“Preppy Like No Other Magazine”

Hello-Hello, happy Wednesday!

Today we are more-than-a-little crazed and dazed from our day job at the Princess, all of the goings-on are lovely, but also time consuming!

So we jump in with a few things from around the globe, beginning with a look at J. Crew in the Times (of London).

“It is a label selling well-designed, fashionable — although never slavishly so — clothes for men and women. “

We always enjoy seeing other perspectives on American brands, and the Times story doesn’t disappoint; the piece was prompted by news that Crew is going to be available internationally beginning in May, via Net-a-Porter. More from the story:

“Even though it shares an unfortunate belief with a number of Americans that adopting initials adds a lustrous patina of heritage to a name, J.Crew is not in the same room as KFC…”

To read the story in its entirety just click here.

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Next, an item from the fabulous Australian-based Girl with a Satchel blog, a look at the April fashion magazines. We thought readers might enjoy this portion referencing Tatler:

“Tatler does traditional preppy like no other magazine, as demonstrated by “Sports Day”. Shot by Ruven Afanador at a male boarding school, the styling is all straw boaters by Lock & Co, white tennis dresses tennis dresses by Bottega Venetta and Jil Sander and wool cardigans from the Polo Ralph Lauren Wimbledon Collection.”

Tatler via Girl with a Satchel

We are going to look for the issue next time we’re visiting our local newsstand.

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In today’s Collaboration Update (yes, we gave up and added a category for this sort of thing) we share news that Liberty and Manolo Blahnik are pairing up for a collection.

Courtesy Image via WWD

Women’s Wear Daily reports the collection is slated for September:

“So Blahnik will design a range of items — such as scarves, candles, shoehorns, Wellington boots and notebooks — using Liberty prints.”

The designer has also created a Liberty print of his own.

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We have an addition to our inexplicable and sporadic coverage of those Gossip Girls kids landing magazine covers.

Cream Magazine

Above we see Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen and Ed Westwick featured on the April cover of Australian pop-culture magazine Cream.  Penn Badgley, Jessica Szohr and Chace Crawford are included in the photo spread.

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For one of today’s Pretty in Pink (and Green) we offer this fun find, the Dinosaur and Heart Crust Cutters. to take the crust off bread, creating something really appetizing for your little ones.

via Pink and Green Scene

These were pointed out to us by the bright minds over at one of our faves, the Pink & Green Scene.

We also offer a little something that looks simply cute as can be, the Spring Romance Mini Potted Fabric Plants.

etsy seller Jane Joss

We found these on etsy from seller Jane Joss, aka the “Fabric Florist.”

Until next time, we hope there is pink and green goodness in your life!

When Preppy Goes Bad: Amy Winehouse Argyle & Twin Sets

Hello-Hello and Happy Friday!

Generally we like to do a bit of Friday Fun in this space on this day of the week, but we’re not clear if it is appropriate under the circumstances. The circumstances being this:

Courtesy Photo via WWD

You are looking at a sketch from the upcoming Amy Winehouse/Fred Perry collaboration, more specifically, the pink and black argyle dress. No, we did not start the day with a Bloody, nor did we ingest a handful of pharmaceuticals, these four words actually belong together.  Amy Winehouse Fred Perry.

The two entities have collaborated on a new collection to be launched this fall.

Word initially came in this Women’s Wear Daily story:

““Amy has been wearing Fred Perry for years, so we were aware she was a genuine fan of the brand,” said Richard Martin, Fred Perry’s marketing director…”

Here are two more sketches, including one look with the Perry polo shirt. In pink.

More from WWD’s story:

“In a palette of mostly black and pink, the 17-piece collection includes a girlish twinset; slim, thigh-skimming pencil skirts; capri pants, a mini bowling dress, and Fred Perry’s signature polo shirts (“collars are most definitely raised,” the press release effused).”

