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subscribe to style file blog via RSSOn Our Radar: Bulgari Parentesi Leather Necklace
February 8, 2010 5:14 pm
I love Bulgari’s Parentesi collection, but diamond-encrusted high jewels are a little heavy for every day. (They’re also a little out of my reach, but that’s neither here nor there.) This new leather necklace, on the other hand, is cool, young, and fresh. It reminds me of army tags, so it’ll layer beautifully with my military-inspired pieces, and it comes in red, white, black, and camel. The smaller size (pictured) is $350, meaning it’s an indulgence but not an unreasonable one—husband, if you’re reading this, take the hint.
Bulgari Parentesi leather necklace, $350, available at Bulgari, NYC, (212) 315-9700, www.bulgari.com.
On Our Radar: The YSL Chyc Bag
February 5, 2010 4:13 pm
Though New York fashion week is just around the corner, your hardworking market team is still wrapping our pre-fall appointments. (For the full coverage, head over here.) But when I saw this new pre-fall bag at Yves Saint Laurent’s accessories presentation today, I couldn’t complain. Sure, the wedges in every style from sandal to boot were super-stylish, but it’s the Chyc bag that—silly name aside—really caught my eye. I love the classic shape, the luxe leather (it also comes in suede), and the just-flashy-enough metal Y closure. My only regret? It won’t be in stores in time for fashion week.
YSL Chyc bag, price on request, available at YSL stores in mid-summer, www.ysl.com.
A Bracelet That Says What It Means
February 3, 2010 5:35 pm
E-mail makes for easy communication but lousy jewelry. So when Bing Bang’s Anna Sheffield was thinking of love notes and secret messages while designing her spring Bing Bang collection, she went back to the old instruments, the feather and the pen nib. All jewelry might be a love letter of sorts, but Sheffield’s new Dearest cuff makes it plainer than most: The billet-doux quill literally wraps around the wearer. (You might say the medium’s the message.) It’s one of the many pieces Sheffield is offering tomorrow at a three-day, multi-brand pop-up shop at her studio, where clothes and accessories from A Peace Treaty, Lindsey Thornburg, and Souchi will all be on sale. So here’s one more Valentine’s option to explore, and one, we’d add, that cynics and romantics can both enjoy. Sheffield will also be customizing bracelets and necklaces with a variety of charms: Lovers can snap up the hearts and bunnies; pugilists and break-up artists, skulls and boxing gloves.
Thursday, February 4, 5 to 8 p.m.; Friday, February 5, 3 to 8 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, February 6 and 7, 1 to 8 p.m., at Bing Bang, 153 Lafayette St., 4th floor, NYC.
tags: A Peace Treaty, Anna Sheffield, Bing Bang, Lindsey Thornburg, Souchi
Italian Shoes, All-American Prices
February 3, 2010 4:43 pm
No secret that in these rough days, many designers are stretching to keep the dollars coming, and diffusion lines are the solution most have settled on. California-based footwear designer Charles David is the latest to go lower-cost, but he’s not compromising on quality—his new Made in Italy capsule collection of menswear-inspired boots and brogues is, despite the more affordable price, all Italian-made and hand-stitched. A few pieces hit stores in March, with a bigger launch set for the fall. They start at $195—less than plane fare!
For more information, visit www.charlesdavid.com.
tags: Charles David
On Our Radar: Jil Sander Soul Collection Rings
February 3, 2010 12:54 pm
Heart on your sleeve? Inadvisable. But soul on your finger? That we can get behind. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Jil Sander has released its new Soul collection of rings, crafted in Italy and available only at the label’s online shop. The chunky silver and enamel design (in black, pink, yellow, orange, and blue) is surprisingly sprightly for a house better known for minimalism and quieter palettes. ‘Tis the season to think pink? Husbands/boyfriends out there, trust me: This’ll go farther than roses.
$540, available exclusively at www.jilsander.com.
Plus, for more Valentine’s options, check out our shopping guide.
tags: Jil Sander
Exclusive: We Preview The Opening Ceremony X Levi’s Collab
February 1, 2010 2:43 pm
We’re not sure if it’s alchemy or a deal with the devil, but just about everything Opening Ceremony touches turns to gold. In the store’s new collaboration with Levi’s, however, most everything has turned to corduroy. When the results look good, we’re not about to complain. Levi’s gave Style.com a sneak preview of a few pieces from the mostly cord new collection, which hits select Levi’s and Opening Ceremony shops—including the latter’s forthcoming Ace Hotel location—later this month. The line, comprised of shirts, jackets, cutoffs, and pants, doesn’t mess with the simplicity that makes Levi’s great; the Opening Ceremony team merely tweaked the classics with pop colors (spring pastels like pink, lavender, and dusty blue, as well as our favorite, a mustardy shade called curry) and a few select nips and tucks. (The denim jacket [below] like one that you’d scour the racks to find at your local vintage shop, is lovingly broken in, and shrunken to bolero-ish proportions.) Look for them soon at a store—and, knowing their provenance, an after-hours party, under-the-radar-bar, or backstage lounge—near you.
