life is short & the world is small

Did you know that approximately 12 million tons (aka a lot) of textile waste is generated each year in North America?

Thanks to the inspiring girls at Goodone, the London-based sustainable fashion company I worked for while abroad, I have caught the go-green bug. I worked with New York's Green Shows during Fall Fashion Week 2010 back in February, but something about Goodone (or maybe it was London in general) really opened my eyes to the idea that, yes, responsibility, ethics, and personal gratification actually do exist in this crazy industry we call fashion.

After visiting a massive British garment recycling center to salvage the best-of-the-tossed, working hands-on to help produce the company's Fall 2010 collection, and attending a party for the opening of 123, a fashion forward sustainable clothing boutique in London's East End, I have officially been inspired to conserve and reuse. I know what you're thinking ...easier-said-than-done, right? Well then why don't you start (if you haven't already) by at least taking your old clothes to a Goodwill, Bargain Box (Raleigh people), or Salvation Army, instead of tossing them into the landfill?

I'm not saying that we can't all lust after fall's new chic booties, tailored tops, wool capes, & classic-with-an-edge jewelry, but let's also revisit some oldies while we're at it ...after all, that old pair of flared jeans that you pushed to the back of your closet a few years ago would look perfect with that tailored top and your new booties...

LEATHER AND SUEDE “TILDEN” BOOTIES $198, DOLCEVITA.COM

100% WOOL “CADET CAPE” $385, LAURENMOFFATTNYC.COM

FENTON/FALLON™ for J.Crew JAWS EARRINGS $85, JCREW.COM

*another thing I learned across the pond?

"Life is short and the world is small. Enjoy every minute."

-old man I met on the train from London to Paris last week

lovelovelove,

em

Just a few of my bffs...

these girls make it look like blondes really do have more fun (or atleast more fun clothes). Each look is so simple, yet so spot-on! I'm loving these out-fits ...and wishing I had their closests...

Only Kate Moss could make simple black leather ankle boots and jacket

look soo good! @ dinner @ The Wolseley in London.

Jennifer Aniston looking chic (& working those crazy legs) in Valentino

...she was in town to launch her fragrance at Harrods.

Cameron Diaz in Stella McCartney (one of my top 5 favorite designers)

at the London premiere of her new movie Knight and Day.

And, my vote for this week's best dressed, Gwyneth Paltrow

paired a Chanel jacket and Ray-Bans with a simple t-shirt & shorts

while on holiday in the Hamptons. i.want.that.jacket.

try for the lottery or rob a bank ...what's your vote?

xoxo, em

for photo credits & to see the rest of this week's best, check out Vogue UK

Necklush, yes please

natural w/ magenta blue and purple - $42

Brought to you by two creatives in Brooklyn, Necklush is another result of the American Dream in action. The one-of-a-kind accessories are made of cotton fabrics sewn into tubular loops to create a more fun, easy, freeing version of your standard everyday scarf. LA Times Magazine calls Necklush "the ultimate hybrid accessory, one that will end your "scarf or necklace?" debate once and for all." TimeOut NY, Refinery29, Daily Candy, & even my girl Fifi Lapin (below) have also featured the scarves. Available in various colors, lengths, & thicknesses, the creations retail from $21-$155.

(kitty on the right is Fi's BFF Ruby)

Bonus: they come in these sweet little packages:

be proud of who you are*

xo em

*on the end of my Yogi tea bag this morning

"I thought Fendi was a food"

Today's cover of Women's Wear Daily features Catherine Malandrino's "Min" Dress

...YAY home run, CM!

In other fashion news, check out this cute kid from Georgia all over the runways & now in the New York Times ...South-meets-North once again thanks to Nolé Marin & this new Sean O'Pry. iamnotacradlerobberiamnotacradlerobberiamnotacradlerobber

more on London Fundon next time!

xoxo

every little old thing.

my commute or journey as the Brits call it to Goodone

(new internship, more on that to come!) starts out like this:

when I get off the double decker red ohmygoshthey'rereal bus, I stroll along this canal...

notice the fun boats ;)

...and into this alleyway...

...up the stairs I turn around and realize that the view from the studio looks like this:

I'm enjoying every little old thing here in London (literally, everything is little. and old.) The buildings are shorter and, unlike the New York subway, the London Tube may have of been built for friends of Snow White. Though the Tube & the buildings seem to have made me taller, it's quite refreshing to be in a big city where you can see the sky. Some things not so refreshing include people who enjoy making comments about how 'fat' America is or how "Americans are so behind in phone technology" What is that about?! Any-woo...

