Shiny Bright

I'm liking shiny, sparkly shoes paired with medium opaque black tights, more black and shots of bright color.

The first gal is from Moscow, the second from London.

It's amazing how similar, enviable style transcends geographical logistics.








* Photos property of facehunter.blogspot.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Lydia's A Real Life Gossip Girl

Lydia Hearst is a real-life socialite playing a fake-life socialite named Amelia on Gossip Girl.

Sure, we all want Serena and Blair and Dan and Chuck and Nate and Rufus (hot dad alert!) to be real, but they just aren't. Sigh.

You know what is real, though?

The Robin dress, Chanel necklace, Sigerson Morrison gladiator heels and Foley + Corinna purse Miz Hearst is carrying in this scene with Chuck Bass.

Once a socialite, always a socialite. Guess art really does imitate life.






* Photo property of latimes.com and is used solely for commentary purposes

Laugh of the Day

Okay, I shouldn't laugh at this because it really is very politically incorrect, but I can't help reading Engrish.com and having a minor chuckle.

Alright, maybe a medium guffaw.

You can't honestly tell me reading the menu item below doesn't make you crack a grin.

Uh, so where can I get Healthy Pleasure juice??






Side note: Officials in Beijing have hired teams of English experts to re-translate as many hilarious, er, erroneous signs littering the place before the Olympics. True story!



* Photo property of engrish.com and is used solely for commentary purposes

Like Water For Art

Pixel art, meet street art.

Yes, I know -- it's pretty damn cool.

If you want to check it out, then you'll have to walk 'round and 'round the Lower East Side in New York.

That's all I got for ya, besides this picture.

And this is me pulling an Edward R. Murrow when I say good night, and good luck (finding it, that is).







* Photo property of woostercollective.com and is used solely for commentary purposes

Coachella-ella-ella

The Indio Desert in California is H-O-T.

Home of mega outdoor fest Coachella, Indio is a place where you'd want to wear loose frocks, a funked out hat, SPF 700 and open-toed anything.

Linlee Allen of Style.com -- she's a Conde Nast-owned scribe and photog -- kicked it at Coachella this year and took pics a whack of pics starring fashionable people taking in Hot Chip, Justice, Uffie, Prince, Yo! Majesty, new industry fave Santogold and others. Most of the cool kids she shot donned the vintage, ixnay-ed the heels and slipped on the old school shades (Wayfarers in colors made the cut).

Some even wore these weird flower crowns -- after all, isn't Coachella this generation's version of Woodstock?

Anyhoos, the two chickies below had on my favorite outfits:







Tight!


I'm Lovin' it: Getting in touch with two of my old friends Bloka and Jen Jen from Sydney, Australia after six years! Social globalization through Facebook, nice. Oh yeah, and the Gastown Mavi store opening on Thursday will be rather fun, too.


I'm Over it: The five hundred car alarms that go off every night outside my apartment. I'm also dreading the sore body that will likely occur post-squash match tonight with Berry. Ah, but how I love the sport...


Track of the Day: Le Tigre. "Deceptacon". American post-punk/electropop band. I like band member JD Samson's name. Don't know why, probably because most other JDs I know of are pretty cool -- JD Salinger and JD Ferguson, what!







* Photos property of Linlee Allen, style.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

How To Wear Simian Mobile Disco

You like listening to Simian Mobile Disco?

Well, now you can have SMD on you all day, every day, thanks to their limited edition "Attack Decay Sustain Release" t-shirt collaboration with London designer-slash-illustrator Kate Moross. The collection comes in four designs, which are available while they tour and, of course, online.

And when I say limited edition, I really mean it -- each design only has 72 reproductions, so if SMD happens to be the next show you're taking in, don't forget to pick a tee up after their set.

As for Moross, her client list is enviable.

