New York Bargains

The Winter Dress~~The immeasurable amount of looks you can create will give you a refreshing shot of creativity.

Emma Dinzebach — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:00:21 +0000

Sundance is over. There was something about a football game. We are officially over winter and ready for skirts, dresses and the ability to freely wear heels without worrying about scary ice patches. Our body’s are craving a mid-winter dress and warmth.

All hail the winter piece that keeps on giving! We found - or are reporting on - yet another way to way your still bitchin’ fur vest. And your light weight, warmer weather appropriate leather bomber for that matter. Celebs, models and beautiful French women roaming the streets of Paris pair their fancy - see also: staple - dresses with their faux animal top pieces for both style and warmth.The infinite amount of looks you can create will give your sluggish winter brain a refreshing shot of creativity as you can use just about any winter-appropriate dress in your closet. Use your cotton dresses for a more casual look and your fancy frocks with fur for a night on the town. Jason Wu paired his faux fur with a navy band aid dress during Fall 2009 ready-to-wear collection and celebs like Olivia Palermo, Kate Moss, Blake Lively and so on and so forth. Just remember, to choose a less restrictive piece of outerwear to accommodate your frock and faux underneath.

Emma Dinzebach

Color de Natural~~Get a jump start on Spring’s natural look by purifying your face from the inside out.

Emma Dinzebach — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:00:16 +0000

Color de natural for Spring twenty ten with neutral eyes, flushed pink cheeks and Chapstick lips. Well, not totally, but achieving your most natural look starts from the inside out. So it’s back to the basics: sleep, drink, wash. Making sure you are adequately rested and your skin has had time to form shiny new cells. Staying hydrated truly makes you glow. Washing off your make-up at night, so you don’t wake up with blackheads and wrinkles. Pretty simple stuff, but basics we sometimes forget when we are rushing around.

Then on your clean, glowing facial palette, moisturize. Clogged pores tend to result from dry, dead skin cells clogging the poor, so choose a skin type-appropriate moisturizer and be liberal. Around the eyes, never pull from the inner eye out. When removing make-up or applying eye cream, always dab gently from the corners inward. Even out skin tone with foundaiton or concealer and use a little rosy blush. We aren’t seeing much bronzer on the runways or red carpet as the look is softer and more effervescent. A few coats of mascara and you could be ready to go. If you feel too nude, then line your eyes with a soft brown or blue rather than a harsh black and paint your pout with something sassy. Because the face has less color, choose something pinky for your lips. A totally bare lip can wash out your face and looks best with a dark, smokey eye.

Your done and have an extra ten or fifteen minutes to read the paper, enjoy your coffee or walk to work.

Emma Dinzebach

Cowboy Cassanova~~There is something about a man doing physical labor. Not like the hipster carpenters we see here, but like the sweaty until they have to take off their shirt kind.

Emma Dinzebach — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:00:20 +0000

After dating half the men at the Vampire squid, a few Columbia MBAs, a Ph.D. in bioethics and a handful of hot and sweaty Eurotrash, my friend declared a break. “They are either [in NYC] to party or jaded by their inflated bonuses. I love to party and spend bonuses, but the whole scene is an endless game of ‘I don’t even know his last name’!” She went on to express the typical Gotham man’s lack of romantic gestures, bulging ego and the annoying click of their Hermes loafers. With the New Yorker’s rampant dating anxieties reaching their maximum capacity and our eternal quest for the newest, shiniest toy, it’s a wonder we don’t spontaneously combust. Much like my current hiatus, she aimed to reorganize her dating priorities…and breathe.
Until she went down South for an alumni weekend and reconnected with an undergrad crush. Monday morning, she had flowers on her desk. The next Monday morning, more flowers. A floor full of ex’s walked by and wondered: Who was sending her flowers? Why was she sublimely happy? “Way to stick it to God’s paper pushing minions!” I exclaimed; but this time, it wasn’t about the upper hand. When she took herself away from Gotham, she opened herself up to a simpler kind of romance she had formerly judged as unsophisticated, unsavvy and uncool. Several months and many rendezvous weekends later, she is happy. During the weekday she still acts like the anal and neurotic New Yorker she is, but on the weekends she allows herself to be treated like a lady.

