Preps of Several Types at the Met Gala

Hello-Hello… we hope all those sharing the Monday from YKW (You Know Where) with us are enjoying a better day today. Honestly.

We have a number of bullet points today, beginning with this update on another role for a Gossip Girl star:

• Gossip Guy Ed Westwick will be guest-starring on the Showtime comedy Californication, during the show’s third season.

In other G2 news, Leighton Meester was out and about last night, at the Met’s Annual Costume Institute Gala.

 

PHOTO: Stephen Lovekin/Getty

Co-starring actress Blake Lively was also at the big do. (If co-star Penn Badgley, Ms. Lively’s real-life romantic interest, was at the party, we have not yet read or heard about it.)

 

PHOTO: Larry Busacca/Getty

Unfortunately, we can’t tell you who they are wearing, we just don’t know. There were loads of pretty people (but none so fair as the one and only I Pick Pretty, of course) at the gala, including some real-life preps:

 

PHOTO: Kristen Somody Whalen

Above, David Lauren and Lauren Bush.  Also on hand, a purveyor of pseudo-prep apparel and accessories, Tommy Hilfiger, seen with his wife, Dee Ocleppo.

 

PHOTO: Eric Thayer/Reuters

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Movin on, yesterday’s CBS story on the First Lady wearing her Lanvin sneaks to the Capital Area Foodbank only served to add to the growing hubbub about the footwear.

PHOTO: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

The high-end shoes run approximately $540, and as one might imagine, the cost of the sneakers is the issue, not their appearance.

If interested, Barneys still shows several different colors available online.  In other First Lady fashion news, Mrs. Obama was spotted doing the “I Love it so Much I Bought Two” waltz again, this time in the J. Crew Featherweight Cardigan. Yesterday she wore the cardigan to a Cinco de Mayo event at a local school in the District…

PHOTO: Yuri Gripas/Reuters

The previous incarnation was worn to that same Food Bank where the tennies were seen.

PHOTO: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

 

For those favoring this look, run, run, run to Crew; the website still shows both colors in stock, and better yet, the price is discounted almost fifty percent less than it’s original pricepoint. The cardigan is now $99.99, it originally was $188.

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A few more SOTTS:

• Filene’s Basement filed for bankruptcy yesterday, the Chapter 11 kind.
• The first Nordstrom slated for Alabama is not going to happen, at least for the time being. The store was planned for Birmingham.

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We have a little sneak peek of the J. Crew Menswear looks for this fall, courtesy of the ever-so-gracious Mister Mort.

Courtesy Mister Mort

Here is another look:

Courtesy Mister Mort

More of Crew’s casual styles for the man in your life:

Courtesy Mister Mort

With that, we are flying straight out the door!

A Gossip Girl is Pretty in Pink, J. Crew Sneak Peek

Hello-Hello everyone, and happy rainy day!

Yes, it is raining cats & dogs, but for many reasons, we are in happy mode here at the Prepatorium. One reason could be our gratitude for so many things, some of them seemingly insignificant, but special little markers in the ebb and flow of a day. Seeing darling photos on Facebook from a friend’s daughter in her finest pink & green tennis apparel, the chance to be a conduit in helping someone who is mourning the loss of a loved one, making plans for an evening with the ladies for Club Mom tonight. (Despite our status as a non-Mom, at least of human children, which is generally the standard for determining such things.)

We start with a thank to our new bloggy friend, Kebi, at Hanging by a Thread.

She hosted a giveaway and look what The Princess won! How fabulous are these?! Thank you Miss Kebi!

Next, a sneak peek at some of the pieces in J. Crew’s Fall 2009 collection.

Courtesy J. Crew via WWD.com

The photos accompany this story in Women’s Wear Daily online (subscription required).

Courtesy J. Crew via WWD.com

In the story J. Crew execs share some of the theory behind this Fall’s collection:

“We paid attention to things we know make people happy,” said creative director Jenna Lyons Mazeau of the T-shirts sporting giant jewel-encrusted necks and dog prints. “Everyone needs a little levity right now.”

J. Crew Courtesy Photo via WWD.com

Hhhhmmm… what do you think? Recognizing that more earth tones are seen in fall collections, we still hoped for some brighter pops of color. Perhaps WWD just didn’t select any of those photos for their story, or they weren’t provided. We’ll cross our fingers.

As far as the Men’s styles are concerned:

“…it was all about the unexpected. Classic pieces such as chunky cardigans, chalk-striped suits, buffalo-plaid sport shirts and trenchcoats sported unique touches such as leather buttons or lighter-weight fabrics that updated the trends and made them modern.”

