Ralph Lauren Gift Vault, Banana Republic Spring 2010

Hello-Hello!

Today we begin with a look at the Banana Republic collection for next Spring, with a continued emphasis on classic looks.

Robert Mitra/WWD

The color palette adhered to the neutrals the company is know for.

But the collection is a tad more lighthearted, or whimsical, according to a brief review of the line in WWD.

“Its spring collection… highlighted relaxed, well-worn looks in denim, chambray, cotton and silk. “We got overassorted in work,” said firm president Jack Calhoun. “We were too serious. We’re still a work brand, but we want to have great weekend and going-out clothes, too.”

We actually found some of the men’s styles more appealing, not unusual here at the Prepatorium, especially when it comes to sweaters of a snuggly nature.

The silhouette is looser, much easier than in previous collections, although the skinny pant remains a ‘must’ for the line.

As we are chatting about BR, we want to mention they do have a significant amount of merchandise marked down on the website, with lots of goodies. The Helen Buckle Peep-toe is one such item on sale, as are the Bow Jewel Earrings.

We can’t help ourselves when it comes to sharing Sales and Savings opportunities.

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We have a quick update to last week’s post on the upcoming Olsenboye line Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are doing for Penneys: the footwear and accessories will be made by Steve Madden.

Courtesy Photo via WWD

The accessories will be available online in time for the holidays.

Courtesy Photo via WWD

Price points are expected to run between $20 – $50.

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Have you read about the recently launched Ralph Lauren Gift Vault? The new line offers “…a specially curated collection of rare and unique objects from the world of Ralph Lauren.”

As the news release explains:

“The Ralph Lauren Gift Vault is the perfect destination for the discerning gift giver looking for something extraordinary for someone truly unique or even for themselves.”

The offerings are in different categories, like Americana, Estate or Hollywood Glamour.

Courtesy Ralph Lauren

We discovered some lovely treasures, like the Platinum, diamond and sapphire ring, circa 1920, seen below.

Courtesy Ralph Lauren Gift Vault

The Siberian Amethyst and Gold Bangle is part of the Estate Collection,

Courtesy Ralph Lauren

There are lots of fun vintage pieces, not all of them jewelry either, as evidenced with the Art Deco Lacquer Card Case.

Courtesy Ralph Lauren

This one will be interesting to watch: brilliant marketing or over-extension of the brand? Hhhmmm.

In an entirely different vein, the Polo Ralph Lauren ‘Private Sale’ promotion gets underway Thursday (the 5th), offering many items at 40% off their original retail price. To receive an additional 15% off, use promo code NOV0509 at checkout.

Basics like the Elani Suede Ballet Flats are already discounted to $69, an additional 15% off that price might make them rather appealing for those in need of another pair of flats.

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The folks at Vineyard Vines are also offering some financially-friendly items, like the Whales Mini-Murray Beach Tote.

The bag comes in both Blue and Strawberry and initially sold at $79.50; it is now $49.99.  Several styles of belts are also marked down, below we show the Dragonfly Outrigger Belt, and on the right, the Pineapple Outrigger.

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And those fond of Lilly Pulitzer will be pleased to know the Lilly Warehouse Sale is only weeks away!

For more information, click here, or here.

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We close with a gentle reminder about these fabulous notecards from Whitney English:

PreppyPrincess.com

We are giving away a set of the Make Your Own Crest Notecards, along with a matching set of Make Your Own Address Labels…..

PreppyPrincess.com

And a matching set of Calling Cards…

PreppyPrincess.com

As well as a matching set of Flat Cards….

PreppyPrincess.com

One lucky person will be the winning of a complete suite of our incredible Whitney English Crested stationery.  Just click here and scroll down to enter by leaving a contest comment. Don’t wait too long though, entries close at midnight tonight (Tuesday, 11/3/09) and we’ll announce the winner in tomorrow’s blog!

A British Look at Preppy Style, Pain in Palm Beach, & Good News!

Hello-Hello, we hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

We always savor the way preppy fashion is perceived in different cultures. President & Mrs. Obama’s recent G2 trip has turned up fun fodder.

Amidst the frenzy over First Lady’s fashion selections The Independent ran a story with this subhead:

“Its preppy, casual clothes are worn by actresses, housewives – and First Ladies. So why can’t we buy J. Crew in Britain?”

