Trendline from left: Yves Saint Laurent | Sonia Rykiel | Ungaro (Photo: AP)

Good Morning my style-oriented readers !

Once Again, I do apologize for keeping this blog up to no date at all these past weeks and I thank you all for your wonderful patience. Nevertheless, Vanitymirror is once again up and running with your number 1 illegal stylist. It is time to recap a little of the forever-changing events of fashion.

1. Fashion Week in Paris for Spring 2009 is over and is certainly a great core for artistic style inspiration. (I'll get back to you on that).
2. Dita Von Teese to make her own line of lingerie (how very surprising...)
3. Victoria "Posh" Beckham is running around with obscene and not to mention hideous shoes, trying to, once again, start a new fashion trend by wearing Universe High Heeled shoes...without Heels! ( We love your hair but please don't think you can make us run around thinking Deer-season is "in").
4. Key word for this autumn season: MYSTERIOUS. (I'll get back to you on that too.)
5. Lindsay Lohan to be front figure for Fornarinas upcoming fashion campaign, apparently because she is, and I quote: "Talented, goal-oriented and a "bad girl". "
   
6. Well, I don't really know if this is news...But Paris Hilton is launching her own clothing line. Guess what color the clothes are? Yeah...pink...
7. Last but certainly not least for this fashion update: Soon you'll be able to shop bags and accessories from the hard-to-get collection TokiDoki For LeSportSac on this very blog! Handpicked by yours truly, and of course I made sure my readers get the best price for it too! In other words, You can just forget the skyhigh prices of the TokiDoki For LesportSac collections on Ebay.

Phew, Paris fashion week, and what a week it had been, models fainting because the corsettes where too tight, designers expressing their political views on the runway...Anyway, a very reappearing trend from many designers where short skirts with long trails, really long trails. Hats and headbands all over the place and really high heels. Very colorful and flowery as usual during spring fashion, but I liked that there was a significant amount of subtle colours such as beige and brown. Since there is a political campaign still going strong in the US, many seem to have favoured the Business-chic look, which I just can't get enough of by the way. Favorite runway shows where Chanel and UNGARO. Simply gorgeous!

Fornarina Frame Lead T-shirt från Nelly

Top *vero moda*, Svart stickad tröja *Lindex*, Jeans *fornarina*, Stövlar *Skopunkten*

Rabbit Head : Cindy

Blink: Duchess

Fornarina: Page

Ugg: Adirondack Tall

[gallery]

Jeans *fornarina*, Skor *spirit*, Svart linne *hm*, Grå lång/kortärmad kofta *mq*, svart kofta *Gina tricot*, Scarf *åhlens*

"Tokidoki" means "sometimes" in Japanese.  But apparently, the team at Tokidoki translate this into, "as many times as possible."  They don't know how to quit! It's all about the collaborations now-a-days.  And when you think collabo's, Tokidoki's gotta be at the top of the list.  Feast your eyes on the newest collaboration by Tokidoki.Tokidoki has teamed up with a hefty number of companies since its discovery in 2003 and its birth in 2005.  Italian artist Simone Legno has been at a non-stop rampage, collaborating with companies such as; LeSportsac, Toy2r, iSkin, kidrobot, New Era, Dark Horse Comics, Fornarina, Smashbox, Hello Kitty, and Onitsuka Tiger, just to name a few!  And all at a limited run.

Since the original print, tokidoki's been nothing but an inspiration to me.  The strong lines and the distinctive characters pop out and catch my attention every time.  What gets me the most is the art is inspired by Japan.  The artist, Simone Legno, is a seasoned veteran in illustration but the images you see are inspirational interpretations of Japan.  In other words, Tokidoki is Japan seen through the eyes of Simone Legno.

Now we; the artists, designers, collectors, and collaborators, from the world of limited edition everything,now welcome...Ride Snowboards.  

Tadaaaaaaa...