J. Crew Courtesy Photo via WWD.com

For those interested in more in-depth background on Crew’s thoughts about spring fashion, pop over to visit J. Crewaholics for a great article she has on her site.

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Banana Republic is pursuing a new concept store featuring accessories only. “Edition by Banana Republic” is slated to open at Westfield Mall in San Francisco in mid-May.  The store will carry limited edition items that will not be available online or at Banana Republic stores, an interesting tactic from a strategic standpoint.

In a Monday story, WWD explains most everything in the shop will be priced at less than $100, another wise move on the retailer’s part.  Below, the ‘Luxe jasmine chandelier earrings in semi-precious green onyx for $79.’

Banana Republic Courtesy Photo via WWD

This one will be fun to watch; hopefully we’ll have some ‘on-the-scene-reports’ from our west coast bloggers!

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For today’s Pretty in Pink we feature a face familiar to many readers, the lovely Blake Lively from TV’s Gossip Girl.  Ms. Lively is seen in a fun frock after her appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman Tuesday evening.

Courtesy Fly Net

Earlier this week Ms. Lively and co-star Penn Badgley (also her real-life love) were seen out to dinner with a Hollywood heavy hitter, Harvey Weinstein.

Mr. Weinstein’s wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman made it a foursome. Naturally everyone is all abuzz, wondering if a Gossip Girl film is in the works.

We can’t help ourselves, and simply must share another Pretty in Pink. Meet Millie, the spoilt red-headed child.

'Milly the Spoilt Red-haired Child'

Milly is the creation of Yali, a gifted artisan with a remarkable shop on etsy.

Is Milly preppy? We think not. Do we have red hair? No, we do not. But we don’t care about these dreary facts, as Milly just epitomizes perfectly how The Princess has felt at times, and we find her altogether loveable.  There are loads of other treasures at this shop, including magnets, prints, more dolls, and all of them are just fun-fun-fun!

That’s it for us dollfaces, we are frantic for time!

Thakoon for Target Now Online, Gossip Guy goes Prep

Hello-Hello and Happy Days-After-Christmas!

A quick reminder to all that the Thakoon for Target collection has dropped, at least online. 32 items are priced below $24, the additional 23 items are in the $25 – $49 range, so the Collection is fiscally friendly, as promised.

As best we can tell from the photos, there are some nice pieces, like the Oxford Stripe Tee:

Thakoon for Target®

The Sleeveless Sweater is also cotton, available in ‘navy pride’ and grey.

Thakoon for Target

The brightly colored bathing suits look fun, and are wisely being sold as separates, similar to the way Shoshanna markets her fabulous swimsuits. Many of the looks carry a preppy aesthetic in either their overall design or the textile pattern. (Or both in isolated instances.)

We aren’t overly entranced with all of the pieces in the collection; this Pleated Stripe Dress is 100% polyster. Ouch. It is a shame, because it almost looks like the perfect repp tie stripe, no?

Sadly, the colorblock dress we were so enchanted by in all of the early photos is also polyester.

We just don’t understand the poly, especially when used for pieces designed to be worn next to one’s skin. Who knows, TP is frequently wrong and it is entirely possible our opinion will be changed after visiting the Boutique and feeling the material firsthand. So to speak. At any rate, the entire Collection should be available tomorrow morning at those Target stores  designated to carry the line.

We can only hope it won’t be long before we learn if this gifted designer has been selected to style either Michelle Obama’s Inaugural gown, or her daytime look for January 20th.

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Another month, another big magazine story featuring one of the oh-so-popular Gossip Girl stars.

PHOTO: Terry Richardson

In the January 2009 GQ (yes, the one with Ms. Aniston on the cover in nothing but a Brooks Brothers tie) issue, actor Penn Badgley is featured in “AMERICAN SPLENDOR – Essential pieces of sartorial Americana worn by Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgley. In the photo above Mr.Badgley wears a Lacoste sweater and polo shirt.

PHOTO: Terry Richardson

All pieces shown in the photo above are Polo by Ralph Lauren. We found the caption/descriptor intriguing:

“It used to be that cardigans were worn by preppies and grandpas. Lately, they’re worn by everyone from artists to DJs (and yes, still grandpas). Try yours with a tie—you needn’t belong to a Princeton eating club to pull it off.”

BTW, Mr. Badgley and co-star/off-screen companion Blake Lively are named as one of the “Best Celebrity Hookups 2008” in a story from Canada’s National Post.  (We can hardly contain our excitement.)

PHOTO: Robert Pitts/Landov/MCT

Another ‘Gossip Guy’ figures in a cover story for the upcoming Spring issue of “YourProm” magazine. Teen singing sensation Taylor Swift (a talent of whom we are quite fond) shares her dream date for prom; it is none other than Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford.

