P.S. I also stopped by BCBGMaxAzria earlier this week and they are showing a great red with great neutral pieces and devine, buttery bags that are on sale too. Also long sweater "wraps-with-sleeves" and Missoni-inspired tops - all on sale.
Zara is also showing seersucker jackets (a la Coldwater Creek below) in both grey/white and beige/white combos. Great 80's inspired Hermes-printy tailored shirts and Repetto-like flats. LOVE Zara!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The Good, The Bad and the Really Bad - Guest Blogger The Glam Guru
The Glam Guru is guest-blogging for The Heights Eye this month. The Eye wants you to know that she is loving summer and agrees with a tequila bar owner's recommendation of Costco's pre-mixed margaritas in a bottle - delicious!
The Glam Guru surveyed the summer goods at many price points at her mega-mall stores and here is the scoop:
I can personally report that the guys selling the creams made from the Dead Sea in Israel really work - my crow's feet disappear when I use their eye cream.
Forever 21's windows were a sea of pink - the right pink, that pops on everybody and not the wrong pink.
Sears' Lands End department was filled with boring basics. The Juniors department had some interesting neutrals, but, still that bad peach/pink abounds - stay away!
LUSH always has the best in neck-down skincare and their Flying Fox line is my personal favorite. I prefer their lotions to Kiehl's, although Kiehl's Creme de la Corps (also available at most Nordstrom's) is a favorite of all New Yorkers and fashionistas from coast to coast. Both stores are great for gift shopping.
JC Penny buyers continue to surprise as their ana and Worthington lines were on-trend. Always swing buy their jewelry counters as they have often have great sales on very good costume and silver jewelry.
JCrew disappointed with lots of ruffles and sherbet ice cream colors. Weird colors, in general. The tie-dye merchandise was OK and mettalics had their day too.
Ann Taylor was better than JCrew, in the Guru's opinion, but still had slightl 'off' greens and teals.
Note to manufacturers and buyers regarding color: different isn't always better.
Abercrombie makes my nose itch.
Nordstrom had the best florals and neutrals. The Guru bought this cashmere scarf during their anniversary sale in a great red-orange (although the link only shows it available online in black?)
Macy's - lots of flowered prints. More bad, green ruffles (see JCrew). Juniors was overrun with pink (see Forever 21). The bridge lines: DKNY, C Klein, were good. Their INC line and the Jones NY lines were boring/bad (except INC does have a blue collection that was good). They are still loving Ralph Lauren and it was a sea of pink too.
Coldwater Creek has a winner in this jacket. (And it's on sale now!) Defined waist, great color combo and if you are a style maven, you will love the seersucker fabric (and cut off the rope belt). In fact most of their jackets give you a waist/define the waist you have.
The Guru asks that you stay strong (ie. stay away from the bad colors/cuts that overrun the racks) and I hope that this store report gives you some ideas of where to shop (in the malls) if you are adding to your wardrobe this summer!
PS. Mulberry is the next designer line for Target - comes out in October.
The Glam Guru surveyed the summer goods at many price points at her mega-mall stores and here is the scoop:
I can personally report that the guys selling the creams made from the Dead Sea in Israel really work - my crow's feet disappear when I use their eye cream.
Forever 21's windows were a sea of pink - the right pink, that pops on everybody and not the wrong pink.
Sears' Lands End department was filled with boring basics. The Juniors department had some interesting neutrals, but, still that bad peach/pink abounds - stay away!
LUSH always has the best in neck-down skincare and their Flying Fox line is my personal favorite. I prefer their lotions to Kiehl's, although Kiehl's Creme de la Corps (also available at most Nordstrom's) is a favorite of all New Yorkers and fashionistas from coast to coast. Both stores are great for gift shopping.
JC Penny buyers continue to surprise as their ana and Worthington lines were on-trend. Always swing buy their jewelry counters as they have often have great sales on very good costume and silver jewelry.
JCrew disappointed with lots of ruffles and sherbet ice cream colors. Weird colors, in general. The tie-dye merchandise was OK and mettalics had their day too.
Ann Taylor was better than JCrew, in the Guru's opinion, but still had slightl 'off' greens and teals.
Note to manufacturers and buyers regarding color: different isn't always better.
Abercrombie makes my nose itch.
