Spring Surfing, A New Style of “Mommy & Me”

Hello-Hello, and welcome to a Friday, where once again we are seeing gray, gloomy skies. It is after all, February in The Great Midwest.

The abundance of dreary days spurred a spot of online window shopping this week, as we sought out some bright and vibrant hues. Fortunately, the springtime fashions are arriving in stores and online, so we were able to indulge in dreams of sunny skies and warmer temps. While looking at the styles we noted the preponderance of patterned sweaters that are made of printed fabric, as opposed to the pattern being woven into the material.

We have several examples of the technique, starting with Bean’s Lightweight Printed cardigan ($59.95). The material is described as “premium pima cotton for silky softness, nylon for extra durability and a bit of Lycra® elastane for a consistent fit”.

LL Bean Printed Cardigans

Many of us grew up wearing sweaters with the pattern woven into the garment, like these, also from Bean. The handknit Fair Isle ($199) is seen on the left, the iconic Norwegian sweater ($139) is on the right.

LL Bean

More examples of the printed sweaters, a springy style from J. McLaughlin. This is the Durango Sweater ($155), also printed (and in a lovely selection of color palettes!). It is a cotton/modal blend with a touch of spandex.

J. McLaughlin

Talbots’ cardigans are often a blend of 60% cotton/40% rayon. It is a comfortable mix of fibers, I have one and it has worn well. Below left, the Tapestry Paisley Cardigan.

Talbots

Lilly Pulitzer also offers printed cardigans.

Lilly Pulitzer

Someone here at the Prepatorium has several has seen these in person (cough-cough), the newer technique allows patterns that are more intricate and detailed, and colors that are rich and bold.  Initially I wasn’t crazy about the method, but gradually have come to like it, deciding there is room in the closet for both styles. Does anyone else have strong feelings about the fabric…good, bad, never noticed?

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Another style we have noticed more this spring, the knit blazer. Below we show it as interpreted by Brooks Brothers.

Brooks Brothers

Talbots also offers a knit jacket, this is the Ponté knit Colorblocked Jacket (149).

Talbots Ponte Knit Blazer

And here we see LL Bean’s version, the Comfort Knit Blazer ($49.95).

LL Bean

It brings to mind an old theory of mine: as a rule, if the word ‘comfort’ is in the name of a garment, it’s unlikely to be terribly chic or elegant. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but when viewing the gray version, in particular, the look goes a bit downhill.

Knits can be a beautiful thing, especially when traveling. Talbots has multiple pieces in the Ponté knit fabric shown above, arguably several would work on a business trip. The freedom from wrinkles alone make the textile meritorious of inclusion in many a wardrobe. But the knit blazer….? Below, Old Navy’s version ($34.94).

Old Navy

Observations? The jackets with patterns and/or tipping (the contrasting color edges seen on the Brooks Brothers & Talbots pieces) seem less offensive than the solid colors. Also, gray looks rather ghastly, reminiscent of sweatshirts and yoga pants. Again, nothing bad about those items in one’s closet, they have a place. It’s just similar material turned into a blazer looks very odd to yours truly.

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The final trend we noticed when surfing through some of our favorite sites, color blocking.

Via LilyWhiteClothing.com

We see it in Lilly’s Heidi Cardigan ($148).

Lilly Pulitzer ‘Heidi’ Cardigan

As well as J. Crew’s Colorblock Cardigan ($89.50).

J. Crew

And Kate Spade’s Colorblock Tees ($68).

Kate Spade

As Lilly notes in describing its Irene Dress (below left), “We’re on a colorblock kick!” The frock on the right is the Colorblock Tiff Dress from Kate Spade ($358), on the far right, Kate Spade’s Colorblock Blanche Dress ($498).

Lilly Pulitzer/Kate Spade/Kate Spade

More examples: the Long Sleeve Sunshirt in Caribbean ($78), Stretch Perfect Shirt in Hydrangea ($88), and Boys’ Pullover in Spearmint ($49.50), all from J. Crew.

J. Crew

I have long been fond of this style (in moderation), it adds zip to garments that usually have clean lines and minimal embellishment.

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Our final tidbit today has nothing to do with dressing humans, but rather, feline fashions. Behold, United Bamboo’s 2013 Cat Calendar.

United Bamboo

Why are we so crazy about it? It is all about the sartorial selections of those starring in the pages of the Calendar.

United Bamboo

How cute is the little Regatta Blazer?

United Bamboo

Or the Ruffle Pleat Dress?

United Bamboo

It kind of takes ‘Mommy & Me’ to an entirely new level.

United Bamboo

With that we say Happy Weekend!

US Open Chaos, Maria Sharapova Goes Shopping

Hello-hello and Happy, Happy Sunny Day!

Although this was clearly not the case at the US Open this weekend.

