Buy Kate Spade Stock. On Facebook.

Hello-hello, and happy start of the three-day weekend.

Today we offer a touch of Friday Fun, beginning with something unusual (at least to us), an opportunity to buy Kate Spade stock. On Facebook.

For those who don’t “do Facebook,” this is what Kate Spade’s homepage looks like. Look at the far bottom right of the image below, you’ll see an orange box with the words “A Stylish Investment”.

Kate Spade Facebook

Clicking on the link brings one to this graphic.

Kate Spade Facebook

Another click actually takes the user off Facebook to the Fifth & Pacific website, Fifth & Pacific owns Kate Spade and other brands readers may recognize: Jack Spade, Lucky Brand and Juicy Couture. (Fifth & Pacific was previously known as Liz Claiborne, Liz Claiborne is now sold only at JC Penney.)

Fifth and Pacific

It turns out you can buy stock in any of the Fifth & Pacific companies, here are more details from the Journal:

Customers can spend up to $2,500 a month or make as little as a one-time $10 “fractional” investment. They can make a regular monthly commitment or a one-time investment. Fifth & Pacific pays all transaction fees.

It is an intriguing approach. You’ve heard of ESOPs, Employee Stock Ownership Plans? Well, this is being called a CSOP, Customer Stock Ownership Plan, here’s what one executive says about the approach:

“We call it the ultimate like button.”

Apparently we will see more of this, stock offered directly to consumers via a brand’s website or Facebook page.

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Next, summer beach styles at a few holiday hotspots via our pals at Guest of a Guest, their look at What to Wear to Your Favorite Summer Destinations. Here are their styles they suggest if heading to Nantucket:

Nothing says “New England” quite like seersucker. Be prepared to fit in amongst the town of grey shingles and cobble stones with preppy stripes and all American classics.

Pieces are included from Old Navy and J. Crew.

Guest of a Guest

Suggestions for Avalon (Seven Mile Island, NJ) are more eclectic:

“A little bit waspy and a little bit Springsteen… You won’t find Snookie in this area of the Jersey Shore. What you will find are private beach houses, golf clubs and miles and miles of sand…”

Guest of a Guest

No story about summer socializing would be complete without a Hamptons mention:

With sprawling fields and equally sprawling homes, the Hamptons go from country casual to uber upscale the moment the city folks start pouring in for the high season. Look the part in sweet styles with a touch of prep.

Guest of a Guest

This montage included items from Michael Kors, Delia’s, and Rebecca Minkoff. You can see the entire feature here.

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We hope you enjoy the extended weekend, and also have a moment to remember the reason for the holiday.

Reuters

The National Moment of Remembrance is Monday, 3pm local time, wherever you are in the USA.

Socialites Needed, & That Superior Preppy Mansion Can Be Yours

Hello-Hello, happy middle of the week to everyone, we’re so glad you popped in for a visit. Today we have a tidbit about the need for ‘socialites’. (Ahem.)

We’re talking about a casting call for TV’s Royal Pains, the show is looking for some extras in the Hamptons, Guest of a Guest has more:

Royal Pains is looking for extras for the show’s fourth season, and they’re bringing their search to the Hamptons.

Royal Pains/USA Network

The show follows a doctor in the Hamptons who makes house calls, it is a comedy airing on USA network, entering its fourth season.  Patch.com reports a casting company is going to be in Westhampton and Southampton. If interested, you’ll need to have the appropriate clothing to pull off the chi-chi look producers are going for, the story says they want:

“people with the affluent look and the wardrobe to portray the high-society Hamptons elite.”

More specifically, Grant Wilfley Casting wants:

“Both union and non-union actors…to portray Hamptonites, socialites, model-types, “ladies-who-lunch,” beach-goers, yachtsman, golfers, tennis players, owners of ultra high-end cars, bankers, brokers, doctors, nurses, orderlies, EMTs and attractive party goers.”

Below we see a still from Season 2.

USA via TV Equals

The show stars Mark Feuerstein as Dr.Hank Lawson.

USA Network via FanPop

The Patch story points out the show has shot on location previously; below we see filming last April.

Paul Robinson via Patch

Back to the casting call, here is a little more detail from the casting company, my favorite is the final bullet point, something of a BYOC (bring your own car) request.

