My suitcase for spring break ‘13 (locale: Shanghai & the nearby countryside) is very Linda Evangelista circa 1989-inspired. At last check, the weather is calling for a balmy mid-fifty degrees Fahrenheit. Definitely a significant upgrade from whatever New England calls this, but one that still requires knit sweaters, my go-to J. Crew leggings, and perhaps not the same high-heeled boots in favor of a more practical ballet flat. Photo via katiearmour.

(Source: vintagearchives)

I’m a sucker for anything Mondrian-inspired. In the fall 1965 collection, Yves Saint Laurent designed that iconic fashion piece taken from the canvas of Mondrian’s Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow, and I secretly wish I could go back in time just to be able to wear it. So imagine my excitement when I saw that Kate Spade has designed a Composition-inspired spring 2013 collection, a modern day take on a classic work of art.

Above: the Claudette Dress in Mondrian by Kate Spade

“Though retirement from Vogue may be within her sights, Ms. Coddington deferred any characterization of herself as a genius to the designers whose creations she has devoted the better part of her life promoting. She named the stalwarts Marc Jacobs and Miuccia Prada as favorites and mourned the many others currently out of commission, for whatever reason. ‘John Galliano, whom I adored — gone; Helmut Lang, major talent — gone,’ she said. ‘Hopefully Nicolas won’t just give up and walk away. He’s too good, too strong, too brilliant, too passionate.’

And what of the up-and-comers? ‘I think they need time, and I think too many of the young designers really think that they can step right out of school and be a best seller, and that’s a mistake,’ Ms. Coddington said. ‘I mean, you know, Nicolas took forever to get where he was. Marc got fired 10 times before he made it.’

Anyway, it wouldn’t hurt young designers, or anyone for that matter, to have ‘a few things going wrong in their life,’ she said. ‘I mean, I hate to say it, but it teaches you a hell of a lot, you know.’”

—Alexandra Jacobs for NYT

While we’re on the topic of fall, my 7 essential items for the season: 1. A printed Comptoir des Cotonniers dress 2. Topshop cardigan 3. J. Crew cashmere in cabernet 4. Tory Burch Robinson wallet 5. My favorite skincare items: Aveeno Positively Radiant for day, Shiseido Night Moisture Recharge for night 6. CDC blouse 7. CDC colored denim

When I worked for J. Crew, my favorite part was seeing new shipment boxes being wheeled in the back room, spitting out the bright colors of the new season. Usually within three days, the contents are styled, fitted, and pinned to the mannequins and filed into the catalog, reflecting the brand’s favorite color inspirations of the season. Because of the company’s love affair with colorful lifestyles, we were always encouraged as sales assistants to experiment and be creative with color combinations in our outfits. To this day, I am always on the lookout for inspirational color combinations—from paintings, floral arrangements, fashion, other bloggers, and even weather— and Pinterest has been a great tool. My current favorites include the royal purple accents in a recent Anthropologie catalog, the soft juxtaposition of pastels and darks in an image unearthed through Pinterest, the fluorescent and rich pinks and oranges in a painting by Isca Greenfield-Sanders (h/t to Tory Burch), a seafoam green beading on a cloudy gray from a blogger’s outfit (via Glitter Guide).

Highlights and favorites from Milan Fashion Week Fall RTW 2012, in honor of the Italian high fashion that I’ve come to fully appreciate. That exceptional tailoring and green pops that define Piazza Sempione, those prints and embroidery of the Dolce & Gabbana skirts and Prada’s brilliant combination of my favorite color and its color wheel complement that result in such beautiful, bright fall collections. Top row: Piazza Sempione, photos by Piero Cristaldi // Second: Prada, photos by Giovanni Giannoni // Third: Dolce & Gabbana, photos by Piero Cristaldi // Images courtesy of WWD.

“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it. Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

—Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of Pantone Color Institute

Sartorial Note to Self: Sport more of this saturated Mediterranean azure color during European travels.

(Source: glafkisdolcevita)

I think people in Boston have a way of strategically not following things that are happening, which is great. They’re not sucked into a vacuum of ideas that make them fashion cattle. You always hear people knock style in Boston, but go anywhere, and you’ll find people who don’t care about fashion.

—Alan Bilzerian

bergdorfgoodman:

A moment in pink. At breakfast with @Miss_WuNY (Taken with Instagram at Bergdorf Goodman)

Two things to note from this photo:

1. The Tumblr presence of Bergdorf Goodman and Daily Candy (which, fun fact, is the inspiration to the name of my blog)—instant #FF
2. This dress from Jason Wu’s Spring 2012 collection

(Source: bergdorfgoodman)

“The URM is reassuringly earthy and tweedy in an unassailable muscular Jason Bourne meets James Bond by way of Sir Ernest Shackleton sort of a fashion. He has a limited awareness of clothing and sartorial signaling, but he knows what he likes. He pays £15 for a haircut and shave at the local barbers, looks askance at anything with a label that doesn’t have Oxfam attached to it and, when asked where he got his jacket from, is proud to say ‘it was my grandfather’s.’”

—Tina Gaudoin for WSJ Style

clubmonaco:

Borough Market

Borough Market on London’s Wilton Way is running a ‘Go Green’ Initiative. You pay for a glass bottle and you can refill with wine again and again from their barrels. Cheers to that. –Browns Fashion

I like this concept.

There was a time I could do that…

IRONIC ROMANTICISM. The fashion industry’s obsession with Russia transforms the city I’ve always characterized by their severe-sounding language to an ironically romantic one. Sure Russia will always evoke the USSR, Stalin reign, and figurative (and literal) coldness, but it now also reminds of me of the supple feeling of buttery leather, and thick, lush wools and cashmere (that could only be essential given the weather) in saturated hunter greens, chocolate browns, and crimson reds…in one word: autumn.

(Source: themaritimes)

textbook:

I ditched the city for Connecticut this weekend and on the way to dinner my family started asking me what I thought Irene would wear if she was you know, not a hurricane. Right away, I played the Rodarte card and then started thinking some Prabal Gurung—sort of that Miss Havisham whirling…

I hoped this would happen. John Jannuzzi doesn’t disappoint.