Today after work I squeezed in a trip to Oxford Circus (things here seem to have the most enchanting names; names like circus instead of 'circle', a tube stop called Elephant and Castle, & their hospital is literally called Royal Hospital) My reason for heading to Oxford Circus was to find one landmark in particular, the renowned luxury department store Liberty of London. Liberty far exceeded my expectations, partly due to the fact that I went just an hour short of closing time so it seemed the whole store was all mine, but mainly because it was full of beautiful clothes made of the most beautiful fabrics. Some of the clothes were by luxe European designers, some by good 'ol American designers, and some by names I hadn't heard before, like Michael Van Der Ham, whose idea of fashion as art is so exciting that putting a picture here wouldn't do it justice (you must see his designs!). ***we interrupt this post to bring you Chanel ...VINTAGE Chanel*** That's right, there's an entire department in Liberty devoted to vintage designer pieces and I found a turn of the century Chanel dress so elegant it would make even a tom-boy want to wear a dress! (still searching for picture of it to share with you ..I couldn't bring myself to attempt a photo session while sales people and security were standing 3 feet away)

Oh, and I'm not quite sure what it means to be a vintage candle, but if heaven were a scent, I assume a Le Labo candle is what it would smell like

...if you're looking to spend $70 on a candle, that is.

Aside from the small subway cars and a couple of small-minded people, I think I really may be inside a fairytale. Many more chapters of this storybook summer to come so stay tuned...

xo emily

This past Thursday marked the opening day of New York's first ever Sidewalk-Catwalk, an exciting opportunity for the Garment District to come together and promote the art of fashion. Aiming to point out the importance of keeping the heart of the Garment District beating, 32 designers created looks for the installation that is strutting down Broadway from Times Square to Herald Square until Labor Day. If you're in the city this summer, stop by and browse!

Catherine putting the finishing touches on the

Catherine Malandrino look for the installation. Naturally,

we used her iconic flag dress, but covered it in clear plastic

to allow for a sustainable look through out any rain or heat.

As expected, the Toledo's didn't disappoint.

Isabel's pattern making expertise took on a new medium in her white frock

made partly of plastic drinking straws and Ruben's captivating paintings poking

out of the mannequin's sponge-like headpiece kept me happy (I'm a huge Ruben Toledo fan

...even have his Nordstrom ad campaign from 3 years ago framed above my sofa).

Nanette Lepore's mannequin is cutsie with a touch of spunk.

The flowers look like the paper flower kits I used when I was a little girl

and I ooo'd and ahhh'd over the giant mesh bow with embroidered neon n's.

Mark Badgley and James Mischka (both Parsons grads) created a gown so

stunning it doesn't even appear to be made of sustainable materials (but is!)

The beautiful empire waist gown with metallic gold embroidery has a fitted under

layer of sequins and makes this stretch of Broadway look like a couture show room!

hugs & happy strutting!

xo em

Huffington Post credited for Toledo & Badgley MIschka photos

...the images I took on my blackberry didn't look so hot (what else is new?!)

duck & cover, everyone!

The garment district hysteria over the opening of the Times Square Forever 21 store Friday is quite comical ...take this article from NYMag for example...

"Tomorrow, the massive new Forever 21 store opens in Times Square. Just how massive? Massive enough to scare the living crap out of you just by reading about it! It will be four floors, over 90,000 square feet, and have 121 changing rooms. Just think of the crowds and the lines made up of that crowd. And how if the ravenous tweens getting their jeggings on in TEN Forever 21 changing rooms are scary, this will be more than ten times that level of horror."

-NYMag

Notice the headline ...so dramatic, it makes me want to stop by there on my lunch break tomorrow just to see what all the hype is about. Okay, so maybe they're right, jegging hair bows do sound completely terrifying!

miley j bieber

Seems like every time I see a celeb, I see another one the next day. First it was Chace Crawford one day & Ashley Olsen the next. Today was no exception. After spending hours with Mary J Blige last night, I ran into the most hilarious situation today...

A tall, dark, & handsome twenty-something guy standing on 14th st is always a nice thing to spot on my way home from errands. Today I happened to find just that standing with group of about 50 people blocking the sidewalk. Curious, I stopped and asked, "What are y'all waiting for out here?" "I'm too embarrassed to tell you," he responded, "apparently that's Miley Cyrus in there," he said pointing to the big window at Gemini 14, a salon I pass almost daily but never knew it was a celeb-worthy spot. I peeked at the window and, sure enough, there was Miley sitting there getting her extensions taken out. I should've used this opportunity to actually stand there and talk to the cute guy, but I totally flaked and said "hah, that's hilarious" and walked off, no doubt making him feel like a complete idiot.