Your Prom

BTW, GQ is running a contest on their site featuring (among other prizes) a $10,000 J. Crew wardrobe.

And finally, a look at what happens When Pink Goes Wrong:

No one will be surprised to learn the pink Bentley belongs to one of our very first anti-preps.

We are now speechless.

🙂

SAY HELLO: Juicy Couture, Tory Burch, Nordstrom SAY GOODBYE: Harold’s, ‘O at Home,’ Club Libby Lu, Men’s Vogue

Well if it isn’t the economy, then it’s the economy!

Yawn. (Please have the houseman send two Excedrin. STAT.)

Before we do all the dreary-dreary, let’s start with some fun news, like Tory Burch opening her Palm Beach store today!

Conveniently located right on Worth Avenue, this is the designer’s 16th store; next month her 17th opens in New York’s meatpacking district.  This reminds us, has everyone seen the new Reva in suede?

Another designer landing nearby on Worth? Michael Kors, with a new boutique he has planned for a long time, according to a story in the Palm Beach Daily News:

“In America, the warm-weather place to be is Palm Beach,” he said. “Palm Beach has always been on my radar.”

Also, Nordstrom *finally* opened their new store in Naples last Friday. At last!  And the Juicy Couture flagship on Fifth is now open, following Thursday night’s big do. Below, co-founders Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Juicy Couture

From the halls of popular prep school drama Gossip Girl star Blake Lively was on hand for the Juicy festivities.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Juicy Couture

Co-star and real life significant other(?) Penn Badgley was on hand along with Jessica Szohr…

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Juicy Couture

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Many readers are probably familiar with most of these dreary headlines, but just in case anyone missed them along the way…we start with Saks announcing last week that it is closing the Club Libby Lu stores; that is almost 100 shops in total.

The company expects to have all closed by the end of their first-quarter in 2009.

Then we had surprising news today about perennial Wall Street favorite J. Crew, according to an AP story via CNBC:

“Shares of J. Crew Group Inc. fell to an all-time low Monday after an analyst said she expects weaker results from the apparel and accessories retailer…”

And now we are ever-so-glad the Queen Mother wasn’t planning to purchase the new flat-screen at Circuit City, with their bankruptcy announcement today.

But here is the loss that really hurts, hitting too close to home for our sensitivities. Harold’s.

Courtesy Harold's

During our years doing tv in Oklahoma City we frequently found ourselves at the Harold’s at Penn Place if shopping in town. Our favorite out-of-town Harold’s haunts were at River Oaks, The Galleria in Dallas and on Lover’s Lane; we would also pop into the store at Tyson’s when visiting that part of the galaxy.  Even TSU (The Spousal Unit) went nuclear upon hearing the news.

The liquidation sales started last Friday; the company expects it will take approximately four months to finish selling the merchandise.  Sniff.  Tissue please.

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The word came last week that “O at Home,” the quarterly spun off from “O: The Oprah Magazine,‘ will cease publishing with the Winter issue.  Any future issues will be part of O.

The Princess Consort was concerned when he learned that Men’s Vogue will essentially cease publishing, although technically it is being ‘absorbed’ by Vogue, and hopes to publish twice a year.  (Okay… truth be told, the Consort won’t miss this one iota, it is I who enjoyed flipping through the pages.)

And here is one that rapidly became one of our more enjoyable business reads, Conde Nast’s Portfolio. It is dropping from twelve to ten issues a year.

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We are in peril of becoming completely distraught, so rather than going off the deep end we shall mention the Great Preppy Giveaway here at  Preppy Princess Intergalactic Headquarters, where it is *always* pink and green.

You can win an outstanding Bungalow Scout Tote, simply by leaving a comment mentioning something about America you are thankful for… that’s it!  Just fill in the blank: “I am thankful __________” and leave a comment and you are entered!  Plus, if you mention the Giveaway on your blog and you win, you receive a fabulous set of oh-so-preppy Madras Photocards as a second gift that we’ll send to anyone of your choosing! And we pay the postage on all of this!

It is our way of saying ‘Thank You’ to all of our faithful customers and blogging friends! This contest closes at midnight Wednesday night, and the next one begins early Thursday, so have some fun…you just might be the lucky winner! For more information, click here to read detailed specifics and background!

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For today’s Pretty in Pink item we honor Club Libby Lu (not that TP has ever set foot in one, but we have heard about them…does that almost count?!) with the Pop Sugar Polka Dot Cupcake PJ Set in pink.

Club Libby Lu

Until later… grins and giggles.