My new Zara golden top

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Well, finally Zara has opened its e-store... I really could not believe that Zara and H&M were still out of e-commerce...
But now all is changed...
Fortunately I work/live in the vicinity of all the major stores.
As a costly pastime, I do go out for lunch and walk around these stores...

Saw this top at Zara on 34th Street and HAD to have it...

 And for this price? Hell yeah!!!

Detachable Collar Necklaces? Yes, please!

This trend of detachable collar necklaces has been all over the shows for this Fall/Winter season...

 From the Fall 2011 runways of Miu Miu, Carven, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Just Cavalli &
DKNY

Tops from Topshop

Lulu decided to get on board this trend. Found some great deals at this wonderful website: asos.com!

 

Soooo Cute! And look at the prices!!!

Got another one...

 

Just have to find me a good top that goes with these without looking weird...

Let's see if I can pull this off!

Old NYC: The Bauodouine Building

How many buildings in New York (or anywhere else) have a Greek-Roman temple on top of it?

 

Well, apparently the  The Bauodouine Building does!

What a piece of art, kinda hidden in the Flatiron area...

Pass by this building almost every day going to work... Love it...

The Bauodouine Building at 1181-1183 Broadway (also known as 22 West 28th Street) at the corner of West 28th Street in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1895-96 and was designed by Alfred Zucker in the Classical Revival style. It was a store and office tower which replaced a hotel, and is topped by a Greco-Roman temple. The building lies within the Madison Square North Historic District.

OLD NYC: "Archeology in my building"!!!

I do live on a charming pre-war apartment on Gramercy, NYC.

I did some research and discovered that it was built in 1929... My husband mentioned 1917, but I did think that it looks too art-deco to be from 1917... So, once again, I was right ;-)

Anyway, every single day, I do open my door and what do I see? A mail chute with a pretty nifty sign...

Since I am on my "old NYC" phase, I finally decided to take a picture of it and create an entry about it...

 And a closer look:

Looks like it is from the 1950's or 1960's, doesn't it?
It would be pretty cool to mail anything today for 10 cents...

Lace black top - very Dolce & Gabbana!

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I've been looking for a black long sleeved lace top forever...
Talking about forever, I did find one at guess where? Forever 21!!!

Saw this some time ago at Dolce & Gabbana Fall/Winter 2010 Collection:

And then on the Fall/Winter 2011:

Saw this lace combination on some stars such as my dear Mad Gal Christina Hendricks :

Then had to find my own top, and I so did!!!

 

Lovely, isn't it? And it gives me so many options : I am planning to wear it like the model above (with a camisole) and also under a short sleeve top or dress...

Soooo cute ;-)

My new lace sweatshirt - a DEFINITE look for less!

Lace has been all over the  fashion shows lately and is a definitive trend for fall 2011...

I am so glad i did get some great pieces...

And just got another one...

Lace and sweatshirt? Those words kinda don't go together, right?

Jason Wu did an amazing job with this combo...

 

A BARGAIN for almost $1,200!!! Jesus, that is crazy.

Could NOT believe it when I saw this:

So, Lulu did find this REAL bargain for less than 60 bucks at Loft. Get yours here.

UPDATE: It is SOLD OUT!!!! Went to their website and saw this:

Due to overwhelming popularity, this item is currently sold out. This item may still be available in one of our stores. Click below to search for the item.

Soooooo Happy I have mine!!!!

Even better than the original, in my opinion

I like the bigger lace panel more...
Wu's looked like someone just sewed two lace ribbons on it... It is pretty, but 1200 bucks? For a SWEATSHIRT???
Nah, not for me. Gimme some more cheap thrills!

The Met: still one of my very favorite museums in the world...

The Met is one of my very favorite museums in the whole world. Actually, it can be my very favorite (the Louvre is almost there nose-to-nose).
This place means happiness to me. So much beauty crammed in one wonderful place...

 The Dendur Temple - always a favorite place to sit and enjoy

Mummies and Roman times Egyptian mummy plates

Byzantine mosaics

Can you imagine a place where you can see Alexander McQueen clothing (previous post), go to an Egyptian temple and then go to eighteenth century France, all in the same day? I can't and that is why I LOVE this place!!!

Alexander McQueen Met Exhibit - stroke of genius!

I've mourned McQueen when he tragically took his own life back in February 2010.
I was terribly sad that someone so young, talented, rich and talented thought that he did not have a way out...

Well, the procrastinator that I am, I'd finally decided to go to the Met again and see the exhibit on my last summer Friday only 3 days before it closed.

Of course I've heard about the mad visitor numbers and the lines...But I did not expect the lines going OUT of the building!!!!

Since I had time on my hands and wasn't on a hurry, I decided to stay and wait for a friend of mine.

So I did meet Julie and discovered that the line to see it was 3 hours long! Are you kidding me? THREE hours? Julie did convince me to stay the course when I was almost giving up and I am so glad she did!!!
The line was fun, just people watching and in fact took like 2 hours...
So, lots of gossiping and we even did look at parts of the museum that I don't usually visit.

I was like a little kid: "are we there yet" all the time!!! LOL.

Moi on the NEVER-ending line... (thanks Juju)

When we finally got to the exhibit,  it was as predicted, a hot mess. The place wasn't very spacious and I did really feel very uneasy and sometimes very claustrophobic. Praise to Lulu and Julie to leave this to the eleventh hour (detail: this show was on since May, people, May! And we decide to go in freaking August!).
I really felt that we could die there if there was a stampede. But anyway, I pretty much got distracted from this thought with absolute beauty of the garments and the amazing decoration and eerie sounds.

Of course, the guards were like "NO pictures", they were repeating this a million times..

Lulu, of course CANNOT live without her pictures and I don't trust my memory all the time. So, with the beauty of my silent mode/no flash modes of my darling cell phone, I did manage to sneak quite a few shots, with my heart thumping!!!

 A really shaky one!!! I was terrified to be yelled at!!! Look at that costume: one word: horsehair!!!

For a Joan of Arc kind of day

wow...

I wonder where would you go on an outfit like that!

This was one of my favorite collections: a Napoleonic stravaganza...

The other faves I couldn't or wouldn't dare to take a shot were:

I just wonder why they don't allow us mortals take pictures of the clothes! If they are broadcasting them on their website... Baffling... The sets were soooo awesome. One of them looked like a gothic version of the Versailles mirror room...

Oh well, anyway, the exhibit blew me away. All of the garments were works of art.

Just sad that he has left us so early...

Thinking of you Mr. McQueen...

PS - I DID FIND A LOT, I repeat A LOT of the interior of the exhibit on the internet! SO TAKE THAT STUPID GUARDS!!!

Almost the same experience, but with NO PEOPLE!!!!

The New York Times wrote some articles about this craze: read this awesome one here.