Eco-Chic Brands
Save the World While You Shop
Time to be more conscientious about the purchases we make. There is a plethora of fab, chic brands out there doing good for the environment and community.
Here are some eco-chic brands I love
Tom’s
With every pair of canvas slip-on shoes purchased, Tom’s donates a pair of shoes to an impoverished child.
Covet
Sustainable silk and wool sweaters www.shopfuturestandard.com
Smart Glass Jewelry
Elegant pendant made from recycled bottles www.smartglassjewelry.com
OlsenHaus
Chunky vegan wooden wedges www.olsenhaus.com
Andean Collection
Printed infinity scarf woven by South American artisans, who also share in the profits
www.theandeancollection.com
Kevia
A tree is planted for every Vietnamese buffalo horn bangle sold
www.kevia.biz
JADEtribe
Gorgeous patterned handbags, designed with textiles made by a local village in Laos
www.jadetribe.com
Alex and Ani
Delicate feather bangle made from recycled metal
www.shopfuturestandard.com
Fashion
Colour Me Happy
Girls in Red dresses are flirted with: fact! Why the colour you choose to wear makes a big impact on your day.
What we wear can shape our experiences and emotions, and the way others perceive us. Scientists believe that colour and mood, are strongly linked.
So before you chuck on that old top and jeans, think again.
Orange
Linked to the sun, orange signals creativity, energy and new ideas.
Blue
Light blue is about being laid-back and relaxed. Dark blue means rules, regulations and obligation.
Green
Signifies new ideas, new ventures, and money.
Yellow
The colour of detachment and release, yellow heralds new beginnings.
Red
Bold and passionate, red is used for a boost in confidence, and the powers of seduction.
Pink
Unconditional love and friendship.
Beige
Earthy and aspirational at the same time, this is an unthreatening, welcoming colour.
Grey
Smooth and methodical.
Black
Linked to the moon and darkness, black is for the thinker.
White
Associated with the sun, daylight and predominantly male energy, white calls to action.
Fashion
Brett Fahlgren
Style consultant (and my good friend) Brett Fahlgren, who has given his fashion expertise to GQ, Prada and Calvin Klein over the last few years, has launched a line of chic, preppy namesake ties. Fahlgren Ties are woven in England but hand-made in the US, and, just like Brett’s usual understated but sharp style, they make and elegant statement with rich, bold colours and classic prints. If you’re looking for a Carey Grant-esque addition to your wardrobe this holiday, pick up one at Bloomingdales, Kitson LA, or Snag.com. www.Fahlgrenties.com. available at www.Stagaustin.com
Fashion
Right on Target
Missoni is bringing its fabulous zig-zag print to Target right in time for Fall. The celeb-fave brand is often seen on style icons such as Nicole Richie, J-Lo and Rihanna, but the price tag on the designer clothes can run into thousands. Luckily for fashionistas on a budget, the Missoni designs for Target will be available from September, with most items priced at an amazing $40 of less. We can’t wait to get our mits on the cute ballet flats and embroidered clutch… Race you there!
Lauren Splendido
Fashion
Festival Fashion
Music festival season is upon us! Whether it’s Coachella, Glastonbury or , I’ve found the hottest, bargain pieces to rock out in style.
Two stand-out new labels are an absolute must-buy for any hippie chick looking to shake a tail-feather in the mud. First up, Spirit Hoods make furry hats with scarf-slash-gloves attached, and each hood is designed like an animal. It begs clicking on the link because my description just cant do them justice! But my faves are Husky, Snow Leopard and Grizzly Bear. http://www.spirithoods.com. Then for the more daring, Tavik is a Californian company rocking out super ‘80’s swimwear in a sherbet rainbow of cool colours and patterns. Sort of Barbie meets Blondie. www.tavikswimwear.com
I’ve been stocking up on bright, super cheap Aztec-printed dresses from
Forever21 (www.forever21.com), I’m loving the ‘70’s studded olive and tan leather jackets from Sara Berman (http://www.saraberman.com ), and casual trousers and tops from cool new German label Closed (it’s a bit like J Crew, http://www.closed.com ). Head All Saints for the perfect pair of flat boots and faded denim shirts, and for simple, comfy tees, look to Alternative Apparel. Their cotton tops are so thin and soft I usually end up sleeping in them too. It’s almost got to the stage where I have to ban myself from their website because I’ll just click click click into the night ordering everything in sight. http://www.alternativeapparel.com
Fashion
Sales Season
Sales season is just around the corner, here’s how to get the most bang for your buck…
Many internet sites have constant sale sections that you can return items to if they don’t fit or suit you. Stick to reputable sites, which display the padlock sign – meaning they guarantee secure payment. For designer, hit www.Net-a-porter.com, for diffusion lines go to www.My-wardrobe.com, and for high street, www.Asos.com rocks.