- Rob "Lefty" Capili

The Italian artist, Simone Legno, was in Rome, Italy when he created his awesome flash site. In 2003 he was offered a deal to move to LA and build Tokidoki into a brand. So he did. And now there are tons of Tokidoki brand products out there. He's got product lines with Smashbox (cosmetics), Ride (snowboards), Fornarina (shoes), Hello Kitty, New Era (hats), LeSportSac (bags/purses), iSkin (ipod skins), Mikasa (soccer ball), jewelery, clothing, watches, belt buckles, toys, stickers, and much more.

Here's the current Tokidoki site from Simone. It's a combination of a store and his artwork and flash skills. It's not the same site I remember, but it still has some of his older work in there like the flash games, etc...: http://www.tokidoki.it/

If you want to read Simone's whole story, you can read it here: http://www.tokidoki.it/about/

I personally fell in love with Tokidoki for LeSportSac bags. Unfortunately for me I fell in love with it right after LeSportSac discontinued it. LeSportSac ran the Tokidoki line from 2006-2007. But thankfully they're doing some re-releases of some prints (only in Hawaii and Guam, though). Although, they just started to release some more Tokidoki bags on Macy.com, but they aren't LeSportSac. I have to give a big thanks to my cousin who is kind enough to pick me up a Tokidoki for LeSportSac while in Hawaii. Otherwise I'd have to resort to overpaying on Ebay and risk the possibility of obtaining a fake...I have to say that one of my favorite characters is Cloudia, and there's isn't too much products with her except a watch. =( A side note: I've never bought any brand name purses before (except Puma, but that's not that expensive). This would be the first time that I've spent over $50 for a purse. And the bad part is that I want at least 2 Tokidoki purses now!!!

Oh I have to give props to this Tokidoki fan blog site. She has amazing information about Tokidoki on here; basically anything that you want to know about Tokidoki, she'll be able to tell you or it's already on the site. It's fairly up to date and I stare at the "Tokidoki Bag Archive" page almost everyday, dreaming till the day I get one... http://www.tokidoki-blog.com/tokidoki-lesportsac-bag-archive/

Ce soir j'ai été souper au resto dans la Petite Italie avec mes parents. Une bonne pizza arrabiata au four à bois précédée d'une entrée de calmars frits... Et puis le capuccino de la Fornarina est particulièrement délicieux. C'est juste dommage que ce restaurant soit si petit, bruyant et entassé.

À notre retour à la maison, comme mon père souffrait d'une crise d'arthrite particulièrement violente, il ne lui a pas fallu bien longtemps pour aller se coucher. Mes parents étant au lit, et ma petite soeur très politisée étant partie à Sherbrooke pour un congrès des jeunes Libéraux, je n'avais plus personne avec qui jaser. Il ne me restait que Victor, qui me suivait en roucoulant, en manque d'affection, tout fier de ne plus morver grâce à ses antibios. Je me suis donc tapé un second blitz de DVD de Supernatural, combiné à 2 tasses de café noir et quelques parties de SuperTux.

Maintenant que je viens de revoir la fin de la deuxième saison de Supernatural, je suis tout frustré de ne pas avoir vu la troisième au fur et à mesure qu'elle était diffusée à la télé. Je suis devenu accroc à cette émission beaucoup trop tard, n'ayant commencé à la regarder en rafale que cet hiver. Maintenant que j'ai revu la mort du Yellow-Eyed Demon (yeah !), ça me purge de ne pas avoir les DVD suivants. Je veux connaître la suite du bordel majeur mis en place dans le dernier épisode de la saison 2. What about that Faustian Deal ? And that army of 200 demons left without a leader ?