Nordstrom had the best florals and neutrals. The Guru bought this cashmere scarf during their anniversary sale in a great red-orange (although the link only shows it available online in black?)
Macy's - lots of flowered prints. More bad, green ruffles (see JCrew). Juniors was overrun with pink (see Forever 21). The bridge lines: DKNY, C Klein, were good. Their INC line and the Jones NY lines were boring/bad (except INC does have a blue collection that was good). They are still loving Ralph Lauren and it was a sea of pink too.
Coldwater Creek has a winner in this jacket. (And it's on sale now!) Defined waist, great color combo and if you are a style maven, you will love the seersucker fabric (and cut off the rope belt). In fact most of their jackets give you a waist/define the waist you have.
The Guru asks that you stay strong (ie. stay away from the bad colors/cuts that overrun the racks) and I hope that this store report gives you some ideas of where to shop (in the malls) if you are adding to your wardrobe this summer!
PS. Mulberry is the next designer line for Target - comes out in October.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Glamor 'n Judgement and Photoshop Misdirection
There is a substantial reading prerequisite for you, dear readers, in order to fully understand this post.
1 - please read this essay from the NY Times Magazine first.
2 - I think that he's wearing his suit from H&M here (I told you to read the essay first!)
3 - please don't stop reading just because I am admitting that I am not a fan of the movie versions of Sex in the City and yes, I know that there must be something very, very wrong with me because of that fact.
4 - please read the article that I link to in the last line of this post.
When he referenced the ubiquitous-to-all-middle eastern-movie-sets belly dancers, I was reminded of my mom's take on "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", which she enjoyed some of....but was concerned that the party scenes reinforced the stereotypes of ouzo drinking, weird-meat-cooking-on-a-spit-in-the-front yard Greeks. (Mom isn't Greek, but she played one in her marriage to a Greek.)
Personally, the pre-wedding scene with the girls bleaching their moustaches had me internally screaming "Oh my god, that's my mom, me and my sister!!!!"
Moustafa's observation that perhaps his participation in SATC2 had possibly reinforced the stereotypes that he seeks to diminish.
He's right, but he had to control over the director and art director's concept of what is middle eastern....and this isn't 60 Minutes or Charlie Rose.....this is SJP-I-grew-up-listening-to-NPR-my-kids-will-too.....so cultured!
He comes clean and says it was the glamor that drew him in. Manufactured glamor - photoshopped glamor (have you seen the weird versions of the SATC2 girls on the movie poster??) I think that the government needs to set some standards on photoshopping because it's out of control in many ways - not just whacking down size 0 models to never-seen-before torso proportions. I've talked about this before.
It was really the "they go to the grocery store just like us" kind of glamor that US Magazine provides in its front section - yeah I read it in the checkout line. It's the only way our brain can connect the seemingly fabulous lives the stars live and how we live.
But Adobe Photoshop changed the game.
What you see is not what you get.
This is what Moustafa and all of us are up against.
1 - please read this essay from the NY Times Magazine first.
2 - I think that he's wearing his suit from H&M here (I told you to read the essay first!)
3 - please don't stop reading just because I am admitting that I am not a fan of the movie versions of Sex in the City and yes, I know that there must be something very, very wrong with me because of that fact.
4 - please read the article that I link to in the last line of this post.
When he referenced the ubiquitous-to-all-middle eastern-movie-sets belly dancers, I was reminded of my mom's take on "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", which she enjoyed some of....but was concerned that the party scenes reinforced the stereotypes of ouzo drinking, weird-meat-cooking-on-a-spit-in-the-front yard Greeks. (Mom isn't Greek, but she played one in her marriage to a Greek.)
Personally, the pre-wedding scene with the girls bleaching their moustaches had me internally screaming "Oh my god, that's my mom, me and my sister!!!!"
Moustafa's observation that perhaps his participation in SATC2 had possibly reinforced the stereotypes that he seeks to diminish.
He's right, but he had to control over the director and art director's concept of what is middle eastern....and this isn't 60 Minutes or Charlie Rose.....this is SJP-I-grew-up-listening-to-NPR-my-kids-will-too.....so cultured!
