Luciano Barbera Preview Fall 2006

So I go to Barbera today for a preview and see Michal Sestak (above) who heads up the showroom in New York. In my day I was pretty good in the showroom but I have nothing on Michal. You don't feel like Michal is ever "selling" you, his secret is how he involves you in the sale. I'm not really sample size but when he hands me a doubleface cashmere sportcoat he says in his Italianish accent "try on the jacket, enjoy the moment". When he talks about the most expensive item in the collection, a cashmere overcoat, he says you buy it "no shame, no regrets". Damn, why couldn't I think of those things to say during an appointment. The best I could ever come up with was,,,"it goes nice with jeans".

Luciano Barbera Preview Fall 2006

So I go to Barbera today for a preview and see Michal Sestak (above) who heads up the showroom in New York. In my day I was pretty good in the showroom but I have nothing on Michal. You don't feel like Michal is ever "selling" you, his secret is how he involves you in the sale. I'm not really sample size but when he hands me a doubleface cashmere sportcoat he says in his Italianish accent "try on the jacket, enjoy the moment". When he talks about the most expensive item in the collection, a cashmere overcoat, he says you buy it "no shame, no regrets". Damn, why couldn't I think of those things to say during an appointment. The best I could ever come up with was,,,"it goes nice with jeans".

On The Street......Hudson Street, New York

On The Street......Hudson Street, New York

On The Street......Broadway, New York

On The Street......Broadway, New York

At The Designer Collective -The Italian Gentleman

At The Designer Collective -The Italian Gentleman

Screen Actors Guild Awards 2006 Fashion

So many awards all at once. All the dresses are starting to overwhelm me! I wasn't going to write about the fashion from the Screen Actors Guild Awards since I just wrote about the Golden Globes last week, but there were a few dresses I loved so much I can't possibly not ooh and ahh over here.

I LOVE love love this dress!! Ziyi Zhang looks absolutely amazing and just so so pretty! Another excellent fashion choice.

Hmm, I'm not so sure this YSL dress suits Reese Witherspoon really well, but she looks mega adorbale. Her smile is seriously the only genuine-looking one out of all the red carpet stars. But then again, she is the one who won the Best Actress Award and has a cute husband.

This is another dress I like. It's so simple, but the cutting is gorgeous. And as usual, Hilary Swank fits well in it, (although maybe she should cut out too much arm toning exercises.)

Sandra Oh... I love her as an actress. If any of you have watched her in Grey's Anatomy, then you'll know she's an amazing actress. This Versace dress looks really unique and suprisingly not slutty-looking! Sandra pulls it off well. And she must have got instructions how to pose because these photos are way better than the Golden Globes' ones!

Speaking of Sandra Oh, we must take a look at Ellen Pompeo. Her dress is well, sort of boring but the color suits her.

And finally, we have the cast of Desperate Housewives:

Aww... so sweet. Doesn't Andrea Bowen remind you of prom?

Teri Hatcher looks great in that dress. The shape of the dress is so interesting and definitely not everyone can pull it off.

Individually speaking, Felicity Huffman's Nicole Miller dress is sort of boring; Eva Longoria's dress color is NOT her best color; Marcia Cross looks gorgeous as usual; and Nicollette Sheridan's horrific green totally clashes with her blonde. And finally for once, their colors don't match -their stylists must have forgot to consult each other!

Michael Bastian Fall 2006 Preview - The Modern Tuxedo

Does anyone really notice what the guys are wearing at the Golden Globes or Oscars? I love this tuxedo because I'm mad for DB suits right now and the contrast of the skinny black lapels against the charcoal wool is really outstanding. More than anything though this tux is all about fit: tight in the ribcage, slim in the sleeves and high in the button stance.

Just don't wear this if Scarlett Johansson is your date because no one will ever notice it.

Michael Bastian Fall 2006 Preview - The Modern Tuxedo

Does anyone really notice what the guys are wearing at the Golden Globes or Oscars? I love this tuxedo because I'm mad for DB suits right now and the contrast of the skinny black lapels against the charcoal wool is really outstanding. More than anything though this tux is all about fit: tight in the ribcage, slim in the sleeves and high in the button stance.

