Archive for the ‘Clothes’ Category

About two hours ago, Hubby peeked into my lair – my office + walk-in closet – and had a panic attack.

“What in the name of god are you doing?” he asked, eyes bugging at the mountain of stuff covering every square inch of floor space, and strewn all over my desk and couch.

“I’m finally moving my summer purses into storage,” I said. “And I need to make room for my hats, scarves and gloves.”

“Whatever,” he said. “Good luck with that.”

Guys don’t have to worry about this s–t. I think Hubby has exactly one pair of gloves and three scarves – two Burberry in different plaids, and one oversize Gucci the Wee Lass and I gifted him for his birthday last year. He’s super-preppy and always looks amazing. But he’s ruthless about “culling,” as the Brits say, which means his closet is lean and mean – all meat, no filler.

I, on the other hand, have so many purses that I need a separate storage unit in our condo building just to keep the seasons straight.

But this is where it gets even weirder: I actually use a huge number of those handbags. That’s because I switch purses almost every day.

And in the winter, I change up all my gear – hat, scarf, gloves – every single day, too. Per my coat choice du jour, of course; I have a ton of coats and jackets, and an ever-growing assortment of warm vests in faux fur and down. (Oh, btw, I wear the Uniqlo hooded number constantly. That was a really good buy. Yay.)

I know I make my life – or at least getting out the door in the morning – infinitely harder by surrounding myself with so much choice. But I really like it. I have such beautiful stuff. Lots of really schmancy items that were swagged to me in my former on-staff mag editor life. And my betrothed has been buying me one killer purse every Christmas for the last 10 years, so I really do have an awesome stash now. Amazing jewelry, too. Thank you, Hubby!

In fact, my accessories and jewelry are much better than my actual wardrobe. I was never methodical about buying “investment pieces” over the years, so the bulk of what I own, clothing-wise, isn’t great. And I always wait until I get to a crisis point with shoes and boots before I go shopping, so footwear is often a weak link in my sartorial chain too.

Now that I’ve sorted out my “winter” purses, and organized all my other gew-gaws, for the next week, I’m going to channel my inner Rachel Zoe every day and come up with a great outfit. I love watching her go gaga over all the bells and whistles – the hat, the shoes, the bijoux. She’s so into it. Think I’ll crack open her cute book right now and get some ideas. Ooh, Chapter 1: Excessories…

Last night, en route to the cocktail hour(s) kickoff for the BlogHer Writers ’11 Conference (ooh, how very join-y of shy, shy Momover Lady) I saw an item on Page Six of the New York Post that completely supports my theory that women’s shoes have become weapons of mass destruction.

I almost hate to repeat the tale, because it must have been so cringe-inducing for the poor gal involved. But I feel like I’m doing a public service to all of you hot mamas who have the good sense not to read the majorly mean-spirited Page Six.

So here’s the CliffsNotes-style recap: After presenting a really important award to Katie Holmes at Marie Claire’s Women On Top event on Wednesday afternoon, the mag’s Editor In Chief did a face-plant in front of 200 VIPs. The culprit? Six-inch purple YSLs. The item then wraps up with a quote from Katie about how she, too, took a tumble while carrying little Suri. Nice nod to girl-power solidarity, but grrr…

I’m like the biggest hypocrite for writing this post, because I’ve blogged in defense of Rachel Zoe’s monster preggo heels, and regaled you with the story about the time some crazed bitch accosted me in a subway car because I was wearing spikes while I, too, was with child.

But still, I think this situation is getting a teensy weensy bit dire. We have Brandi Glandville hobbling around on crutches on RHOBH, the entire female cast of Jersey Shore face-down in the cobblestone streets of Firenze and the overload of stripper heels in every shoe store I venture into. Seriously. It is ridiculous.

Okay, that’s my rant du jour. Gotta get back to the BlogHer conference – in my cruelty-free, extremely cute and comfy flat boots.

It’s kind of perfect that my latest Mama Guru, Beautiful Stranger co-founder Melissa Fedor, is squinting behind her groovy shades in this picture; she has one of the sunniest dispositions around.

I’ve known Melissa a looooong time. Trust me, we don’t need to start tossing numbers around…

And without fail, she always looks great when I see her – stylishly pulled-together but comfy, with just the right amount of label action happening.

(Gratuitous pop culture sidebar: Who, besides me, has been shrieking at the new label-dropper on RHOBH? Holy mother of god.)

But back to my Mama Guru.

In short, Melissa’s pretty much the embodiment of the cool lads and lasses she and her Beautiful Stranger team politely accost in the street to inquire about what they’re wearing.

And since it’s Friday, I will forgive her for being so tall, lovely and perpetually well-dressed.

