Great Preppy Giveaway Week 3, Inaugural Dress Update

We must acknowledge acting somewhat like a Pouty Princess over the seemingly never-ending debacle going on here:

Until we realized we get to give away some preppy goodies! It is time to announce the winner of the Great Preppy Princess Giveaway winner for Week 2…. (drum roll):

verybusymomwith4

Whoo-hoo! Some may recall that our Thankful Thursday topic for last week’s giveaway was ‘one friend you are grateful for,” and Miss Lisa, founder and curator of VBMW4, shared this comment as her entry for the giveaway:

“I am thankful for my friend Julie who knows when to help me, when to advise me and when I need to listen. I am in awe of how she just knows how to act in every situation.”

As the winner Lisa receives a treasure trove of goodies from the Preppy Princess, including a Boatman Geller Carrie & Tuck personal stationery station and a fab Madras Refill Set! (This is so fun!)

Now for Week 3, our comment topic is anything for which you are thankful. How easy is that? Just leave a quick comment on something, someone, someplace you are grateful for… and voilà! You are entered!  Wonder what you can win this week? Read on.

Week 3 Great Giveaway goodies include this Perfect Circle Apron….

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Accompanied by the matching gloves; clearly one cannot risk a fashion disaster in their own kitchen.

PreppyPrincess.com

Of course, if Cook is handling the duties, and you have no worries about keeping the splish-splash off your cocktail dress, then the Apron/Gloves Set always make the perfect gift for someone else.

Also for the lucky winner, the understated elegance of the Trey’s Stripes notecards. Naturally the Princess will personalize the set of 10 cards, per your wishes.

PreppyPrincess.com

Don’t forget that if you mention the Great Giveaway on your blog or home page a Bonus Gift goes to anyone you choose! Because it wasn’t won this past week, we’ll roll over the Week 2 Bonus Prize Pack.

The Bonus Prize includes the Laguna Beach apron, along with one of our favorite books, Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart.

So don’t forget… scroll down and make a quick comment!  “I am thankful for ______.”

Leave your comments before midnight next Wednesday, the 26th, and you are entered in the Giveaway.  And because sharing is caring, *do* think about mentioning the Giveaway on your blog, or your Facebook or MySpace page, whatever works for you (in a good, clean fun kind of way) so you can share the Bonus Prizes with someone near and dear.

Our first comment comes from Legally Heidi, here is part of what she shared:

“i’m thankful for my pal Liz. Her and i have had a rough friendship but we’ve always come out on top She’s the one friend i know i could call at 2am upset and she’d listen to me.”

Do let TP know if you have any questions…that is why we are here!

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A quick update to our most recent post on the search for an appropriate prep school for Malia and Sasha Obama.  We reported that our intuition pointed to Maret being out of the mix, with the choice down to either Georgetown Day School or Sidwell Friends.  The Post (Washington) seems to confirm this:

“… school search appears to have narrowed… and the much-buzzed-about Maret School is apparently out of the running.”

Also, we promised to let you know what we discovered about Michelle Obama’s attire seen in the CBS 60 Minutes Interview:

Aaron Tomlinson/CBS News Handout/Reuters

As speculated, the pieces were by Maria Pinto, who seems to have achieved ‘Most Favored Nation’ status when it comes to the future First Lady’s fashion choices, IOHO.  According to the Trib:

“… wore the “Eme” top and “Rani” skirt in an iris color, designed by Chicago’s Maria Pinto. The ensemble is from Pinto’s spring collection, but rendered in tweed for Obama, a loyal Pinto client. The sleeveless element was retained from the original design.”

We continue to see sketches of possible inaugural ball gowns from varying designers; here is one from Tracey Reese, as seen in this story from the Detroit Free Press.  We simply love that look, the dress is absolutely beautiful.

Tracey Reese

BTW, today’s Times (NY) had an excellent story about price wars between online retailers and the  tactics they employ to move merchandise.  For example, we had no idea Zappos uses a sister site for its discounted and marked down products…did you? (If interested, it is 6pm.com)  And 6pm does carry most, if not all, of the name brands Zappos stocks.

Also, Steve & Barry’s will be gone permanently.  After being bailed out of an earlier bankruptcy three months back, yesterday the company filed for liquidation in New York. We have no news yet on what will happen with Sarah Jessica Parker’s Bitten line of clothing, currently sold at the retailer.

Happy-Happy!

This Just In….the Next Target Collaboration & And Inaugural Party Frocks?

Well, for heaven’s sake – if news isn’t breaking out all over the place this election evening!

We quickly interrupt your election updates to share a few preppy news alerts, starting with the a look at what Michelle Obama plans to wear this evening.  With the Obama campaign clearly hoping tonight’s event in Chicago’s Grant Park is celebrating a victory, in this piece from the Journal’s ‘Heard on the Runway‘ blog we learn about a possible wardrobe selection for Ms. Obama.

The blog showcases a conversation with Maria Pinto, one of Michelle Obama’s favorite designers:

“For Tuesday, Ms. Pinto has a dress in mind that she hopes Ms. Obama will wear. The dress, a coral-red silk crepe sheath with three-quarter sleeves, an empire waist and a high neckline with a burst of sunray pleats emanating from the collar, is a piece that Ms. Obama bought a few months ago but hasn’t worn to an event yet.”

And as far as a dress (more appropriately, a gown) for a certain date in January, should Ms. Obama need a party frock? The designer told reporter Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan “…she’s already begun sketching an Inaugural Day look in her head.”

“Something bright in color, with some movement,” says Ms. Pinto, declining to share more beyond that. “I just did costumes for the Joffrey (Ballet) so I have dance on the brain.”

While Ms. Obama has made no mention of an inaugural dress, über-star Oprah Winfrey has, calling in to a radio show this morning and sharing the following:

“So help me God, I am looking at it right now…. Actually I started in February. I was speaking with Michelle [Obama] and Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver — we were all doing a big rally out in California. At the end of the rally Michelle Obama said something powerful, ‘and I want you to leave here and envision Barack Obama taking the oath of office’…. I created a vision board. I had never had a vision board before. I came home, I got me a board and put Barack Obama’s picture on it and I put a picture of my dress I want to wear to the inauguration.”

In a different story the paper profiles the designer; we show these pieces as photographed by Jens Mortensen for The Wall Street Journal.

We’ll take all three please.

Also tonight, word on everyone’s favorite mass-market retailer, Target. The company is expected to  announce its collaboration with high-end designer Alexander McQueen in a move fashion insiders consider to be the most notable of all Target’s collaborative efforts.

PHOTO: Talaya Centeno

Above, a suit from the McQ by Alexander McQueen line. The Target collection will be closer to this in look and feel than to the regular Alexander McQueen line.  The designer’s McQ group is not entirely unknown to Princess readers; here is an August post featuring ‘Nouveau Prep’ looks, including this McQ fringed skirt at Bluefly in blue, red and black. (Pssst…it is now on sale!)

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Next we show the McQ Dotty wool jacket at Net-a-porter.

The fabric for this piece is a lush and lovely wool with a soft hand and beautiful drape.

The McQueen collection will be part of a larger initiative from Target, an effort the retailer is calling ‘Designer Collaborations.’

While the often edgy and frequently racy designer isn’t TP’s style, we do think this one will be just oodles of fun!