Shopping in New York as a tourist is entirely different than shopping as a native. This month Travel + Leisure Magazine writer, Rachel Felder, focused asked some of the city’s most seasoned experts about their favorite shopping destinations and navigating sample sales.
Our best advice:
You can click here to see Rachel’s full article, Shop Like a Local: New York City.
Fashion week is going strong and we are fully intoxicated with the thrill Spring 2014. As the shows continue trends continue to emerge. Here are a few more to inspire your wardrobe.
Gold Lamé
Prior season’s sequin trends have nothing on the glitter and glamour of the upcoming spring season’s metallic fabrics. Opulence is the key in mastering this trend that comes a variety of skirts, dresses and pants. Reem Acra presented a segment of her collection that was sizzling hot. Altuzarra’s vision was appeared as liquid gold pouring down the model’s body and DVF shimmered glamorously in a mini shift.
Seafoam Green
Tired of 50 Shades of Gray? Fashion has embraced 50 shades of green. Well, maybe it’s not 50 but the emerald trend is surely giving way to seafoam green. Carolina Herrera opted to highlight the color of the season in a long slinky gown or you can opt for Ruffian’s seafoam pant suit. Alice + Olivia designer, Stacey Bendet successfully fused preppy and pretty with the pastel hue.
Flats
Podiatrists can rejoice knowing that fashionable women everywhere can slip out of their 7-inch torture chambers and look just as chic in pair of flats. Ruffian showed his entire collection, ranging from flirty dresses to casual pants with pointy toe flats. Tibi’s minimalistic designs were punctuated by a simple flat sandal. Edun and Helmut Lang opted for a classic Birkenstock-ish style.
We are nearly half way through fashion week and it doesn’t take long for trends to emerge. Here are three trends that you can expect to see on the street and in pages of your favorite fashion magazines this coming Spring.
Bare Midriffs
This summer abs made their fashion debut for the first time in several decades. Looking forward to spring 2013, the trend is not going away. Here Thakoon paired red patent bra top with a patent leather whit shirt and here Peter Som showed a cropped jacket with a long skirt as a way to show some skin without suggesting a full peep show. Yigal Azrouel paired eye-catching print pants with a geometric bra top. The moral of this trend is that if you’re showing off the middle you need to cover up north and south and invest in one of those Abs of Steel videos.
Boxy Silhouette
One of the biggest trends for this fall is oversized coats and you can bet that your investment will carry you over at least through next Spring. Naturally, your winter coat won’t work in warmer temperatures but the silhouette translates seamlessly to dresses, vests and tops for summer. Here Suno paired an a-line print jacket with a full skirt, Opening Ceremony opted to layer pieces to exccentuate the shapelessness of the top sweater and Alexander Wang suggested an oversized nightshirt for summer ease.
Black & White
The fastest way to chic in 2014 is black and white. Almost every designer devoted a segment of their collection to a yin-yang combo. Yigal Azrouel used black and white prints to inspire minimalism, here DKNY printed her iconic logo in black and white and if you have legs as long as a giraffe than this DVF black and white jumpsuit is something you just can’t live without.
Summer might be unofficially over but we are happy to to see that Fendi’s yellow rays of sunshine will soon become a permanent addition to Madison Avenue. The Italian luxury brand will soon be opening in the former Mont Blanc space on Madison at 57th Street.
Fendi’s will be leaving its current location at 677 Fifth Ave., between East 53rd and 54th streets. The new space is said to be 5,620 and is likely to open this fall. “Everybody on Fifth wants to be on Madison,” Faith Hope Consolo of Prudential Douglas Elliman told the New York Post. (We’ve never heard words more true!)
In addition to the boutique’s new digs, Fendi will be debuting it’s new home store in September. The space will total 11,800 square feet will be entirely devoted to luxury furniture and home accessories. The space is aptly situated in the design district at 153 Madison Ave., at 32nd St.
Euro-famous, Aspesi is hosting an online sale where past season merchandise is discounted up to 60% off. The retailer is based in Milan and has historically topped our list on a trip to Italy. Now Aspesi has a very global website ships to over 100 countries.
Aspesi is most popular among men for their down-filled outerwear and down-filled shirts. Keep an eye out for overcoats, shirts, layering vests and nylon sportcoats. All of their items are constructed with a strong emphasis on fabric research and development.
Check out this Thermore polyeter padding lined parka that’s $415 from $696. It’s perfect for those blistery New York messy and sleety days. This corduroy men’s coat seems very Milanese and is $630 from about $1000. Here is one of those aforementioned down-filled jackets that’s $440 from $734. Here is a similar coat version for women that’s $493 from $658.
Frankly, there aren’t many good promotions on just-in-store fall collections but there are lots of reasons to shop. There’s back-to-school, fashion week and, of course, the new season. J. Crew is a great way to get ready for the new season and a promotional 25% off makes it even easier.
It’s well known that we are big fans of J. Crew’s Pixie pants and this season’s style with leather stripes down the leg is on trend and super flattering. A field jacket is never a bad idea. This one is a great option if you can’t snag your bother’s, father’s, husband’s or boyfriend’s. Then there’s the kids. There’s a Pixie pant for them. We are also in love with the Herschel backpacks, which are only available online.
The J. Crew promotion runs through Monday but don’t worry if you miss this one. The company runs a similar shopping incentive every few weeks.
Barneys Warehouse Sale started today and we couldn’t imagine a group of more disappointed shoppers. All our shopping experts report that the merchandise is almost entirely from the men’s store and what women’s inventory does exist is less than desirable.
Basically, there are no good shoes, no good bags, no good clothing. For men, no good shoes and no good casual wear. The only spotlight, or in this case dim light, is suits and outerware for men. Sure it’s easy to put together critical words but we’ll let other say it for us, this time:
The Shophound: “If you are a lady, you probably won’t want to bother at all.” The sale is not something we would save our money for or even particularly look forward to.
Racked: The space is nice and easy to shop but “there wasn’t much to look at.”
The Choosy Beggar (comments): “The sale gets worse and worse every year.”
Barneys Warehouse Sale
Thursday, August 22 through Monday, September 2
Thu Aug 22—Fri Aug 23 8am—9pm, Sat Aug 24—Sun Sep 1 10am—8pm, Mon Sep 2 10am—7pm
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 W. 18th St between Sixth and Seventh Aves
