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Blanket Statement

By Linda Immediato — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:41:00 GMT

Photograph by Hacob

You know that old serape in the trunk of your car? It’s for when you pull over and hike up a hill to capture a Twitter-worthy sunset or lie on the sand to watch dolphins playing in the ocean. Local designers have incorporated the staple into an array of accessories, a stylish reminder of time spent off the road.

True Religion shirt, $242, at True Religion, Beverly Center, L.A., 310-652-0037. Cobra Society boot, $920, at Satine, Beverly Grove, 323-655-2142. Make Smith belt, $145, at Individual Medley, Atwater Village, 323-665-5344. Tylie Malibu clutch, $225, at Tylie Malibu, Malibu, 310-456-8886

High Brow

By Linda Immediato — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:01:00 GMT

Photograph by Joseph Shin

Cat-eye frames, named for the feline appearance they gave the wearer, were a hot fashion accessory in the 1950s. The top ridge, or browline, eventually became the focal point of elaborate detailing, from rhinestones to intricate inlays. With their latest sunglass collections, Modo for Jason Wu, Prada, and Christian Dior give a nod to that decade’s obsession.

ARCH RIVALS
From top: Modo for Jason Wu, $295 at modoshop.com. Prada, $430 at Prada, Beverly Hills, 310-278-8661.Christian Dior, $325 at Christian Dior, Beverly Hills, 310-859-4700.

Body Electric

By Linda Immediato — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:21:00 GMT

It’s the dreaded bikini season, when shopping for a bathing suit can send your self-esteem plummeting. Feeling your pain, we narrowed down problem body areas to the three most common and, with tips from the “fit specialists” at Santa Monica’s SwimSpot, matched some of the season’s hottest styles to de-emphasize them.


ATHENA $99 at SwimSpot, Santa Monica Place, 310-395-5600	NANETTE LEPORE Top, $62, and bottom, $56, at Nanette Lepore, L.A., 310-281-0004
Is covering your midsection a battle of the BULGE (1)? Opt for tank-inis, fauxkinis, and one-pieces that create the illusion of a slimmer waist with details like shirring or ruching above the hips. High-waisted, two-piece suits made with tummy-control fabric are another way to go. AVOID: Low-cut bottoms.


TRINA TURK $156 at Trina Turk, L.A., 323-651-1382	ERES Top, $275, and bottom, $270, at Eres, Beverly Hills, 310-246-1008
Could your BUTT (2) give Kim Kardashian a run for her wedding money? Visually balance your figure with solid-color two-piece suits with shirred, banded bottoms or one-pieces with empire waists. AVOID: String bikini bottoms.


WE ARE HANDSOME $290 at Barneys New York, Beverly Hills, 310-276-4400	LUXE BY LISA VOGEL Top, $75, and bottom, $53, at SwimSpot, Santa Monica Place, 310-395-5600
Got a small BUST (3)? Bikinis with ruffled or fringed tops give the appearance of more volume, and of course, padded push-up tops can also do the trick. For those wanting to flaunt what they have naturally, a one-piece with a plunging neckline creates a sexy silhouette. AVOID: Triangle bikini tops. Should your bust measure wider than your hips and your waist is narrower than both, you’ve got the classic bombshell shape—no one feels sorry for you.

Catch Of the Day

By Linda Immediato — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:05:00 GMT

Photograph by Dimitri Newman

It’s fashion conscious to be environmentally conscious—witness the recent uproar over Reese Witherspoon sporting an outlawed python purse. Fish skin, a discarded by-product of the canning industry, is the leather accessory du jour: It’s shiny and recyclable. High-end designers like Manolo Blahnik, who recently collaborated on a tilapia skin sandal, are stressing the material’s sustainability. Plus, who couldn’t use a little more Omega-3?

SHOE IN: Designer Marianne Kooimans chose perch skin to accent her gold lace-up stilettos. $525 at Koko Venice, Venice, 310-392-7770. OFF THE CUFF: Fendi’s “Chameleon” bracelet in stingray, a close relative of the shark, makes a statement. $1,245 by special order at Fendi, Beverly Hills, 310-786-8269. SHINE ON: Kelly Locke used glazed tilapia leather for his “Mimi” clutch. $610 at Arcade Boutique, West Hollywood, 323-944-0018.