www.Piperlime.com is a personal favourite with free shipping and returns.
Most high street stores also now sell goods from their websites including during sale time, and the size selection is far better than a hit-or-miss approach at each store. TopShop.com, now updated daily, declares that every garment in-store is also featured on-site.
Www.matchesfashion.com, www.houseoffraser.co.uk, and www.whistles.co.uk are some of my favourites. Plus www.handbagcrush.co.uk buys handbags in bulk from Prada, Balenciaga, Christian Dior and more, selling them on for way under the recommended retail price.
Usually, sales goods can’t be returned, so ask at the counter. If you’re buying damaged goods, first get a discount (up to 30% off), then make sure getting them repaired by a local seamstress won’t cost more than the garment itself. Most department stores will offer on-site alterations and some will even do it while you wait.
Aside from the sales, there are ways of saving money on clothes all year round, you just have to keep your eyes and ears open.
Supermarkets are a great place to start - constantly offering promotions and points on their bargain fashion ranges.
Hit the kids’ departments. Tax-free and much cheaper, buying children’s clothing and shoes is a true money-saver. I recently bought a blue blazer with gold buttons from the Ralph Lauren Boys shop, (where kids sizes actually go up to age 20), for a third of the adult range price.
Vintage clothes are usually cheaper than new, with the added bonus of being totally unique. Portobello Road’s One of a Kind is one of London’s finest, A few points to note though:
-Beware of sewn-in designer labels, if the cotton looks hand-stitched, you’re dealing with a fake.
-Some boutiques take advantage of how “trendy” the vintage fad is, over-pricing garments that would be far, far cheaper in a charity shop down the street.
-Officially, “vintage” means over 20 years old. Anything newer is just second-hand, and should be priced accordingly.
-Avoid buying shoes, they fall apart and rarely appear in sizes above a UK4/US6.
Designer sample sales are no longer just for the fashion press. Check sites such as www.billion dollarbabes.com, www.designersales.co.uk and www.gilt.com and www.hautelook.com for insider info on the latest sales.
Google your nearest outlet mall. Bicester Village in Oxfordshire, the Great Western Outlet Village near Swindon, Portsmouth Quays and Manchester’s Lowry are the UK’s top designer outlets and great fun to make into a day trip. Call your nearest TK Maxx and ask when their next delivery will be.
Milan is famous for its discount stores outside of the city, the best of which is Marni’s factory outlet on Via Manzini. Paris’ Clignancourt flea market is incredible for vintage, and in LA, the Rose Bowl flea market is amazing for both clothing and furniture. New York’s hidden gem is Woodbury Common, an area just north of Manhattan selling end-of-line Marc Jacobs, Diesel jeans, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren at discount prices.
Fashion
My Top Tips for Guys and Girls
My Top Tips for Guys and Girls – the condensed, paperback version of my makeover show Plain Jane.
For the Girls
1. Look in the mirror naked. To dress your body, you need to know your body, and few of us are aware what specific shape we are. Are you top heavy? Apple? Pear? Column or hourglass? Wherever your flesh goes in and out, there are garments in the mall designed to specifically suit your shape. ‘Will it work on my figure,’ should be your first thought when shopping, as opposed to being distracted by trend, color, price, fabric or which celebrity last wore it in the gossip magazines.
2. Buy the boy a drink. Women rarely buy the first drink, and chances are he’ll be flattered. Don’t be an aggressive cougar about it, but casually offering a beer to the guy you’ve got your eye on is a refreshing change from the usual motion of waiting for him make the first move.