“Plus, there is something about a man lifting and fixing and doing physical labor. Not like the hipster carpenters we see here, like strong and sweaty until they remove their shirt kind of physical labor. Girls in Gotham don’t know what they’re missing.”

Emma Dinzebach

The Pod Squad

Wendy — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:17:29 +0000

This week, The Selby goes home with W magazine design director Edward Leida whose midtown pad looks like a hybrid of retro and sci-fi futurism. Little did we know it was possible to combine those two looks until we saw his warm wood panel walls that work as a backdrop to funky gadgets from the ordinary (floating cabinets and pod light fixtures) to the extra-terrestrial (an alien head-shaped glass sculpture and a Unidentified Foreign Object that looks like a perforated flying saucer). But for those lacking a budget fit for Arne Jacobsen chairs, here are a few ideas on how to outfit your space to replicate that past-meets-future look. Choose from the more obvious pod like touches (a lamp or a table that doubles as a seat) or a crafty tongue-in-cheek set of beaker vases that look like a science experiment.

Eva Desk Lamp, $20

Pod Table, $110

Laboratory Flower Vase, $14

You can even go more old school than Leida’s 1970s era Braun calculator with this clunker thrown in for good measure.

Retro Calculator, $9.99

Burger Battle~~West coast burger snobbery makes a home in Queens brining home the eternal burger battle.

Emma Dinzebach — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:00:54 +0000

Partially because Danny Meyer is from my Midwest hometown, and partially because Shake Shack’s frozen custard shakes rock my world, and partially because I’m a New Yorker, I vote east coast all the way. However, I enjoy a good In-And-Out burger every now and again. Do I wish they would franchise in Gotham? I hadn’t really thought about it until a rare trip to Queens had my taste buds caught in a burger battle.

Petey’s Burger, in Astoria, comes from two Cali-natives who aim to copy (for lack of better words) the infamous In-And-Out burger. Petey’s Burger serves just burgers cooked medium well and dressed with lettuce, tomato, onion and a splash of thousand island dressing. The hand-cut fries are for sure way better than In-And-Out, but not, in my humble opinion, better than my beloved Shake Shack. They are more generous with the cheese, and at least admit that their sauce is thousand island unlike SS, which touts special “shack sauce.” It all tastes the same to me.

Actually, Petey’s Burger rocks and if I find myself in Astoria again someday, I might even go for round two. However, I live in Manhattan; and if you have been living under a rock, Shake Shack has an iPhone app for cutting the line. Case in point that New York food battles are never solely about the food, but the convenience, creativity and the unmatched ability to complicate a rather simple concept in the way that only New Yorkers can.

Emma Dinzebach

The Weekly Shop Report~~Luxury leans on their legacy.

Emma Dinzebach — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:00:50 +0000

Every week our Weekly Shop Report runs through the a week’s worth of stock winners and losers. The same names (Bon Ton, Joe’s Jeans, Phoenix Footwear, French Connection) fly high or sink low. Having recently emerged from retail’s notoriously slowest month, we’re feeling tired of the same ‘ol routine. Anna Wintour tried to spice up the month by proposing a Fashion’s Night Out reality show - posing the ode to retail as some kind of charity. Sundance then Paris Fashion Week held out interest for five seconds before we sank into our stuck-on-this-island-in-the-middle-of-winter depression. Mocking our island misery, NBC aired the premiere of the last season of Lost.

That was a good hour.
Rather than run through the same spiel, we decided to discuss the sad, lonely and struggling life of luxury. While we love websites like Gilt, Rue La La and ideeli, we cannot help but wonder: Is all of the accessible designer wear making it feel a little less…well, designer? Luxury forefathers are feeling the same way, and to combat the mundane direction of luxury are turning back the hands of time. The grand daddy’s - Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Dior, and Prada - strategically plan to pump prestige into their label by focusing on their heritage. In spring, Dior will re-market their 1950’s perfumes. Hermes is planning a competitive equestrian extravaganza for April, and Prada recently published a 700-something page ode to their birth story. Old is the new new.

If you have money to travel in twenty ten (and you will, if you date a Goldman banker), make your purchases wisely because the take home message here is that you can’t mess with tradition. Do you really want to pass down to your grandchildren a graffiti print L.A.M.B. shoulder bag? No, no you don’t.