We're talking bands like the Klaxons, Gossip and Mystery Jets, as well as record labels Merok, Young Turks and Mental Groove. She's also worked for Nike, Pepsi and UK mag Dazed & Confused. Oh yeah, and Moross has a Topshop collection and her own New Era design.

These hustlers will make you believe.


PS. Thanks Mike B. at Iced Media in NYC for sending in the tip!











* Photos property of Kate Moross, Simian Mobile Disco and used solely for commentary purposes

Hello Kitty is En Vogue

Sanrio's Hello Kitty is the world's biggest kitsch superstar.

She's immortalized on pencils, erasers, stationary, socks, tees, gum, mugs, cellphones, iPods, dolls, backpacks, pencil cases and now Vogue Japan.

For the country's latest issue, the cartoon character went shopping, mingled with high society and had a photo shoot modeling all of John Galliano's Fall '08 Christian Dior collection.

What a lucky kitty.

I imagine the bow-headed one went on the South Beach Diet in order to fit all those size zero samples.






I'm Lovin' it: Tag team birthdays! Me, Aims, Kid-d and all our pals on Saturday, creating a high-spirited scene at Honey. Good times.


I'm Over it: The cheese smokie I ate yesterday to wash down the effects of said Saturday night.


Track of the Day: "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan. The DJ at Honey played it and all was alright with the world again.





* Photo property of fashionweekdaily.com and is used solely for commentary purposes

Alexander Wang! Uniqlo!

Pictures for Alexander Wang's collection for UNIQLO are finally on the Japanese retailer's site!

Dress #4 is the one to have, with its built-in cropped vest.

Oh, Alex, how I wish we were BFF.

PS. It's my mission to have Reems, one of my best friends, make friends with him when she moves to New York at month's end. And she will, too, because the girl is ab-fab!








* Photo property of uniqlo.com and is used solely for commentary purposes

Yay!

Chrystina made it into Girlicious!

Yes, I watch crappy TV sometimes!

Can't believe I just blogged about this!

But I'm so happy about it!

Double yay!!






* Photo property of cwtv.com and is used solely for commentary purposes

Bella Notte

If I were a big star and had to attend at least four red carpet events weekly, I'd probably choose Marchesa as my go-to gown provider.

I'd have to be buddy-buddy with Harvey or Georgina, naturally.

Since I'm not an A-lister and I'm not pals with Harv or G, Marchesa's diffusion line Marchesa Notte is my best bet for wearing the label on a regular basis (translation: someday). The slightly more affordable dresses are casually gorgeous and flattering to the body -- especially the off-the-shoulder Crane Print Mini Dress that I've decided would now be the birthday dress of my dreams.

Anyone have an extra $850 to spare a girl??









I'm Lovin' it: Simian Mobile Disco last night was way, way too much fun. That was one of the best electronica show I've seen yet -- it even kind of trumped last June's Girl Talk show just a little. So that's saying a lot. K-Dizzle, Kenzo, Mikey, Berry, Luker, Ads, TC, Sandwich and his buddy Tom, plus Phyll and her man Seb rounded out the SMD crew, and as far I remember, we danced humpday Wednesday away. Oh, and Kanye West would've been so proud -- SMD brought out on stage the mega flashing lights.


I'm Over it: Angela Bower (real name: Judith Light) from Who's The Boss now plays Daniel Meade's mother on Ugly Betty and because it's 2008, she toned down the huge feathered blonde hair. What a great tragedy. That hair ruled the early 90s.






Track of the Day: In homage to last night's dance fiasco, here's "It's The Beat" by Simian Mobile Disco.








* Photos property of net-a-porter.com, tvacres.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Arez-ted Development

If I won the lottery today, the first three things I'd do would be:

1. Hop on a flight back to L.A. immediately to visit my parents, uncles, granny and sis. Going a year and a half without seeing them is not fun at all.