He comes clean and says it was the glamor that drew him in. Manufactured glamor - photoshopped glamor (have you seen the weird versions of the SATC2 girls on the movie poster??) I think that the government needs to set some standards on photoshopping because it's out of control in many ways - not just whacking down size 0 models to never-seen-before torso proportions. I've talked about this before.
It was really the "they go to the grocery store just like us" kind of glamor that US Magazine provides in its front section - yeah I read it in the checkout line. It's the only way our brain can connect the seemingly fabulous lives the stars live and how we live.
But Adobe Photoshop changed the game.
What you see is not what you get.
This is what Moustafa and all of us are up against.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Elvis Redux
I was only peripherally aware of the neon yellow tshirts that said "Vote For Lee." When conversing with a true Idol fan I could only say "I don't watch American Idol". Even when The Girl's soccer team was invited to the "Lee Comes Home" event, and got to sit in the VIP section, I was non-plussed and more concerned about how 2-3 moms were going to chaperone 20 girls in a crowd of 40,000.
Yes, there was massive pandemonium as we made our way through the crush of people holding their tickets above their heads, trying to get the coveted VIP area wristbands. The crowd consisted of cougars, cubs and cub-ettes....and chaperones.
The cubs held signs up that said "Lee, make a baby with me!"*
American Idol was filming the crowd with a swinging boom camera, and, of course, they focused on the VIP areas which means some cougars, cubs and cub-ettes will be on TV tonight. This chaperone will not....she has bad knees and spent the 3 hour wait mostly sitting down and keeping track of the cub-ettes, who were decorating poster boards, dancing around, writing "heart Lee" on their hands with Sharpies and screaming anytime a) the boom camera swooped down and b) they thought Lee was coming out.
He made his way through the Very VIP section, protected by 6 policemen who made a cocoon for him to walk in.
He was crying as he walked up to the stage.
He tried to compose himself while the Idol producer whispered into his ear and told him where the cameras were.
MTV was filming at the paint store when I went there to get The Girl a VOTE FOR LEE tshirt.
*FSA (Future Skanks of America)
I can tell you that I am now plussed. I am very, very plussed.
Yes, there was massive pandemonium as we made our way through the crush of people holding their tickets above their heads, trying to get the coveted VIP area wristbands. The crowd consisted of cougars, cubs and cub-ettes....and chaperones.
The Girl is a cub-ette.
She did things like this:
The cubs held signs up that said "Lee, make a baby with me!"*
American Idol was filming the crowd with a swinging boom camera, and, of course, they focused on the VIP areas which means some cougars, cubs and cub-ettes will be on TV tonight. This chaperone will not....she has bad knees and spent the 3 hour wait mostly sitting down and keeping track of the cub-ettes, who were decorating poster boards, dancing around, writing "heart Lee" on their hands with Sharpies and screaming anytime a) the boom camera swooped down and b) they thought Lee was coming out.
He made his way through the Very VIP section, protected by 6 policemen who made a cocoon for him to walk in.
He was crying as he walked up to the stage.
He tried to compose himself while the Idol producer whispered into his ear and told him where the cameras were.
He was humble.
He was overwhelmed.
40,000 people screaming for him.
The newspaper talked about his troubled past. How the paint store didn't have a job open when he went there to get one, but they hired him anyway and he was the best at getting stain colors just right and how hard it is to mix 'n match stain.MTV was filming at the paint store when I went there to get The Girl a VOTE FOR LEE tshirt.
And then he sang.
From the heart.
In between crying and composing. He sang .
Give him a listen.
Buy his music.
VOTE FOR LEE tonight.
On American Idol.
*FSA (Future Skanks of America)
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Fino
I watched Broken Embraces yesterday and it, like almost all of Pedro Almodovar's movies, was beautifully acted, art directed and written. Following up on my "city giddiness" a few weeks ago, I smiled when I got that I-wish-I-was-in-Europe feeling during a scene where a scooter zooms by the characters.
One of my dear friends taught me the phrase "fino" when we were in college. It means fine, but she and her family used it to mean fine as in cashmere, not mohair. Sterling, not stainless.
She is Cuban and for those of you who know me and Him, you know of His theory as to his origins etc. Pretty much everything about our friend is fino and I thought fino when the gravely ill father in the movie shuffles out of the hospital entrance and his suit is topstiched. That's fino. The worried mother, outside, waiting for the taxi had on a smart shirt/skirt combo that looked like a dress, with sensible heels, PEARLS (for you, CR). She is so fino!