Read how she does it (except for the tall part) – and her style advice for mamas far and wide – right here.

Something tells me my timing could have been better. But on Saturday, I started my seasonal closet flip (I divide New York weather into six months of hot and six months of cold, and October 15 marks my mental shift) a mere three hours before I was due to depart the house with dearest Hubby to see yet another Ryan Gosling movie.

I swear all we do lately is go to Ryan Gosling movies. Not that I’m complaining. He’s the best thing to come down the cinematic pike in quite some time. He makes me want to do push-ups. Many of my favorite actors make me want to do push-ups.

But back into the closet go I.

So you would think three hours pre-movie would be plenty of time to accomplish the seasonal switcheroo, right?

Not even close, my mama friend.

So, because I spent all of today with the Wee Lass at the Central Park Zoo, it still looks like a bomb went off in there. And unhappily, there is spill-over into my office, which is making me all angsty.

Whatevs, I’ll just get up at the crack of dawn and tidy it enough so it won’t make my head explode, and I can continue my excellent work habits of last week.

But I’ll need to block out a few more hours to really get the job done. At least.

One reason it’s taking so long this year is that I’m being more ruthless than ever. Edit, edit, edit, toss, toss, toss.

Still, some pieces are receiving a stay of execution, mostly because when I tried them on they were cuter than I remembered. And I noticed that certain brands always wind up in the “keep” pile: Theory, J. Crew and, oddly, Juicy Couture. I say “oddly” only because I was never a tracksuit Juicy gal. But I’ve gotten a few things over the years, and I really love them. And just last week, I nabbed a really cute white faux fur vest at the Juicy store in the Short Hills Mall.

Not surprisingly, I have a bizarre-o dialogue going on with myself the entire time I’m working. “That black puffy-sleeved cropped blazer’s very Carine, maybe you should keep it,” I’ll say to myself.

Or, “That skirt would take a good 10 rounds of P90X to jam yourself back into.”

Or, simply, “Blech.”

Okay, I need to hit the hay, but before I do, I want to impart a deeply excellent closet-organizing tip from designer and über-gorgeous mama Shoshanna Gruss. I interviewed her during the spring for one of the InStyle Makeover stories I worked on, and she said that when she’s doing her own seasonal closet flip, she makes sure that nothing gets packed away that she doesn’t love.

In other words, even if you’re tempted to just shove it all in suitcases or boxes or whatever and move on to the current season, don’t. Take the time to really assess whether you’ll be happy to pull it back out again in six months.

I noticed that in my own case, my fall pieces elicited two reactions: “Hello, old friend.” And, “You’re still around?”

Circa April 15, when I do the reverse closet flip, I want to feel all warm and fuzzy when I see those hot-weather clothes again.

When we first hightailed it across the Hudson three years ago, I went through major Manhattan withdrawals. None of the stores by us seemed cool and groovy enough, and I had a big old bee in my bonnet about the nearby mall, which is anchored by JCPenney and Sears.

Not that I’m a retail snob or anything. How could I be, when I basically live at Target? Still, I’ve become super duper picky about buying the Tar-jay clothes. Mainly, I stick to the basics, like Mossimo T-shirts. I’ve got lots o’ Mossimo T-shirts.

But back to that unsexy mall, and a very fun thing that’s going down over there: A mega H&M is under construction, and I’m counting the seconds until all the guys in the overalls beat it, and customers can break down the doors.

Hopefully it will be in time for me to shop this All for Children collection, pictured here, in part, in all its adorableness.

Geared to tots from baby to 8, it’s launching in October in collaboration with Unicef. (25 percent of all proceeds will go to a project of Unicef’s choice.)

Sophisticated in its styling – and looking like it should cost way more than it does – the All for Children collection is based on the characters in Moritz!, the cute-as-it-gets book shown here.

There aren’t any words in this cheerful little tome, but the illustrations are off the hook charming. And you can nab it, along with all the corresponding clothes and accessories. (And by “accessories” I mean hats and scarves and such, not the It Bag of the season.)

Just as an FYI, the Wee Lass gave Moritz! a big thumbs up, making up her own little story as she flipped through the pages. Maybe H&M will start a whole new trend of word-less kids’ books. Sure would make bedtime stories fly by.

Happily, I’ve pretty much recovered from my shoe meltdown of last week.

Why am I on the mend? Because of a Saturday shopping spree wedged between a 2pm showing of Moneyball (if Brad Pitt doesn’t get an Oscar nod, there is no justice in the universe) and dinner with Hubby. As he waited outside for me in the car, I bought three pairs of boots in 10 minutes flat.

Pretty good, right? I thought so.

