who cares. I really know how to pick real estate. First the Ace opens and now The Empire Room in the ground floor of the Empire State building. So glad my little nabe is getting swankified. I will have a great time 'taking meetings' in my new 2nd other livingroom-the Ace is still my number 1 but hey that can change.
Now if only I my date...I mean client could wear a tux...
Opens this month
350 5th Avenue
212.980.9476

Liddabit of sweets-lots of love


Nothing I love more than chocolate as my good friends know. So when I stumbled upon the lovely Liddabit stand at the Gifted market I was excited to taste some of their concoctions. I loved the chocolate sea salt caramels and hope to try more treats. So happy to support those following their passions.They are local-artisanal-seasonal and can be found at www.liddabitsweets.com or at the Brooklyn Flea every Saturday.