We would have put this in our “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” category until we read all of the Women’s Wear Daily story, including this portion:

“Started 58 years ago as a sportswear collection by tennis icon Fred Perry, the company also has a history of aligning with music stars — such as Paul Weller and Damon Albarn — which has helped grow the label into a more mainstream, musician-favored streetwear brand.”

As is said these days: duh. Our old Fred Perrys are comfy in the closet (as they have been for years), and we are so out of touch we had nary a clue the brand was thought of as streetwear or hip in some quarters.  It matters not, we shall continue to wear the shoes until they have absolutely disintegrated, but we do feel woefully, tragically out of step.

As one might anticipate, the snark-o-meter is peaking in the red zone with this particular partnership. From Entertainment Weekly’s story:

“Preppy fashion company Fred Perry is sullying its tennis whites by doing a fashion line with Amy Winehouse. You read that right…Amy Winehouse.”

For the record, we do think Ms. Winehouse is an extremely talented young woman, we are simply surprised at the turn of events in the fashion world. (The Consort’s reaction to the news? “Tattoos extra.”)

Yesterday’s announcement comes just prior to the Perry collaboration with Liberty of London, launching in April.

Courtesy Photo via HypeBeast

While not exemplifying a preppy aesthetic, this is more of what springs to mind when thinking of a Fred Perry collaboration.

Courtesy Image via Selectism

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As we are speaking of Liberty, a reminder:

The Liberty of London for Targét collection launches Sunday (3.14.10), some items are now available online at the Liberty Mother Ship on the far side of the pond. We like the notion of Liberty/Target candles, like this Black Tea scented example; we also like the Dunclare Cereal Bowl, and believe both items qualify for our Pretty in Pink designation.

For more background on the partnership click here.

We would feel we were doing a lackluster job of things here if we did not also mention the cosmetic collaboration recently debuted by Liberty and M·A·C cosmetics. Below, selections from their Give Me Liberty line, now available at many outlets, including Nordstrom.

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Speaking of launches, the LL Bean Signature collection debuts Monday.

Courtesy Image

This is Bean’s highly anticipated line featuring more contemporary clothing and accessories. Below we show two looks originally featured in this post.

From Eric Wilson’s Times story on the new endeavor:

“…it’s not exactly as if Leon Leonwood Bean is trading his mocs for stilettos.”

In addition to the dedicated website one may also visit the Signature Facebook page.

LL Bean Signature

The Facebook site offers images from the new collection for both men…

Courtesy LL Bean Signature

And women.

Courtesy LL Bean

For those fortunate enough to be near the Tysons Corner store, the collection is already available.  We hope this does well for Bean, we do adore so many of their offerings.

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We leave you with a look at yet one more collaborative effort, this one involving Lilly Pulitzer.  The retailer has joined with one of our favorite products Barnum’s Animal Crackers to create a million specially decorated boxes of the tasty treats.

Courtesy Image

This is part of the Lilly Goes Green effort with a portion of sales proceeds going to the World Wildlife Fund.  It’s a fun play on words, as there is a Lilly Animal Crackers print, currently a popular choice for many of the Lilly Stationery items.

From all of us here at the Prepatorium, happy weekend!

Magic Knickers & Bingo Wings-Who Knew?

Hello-Hello and welcome to a Thursday here at the Prepatorium!

We begin with what may be a surprising admission: we are actually looking forward to the big event this weekend for fashionistas, the Red Carpet at the Oscars. (Although we are terribly worried for our friends in New York and hope you are able to see the show. ABC and Cablevision really need to play nice with one another, honestly.)

Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Our friends at the Telegraph have a stellar piece on avoiding Red Carpet disasters.

Getty Images & Rex via the Telegraph

The Telegraph cites Beyoncé Knowles, Sophia Loren and Miley Cyrus as the Worst Dressed at last year’s event.  One advisory, the story does flirt with a verboten topic, a lady’s unmentionables. (Gasp.)