I’ve been shopping at Moo Shoes on the Lower East Side for a few years now, and the selection just keeps getting better and better. While earlier I might have considered their offerings “pretty cute for cruelty-free,” I now consider them “pretty cute – period.” That’s a huge shift. And it makes me want to turn a cartwheel right here in this little ol’ home office.

Okay, so here’s what I bought, all linked-up so you can take a look-see:

1. Colorado Boot in brown by Jambu. So freaking cute. And wildly comfy. I’m gonna get them in black, too.

2. Sand Moccasin Boot in brown by Hearts of Darkness. I’d been looking for an alternative to Minnetonkas, which are real suede, et voila. I’m eyeballing the short versions as well. Possibly in off-white. My Native American ancestors would be proud. (Although theirs were definitely not faux suede…)

3. Zaney in black by Madden Girl. I’m on the fence about these. Might be too Eighties, and I hate the Eighties. But I dig the side snaps. And they were only $70 smackers, so no big deal.

Because I was completely in a panicked rush, I didn’t try on any actual shoes. (I have tiny feet, and shoes are always much trickier for me than boots.) So I intend to either head back down to Orchard Street for some more power-shopping, or take my chances online with these:

4. Chelsea Boots in black by Marais. Sharp, right? With the wood heel, they remind me of those Swedish Hasbeens clogs, only comfier. Actually, in brown, they’re even more Swedish Hasbeen-y.

And / Or:

5. Ricky K Boot from Novacas. These are a lot like the little Isabel Marant cowboy booties that the fashion world swoons over.

And something with a bit of heel or wedge, comme ça:

6. Echo Boot in black by Big Buddha. A little Prada Sport-y and après ski-ish.

7. Fantizy Boot in black by Madden Girl. I like the toe peep. I’d like to think I can still rock a tiny bit of toe-peep, especially if the rest of me is bundled up.

The good news: I have schmancy events on my calendar.

The bad news: I may have to go barefoot.

I’ve mentioned a few million times that I avoid leather, right? Because of the critters?

Which doesn’t mean that I’m tossing my beloved Chanel “Jumbo Classic” bag that Hubby gifted me with one Xmas, or the many other lovely purses in my collection that were acquired before I got a clue.

It just means that I don’t buy anything new made from leather, fur or sheepskin. Wait, sheepskin is fur. Anyway, you know what I mean. I’m a cruelty-free fashion consumer.

And right now, I’m a cruelty-free fashion consumer who is having a total effing panic attack because she has back-to-back shindigs tomorrow and doesn’t have a single decent pair of fall-appropriate footwear.

This is the time of year that drives me utterly bananas. It’s too late to wear sandally, summery fare. Because even if it’s 100 degrees outside, that s–t just looks tired. And it’s really too early for boots, too.

Yup, circa-right-this-second, it’s time for straight-up shoes.

And how is it, exactly, that I don’t own any right now? It must be because I went straight from clomping around in boots all spring to clomping around in sandals all summer. And since I’m not the best planner-aheader, I blew off shopping for proper shoes until the last second.

This weekend, knowing I had shindigs coming up, I headed to mall with the Wee Lass to try to rectify the situation. She, of course, scored two pairs of super-cute sneaks, including these Converse with multi-colored tongues. Adorable.

And I came home empty-handed. Why? Because finding non-leather shoes that you’d actually be excited to wear is crazy challenging.

That’s why I wrote to the guys behind Matt & Nat – purveyors of incredible vegan bags – yesterday, literally begging them to make shoes and boots. It’s on their To Do list, they assured me. And they hope to get to it in the next few years.

What about tomorrow, Matt & Nat? Aren’t you worried about my shoe-less feet?

I’m sure I’ll get through it all somehow. But not with the confidence I’d have if I were wearing really cool shoes.

I need a plan. I need to stop waiting until the last second and coming home from the mall empty-handed. I need an entire wardrobe of cruelty-free shoes and boots that I love. And I need them NOW.

I’m not used to having an epic battle with my daughter five minutes before drop-off, but perhaps I just need to pull up a chair and settle on in. It seems we’ve entered some kind of sinister new era, one in which if she’s not wearing exactly what she wants to be wearing, she will crumble like a croissant.

Oh, it was sad. And the nanny is with her right now, so I haven’t seen her since we flipped-out on each other circa 8:45. So I’m missing her, and hoping that when we re-unite, it won’t be weird and tense. (To all you über-experienced mommies out there, please have patience with me; this is my first and only kid and I don’t know what I’m doing.)

Long story short: She’s been getting progressively more sporty lately, which I’m thrilled about. She’s constantly challenging herself on the monkey bars, her swimming is off the hook, and her scootering is not too shabby. This has necessitated a sartorial shift to lots of shorts, and sneakers, which is a bit of a shocker. Just two months ago, she wouldn’t be caught dead in sneakers.