3. Learn to walk in high heels. Practice makes perfect, and platforms or wedges are the easiest to balance in. Heels make you stand up straighter, they’re slimming, and they really make a difference to the silhouette and attitude you give off when you enter a room, trust me!
4. Buy a red dress. If you’re single. You’re statistically more likely to be chatted up if you’re in red. I’d go for a one-shoulder shape, it’s elegant and chic and shows just enough skin to tickle a boy’s fancy.
5. Re-organise your closet. We only wear about a quarter of the clothes we own, mainy because our wardrobes are such a mess. Most things are lost and ignored in a messy bundle at the back. So get everything out on the bed, be objective about whether that decade-old little black dress could be updated with some new accessories or by a nip and tuck from the tailor. Color-coordinate the rest and split everything into winter and summer, too.
For the Boys
6. Keep your style simple. Don’t try to be too trendy if the outfit makes you uncomfortable. A cashmere button-down cardigan over a plain white T-shirt or shirt, well-fitted jeans (and leave any kind of paint-splatters, logos and embroidery to the cast of Jersey Shore). Shoes are key: I love Jack Purcell’s, Converse and on posh boys – Fins or Tod’s can be cute.
7. Chivalry is most certainly NOT dead. The following will work wonders: Open the door for her, pull out her chair, walk on the traffic side of the pavement. Call instead of texting. And make sure you wear a great, unusual cologne such as Jo Malone – a) smell is the most powerful form of memory and b) if it’s a rare one she wont confuse you with an ex!
8. Listen and laugh. As simple as it sounds, enjoy yourself. Many of us worry so much about how we look, what we should be saying, and what everyone thinks of us that we look staged or uptight and forget to enjoy the moment. Don’t be so intent on planning your next sentence on a date that you forget to LISTEN. Don’t break eye contact if she’s speaking. Fashion and flirting are supposed to be fun, they’re not life-threatening diseases, so just relax and have a giggle. And ps. Always order dessert. We totally want to share it.
9. Let your adrenaline flow. Pick the most daring item on your bucket list and just do it. On Plain Jane we’ve been bungy-jumping, sky-diving and swimming with sharks. Don’t under-estimate how liberating facing a fear or pushing the envelope is. Stepping outside your comfort zone can help you see life with a whole new perspective, not to mention give you a little more faith in your own capabilities.
10. Get groomed. Hairy back? Get it waxed. Crusty toes? Pedicure please. The beauty salon is not just for the ladies FYI…
Fashion
Red Carpet Ready
Awards Season Secrets... How the Beautiful People get that way
One month before: It’s time to prep that bod with a long weekend spent at Liv Tyler’s favourite detox centre, We Care, in Palm Springs. Juices, yoga, and more juices. 2 weeks before: Back in LA, hit an intensive course of the ‘High-Heel Workout’, at the Equinox gym.
1 week before: Beauty & grooming… an oxygen facial at Kate Somerville takes 10 years off the skin. Brow-shaping with Beyonce’s threader, Damone Roberts. A discreet upper lip wax at Wax on Melrose (no one wants a ‘tache), and a trim with Kate Hudson’s brilliant hair stylist Adam Campbell, at the Neil George salon. Then dodge the paps as you run incognito for an appointment with Demi Moore and Madonna’s main man, Dr. Fred Brandt, for this season’s newest trend: botox in the ear-lobes (stops those chandelier earrings from drooping or hurting – only drawback being you won’t know if the borrowed diamonds worth millions of dollars fall out – eek!).
2 days before: Hop over to Kinara, West Hollywood spa, for a 3-hour full body scrub, followed by a St. Tropez spray tan. This season it’s all about a non-orange, lighter look, so the brand is offering ‘Skin Perfecting’ to give that polished glow. Then it’s next door with your personal stylist, to the new Christian Louboutin boutique, to pick at least 10 options for the red carpet. A manicure with Rihanna’s new fave, Minx, for metallic nails that won’t chip for 3 weeks. Result! Final fittings with stylist, decide on a dress.
The big day: Waft around the lobby in very large sunglasses at A-lister hangout, the Peninsula Hotel, making sure all the top peeps in town (everyone important stays here during awards season) notice you.