4. Underwear

It must match, first rule of play. And if you’re resorting to “magic knickers”, “Spanx” or any “lose-a-size” wonders, make sure your dress is sufficiently opaque or in a heavy fabric which will not disclose what lies beneath.”

What a marvelous term, “Magic Knickers”.  Below we offer gowns/personalities making most lists of Oscar fashion disasters:

Splash News

Oooh, we had forgotten how unfortunate that garment was on Ms. Paltrow.  Next, a fire engine red fashion faux pas.

WENN.com

And then there was this, we can’t share the word that always comes to mind upon seeing the gown. (The word isn’t about Ms. Kidman mind you, it is the dress.)

Splash News

Ouch.

Another term we hadn’t previously heard: “Bingo Wings”.

5. Arm yourself!

With a little tulle or chiffon “shrug”. It’s a Dame Helen Mirren style secret and your “bingo wings” will remain yours.

We’re thinking this is the sort of accessory discussed in Rule #5.

Frazer Harrison/Getty

There are sure to be more hits and misses this weekend, we are eager to see who is wearing whom. (For a gallery of previous red carpet styles, click here.)

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The Academy Awards offers an audience many advertisers covet; Penney’s is taking advantage of this, launching a new image campaign.

JC Penney

The retailer is also using the broadcast to officially kickoff OlsenBoye, the line from the Olsen twins. Click here for a previous post with more on the collection.

Courtesy JC Penney

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We close with an early look at the Liberty of London for Target line, due in stores and online March 14.

Courtesy photo via Catwalk Queen

The retailer has a splendid interactive feature online showcasing Liberty prints, anyone can pick a pattern and download it for use as a screensaver or desktop wallpaper.

Target

Here are a few more images from the always-on-top-of-all-things-fashion Catwalk Queen.

In this next image we see pieces from the home collection including a lamp, bedding and candles.

Target

More from the line.

Courtesy Photo via Glamnest

We could be mistaken, but we recall reading that some items, like the gardening tools, are only going to be available online.  We think the Queen Mother might find the gloves appealing.

We’ll make the planter today’s Pretty in Pink.

Courtesy Image via Glamnest

At only $9.99 it’s also pretty nice on the pocketbook.  Another item on its way to your local Targét, a Liberty print bicycle.

Target

As an FYI, the colors are much richer (and in many cases brighter) than our images show. Having returned less than an hour ago from a little jaunt to our local Target, we can report that banners promoting the line are in place all over the store.  The collection includes products in every category, from clothing to accessories to home goods, it is a very important launch for one of our favorite places.

G’bye until next time!

Gossip Girls at Fashion Week, Early Look: Liberty of London/Target Collaboration

Hello-Hello, and welcome to another wacky day at the Prepatorium!

Our focus today is Fashion Week.

Courtesy photo via WWD

Front and center at the Calvin Klein show yesterday, one of the Gossip Girl guys, Chace Crawford.  To the right of Mr. Crawford we see actors Ryan Phillippe and Kellan Lutz.

Another G2 star, Jessica Szohr was spotted in the front row at the Hervé Léger presentation; actress Melissa George is also seen in the picture.

Astrid Stawiarz/Getty

All of which brings us to the issue of fashion’s front row and the “M Word”, aka Money. Many years (many, many) years back we learned stars didn’t just appear at runway shows because they liked the designer and were able to acquire an invitation. Nay, nay fellow inhabitants of Planet Prep; the celebrities are paid to be there.

Cathy Horyn, fashion writer extraordinaire, has an outstanding column on the topic in Saturday’s Times.

“… once the exclusive domain of influential editors, retailers, socialites and celebrity friends of the designer. That fortress was breached long ago, about the time Paris Hilton and her Chihuahua showed up.”

Natch, we appreciated the reference to one of our original Anti-Preps, Ms. Hilton.  Rebecca Taylor’s front row included actresses Sophia Bush and Carmen Electra.

