Mirror Image

Many of my early fashion memories center around images of my mother getting dressed for various parties and corporate functions. Not a big risk taker, her evening looks were mostly black, either a tasteful dress (for her, too much cleavage was a big no) or a sparkly pants suit.

For daytime lunches and country club teas, though, she would bust out some color. And usually, she'd turn to St. John, the conservative California line specializing in knits and matching separates. To Mum and her friends, St. John was always "appropriate," consistently "classic," never "tacky" - which is what she believed (and still does) should be the guiding principles of fashion.

But St. John lost its way a few years ago when the company attempted to make the line hipper. As new management took over, St. John's co-founder and lead designer Marie Gray (no relation), stepped down. The company then hired first Gisele Bunchen and later Angelina Jolie as spokeswomen (replacing Marie's daughter Kelly) and introduced clothes better suited for the hip, not the hip-py (meaning, the fits were changed for a more youthful body).

The move was a disaster. Suburban ladies who lunch, from the OC to Winnetka to Westchester, abandoned the brand in droves. It seems that while middle-aged women with money may not be a fashion company's sexiest customer, they shouldn't be ignored.

There is at least one place you can shop in Rittenhouse Square without circling around the ever-clogged Center City streets.
Starting last week, Kiehl's, located at 1737 Walnut Street, instituted curbside service.
Other big city locations including those in Manhattan, Boston, D.C. and Las Vegas have similiar drive-up perks.
That means all you gotta do is call the friendly, white-coated Kiehl's salesperson. Tell them you are out of Creme de Corps Soy Honey Body Polish or Amino Acid Shampoo and pay for your order over the phone via credit card.
Then, with cell phone in hand, (you want to make sure they don't confuse your whip for somebody else's) you pull up in front of the tiny apothecary and voila! a neat little bag packed with high priced, yet all natural products are yours for the taking.
Unfortunately, if you want to go across the street to Anthropologie, browse at Joan Shepp or lollygag in KnitWit, you are gonna have to park.
Happy Shopping!

Left: Steve Madden. Right: Target/Mossimo

I didn't think I actually wanted a pair until I saw them. (We all know what that's like don't we girls?)

Anyway I was browsing the shoes at the Center City Steve Madden store and saw the most beautiful pair of shiny, black quilted open-toed pumps. I looked at the price - $69.95. That's doable. Maybe I'll come back and visit them... regularly.

However, days later, I received Target's glossy press kit. And there they were... Almost the same shoe - Although I must admit the Madden shoe looked a tad bit more structured - for $19.95.

Here comes the mulling. Maybe the Steve Madden will be more sturdy and comfortable. Maybe the Target shoe will allow me to get another pair of shoes if I don't plan to wear these every day.

Nonetheless, this is the best example of splurge (well, not really) or steal (definitely )to date.

Which one will I buy? What do you think?

We love this outfit!

In two hours, I'll be standing toe to toe with perfect jean wearing, Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker.

Parker will be appearing at Steve & Barry's at Franklin Mills Mall at 10 a.m. this morning promoting her contemporary clothing line, Bitten. Nothing in the line costs more than $19.98. Steve & Barry's is located at 1455 Franklin Mills Circle and lines of fans are expected to fill the warehouse-style apparel store.

Check out the story in today's Inquirer.

Parker, whose Bitten motto is "It is every woman's inalienable right to have a pulled-together, stylish wardrobe with money left over to live," has a couple of other affordable fashion forays on the burner including two perfume lines by Coty: Lovely and upcoming Coveted.

Here's to fashion more of us can get a piece of. Go to our web site later today to see what Parker has to say about her favorite trends and her worst fashion faux pas.

Go to our online story about Sarah Jessica Parker to see her Bitten fashions, hear her talk about Bitten, and watch a video of fans at Franklin Mills Mall's Steve & Barry's take in Carrie. She's nice. She wore her hair curly and - gasp!- she was wore fuschia ballet flats! Gotta love them!