• Hamptons locals for work on Monday, April 30 in Westhampton;
• Upscale Hamptonites for work in Southhampton on May 10;
• physically-fit people to run a muddy obstacle course/marathon (must be ok getting muddy and being chased);
• people to play Zombies (must be OK wearing zombie make-up, getting muddy, and chasing people);
• expert/professional pool players for photodouble work (5′8 or 5′10 Caucasian men);
• SAG/AFTRA members with ultra high-end luxury cars (please note make, model, year and color).

Wondering how it works if you’re chosen? Brendan O’Reilly’s story offers this insight:

Extras are typically treated to breakfast and lunch. During filming in Southampton Village in April 2011, the production set up base camp at the Coopers Beach parking lot, with trailers and a heated tent. The call time was 7 a.m., and extras were required to have their schedule free for the entire day — if someone has to run out in the middle of the day it could ruin a scene’s continuity.

We have had friends who have been an extra for a show or film, and they enjoyed it. The consensus seems to be if you do it for a day or two it is fun, longer than that and it became a touch tedious.

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Our other snippet today is about the “Superior Preppy Mansion” as described by the good folks at Curbed.com.

Curbed.com

The house was originally built around 1700, more on its the late Ambassador Francis L. Kellogg from Curbed’s story:

Educated at Choate and Princeton, Kellogg established himself as a fixture on the New York social scene, wedding department store heiress Fernanda Wanamaker Munn, before divorcing and marrying Mercedes Tavacoli, now better known as Mercedes Bass…. sailed in seven Newport-to-Bermuda yacht races, claimed ties to the Central Intelligence Agency, and, in his spare time, “raised miniature Dexter cattle, aquatic birds and exotic chickens” at Mill Pond Farm, this 25-acre estate in Westchester County.

Curbed.com

Back to the Curbed piece:

The main house, painted a most preppy shade of pink with green shutters, measures 4,500 square feet, with five bedrooms and five baths. Originally built circa 1700, the house was added on to by the venerable architecture firm of McKim, Mead, & White and decorated by none other than Billy Baldwin.

While it’s not necessarily what we would term ‘pretty’ per se, we’ll still make it today’s Pretty in Pink. The house can be yours for $5.9 million, click here for more.

Hamptons Shopping Update & YSL’s Nautical Look

Happy Friday everyone, it is delightful to be contemplating a weekend after only four ‘office days,’ no?

We share more Friday Fun today, beginning with some updates for anyone planning a little playtime in the Hamptons this summer.  There are many additions to the retail landscape, with several stores recently opening or about to open, including Crewcuts by J. Crew (inside the existing Crew store), Restoration Hardware and Steven Alan, all in East Hampton.

There are also many seasonal shops, including pop-ups from both Sam Edelman and Stuart Weitzman, as well as Trina Turk and Lacoste. It’s TBD whether Lacoste’s new home will become a permanent fixture or just a summer shop, obviously we’re hoping for the former.

Via Guest of a Guest

Lacoste actually has a line of Hamptons Bags, below we show the Tote.

MacKenzie-Childs has opened its new Southampton store, not far from Vineyard Vines.  Also adding an East End outpost, The Black Dog, long a Princess favorite.

Via The Black Dog Facebook

In addition to all of the standard Black Dog fabulosity, the Southampton store will carry several lines specific to its locale, including Ella Vickers recycled sailcloth totes.

The Black Dog via the NY Times

This weekend and next week bring more openings, including a new Bond No. 9 store in Sag Harbor.

Courtesy Photo

It makes sense, considering the firm does market a ‘Hamptons’ fragrance, as well as a ‘Montauk’ scent.

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Regular readers know we have been loathe to spend much time looking at the fall fashion collections, let alone the resort/cruise lines that have been showing in New York the last two weeks.  Spring has just been too slow in coming this year, and in many cases when it did arrive it came with deadly, destructive force, leaving us eager to simply revel in a few days of warm, sunny skies and gentle breezes. Contemplating a future need for heavier, warmer garments just hasn’t been on the radar. Until now.

Mimi Ritzen Crawford/Vogue

Today we make an exception, sharing a few pieces from the Yves Saint Laurent 2012 Resort collection.

Mimi Ritzen Crawford/Vogue.com

The entire line carried a strong nautical vibe (sometimes overly so) in seagoing colors and details, as well as bright florals reminiscent of island tides.

Mimi Ritzen Crawford for Vogue.com

Very bright, very fun, perfect for a beachy escape.

Today’s final note consists of exciting news here at the Prepatorium, in the form of an announcement from our friends at Clairebella, they are officially Greek licensed!

That means very shortly we’ll be offering Clairebella’s wonderful accessories personalized with your favorite Greek organization.