Curieux de savoir quand je pourrai mettre la main sur la saison 3, je suis allé faire un tour sur le site d'Archambault, comme ça, juste au cas où, en pleine nuit. Et par bonheur, j'ai non seulement trouvé la date de sortie des DVD (le 1er septembre), mais j'ai aussi pu les précommander ! Mes emplettes nocturnes sont faites. Vive le commerce électronique. :P

Something old avec ma veste en jean délavée achetée sur les puces de Montreuil en '93 (ça ne nous rajeunis pas !)
Something new avec ce T-shirt acheté en ligne sur TeachHeart. Il y a 2 semaines il coûtait encore 30 euros, là le même T-shirt est passé à 40 euros... Si vous êtes comme moi une géantesse de 1m74 avec des épaules de déménageurs, le modèle large pour femme taille petit, bien que ce soit de la marque American Apparel. Je vous avoue que l'idée de couper le col et les manches pour en faire un débardeur me tourmente l'esprit.

Something borrowed, ou plutôt vu et copié chez Betty et Anne-So, avec ce sarouel pantalon carotte en solde en ce moment chez les 3 Suisses.
And something blue avec ces shoes de Fornarina que j'ai ressorti de mon placard. Bon OK elles sont gris bleu. Mais on est dans le ton.

But if the little lady in your life just loves the 'street art' Bensimon has teamed up with a jeweller to produce a limited run of trinkets which are sure to win any self proclaimed grafferette's affection.

http://www.princesasmarket.com/ 

Localizada entre o Forte de Copacabana e a rua Francisco Otaviano com a Avenida Vieira Souto. O Arpoador é famoso pela pedra que invade o mar separando a Praia de Copacabana, de onde se tem uma das vistas mais bonitas do Rio de Janeiro:

De um lado, as praias de Ipanema e do Leblon com o morro Dois Irmãos ao fundo; do outro, as praias do Diabo e Copacabana. Além do visual e da praia, o Arpoador tem também um parque com muito verde onde os artistas brasileiros e internacionais fazem apresentações populares. O parque foi batizado de Garota de Ipanema, em homenagem à famosa música de Tom Jobim e Vinicius de Moraes, cariocas por excelência.

Anyways. After the signup and printing of the tickets, i rushed out of class to meet MRint at the Carosel du Louvre to see what was really good with this fashion show. I mean, admittedly lame as i am, i had no idea who fornarina was or wat their brand was abt but they hooked me at urban fashion show. It seemed like the place i needed to be. As i rode the one train to the lourve, i had the usual pregame jitters. You know, when ur headed out, to meet a friend, go to a new club, hit a new party, you always get a lil nervous en route, wondering if its poppin schmackin, yankin. You kno. you worry if u will get in smoothly or if u will b subject to some form of hatred from the harbinger of Hate that is the bouncer community. (PS: i actually jocked some girl at the Glow concert for having a "I LOVE HATE" t, but really it would have been better if it was a i love hate from all but security. lol. Anyways. Again. As i pulled up, meaning, as i strolled over from the metro platform, i saw caught in a mixed emotional moment. I was struck but the extreme length of the line to get into the event. First, reassurance. Yes, i must be in the right spot. then anguish. Wat the fuck am i gonna do about this line? then, hope. Do i kno anybody in line ahead of me? then, sadness. I do but she is like three ppl ahead. Damn.
Once i finally got in the wait was worth the while, the hour while. There were hella (yea, hella) different rooms, a party room, a show room, a VIP drink for free room, a room with a giant pink dinosaur, a room with stupid amounts of pink bicycles... Really, it was like an adults playground. There was a dance floor (that heated up as the night went on), free heineken, all kinds of candy, and kettle corn. models doin interesting interpretive dance numbers telling stories of underwater kingdoms and stuff (yea, just a crazy as it sounds) and then to top it off, i get bumped dumb hard by security. Yea, i was just minding my business, watching the lil model show/story, and then some big ugly fake fabio ponytail mf nearly knocked me over. Im thinkin damn, again with the hate. But then all was put into perspective. I saw why space was being cleared. The bouncers had tried to subtly sneak Lindsay Lohan into the event. Two ppl away from me, following me around the world. I felt pretty good about wat i was doin with my life. Like the french say "La vie est BELLE".

