Category Archives: Style

Events, Style

Barneys Co-op For Brooklyn

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Barneys Co-op is opening in Brooklyn, so come September, fashion-minded locals will be able to pop into the new Atlantic Ave. location en route to Trader Joe’s for a bag of avocados and some mini mochi ice creams.

Located in a new building at 194 Atlantic Avenue, the Co-op store – aimed at a younger fashionista and dubbed the “wayward offspring” of Barneys New York –  has Trader Joe’s on the corner of Atlantic and Court Streets, and Urban Outfitters just a few doors down, making for a bustling block. Stroll across Court Street in the other direction, and there’s Jonathan Adler and a string of boutiques and antique stores to poke around.

Now I love to wander around Barneys proper but the Co-op stuff, much like the annual warehouse sales, have never really been my thing. I’ve inevitably bought some lower-level Barneys frock, lured by the Barneys cachet, only to never wear the darn thing. Nevertheless, it’s always good to see a new business in the neighborhood.

Barneys Co-op is slated to open sometime in September and is part of a national expansion for the often financially embattled Barneys; Santa Monica will also get getting a new outpost.  All in all, I guess it’s a good sign that things may be picking up, and if you can afford Barneys price tags, even at the less lavish Co-op level, life can’t be all that bad.

Events, Style

Spring Fling Friday

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Looking for some place to shop and sip cocktails this Friday evening?  Check out the Brooklyn Collective Spring Event, showcasing more than 15 homegrown designers, from fashion and jewelry to painting, sculpture and photography.

The collective recently moved a couple of doors down on Columbia Street, to take up the back space in General Nightmare Antiques. The terrific new space is a great place to peruse some Brooklyn design, and mingle with crafty locals. Some of the artisanal work on show at the moment: Tattoo Girl Lingerie, AshiDashi socks, clothing by LJ Lambillotte, sculpture by Jen Kelly and Lisel Ashlock paintings.

Brooklyn Collective was founded in 2004 by Rachel Goldberg and Tessa Phillips, jewelry and fashion designers respectively, as a way to give other artists a place to display and sell their creations. Member artists share the rent, hence the idea of it being a “collective”, and get to keep 100% of profits from any of their creations sold.

Besides complimentary cocktails, there will also be a live performance by musical duo SORD. The Spring event runs this Friday, March 26, from 7pm to midnight at 196 Columbia Street, between Sackett and Degraw Streets in Red Hook.

Style

And Now Makeup to Match

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As if Target’s team-up with Liberty of London isn’t enough, MAC Cosmetics is launching a lush, springy MAC Give me Liberty makeup selection today. The bevy of limited edition lipsticks, glosses, shadows and blush, as well as makeup bags and a covetable scarf are springy and cheerful, and the packaging is knockout.

Primarily white with black detailing and splashes of color, the packaging features an open-beaked bird and simply drawn flowers. With shades including Prim + Proper, Summer Rose, Birds + Berries and Petals + Peacocks, the newest makeup collaboration channels the ladylike-boho chic of the British print icon that is Liberty of London.

At just $14, the Petals + Peacocks lipstick and the Blue India nail lacquer for $12 could be just the go in my own Liberty collaboration come spring. The Mac collection hits makeup counters  today, Thursday, March 11, as well as online at maccosmetics.com.

Raves, Style

Loving Lady-Like Liberty

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I never line up for anything. It has become a sort of personal creed for me, especially since moving to New York more than a decade ago and being  stunned at how willing people are to queue in this city – and in such an orderly manner. Australians are largely a cynical bunch, and lazy, so the whole lining up thing doesn’t work well. A French friend, also stunned at the orderly American queue, said lines in her homeland were notoriously rowdy and crooked, with people going in all directions.

That’s why today was notable. I surprised even myself and stood in line with about 200 other shoppers to get first dibs on the Liberty of London for Target range. Thankfully, the line moved fast, and I made it inside in about 15 minutes at what was probably peak time around 12.30pm. Was it worth it? Well, yes I believe it was. I scored three pretty sundresses, of course in Liberty printed fabrics; a couple of tea mugs and floral tumblers as well as an armload of frocks and bikinis for the daughter, all of which actually fit.

I was pleased to find the dresses were modern cuts and the fabrics didn’t feel cheap and nasty as has been the case with some other designer for the masses collaborations. Target seems to have really hit a home run with this latest teaming, raising the question among just about everyone I chatted to in that long line: why isn’t there a Liberty of London store in New York?

The pop-up store was beautifully decorated with planters galore of spring flowers, and hyacinth perfuming the air, which was also adorned with massive cutouts of home wares, umbrellas and yards of wallpaper and fabric in the famed Liberty prints. The umbrellas, by the way, were sold out by noon today and a lot of the smallest sizes in the lingerie and some of the most popular dresses were in need of restocking too. Still, a woman next to me was thrilled to find a row of bras in 36 DD and beyond! There were plenty of staff scattered about too to help answer questions, though most people wanted to know about sizing, and that was the one thing the staffers seemed clueless about.

Most things are sized x-small, small, medium or large etc., although in an odd twist, some maxi dresses were sized numerically in British sizes. For the record, a UK8 is about a 6 in the US and a UK10 is an 8. I found the dresses run large, so opt for the smaller size. It was also tough to navigate the children’s clothes, since there was no guide on what ages the S, M and L were for. If it helps any, my almost 5yo was fine in the 5T and XS selections.

So here’s what you need to know if you plan on hitting the pop-up store; go early and unencumbered because it will be crowded and you probably won’t see everything properly, partly because the layout of the pop-up store is muddled and partly because in a flower-filled room full of Liberty-printed platters, clothes, rain boots, lingerie, bathing suits and so on, it all begins to look the same after a bit; and don’t bother with the fitting room lines unless you really must.

