sarah jessica parker’s bitten: pictures ahoy

Fashionista has the first pictures of Sarah Jessica Parker’s line (Bitten! how goth!) for Steve and Barry’s, which brings back collegiate memories of frat rats buying their three-for-$10 university sweatshop t-shirts. I’d like to say that I’d hoped that Bitten would be a great cheap-chic line, but really, I didn’t. A store known for selling athletic apparel isn’t exactly the best fit for fashion.

The line will be a good seller, I’m sure, because you’ll get university students and suburban types who will coo over Parker’s association with the brand. But it’s a blow to Parker’s branding. Sure, it’s great that she’s trying to make fashion inexpensive and accessible—you could argue that it means more when she does it than when, say, Proenza Schouler do it, because Parker is known for being stylish (as opposed to being a fashion house that’s written about in run-on sentences like this one here). But there’s no cachet to Steve and Barry’s, no cachet to the drab, seen-it-before shirts and CAMO PANTS in the line. It just looks like Old Navy’s clearance rack.

Old Navy would have been a better fit for Parker, actually. She fits their demographic well; she appeals to moms who want good value, and teenagers who want to look trendy on the cheap. It would have been a much better fit, and with many Old Navy locations blighting New York City, the photo ops would have been so much better. Imagine Bitten launching in Soho. Yeah, anyone who knows New York and its scene would roll her eyes, but if you weren’t keyed into that scene, you’d be all, “Wow, launching in Soho! High fashion!”

sales roundup!

Maybe you have a tax refund coming? I do, but it’s going to my exciting Condo Buying Fund. Shop for me, dear reader, for I cannot shop myself.

If a $315 handbag is a bargain to you, head to Botkier to pick up its Bombay satchel for that price—it’s half the regular price.

Shopjake has 3.1 Phillip Lim resort at more than half-off, plus more from Mayle and Josh Goot.

Bird LA has Repetto flats and boots on the cheapish. Okay, the less-expensivish.

I would find some sale items at Le Train Bleu but their site redesign took all of the aggravatingly poor aspects of the old site and used that as inspiration. Seriously, what gives?

jovovich-hawk for mng/mango pictures

The main Jovovich-Hawk line is cute and cool in a vintage way, but the prices are unjustifiably high; I have two pieces and while they’re nice, they aren’t that nice. For $449, you should get more than a camisole—or at least you should get a camisole with Karl Lagerfeld’s sweat on it, you know?

So I am happy that Jovovich-Hawk’s cheapy collection will be at Mango in April. Obviously the quality won’t be as high as the main line, but really, the stuff is cute enough to sucker me into the snore zone of Mango. Here are teeny-tiny pics of the collection; I really want the last two pieces. What do you think?

cathy horyn, pauper?

Boo f’ing hoo, Cathy Horyn!

This weekend’s NYT magazine has a sob story from Cathy Horyn about how she can’t afford expensive designer clothing, and–can you believe the embarrassment?–she had to buy an Alice and Olivia tunic instead of the YSL tunic. It’s a tragedy, really; I don’t know how she summons the courage to show herself in public.

The Times has recently been writing an awful lot about the middling problems of wealthy people (witness last week’s “I’m sad because my kitchen remodeling project is over!” story), and this is particularly troubling when the class divide is widening so noticeably in our country.

I wonder if Cathy Horyn and her friends know that for every person who can’t afford Balenciaga anymore, there are probably thousands who can’t even afford its “affordable” replacement of Peter Som (whose dresses are around $1,800). I just can’t feel sorry for anybody who complains about not being able to afford luxury goods while, uh, there’s a war going on. I know fashion in itself can be considered a frivolity, but this story exemplifies not only what’s wrong with fashion (the ridiculous price tags) but also what’s wrong with our materialistic-to-a-fault culture.

patrick robinson for target pictures

Nitrolicious has ‘em, and from what I’m seeing, I’m not super-excited. The line looks breezy and appropriately summery, but… it looks like American Eagle Outfitters. The quality’s probably the same, but with these cheapy-cheap things, you’re paying for design. And this collaboration seems to be missing that latter part. >> Nitrolicious