Clairebella

May you enjoy a delicious weekend, marked by relaxation and good times.

American Apparel Plans on Preppy (Seriously) & Royalty Hits the Hamptons

Hello-Hello, and happy Monday!

Today we begin with a Sign of The Times that we hoped would herald a return to sanity when it comes to logos. Below, a snippet from this story in Women’s Wear Daily about luxury merchandise and markets:

“…Gucci Group would move away from logos, “adjusting to this new perception of luxury, which is more subtle, more sophisticated.”

The comments come from Gucci’s parent company, PPH; we can only hope this movement points to a diminution in the number of Logophobia attacks one suffers when in close proximity to most Gucci merchandise. Unfortunately, the “move away from logos” doesn’t appear applicable to all Gucci items.

‘Subtle’ and ‘sophisticated’ those are not. Nor are two handbags from the Fall 2010 line.

Perhaps we didn’t fully understand the company’s intent when it comes to this topic.

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Next, reports that American Apparel is moving toward more ‘traditional’ styles.  Sunday’s Chronicle carried a story entitled “Can Preppy Look Save American Apparel Empire?”

“After outfitting the world of 18- to 30-year-olds in all manner of T-shirts and leggings, American Apparel is going preppy, diving into more sophisticated garments such as blazers, pleated pants, button-down shirts and more formal lace tops.”

We would find the notion laughable were it not obvious this is the firm’s direction; it certainly goes in the “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” category. But when visiting the company’s online store one notices the home page touting “Classic Guy” styles.

American Apparel

“Preppy” from the firm that the story notes “… remade the hipster wardrobe, sensing the demand for neon nylon bike shorts and lace-thong leotards…”?  Not to mention the firm known for its overtly racy ads featuring scantily clad (or unclad) young people? (If unfamiliar with this marketing maneuver, all one need do is visit the company’s online Photo Archive to see examples.)

One of the most surprising items we saw in the men’s section, the Red Wing shoe, similar to many boat shoes, albeit with trendier lines.

American Apparel is contending with a number of issues, not the least of which is possible delisting on the New York Stock Exchange; this is compounded by its own accounting firm quitting, citing concerns over some of the company’s financial data.

Other challenges are explained in the story (which also appears in Bloomberg Business Week):

“Before the financial concerns intensified, Charney had been contending with damaging sexual-harassment allegations followed by an immigration bust. Fifteen hundred workers at the Los Angeles factory had to be let go owing to lack of documentation and 1,000 more quit over concern of being swept up for immigration violations.”

(To learn more about American Apparel’s CEO Dov Charney, click here, he has his own web page.)

One mystery amid the style changes: we don’t understand why the new direction appears targeted only to male shoppers. Visiting the women’s section of the website doesn’t indicate any evidence of a newly conservative or traditional approach.

American Apparel

Indeed, items the company is known for abound; most are NSFW (Not Safe for Work viewing).

American Apparel

To be fair, there are some basics available, like the Unisex Collared Shirts and Unisex Tees.

But by and large it seems that American Apparel’s new ‘preppy’ clothing styles are intended for the gentlemen, not the ladies.

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We close with a quick look at this weekend’s benefit for the Princess Grace Foundation in the Hamptons.

Astrid Stawiarz for The Wall St Journal

On hand for the festivities (and also a co-host), Monaco’s Prince Albert II and fiancée Charlene Wittstock. Louis Vuitton was the other primary host, the event was held at the Water Mill home of Anne Hearst McInerney and Jay McInerney.  Below we see Ms. Hearst and Mr. McInerney, the latter is an author we very much enjoy reading.

Monaco’s royal wedding is scheduled for July 11, 2011. For more on how Ms. Wittstock is approaching that event, we turn to Women’s Wear Daily:

“But Wittstock seems very low-key about her upcoming nuptials, scheduled for next year, even if the rest of European society isn’t. “I’m not one of those girls who imagined themselves walking down the aisle in a big dress,” she said. “My style is very easy.” Wittstock was wearing gold flip flops with her gown.”

With that we say G’bye until next time!

Makeup in a Magic Wand? Also, Pets in the Dorm

Hello-Hello, welcome to a wacky Thursday here at the Prepatorium!

Scads of newsy tidbits abound today, we begin with one of them, word that Thom Browne will be adding a women’s collection to his eponymous line.  The designer is seen below at Monday’s CFDA gala, covered in this post.