Afterwards, head home for a nice cup of tea, preferably in a glossy new Liberty print teacup.

The pop-up store is at 1095 Sixth Ave. at 42nd Street, near Bryant Park through Saturday. It hits Target.com and Target stores beginning Sunday, March 14.

Raves, Style

Buns, Boyswear and Beauty

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This bout of spring-like weather has me in an uncommonly good mood, so instead of ranting about the incredibly tedious Oscars, or the recent Park Slope-driven debate about whether it’s okay to take children to bars (though I might get to this shortly), I thought I would rave about a couple of things.

One-A-Penny, Two-A-Penny …

Every year around this time I crave real, fruit-laden hot cross buns, the sort I grew up eating toasted and dripping with butter. I have been into countless bakeries around New York and usually my request for hot cross buns is greeted with a blank stare. Or, if I can find them, they are cakey and light, sparse on the candied fruit and peels and heavy on white frosting and sticky glazes. I still haven’t found a version entirely reminiscent of the hot cross buns I remember from childhood, but I am thrilled to finally come close.

Bread Alone at the Union Square Greenmarkets has hot cross buns for the next few weeks preceding Easter. They are heavy with fruit and yeasty as I remember. The only downer is that like all the buns I have tasted here, they have an icing cross instead of a traditional dough one, which means you can’t put them in the toaster or the oven. Still, at around a buck a piece, they’re worth it.

Zara Boys

Also on the rave list this week is the boys’ section of Zara, my beloved shopping haunt, with locations dotted around New York. The store on Fifth Ave near 18th Street, which is dangerously close to my office, has super stylish children’s clothes on the upper level. I discovered that not only are the accessories great and inexpensive for my children, but there are finds to be had for a smallish female too.

I picked up a graffiti-patterned belt for my son and grabbed myself one in brown leather with brass grommets too; I picked him up a spring-weight scarf with skulls + crossbones and found a blue + white striped one for me. You get the idea. The belt was about $15 and beat anything I could find in the women’s section, and the scarf was under $10 and totally sated my current addiction to blue + white stripes.

Liberty of London

And I am hoping to have a serious rave by the weekend, as I gear up for Liberty of London for Target range to go on sale. I’ve been a huge fan of the international fabric label since I was too young to buy it; with its pretty florals and oh-so-English Garden sweetness. I still have a little cloth Liberty print bag my mother bought me on a shopping trip to Melbourne some 30 years ago. Wind the clock forward, and now I’m eyeing a teapot and a heap of breezy sundresses for me and my almost 5yo daughter.

The designer range hits Target.com and select stores March 14, but we lucky New Yorkers can get a sneak peak and shop beginning Wednesday at a pop-up store at 1095 Sixth Ave. at 42nd Street near Bryant Park.

Style

Move Over Skinnies

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Who knew a new pair of jeans could prompt so many questions. At 40-plus, I’ve been sliding into skinny jeans day-in, day-out for at least the past four years. But today I put on a pair of boyfriend jeans, the baggy, just rolled out of bed slouchy denim look of the moment. What are these jeans? Turn around. How did you choose your size? What are you meant to wear with them? The questions came thick and fast from skinny and boot-cut wearing mamas in my midst.

I believe it was Katie Holmes who rejuvenated the “boyfriend” label after she was spotted running around New York way back in 2008 in oversized, scruffy jeans that may well have been borrowed from husband Tom Cruise. All the usual celebs from Jennifer Aniston to Lindsay Lohan have been seen wearing them since, and with spring lines hitting the stores, so-called boyfriend jeans look to have nudged skinny jeans to the side, at least temporarily. I dismissed the new trend a few months back when I tried the Gap version. I looked about four-foot-nothing, with tree stumps for legs. They were the most unflattering jeans I had worn in ages. But some of the more recent version are cut slimmer and definitely work better, even for the height challenged. And never mind the look for now; it’s all about the comfort. A day in my newest jeans was something of a denim renaissance. After the shackles of skinny jeans, at last I could move freely; my ankles weren’t in a vice, there were no seam imprints running down my calves, and the proportion works really well with skinny tees and long, boyish cardigans.

Right now I’m coveting a pair of Current Elliott cropped boyfriend jeans but balk at paying $200 plus for daily denim. Instead, I went for Zara’s $59 version in a worn blue wash. Urban Outfitters has some too around $58, and also offers a slim boyfriend cut, which is basically less baggy but still straight from hip to ankle. It’s been awhile since I was anywhere near a boyfriend’s jeans but I guess they must always have jeans with holes, or at least fraying, because that’s the most typical finish I’ve seen so far. As for how to wear them; there are a couple of things to remember; firstly, they must be turned up at the cuff to convey the look and avoid just looking shapeless. And secondly, with all that androgyny below the waist, something fitted and feminine works best on top. With shoes, anything goes. I like a heel with the cropped jeans, and for the ankle-grazing cuts, something girly like a ballet flat, beachcomber-esque like Keds, or even ankle-high boots work.

Far be it from me to dismiss skinny jeans altogether; there is a place for them, tucked into boots, under a swingy jacket or with tunics and sneakers. Leggings, too, fall into the skinny class. But I realized I may have gone too far into the skinny thing when my four year old daughter proclaimed that she will only ever wear skinnies. “I don’t like jeans that open at the bottom, like daddy’s,” she announced while dressing for school one morning. She hasn’t voiced and opinion on the new boyfriend jeans yet.