Alice in Wonderland fans will know I’m talking about the release of Tim Burton’s take on the classic Carroll story. A while back, I posted about Alice and was eagerly anticipating the unveiling of exclusive Alice designs for Printemps in Paris. Somehow, I completely forgot about it until I started thinking about who I could get to go to see the movie with me tonight. Surprise, surprise, they’ve been up for over 2 weeks now!!! In case you haven’t seen them, here’s a glimpse.

First, Alexander McQueen. {I have been struggling with what to say about his passing. I just adored him and what he brought to the world of fashion and am so, so sad that he is gone. The world of fashion won’t be the same without him.}

Chloe

Nicholas Kirkwood -- "This time, I figured, why not just pile as much as I can on top?”

Ann Demeulemeester

Maison Martin Margiela

images via focusonstyle.com and style.com

One of the most important pieces in a wardrobe for me is outerwear.  Being in Chicago, outerwear comes in real handy 8 out of the 12 months a year.  Half the time my outfit is my outerwear!  Great to see such a variety…layered, color, color blocking, vests.  Lots & lots to choose from.  Here are a few stunners to look forward to this fall.

Images via style.com

from top to bottom:  Boy by Band of Outsiders, Chris Benz, Acne, Zero+Maria Cornejo, Boy by Band of Outsiders, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Acne

Prefall is well underway.  Here’s just a small sample of what caught our eye from Loeffler Randall….

Over in another part of our website, the shop, we carry a little line called Lemlem. Launched in 2007 by supermodel and philanthropist Liya Kebede, Lemlem is a line of women’s and children’s clothing hand-woven in Ethiopia using only natural cotton. Embracing her African heritage, with Lemlem Liya seeks to “add a sense of diversity to the fashion market while fueling prosperity in another.” A very noble cause. Arlene and I were very taken with her hand-woven scarves, wraps and cowls when we first saw them…

Being an online store, we were also very excited that Liya is the model in the Lemlem lookbook meaning that we would have a supermodel on the website. Little did we know that her scarves would sell SO fast that her picture would never even make it up!

Things just keep getting better for Lemlem and Liya, as evidenced by this spread in Italian Elle…

It’s so nice when people use their fame and success for good. Go, Liya. You’ll be seeing much more of Liya and Lemlem on twentythirtyforty.net, that’s for sure.

images from Lemlem Fall 09 lookbook and Italian Elle via Steven Alan showroom

The Slash bag from Boyy. We just got our sample and BOYY, is it fantastic!! Leather that feels like butter and so many amazing details — removable straps; gusseted, zipped bottom; zipper pocket on back; straps that can easily be worn on the shoulder or cross body. Honestly, I wanted to write Boyy and ask them if I could buy the sample, it’s that good. 

Well, we love this bag so very much and when we saw the cherry blossom girl’s homage to her red quilted Chanel bag…

…we just knew we were going to have to do our own homage to the Slash bag. Just love the idea of loving a bag so much that it becomes the piece you dress around. We’ll be shooting our little story in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for the results!

images from Jak & Jil via Steven Alan showroom and the cherry blossom girl

I’d like to thank Santa. Or more appropriately, my husband, Tracy. And also David, owner of beloved Chicago boutique, Hazel. Here’s what I got for Christmas…

I love jewelry. All kinds — silver, gold, vintage, costume, fine, big, small, necklaces, bracelets, rings. I think it might come from my father. He used to buy my mother jewelry for every occasion. It got to a point where she had to ask him to stop buying her jewelry because she couldn’t wear it all. My parents were married for 53 years, so she really wasn’t exaggerating — she amassed quite a bit over the years. Anyway, suffice it to say that I always check out the jewels when I am shopping. Recently, when I was in Hazel, David turned me on to yet another new designer: Saundra Messinger. Similar in sensibility to lines like Me & Ro, Saundra’s pieces are classic, yet modern; delicate, yet packed with style.

The matte, uneven finish and artfully-placed tiny diamonds provide just the right amount of shine.

And she gets a little chunkier, too. I’ll be hoping for even bigger pieces in the future!

Let’s face it, diamonds are a girl’s best friend…

Saundra Messinger jewelry is available at Hazel in Chicago or online at KatyBeh.com (all images taken from katybeh.com)

It’s that time of year again, LAST CALL!! Arlene and I have been looking forward to this for months now. Since starting our own business (not to mention, being in the middle of a recession), we’ve really had to cut back on our spending and have been dreaming and dreaming of new designer shoes. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a little bit of Christmas money and are going to high-tail it on over to Neiman’s to see what’s left in our size on the bargain basement rack. We don’t tempt ourselves by visiting NM before the final Last Call markdown ’cause we know we’ll just end up writing checks that our bank accounts can’t cash! We’ve spent the last couple of weeks poring over the FW09 shows on Style.com and we’ve got our eyes on a few goodies!

Chanel (Arlene’s a Chanel fanatic, so keep your fingers crossed for her!)

Also, she always manages to find the most irresistible flats, so I have a feeling she might stumble across this adorable little guy from Chloe…  

There was an awful lot of goodness from Chloe, so I’ll be happy if I can get my hands (or feet!) on anything from that collection. 

We’re both jonesing for this lug sole pump from Prada… 

   as well as this Miu Miu stunner…

I’ve been all about the Proenza pumps and booties since I first laid eyes on them…

       love anything Dries…  

and would happily add a pair of YSLs to my wardrobe…

Even if we don’t find any of the above, I’m sure that Arlene and I will leave Last Call with big smiles on our faces and big style on our feet! Happy sale shopping to all — may you get everything your little heart desires!!

all images via Style.com

Believe it or not, spring is here!  Well, not exactly, but you know what I mean!  One of my two favorite trends for S10 is Utilitarian Chic aka the neutrals.  The neutrals, khaki’s, linen… they always seem to make it on the trend list for spring, no??  This spring is the first I really took note and WANT!  I’d have to say, Ms Phoebe Philo at the helm of Celine had quite a bit to do with that….as well as Chloe and a new line for us, Rachel Comey, and my constant go-to Acne.

images via Style.com & Acne Studios

This weather is totally throwing Brandon and I for a loop!  We’ve had such mild unseasonal weather that now we’re both unprepared for the snow and the real weather…winter!  I think we thought this fabulous-above-freezing-temp was it till spring??  Well, 40 degrees down to 6 degrees and snow, quickly brought us back to reality.   So I spent a good portion of my day surfing like a mad woman for ideas.  It was a lot of fun to see how others were tackling the cold.  All the cozy accessories and of course, once again, a great pair of boots are a must-have!

images lovingly borrowed from Vanilla Scented, Coppenhagen Streetstyle, Style and the City & Easy Fashion in Paris