Victoria Beckham, responding to the requests of no one, has taken it upon herself to declare to the world her top 10 fashion commandments. Why we would want to take advice from the woman who epitomizes desperate Eurotrash is beyond me. If this list was written by someone with actual style, we might consider the tips at hand, but considering the source makes the advice null and void. After all, despite being overexposed in the celebrity spotlight via marriage and named one of Britain’s most useless celebrities, she hasn’t been able to cultivate a new nickname in 10 years, and is still referred to as “Posh Spice” in the media.

How do these celebrities come to think of themselves as style icons? How is the public fooled into thinking the same thing?

-Natalie

UltraPDX, the absolute word in everything cool in Portland has a great in or out feature. I know what you’re saying, “the in and out thing is done to death.” But unlike what’s been done on the millions of other sites, their list makes complete and total sense.

Go there now

We love the fashion exhibits at FIT and this one is no different. From the FIT museum:

Lucien Lelong (1889-1958) was the last in a long line of couturiers who were masters of every aspect of haute couture. Unlike today’s couturiers who are primarily fashion designers, Lelong combined a keen business sense with a refined eye for modern design. He hand-picked designers such as Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy and developed their talents in order to realize his vision of the fashionable woman.

Read more here

It’s showing from February 28 - April 15, 2006

Address: FIT Museum
Tues - Fri Noon - 8pm ,
Saturday 10am - 5pm. Closed Sundays,
Southwest corner of Seventh Avenue at 27th Street
NYC
212 217.5800

I love all types of jewelry. I’m a woman, it’s my right.

There are hundreds if not thousands of jewelry stores online. Only a handful of them I would say produce quality stuff. You have Balboa, Tilting Swiftly and now someone new looks to enter into the already crowded field. We have high hopes for Bijou Boutique. They have a strong lineup of handmade jewelry that will have you wanting more. The icing on the cake is that their jewelry is handmade and made to order if you wish. Can’t beat that. Once they update with more stuff we can give you a detailed review, but they are already off to a good start. Love the piece on the left.

I thought I would wrap up Paris Fall Fashion week with one of the most talked-about shows of the season, Balenciaga.

Nicolas Ghesquière of Balenciaga demonstrated that drawing from a label’s richly-established design tradition provides the necessary structure through which a designer can incorporate contemporary trends without having them overshadow the label’s signature style. Ghesquière used the pervasive trends of the season, such as British influence, naval/military inspiration and a muted color palette, and injected them into the Balenciaga institution, rather than trying to add Balenciaga to them.

Brit chic was prominent in the collection, dictating the fabrics and expanding them into Balenciaga’s voluminous style. The riding caps not only helped define the Brit look, but also elongated the already tall models to visually offset the horizontal volume of the outfits. Modern touches such as ballooned sleeves and oversized lapels further enhanced Balenciaga tradition.

The collection represented the fusion of the unique personal vision of a designer with the larger cultural context of the fashion world.

-Ali