Many travel sites are touting excellent options that miraculously avoid airfare to Europe (and with the dollar weak on top of all this, it may be a blessing in disguise). A variety of cruise ships dock along both the east or west coasts which means a shorter and less expensive flight than going anywhere across the ocean directly. Also many cruises are all-inclusive, which is a great way to stretch your dollar as well as more transit fun than being crowded into a germ-filled airplane with no leg room. 

Unlike boats requiring traditional deck shoes, cruise ships mean your feet don't even have to get close to water if you don't want them to. So bring on the summer styles! Most ships (and the ports you dock at) will also have ample opportunities to dress up too, so don't forget about the heels (my favorite for beachy lo-cals are always espadrilles).

The trend-setters in NYC, now vacationing all over the world, are wearing strappy gladiator styles (like my first pick below which is of the cool, studded variety) and flip flops with medallion embellishments like these pretty gold ones by DKNY (no one I've read has printed on this trend much, surprisingly, but you'll see it everywhere). One trend that people have been talking about (forever) are metallic colors and there is no better way to wear it than with summer-bronzed skin (or super-pale-covered-in-sunscreen skin works too!). These Fornarina heels have a great metallic gold color and I really dig the braided straps and wooden sole.

Though hot right now, sometimes gladiator styles can be a little too high-drama for many women. But there are always ways of incorporating any trend into anyone's wardrobe (give me a challenge!): this simplistic version in black in my second row are killer on-trend now and yet won't look like last season's garbage for many summers to come.  On the other end of the spectrum is a trend that you might consider timeless or just something to try for a season (or never): the Birkenstock style. If you love it, you might die for the neon green Michael Kors below. But, like it or not, I'd expect to see at least one or two of these cushy, foot-molding soles in your local trendy stores next summer, so get ready. Philip Lim may even be credited with starting the trend.

And if you don't plan on vacationing this summer? Throw away your dirty old flip flops from last year and treat yourself to a new pair with a little dressy spunk to them. My last selection by Dr. Scholl's have your basic flip flop comfort and are begging for a luau (ok, backyard bbq!). Hey, your shoes might just inspire you to build your own Hawaiian island retreat at home (don't forget a blender and some coconut shells for the pina coladas).

Happy Summer planning! Summer officially begins June 21st.

I loved the SATC movie. By default, I don't understand how anyone could not. Michael Patrick King could've made those women do anything and I still would've quietly cried and rejoiced through the entire thing. My mom sent me an amazing text message after she watched it on Sunday, saying it made her cry and she hopes I always have good friends like throughout my life. I have them right now and I too really hope I keep them. The series was amazing and you could tell those women loved each other but I can't really recall a single episode that shows that the sort of devoted friendship that's so obvious. Moments like that are what make me fall in love with friends and shows.

It's the same as when Serena confessed her secret during the season finale of Goss Girl and Blair, Chuck and Nate all pulled together and took care of what needs to be taken care of. It's so amazing and true when close groups all come together and act so selfishly.

I fully acknowledge that's somewhat ridiculous to say about a show like G.G. but oh well, these are the things that matter and are most sacred in a young 20something life.

Finalized my NYC trip for the end of June and am SO excited ! It's going to be an amazing trip, lots of important mtgs and seeing good friends and family members (including new dog ones.)

Along with loving the SATC movie for it just being the SATC movie, the title of this post refers to something else. Seeing Carrie walk and stand and be amazing in heels, I've resolved to wear heels more often myself. Maybe it's because of my casual upbringing and lifestyle or the fact I can't afford expensive shoes that would actually be comfortable, but I'm just such a flat girl. And not even a flat girl, a nice flip flop girl. At best. Far too often an actual flip flop girl.

At least Rainbows are pseudo expensive in the world of flip flops.

