HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!

Mother’s Love

Her love is like
an island in life’s ocean,
vast and wide
A peaceful, quiet shelter
From the wind, the rain, the tide.
‘Tis bound on the north by Hope,
By Patience on the West,
By tender Counsel on the South
And on the East by Rest.
Above it like a beacon light
Shine Faith, and Truth, and Prayer;
And thro’ the changing scenes of life
I find a haven there.

Author Unknown

Dedicated to: Mom, Kim, Grace, Jeannie, Cheryl, Barbara, Trisha, Cathy L,  Cynthia D, Michelle F, Alexandra, Mimi, Laurie, Jill F, Michele G, Kari, Jane, Pam, Jill C, Cathy, Cynthia H, Stacey, Mary Ann, Mary Jane, Amy, Maria, Allison, Erin, Cathy N, Bonnie, Elizabeth, Heidi, Ia, Joanie, Lisa, Patti, Nancy, Sandy.

More Things We Love – Tom Odell

2013 is turning out to be quite the year for Tom Odell. Besides riding the critical success of his 2012 EP, Songs From Another Love, touring the US (a long time dream of his) to rave reviews, and opening for the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park this summer, Odell was named the BRITs’ Critics’ Choice Award winner, previously won by artists including Adele and Florence and The Machine. To top it off he was also announced as one of fifteen nominees for the BBC Sound of 2013 poll in January 2013.

It’s hard to believe that a young man of 22 (21 when he recorded Songs From Another Love) can write such poignant, passionate love songs coupled with music so magnificently formed. But, when you learn the Chichester born lad has been writing songs since the wee age of 13, and had the confidence to walk into pubs and clubs and ask to perform on the spot, not so much.

Odell spoke with Nowness about the his songwriting process and says his lyrics are inspired by his “inability to sustain a relationship with someone for longer than six months … I find that I write much better songs when I’m being honest, and writing about things that happen to me. It can get a little weird though, when friends or girlfriends work out that a song is about them. But it’s amazing what you can get away with it. Artistic license I think they call it.”

When discussing his debut studio album, Long Way Down, which is set to release on June 24th, the balladeer had this to say, “I hope the album feels human and real and that there are some flaws — because the flaws help make it what it is. Really, I’d love to live in a time when music felt uncontrived and imperfect and gave people a real sense of elevation. When it’s sad I want it to be REALLY sad. When it’s happy I want it to feel euphoric… I suppose I want the record to express the heightened feelings and emotions we all get in our lives.”

I love having something to look forward to!! Hurry up June 24th!

Thought You Might Like To Know

Sarah Ellison Lewis, founder of Bootleg Airstream, is a seasoned fashion stylist and market editor with extensive experience in celebrity, editorial, red carpet, and wardrobe consulting. Especially shoes!

Bootleg Airstream, founded in 2011, offers customers impeccably curated, high fashion footwear from all over the world. This first and only shoe store in an Airstream trailer is parked in Austin, Texas in the center of the popular South Congress shopping district. But what about the shoe obsessed that doesn’t live in Austin?  Are we to do without her awesome, must have shoe collections?

Sarah has heard our cries of woe and answered them with the just launched BOOTLEGMarket.com.. Think of it as a muse for us folks with shoe obsessions, where you can also buy, sell or trade shoes. You can be inspired by and shop closets of the fashion elite, or do the same for street fashion from around the world. This global peer-to-peer shoe marketplace houses e-commerce, social aspects, news and inspiration all under one roof.

https://bootlegmarket.com/

Are you tired of paying a 9% commission fee to Ebay? Don’t have the homemade or vintage goods for etsy? There’s a new kid in town where you can buy and sell clothing on line, and it’s going to be the next big thing.

Dresm is an online marketplace that is the result of a collaboration between a small group of friends, web designers and sales people, who hail from Portland Oregon. Their motto is ” We all wear clothes, we all spend money on clothes, we all discard clothes. With the idea that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, we hope that Dresm will encourage people to buy and sell used clothing”. They believe the fast turnover of fashion trends can take a toll on the planet. Their hope is to keep clothing in circulation longer to help reduce clothing’s demand for natural resources.

