Talbots New Face, & Is It Joint Custody for a Gossip Guy?

Hello-Hello, welcome to another delightful day at the Prepatorium, where the sun is shining brightly and the grounds are drying out after this weekend’s torrential downpours.

There is so much happening we offer numerous Bits & Bytes we hope you find to be moderately interesting, beginning with news that Talbots has upped the ante when it comes to their marketing plans, hiring 90’s supermodel Linda Evangelista.

Amy Sussman/Getty

Above we show Ms. Evangelista in December of last year. Here’s more from the Page Six story:

“Talbots chief marketing officer Lori Wagner said of Evangelista “She possesses this timeless yet spontaneous glamour that’s irresistible in our minds.”

In a StyleList story Ms. Wagner refers to the model as “perfection,” adding:

“”For our 40-to-45-year-old customer, when you say Linda Evangelista, there’s a reaction.”

Look for promotional and marketing materials featuring Ms. Evangelista sometime in August, as well as in the oversized September issues of fashion magazines.  (With apologies to our Facebook Fans who may have already seen our mention of this.)

In Gossip Girl news, something many readers are likely to have already seen, the Chace Crawford mug shot.

Image Courtesy Plano (TX) Police

Mr. Crawford was arrested on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge in his hometown of Plano, Texas.  The incident took place in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Rafa Nadal won his fifth French Open yesterday, retaining his “King of Clay” honor.

Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty

Mr. Nadal is seen above being congratulated by ball boys and girls after his big win at Roland Garros.

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Last night’s MTV Movie Awards offered many interesting style choices, as always. Perhaps one of the funniest moments involved Tom Cruise performing with Jennifer Lopez.

Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

That really is Tom Cruise; he was reprising his own Len Grossman character from “Tropic Thunder“.

Matt Sayles/AP

Twilight was a big winner; above we see Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner on stage at the Awards. (Nay-nay, TP was not caught watching MTV, we merely trawled this morning’s newsfeeds seeking tidbits for our cherished readers.)

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In other style news, Details magazine offers a look at “Three Quintessentially American Fashion Archetypes“. Can you guess the first style under discussion?

Courtesy Details

Of course, it is ‘prep’.

Another magazine looking at the prep aesthetic, Lucky, in its June issue.

Courtesy Lucky

Happy reading.

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One other literary tidbit of note, not at all newsy to many fashion followers, and something heavily covered by most of the prep or trad men’s blogs, but not a topic we have chatted about here at the Princess:

Powerhouse Books via Amazon

“Take Ivy” is a cult classic, on a par with The Original Preppy Handbook for many trads.

Courtesy Powerhouse Books

The 1965 book hails from Japan, and is essentially a collection of candid photographs shot on Ivy League campuses.  As described on Amazon’s site:

“Madras plaid, Top-Siders, seersucker shorts, highwater trousers, tweed jackets, Brooks Brothers, J. Press, J. Crew. What comes to mind?”

The news part of our conversation is the upcoming English-language version of the book, due out this fall, a much-lauded event for those fond of classic/traditional styles.  J. Crew fans may be pleased to know there will also be a limited edition version of Take Ivy, slated for sale at the company’s Liquor Store location.  The upcoming release may be pre-ordered from the publisher, Powerhouse Books.

For more on Trad style vs. WASP style (aka ‘preppy’), Esquire’s March issue offered some distinguishing characteristics. Or pop over to Ivy Style for an easier read.

(Images courtesy Esquire.)

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We have two more quick Sales & Savings mentions:

J. Crew is promoting an additional 20% off sale merchandise online only; use promo code EXTRA20 to receive the savings. The offer is scheduled to end June 9.

Lord & Taylor’s Friends and Family sale is underway, offering an extra 25% off ‘almost everything,’ with a 10% discount on cosmetics.

Use FRIENDS as the discount code; if shopping person at L&T head over to the site and print out one of those ubiquitous coupons.

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We leave you with a question Tilly asked us to pass along. It seems she’s feeling a trifle insecure, for upon hearing us chat about this weeks Monday Tilly Pic, she asked “Does this picture make me look fat?”

Silly Tilly Hard at Work

So we replied, “Well dear, define that. As in, does a beached baby seal look fat?” She wept Tilly tears and we agreed to go with this angle instead.

Tilly's Better Side

Indeed.

(For those not fond of Twitter, the Monday Tilly Pics are merely a little feature where she tries to show her best side every week and we post the image on Twitpic.)

Ultimate Fashion Gala, & A Sneak Peek at the Preppy Laptop

Hello-Hello, we hope the sun is shining as brightly in your corner of the globe as it is here!

We begin with an apology to those not fond of fashion-laden posts, we must beg your indulgence one more day, as we have yet to share the images from another big do. The Met Ball was Monday night, arguably the season’s most important event for seeing, and being seen, in serious formalwear. (The official name for the event: the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala.) The evening also officially kicked off the Museum’s special exhibit, American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity.

