Does anyone else get as excited as me when In Style comes out with their Best Beauty Buys?

I know I’m coming a little late to this, but due to a subscription malfunction I never received my copy (quelle horreur!) and just received an e-mail that they’re up online.

The “handy” click to buy links give me the skeevies as they just confirm my fears that my beloved feature is all determined by advertising … but I continue to dream.

When I was in high school I wouldn’t even get OUT of the drug store with this issue without running around and purchasing a few things - anything from Neutrogena was a must-have and a given.

Now, I go through the list much more academically - do I have a use for this product? Do I have a product I already adore in this category? Do I really want to pay that much for a hand cream? Etc. But I still come up with my little shopping list and tote it around for the next few weeks to see what I find.

What am I excited to try this year? OPI Lincoln Park After Dark. 90’s flashback? Yes. But watching The O.C. each week just makes my neutral nails look boring and un-hip. If I’m going to experiment, it’s best done on my nails, at a salon and where I’m not buying a full size of the product.

Sales and Promotions:

New Arrivals and Featured Items:

Check out Today’s Pick at ThriftyChick.

Today’s Wall St. Journal touts:

“One of the hippest designs showing up on must-have fashion lists for spring doesn’t come from Prada or Marc Jacobs. Instead, it is a line of vintage T-shirts emblazoned with a McDonald’s logo.”

Exactly which “must have fashion lists” are featuring the golden arches? None from Papierdoll, that’s for sure.

Further reading illuminates the muddy circumstances surrounding this supposed craze:

“A recent issue of Ellegirl magazine features McDonald’s T-shirts on its ‘HotPotato’ list of must-have items. The April issue of In Touch magazine features a photo of ‘Sopranos’ star Jamie-Lynn Sigler wearing a ‘Big Mac Attack’ T-shirt.”

So, a magazine whose production has recently been halted and the spokeswoman for the National Eating Disorders Association say McD’s tees are cool, and that is supposed to be authoritative?

Yeah, I’m sure Gemma Ward is shoving a Quarter Pounder down her gullet this very second.

… and wrinkling like a mofo.

I hate linen. I have linen pants and a top or two, and no matter how high I set my iron or how much starch I use, my linen clothing is wrinkled by the time I reach the office. Obviously, some “wrinklage” must be tolerated for all clothing, but why does linen continue to be popular outside of beachwear when it is so wrinkle-prone?

Unless it is worn in the context of a strategically casual/effortless (aka beachy) style, which is not office appropriate, even in my casual workplace, linen just looks unkempt and unpolished. And we career women want to look polished, in a fashion-forward way.

The dilemma becomes: what then, can I wear for a spring/summer jacket, if linen is off-limits?

Here are some linen alternatives that stay true to the more relaxed warm weather style without losing their professional-chic edge… all are made of a cotton/spandex blend, so they remain lightweight and form-fitting (ever seen form-fitting linen clothing? didn’t think so).

Jackets for the Trend-Chaser:

Halogen Belted Safari Jacket and Wednesday Mini Ruffle Military Jacket from Nordstrom.

Jackets for the Classic Gal:

Marc by Marc Jacobs Stretch Cotton Twill Blazer and Theory Carly SC Jacket from shopbop.

Sales and Promotions:

New Arrivals and Featured Items:

Check out Today’s Pick at ThriftyChick.