Fashion Week: Day pre-one

Fashion Week doesn’t start until tomorrow (officially) but I got a head start on the festivities today. First up: the Proenza Schouler press/VIP/whatevah sale event at the Opening Ceremony pop-up store. It was as though Conde Nast opened up and dumped its most fabulous into one tiny shop. Fashionista’s ed was there as well, chatting up the Conde Nasties. Inside: two floors of cheap-chic madness. Opening Ceremony is long and narrow, which meant that everyone had to elbow her way through narrow aisles to grab the goods. Not fun. The most amusing part was that the clothing had a wide range of sizes, but, you know, fashion editors are generally pretty tiny. So if you didn’t grab the S or XS right away, you were in trouble. I left without buying anything, because after waiting 20 minutes to try things on, I didn’t feel like waiting 20 more to buy what I could buy online. Finally, Jack and Lazaro’s skin? Glows like a baby’s.

I dropped by a couple of other events which were, sadly, a collective snorefest. I’m convinced that such events are “see and be seen” things that ultimately make me feel poor because I’m not wearing Balenciaga boots. Instead, I am wearing Marc by Marc Jacobs boots, and somehow I think the other fashion editors know that not only are they last season’s style, they were bought on eBay.

More tomorrow.

proenza schouler for target: pictures and strategy

The Target near me is rumored to be the busiest in the nation (it’s also rumored to be the one that brings the biggest revenues). So when the Go International stuff hits, the best items are gone within a day of hitting the racks. This is why I’m buying my Proenza Schouler stuff online. Today. Weeks before the launch. And here’s how you can do it, too:

1. Go to Shoplocal.com and search for Proenza Schouler. You might get one or two fancy items from Neimanmarcus.com, but most will be from Target.com. Don’t bother searching on Target.com, as the items don’t show up in search results yet.

2. Click the links to go to the Target site. Last week, the images weren’t up, but they are now, so you can see what you’re looking for. Add the items you want to your cart.

3. Here’s the thing: the items aren’t in stock yet, but you can still buy them now. So when they’re in stock, they’ll be sent to you… before the other Proenza vultures can buy the stuff online in February.

4. This is the nicest part: use code TCMRSJFJ and you’ll get 10% off your order.

From what I’ve heard, the line is running small, which isn’t surprising since much of it is being marketed toward juniors. Most of the items on Target.com are not the same that were shown in the press kit, which is a nice surprise. Take a look at some of my favorites after the jump. (Update: Target has caught on and no longer has the PS pieces up!)

payless: who knew?

Normally I do not shop at Payless, because I have this weird thing about needing all of my non-sneaker shoes to have leather soles. They last longer and they just wear better, you know? But I saw a woman on the bus who was wearing the best Repetto knockoffs I’ve ever seen, and when I asked about them, she told me she bought them at Payless.

So off I went last week into the discount-shoe wilderness. I didn’t find the ballet flats, unfortunately, but I did find a really great pair of ivory Victorian heels (not in my size, alas) that looked really fancy and fashiony for Payless.  And the store also had some of the new winter styles by Abaete, which are disarmingly good-looking. I’ve got my eye on an emerald green heel that, when on, looks just as good as a pair of $300 shoes. Sadly, I am too cheap to buy it at full price (even at Payless price!) because they always have those Buy One Get One Free sales. Anyway, Payless: not as lousy as I’d expected.

patrick robinson for target

Patty is the designer for Paco Rabanne, and if you’re like me, Paco Rabanne makes you thinkof those Designer Impostors colognes that were really big in the 80s: Do you love Paco Rabanne? Then you’ll LOVE Taco Baboon!

Anyway, WWD reports that Patrick Robinson is the post-Proenza designer Target’s lined up for its Go International collection. I am not very excited.

UPDATE: The line is features skinny jeans (enh), cargo pants (ugh), knicker pants (promising), cropped utility pants (gross), bubble skirts (horrors!), paper-bag waist skirts (whee!) and pleated dresses (we’ll see).

proenza schouler + target = lurve

The Fashion Spot reports that Proenza Schouler will be Target’s next designer. Holy merde! I just hope the boob-sacks in the bustier aren’t so big that my tiny ta-tas swim in them.