For decades the Gala has been overseen by Anna Wintour.

Via The Cut

The Vogue magazine editor was in an ensemble by Chanel Couture; some found it less than attractive, but we actually liked the look, and thought it was flattering on Ms. Wintour.

Two of the evening’s most elegant looks: Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murad.

Kristin Somody Whalen/WWD

And Marion Cotillard in glittering Christian Dior.

Kristin Somody Whalen/WWD

They are both wearing what we refer to as “SPFs,” Serious Party Frock.  The editors at Refinery 29 came up with this group of “Best Dressed” ladies at the Gala.

Via Refinery 29

From the left, Zoe Saldana in Calvin Klein, Kate Bosworth wears Valentino, Rosie Huntington (apparently a popular model) in Burberry and Emma Watson, also in Burberry.

The event is A List only; below we see Lauren Bush and David Lauren, on the right, Ricky and Ralph Lauren.

In an unusual twist, we thought the younger generation’s styles were superior to those seen on their elders; the blue jeans looked horribly inappropriate.  Below left we show Dylan Lauren, and on the right, Tommy Hilfiger and his wife, Dee Ocleppo.

Taylor Swift was in Ralph Lauren Collection, and Tory Burch in Tory Burch.

From the Gossip Girl contingent, Blake Lively wears Marchesa and Jessica Szohr in Versace.

Leighton Meester and Penn Badgley were also on hand.

The Cut had an intriguing tidbit in their post about the G2 stars and the event:

“… all the relationship drama has made the cast of Gossip Girl skittish around reporters, because Penn Badgley, Jessica Szohr, and Blake Lively each didn’t so much as turn their heads as they hustled up the stairs, surrounded by flacks, and went inside.

And how did Ms. Lively look for the after-party? Below left we see the more casual look she sported, and on the right, co-stars Penn Badgley and Chace Crawford at that function.

We were not crazy about Ivanka Trump’s Atelier Versace dress, nor did we think highly of the Chanel look seen on Kristen Stewart.

We also struggled with someone we generally adore seeing in a fab frock, Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks; this blue gown simply didn’t work.

The black and white gown on Malin Akerman was another miss IOHO.

One dress creating quite a stir (and also making it onto almost every ‘worst dressed’ list), Katy Perry’s LED light-up dress.

We absolutely adored WWD’s commentary on the gown:

“It was enough to provoke a seizure (or at least a headache), but Perry behaved as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Guess no one told her there’s a difference between dressing to stop traffic and dressing like a traffic stop.”

Note who leads off Refinery 29’s review of the “The Bad” styles:

Photo Collage via Refinery29.com

Also seen with Ms. Perry in the dubious distinction category above, Chloë Sevigny in Proenza Schouler, Tina Fey in a jumpsuit of unknown origin, and another Mad Men fave, January Jones.  Ms. Fey and Ms. Jones surprised, they usually appear far better put together. In a new category we are calling “Worst Gown by Volume,” model Coco Rocha and her Zac Posen.

WWD.com

As the Fug Girls wrote:

“…that reminds me of every Bed In A Bag on sale around the time I was going off to college.”

We don’t consider our reading on any fashion topic complete until we have seen what Cathy Horyn writes, we especially like this comment from her story:

“I thought Lauren Santo Domingo looked terrific in a sparkly, long-sleeved beige dress by Proenza Schouler. It suited her height and coloring and it’s nice to see long sleeves.”

Just in case anyone missed the most important part of the comment:

“… it’s nice to see long sleeves.”

Not that we’re obsessed proponents of bringing back sleeves for some styles. Not at all. (Heh-heh-heh.)

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We share good news and not-so-good news in today’s SOTT (Signs of the Times):

• Saks is closing their San Diego Fashion Valley store in July and the NorthPark (Dallas) Armani store is being closed the 16th of this month. (Muffy and Hopsy – oh no!)
• Saks is expanding their Off Fifth stores, adding outlets in Pittsburgh, Portland, Houston and the Raleigh/Greensboro area
• On an up note, Nordstrom opened their new store at Fashion Island (Orange County) a few weeks back

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And with apologies to our Facebook pals who may have seen this on one of our Fan pages, we close with a stellar Pretty in Pink that also qualifies as an Adventure in Argyle:

HP Courtesy Image

That is the soon-to-be-released Preppy Pink Mini from HP, a thing of beauty.  The Mini 210 is technically a netbook, not a laptop, and while we aren’t crazy about the pink keyboard, we are gaga for the overall design.

HP Courtesy Image

The HP Mini 210 in Preppy Pink (it will also come in “white crystal”) launches June 15 in the USA with a $355 price point.  Click here to register for availability notification from HP.

With that, g’bye until next time!

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ADD’L PHOTO CREDITS:

• Katy Perry Dress: Steve Eichner/WWD
• Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters