A Plethora of MENUS!

In my first NY tutorial, by my BFF informed me about the ever-so helpful MenuPages site. What's incredible about this site is that you can simply search for a specific restaurant, by neighborhood, price point, or by type of cuisine and presto your narrowed down list of yummy choices pops up! It certainly saves more time than let's say going to each restaurants site that you're interested in and trying to find a PDF of the menu of their site.

So, I got an alert this morning that MenuPages is now expanding across the pond to include both London and Paris. I mean, j'adore! This would have been so helpful when I was living abroad. Of course there's no comparison to walking around and making new restaurant discoveries, but having one resource to search and look at local restaurants menus is pretty convenient. MenuPages.com currently offers guidance in New York, San Fran, LA, Philly, Beantown, Chi-town, DC, Miami/Palm Beach and now London and Paris.

Seriously one of the best ways for a foodie to get around in a new city and certainly more accessible and easier on the eye than let's say Time Out or any travel guide. In my opinion this site comes close to the invention of the iPhone Maps App. Just a thought...MenuPages would be even more fab if they partnered with an OpenTable-type of site and you could book on the spot. Still, for the time being the MenuPages site is pretty great!

Boot-A-Licious

Since I'm clearly on a shoe kick, I'll go ahead and top it off with an essential for the season: boots. These Frye-type of boots are all over the place right now, so I've gathered up a few of my fav Frye/cowboy inspired finds. What's better than super casual, comfortable and chic footwear?!

If you're in the market for a new pair of boots on the more causal end, I suggest making sure there's a buckle involved. It really gives your pair a rugged yet put-together look, plus it can make it easier to squeeze your foot into!

L to R:

Balenciaga folded mid boot $995; Chloe buckled  platform boots $1100; Frye rider brushoff $348; Tods pointy tronchetto boots $945; Frye dorado antique riding boot $458; Dolce Vita rumor flat boots $285; Joie New Orleans boot $465; Barney's Co-Op side tab ankle boot $560; Loeffler Randall short buckle boots $795; Givenchy buckle ankle boot $995.

   

Let's talk about Keds, baby.

If you were like me at age 5, you wore your Keds 7 days a week. I had practically a new pair for every day of the week; white, puff paint white (I would always get in trouble for putting my nail through that puff paint, anyone?), red x like 5 (LOVED my red ones), pink, and black canvas. Keds were the staple of kindergarden. To all the kinder-hearted they're baaaaack! I'm sure you've seen them over the past year or so at Urban (kock-offs here though) and even last spring Barney's was carrying a limited edition line, but now Keds is offering a new option: design your own! Yes, you heard me correctly! By choosing from over 16 colors, 5 prints, 4 stripes, uploading your own image, adding your own text and on top of that there's literally 14 different parts of the shoe that you can customize from the stitching to the sole. You can make your kicks as intricate or as simple as you please. Did I mention that after all that hard work you have the option to either buy your creations or post them to sell? Definitely worth checking out and for only around 60 bones!

http://www.keds.com/

As far as styling goes, I love keds with little small print dresses, cigarette jeans, shorts (jorts in particular for ol' times sake), etc. Just look at the "real" pictures posted on the Keds site for inspiration or even the next Urban catalog and I'm sure you can pair your custom keds with anything in there to get a cool hipster-type of outfit going on.

Neutrals...Need I Say More?

I feel like I'm on repeat with "neutrals" but they continue to be important as seen in the '10 shows. I love all types of neutrals, but one of my favs happens to be shoes because they truly go with everything. You can have the funkiest to the most docile outfit on and pair with a neutral shoe, or purse for that matter, and make a fabulous ensemble. So here's some of my must haves for the ever so sought after, "neutrals".
Oh by neutrals in this case I'm referring to all shades of beige, creme, cognac.

 

Rare Magazine Austin

If you haven't heard of this magazine or if you just haven't checked it out in a while, it's time you ought to. One of my friends is the new editor and she has revamped this magazine giving it a new direction, look and feel. It looks incredible! I was able to help her on one of the articles on the current issue; the fashion issue. Definitely worth picking up or you can just click on the link below to view. If you're heading to Austin soon, this magazine is a must for planning your trip!
http://issuu.com/raremagazine/docs/november2009

Spring '09 RTW Cont....

To wrap up the Resort Fashion Shows, I'm going to give a few quick blurbs on some other important designers to watch out for this Spring.

Celine

structured, neutrals, shoulder emphasis, belted waists, showing legs

Chloe

Structure and flow combined (i.e. masculine/feminine), neutrals, pale blues, button-up shirts

John Galliano

40's vibe, lace, tulle, sheers, structured jackets, whimsical

Miu Miu

70's influence, cropped pants, blouses with cuffs, prints, neutrals, sheers, sequins

Martin Margiela

Sheers, neutrals, crumpled and structured, ballet inspired looks

Hermes
20's mixed with conservative country club chic: pleats, cardi's, headbands, oh and how could I forget the infamous tennis racket

Valentino '09 Collection

Neutrals, sequins, minis, shifts, ruffles, sheers...need I say more!

        

        

Yves Saint Laurent RTW Resort

Again, we see the key trends of whites, blacks, neutrals, lace, but we also see lots of structure in the silhouettes. Pops of color with pinks and blues. The ballet look is seen here as well with the bralets an bodysuits, as seen below.