It’s user friendly- designed to simplify buying and selling clothing online – and their listing fees are cheap 15 cents (and free relisting), and a 3.5% sales fee which are then added up, and sent to you as a bill every 30 days – items for sale stay listed for 30 days. The sales fee is really the only draw back because you pay whether the item sells on not.  Try Dresm on a few items (I did), see what happens in 30 days! Let me know how it goes and I’ll share my results a month from now!

 

Celebrate Earth Day

Today we need everyone to lend a hand and help our precious Earth (actually, it needs and deserves our help everyday). Let’s all come together to make a difference on this special day – Earth Day!

If your in need of a way to make a difference today I’ve made it easy. You can donate your time or money to any of these 6 charities. Each of these charities shares one common factor: a commitment to protecting the environment and promoting green living..

With your involvement we can help change the world one step at a time.

Friends of the Earth is an organization dedicated to making and promoting green living. A grassroots organization, they fight to keep dangerous technologies and chemicals out of the food we eat. They protect marine ecosystems and lobby government officials to work on developing green energy alternatives. In the last forty years, they have stopped the building of over 150 dams and water projects in many countries around the world. You can spend time volunteering with the organization by becoming involved in their on-line actions or through events in your community.

The Conservation Fundis a non-profit dedicated to keeping our earth green, with most of their energy focused on conserving our nations ecosystems. They seek to improve rural lands in order to benefit society as a whole. They believe that better air and water quality make for a healthier environment for animals and people. One of the tools on their website allows you to calculate your carbon output and buy trees to offset it.

Greenpeace, started in 1971 is a famous environmental organization that seeks to reduce air pollution, eliminate toxic chemicals, get rid of nuclear warheads, protect forests, and promote sustainable agriculture. The organization also offers internships for those who want to take their environmental activism a step further. In celebration of Earth Day, Slacker and Greenpeace launched a new station entitled Going Green with Greenpeace. The station will play music from some of the world’s most environmentally friendly and active artists.

Surfrider (one of Jason Mraz’s favorite charities) was started by 3 surfers in Malibu California when they rewalized their favorite wave, First Point, was about to be destroyed. They organized and worked with the local municipalities until they were satisfied that their efforts to preserve that iconic wave would be successful. Their mission is the protection and enjoyment of oceans, waves and beaches through a powerful activist network. They are currently working and saving waves in 18 countries around the world.

National Resources Defense Council is one of the nation’s most effective environmental action group, combining the grassroots power of 1.3 million members and online activists with the courtroom clout and expertise of more than 350 lawyers, scientists and other professionals. The New York Times has dubbed them “One of the nation’s most powerful environmental groups.” Their staff and volunteers work with businsesses, elected leaders, and community groups on some of the biggest environmental issues we face today.

Pole Pole Foundation, founded in 1992, involves the local communities in the long-term protection and conservation of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the D R Congo, and  its Graueri gorillas. KBNP strives to reduce human pressures on the natural resources of this park while improving the quality of life in the surrounding communities. The local communities have a saying “Empty stomach got no ears”, which simple means when people are in an economic hardship, they won’t listen to you. To prevent the people from entering the park for illegal activities, POPOF provides people with job training and raises awareness among the people about the importance of the natural resources of the park.
Make a difference and donate today (I did) and volunteer where ever and whenever you can. We only have ONE Earth, it deserves our protection!!

More Things We Love – I’m addicited!

By happenstance last week, while trolling through On Demand, l lucked across The Hour on BBC- what many called the British answer to Mad Men. Since I love period dramas (this one starts off in London, year 1956) for the costumes and set design, I figured it was worth an hour of my time. Cut to 4 hours later and the wee hours of the morning (I watched 4 episodes of season 2 that night ) and I was hooked. I watched the remaining 2 and the first season in the following 2 days -  that’s how good this show is!

Written and created by the award-winning Abi Morgan (“The Iron Lady,” “Shame,” “Sex Traffic”), The Hour is set in the world of 1950s television journalism (behind the scenes of the BBC newsroom) and delves into the personal lives, professional interplay and jealous ambition between aspiring but renegade journalist Freddie Lyon (Ben Whishaw, ‘Bright Star’ and ‘Skyfall’), the beautiful ambitious young producer Bel Rowley (Romola Garai, ‘Emma”) with whom he is in love, and his handsome rival Hector Madden (Dominic West, ‘The Wire), the face and lead anchorman of this rising television news team.

This fashionable and stylish six-parter (each season consists of 6 shows) is witty, intelligent and passionate, all while being a feast for the eyes – the costumes rival those of ‘Mad Men’, and while the sets might not be as dazzling as Mad Men’s, they have wonderful aspects and are realistic to what news show sets were like in late 1950′s London.

Season 1 is available on itunes, and while season 2 will be airing On Demand until June of this year, you won’t want to wait that long to watch this riveting, entertaining and totally addicting show!

My Impeccable Style Guru – Emmanuelle Alt

Plenty has been written about Emmanuelle Alt’s (one of my favorite fashion icons) imitable rocker chic french style. What I admire most about Emmanuelle’s style is that she knows exactly what it is and sticks to it. She doesn’t jump on board every new trend, she is discriminative and always original.

Alt started her career in fashion at a young age when in 1986 she joined 20 Ans magazine – becoming fashion editor-in-chief in 1993. She then moved on to become fashion editor-in-chief of Mixte magazine in 1998. After 2 years at the helm of Mixte, Vogue Paris beckoned and she took a position as a fashion editor. In February 2011, following the departure of Carine Roitfeld, Emmanuelle took over as editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris.

Emmanuelle’s style relies on quality basics -  skinny cropped jeans (in various colors), leather pants, over sized shirts, luxury tees, fitted blazers and amazing high heels. I would love to have just one peek, at what must be a stunning shoe collection. When asked about her style, she had this to say, “I like vintage. Balmain. Givenchy. Chanel. I love jeans. And I wear a lot of it – on the other hand I hardly wear skirts “.

Since she said it best, I’ll leave you with Carla Bruni-Sarkoz’ thoughts on Alt’s impeccable style, “Emmanuelle has an unaffected way to be feminine; She doesn’t wear makeup, wears little jewelry, hasn’t had surgery. She reflects how Frenchwomen are feeling—simplicity is the state we all want to be in.”

2013 CFDA Nominees Holds Little Surprises Yet Lots Of Big Talent

The nominations are in for the 2013 CFDA Awards – think of them as the Oscars for fashion – and were announced (along with the honorees) at an exclusive event hosted by CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg and Nadja Swarovski at the new CFDA offices in lower Manhattan.

The list includes both established and up and coming designers, but unfortunately, is filled with little surprises. The nominees for Womenswear Designer of the Year; Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, and Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez, have all won in previous years. The nominees for Accessory Designer of the Year holds one new comer, Phillip Lim, but the other nominees, Alexander Wang and Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, are past winners in this and other categories.

I am looking forward to the Swarovski Awards for Womenswear (the awards for emerging talent) with nominees; Suno’s Erin Beatty and Max Osterweis, Creatures of the Wind’s Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters and Cushnie et Ochs’ Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs, all very talented and I’m sure to be huge fashion names in the near future.

Another disappointment, there’s no fashion icon honoree for 2013. It’s been presented to big names like Kate Moss, Lady Gaga, and Johnny Depp in the past. Maybe they were weary of having another no-show – last year Depp excepted his award via video.

One thing we can count on is fabulous and exciting red carpet viewing. Much like the Oscar’s it’s decidedly the most intriguing part of the evening.

The 2013 CFDA Fashion Awards will take place on Monday, June 3rd at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and will be digitally broadcast on Tuesday, June 4th, only on Style.com. Following is the list of nominees and honorees.

International Award: Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci

Media Award: Tim Blanks

Founders Award: Oscar de la Renta

Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award: Vera Wang

Board of Directors’ Tribute Award: Costume designer Colleen Atwood

Swarovski Award for Accessory Design
Irene Neuwirth
Jennifer Meyer
Pamela Love

Swarovski Award for Menswear
Tim Coppens
Todd Snyder
Public School’s Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne

Swarovski Awards for Womenswear
Suno’s Erin Beatty and Max Osterweis
Creatures of the Wind’s Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters
Cushnie et Ochs’ Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs

Accessory Designer of the Year
Alexander Wang
Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez
Phillip Lim

Menswear Designer of the Year
Michael Bastian
Thom Browne
Duckie Brown’s Steven Cox and Daniel Silver

Womenswear Designer of the Year
Marc Jacobs
Alexander Wang
Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez

Top photo: From left to right – Ashley Olsen, Nadja Swarovski, Vera Wang, Diane von Furstenberg, Mary Kate Olsen.

