We have been obsessed with those slouchy ankle socks from Prada since we first started seeing them in ‘08. We cannot for the life of us find what collection they are from and are starting to think that maybe they weren’t Prada after all. The only thing we’re sure of is that we saw them. Somewhere.

It never occurred to us to actually invest in them. I guess we both thought, they’re just socks. We can get socks anywhere. Well, little did we know what a task we had tasked ourselves with! For the past year and a half or so, we have been searching high and low for the perfect slouchy ankle socks. We’ve been to Target, to American Apparel, to Bloomingdales, H&M, Urban Outfitters… We’ve bought countless pairs of socks and tried to DIY our own Prada slouchy sock, but to no avail.

Then, we were at Bloomies looking for tights for an upcoming shoot and came across these little guys from Betsey Johnson…

We definitely were not looking for pink glitter Betsey Johnson socks, but they were seriously calling out to me. So we got them. And they’re perfect…

Mason anorak, Gar-de Penn henley, Opening Ceremony high-waisted skirt, Betsey Johnson socks, 1st season Louis Vuitton pumps

Since starting on this post, I’ve done a lot of research in my quest to find that elusive little slouchy ankle sock and my search has unearthed some of the internet’s most stylish ladies rockin’ all kinds of socks. So, thought I’d collect a few of them and give you a tribute to the Sock.

Susie Bubble with her collage from Prada’s SS07 collection along with some shots of her DIY version

The Aldridge ladies, Judy and Jane, sporting a variety of sock/shoe combos…

Alix, the cherry blossom girl…

Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere…

and our new friend, Erin, doing a delightful job of mixing her colors…

Long live the sock!!

images via Style Bubble, Atlantis Home, Sea of Shoes, The Cherry Blossom Girl, and Cupcakes and Cashmere.

Happy to happen upon Camille, parisian stylist, with some serious style….

images via L’anatomie De L’elegance.blogspot.com and fanpix.com

So, as you can probably tell, Arlene and I have been less than inspired lately, so we’d like to give a giant shout-out to Ms. Carine Roitfeld for bringing us out of our funk. In addition to writing 2 blogs, Arlene and I run an online boutique. There are just 2 of us — we write everything, buy everything, ship everything, style everything, conceive everything… you get the picture. Well, the jobs that we’ve created for ourselves — which we love — require that we be creative and inspired pretty much all the time. A scary proposition.

Anyway, today something finally caught my attention. The 2009 French Vogue calendar, shot by Terry Richardson and styled by Carine Roitfeld. Ms. Roitfeld gets a lot of props for her confident personal style, but we don’t hear that much about her as an editor and stylist. Well, to browse through these shots, her talent is clear. 

And from what I’ve gleaned from the things I’ve read about her, this is 100% her. It’s perfect down to the finest details — a kitty in the crotch???? With a jaunty little straw boater?? I mean, come on. 

Anyway, thank you Carine. Thank you for your inspired personal style, for your amazing creativity and talent, and for always managing to bring inspiration to both Arlene and me when we need it the most.

images from Fashionologie.

We do love our fashion editors — Giovanna Battaglia, Carine Roitfeld, et al.  These ladies all have such incredible style and we thank the likes of Scott Schuman and Tommy Ton for bringing their style to our attention. One of the editors that has always been high on my radar is Elle’s Kate Lanphear. Kate’s style is 100% rocker, but somehow she manages to do it in an approachable way. As with Giovanna and Carine, her style seems effortless and totally and completely her. I just love that she always manages to rock black and grey, leather, studs, zippers and chains without looking harsh.

In that last shot, Kate is wearing the Chia jacket from a new favorite of ours, Gar-de. It comes as no surprise to us that she’s a fan — the lady does have great taste! And after our spring buying trip to NYC, we can assure you all — and Kate, too — that Gar-de is just getting better and better as they go along. Their collection for Spring 10 really took our breath away — leathers, jerseys and silks all with their eye for unique details and top-of-the-line craftsmanship. 

Can’t wait to work that perfect motorcycle jacket into my wardrobe. Spring cannot come soon enough!

top 2 Kate Lanphear images borrowed from Jak & Jil; all other images courtesy of Gar-de.

We recently launched a new addition to the site where we alternately feature a guest stylist giving us their take on an item from our shop. Our latest contributor is the lovely Stefanie from Extra Skinny. The thing we really adore and admire about Stefanie is the way that she works her wardrobe. She really buys what she loves and wears what she loves. And when we say she wears what she loves, we mean she really wears that stuff!  Stefanie always finds numerous ways to wear all the pieces in her wardrobe. She. Is. Awesome. Here’s a sneak peek…

To see all of Stefanie’s takes on this cozy long cardi from Mason, click here.

sneak peek LR S10 lookbook

A long-time inspiration of ours, Loeffler Randall, has just re-vamped their site and they’ve included a blog. Could not be more excited! The blog provides lookbooks and behind-the-scenes action, which I personally could not be more excited about. One of their posts is an edited video of the shoot for their newest lookbook. Arlene and I have been taken with their lookbooks and their insane branding since their launch back in Fall 2005 so this video was a rare treat. Here’s to the talent and genius of not only the fabulous designer Jessie Randall, but also to her husband, Brian Murphy, marketing guru extraordinaire!