Take a Bow

By Caroline Cagney — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:28:00 GMT

Bow ties were once a signature of worldly authority—think FDR and Winston Churchill—while Jerry Lewis and Pee-wee Herman gave them a comic twist. Famous women from Marlene Dietrich to Diane Keaton to Rihanna have sported the neck-cessory. This season they’re back but in iconoclastic shapes and exaggerated lengths that evoke more boho poet than ambitious politician. For her fall collection designer Tory Burch added voluminous ties to amber and rose silk blouses and then included a video on her blog instructing how to knot them. “The tie takes the classic shirt and makes it glamorous,” says Burch. “It reminds me of all those incredibly chic women from the ’40s and ’70s.”

On the runways Phillip Lim sent out a sweater maxicoat with a modernistic, chunky half-tied neck bow; Gucci, a printed chiffon scarf; and Ferragamo, a jet-black silk tie that added architectural accents to form-fitting apparel. Jason Wu devised a skinny ribbon sewn onto shirt collars, while Dolce & Gabbana’s diminutive patterned bow made the subtlest of statements.

Lately L.A.-based stylists Emily Current and Meritt Elliott, the duo behind the denim label Current/Elliott and a handbag line for Kate Spade, have been pairing a shimmery vintage tie shirt from Palace Costume with tux-cut pants. “We love the theatrics of it,” says Elliott, who wears a similar Rebecca Taylor design with her bell-bottom jeans. “On a man it seems gender bending, but on a woman it’s the perfect balance of masculine and feminine.”

Melissa Akkaway might have been channeling her great-grandfather Will Beckley, whose men’s store set fashion standards in long-ago Las Vegas, when she topped a blouse and a dress with bow tie necklines for her fall collection. “There’s so much you can play with,” says Akkaway, whose West Hollywood boutique, Beckley, carries similar looks by Zac Posen and Camilla and Marc. “If you have a corporate job, pair the top with a pencil skirt, and if it’s retro you’re going for, tuck it into a high-waisted pant.”

Man about town Cameron Silver, owner of the high-end vintage boutique Decades, often dons floppy velvet versions from Lanvin or creations by French designer Alexis Mabille. “They have to be worn tongue in cheek because they are a bit clownish,” Silver admits. “I call them my erectile dysfunction bow ties.”

ALSO: Watch Let's Talk Bowties

Lip Service

By Emili Vesilind — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:04:00 GMT

Hollywood may be where cosmetics godfather Max Factor launched his empire, but the city’s most famous contributions to modern lipstick are the sunny (and occasionally frosted) coral shades that were popular in the ’70s and ’80s, when Farrah Fawcett and other bronzed blonds helped shape the world’s perception of the California Girl. As our obsession with tanning faded in the late ’90s, the prototypical SoCal gal turned to a lip color that Max Factor would have approved: ruby red. For more than a decade the hue has been as ubiquitous as Louboutin stilettos at Industry events and a mainstay on the nightlife scene.

Red is certainly not dead; instead it’s reaching depths befitting the harvest season. At the fall 2011 fashion shows, Missoni and Gucci models flaunted burgundy pouts the likes of which haven’t been seen since Courtney Love and Drew Barrymore capped off their long johns and Doc Martens with a wine-stained kisser. The color is tinting the mouths of not only Kristen Stewart and Alicia Keys, but also bartenders, shop girls, and hairdressers. The early-’90s fashion revival (lots of lumberjack plaid at Chris Benz and Y-3) helps contextualize the trend, but Hollywood makeup artist Jessica Liparoto, who’s been reintroducing her clients to the look, offers a simpler explanation: “Red is pretty cliché at this point, so women want something new.”

Cosmetics companies Paul & Joe, Revlon, Sue Devitt, and Smashbox are releasing burgundy lipsticks and glosses for fall after years of cultivating crimson shades. “It’s a great alternative to classic red,” says Devitt, “and perfect for those still unsure about wearing a red lip.” Don’t mistake the new shades for the gothic, gooey offerings of the recent past that riffed on the near-ebony vamp effect of the 1920s. This time around the formulas are sheerer and “have a little bit more violet to them rather than being blackish,” says Jamie Greenberg, an L.A.-based makeup artist. “They’re friendlier. And it’s not one burgundy across the board. You have to think of burgundy like you do red—you need the right one for your skin tone.”