2. Take my close girlfriends for a raucous, gal pal-only trip to South Beach in Miami.

3. Buy this Arez dress for my birthday.

Thus far, I know very little about the brand -- and Google doesn't say much about it either -- but what I do know is that it'll go great with the gold heels in my closet and gold bangle on my wrist.

And that, folks, is all I really need to know right now.












I'm Lovin' it: My girl R. Tay is now the Western Editor of FASHION Magazine! Congrats, lady!!!

I'm Lovin' it, Part II: Gossip Girl was back on the boobtube last night. It was made the rest of my April and well into May. There were plenty of showdowns: Blair vs. Jenny, Serena vs. Chuck and now, Serena vs. the mysterious "G". Outfits weren't off-the-charts for this particular episode, but the kids just got back to school, so there's still a whole season of fabulous clothing to be worn. Wonder if the dress that Jenny five-finger discounted from her friend's house really was a vintage Valentino...







I'm Over it: My new face wash not only dried out my face, it also made my right eye swollen since Saturday, so the symmetry is a little off. Which is making me really, really mad. Note to self: Never buy Clean & Clear EVER again.


Art of the Day: This photo of the Bondi Baths in Sydney, Australia by Carlo Van de Roer. It kind of goes well with the dress above, no?








* Photos property of net-a-porter.com, Carlo Van de Roer, nymag.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Happy Friday!

Yep, I've been a bit MIA the past two weeks with a lot going on. Whew, TGIF!

There's a new indie brand I'm liking called Maharishi out of the UK.

The brand's been around since Hardy Blechman founded it in 1994 and is pretty street. Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams are huge fans, but both men and women get shout-outs with separate collections. I'm finding the men's side is completely army-inspired, which is appropriate since it seems to be making a comeback considering the recent unveiling of the Louis Vuitton-with-Marc-and-Murakami Monoflage print in Brooklyn a few weeks ago.

All the women's stuff is loose and easy-going in that "I just threw this on" way, and kind of reminds me of clothing the Alexander Wang set would wear if all their Alexander Wang clothes were dirty in the the laundry basket. I also like the yellow socks paired with the short, grey boots in the lookbook for some reason -- probably because it adds a little girliness to an otherwise muted color palette (save the blue shirts).

I dig.












I'm Lovin' it: One of my fave Vancity stores called Mintage is selling vintage clothing for cheap at $9.99 by the pound. An entirely new concept for fashionistas in this city. At L.A.'s Jet Rag on La Brea, not so much but here, yes.







I'm Over it: My phone has been out of commission for a couple days. I could call out, but couldn't receive calls nor text. Not cool. So if you've been trying to get a hold of me, so sorry! I'm not ignoring y'all. It should be fixed now.


Track of the Day: Like Dolly Parton? Like Kenny Rogers? No?? Well, maybe then you'll like their song "Islands In The Stream" sung by Feist and Constantines better. Check it!








* Photos property of emaharishi.com, Mintage, pitchfork.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Camp Counsellor

Oh la la la la.

Not that I need more beauty products spilling out of my drawers and from underneath my bathroom sink, but I just gots to have this limited edition Dress Camp collection from MAC.

These eyeshadows, blush, lipsticks and gloss are all wrapped up in ghetto-fab zebra print, stars and gold hardware -- hello, Ru Paul.

And I really want to turn the eyeshadow and blush compact into a business card holder.

The thing is this collection is super duper limited edition, meaning it's only being released in Asia and a few select MAC Pro stores. Good thing the Robson location in my city is one of them!

Did I mention it's out today??










I'm Lovin' it: I'm far from having babies on the brain, but these Ralph Lauren pleated baby ballet slippers are TOO cute.







I'm Over it: I'm one of the many thousands of gals -- and guys -- that have been suckered into watching Girlicious. And Natalie really bothers me sometimes.


Track of the Day: If David Cook doesn't win American Idol this season, I will throw out half my shoe collection. Just kidding...that's too much to ask! But if you aren't blown away with his absolutely daring and original rocker rendition of "Always Be My Baby" by Mariah Carey, then you are crazy. It's amazing in the same way as "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith was back in the day.

