Halle Berry: Drop-dead sexy in Kaufman Franco.  Wow.  Plus, love that her hair is short again.  If possible, she’s even more beautiful with short locks.

Penelope Cruz:  gorgeous in Giorgio Armani Prive:

I loved this look on Julia.  Sexy, chic, and that necklace is unbelievable.  I looked up the designer:  Vintage Yves Saint Laurent.  Enough Said.

A closer look at the necklace (Van Cleef and Arpels):

I wasn’t crazy about Julianne Moore’s dress (even if it is Balenciaga), however, those earrings are absolutely to die for!  Plus, she is just such a beauty.  Earrings are vintage Bulgari.

I’m sorry, Meryl Streep is beautiful.  That skin!  She is ageless.

I’m watching President Obama’s first address to Congress the other night and I see Michelle Obama–a vision in a gorgeous, purple dress.  I’ve been obsessing about that dress ever since Tuesday night and trying to figure out who the designer was.  Well, mystery solved (I’m a good investigator):  Narciso Rodriquez.  Meanwhile, I discovered a few other dresses she’s worn recently.

Lovely in Purple Dress by Narciso Rodriguez

Green Dress by Kai Milla

Strapless Dress by Peter Soronen and necklace by Tom Binns.  WOW!  My favorite of the three.  And look at the way the President is looking at her.

Which one is your favorite?

Valentine’s Day is coming up and I’m thinking of asking Christian Louboutin to be my Valentine.

Have you seen some of his Spring 2009 shoes?  They’re so beautiful it almost hurts to look at them.

Petal Sandal – To Die For!

Suede Fringe Pump – Soooo sexy.

When I was in New York for the holidays, I stumbled upon a pop-up shop selling vintage items from a private collection. I went inside and it was love at first site: I fell in love with this beautiful black vintage handbag with a gorgeous metal mouth or clamp. It was a bit dusty, there was some glue in the inside portion of clamp. Otherwise, it was in perfect condition. I did a search on Google for vintage handbag restorers and found a small company called Vogue and Vintage. I spoke to Linda, one of the partners, and she seemed very knowledgeable and helpful. She said she would call me when she received the bag and provide me with a quote to restore it.

A few days later once she received the bag, Linda called me and told me she loved my bag and that it would cost about $50 to clean and ship back to me (with insurance). She was very knowledgeable and told me a little bit about the history of the purse. She’s sending me an article on the bag when she ships the handbag back to me. I will share more details and post a picture then.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for someone to restore a vintage purse, I highly recommend Vogue and Vintage.

www.vogueandvintage.com

I’ve been thinking a lot about the economy lately (who hasn’t, really). To say it’s a scary and tough situation would be the understatement of the year. There’s a lot of uncertainty out there and people are frightened.

Can you still “buy what you love” even in this tough economy? I would say “yes”. We all need to be saving as much as we can right now (even if your job is secure). But we all need to be spending wisely.

I think spending wisely means not wasting money on something you don’t need or want. In this environment, it means being more selective, more patient, and prioritizing.

I think it means setting a budget, putting a list together, and then patiently building your wardrobe over a period of time. It means purchasing something you love because invariably you will get the most joy and use from it.

Another element is supporting stores and designers we appreciate and love during this difficult time. Where we choose to do our shopping says something about what we value and what or who we want to see standing after the economic downturn.

I’m addicted to The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo. I’m not much of a reality TV person, but this is right up my alley. Rachel Zoe is a stylist to the stars and her job is to dress her clients for various red carpet occasions like Oscars, Golden Globes, etc.

I LOVE this show. She’s all about glamour, and drama, and beauty. None of this minimalist stuff. One week she was at the New York Fashion Shows with her team. She met with designers like Zac Posen, Oscar de la Renta, Diane Von Furstenberg. Then she went shopping for herself. She buys only vintage clothing. I kid you not, she probably bought 2 or 3 racks of vintage clothes in just that one week alone.

She was fawning over a particular vintage dress and one member of her staff asked her when she would have occasion to wear it. She basically said “Who cares? It makes me happy just to look at it”. As someone who visits the designer collection floor at Saks just to mingle with the beautiful clothing, I can relate to that statement. Sometimes I will buy a dress and hang it on the back of my room door, just so I can admire its beauty.

If you love glamour, you’ll love this show.

On a practical level, how do you buy what you love?

Here are a few strategies you can follow:

1. Buy pieces which are classic in terms of style and fit. In this way, you can wear the clothing or accessories for years. Also, focus on your favorite colors and stay away from too trendy items.

2. Take a long term view with an eye towards building a wardrobe. That may mean that given your budget, you may only be able to add 3 or 2 (or maybe only one!) piece per season. This can be frustrating in the short term, but in the long term you will build a wardrobe you can wear for years.

3. Know where to spend your money. I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on every day shoes, but I would spend money on a beautiful, glamorous pair of shoes for going out on the town. Why? Because you don’t wear out shoes that you wear on evenings out…every day shoes get beat up pretty quickly.

Why should you buy what you love? And how much money should you spend on one item? I’ve noticed that when I buy something I adore, I wear it for many, many years. I take especially good care of it. If I buy something just because it’s on sale or it’s inexpensive, I don’t get much use out of it and often I don’t take especially good care of it.
Does that mean you should save all of your money to buy a Balenciaga dress? Not necessarily, especially since a Balenciaga dress doesn’t fit most people’s lifestyle and budget.

It might mean spending $100 more than you would have wanted to on a pair of Bettye Muller shoes you adore.

Or it may mean spending twice as much as you wanted to on a coat which is the perfect color and fit for you.

This strategy might cost more in the short time, but in the long term you may actually end up saving money.

This is one of my favorite topics and I will be discussing it more in future postings.