Photo Courtesy: Philip Hall/usopen.org

We wish that everyone could enjoy the delightful sunshine and cool breezes currently on offer here in the Great Midwest, but know that is not the case in so many places, compliments of Hanna (whose name we misspelled in our previous mention of her nastiness), and we hope all survive intact.

In fact, the US Open Men’s Finals have been postponed until Monday evening at 5pm, an occurrence not seen since 1987, when Ivan Lendl beat Mats Wilander in the men’s singles final. And what a pairing it is, with Andy Murray’s stunning upset of Rafa Nadal, resolved only when those two were finally able to conclude their match on Sunday!

Mr. Murray has some wonderful photos on his blog, including this one of players checking their Blackberries yesterday, not for phone or email messages, but for weather reports!

Courtesy Andy Murray

And when the skies cleared enough that Rafa and Andy were able to conclude their match, the intensity was extraordinarily high. Yes, that is Will Ferrell sharing his thoughts from the stands, as well as Mr. Murray’s girlfriend, Kim Sears.

The Open *is* unusual among the 4 Majors in that it is the only tournament that does not have any rest days between the semi-finals and finals for men’s singles, and it is the only one to stuff the men’s semi-final and women’s final matches into the last day, a Saturday. (Any thoughts on why that might be…? Three letters: N.F.L.) Officials now say they will look very seriously at installing the frequently-debated $100 million roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Lots of celebrities attended the matches, from Matt Lauer & golfer Greg Norman to model Naomi Campbell. Below left Charlize Theron and actor Stuart Townsend watch the Nadal/Roddick match, and actress Natalie Portman in what TP could swear is an utterly preppy madras plaid top with blue trim.

It wouldn’t be tennis without Don King, who originally handled the “Grapple in the Apple,” promotional effort that took place before the tournament. Yes, TP is so on top of things…sigh. We offer our most sincere apologies for not posting this when originally spotted…the day it happend. That event starred Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and was designed to promote new styles in each of their Nike tennis clothing and shoes collections. As described by Mr. King: “The US Open is the ultimate championship – the biggest stage in the world,” said King. “You had the Thrilla in the Manilla and the Rumble in the Jungle and now you have the Grapple in the Apple.”

AP Photo/Starpix, Dave Allocca

Unfortunately for Nike, whose text describes things, “Will the victor be Rafa: Matador of Spin or Roger: Master of Precision? Cast your vote for Nadal with the Rafa: Matador of Spin Men’s T-Shirt by Nike,” the Men’s Final doesn’t feature that matchup as they hoped when risking the promotional effort.

In reality however, it seems Nike has done okay by this, as the Federer shoe is already sold out. For those interested, the company described Mr. Federer’s special Open apparel as a “new sophisticated night look…” and Mr. Nadal’s look as “…an evolved signature look…” Let’s ponder those two fashion statements, recalling as we do that someone described Mr. Federer as looking like “…a UPS delivery man.”

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

And no, we didn’t make any of this up; The Princess is not possessed of an imagination quite that creative. As always, for vastly superior fashion notes on the Open (and any other tennis-related things), stop by Down the Line Tennis. You’ll be glad you did. In the midst of all the chaos of rearranged and delayed matches, congratulations to Serena Williams on her big win Sunday!

Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty

Unable to compete at the open, Maria Sharapova is managing to cope. Somehow. Perhaps a front row seat at Fashion Week helps, especially when one can successfully wear a Herve Leger bandaid dress to that show (actress Kate Mara is on the left). Ms. Sharapova looked stunning, as always. BTW, in the second photo note the strategic hand placement, a must in these dresses.

As Women’s Wear Daily put it:

“How many ways can you work a bandage dress? On the surface only a few, but in his collection for Hervé Léger, Max Azria tinkered with the label’s signature to an overall pleasing effect. Surely his Hollywood starlets will scoop up the sexy basics, which he cast in neutrals and Eighties brights and gave cat-scratch cutouts.”

As always, it is fun to peek backstage.

And if one is curious as to how one keeps track of what each model is wearing and in what order, this picture provides a general idea, perhaps a method TP should implement, especially with the change in seasons and return to constant functions and parties!

And what did Venus Williams do after she completed her time at the Open? Stop by one of the Princess’s favorites, Carolina Herrera, naturally.

As did actress Renee Zellweger, who was actually in the show and apparently kept Ms. Herrera and others waiting – the story is she was 25 minutes late. Not that we would ever intentionally be late to *any* designer’s Fashion Week show, but we most assuredly would do anything we could to avoid keeping Ms. Herrera waiting.

That’s it for this edition of ‘Tennis and Fashion,’ we hope you enjoyed it!

Photo Credits: Jim McIsaac/Getty, Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty, Matthew Stockman/Getty, Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for USTA, Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for IMG, REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz, Nick Laham/Getty