Emma Dinzebach

What We Can Learn From the French~~After all, it is the land of Lacroix, Bordeaux and crepes galore.

Emma Dinzebach — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:00:48 +0000

Still dazed over Paris Fashion Week (did you see Tommy Ton’s “Seine Stealers” on style.com?), I was graciously reminded that we can learn a little somethin’ somethin’ from the French. After all, it is the land of Lacroix, Bordeaux, and crepes! First and foremost, French emphasizes quality, not quantity. My French bestie may have worn the same black Chanel blazer out every night in the fall; but it was Chanel, it was beautiful, and at the end of three seasons, it still looked impeccable. Next, scarves and jackets enhance said staples. Think Hermes people…or H&M. But dress it up with scarves and jackets to make your intended statement, and don’t be afraid to step it up. The French are inspired by CoCo Chanel, Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Sonia Rykiel… And their shoes! Only in pictures can we truly express the French’s appreciation for footwear.

The French make dressing with chic class a daily habit. They don’t run out in their sweats or go to Whole Foods in their sweaty sneakers. Why would they present themselves to the world like that? Why would any of us for that matter?

Go ahead. Be French.

Emma Dinzebach

Exclusive Key Worker Discount at Terra Plana

Bindra — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:01:23 +0000

WHAT: Exclusive Key Worker Discount at Terra Plana

WHY: “Key Workers” receive 50 percent off the full Terra Plana range online and in-store (show I.D. at checkout). The discount applies to firefighters, police officers, nurses, doctors, teachers, and more. See the full list here.

WHEN: Through 3/31, M–S (11–7), Su (noon–8).

WHERE: 254 Elizabeth St., nr. Houston St.

Temporary Tattoos~~Oh wipe away your Jersey Shore mental image. These are dainty-chic and actually, pretty rad.

Emma Dinzebach — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:00:17 +0000

You dream you’re Brittney, holding tight to Tyson Beckford speeding through Malibu or Pink with a chainsaw, carving up your ex-boyfriend’s lawn. You dream you’re Megan Fox. A girl can dream… Leave it to Chanel to find an acceptable outlet for your inner Angelina Jolie making those dreams a reality. Chanel Body Transfers are temporary tattoos inspired by models walking Karl Lagerfeld’s hay-strewn Spring 2010 runway. Oh, wipe away your Jersey Shore mental image. These are dainty-chic and actually, pretty rad.

Model Daisy Lowe sported a Chanel double C-linked chain around her thigh at the launch of her her Swarovski crystal jewelry collection in London in January. (Who ever thought we’d write that? Coco Chanel is rolling over in her grave!) But Chanel tats are delicate, whimsical and artsy. Come spring, they will be all the rage. And you’ll have to wait until then because Chanel “body transfers” won’t be available at Chanel boutiques until March 1.

Emma Dinzebach

Smarty Pants~~Life’s too short to be stuck with stupid.

Emma Dinzebach — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:00:31 +0000

“I like to surround myself with people smarter than me,” I said last night over a sparkling chardonnay and clam dinner. “Sometimes it’s really hard,” I teased. And my friend’s laughed but truthfully, surrounding myself with people smarter than me is hard to do. Not because I’m abnormally smart but because so many people float through life without truly tapping into their knowledge potential.
Last week, I sat across from my handsome, sexy date who went on and on about tons of things I already knew. “How do I tell him I already know all of this shit?” I asked my best friend the next day.

“Just say ‘I actually know that’,” she suggested. If I took her advice, I would be saying that every other sentence! I don’t want to be rude on my dates, who are obviously proud of their knowledge. Such the quandary…

The only solution is to date up in intelligence. Oh, don’t worry, you will always know something that your partner does not. Maybe you’re a dentist, and he knows nothing about dentistry. What I’m really referring to here though is overall intelligence…like IQ. And for that, definitely date up.

Then there’s the breed I tend to date who tend know a lot about their profession and main interests, but not a lot about everything overall. They float along the surface. If you do too, then by all means take them off our hands. However, if you feel bored and impatient with your date, it’s likely time to smarten up.

Life’s too short to be stuck with stupid.
Emma Dinzebach