But when did the No More Dresses memo go out? And how could I have missed it? And more importantly, how could she have tricked me into buying her a bunch of frocks for BTS that she has no intention of wearing?

Recently, she and I talked about maybe having a Mommy Day once per week, on which I could pick her outfit. The other four days would be her choice. That’s pretty fair, right? One measly day to pry her out of the tomboyish stuff and slip her into a pretty little skirt and sweater?

This morning, though, totally unprompted by me, she decided to wear one of her new dresses. I tried to not get too excited, because as clueless as I am, even I know that that could easily backfire on me.

She looked sooooo purty. And just as I was about to grab the camera to snap a quick pic of her, the whole thing started to go pear-shaped. She didn’t really want to wear a dress after all, and the clock was ticking.

I forced her out the door, sobbing. And by the time we got across the street (yay! we live across the street from school!), she was a mess. So much so that she started almost having a little mini panic attack.

Luckily, all the kids keep a spare change of clothes in their cubbies. So I swapped-out the gorge dress for a long-sleeve T and pants that still had the tags on them. (Why? Because up until 10 minutes ago, she wouldn’t wear pants!)

The net-net: Within reason, I’m just gonna let her wear what she wants. Life is short, and I don’t think screaming matches are the most Zen way to start one’s day.

But I’m keeping the receipts for everything.

While my own particular patch of New Jersey was spared during Hurricane Irene (or Tropical Storm Irene or whatever it’s called now, how about Really Horrible Storm Irene?), so many other parts of the state were decimated by flooding.

Last weekend, in fact, after a last hurrah at the town pool we go to in nearby Cranford, we were really sad to see the ruined contents of so many basements parked on the sidewalk for garbage collection.

Block after block of destroyed toys, furniture and other gear families had spent their hard-earned money on.

And I know that’s there are still plenty of folks, up and down the Eastern seaboard, whose homes are submerged by floodwaters. It’s brutal.

So here’s what you, and I, and all the other mamas with Wee Lasses can do to help: Nab this extremely hip faux shearling coat from Garnet Hill. It also comes in brown and bright blue, and is a very reasonable $69.

As part of Garnet Hill’s “Shop With Heart” promotion, for every full-price kids’ coat or jacket purchased, $20 in merchandise (up to $50,000) will go to K.I.D.S. to help the East Coast disaster relief efforts from Hurricane Irene. And you’ve got from now until October 4 to plunk down that plastic.

I’ve posted about K.I.D.S. (Kids In Distressed Situations) on the Momover Facebook page before. It’s an extremely cost-efficient non-profit that totally swoops in when trouble hits, providing brand new clothing, toys, shoes, baby products, books and more to children and families who are hammered not only by natural disasters like the storm, but other life challenges like poverty and major illness.

I encourage you to visit the K.I.D.S. website to read their mission statement. And then head right over to the Garnet Hill site and start shopping for your tots. And while you’re there, might as well pick up a little somethin somethin for yourself, right? I thought so.

Oh. Eminem. Gee.

In my next life, please let me come back as the Wee Lass. She and her coddled kindergarten pals have a “staggered” start to the new year at their school, so that means they’re only clocking two hours per day there until next week. I barely get through drop-off when it’s time to go back and fetch her.

Still, I’m not complaining, because she’s in one of the very bestest rooms, with a stunning view of the Hudson. And she’s right across the street from our condo now, and not at the Hoboken campus. I mean, really, how much did I whinge about schlepping her to school last year through the wind, snow, sleet and hail? A lot.

Plus, when I put my mind to it, I can be quite time-efficient. This morning, as soon as I got the urchin parked in place, I bolted to the city for a fashion press event in SoHo, and a bit of impromptu shopping directly thereafter.

I have no idea how this happened, but until today, I had yet to step a foot inside a Uniqlo. You’d think it’d have my name written all over it – super-inexpensive and very, very minimalist. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m completely stuck in a 90s minimalism time-warp, and the late great Carolyn Bessette is my style idol. I spotted her up close and personal once, at some schmancy beauty luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria, and I damn near hyper-ventilated.

So in honor of CB, I nabbed an extremely no-frills navy v-neck pullover and this down vest, which has soooooo much going for it.

Like what, you ask? Well, it’s hooded. It’s stretchy. It has extremely mama-friendly zip pockets, which you can cram with your keys and cell phone, thus keeping your hands free to swat your tot. Kidding. I’m not a swatter. A fly-swatter, maybe, but not a tot-swatter.

I’m building quite the collection of down vests, but this one from Uniqlo is all that and a big bag of Kettle chips. And if you happen to eat a big bag of Kettle chips (yum), that stretchy down will come in mighty handy.