The story looked at similarities between J. Crew stateside and British equivalents like Jigsaw (womenswear), and Racing Green (menswear).

“J. Crew’s… careful mix of the sort of casual and preppy items you find at Gap (like jeans, chinos and basic T-shirts), the smarter pieces from Jigsaw (workwear and smart separates), and the prettier, dressy pieces at Whistles …. Except all these styles are under one roof, and ever so slightly cheaper.”

Jigsaw actually uses US-centric names to market some merchandise; every hat on their website this spring is named after an American city: the Chapel Hill hat, the Kentucky Straw Trilby, etc.  Below, a look from Jigsaw look that appears très Banana Republic to us; what do you think?

Jigsaw

Jigsaw’s pure Cashmere Trim Cardigan also has the classic look many of us are fond of, timeless fashions that are always in style.

Jigsaw

The article details the frustration felt by Crew’s UK fans:

“J. Crew is basically what Next and Racing Green never quite managed to be for us, and what Marks & Spencer consistently fails to achieve: it’s chic and classy, with a pretty, trendy edge that that doesn’t look cheap, frumpy or too outlandish… And it’s infuriating once you get into the habit of it, because you can’t buy it over here, nor does J. Crew ship to the UK. “

Well, this is no fun for our friends on the far side of the pond.

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In light of this weekend’s wild play in Augusta (how fun was that?!) we thought we would share a few lines from The Augusta Chronicle. The paper’s story on spring fashion trends quotes students at Augusta Prep, like Laura Lemley:

“I’m most looking forward to wearing Lilly Pulitzer dresses and skirts, Jack Rogers sandals and white shoes,” she said.

Absent the white shoes we couldn’t agree more with Miss Lemley. The brighter, lighter, perkier clothing we can wear as a result of the warmer weather is probably our favorite thing about spring.

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We have a few quick shoe notes, starting with today’s Adventure in Argyle: the Ecco Casual Pitch Argyle Golf Shoe as seen at Golfalot.

Ecco Golf Shoe

This gem also comes in a camel brown colorway that is fetching.

Barneys is promoting this spring’s crop of wingtips, saddle shoes, and oxfords for both Men and Women.

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We share a few SOTTs (Signs Of The Times) relevant to preppish style:

• Today’s USA Today has a story stating that retailer Eddie Bauer is facing a “…potentially dangerous level of financial duress…”
• This weekend the Times ran a story about recession-caused pain in Palm Beach:

“More noticeable are the empty storefronts, which have started popping up even on Worth Avenue, the home of a Saks Fifth Avenue, a Chanel and an Hermès, to name just a few.”

“Caterers are finding that charity galas, long the core of the Palm Beach social scene, are either canceled or sparsely attended. We’re getting fewer requests for lobster and caviar,” says Charlie Crawford of the White Apron Catering Company, “and a lot more for mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese.”

Yikes.

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There are multiple sales and clearances underway at many of our favorite shops; we shall effort updates on them throughout the week. If you have any to suggest, do let us know so we can share with the rest of the class. 

We noted last week that J. Crew is now doing a Spring Sale; erstwhile prep purveyor Banana Republic is also offering substantial savings throughout the store, including 30% off the Nantucket Tote.

Banana Republic Nantucket Tote

The tote’s price is reduced approximately 30% from the original $130; it is now offered at $89.99.

Saks starts pre-sale today for their Friends and Family event that begins this Thursday, running through Sunday the 19th. The sale offers 15% off cosmetics & fragrances, an unheard of 20% off jewelry and 25% off just about everything else. The Coupon Code to use at checkout is SFAFAM8.  (Some brands are excluded in the jewelry category, but it is still a remarkable discount for a major retailer to offer.)

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In light of the spring season and cheerier spirits, we wanted to share some Good News of our own here at the Prepatorium:

Scout Good News Bagette Tote

We are so excited to finally have all of our Good News merchandise in stock from Bungalow Scout, including the Bagette Tote seen above.  The pattern features fun words and phrases with a bit of camp, like ‘sunshine’ and ‘my-t fine’ and ‘Sure!’, to name a few. It is one of of our most popular Scout patterns, selling out with amazing speed.

The Bagette totes are great bags, the perfect size to replace paper/plastic at the market, 15″ x 12″ x 12″, with dual handles allowing one to carry it over the shoulder or by the handles.  We aren’t sure which is better, the fact Bagettes are only $20 at the Princess, or knowing these are collapsible for easy storage. 