________________________________________

thrilled that Mary J Blige decided to go public with the fact that she and Catherine had a glass of wine last night to "make all the nerves go away" & that WWD found it interesting enough to tweet about...

...hey, Women's Wear, tweet this:

How do Catherine Malandrino's interns calm thier pre-show jitters at MoMA? They run around in platform heels for 30 minutes searching for a bottle of Pinot Grigio

________________________________________

in other celebrity news, kim & reggie broke up again. look who she's dating now:

Oh, and hindsight I'm kinda bummed I blew it with the cutie, but who wants to hang out with a 27-year-old guy willing to stand & wait for Miley Cyrus to get her hair cut, right?!

fifi wears Malandrino!

this may be from a past season, but it's still fifi,

in malandrino, having the gumption to wear

a dowdy pair of black ankle socks & turn them cute!

just one question...

why does no one have this picture of fifi hanging in our office?!

the souk

The Zac Posen for Target opening night was mayhem ...a luxe party atmosphere complete with red carpet, celebs, and new 'it' band, but with racks of clothes and gobs of girls scattering about. In Zac's words,

“We live in the souk! Listen, this is my quote for the night — we live in the souk. We work, we play, we create, we pay, we get paid. It’s all part of the hustle and bustle that builds our country, and it starts in New York.” -nymag

I have recently been feeling more confident in my fashion vocabulary since I go to school for it now, but I'm sorry, what the heck is 'the souk'? In typical Emily fashion, I googled the term & found out that it is an Arabic term for a bustling marketplace. After discovering the meaning, I have to say that I completely agree, Zac, New Yorkers indeed live in 'the souk'.

also agree with "...we work, we play, we create, we pay"

a peak inside the pop-up shop/party hybrid:

the flowers zac bought me

The Like performing

thoughts about things on a thursday

1) There's no such thing as a free lunch.

For tax day, Energy Kitchen was giving away free lunch.

Woohoo, right?

Well, yes, if you found time to stand in a line out the door:

...which I somehow did, and it paid off...

...all that for free! (go ahead, call me frugal ...I prefer "savvy")

sidenote: I think it's weird when people take pictures of their food & put it on the internet.

2) Question:

Who is Jane Wood? And why does my street have her name on it?!

3) Springtime in Manhattan...

I do believe Park Avenue got her hair-and-makeup done.

Loookin' goood!

4) YAY

Chelsea Anthropologie grand opening is tomorrow

read The New York Times article here

I'm having a Zac attack!

Zac Posen, one of my top five, has a great new video with Gia Coppola for his Target line dropping nationwide April 25th (but there's a pop-up shop this week in NYC where The Like will be playing too ...anyone want to line up with me Thursday night 10pm?!)

take note of what happens at approximately the 1:09 mark in the video ...watch carefully & you'll see Raleigh! Almost strange how very 'ACORNS TO APPLES' appropriate it is.

Warning: whine session

"Strong foundations" may be what Mom calls our size nine feet, but I call them inconvenient. I mean c'mon! Sample size is a seven. Meaning that the sample sale I went to today (full of absolutely lust worthy flats, sandals, & heels) only includes, you guessed it, sevens. Darn sevens. I guess my sixth grade self would appreciate that. My 24-year-old self, however, does not.

so long brandnewfreakishlycuteandsuperinexpensiveDVFsandals ...tear.

sorry for the bad photo quality ...you're lookin at a picture taken with an antique blackberry. I like to think of it as vintage though.

you can change your spots

new marc jacobs tee ...only for the fun at heart;)

thanks, shopbop!

Alice

When I was little there was a show on Disney called 'Adventures in Wonderland' and I was enthralled by it. When I found out that Tim Burton was creating a movie about Alice all grown up I was equally excited. When I saw this 2003 Vogue editorial of Natalia Vodianova in various awesome designers, I was in love! …and wanted to share…

In Alice’s words: “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”

in order: Helmut Lang; Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquière; Viktor & Rolf; Tom Ford; Jean Paul Gaultier; Dior; Atelier Versace; Chanel; Christian Lacroix Haute Couture; Marc Jacobs

image credit: Annie Lebovitz for Vogue

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