Must Love Dogs

By Ann Herold — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:00:00 GMT

The previous dog Keith Vallot owned was a 120-pound German shepherd that endlessly fetched balls in his yard. The canine the former tennis pro and stuntman now calls his best friend is a 15-pound cavalier King Charles spaniel named Kosmo that refuses to chase anything—and Vallot couldn’t be happier. All over L.A. he-men are embracing diminutive dogs without a hint of embarrassment. Not only do they have outsize personalities, but the toy breeds are content in confined spaces—they can make do with a small patch of grass for exercise. They’re also easier to take to social events, as Adrien Brody and Mickey Rourke have demonstrated with their Chihuahuas. Kosmo joins his owner at the Santa Monica photo studio where Vallot is director of operations. Any qualms about squiring what is, after all, a royal lapdog? “I walk him with complete confidence,” says Vallot. “The barista at the studio said to me, ‘You really know how to manly up that dog.’ ” For the guy’s guy, L.A.’s omnipresent “purse” dogs were about as popular as purses, until Angelenos like El Segundo native John Meadows discovered they were just as ready to play hard. Meadows inherited his mother’s nine-pound Yorkshire terrier when she died. “It was weird at first,” says Meadows, who brings Eddie to the parks where he spars with fellow practitioners of savate, the French form of kickboxing. “I still have people who come up to me and say, ‘Really?’ ” Meadows is now such a fan of the miniatures that he seeks them out. “I know how much they’re real dogs.” As a law student, Beverly Hills litigator Tristram Buckley was seeking a dog that would fit his apartment. He’d read about the Pekingese bravado, which is how seven-pound Shelby came into his life. Soon she was accompanying him to class and on runs. “She would be a blur of white feet,” Buckley says of their seven-and-a-half-minute-mile pace. “People would stop and stare.” Today the pair might get a second look as Shelby rides shotgun in her master’s Ferrari. “I was an undergrad at the University of Miami,” he says. “The rage was pit bulls. There’s something wrong when you use a dog to put up a front.” Brad Kriser was struck by how many men with small dogs he saw in L.A. after opening an outpost of his eponymous Chicago-based chain of natural pet supply stores. But “people on the Coast have always been more progressive,” he says. Nor do canines here need ice-tough paws and a heavy coat. Kriser’s own dog, Maggie, is a ten-pound shih tzu-poodle mix that’s gone on many a miles-long hike. “It’s the best of both worlds. You can play ball with this dog, and then it can sit on your chest,” he notes. “No matter what the guys say, they like it.” //

Illustration by Bill Brown

Desert Fires

By Monica Corcoran Harel — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 07:00:00 GMT

Anyone attending Burning Man—the gathering that draws tens of thousands to the Nevada wilderness around Labor Day—knows that function trumps fashion. Attire there has always been influenced by the environment (high desert) and the energy (communal creativity). What’s emerged is an aesthetic that borrows from Fellini and Mad Max and has been co-opted by designers. In this year’s runway shows Rodarte and Rag & Bone displayed torso-baring tops and platform wedges that tower above the dust, while Harper’s Bazaar dubbed Michael Kors’s boho footwear “Park Ave-meets-Burning Man sandals.” The late Alexander McQueen’s floral tutus and pheasant feather skirts also fit the mood. “Anything by McQueen will fly all night at Burning Man,” says Dusty Bacon, whose blog, DustyCouture, celebrates the festival’s looks.

In terms of dress code, Mother Nature is as demanding as Anna Wintour. The 100-degree heat and freezing cold make breathable Lycra and faux fur perennially popular. At Ozzie Dots in Los Feliz, the staff is well versed in outfitting for the extremes. “There were sandstorms at Burning Man last year,” says manager Daniel Hazen, who sees customers shopping as early as May for the event. “We’re stocked up on goggles, and gas masks are always a winner.”

L.A. stylist Tasha Le Mel has designed elaborate unicorn, Cheshire cat, and Louis XVI-era costumes for the festival. Maria Grasso, a TV producer and five-time Burning Man participant, favors cowboy boots, tiaras, slinky ’70s gowns, and flamenco halters. To bring back memories of the smoky nights, Parisian fragrance designer Clement Gavarry has created a scent called Burning Man that is redolent of myrrh, resins, and sandalwood. And for those who want to don Burning Man-appropriate face paint no matter the occasion, Topshop has debuted a line of metallic and faded-neon makeup “that encapsulates the whole experimental festival vibe,” says senior designer Lizzie Dawson.

