PETROU\MAN

I've been eagerly anticipating PETROU\MAN since I heard that our friend Nicolas Petrou was striking out on his own and designing his first menswear line. Nicolas used to be the designer of women's wear label Petrou, as well as Dennis Basso, where he lead a team that included our friends Gabi and Andrew. It's nice to see that he has taken all of his knowledge of couture design and pattern making, and applied it to make clothing for himself, and the men that surround him. He obviously brings his uncompromising eye for detail, but the details here come in the form of distressed and unraveling knits, metallic sequins, and bold patchworkings of contrasting prints, rather than the perfect frills and frou reserved for the Petrou woman. I love these fanciful images he created for the lookbook (modeled by Andrew!), which are supposed to represent elements of everyday life, but rendered in a more abstract and artistic fashion appropriate for the Petrou man.

-Tiffany

Congratulations Lani!

Congratulations to Lani, who won our Summer Jamz contest with Chickdowntown, and will be getting a pair of these Current/Elliott Boyfriend shorts in the mail shortly! It was a hard choice, and some of you named great songs that are already on our playlists, but ultimately I chose a song that I hadn't heard before and liked. Actually, I think it was this crafty little video for "Hold Me Back" by Round Table Knights that won me over...

-Tiffany

BFF4L <3

Yesterday Christina texted me to let me know that it was National Best Friends Day---No, we didn't make that up, she actually saw it on the news. So, like any other holiday that comes around these parts, we will be celebrating all week long!!! Tomorrow night we're having our monthly party at B.East, featuring a whole gaggle of our BFFs. First, we'll be having an after party for our friends The Drums, who will be having a show at Bowery Ballroom that night. We'll be celebrating the fact that they just got signed on with 3D Artist Management, who also manage Coldplay and Interpol, and Jacob and Connor will be doing a special DJ set for us. It will also be the after party for our friend Shelley's band, Violethour, who will be performing at The Annex.

Of course, the night wouldn't be complete without a bunch of our best friends DJing. Basically, we'll let you DJ if you're our friend, we like you, and we think you are fabulous and have awesome taste. We won't let you DJ if we secretly hate you/think you like terrible music/can't stand your personal odor/all of the above. Tomorrow, two of our favorite Screaming Mimi's girls, Rocky and Savannah, will be going head to head against two of the most important men in our lives (outside of our boyfriend and husband), James and Waseem. Hope to see ya'll there!


The Drums- Best Friend

-Tiffany

G.I. Joe/ Ghostbusters

Last Week I assisted Holly and Isa on another shoot for Nom De Guerre. As usual, they were stocked with amazing military accessories and I was inspired by their selection of cords and epaulets. I have always been a fan of Nom De Guerre because they make guys look fashionable with out making them look like a pansy haha. This season we shot at an abandoned police precinct all they way in Spanish Harlem. The decrepit precinct was now being used as a storage space for a near by elementary school and looked like something out of Silent Hill! The photographers for the shoot told us they they had shot A list models at the space and were always surprised about their lack of complaints. On our last day of shooting, I was getting ready for another day of steaming, when I noticed that there was a headless pigeon in the middle of our set up! The building manager told us that it must have been the work of a stray cat, but I am sticking with my theory of pigeon eating poltergeists!




These are two tone military boots painted cream


Epaulets


Sorry if you are squeamish, but this was too unbelievable not to include. I tell no lies!

This is what most of the building looked like. I explored a bit, but there was no electricity ,so I was way too chicken to go down to the basement and get shots of the jail cells.

-C

Ideal Ideeën

I wore my new Ideeën sweater out to the Your Nature show yesterday afternoon. Ida Sjöstedt silver dress, Charles Anastase sunglasses, Armani Exchange bag, spike bracelet from Monica, DIY Anni Albers necklace, Iosselliani ring.