Penelope Cruz's character, the daughter, races over to the hospital in a fitted Balanciaga-ish grey suit and sleeps in a Hanro tanktop. So, so, so, so fino!
The film's palette was the beige, red, black and orange of Joan Miro.
I want to go back to Spain...and this movie is in my all-time top 25.
And this movie, The Baader Meinhof Complex, was stunning and it's in my all-time top 10!
OK, now it's time for "church", which, in my family, means CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.
Happy Mother's Day.
One of my dear friends taught me the phrase "fino" when we were in college. It means fine, but she and her family used it to mean fine as in cashmere, not mohair. Sterling, not stainless.
She is Cuban and for those of you who know me and Him, you know of His theory as to his origins etc. Pretty much everything about our friend is fino and I thought fino when the gravely ill father in the movie shuffles out of the hospital entrance and his suit is topstiched. That's fino. The worried mother, outside, waiting for the taxi had on a smart shirt/skirt combo that looked like a dress, with sensible heels, PEARLS (for you, CR). She is so fino!
Penelope Cruz's character, the daughter, races over to the hospital in a fitted Balanciaga-ish grey suit and sleeps in a Hanro tanktop. So, so, so, so fino!
The film's palette was the beige, red, black and orange of Joan Miro.
I want to go back to Spain...and this movie is in my all-time top 25.
And this movie, The Baader Meinhof Complex, was stunning and it's in my all-time top 10!
OK, now it's time for "church", which, in my family, means CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.
Happy Mother's Day.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Public Service For My "Lurkers"
I have no idea how many people read this blog....so, since I am a 'lurker' myself, I thought I'd share two articles that I recently emailed to all the women that I have email addresses for.
1 - Latisse
Please read this if you are using or have considered using the lash lengthener Latisse
2 - Estrogen Replacement Therapy
OK ladies....this is a very LONG article, but it is of utmost importance to the women (of a certain age/close to a certain age....like me) that I know.
Estrogen replacement has its pro's and con's (the latter being a concern that it contributes/causes breast/uterine/ovarian cancer)
2 main points: the article cites that studies are showing that estrogen replacement may be most beneficial to us when were are pre-menopausal/in menopause, but not necessarily beneficial long-term. Ie. take it for about 10 yrs and then stop. The greatest benefit to taking it at this time is in maintaining critical tissue connectivity in our brains to stave-off Alzheimer's.
Secondly, lack of estrogen seems to exacerbate depression/cause depression (if you are not already diagnosed). Even if you are taking anti-depressants, you may need some estrogen replacement as well.
It's worth a conversation with your ob/gyn at your next visit.
(KP: ob/gyn - not your dentist, podiatrist or other doc that you like to discuss your lady-parts with...an OB/GYN) ;)
Dear Lurkers:
Please spread the word amongst your girlfriends.
Sincerely,
The Eye
1 - Latisse
Please read this if you are using or have considered using the lash lengthener Latisse
2 - Estrogen Replacement Therapy
OK ladies....this is a very LONG article, but it is of utmost importance to the women (of a certain age/close to a certain age....like me) that I know.
Estrogen replacement has its pro's and con's (the latter being a concern that it contributes/causes breast/uterine/ovarian cancer)
2 main points: the article cites that studies are showing that estrogen replacement may be most beneficial to us when were are pre-menopausal/in menopause, but not necessarily beneficial long-term. Ie. take it for about 10 yrs and then stop. The greatest benefit to taking it at this time is in maintaining critical tissue connectivity in our brains to stave-off Alzheimer's.
Secondly, lack of estrogen seems to exacerbate depression/cause depression (if you are not already diagnosed). Even if you are taking anti-depressants, you may need some estrogen replacement as well.
It's worth a conversation with your ob/gyn at your next visit.
(KP: ob/gyn - not your dentist, podiatrist or other doc that you like to discuss your lady-parts with...an OB/GYN) ;)
Dear Lurkers:
Please spread the word amongst your girlfriends.