But since seeing the movie, I've turned over a new leaf. We ventured out of LA for my first visit to Nordstrom Rack on Sunday and I found 2 amazing pairs of heels. One is gladiator style in wine colored snakeskin and the other are tan colored sandals with wood bottoms. Makes for a pretty platform sandal but a noisy walk down the stairs and all around my office. I cringed inwardly while I walked downstairs this morning, wondering who might be in the stairwell at the same time trying to see who the giant was clomping around.

In a Carrie Bradshaw effort, I am going to try to wear heels more often. And in a responsible moment (we can call it Miranda Hobbes if you want) I think I'm returning a pair of Piperlime heels that finally arrived today. They're my cut of heels and in gray patent ombre but I just don't love them. Too often I buy things and forget you can return them. Some ppl buy too much and return too much, but I'm of the type of sickness where I buy too much and don't return. Ever.

I wish I could be like Carrie in the SATC movie and just go ahead and use my stove for sweater storage -- that way, I'd have a neater bedroom and I would be a little skinnier.

New tan wooden/noisy sandals- the perfect shoe to wear with floaty dresses that, as of yet, I could only wear flat sandals with:

Ummmmmm....shoes.

These Italian beauties are just too hot. Pink and sequined. I Looooovvvveeee them. The Fornarina sport selection is especially fabulous. Not too expensive and nice quality. 

Check them out!

Este es el caso de "Fornarina", que en mas ocasiones ha contado con ilustradores para algunas prendas de su colección,  esta temporada cuenta con Mijn Schatje.

Mijn Schatje es una ilustradora de 23 añitos, que vive en Paris podeis ver mas información sobre ella y sus trabajos en http://www.myspace.com/mijnschatje. Seguimos con el lowbrow y el subrealismo pop.

Su trabajo para fornarina...spot

A mi me gustó mas la colaboración de Miss Van para la coleccion de fornarina del 2006.  Menos pop o quizas, mejor dicho, menos dulce porque sus dibujos tambien tienen aire pop, el aire de las pin-up de los 50, y yo desde luego veo un aire a Betty Boo  en version mas trash o si quieres punk.

Miss Van es el nombre "artistico" de Vanessa Castex, esta artista francesa comenzó a pintar en las calles de su Toulouse natal con 18 años. Es una de las mas conocidas artistas del graffiti. En Francia nacio una forma "diferente" de graffiti en 1993, con Miss Van y Mademoiselle Kat, artistas que forman parte de lo que se conoce como el grupo Hanky Panky Girls. Actualmente vive en Barcelona. El artista Mitch Clem la referencio en su comic autobiagrafico San Antonio Rock City.

Actualmente expone en la galeria Magda Danysz en Paris: http://www.magda-gallery.com/ang/missvanworks.htm

Tambien expusó en Iguapop en Barcelona: http://www.iguapop.net/artists/missvan.html

(Iguapop Gallery; C/ Comerc 15; Barcelona)

Graffitis de Miss Van en Barcelona:

(fotos de Galeria Magda y de http://www.barcelonastreetart.net/graffiti/graffiti.htm)

Tune into Tokidoki. All you need is a good sense of humor and a palate for the peculiar. Inspired by the cute characters of Japanese pop art, you won’t find Simone Legno’s adorable cast on TV, at least not yet. Tokidoki, which means "sometimes" in Japanese, is broadcast exclusively by fans on print tees, hoodies, jewelry and bags.

tokidoki is the Japanese inspired lifestyle brand created in 2005 by Italian artist Simone Legno. All of this range is limited and very collectable.

For the girl always on the go who wants to keep it fun comes this TokiDoki spring Summer 2008 collection!

Featuring Toki Doki signature style illustrations, these bags truly rules!

Lots of zipper closures keeps things organized while staying super cute!

For the best bags in town, choose TokiDoki ! Now available at www.spoiledbrat.co.uk