Lost Things, That I Wore

My Mother always says "Love nothing more than man." That came from the time, I left a pair of Gucci shades in a bathroom stall to never see them again.  That was twelve years ago and even though Mother knows best, it feels like it was yesterday. To be human is to err and when you loose things it is a form of error. When I was a kid my grandmother and mother thought that if something wasn't glued to me there was a 200 percent chance I would somehow loose it.  Just a few weeks ago, I lost a  scarf pictured below and just this morning my heart felt a slight ache for that ombre blue wool scarf I received in a gift bag. Have you ever lost something and does it still hurt to think about it?



Thanks to Essence.com for the image

Hello, Spring Is It Me You're Looking For?

Spring has been quite a disappointment  this year. Here we are some twenty plus days in and most of us here in the Big Apple are still wearing wool coats and scarves. Yes, I'm griping, spring is the time, I get to throw on one of my many vintage rain and shine coats and give life. Unfortunately, as late as last week, I would have looked  normal in a fur.  Packing away my woolens has been delayed and I have given up on going bare leg until I both me and Mother Nature decide to thaw out.  With cold weather, my hair and skin is has taken a beating. Don't let anyone lie to you, your skin, hair and nails are  affected by the weather not the date. Before you go bare leg  make sure you exfoliate, moisturize and self tan. A dry, hair pale leg is no bueno no matter what.   

Macy's Flower Power Returns For Spring

The groundhog was wrong, but at Macy's Herald Square, Spring is here. On Friday morning, I attended the press preview of the 39th annual  Macy's Flower Show, entitled The Painted Garden. Inspired by the flora and fauna of South East Asia, the showcase of blooms, spices, fruit and color specific to that area takes you out of the hustle and bustle of one of the busiest intersections in the world to a tranquil kaleidoscope of earthly beauty.  Due to ongoing renovations, the  Flower Show is currently housed in a tent located on Broadway Plaza adjacent to the mega store with additional vivid window displays keeping with the theme. The highlight of the artistic showcase, is a life sized elephant draped in live flowers similar to the ceremonial style of India. Although, you're still bundled up in your winter wardrobe, pop into the Macy's Flower Show during regular store hours, now until April 7th, and at least get your own peak at spring.

Stephen Burrows, Disco Era Designer Retrospective

Last Thursday, I ventured Uptown to the City Museum of New York for the Target sponsored retrospective "When Fashion Danced" in honor of living fashion legend, Stephen Burrows. With a dynamic guest list of  fashion's who's who, the reception was an emotional creative fete of diversity. A mixture of fashion's old and new guard, uptown and downtown, Black and White, American and European, those that attended  put their differences aside for a united support for Burrows.  "When Fashion Danced" highlights Burrows career beginning in the 1970s when he was dressing Diana Ross and Liza Minelli during the disco days of Studio 54. In an industry with very few designers of color, Burrows has broken barriers but has still felt the blunt force of a very monochromatic fashion field, none the less the man with rainbow pops on silhouettes, had brightened an industry that has for too long had a brown-out. To view "When Fashion Danced" a retrospective of Stephen Burrows, head to the City Museum of New York on Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street and see the works of a living legend.

Conference of Cocktails

Images from the 2012 Manhattan Cocktail Classic 

What better way to kick off the Ides of March than by purchasing tickets to the 2013 Manhattan Cocktail Classic scheduled for May 17th to the 21st. Not to be mistaken for just any old booze fest, this sprawling five day festival of close to 100  events range from the kick-off gala at the New York Public Library to numerous tastings, pub crawls, lectures,  pig roasts, workshops held at some of New York's most significant watering holes. With tickets  priced from $25 to $395, everyone from a budget beer lover to a high end gastro can enjoy the festivities that are not just limited to Manhattan but also Queens and Brooklyn. To get your tickets to this fete of cocktails and culture head over to the Manhattan Cocktail Classic  website where tickets go on sale today at noon EDT.  In its fourth year, the Manhattan Cocktail Classic of 2013 is sure to be the best conference of cocktails you've ever attended. Tickets go fast, so don't delay on your chance to take part in the fun filled festivities spread over this great city.

JCP Steps Into Spring Fashion with Duro Olowu Collaboration

Duro Olowu for JCP

Over the past few years, I've become quite jaded over designer collaborations with big box stores. It started to look like every season some young  designer was looking to raise capital and join forces with a major retailer known for having a better pharmacy than fashion department. Bored with the cheap quality and the overall watering  down of fashion brands, I stopped buying into the hysteria and secretly boycotted a number of designer collaborations. Duro Olowu for JCP actually got me back into being excited about designer collaborations. Olowu's namesake line is  what I like to call
 Sub- Saharan Pucci. Olowu's prints are a combination of ethnic, tribal and whimsical artistic vibrancy and maintained its punch and pop with  the JCP  launch the beginning of this month. With apparel, accessories, and home the Nigerian born, London based designer has infiltrated  middle America with pops of color and shakes of style. With prices between $15-$90, the Duro Olowu JCP collaboration is the well priced fashionable kick off to spring.

Are SPANX ASSETS Leggings The Best Thing Ever?

During this past New York Fashion Week, I headed over to the Spanx Suite, a retreat between shows were you can grab a bite, recharge your batteries literally and figuratively and learn about all the upcoming products from Team Spanx. What I've come to realize with Spanx and their  lower priced line ASSETS, is that their products are engineering fetes. Hoisting up the girls, smoothing out the bumps and lumps, all with the aim to get polished and smooth look has been the company's  mission from day one. After rebooting and a quick run through of upcoming products, the lovely ladies of Spanx always gift you with a few products.  This year I walked away with a bra, a shaping slip and the best pair of leggings ever.

ASSETS Red Hot Label by Spanx Shaping Leggings $38 

In recent years leggings have gotten a pretty bad rap. Between, the confusion of tights and leggings as well as being considered the lazy girls wardrobe basic, it's been a rough couple of years for leggings. Like any clothing item, poor quality and bad fit can destroy an outfit, unfortunately leggings have by default staked a claim in clothing  that  can easily make you look stank. The ASSETS Red Hot Label Shaping Leggings by Spanx, are all things you need in leggings. Fit, opaque, slimming, comfortable and inexpensive, can't get any better than that.  The days of droopy crouch, sheer butt and all those other  things fug are not apparent what so ever with these Master Leggings.  You will end up stocking up on these at the price of $38, and the legging will make a comeback into your wardrobe all while making you look slimmer, thank you Team Spanx.