Sincerely,
The Eye
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Of This and Of That
I think my first post touched on the fact that my grandfather was a newspaper man and that he wrote a column for the Decatur (IL) Herald, entitled Of This and Of That. He was an editor and columnist and when I was the editor of my college newspaper he would send issues back to me marked-up in red pencil.
I am horrified to find type-o's in my Twitter feeds and I haven't figured out how to delete my tweets (yes, I just typed that god-awful word) when I send them from TweetDeck. (I can delete the offending tweet and resend a corrected one when I am signed into Twitter, but I'll be covering the topic of signing in shortly.) And, not only was my grandfather an English major and newspaper editor, my mom is an English major and grammarian on steroids.
I am the weakest link in that chain...
I have ideas for blog posts that roll around in my head and some may not be interesting as an individual post...so I think I'll throw them in an occasional "Of This and Of That" post to get them out of my head.
Topic #1. Password Rage.
I have it.
It's the anger that I feel when my browser or an application (like Blogger) has saved my login ID and password for me so I never have to type them in. That's lovely.....most of the time. It's not so lovely when I'm at another computer and I want to log in. It's not so great when the application (like Blogger) stops saving it and makes my type it in.
I spent 20+ years working in bank technology.
My password is not my kids' names, my maiden name, my phone number, my house number, His birthday etc.
My passwords kick ass. They are combinations that Stephen Hawking wouldn't have dreamed up.
BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER THEM WHEN THE 'SAVIORS' FORGET THEM!!!!!!
yeah, yeah, yeah....they are written down.
They are in written form, in a place so secret that I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE THE HELL IT IS!
And, no, I don't want you to reset my password so I can, yet again, come up with another kick-ass password.
I have Password Rage.
Topic #2 I am a City Girl at heart.
I get giddy when I'm in the city. I swear that little ditty just flowed out-ta me!!!
I was staying overnight (yippee, overnight in the city!) in the city a few weeks ago and I love staring out of my hotel window and surveying who's doing what or what's what in the buildings across from me. During this stay I could see lots and lots of sewing rooms, a la Project Runway, with no students but lots of lights on (all night) and machines and dress forms.
I even scoped out where He and I can move or stay when we move away (no retire...) to FL after the kids are gone. It's going to be the south side of the city. The new, gentrified south side. That's the City Girl in me.
I'm a south side girl at heart.
I am horrified to find type-o's in my Twitter feeds and I haven't figured out how to delete my tweets (yes, I just typed that god-awful word) when I send them from TweetDeck. (I can delete the offending tweet and resend a corrected one when I am signed into Twitter, but I'll be covering the topic of signing in shortly.) And, not only was my grandfather an English major and newspaper editor, my mom is an English major and grammarian on steroids.
I am the weakest link in that chain...
I have ideas for blog posts that roll around in my head and some may not be interesting as an individual post...so I think I'll throw them in an occasional "Of This and Of That" post to get them out of my head.
Topic #1. Password Rage.
I have it.
It's the anger that I feel when my browser or an application (like Blogger) has saved my login ID and password for me so I never have to type them in. That's lovely.....most of the time. It's not so lovely when I'm at another computer and I want to log in. It's not so great when the application (like Blogger) stops saving it and makes my type it in.
I spent 20+ years working in bank technology.
My password is not my kids' names, my maiden name, my phone number, my house number, His birthday etc.
My passwords kick ass. They are combinations that Stephen Hawking wouldn't have dreamed up.
BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER THEM WHEN THE 'SAVIORS' FORGET THEM!!!!!!
yeah, yeah, yeah....they are written down.
They are in written form, in a place so secret that I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE THE HELL IT IS!
And, no, I don't want you to reset my password so I can, yet again, come up with another kick-ass password.
I have Password Rage.
Topic #2 I am a City Girl at heart.
I get giddy when I'm in the city. I swear that little ditty just flowed out-ta me!!!
I was staying overnight (yippee, overnight in the city!) in the city a few weeks ago and I love staring out of my hotel window and surveying who's doing what or what's what in the buildings across from me. During this stay I could see lots and lots of sewing rooms, a la Project Runway, with no students but lots of lights on (all night) and machines and dress forms.
I even scoped out where He and I can move or stay when we move away (no retire...) to FL after the kids are gone. It's going to be the south side of the city. The new, gentrified south side. That's the City Girl in me.
I'm a south side girl at heart.
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