When I heard that one of my favorite New York based labels, Ideeën, was having a sample sale on Friday, I ran down immediately, and with incredible luck, found the two items from the collection that I've been lusting for since they hit the racks early this spring. Not only were they there, but they were severely discounted. I picked up a neon multi-color sweater, which retails for over $500 in stores for $60, and a gigantic necklace, which the designers described as weight-lifting for you neck, for $20. I've been wearing both of my finds nonstop all weekend: to our Webster Hall party on Friday, to our friend Jackson Pollis's concert with his band Your Nature on Saturday afternoon, and to our TriBeCa Grand party on Saturday night, which featured a live performance by Class Actress. I fell in love with Class Actress, and they're my new summer jam obsession. Speaking of which, our Summer Jams Contest ends this Thursday, don't forget to enter!

I wore the same outfit out again on Saturday night with my Tara Subkoff for Easy Spirit heels

Ideeën necklace, Chloe Sevigny x Opening Ceremony dress, Rick Owens sweater, YSL boots


Class Actress

-Tiffany

Paper <3s Housing Works

Alexis standing in front of a rack of her editorial picks at the Paper Magazine party at Housing Works

When I heard that my friend Alexis was putting together an event for the Housing Works shop around the corner from my apartment, I knew I had to stop by. Alexis is the Associate Editor of Paper Magazine, one of my all-time favorite reads, and she and her fellow editors took a trip out to the Housing Works warehouse in Queens to dig through the piles of donated goods and pick out racks of their favorite finds. For those of you who don't know, Housing Works is one of the best charity thrift shops in New York: all proceeds going to homeless men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS. While the event was only one night, all the Paper Editor picks are still up in the store, and many of them are available online at their webshop, which also hosts auctions featuring their best donations. Definitely stop by, you'll feel guiltless about what you spend, knowing that everything goes to a worthy cause.

My friend Jon picked up this adorable blazer for just $10!

I wore the Alexander Wang dress I picked up at the sample sale a couple weeks ago, with Topshop heels and a Gerard Yosca necklace

-Tiffany

Mary, Mary

My favorite tee, a cropped top with a pair of messed up looking tangrams in red and white

I honestly don't know why I don't own a single piece of Mary Meyer clothing yet. Everything in her collection is effortlessly cool, super-wearable, and most of it rings in for under $150. Her collection was one of thew few women's wear lines to be shown at Capsule, and I was immediately drawn to the primitive looking designs and symbols that are silkscreen printed onto almost all of her garments. These are the kind of clothes that I can see myself wearing around everyday, without feeling sloppy. Hop on over to her webshop, or OAK, where Spring 09 is on sale, for about the same price as the stuff on Etsy. Best part is that your boyfriend can wear most of these looks too, since many of the designs are unisex---our friend Jackson Pollis even modeled for the lookbook!

EDIT: Amanda tipped me off to the sample sale that Mary Meyers is having this Saturday, July 25, from 2 to 8 p.m. at 484 Union Avenue, (at Meeker Avenue); Brooklyn, I'm definitely stopping by!

A tank dress with an arrow print

This tee looks like it spells out some secret code

This flouncy dress is given a little edge with another arrow-like print

I love this scarf, which looks like it has tally marks scrawled on it

-Tiffany

Cute Boys, Cool Clothes

One of our favorite VIP Party Boys, Bear, who now works for the OAK showroom. He's modeling one of the new Biker Love tees from Pleasure Principle.

On Monday afternoon, Christina and I stopped by Capsule, a tradeshow almost entirely dedicated to menswear. It took place at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, which is one of my favorite buildings in the city, but which is also a little frightening to navigate when tipsy, since most floors are connected by rickety little secret stairways that look like they were assembled by elves. Even though we were more than a little drunk (hello open Belvedere bar) and ended up half-passed out in the basement chomping on cookies, we managed to discover a couple of new collections, while bumping into some of our favorite boys.

A Biker Love tote bag from Pleasure Principle

The outside of the Angel Orensanz foundation was decorated with these black and white archways
Houman, who I almost didn't recognize without his hat, looking amazing as always

I love the interior of this building, which was crammed with booths for the trade show

We loved these tromp l'oeil Keds

Our friend Ivan, who sometimes does the door at B.East, was representing Timo Weiland's new line of menswear

One of my favorite pieces from Timo Weiland's collection, a double-breasted trench coat with two collars!