Children’s Lifesaving Foundation in This Week’s People Magazine

My wonderful friend, Francesca McCaffery, families non-profit, The Children’s Lifesaving Foundation, is featured in this week’s People Magazine (March 4th, 2013 issue). Francesca’s mom, Maria D’Angelo (CLF Founder & President) started the foundation 20 years ago, and over the past 5 years that I have had the honor of volunteering for them I have gotten to know her, and have never met a more genuinely caring person.

Not only does the foundation do incredible work for underprivileged children and their families (the work they do is life changing for the kids they are able to help, you go Christopher!!), but is a true family affair. Both of Maria’s children, Frannie and her amazing brother Sean, have worked tirelessly for the foundation for over 10 years.

Make sure to pick up the issue today and read all about them!!

To make a donation (money I promise they use extremely wisely) or to volunteer, please visit The Children’s Lifesaving Foundation.

Gifts To Indulge The Man In Your Heart On Valentine’s Day

They mow the lawn, take out the garbage, fix the leaking faucet, not to mention lending their sturdy shoulder in times of woe. This Valentine’s Day the man in your life deserves to be almost as spoiled as you do.

Universal Works’ Brisbane twill bomber adds a touch of cool casual to his wardrobe with a bright pop in the color of love. At Barneys New York (the best mens store ever) you can find a million and one things for your other half, but my fav is Rag & Bone’s Montford shawl cardigan. It takes a pair of jeans and tee to urban chic, add Paul Smith’s polished leather toe cap lace ups to top it off with style.

If showering him in words of love is more of what you had in mind, Hidden Message collar stays is a fun way to have your love stay with him all day – messages like ‘you are on my mind’ and ‘there is a surprise waiting for you tonight’ will have him running home from work in seconds flat.

In case your after a more romantic gesture, Rumi The Book Of Love – Poems Of Ecstasy And Longing is a passionate, tender collection of poems from one of the most influential Persian poets of the 13th century. Try reciting one of the poems in your sexiest lingerie for an erotic and amorous gift that will stay with him long after the holiday!!

Clockwise from top left: Hidden Message Collar Stays $59.95 www.redenvelope.com, Universal Works Red Brisbane Twill Windcheater Bomber $204.00 www.mywardrobe.com, Paul Smith Polished Leather Hawk Toe Cap Shoes $395 www.zappos.com, Rumi The Book Of Love – Poems Of Ecstasy And Longing $22.99 www.dieselbookstore.com, Rag & Bone Montford Shawl Cardigan $325.00 www.barneys.com, Miansai Beacon Leather Braided Bracelet $105.00 www.miansai.com.

Fashion Month Starts Now – I’ve Got The Next Best Thing To Be There

Fashion month starts today in NYC, but not everyone is lucky enough to travel the world with a front row seat to the FALL 2013 designer collections (or for that matter to even get in). Unfortunately the shows are not open to the public, only the top buyers and editors get to fill the seats. But if you’ve got a smart phone, I’ve got a way for you to revel in first seen looks of the shows, and behind the stage goings on via Instagram.

I’ve curated a list of the best Instagram fashionites to follow, from Anna Dello Russo – the Italian Editor-At-Large of Japanese Vogue and everybody’s favorite fashion muse, to Scott Schulman of The Sartorialist – his photos of urban street style and the collections are simply sublime, to super model Coco Rocho – you can’t ask for better back stage access than that and beauty to boot. Plus 7 others whose snaps will surely be ones you don’t want to miss!!

So, if you’re not lucky enough to be trotting the globe during fashion month, do the next best thing – follow these fashion gurus on Instagram.

FASHION MONTH SCHEDULE:

New York | February 7 – 14, 2013
London | February 15 – 19, 2013
Milan | February 19 – 26, 2013
Paris | February 26 – March 6, 2013

For more up to date info on the collections and show times check out Live Runway.

Clockwise from top left: CFDA Council Of Fashion designers Of America ,The Sartorialist , Coco Rocha, Kevin Tachman, Refinery 29, Man Repeller, Oyster Magazine, Derek Blasberg, Jamie Beck @_frommetoyou, Anna Dello Russo,