Photograph courtesy Getty Images

Pioneer Spirits

By Caroline Cagney — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 07:00:00 GMT

The ground-grazing, free-flowing look Melissa Gilbert sported as she ran through the fields in Little House on the Prairie is sweeping L.A. sidewalks and New York runways. Just don’t expect today’s version of the maxi prairie skirt—a fashion statement introduced by Ralph Lauren in the late 1970s—to come in demure sprigged muslin. Designers are showcasing new interpretations of the garment in fabrics that include voluminous silk poplin (Michael Kors), printed chiffon (Alberta Ferretti), and hand-crocheted lace (Lauren again).

“It reminds me of Joni Mitchell in the canyon,” says actress Shiva Rose of Vena Cava’s aqua silk crepe rendition—a throwback to disco skirts, another inspiration of the trend—that she bought to feature on her blog, The Local Rose. Tim Kaeding, cofounder of Mother, made a microthin, fluid A-line for his debut jeans collection. It was such a hit for spring that he’s carrying it for fall. “Coming into the industry as someone new, when you get an order in the hundreds, you slap your knee,” says Kaeding. “But this was in the thousands.” He sees the evolution of looser silhouettes as a reaction to years of skinny jeans, when movement has been anything but free.

Those who saved their long skirts from three decades ago are in luck, says Sarah Bergman, manager of the L.A. vintage store the Way We Wore, where the separates—in crochet or cotton florals—are flying off the racks. She calls the trend “innocent Gunne Sax meets The Virgin Suicides.” Rochelle Gores anticipated the demand at her West Hollywood boutique, Arcade. “I bought heavily into long, feminine skirts for summer because it’s such a California look,” she says.

Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power of WhoWhatWear.com are similarly smitten with the latest incarnations of the style. “They’re all over the market,” says Kerr, “so downtown minimalists, earthy bohemians, and high-fashion tastemakers can all find the perfect piece.”

Triple Vision

By Alexis Alagem — Mon, 09 May 2011 07:00:00 GMT

Illustration by Kristen Ulve

Erika Meyers, a college student who lives in West Hollywood, owns more than 100 pairs of fashion eyewear ranging from bug-eyed Balenciagas to candy-colored “cheapies” from a 99 Cents Only store. But the 24-year-old is especially enthusiastic about her newest pair: squarish Armani Exchange frames in black with smoky lenses that she bought online for $58. The multilayered mirrored coatings on the lenses give the illusion of depth of field to projected or broadcast 3-D imagery. “I just bought a 3-D TV, and I would never wear those ugly movie theater glasses,” Meyers says. True, there’s not much 3-D to watch at present—ESPN offers it, and Comcast will soon launch a channel devoted to it. But the slew of 3-D video games and movies scheduled for release this year, including a Martin Scorsese period piece, Hugo Cabret, points to 3-D going from nerdy specialty to mainstream fare.

We’ve come a long way from the paper-frame red-and-blue throwaways viewers donned for horror films like House of Wax. In the year and a half since audiences were loaned clunky accessories by cinemas showing Avatar—remember having to check them back in on bathroom breaks?—fashion firms have jumped in to fill a void. Lacoste, Nike, Nautica, and CK released personal high-tech specs this spring for less than $200 apiece. Gucci and Oakley started off the trend late last year. Each company put its stylistic stamp on the frames—Gucci with its signature red-and-green stripe ($225), Oakley in the wraparound shape popular in action sports ($120). “Doing a 3-D program was a logical step, what with the explosion of 3-D right now,” says Patrick Doddy, brand director for Armani Exchange.

Sony and LG make glasses that communicate wirelessly with 3-D televisions. But they don’t have the looks—or the logos—some consumers crave. Still, tech products almost always go down in price over time. Marchon, a company that provides 3-D lenses for several high-end labels, just released its own $30 versions. “It’s designer looks without the designer price,” says Trey Ditto, a Marchon representative. Maybe the early upper-echelon 3-Ds will wind up as collectors’ items on par with their red-and-blue predecessors.