Fashion
Nipping at Your Heels
As self-confessed shoe-aholics, our 11th commandment states you can never have too much foot candy in your closet. This week our ‘shradar’ (shoe-radar, we made that one up ourselves!) has fallen on Linzi Shoes – insanely affordable platforms, sandals, and most gorgeously, studded velvet shooties. At the other end of the stiletto-spectrum, the a-list’s new designer-darling, Prabal Gurung, has joined forces with Manolo Blahnik to design a killer satin shout-shoe. The shape is meant to mimic Thom Mayne’s design for the new Cooper Union building in NYC, and it’s HAWT. www.linzishoes.com, Manolo Blahnik for Prabal Gurung, 212 582 3007.
Fashion
You Snood, You Lose
Scarves are silly, beanies are boring. It’s all about the snuggliest accessory of them all this winter: the snood. Go chunky-knit, go cream or black, Gap has the best.
Fashion
Foot Fall
Boys, no more excuses for your scruffy, shoddy shoes. Flips-flops, boaters, sneakers and boots can all be dispensed with: check out Fins For Him, a hot new UK label pumping out suede loafers in a rainbow of colours. Zac Efron, David Hasslehoff and Valentino have all just ordered pairs – what better company do you want than that?
www.finsforhim.com
Fashion
Love Games
Happy Valentines... 10 Ways to Dazzle on Your Date
1. Wear suspenders, even under a pair of jeans. Knowing you’ve got them on will make you feel sexy, and give you Jessica Rabbit-style confidence.
2. Be a lady in red. Statistically, more men flirt with women wearing red, than any other colour.
3. Do the one-shoulder top or dress. It’s this season’s best way to show skin and seductive décolletage, whilst leaving enough to the imagination so you still remain elegant.
4. Leave the lipstick and lipgloss at home. Most guys prefer natural-looking make-up, and the thought of kissing stained or sticky mouths puts them off. New Aussie product Lucas Papaw Ointment (www.cultbeauty.co.uk) is the perfect compromise for a smooth, shiny Cupid’s Bow.
5. Spritz Bumble&Bumble’s Surf Spray into blow-dried locks, for a mussed-up bed-head that moves when you walk. It smells delish too.
6. Invest in a high-waisted pencil or fishtail skirt. Femme fatale is back, with this instant way to hot Coke bottle curves. Don’t be afraid of high-waisted silhouettes, they actually suck us in, they’re our friends!
7. Dab a pheromone-laced perfume behind your ears. We love Basic Instinct, by Pure Romance.
8. Buy false half-lashes in any MAC counter and ask the shop assistant – who will also be trained in make-up - to put them on for you. Subtle, but oh-so seductive…
9. ‘Forget’ to bring your jacket. He’ll have to lend you his, or cuddle you, or both.
10. Buy 2 red envelopes, rip them a bit, and let them peek from the top of your suitably sparkly clutch. Nothing wrong with him assuming you’re in demand!
Fashion
Story 1
Style consultant (and my good friend) Brett Fahlgren, who has given his fashion expertise to GQ, Prada and Calvin Klein over the last few years, has launched a line of chic, preppy namesake ties. Fahlgren Ties are woven in England but hand-made in the US, and, just like Brett’s usual understated but sharp style, they make and elegant statement with rich, bold colours and classic prints. If you’re looking for a Carey Grant-esque addition to your wardrobe this holiday, pick up one at Bloomingdales, Kitson LA, or Snag.com. www.Fahlgrenties.com
Fashion
Monica Vinader
Absolutely love Monica Vinader’s jewelry. The eye-catching designs have been seen on Claudia Schiffer and Keira Knightley, and has become a celebrity source for accessorizing. She recently opened her first store on South Molton Street in London, but you can also find her chic and wearable pieces on the designer’s website. The “create your own” section of the site offers the opportunity to put your own personal touch on your newest fashion statement. You click “start designing” and can choose a chain and up to three pendants, with the options of adding a ‘capture enhancer’ and ‘disc pendant.’ Personally, I think the Luna bracelet is stunning- wearable in the daytime to add a classy touch to your outfit, but elegant to wear on a night out as well.