Steve Eichner/WWD

While many Princess readers know of Mr. Browne’s Black Fleece collections for Brooks Brothers, they may not be as familiar with his own line of apparel and accessories. Women’s Wear Daily reported about the new line today:

“The designer, known for shaking up American men’s wear with his shrunken suits and avant-garde runway shows, sold a majority stake of his company to Japan’s Cross Company last year, and the partners are keen to sensibly extend the brand.”

Below, looks from a previous runway show of Mr.Browne’s.

The designer does create more commercially appealing merchandise, below we show several current Black Fleece styles.

We look forward to seeing the new collection.

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Next, an absorbing story in today’s Times about summer house shares in the Hamptons.  Sarah Maslin Nir’s story begins by explaining what many already know:

“IN popular vacation spots like Fire Island and the Hamptons, the summer share is a time-honored tradition of weekend debauchery. The Long Island iced teas or mojitos downed on Friday evening typically kick off an alcohol-fueled series of events, and the drinking ends only when the various housemates hop a train or jitney back to Manhattan — with a hangover that stretches to nearly midweek.”

The story offers interesting insight into how one manages to enjoy the summer traditions minus the alcohol and other drugs.

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We have news sure to make many fans of Glee happy, there will soon be Glee-related books.

Little, Brown via Zap2It.com

Glee: The Beginning is a ‘prequel,’ with events taking place before the show’s era. The books are aimed at the young adult audience, a series of five is planned. The first novel is due out in August, and it will include a double-sided poster.  Amazon is already taking pre-orders.

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Also in today’s Times, the paper’s Skin Deep column looks at “Makeup to Help Flaws Disappear“, a gem from Catherine Saint Louis.

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

The story looks at the use of new techniques for applying cosmetics, particularly foundation, beginning with the Temtpu airbrush system.

“Sort of like a gun that blows a mist of foundation, it promised to make my skin flawless. According to its manufacturer, it had made the faces of the “Stepford Wives” look porcelain smooth (if creepily perfect) in the 2004 remake, and it routinely makes movie stars and television anchors ready for high-definition close-ups.”

Ms. Saint Louis also tests other recent innovations, like the L’Oréal Paris True Match Roller (L) and the Lancôme Ôscillation Powerfoundation (R).

Here is a portion of her reaction to L’Oréal’s product:

“With the L’Oréal Paris True Match Roller, I felt as if I was trying to use a flat paint roller on uneven walls.”

The story is very well done; to read it in its entirety, click here.  Ms. Saint Louis has a companion piece, “Tips for Applying Foundation” that is worth one’s time if interested in the topic.

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Remaining with the cosmetics topic, yours truly was recently contacted and asked to test/review two complimentary products from Cover Girl, the new Smoky ShadowBlast (L) and ShineBlast Lip Gloss.

Perhaps we’re cosmetically-challenged, but we really struggled with the eye shadow. It was difficult to apply, in part because there is not a lot of pigment, or color, in the stick.  Once applied the shadow did not last long, creasing was evident in less than an hour. (We used a Lauder shadow primer.) Our test sample was the ‘Silver Sky’ combination, and while we very much liked the colors in this combination, they appeared darker and richer in the product than they are in reality. Judging from online reviews we are not alone in our reaction to this product.

The company describes the ShineBlast lip gloss this way:

“Light reflecting shimmer layered under a high-gloss finish gives you 4x more noticeable shine*.”

We can’t tell you if it is 1x or 5x more shiny and can’t imagine anyone paying attention to such a precise claim. We can say the gloss went on easily and the applicator is nicely defined for more accurate application. It is *very* shiny, and the taste/scent were not offensive, lasting several hours. In summation, we can recommend the gloss for those seeking über-shiny lips, but we can’t say the same for the shadows. (We note our material connection to the product, as free samples were sent to us, click here for more.)

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We leave you with one last tidbit from the Times, a story pointed out to us by The Queen Mother; with apologies to our Facebook Fans, we offer “Colleges Extend Welcome Mat to Students’ Pets“.

Dilip Vishwanat for The New York Times

The photo above shows Elena Christian and her Chihuahua, Annabelle. In her dorm room. At Stephens College. Where TP matriculated.

Here is another Stephens student, Allison Frisch, and her dog, Taffy.

Dilip Vishwanat for The New York Times

From the story:

“With these efforts, Stephens is hoping to smooth the transition of some students who may be so anxious about leaving home or adjusting to college life that a stuffed animal will not be of sufficient comfort. They want the real thing.”

Indeed.