And yes, I have a major crush on him (especially when he gives that crooked, mid-song smile at about 32 seconds into the clip).






* Photos of property of maccosmetics.com, style.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

I Found It

My birthday dress.

Okay, my dream birthday dress.

This black-on-black MARC by Marc Jacobs check dress makes me want to cry, I love it so much (yes, I'm being a tad dramatic). It has wide and skinny straps around the neck, an empire waist, hidden side pockets and the perfectly perfect length (short but not too short).

And it's only $265 USD, on sale currently.

Ha. Only.

Considering two little things called financial responsibility and bills, this MARC by Marc frock will have to stay on that Bergdorf's catalogue model, where it doesn't belong.

We all know where it does belong, though.

On me.








I'm Lovin' it: This Alber Elbaz quote I read off Fashionista, excerpted from an article from The Independent:

"I remember a woman telling me that every time she wore a Lanvin dress, men wanted to sleep with her. Later, I thought that I'd rather she fell in love."

And if you don't know who Alber Elbaz is, then shame on you.







I'm Over it: An invite from Mariana at Hollywood Life to the 10th Annual Young Hollywood Awards in LA and I can't go. Boooooo.


Album on the Day: Overpowered by Roisin Murphy.This Irish lass was formerly one-half of the electronica band Moloko, which broke up when she and her bandmate boyfriend Mark Brydon broke up. She went on to release her first electronica solo album Ruby Blue before following it up with Overpowered last year. Make sure to listen to "Let Me Know". It's gnarly good disco electronica.






* Photos property of bergdorfgoodman.com, papermag.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

DJ Karl

Gamers and fashionistas have finally united.

Karl Lagerfeld offered his voice and persona to play DJ Karl in the fourth installment of popular video game Grand Theft Auto. DJ Karl works for fictional radio station K109 The Studio in the fictional city of Liberty.

It's all so very appropriate, since it is well-documented that Lagerfeld is a huge music aficionado and reportedly hires someone to update his trillions of iPods. K109, from what I listened to, plays an interesting mix of disco, afro-beat and funk. Plus, the designer says two things:


"I am DJ Karl, or as they say in France, DJ Karl."

and...

"We keeping things moving with the music that liberated all of us and taught us we were all the same."


What, no Phoenix or Rock&Roll, Karl?? I figured he'd include some hot Parisian bands for sure.

Anyhoo, have a listen below:









* Photo property of minifroufrou.com and is used solely for commentary purposes

Triple Threat

Yesterday, while scouring Hollywood Life's Splash Agency account for fashionable celebs to talk about, I came across shots of Kate Bosworth at LAX in a long-sleeved purple tunic, black leggings and these FANTASTIC architectural heels/booties/peeptoes/whatever with wide triple straps from Chloe:








Wow, wow, wow.

Paolo Melim Andersson did some good before vacating Chloe!



I'm Lovin' it: This tiger head topaz crystal ring from Kenneth Jay Lane. Reowrrrrrr! Lions and tigers and bears, oh my, oh my.







I'm Over it: My left contact lens makes my eye itch.


Track of the Day: I'm currently in love with Yelle, who is this lovely, frothy pop-y confection from France. Her tracks are have made it on the Moschino Spring/Summer '08 runway, commercials and that episode of Entourage where the boys go to Cannes to premiere their Medellin flick. Riot in Belgium remixed Yelle's "A Cause des Garcons", so enjoy.







* Photos property of intermixonline.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Shameless Money-Making Plug

I FINALLY added Google AdSense to my blog this weekend, after being in the blogging biz for the past two and a half years.

Check it out below my blogroll listings on the left.

Feel free to click on any of the ads to make me some extra moolah.

Got some decent ones on here!!

xo
Haute Hippie

PS. Just kidding on clicking to make me $$.