With such “Good News” it seems appropriate that we make our exit.  Team Princess sends everyone wishes for a blissful afternoon and evening!

While The Princess Rests The Consort Raves

Hello again.  It is I, the Princess Consort, stepping mikeside to entertain you while the lovely and talented Preppy Princess recuperates from a blinding migraine headache.  I do not pretend to understand the origin of the headaches but I am eternally grateful that I do not suffer from them.  They seem particularly vicious and I am certain The Princess would be thankful for your kind thoughts.  While we’re speaking of kind thoughts…

We are so thrilled that our blogging friends are sharing their preppy experiences with us!  What a treat to see some of the (smuggled) pictures from last week’s Martha extravaganza.  We’ve seen shots from some fantastic Lilly-themed parties.  It’s almost like we’re there and we thank you for thinking of us.  We’ll be building up some pages at The Preppy Princess where we can share photos with everyone.  Keep ’em coming and we’ll spread the Lilly love.

On to other things… you think you’re good with music?  Have a musical mind like a steel trap?  Put it to the test!  Our very good friends at Very Short List have found a site that posts one excellent song a day.  Your challenge is to name the song.  You’ll find it all here and it’s a lot of fun.  I managed to unleash my inner Steve Perry.  Or was it Perry Como?  Either way… give it a try.  It’s a great timekiller in the office.  And we do need those during these dreary economic days…

Every now and then I have a “WTH?” moment.  I had one when I saw this a while back:

Photo by Don Ipock for the New York Times

It’s a simple little recipe.  $20 worth of bacon and sausage woven together into a roll.  That breaks down to about two pounds of bacon and two pounds of sausage.  Slather it up with barbeque sauce and pack it around your heart.  Seriously.  This work of art is a cardiac arrest on a plate.  And you can get the recipe here. I think this monstrosity might be just the thing for your next brunch.  Makes a Big Mac look like fingerfood.  You’re going to need something sturdy to carry that much meat so I suggest this:

Custom Totes

Now I know The Princess has already mentioned these to you but I love them.  They are colorful, sturdy and you get to design your own bag.  Go crazy!  Be a ballerina or a pirate!  Go nautical or patriotic!  Plus, you can get matching belts and key fobs to create a look that will be the envy of all the kids on the block.  And isn’t that what it’s all about?

That’s all for now. I must go check on The Princess.  Thank you for indulging me.  I’ll leave you with Motown’s finest, The temptin’ Temptations.  Try the pork loin sandwich and don’t forget to tip your waitperson; they’re working hard for you tonight.  Good night, everyone!

Lacoste Limited Editions, Forever 21 Does Plus-Size

Hello-Hello everyone, we hope your day is sun-splashed and bright, as ours is turning out to be!

We will blast our way through a number of headlines today without going into too much detail, there is simply so much going on!

Most importantly, we used Random.org to select a winner of our Lilly Pulitzer Giveaway:

Congratulations to Tales of a Golf Gal at Country Club Livin’! Please send us your information so we may get your Lilly Mouse Pad and Lilly coffee mug on their way to you! Whoo-hoo!

And as we are speaking of giveaways, over at Misadventures Manor…

… the always-fabulous Mrs. Newlywed is doing a Giveaway of her own, debuting some of our new classic totes!

We hope the photos are bright enough to show these off, as they are just wonderful! The totes are good sized, made with heavy-duty cotton canvas that can take a beating, but they’re also fashionable, with their grosgrain ribbon trim. The new line will come with ribbon in iconic preppy images…

As well as images that…ummmm, well….let’s just say ribbon that inspired a healthy debate here at the Prepatarium!

It’s simply this: we don’t really consider certain images to be ‘classics.’ It’s not so much the pretty little ballerinas, but the pirate ribbon that generated the “discussion.” (Ahem.) But we are guessing many of our kind readers have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc., who simply adore the skull and crossbones imagery…perhaps? Perhaps yes?  So, the new totes shall be offered in all of our favorite ribbons as well as some designs considered to be more ‘contemporary.’

Best of all, the pricepoint on these is more than fiscally-friendly: at $35 they are a whale of a deal! (Yes, tedious pun intended.) We are mortified to admit these are not yet available at the Preppy Princess, we promise to have them online early next week.