Lara Fritzsche, a 23-year-old reporter with the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger, is on an Arthur Burns Fellowship at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Here’s what she had to say about her first impressions of American fashion:

When I arrived in Philadelphia last week, it seemed like everybody I saw was wearing track suits. Everything was loose and roomy – like they were dressed for the gym.

In Europe, where I live, we normally don’t leave our houses like that. We change into our workout clothes at the gym. But then I realized that the people I saw on the street weren’t dressed that way to get exercise. They were dressed that way to see a movie or to do some shopping, they were dressed that way to have dinner or to bring their children to the kindergarten. Their motto seems to be, clothes have to be as comfortable as they can be.

That’s exactly the opposite of how we define fashion in Europe. Stylish Germans or especially the French would not don sportswear for Happy Hour or dinner out. Our motto is more along these lines: it’s only good-looking if it hurts.

But perhaps during my stay here, I will just disregard my European roots a bit and become a little bit more American. It’s just more comfortable.

(Blinq columnist Dan Rubin made a similar observation here in April...)

The mammoth September issues of major fashion mags have hit the racks in the past week. Be careful that you don't throw out your back lugging them around: Vogue, featuring clotheshorse and sometime actress Sienna Miller on the cover, is a whopping 840 pages, its biggest ever. I'm sure we'll find plenty of blog fodder within.

(The Image fall fashion issue comes out this Sunday. We're also at our largest ever, which in the newspaper world translates to 12 pages).

Growing up, I considered the Fall Fashion issues a seasonal event, equivalent to the first pool day of summer or the first snow of winter. At that time, Seventeen was the fashion bible, followed by Mademoiselle and Glamour (alas, the hipper indie-leaning Sassy didn't debut until my first year of college). My mom would buy them for me and I would pore over the pages, trying to figure out which trends would pass muster in my conservative Minneapolis suburb (the fact that everything had to work with down parkas put a slight damper on things). Then, as now, the glossy ads were my favorite part, and I would rip my favorites out for inspiration.

Are you a fashion mag addict? Or has the September Vogue become too much to handle?

My fashion spies are always on the lookout.

I guess you can say we are constantly on the hunt of preserving our childhood, so it's no wonder that these Junk Food T's are a big hit with us. The faded characters on the T's from Sesame Street, Peanuts, Wonder Woman are fantabulously cute - especially when worn with jeans and dancing to old school hip hop. The line was started in 1998 by L.A.-based designers Natalie Grof and Blaine Halvorson and in 2005, it was bought by Delta Apparel Inc. and is in the midst of some savvy expansion.

Anyway, out on an inoccuous early fall fashion jaunt at King of Prussia Mall, my good friend Foxxy Loxxy - that's her incognito fashion name - saw that the same Little Miss Sunshine T was $24.50 at dELiA's and $40 at Lord & Taylor.

Same shirt. Same label. Neither were outlet stores.

What gives?

I guess I know where I'll be buying my Junk Food T's.

Tell us about how price discrepancies in the fashion world worked your last nerve.

In our Fall Fashion issue, which you can see and read here, Karen Heller explored the world of the stratospherically priced handbag. I have a strange reaction to stories like these; once I get over the shock of reading about someone shelling out $2,000 for a bag, I actually begin to think that I, too, could afford such an item (thank god, I personally live in a world without credit cards, or I'd be sunk). Then I realize that these bags cost more than my mortgage payment. Come next year's tax return, however, all bets are off.

How about you? Would you pay $1,500 for a bag like the one Tuesday has here?

Remember these jeans that I wanted so bad? The ones from Seven for All Mankind that were $175 and inspired oohs and aahs at the Image fall fashion shoot? I couldn't stop thinking about them - so last week I set out to order them from Shopbop, the only place I could find them (apparently the Ginger pant in the Naples wash is sold out at some stores).

