Archive for November, 2015

People! It’s a Zero+Maria Cornejo giveaway! Could you die?

The object up for grabs is this Elie Top, their luxe-beyond-luxe heavy gauge Italian four-ply cashmere vest/poncho hybrid. There is no designer in my closet whose clothes I get more wear out of than Cornejo, and like most of her pieces that go into super-highest closet rotation, I had to be talked into this one. I couldn’t quite see when I would wear it, or with what. But as it turns out, the answer to that question is: pretty much always, over just about everything, from tees to sweaters to dresses. I am so stupidly excited to be giving this away to one lucky member of the GOACA army. For your chance, just enter here by 5pm, Sunday December 6.

And here, just for kicks, are five other Cornejo pieces—some of which I own, others that I just covet—which would make for a nifty capsule wardrobe. First up: I am exceeding the GOACA price limit for  this dress, because it is the ass-saver we all need in our closets for when another wedding, important meeting, or occasion when you just generally want to feel good about yourself and look exactly right rolls along. I’m a bit of a chubster at the moment, and recently had to find an outfit for a family Bar Mitzvah where I knew the crowd was going to be on the conservative side. All the tenable options  in my closet don’t fit so great right now, and I wanted long sleeves—which none of my dresses have—to cover up my tattoos, which only made the search more frustrating. Then I found this: possibly the most versatile and flattering dress I have ever owned. You need to go to the site and check out the side view, cause it does a pretty gorgeous drapey thing that you can’t see here.

I wear my jersey bubble top at least twice a week, which would get pretty gross except for the fact that last year, when I lost mine and no amount of closet excavation would reveal it, I got crazy excessive and bought another. After which point, but of course, I found the original (it was at a friend’s house). But now I’ve always got one ready to wear when the other is in the laundry, so there’s that.

It wouldn’t be a proper Maria Cornejo capsule wardrobe without some kind of print thrown into the mix, and this one is an instant outfit-maker.

The biggest reason I’m such a freak for Cornejo is that her collections are like Garanimals for grown-ups: she brings back popular silhouettes every season in different fabrics, and her Gabi Trouser is a perennial. Super-flattering, and eminently dress-up-or-down-able.

A walkable wedge boot with an edge.

Run, don’t walk

Did anyone else know that Everlane was about to spring a deeply elegant, very limited edition capsule collection on us? I am rushing this post to you this morning because I feel it will all sell out imminently. This big old gorgeous scarf is so sophisticated and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be in my shopping cart in a matter of minutes.

And I wouldn’t mind this quite elegant crossbody bag.

And these boots!

 

Creepy cool

Items with skulls on them can be frightening, and they can be kitschy, and a lot are just outright bad. But the ones I like best manage a certain menacing elegance, like this Alexander McQueen card holder.

Name your poison indeed.

 

The subtle-but-perfect corner detailing on these notecards sets them apart in a very crowded skull-notecard field.

 

Cheap and chic of the week

A perfectly classic weekender for holiday travels—and you vegans will be happy to know it clears the bar.

 

Wednesday links

• A little something nice to look forward to: Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler will host SNL in December. (Flavorwire)
• It’s the Zoolander 2 trailer, people. (Kottke)
• Famous men on whether they’re feminists (The Cut)
• Richard Linklater’s got a “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused coming out and I’m in. (A.V. Club)
• And finally: more than you ever thought you’d want to know about the history of flipping the bird. (Atlas Obscura; NSFW-ish.)

Why I don’t stress over what to wear to a formal event anymore

Back when I was fancy, I used to get invited to a lot of work-related black tie events. They were pretty much always a chore, but a day or two before, the funnest thing would happen: a market editor would wheel into my office a rolling rack jammed with formal dresses that had been called in from various designer showrooms, and I’d get to choose one. (They did the same thing with jewelry. Serious jewelry*.)  It was all very Princess For A Day, right down to the fact that the morning after, everything went back. These days this option isn’t available to me (not that I’d fit into the showroom samples anymore anyway; I lived on yogurt, cigarettes, and stress in those days) but that’s OK. Because I have found the solution to all my black-tie needs: this silky floor length skirt. It’s designed by my dear friend Kathy Kemp, whose store Anna you must visit if you’re ever in the vicinity of E. 11th Street, because she creates super-flattering pieces for real women. The skirt has a slight sheen, which ups the glam factor nicely, and all that’s left for me to do is comb my closet for one of my dressier parties in a top, and I’m set.

 

*Reader, I wore diamonds from Fred Leighton on my wedding day.