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Regular readers know we adore the clean lines and understated elegance one finds in apparel and swimsuits by Shoshanna. If you are going to be anywhere near the city next week, the designer will be showing her latest looks at the Saks mother ship (5th Ave.) next Thursday, the 12th, from 4-7pm.

Here is just one of the new pieces from the collection:

Courtesy Saks Fifth Avenue

The Ruffle-Front Eyelet Dress is done in a chic cotton, ideal for your spring break or this summer’s cocktail functions!

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Lacoste is doing another limited edition collection, this one featuring nine different shoes, all  celebrating the myths surrounding crocodiles.

Lacoste Tennis 91 West Africa

The blue shoe is meant to be representative of West Africa, the green Tiller model relates to Egypt and the brown commemorates crocodiles in Polynesia.

Lacoste Tiller

Should you find these appealing, they will be available in April.

Lacoste Tennis Polynesia

Recognizing our remarkably self-indulgent stick-in-the-mud fashion sense, we must acknowledge they probably are not for us. These are more our speed:

The Espa 2 can be found any number of places; our photo is from Zappos.

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We have news that the wildly popular Forever 21 stores will be launching plus-size fashions.

“Faith 21” is slated to launch in May, although not at all stores. For example, the Trib reports the retailer’s Michigan Avenue store will not carry the collection.

The Princess has never set even so much as a little itty-bitty toe in a Forever 21, primarily out of fear that upon doing so all movement would cease, every head would swivel in her direction and an emergency message would begin emanating from the store’s loudspeakers: “Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! We have an old lady in the store!”  Thus we were intrigued by the shop’s Nautical Collection:

Forever 21

Something tells us this collection will not be seen here at the Palace.

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We’ll close with a Pretty in Pink offered by the Princess Consort!

PHOTO Courtesy Caters News via TMZ

He tells us this is an albino dolphin. He also promises this is the truth and he is not making it up. We suggest taking it under advisement and consulting with local counsel.  Indeed.

Until next time dolls, have a super sunny day no matter where you are!

End Your Year With A Freebie & It’s Open Season On The Princess Consort

Hello again, my friends.  My lovely and talented spouse, known to you all as The Preppy Princess, is on a shopping binge not seen since Imelda Marcos discovered Payless Shoes.  While she leaves a trail of exhausted and over-stressed sales associates I will step to the microphone and entertain you with some mindless drivel.  Which we all could use these days.

We’ll begin today with our final give-away for 2008.  Of course, as your parents have told you, nothing in life is free.  However, most things are, with good accounting, tax deductible.  But I digress.  To my point: The Princess is offering up a wonderful tote from our favorite website to the lucky winner this week. It’s tasteful, understated and just what you need to haul your holiday goodies.

You Could Win Kate's Tote in Ocean Blue

Entering this week’s random drawing couldn’t be easier.  Just leave a comment asking The Consort a question.  Ask me anything.  Having relationship issues?  Go ahead and bare your soul.  I may not look like Oprah and I’m sure not Dr. Phil but I’ll give you my $.02 worth.  Trouble with a stopped up kitchen drain?  Can’t decide which shoes to wear to that office holiday party?  Go ahead and ask anything.  The answer you receive might surprise you.   It will certainly, I hope, entertain you.  Fire at will, friends.  This is your chance to probe into the kind of mind that wonders why people do things like this to family pets.

There are some things that are just not meant to be.  Like cats riding roombas.  Or English Bulldogs swimming.

As you may or may not know TPP and I are proud owners of Tilly, our own English Bulldog.  Tilly is a rescue dog who comes from a horrific background.  She was battered, abandoned and starved.  But her spirit is unbroken and her capacity to love unconditionally is remarkable.  Please permit me to ask you one favor today.  If you are thinking of bringing a new pet into your family circle consider a rescue animal.  It is not difficult to find rescue/adoption programs for full-breed dogs.  You will be taking on an animal with a history.  It’s not always pretty and it may not be easy.  But the rewards are unlike anything you’ve probably ever experienced.

Excuse me while I step down from the soapbox.  Thank you, that’s better.  Enough for tonight.  Remember, ask the Princess Consort any question and you’re entered to win a great tote.  It’s safe, non-fattening and fun for the whole family.  Now sit back, relax and enjoy the musical stylings of  “? and the Mysterians” with their hit song “96 Tears”.