Just don't wear this if Scarlett Johansson is your date because no one will ever notice it.

Ralph Lauren To The Runway For The First Time In 30 Years

As if to reinforce ,or more like anchor, the New York Menswear Revival that I have been focusing on lately, WWD reports that for the first time in 30 years Ralph Lauren will stage a menswear runway in New York on Feb 6th at 4pm.

Ralph Lauren To The Runway For The First Time In 30 Years

As if to reinforce ,or more like anchor, the New York Menswear Revival that I have been focusing on lately, WWD reports that for the first time in 30 years Ralph Lauren will stage a menswear runway in New York on Feb 6th at 4pm.

On The Street......Little West 12th St.

On The Street......Little West 12th St.

Dries Van Noten, Fall 2006

I love to see a designer stretch, try something new. Dries Van Noten has become a master at ethnic references, and colorful cultural mixes in his collections. This season he showed a very subdued and tonal collection but with the same brilliant results. I know this seems contradictory from my usual call for menswear designers to be more daring with color, print and pattern but since Dries Van Noten has done just about everything possible in those areas somber was one of the only directions left to go.

The shoes are great, the band collar shirt seems new when mixed with the tiny suit, the outerwear is particularly strong, I think this is the first time I've seen denim on his runway, and again more great double-breasted suits.

Dries Van Noten, Fall 2006

I love to see a designer stretch, try something new. Dries Van Noten has become a master at ethnic references, and colorful cultural mixes in his collections. This season he showed a very subdued and tonal collection but with the same brilliant results. I know this seems contradictory from my usual call for menswear designers to be more daring with color, print and pattern but since Dries Van Noten has done just about everything possible in those areas somber was one of the only directions left to go.

The shoes are great, the band collar shirt seems new when mixed with the tiny suit, the outerwear is particularly strong, I think this is the first time I've seen denim on his runway, and again more great double-breasted suits.

Mobile Phone Charms

We all love our mobiles. Who in this day and age can live without one? But it wasn't until recently I realised the charm of mobile phone charms.

Here's the story, I have a friend who just got the new Motorola Moto PEBL U6 (which is a gorgeous phone btw.) Her birthday was last month and by coincidence, one of her best friends sent her a Tiffany's mobile phone charm all the way from Shanghai, (such a great friend!) Viola! It was a brilliant match. The first time I saw the phone and charm together I was so excited, see here:

Isn't it sooo gorgeous? Maybe it's the sleekness of the Motorola phone, or maybe it's the brilliance of the Tiffany star, but ever since seeing them together, I've been paying a lot more attention to mobile phone charms around me.

Last year, one of my mum's friend got me a Swarovski charm. It's not for sale anymore, but Swarovski does make superb charms, so check them out. Here's one of my favs, which is for sale in store. Isn't it so pretty? If you look carefully at each of the crystals, they're all slightly different in color and texture. The last one is the Swarovski swan (you have to stare at it quite carefully to notice it!)

Michael Bastian Fall 2006 Preview - Sportswear

Michael Bastian Fall 2006 Preview - Sportswear

Designer Collective

I don't know why these guys felt like posing by a giant pair of pants would make a great picture but who am I to judge? Maybe it is an Italian thing.

Designer Collective

I don't know why these guys felt like posing by a giant pair of pants would make a great picture but who am I to judge? Maybe it is an Italian thing.

Albanese Meats & Poultry, Nolita, New York

Albanese Meats & Poultry has been in Nolita since it was called the Lower East Side. The butcher in the photo grew up in the neighborhood and his mom ran Albanese until she was 97. This is the real old-school neighborhood butcher not like todays gleaming white medical meat morgues of huge supermarkets. He was telling me how the whole street on Elizabeth use to be little food shops. Across the street was a Greek food shop that customers brought their own jugs to get filled up with olive oil and the same for milk. These leftovers from another era are hard to still find in Manhattan but they are so rewarding when I do.