OC x Levi’s cord shirt, $128; denim trucker jacket, $178; and 505 cutoff shorts, $148; available at select Opening Ceremony stores (beginning February 9), Levi’s Union Square San Francisco flagship and worldwide boutique stores (beginning February 19), and www.levi.com (beginning February 15). For more information, visit www.levi.com.
tags: Ace Hotel, Levi's, Opening Ceremony
On Our Radar: Balmain I Sunglasses
January 27, 2010 9:33 am
For the fashion set, the opening of a Balmain envelope is a fanatically followed event. (Even the house’s “small” store party in Paris earlier this week turned into a full-fledged throng.) So you can imagine the fervor that’ll no doubt accompany the label’s new sunglasses, made in collaboration with Oliver Peoples. Creative director Christophe Decarnin has shown himself to be a master at sussing out what every girl wants, and I’ve got a feeling these shades will be no exception. The unisex Balmain I (pictured) hits stores this March, while the second, Balmain II, arrives at the end of the year. A bit of related news that probably won’t ease the wait any: Balmain’s also working on a Blue Label apparel collection, with items running 40 to 50 percent cheaper than those in the main line. Why do I get the feeling that will just encourage fans to buy twice as much?
Oliver Peoples for Balmain, Balmain I sunglass, $595. Available in March at Bergdorf Goodman, NYC, (212) 753-7300.
tags: Balmain, Christophe Decarnin, Oliver Peoples
Jewelry Finds From The Age Of Aquarius
January 26, 2010 5:16 pm
Welcome to the seventies, man. We’ve been noticing for weeks now that the hard-edged eighties looks of last year are starting to give way to something a little softer—less body-con, more bodacious. As if on cue, The Way We Wore’s vintage buyer Doris Raymond has turned up a treasure trove of seventies pieces from design duo Alex & Lee. They certainly tapped into the era’s free-to-be-you-and-me ethos, designing more-is-more necklaces, bracelets, and brooches piling on metals, stones, and beads, and their wares wound up in the collections of some of the decade’s most flamboyant characters: Cher, Diana Ross, and, of course, Elton John. But no one outdazzles the designers themselves (below). In their own words: “Within the meditation of Love and Peace lies our inspiration for creation. We view ourselves as instruments through which a psychic language of affirmation materializes. Our process of collaboration leads us to the mystical union of at-one-ment.” Groovy!
Mixed media necklaces, price on request, available at The Way We Wore, www.thewaywewore.com.
tags: Alex and Lee, Cher, Diana Ross, Elton John, The Way We Wore
Acne Takes A Seat
January 25, 2010 5:54 pm
Jonny Johansson of Acne is a man with a modest tendency for drip-feeding his multifaceted abilities to the fashion world. Who knew, for instance, that the first interest this Swedish design polymath had in life was furniture, not jeans? But it’s a fact. This much was revealed to revelers who ended up lounging on his new line—prototypes of handmade “proportion studies” of sofas—at a party Johansson threw in the premises recently inhabited by Karl Lagerfeld on the Rue de l’Université in Paris. He says it’s all part of his “research into my own background—what Sweden means to me. I looked into a piece in my grandmother’s house, the Nya Berlin sofa by Carl Malmsten, from the ‘Swedish Grace’ period of design from the mid-twenties. Then I played with it on a computer which pops out little plastic models.” The result: brilliantly skewed variations of the same item, which come squished upright, stretched flat, or cantilevered at unlikely, cartoonish angles—and covered with bleached, hand-dyed pale Acne denim.
tags: Acne, Johnny Johansson
London Calling, For A Short Time Only
January 21, 2010 3:00 pm
It’s midlife, without the crisis. Graham Cutler and Tony Gross’ London-based eyewear label Cutler and Gross turns 40 this year, and they’re celebrating, not hand-wringing. The duo is toasting four decades of handmade shades—including that recent victory, the much requested pair sported by villain Mathieu Amalric in the latest Bond flick, Quantum of Solace—by heading stateside. New York real estate prevented a quick move into a permanent location, but one of the line’s long-term stockists, Selima Salaun, stepped in to help: The store is hosting a C&G pop-up shop in its Noho boutique through April.
“It was a really easy choice. I like their pieces because they’ve stayed really focused even through all these years,” Salaun said. “It’s not always easy to follow an independent path.” While you’ll still need to trek to London for the brand’s coveted designer collaborations, like the latest with Victoria Beckham for Spring 2010, chances are you won’t leave squinting: Over 400 styles are on offer (a few of our favorites, above), including vintage frames spanning the company’s entire career.
Frames, $425 each; Cutler and Gross’ temporary shop-in-shop runs from Friday, January 22, to Sunday, April 25, at Bond 07 by Selima, 7 Bond St., NYC, (212) 677-8487, www.selimaoptique.com.
tags: Cutler and Gross, Selima Optique
