Thursday, April 26, 2012

My New Acquisition: A Tuxedo Blazer!!!

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I've been craving a tuxedo blazer for a long time...
This trend has been hot for a while...




Then in the adventure of finding my Fashion Star dress at H&M, I've stumbled upon this:

Here's my blazer:




Super cute! And guess the price: less than 40 bucks!

Kinda similar to this Tibi one (for more than TEN times the price):

Another happy shopping day! 
:-)

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Another "Fashion Star" Story... This One Was Funny!

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Well, you probably know that I am sorta addicted to fashion reality shows if you read this.
And since I work in the vicinity of Macy's and 34ths Street in NY, I pretty much have access to almost all of the stores of "Fashion Star" (well, Saks is a bit of a trek).
So to keep my head sane, I do some fashion escapism trips during my lunch hours...
Today I decided to check out the winning dress from my namesake Luciana at H&M.
Price was like less than 40 bucks.


This is what I saw in the show:


Thought it was quite nice and very on trend. Did love the structure too...

But this is how H&M made it:



Here's the designer LUCIANA with the dress:

Luciana Scarabello and her Episode 7H&M dress


So, let's see how H&M "translated" this, most importantly on my body:



I did think - this is one LOUD print! Why do they bother buying the dress from the designer if they cannot replicate how it was originally designed?

At first I really hated the dress and (gasp) put it back in the hanger... Came back to the office and kept thinking about the dress.
Sent these pictures to a friend (hated it), my husband (also thought it was crazy loud) and my parents. My parents have really good taste... and imagine that: THEY DID LIKE IT!

Just spent the rest of the workday thinking about it. When I left work, I did return to H&M and "surprise" : my size was sold out!
 Became quite angry with myself. Should have just bought it and then returned it if I didn't like it... But whatever!
Ran to the other 34th Street H&M and YES!!! Did find it!
Different arrangement of the print, but did like it!
Not only I found it, but managed to do a major splurge in there!!! Found a cream tuxedo blazer (also for 40 bux) and two cute flowy tops!!! I will write about the blazer shortly! Stay tuned!

Let's see what else I will buy from this show! (I need to really STOP! LOL)

XOXO

Lulu

Saturday, April 14, 2012

A Victim of Reality Fashion TV... "Fashion Star" - And an Interesting Story Behind this Last Purchase...

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I am a sucker for fashion shows. Any fashion shows on TV.
Some of them more (Project Runway), others less (24 Hour Catwalk)... But they always seem to amuse me.

Of course I would watch this new show Fashion Star.

The premise was interesting: they would get aspiring designers to create something very salable and major stores like H&M, Saks and Macy's would bid to get the item.
Then, magically, the garment would be available online immediately (don't you just love that?) or in stores the next day...




First of many issues this program has: who the hell did the picking of the "designers"? Some of them would be fired from Forever 21, let alone be sold at Saks!
The little gnome in the front with the orange hat (I forgot his name already), created garments that looked so cheap that they would probably be discounted at Conway! Yuck. So many good people left out and they pick THIS?

Well, then there is the problem of the "mentors" and the "presenter".

 Nicole Ritchie , John Varvatos, Elle McPherson and a deformed Jessica Simpson.
All of the above add NOTHING to the mix.
They are supposed to help, but don't do anything. 

I miss Tim Gunn soooo much in this situation. He raised the bar so high!



 Elle Mcwhatever adds nothing either. She just is so stiff, very pretty and tall, but stiff and has no personality... My gal Heidi Klum is WAY better!

The other things that bug me in this show are: they don't really tell us if the designer gets the money prize if the garment is "bought" by the store. They never mention it.
Then the producers, for time squeezing sake, just gloss over some designers. You simply don't see all the designer's work. They pick the ones you should see. I really don't like that. The time should be the same for everyone, so we can make a judgment about all.

If your garment is picked by any store, then you are safe. If not, THEY will pick poor 3 souls to have the chance of being eliminated. People who had their garments picked one week may go the next.
I thought that this was VERY random. They really didn't give a lot of reasons sometimes.

Whatever. I will continue watching...

Another funny thing is that the stores are sooo different from each other. Well, maybe H&M could be more in Macy's league, but Saks?
 They have completely different price points! Ok, so I know I won't buy anything that is picked up by Saks. They magically inflate the prices. At H&M the same thing would cost like less than a third...

Well, after this confession, I really didn't see anything in those 4 programs that I would actually buy.
Except this last program:

The reversible blazer was pretty cute. And since it was not picked by Saks - it was AFFORDABLE!!! YAY!

Wish they made this other color too:



And guess what: the blazer was sold out the next day! Recession? What recession?





 I was pretty sure I would not be able to score this... I just know. Too much hype. Same thing for those capsule collections from H&M and Target... Hard to get anything while it's hot...

Went to 2 H&M's and found one at a size 4 - tried it on and it was TODDLER sized (and I am not even that big on top). Was pretty dismayed that I would not get it (and for thirty bucks, it was a steal).

But then, an angel of a friend of mine managed to score one for me in another location!
Awesome!!!
A great 2 in one that will rock this spring!

Thanks Julie!

Friday, April 13, 2012

Another Peter Pan Collar Necklace!



Well, I did get into this Peter Pan collar mania for some time now...
You might have see this post before... Ok, I don't really know if that was really smart shopping. Never wore those... Difficult to find a top that would make those collars more wearable.

But I will NOT give up...

Went to H&M yesterday and found this pretty beaded Peter Pan collar necklace:


And for less than $15? Sign me in...

Lookie:



I think I will make good use of this one...
Love my finds!

UPDATE!!!!!!!!

Was passing by H&M on Fifth Avenue and saw a pearl version of this necklace!!!!

HAD TO HAVE IT - it was so cute!

So got in, and of course I could NOT find it!
Ended up finding a lot of my black ones... But wait!!!
A lonesome white pearl one was forlornly hanging on an almost empty row!!!!
Just the last one!!!

Had to snag it!!!



And I am not the only one with this obsession! Take a look HERE.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Got me another little piece of Ralph Lauren's magic... Actually TWO pieces

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No secret that I do absolutely love all things Ralph Lauren... It is so me: good taste, beauty, a nod to the past with a modern edge.... LOL!

What is sometimes not so me is... the price...

But if you are a  frugal fashionista always on the lookout... You can find some pretty decent deals...

You may or may not have seen this post before.

But today I did decide to get this wonderful buffalo checked scarf:



AMAZING, NO?
And with free shipping ( I have a special code ;-)

Just getting into the RL buffalo check mode...

UPDATE!!!!

Such a good deal that I ended up getting the cream/black TOO!!! And some others for gifts!



I've showed this to a friend, and she did get the cream one... So... for this price: GIMME TWO!!!

LOL