Sounds great, right? A fashion dream fulfilled? Unfortunately, no. When my package arrived, I eagerly slipped the Sevens on, envisioning how fab their silvery sheen would look with my planned fall outfits. And....the results were far less than anticipated.

The September issues of Ebony and Essence magazine are both well worth reading for the best in fashion and style tidbits and history. As the onslaught of thick glossies heavy with advertisements and fashion spreads hit my desk with a thud, I found that both of these magazines stood out. They were chocked with information I couldn't find anywhere else and celebrated a history that is all too hard to find.

We'll start with Ebony.

Super models Tyra Banks, Iman, Kimora Lee Simmons and Alek Wek are on the cover dressed in satiny black dresses by designers of-the-minute designers Rachel Roy and Tia Cibani of Ports 1961, Zac Posen and Antonio Berardi. (Good choices!)

Beyond writer Keith Reed's cover story on the 411 of these super models/designers, (By the way, Alek Wek's story is the most gripping.) there are eye opening stories about important Americans who toil behind the scenes in the fashion world, unknown to most of us.
Tracy Reese, Kevan Hall, Lloyd Boston and Epperson are among the few highlighted in the interior design and fashion worlds.

The fashion spreads are reality-based with afrordable clothes. There is a neat story on the history of Ebony Fashion Fair. (I learned something) And the magazine even paid homage to venerable fashion journalists including Andre Leon Talley of Vogue, Washington Post Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Robin Givhan, The Wall Street Journal's Teri Agins and E-bay style expert Constance White.

Those interested in the inner workings of the fashion business - black or white - should pick up a copy.

Now on to Essence. Yes, we all know by now the Philly-bred songstress Jill Scott broke up with her husband of five years, Lyzel. And that's sad.

We bet you haven't read about Scott's journey with the biting zing we all love author Teri McMillan for. (I interviewed McMillan three years ago when she broke up with her husband and she really talks just like she writes. It's so refreshing.) McMillan was tactful and tasteful in the interview; she was nosey, but not too. She was thoughtful and I laughed out loud when I read her fashion commentary on Jill's hair.

On a side note, all of you women who write us about plus-sized looks should study Jill Scott. She makes being curvaceous an awesome fashion statement!

This fall's makeup and hair tips should definitely be read.

And a great article on Michelle Obama, illuminated the possible future first lady's elegant style. Obama is a definite role model.

Fashion is nothing if not timely and these September mags celebrate diversity of fashion with a cutting edge.

Wish you were there? Check out the video from Wednesday's events:

- Gwen Stefani's marque show at the Bryant Park tents, and Ralph Lauren's 40th anniversary event.

- Max Azria spoke at the morning preview of BCBG Max Azria's spring collection, where one delicate dress floated down the runway after another.

Heavy hitters Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren will both be offering beautifully tailored, colorful options next spring.

In celebration of Lauren's 40th anniversary in fashion, the icon of American fashion held his show Saturday evening in the heart of Central Park.

And it was amazing.

While I heard a lot of people were heard complaining the collection was too costumey, I think it was beautiful. Lauren took his signature tailored look and jazzed it up with everything from deep black and white stripes, to dots to poppies dancing along the hemlines. (I know we saw this at Milly years ago and saw it knocked off at everwhere from Charlotte Russe to Forever 21, but I digress...)

We were supposed to feel as if we were at a horse race during a warm summer afternoon. These are classic, high society clothes with a pizazz unseen in these parts. Jodpurs sparkled down the runway and body skimming dresses were accompanied with wide-brimmed hats.

The riding motif has been a thread of Lauren's collections for years. But instead of focusing on blacks, browns and earthtones, Ralph Lauren boldly and successfully mixed in prints in colors for an Americana goes to the disco kind of feel.

Michael Kors' shades of chartreuse, watermelon and sunshine created a Sunday morning featured collection, Kors described as "sleek with sunkissed glamour."