PPS. Not really.







* Photo property of ccrux.corsarius.net

Murakami Manic

The names Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton are no longer mutually exclusive.

In fact, the only reason why more sartorialists like you and me know about Murakami is because of Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton. I mean, who could forget those colorful LV Murakami bags whose knock-offs ended up on every vendor cart on Canal Street and Santee Alley??

This artist-slash-theorist is probably the world's best known Japanese contemporary artists. He's been dubbed "the Japanese Andy Warhol" for referencing so much media and pop culture, blending the highs and lows of mass media, art and fashion. He's got the really expensive art and sculptures for multi-millionaires to gobble up, and toys, keychains and dolls for us plebeians to play with.

All that brings me to my point: The “©Murakami” exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in New York.

Every cool kid was out for this event, with the highlight of the evening being a free performance by fabulously narcissistic hip-hop dandy Kanye West. I was hoping Murakami would show his "Planting The Seeds" animated short at the soiree, so I could easily find it on the web because for sure someone at the party video-ed it on their Blackberry, but looks like you can't win them all (ie. no dice).

I highly doubt this exhibit will make its way to the small contemporary art gallery a block away from my apartment, so I'll just have to admire the Murakami anime via world wide web.

Darn.







I'm Lovin' it: My joint birthday party with Aims and Kid-d is coming up in three weeks, which means a birthday outfit needs to be purchased. I'm thinking something mini and something blue. If I had my way, I'd get something from Elizabeth & James. Yes, the MK and Ashley Olsen line.








I'm Over it: Blogger is being an asshole and not letting me upload multiple pictures at once.


Track of the Day: Already posted this song eons ago, but I just got a flashback listening to this Artful Dodger remix of Para Beat's "U Got Me". Makes me want to bust a serious move in my solarium-esque apartment office, but my highrise neighbors looking in might think I'm a weirdo.







* Photos property of nytimes.com, elizabethandjames.us, contactmusic.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Less Than $5?? I'll Take It!

This very cool necklace from -- gasp! -- Forever 21 is only $3.99.

It's called the Braided Monarch Necklace, and it's really very pretty.

The only thing is that the creator is Forever 21 -- and it is a picture that I'm staring at, therefore making it hard to tell if the necklace is cute or crap.

But hello, it IS only four bucks, so it's really a win-win situation.

If it's crap, at least it was less than $5 and if it's cute, then score!







I'm Lovin' it: Staying in tonight. No VRBF for me. Oh, and the fact that Gangsta Rap Fridays in the office are still actually happening. Ah yes, and that our Brixton hats finally arrived.


I'm Over it: Argh! Delayed wire payments.


Photo of the Day: This picture of Carine Roitfeld at 18-years-old, courtesy of Fashionista.com. It also comes with a haiku poem, written by the fabulous Faran Krentcil.







* Photos property of forever21.com, fashionista.com and are used solely for commentary purposes

Fringe Benefits

You know what I like about clutches nowadays?

They're a daytime and nighttime accessory.

This bone-colored, fringe-tastic clutch from Banana Republic is great for a spring or summer day -- or better yet, a spring or summer night out on the patio with the girls. And it isn't Pocahontas, it's cute.

I don't care if it's 2008, I'll rock the fringe like it's 1979.

PS. D&G, Giorgio Armani and Burberry all said yes to this tasseled trend for Spring '08, too. Hey, whatever Christopher Bailey says, goes, if you ask me.










I'm Lovin' it: My new darker 'do, which I got did today. Cheese and chocolate fondue with my girls Aims, Berry, Saritz and Gracey last night.


I'm Over it: The Collette Dinnigan for Target collection only getting rolled out in Australia.


Photo of the Day: This awesome black and white photo of Natasha Khan -- aka. Bat For Lashes -- is awesome.






* Photos property of bananarepublic.com, nytimes.com and are used solely for commentary purposes