Darling Dave Pacho, who is one of our go-to DJs (and all time great guy), was there representing Dana Lee for the Bblessing showroom

An ombre shirt from Dana Lee

-Tiffany

The Line of Beauty

Yes, that's Keegan Singh

Just in case you haven't heard, tomorrow night, we're hosting the afterparty for the opening of Richard Haines's first solo show, The Line of Beauty. The opening is at Envoy Enterprises (131 Chrystie Street) from 6-9pm, and will feature Richard's streetstyle drawings, which he posts on his blog What I Saw Today, and which have been published in magazines like In Style. Afterwards, we'll all move on to White Slab (77 Delancey Street), where we'll be DJing with our good friends Aisling, Olov, and Anton in the backroom. Richard is my former boss, and I've already written about how much I love his work, so it's a great pleasure to be able to celebrate this exhibition with him. He switched careers only a year ago, and he's already accomplished so much, which just goes to show the naysayers that it is indeed possible to make a living as an artist. Make sure to stop by if you're in town. No RSVP, no guestlist, no cover.

-Tiffany

This Little Piggy Went to Black Market

Henrik Vibskov bag, Nakkna dress, VPL sandals, Charles Anastase sunglasses, DIY Anni Albers washer necklace, Gerard Yosca cuff, Topshop headband

The fact that I took a two-hour, three mile long wandering trek from our apartment to the opposite side of town to visit Black Market, is just a testament to how devoted I am to shopping. Black Market is one of the best stores in Stockholm, and it was a must-see when I was on vacation. I actually got lost along the way, getting stuck beneath an underpass before going in the entirely wrong direction, and when I finally got there, it didn't help that the store appears to be a cavernous black pit from the exterior, making me wonder if I was indeed at the right place. Still, I never thought once of turning back, and luckily arrived right before the store was about to close. Thankfully, after my pilgrimage, the shop keeper let me stay for a half an hour more past closing time, where I was overwhelmed by the store's incredible selection of men's and women's lines, including Ground Zero, Henrik Vibskov, c-neeon, Burfitt, Carin Wester, Peter Jensen, and Comme des Garcons. I had to take advantage of the fact that almost everything in the store was 50% off, and ended up picking up these giant pleated Henrik Vibskov bag for $89, which can carry just about everything you can imagine. If you're ever in Stockholm, you must stop by this boutique, but if you're not, you can still check out their online store, where they have almost everything the stock, and all at the currently favorable dollar-to-krona exchange rate.

The impressively colorful selection of menswear at Black Market

The women's wear section, featuring plenty of Carin Wester, Herik Vibskov and Bernhard Willhelm

Henrik Vibskov socks and a Peter Jensen scarf/necklace that would make a fun DIY

Jeremy Scott x Adidas gold winged sneakers

-Tiffany

All Aboard

So, I know I'm a bit late, but after seeing this music video, I have officially jumped on the Lady Gaga band wagon. She is dancing in crutches wearing half of the Superheros Fashion and Fantasy exhibit! (exaggeration)



Here is a bit more Mugler from the exhibit.

-C

DIY Fringe Necklace

Christina and I demonstrating how to make the fringe necklace. Photos by Urban Outfitters.

For those of you who've been asking about the instructions for Christina's DIY fringe necklace, I've posted the instructions that she wrote for the DIY booklet that Urban Outfitters made. You can download the rest of the booklet here.

Creating jewelry may seem like it requires a fine eye and a variety of tools, but this fringe necklace takes minimal supplies and no previous experience.

SUPPLIES
Fringe (we bought grey gradient fringe for $12/yard in the district)
Chain
Double-fold seam binding
Embroidery floss
Large-hole needle
Pins

HOW TO
1. Decide upon a pattern for layering the fringe. The design may vary in length and width depending on the desired look, but should make a sizable breast plate.
2. Lay the seam binding flat and, placing the fringe upon it, fold the seam binding around the
fringe, sandwiching it.
3. Place the chain amongst the fringe, leaving enough to create the necklace circumference as
well as some detailing.
4. Pin the seam binding around the chain and fringe.
5. Hand-stitch the binding to the fringe, making sure that everything is held in place, including
the chain. If there is chain hanging off of the piece you are sewing the fringe to, you will have to do an invisible slip stitch along the seam making sure to weave the stitches around the hanging pieces of chain.
6. Use the embroidery floss for a little added detail.

-Christina and Tiffany