Hat Attack!

Fun fascinators, and a vintage Balmain scarf.

I might be a jewelry designer, but I have to admit, I secretly believe that the hat is the ultimate accessory. Let's be completely honest here. For all the time and money that we spend on shoes, how many non-fashion people actually stop and take the time to look at your feet when you first walk into a crowded room? The same goes for the jewelry, belts, gloves, and bags that I love so much, which are essential for filling out an outfit, but ultimately often go unobserved and unnoticed to the passing eye. You see, none of these accessories will get you noticed like a hat. Whether it's a simple beret, or a large fur number, it's one of those in-your-face things that people just can't avoid looking at. As Stephen Jones says in his new book, Hats an Anthology, "Why are they remaindered to the Timbuktu of fashion when they are in fact its Shangri-La?"

Mr. Jones, I couldn't agree more. That's why, when I heard that Bond 07 was opening a new hat salon, I decided to head straight over and take a peek. The store is already full of an amazing selection of designer vintage clothes, young independent designers, as well as their enormous stock of Selima Optique eye glasses, but for me, the new hats were truly the highlight. Even though they only have a small selection of their Fascinators on display in their upstairs boutique, Elena, the super-stylish sales girl, took me downstairs to the hat salon, where all the hats are custom made and fit. Many of the hats were out for press, but I got to see a good selection of the couture hats, all designed by Virginie Promeyrat, and her assistant Lopeti. While the RTW hats retail from $280-$340, the custom made couture and cocktail hats run between $185-$700. While the prices aren't cheap, they're pretty reasonable considering that no two couture hats are the same, and each design can be customized according to your wishes. I'm personally a huge sucker for anything customized or one-of-a-kind, and am going to try and save up for a top hat or a bowler.

This might be the bowler hat of my dreams---I would have to add my own finishing touches though. I also love all the Dolly Heads they use for displaying the hats, they remind me of my time at Anna Sui, and her extensive collection of Dolly Heads.

I love this super-flamboyant felt, feather and silk flower.

I've been looking for a traditional black top hat for over a year now (they're so damn expensive), but I'm really loving this one in violet.

I love the open-zipper detail on the top of this hat!

Piles of colorful tulle and netting used for trim!

-Tiffany

Topshop's In Town

Yesterday, against my better judgement, and my husband's wishes, I gathered with thousands of others to wait in line and get the first peek at New York's long-awaited Topshop.  Although waiting in line is never fun, it was made a little bit more tolerable by the free heart-shaped linzer cookies and coffee that they were handing out in line, as well as getting to snatch a glimpse of the paparazzi-swarmed Kate Moss as she dashed out the back door and into her black cab.  Naturally, I bumped into plenty of people there, including Nicky Digital, who was shooting the scene, and who snapped a couple of pictures of me.  Best yet, I had several adorable staffers tell me they read the blog, and even got to meet the lovely Jessie from Burn These Bones.  Jessie always blurs out her face in photos, so it was an extra treat to have her introduce herself to me, since I've been reading her blog for a while, and have always wondered who she was.

The trip was definitely worth it, and after almost 2 hours inside the store (I had to hand examine every single garment, you know), I ended up leaving with a trench coat, which I've been looking for for a while, and a pair of the angular Unique heels, which I've seen across the blogs, and have been wanting for a very long time.  The shoe section in itself was by far the most tempting, and I was very disappointed to find that they didn't have the Emma Cook ruffled zipper heels, nor the infamous Emma Cook boots in my size.  Needless to say, it lived up to all the hype and expectation, and I'm so happy that now we New Yorkers get to add this to our list of mainstays, and I get to cross this off the list of things that make me jealous of my European friends.  Now they just have to build a Monki store (and a branch of Laduree would be nice too, now that I think of it), and I'll be set.

Waiting in line!  Vintage I. Magnin wool coat and vintage floral blouse, hand-me down from my Aunt, Tocca skirt from Mrs. Shiah, vintage Pierre Cardin scarf from my Mom, Marc x Marc Jacobs flats, American Apparel tights, Erin Featherston x Target giant heart bag, H&M belt, Gerard Yosca mirror broach, and pearls from the district.

The Topshop Unique shoes with an angular metal heel.  It came in black, blue and grey, but I chose this perfect shade of violet.

After setting fire to my last trench coat in an unfortunate incident at Le Royale (it now has a glaring quarter-sized burn hole through it), I've been on the hunt for a new trench to get me through spring.  I was extra excited to find this one yesterday.

-Tiffany

Show Stoppers: DIY Gareth Pugh Runway Boots

Gareth Pugh inspired boots made by Boris, Balenciaga vest, Topshop top, Devaki hat, generic tights, Antti Asplund cross necklaces.

Ok, so this isn't a dictionary-definition DIY, since I didn't actually cobble these boots myself.  It should really be called a DIBB, as in Do-it-by-Boris.  Who is Boris?  Boris is the grizzled-looking bearded man who inhabits the crawl-space sized booth on St. Marks Place, which has no formal door, and is demarcated by a giant, filthy Barney stuffed animal, as well as piles upon piles of shoes.  He also happens to be a cobbler par-excellence, and in spite of his deceptively unglamorous surroundings, the man is a living legend in New York, flying to Tokyo twice a year to make shoes and jackets for the runway show of the Japanese line, Undercover.  Boris has inhabited that booth for as long as I can remember, and I first learned about him in 8th grade, when my friends had foot high rainbow raver platforms added to the soles of their Adidas sneakers.  That was over 12 years ago, and little has changed since in that booth, even though the rest of St. Marks has evolved and gentrified unspectacularly around it.

A couple of weeks ago, when I decided that I had to have the Gareth Pugh runway boots made, I knew immediately that I had to go down to pay a visit to Boris.  Bringing a couple of fuzzy stills from the film presentation, I was worried that my demands were too high, and my explanation too shoddy.  After a quick meeting, I was assured that all my requests were not only achievable, but easy.  This is how they did it (with a little of my guidance), all within 2 weeks, and for less than the cost of my new Margiela nail booties.

1.  I started by giving them some pictures of still from from Gareth Pugh's Fall 09 presentation.  Unfortunately, there aren't very many good detail shots available, so we had to use the silhouette shot for the general idea, and then imagine the rest according to how I wanted it to look.

2. For a base, I gave them a pair of old Steve Madden over-the knee boots that I bought 8 years ago, and haven't worn much since.  I was on the verge of getting rid of them before I decided to give them a new life.  This is what those beasts looked like before, set amidst the insanity that is Boris's store.

3. I asked Boris to add a 1 1/2" slanted platform sole to the existing flat sole, and to change the stiletto heal into something more similar to the upside-down conical heel of the Pugh boot.  I also asked him to add a removable 3" cuff to the ankle area of the boot.

4. Most importantly, Boris added 4" of leather to the thigh-high portion of the boot, copying the drastic angular silhouette of the Pugh boot.  To get the silhouette right, he made a cardboard model, which we adjusted in a fitting, and then used it as a stencil for the leather.

-Tiffany