Look what I got in the mail from VT Luxe!!

My birthday week has gotten a great kick start with this box of amazing goodies from the uber-chic dynamic styling duo, Jesse Garza & Joe Lupo of Visual Therapy. These two fashion industry experts are not only the leader in the field of Luxury Lifestyle Consulting, but are authors and the brain-childs behind the great luxe and affordable fashion brand of VT Luxe for QVC.

This fab duo not only gave me a key fall trend & staple to add to my fall wardrobe, but they doubled the surprise (as if that is even possible) with a personalized signed copy of 2 of their wardrobing books (Nothing to Wear & Life in Color)!

Check out these amazing gifts below as well as how I'm wearing my new VT Luxe for QVC Brown Faux-Fur Infinity Scarf!

What I'm wearing: Vintage Peruvian Coat Sweater, JBrand Jeans, All Saints Top, VT Luxe Faux-Fur Infinity Scarf, Jeffery Campbell Suede Wedge Booties, DSquared2 Aviators

3 Weeks until Versace for H&M!!

Tick tock, tick tock.... Only three weeks until the Versace for H&M collection hits stores, and to keep our obsession piqued, H&M has released an enticing behind the scenes video from the making of the TV commercial.

Dontatella Clones in the Making:


Is it November 17th yet?!?...

[Chicago Fashion Event] Anna Fong SP/SU 2012 Collection: 'A Mayan Tale'

Anna’s collection: A Mayan Tale pulls inspiration from her recent trip to Central America, where she re re-discovered her Guatemalan heritage. The collection was full of rich, colorful hand-wovent fabrics vibrant in hue and oozing modern femininity yet remaining timeless and classic.  Anna Fong is known for blending vintage, historical fashion with chic, updated wears and then adding ethnic touches.

Aside from Anna's amazing collection, we were taken on a journey to the Mayan Jungle with a heart thumping and rythmic performance by dancers in full head to toe traditional Mayan regalia-beautiful feathered head pieces, face paint and lush vibrant costumes. 

Job well done Anna!  It was definitely the perfect closing to Fashion Focus Chicago 2011, a full week of celebrating fashion creations from local designers.

A Mayan Tale: Anna Fong SP/SU 12

New Fashion Target Market: Prisoners?

Now that the art world has succumbed to label mania, all bets are off as to where the next generation of fashion victims will be found. But here's a clue, Winson Green (a prison in Birmingham, UK) has decided to allow inmates to wear their own clothes in an attempt to boost their self-esteem. Unfortunately, the new policy has not been met with enthusiasm from prison relatives.

"It puts an awful lot of pressure on families to buy them top-named clothing," said one wife. "The system needs to help families financially from forking out money to provide a prison fashion wardrobe. Like anything inside, it won't be long before clothes are being traded as currency or used as a status thing among cons."

Lady Gaga, with your ultra-glam depiction of life inside, I'm holding you personally responsible...

Key Fall Trend: Matchy-Matchy

Roland Mouret SP 2010

The matching skirt and blouse or slightly mis-matching is one of the big trends for next season. I'm fairly sure Roland Mouret was one of the first designers to pioneer this idea a couple of years ago. But practically everyone included versions in their spring collections. It's already on the high street, if you look carefully.

Will you be one of the first to pioneer this trend? I know I will be! All you need to do is add cable knight tights and a jacket or cardigan, or as separates. It's strangely thrilling when fashion goes genuinely functional.

[NYFW Recap] Rochambeau Spring 2012 Collection

Rochambeau Spring 2012 collection plays with a bond of freedom and construction, I found asymmetrical cuts and classic tailoring on the blazers execution. Designers, Laurence & Joshua wanted to add an effortless touch to something that already was known as emblematic pieces, but as classic as the vests, blazers and flare mid-waist pants are; the impressive details like leather lapel accents on the blazers or the elongated silhouettes added the urban vibe concept to what everybody thought was classic, seems like a thoughtful deconstruction by revealing something and conducting it to another aesthetic.
The blazers and other tailored pieces included details that emphasize and highlight the construction. The leather necks or the strong contouring form in one of the blazers that comes with black rectangular fabric frame at the bottom and then; the non-frame portion of the neck line is a curvy linear line, adding a sense of geometry and complexity. Other more loosen pieces played a juxtaposition with the architectural precise-execution of the pieces, the long sheer sleeved tops with a slight cut at the crew neck, portrayed men not afraid of suggesting without being vulgar or over the top, the softness of the fabrics balance it so well, that it feels more effortless than rather falling into a tacky statement. In addition, the color palette creates a disperse fusion of greys, deep noir and navys, building a path of consistency between all the looks; the hues also reflected the silence from all the “invisible-colorful experiences” from block by block of the big city.