Brian Ach/Getty

Ms. Horyn’s article sheds light on other costs incurred by brands looking for what The Consort calls “warm props”:

“… the deals, trades and exclusive contracts — first-class airfare, hotel rooms for friends, per diems, designer boutique shopping sprees — that miraculously clear a path to the front row for a busy actress.”

Style site Fashionista ran a fascinating piece earlier this month, “How Much Brands Pay For Celebs to Sit in Their Front Rows“. Writer Lauren Sherman set out to determine what we’ll call ‘guesstimated rates’ for celebrities to appear at a show. Here are a few names from the Fashionista “A list”:

• Rihanna ($100,000 or more)
• Beyonce ($80,000-$100,000)
• Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen ($80,000 each)

Several Gossip Girl stars are on the “B List”:

• Blake Lively ($50,000)
• Leighton Meester ($40,000)
• Hillary Duff ($40,000)
• Other Gossip Girl cast members ($25,000 a piece)

For some reason we are guessing Mr. Crawford draws more than the $25,000 number cited above for appearances by ‘other cast members’.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty

The actor is seen with musician Lee Pace and actor Jared Leto in the photo above.  To see the rest of Fashionista’s list, including where Paris Hilton ranks, click here.  The story mentions that Marc Jacobs and Carolina Herrera have “virtually banned celebrities from their front rows,” an interesting turn of events.

Ms. Horyn’s story in the Times also discusses rates, quoting a publicist in the business, Roger Padilha:

“… “If you see an A-list star at a show, that’s because she’s making $100,000 on the deal.”

And talked about this year’s most wanted stars:

“Last season, Ms. Lively, a Gossip Girl, was considered a good get. This week, according to Mr. Padilha, “Sandra Bullock is the get. Even more so than Anne Hathaway.”

Back in the olden daze these were the only kind of people designers wanted to see at their shows:

Bryan Bedder/Getty

That is Grace Coddington (L) and Anna Wintour from Vogue magazine at this morning’s Zac Posen show.

We continue with another quick Gossip Girl mention; we can’t resist sharing two looks from the Peter Som show, as it was dubbed “Bohemian for the Blair Waldorf set” by Women’s Wear Daily.

That seems an appropriate description.

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We now move on to the Lacoste show.

Reviews for the fall/winter styles were mixed. The Journal’s Heard on the Runway blog was favorable:

“All of the looks were infinitely wearable, suggesting that what Lacoste lacks in high fashion, it makes up for in saleability.”

That ‘saleability’ factor is not always seen as a positive to fashion editors; from the NY Times’ brief review:

“… as the show evolved into hot, strong color, Lacoste seemed to be trying too hard to be a “fashion” brand.

WWD was not complimentary in their review.

“In a rather lackluster show missing Lacoste’s usual verve and focus, there was layering, bright color blocking and sometimes an easy slouchy mood.”

Heard on the Runway’s writeup also explained the look seen on the female models:

“A highlight of the collection was the knit leggings that widened at the bottom to cover the high heels….  dubbed “longjohn [sic] leggings” and called them “his answer to sweatpants.”

“The look gave off something of a pants-cum-legwarmer appearance… a fresh take on what is becoming a staid trend….”

More from WWD:

“Still, designer Christophe Lemaire reminded his audience of the panache of seasons past with some chic little sweater dresses and terrific outerwear in double-faced wool or handknitted alpaca.”

Women’s Wear Daily also went backstage at Lacoste to look at what the trade paper called “smoldering eyes”.

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With the insanely high-heeled shoes continuing to dominate shows it is no surprise to see more models struggling to stay vertical. Below, Agyness Deyn took a tumble at the Haiti Relief benefit show.

Frazer Harrison/FFR/Getty

Actually the supermodel fell twice at the show.

The young woman handled the falls with aplomb.

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We close with a look at some of the designs from the Liberty of London and Target collaboration.

Courtesy photo via Oprah.com

Targét elected to release a few styles exclusively via the Oprah website, an interesting decision on the retailer’s part.  The infant’s dress will retail at $13, the Misses dress at $35.