Loeffler Randall from Petter Ringbom on Vimeo.

There was a shot from their very first lookbook of the Ulla — maybe mine and Arlene’s very favorite shoe of all time (she has 2 pairs in yellow and I have yellow, black and taupe — we’re addicted).

It’s the cutest damn shoe and it was the cutest damn shot. I wish I had a copy to share with you :(. Anyway, the marriage of Jessie and Brian and design and branding got me right from the start. Completely unparalleled, in my humble opinion.

Here are a couple of shots from the Fall 09 lookbook (featuring super-cute shoes we just got into The Shop!) 

the Belinda…

and the Rihanna…

Hot, no????

Through our dear friend, David (proprietor of one of our all-time favorite Chicago stores, Hazel), we have discovered a new love: Molly Yestadt and her beautiful hats. David saw the line recently in New York and was instantly smitten. Knowing that the line wasn’t the perfect fit for his store, David is sort of on a mission  to find it a loving, appreciative and appropriate home — basically, someone who can share his love of these gorgeous works of art, but also sell them. To this end, he practically chased me down the street to give me the Yestadt Millinery lookbook and linesheets. He couldn’t stop gushing about the beauty and workmanship of each individual piece — Molly hand-blocks every single hat (which basically means that each hat is a like a little one-of-a-kind hat sculpture). With headgear like this, I can’t say I blame him for his enthusiasm. 

I love a hat – so much – so it is very refreshing for me to see someone out there so dedicated and passionate about making hats and keeping them current. I first fell in love with her hats, but then, after visiting her website, I kind of fell in love with Molly. 

Her blog totally sucked me in. It is filled with all things hat. From behind-the-scenes to old Hollywood to new Hollywood to the runway and absolutely everything in between, I am a devotee for sure. 

Long live Yestadt Millinery and long live the Hat!

all images lovingly and respectfully borrowed from yestadtmillinery.com

It’s no secret to those who know me well that I’m a big, big fan of Queen Michelle from Kingdom of Style (not to overlook the fabulous Queen Marie, of whom I am also a very big fan). Queen Michelle is a crazy risk-taker. As she puts it, “ I like the challenge of pushing a piece of clothing to its limits, particularly for someone my age.” And pushing limits she does indeed.

One of today’s posts (It takes a lot of visits to keep up with those crazy blogging Queens!) was all about her new kitty mask. That’s right, you heard me — kitty mask. She talks about her love of playing dress-up and all it takes is one look at these images to know she’s having the time of her life. Thank you, Queen Michelle, for starting my week with a smile. 

To see Queen Michelle’s post in its entirety, click here.

We recently decided to add a new section to our website where we have a fabulous friend from the blogosphere style something from our shop. We are thrilled to unveil this little project with our first guest stylist, Sarah of Public Personae! We just adore Sarah. We discovered her a number of months ago when she was in the midst of her 30-day challenge. We were so impressed not only by her fantastic sense of style, but also by her sheer courage. She is a force to be reckoned with. She consistently brings new things - designers, trends, bloggers, artists, stores, and even cat photographers - to our attention. We love her smart, unique, yet practical take on fashion and are always interested to see what she’s into next. 

Here’s Sarah…

And here’s the item she styled for us…

One of Sarah’s takes…

See the rest of Sarah’s styles here. And don’t forget to check out her blog, Public Personae. She’s always up to something good! Thanks, Sarah!

So, i just read on Sea of Shoes that Jane Aldridge has a capsule shoe collection coming out with Urban Outfitters. A number of the comments on her post were rather negative — calling her an “advertising opportunity” and her designs “knock-offs”. I am not going to deny that she is indeed a great marketing opportunity for a conglomerate like UO, nor am I going to deny the obvious influences of Margiela and Ann Demeuelemeester in her designs, but can we just step aside for a second and look at things the way they are? First of all, the girl is a mere 17 years old. Yes, she comes from an affluent family. Yes, her mother is an experienced style maven (with a closet laden with treasures). And yes, she has access to items that most of us can only dream about. However, the girl really knows her fashion and she’s smart enough to grab an opportunity when it comes her way. Even the wealthiest and most pampered of teenagers don’t even know how to pronounce Demeulemeester, let alone know who she is. Be jealous if you will, be critical if you will, but you have to admit that Jane has a taste level more sophisticated than many who call themselves fashion industry professionals. 

Let us not forget — fashion is a business. We recently posted about working a Hugo Boss sample sale and trust me, there was nothing glamorous about it. Were the suits expensive and fabulous? Yes. Was the event surrounded by paparazzi? No. There is definitely a blurry line between fashion and retail and, for some reason, that line seems blurriest in the US. The people that seem to be dressed the worst are the first ones to go after someone exhibiting a sense of personal style. Great style always seems to be equivalent to snobbishness in our society — and it definitely creates a frenzy of envy. Even if the aforementioned is wearing H & M. 

So what do I think about Jane’s collection for Urban Outfitters? I think it’s bloody fantastic! It’s hard to make affordable shoes look good and I think these look damn good. Hats off to Urban Outfitters and to Jane. They may be knock-offs, but I’d rather wear Jane Aldridge Ann D knock-offs than Nine West Marc Jacobs knock-offs any day.