The designers perspective for their Spring 2012 collection was showed in a short film named "Paralymbic" by Hugh Lippe, who quoted;

“The goal was to create something real, something I can believe in, something I feel I could touch, smell, or hear. Narrative?, imagination, observation. The narrative exits in the ever spinning whirl wind of that chaos passing by. Fashion, here is a short about fashion, fashion in the city, New York City“.

Photo Credit: Daisy Medina of Velvet Dreams

Rochambeau Spring 2012 Collection

[NYFW Recap] Althea Harper Spring 2012 Collection

Althea Harper is one of my favorite Project Runway alums. Sure, she’s stunning in person and has a charming personality, but she’s also one hard-working girl who knows fashion better than her appearance on the show let on.

It's mind boggling to me why her collections aren't given more attention because I truly belive that she’s got a lock on a sort of freewheeling, sexy, urban chic thing that I definitely have responded well to, but this is the first time I was able to attend one of her shows. Fashion Week makes it difficult to hit all the PR alum shows going on in New York at the time, but I was firmly committed to making it to this one and I'm so glad I did.

It’s a shame the venue was so dark, because the pictures aren’t as clear as they could be. Picking up on the trends of flowy prints and minimalist black and whites, this collection ranges from simple body-conscious pieces to more dramatically sexy and wearable prints. Like a lot of female designers, the clothes look like something Althea herself would wear (and she did, in fact wear one of the pieces for the show). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since the customer she’s seeking is clearly similar to herself: a stylish, 20-something girl with a city sensibility and a desire to look sexy and confident.  I can not wait to wear the dress that Althea herself donned for special night.

Extra bonus for myself as a Chicago Fashion Blogger was not only attending this amazing show, but running into other fellow Chicago Fashion Bloggers.  I ran into Jena Gambaccini of Chi City Fashion and Daisy Medina of Velvet Dreams.

Photo Credit: Daisy Medina of Velvet Dreams

Althea Harper's Spring 2012 Collection:



Althea Harper with her models-Absolutely Gorgeous!



Look who I found! Daisy Medina of Velvet Dreams

Guess who else was there? The one and only Jena  Gambaccini of Chi City Fashion

Myself with Althea Harper, she is absolutely stunning in person!

[NYFW Recap] A Fashion Girls' Dream Come True: Bill Cunningham took my PICTURE!!

Any true fashion admirer knows of the iconic and legendary, Bill Cunningham.  Many in the fashion industry have deemed him the creator of what has now become widely known as 'Street Style Photography'.  This past spring I had the priviledge of watching the documentory, 'Bill Cunningham New York', which was a 10-yr labor of love for Richard Press & Philip Gefter. 

I was educated on 80+ yr. old New York Times photographer, Bill Cunningham.  For decades, this Schwinn-riding cultural anthropologist has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirées for the Times Style section in his columns "On the Street" and "Evening Hours". Documenting uptown fixtures (Wintour, Tom Wolfe, Brooke Astor, David Rockefeller), downtown eccentrics and everyone in between, Cunningham’s enormous body of work is more reliable than any catwalk as an expression of time, place and individual flair.

So needless to say, seeing a snapping camera approaching me and immediately recognizing Bill's unmistakable blue smock and head of pure white hair behind that camera I did what any other fashion admirer is suppose to do: POSE! I could not have dreamed for a better ending to my NYFW SP/SU '12 fashion extravaganza. The following are photos of the outfit that were deemed "Bill Cunningham Approved":

Photo Credit: Daisy Medina of Velvet Dreams

What I'm wearing: Vintage Sequin Blazer, Anne Fontaine White Collared Blouse, Grey Straight Leg Paige Denim, Sam Edelman Booties and ASOS Envelope Turquoise Snake Skin Embossed Clutch.