Courtesy photo via Oprah.com

The hat is going to be priced at $13.

Courtesy photo via Oprah.com

The collection launches March 15.

Until next time, may all of your runways be trouble-free!

PHOTO CREDITS:

• Peter Som/WWD:
• Robert Mitra/WWD: Lacoste Runway
• Couturture: Lacoste Runway
• Kyle Ericksen/WWD:

Two New Designers for Target, More Sales & Savings

Hello-Hello, and Happy Tuesday!

It is more than a little frenzied here in the Corner Condo at Princess InterGalactic HQ, so we jump right in today, there is big news about Le Boutique Targèt.  Our favorite reasonably-priced store (discount store just sounds so…so dreary, don’t you think?) has announced two new designer collaborations: the next limited-edition designer for a GO International® capsule collection will be Zac Posen, and a longer-term, larger partnership with Liberty of London.

The Zac Posen for Target collection will be available in stores and online April 25th of next year through May 30th.  Mr. Posen’s line for Target is in addition to his new lower-priced line, Z Spoke, this collection will be sold exclusively at Saks. Below, a few looks from that group, part of this Women’s Wear Daily story:

The story by Jessica Iredale continues:

“Z Spoke comes at a time when the market has shifted and many of Posen’s fellow young designers — Doo-Ri Chung, Thakoon Panichgul and Richard Chai among them — have recently launched lower-priced collections. … Posen’s new line will sit on Saks’ fourth floor… alongside Tory Burch, Elie Tahari, M Missoni and Ralph Lauren Blue Label.”

Two more Z Spoke looks for Saks:

Price points for the Z Spoke pieces will start at $78 for a cotton tee. BTW, all Z Spoke photos are by Kyle Ericksen at WWD.

Prices for Mr. Posen’s Target collection haven’t yet been announced, but prices for other GO International lines have been roughly between $14.99 – $149.99.  While not crazy about most of the Zac Posen Z Spoke pieces seen above, we are excited about his Target line.

And then there is the even bigger news about the Boutique and Liberty of London partnering up, bigger in part because it will include not only Women’s, Men’s, & Children’s apparel and a Home Collection, but also because of the Liberty heritage.

The luxury retailer is best known for colorful prints but also creates many other products, including their own lines of leather goods, home goods like towels and bath items, and more.

Today’s WWD story has more on the partnership.

“Target did not discuss specifics of the home collection. However, products could be similar to the pillows, cosmetics bags, lamp shades and notebooks in iconic prints found on the Liberty site. Timed to coincide with the spring season, Liberty of London for Target also will feature storage and organization and garden products.”

Below, a few of Liberty’s cosmetic bags.

Liberty has a history of successful partnerships across a broad and diverse spectrum, one of their current collections is with Ronnie Wood.

Courtesy Liberty of London

The company’s CEO understands that not everyone is familiar with Target, especially on the far side of the pond; here is more from the story:

“Despite the exposure, collaborating with Target wasn’t an easy decision for Liberty to make. “People outside the U.S. don’t really know how big Target is and what it means,” de la Bourdonnaye said. …and I had to explain to our shareholders just how important this collaboration could be.”

Perhaps they will create some cute melamine pieces like these currently on the retailer’s website.

But we’ll also settle for a scarf or two in the collection!

Here is one of the cotton scarves from the Hermès group:

A bit busy for us, but definitely today’s Pretty in Pink (and Green)!

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Very quickly, here are some links to the latest in Sales and Savings at some of our favorite emporiums; each image is clickable.

The Saks Designer sale is currently online only.

Saks Fifth Avenue

At Neiman Marcus the sale is both online and in stores.

Neiman Marcus

It is both online and in stores at Bergdorfs.

Bergdorf Goodman

The Lord and Taylor markdowns are available both online and in stores, and there is an additional 20% off regular and sale prices. To receive the extra discount, use promo code GREAT at checkout.

With that we say ‘happy hunting’ and ‘good day’ until next time!