The Kors fan will continue to wear dresses next spring, but instead of the trench coat knee-length pieces he does so well, these frocks will have incredibly long hemlines.
Kors surprisingly focused on prints designing very few of his familiar safari-luxe pieces.

Like Lauren, Kors seemed to be inspired by the painters - his collection including hamd embroidered monet floral jersey shifs and Van Gogh floral jersey poncho dresses.

Kors created a beautiful, warm, tailored collection with major bursts of color. Still, at the end of the show, he walked the entire runway in his classic black jacket and jeans.

Gotta love it.

Hollywood glam is back.

For Sunday night's Emmy Award's most of the actresses chose wavy bobs and deep red lips as if they were channeling Marilyn Monroe - especially Ms. Christina Aguilera.

And the dresses...

After years of too many sparkles, too short cocktail dresses and too much black most starlettes doned floor-length gowns that were absolutely, wonderfully colorful featuring lots of red.

Heidi Klum looked great in a strapless deep burgandy gown by Christian Dior Couture America Ferrera's gathered royal blue gown was a smidgen too tight - her derriere looked unnaturally flat - yet the electric shade of azure looked fabulous against her skin. Ferrera won an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy.

Actress Joely Fisher worked the lemon yellow Pamella Roland dress - although it definitely felt more early spring than late summer. I'm not too sure if that worked.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus' deep purple Narciso Rodriguez gown showed just enough cleavage to be respectably sexy. And desperate housewife Felicity Huffman's hot pink David Meister gown was an eye-pleasing departure to the deep greens and navy blues she's been known for wearing at award's shows past. Still Huffman managed to tastefully show off the toned body.

We can't not mention Queen Latifah's blood red deep V number.

Latifah was on hand to give a tribute to the 30th Anniversary to the television series Roots. I always have to give Latifah props for always managing to look smooth and gracious depsite the fact she's always surrounded by waifs at these events.

But I digress.

While I loved the sea of color that waltzed through the Shrine Auditorium Sunday night, I have to say my favorite dresses were colorless.

Katherine Heigl's (prononced Hi-Gel; my she was rudely testy about the prononciation of her name wasn't she?) stark white Zac Posen was my favorite (despite the fishtail. Heigel won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress for her work on - my favorite T.V. show, Grey's Anatomy. We liked the capped-sleeved spaghetti strap combination and the darts at the breast. (Although we do think Sandra Oh is the better actress... Oh well!)

Another favorite was Eva Longoria's golden shift by Kaufmanfranco. I'm not sure why I liked that dress. The deep v in the back was an unexpected detail. And to be honest, I have a thing for the glitter dresses that you can shimmy in. It feels very 1970s (who knows maybe I missed my fashion time.)

And even though very few fashionistas will probably agree with me, I liked Hayden Panettiere's champagne Marc Bouwer gown. I'm not sure if that was the best choice for her, however, because it made her look pregnant. And after a quick blog search, we found she's not! (Who knows what the gossip mongers will turn up today.)

Best jewelry went to Marcia Cross with her turquoise Lorraine Schwartz tear drop earrings. Nice touch, even though the white, sparkly triangle inset dress wasn't so hot.

Worst dress has to go to Vanessa Williams again.

What was she thinking? Mint green is a nice color but all those feathers or tassels or whatever floating off the frock by L.A.-based designer Kevan Hall was awful. To be such a beautiful woman, the former beauty queen has been hitting low fashion scores at award's ceremonies as of late.

Lastly, Helen Mirren wore a beautiful deep purple satin gown, but her hair and makeup get total thumbs down.

Aack. Ick. And all that.

What was your favorite dress at the Emmy Awards?

I know I'm a little late on this, but between wrapping up coverage of New York Fashion Week, blogging about the Emmys and learning all about the work of portraitist Nelson Shanks, the fashion writer has been a bit buried.

But I couldn't let this get away from me.

On Tuesday, the Philadelphia Inquirer's deft crime reporter, Barbara Boyer, wrote an article about an alleged identity thief, 27-year-old Samia Morse.

Samia Morse

Homegirl worked as an administrator at The Albert Einstein Health System where she supposedly stole the identity of patients, applied for credit in their names and went on shopping sprees at Neiman Marcus, amongst other high end department stores and boutiques.

When the police raided her home, they reportedly found a Gucci cocktail dress worth $1,600, a black patent leather overcoat and handbag from Prada worth $1,400. And there were $800 shoes with price tags still on them.

If this isn't an example of gross materialism, I don't know what is.

I love fashion. I really do. But when items that cost more than most people's monthly mortgages and car payments drive people to do such ridiculous things, it makes me cringe. The identity theft is Morse's fault - totally - but at some point you have to wonder when promoting such a lux and - for most of us - completely unattainable lifestyle on television, in magazines and in newspapers crosses the line from aspirational to asinine.

Are items like these really worth it?

What do you think?

The sad thing is that even if Morse wore all of these expensive items at one time, she probably wouldn't look all that great. Because anyone who needs to steal someone else's identity to give themselves an edge has no real sense of personal style.

Phillies red is about to replace Eagles green as the city's most fashionable color.

As The Phillies cinched the National League East title Sunday and the Eagles lost their third game of the season (16 to 3) securing an 1 and 3 record for the season, bright red has become a happier color. Not to mention it can move easily beyond the boring uniform sweats we see here in the bull pen.

And that makes us happy because fire engine red is such a better color than Hunter green. A girl has so many more fashion options from the red long sleeved T-shirt she can layer underneath this season's trendy storm cloud grey jumpers to the cute little red baseball caps she can wear with sweats on the weekend. She can carry a shiny patent leather bag and claim her love for the Phillies (even if it's really a love for Kate Spade

But there are still fashion pitfalls.

Here are a few tips:

1. Please don't use as face paint, chances are you'll look more like a flushed clown and there is nothing tough about that. (Phillies roar.)

2. Those sparkly Target ballet flats are not technically Phillies Red. Sparkles aren't appropriate for sports fans. Sorry girls. Go for the matte version.

3. Yes, matte red lipstick is (the rage for Hollywood glamour) back but that shade won't work for all of us. Please try out different shades before you smear your kissers with Phillies-shade red. You could end up looking more like you have a fat lip than a trendy Phillies fan.

4. Please refrain from dying your hair Phillies Red under all circumstances.

Do you have any Phillies red fashion tips you'd like to share?

Spotted Tuesday evening at a South Street nail salon: 3 women in their mid-50s, getting mani-pedis together. Their color of choice? Phillies red. It's started, folks. Get ready to paint the town - and possibly yourself - rouge.

This past weekend, Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hilary Rodham Clinton hit the beauty salons in South Carolina to compete for the much needed black vote in this week's South Carolina primaries.
This New York Daily News story reported that for the past few months Obama has been leading a grass roots effort that involves pumping people up about politics where they primp. (For those of you who have never dedicated entire Saturdays to getting your hair done in an African American establishment, here is where folks congregate, converse and complain about everything under the sun.)
In response to Obama's efforts, Ms. Clinton mailed out hundreds of cardboard fliers showing her hairstyles over the years and she gave the keynote address at last year's annual convention of the National Beauty Culturists' League, an 88-year-old association of black hairstylists.

That said, I think it's interesting that every time fashion is brought up in politics people cringe. They grouse that it's not important. However, whether it's Republican hopeful Mitt Romney's helmet hair, North Carolina Senator John Edwards' $400 haircuts or John McCain and Rudy Guiliani's adaption of the dotted tie, style is something we all easily relate to. We pay attention to fashion, whether politicians are talking about it, talking to it or wearing it. How much do you think fashion has to do with politics?