1029/2010

Vintage on U Street

Posted in Fashion & DC Boutiques

Dr. K’s Vintage Clothing

If you are a guy who likes vintage clothing or just wants to breathe new life into your wardrobe you are in luck. Dr.K’s is the answer to your vintage needs.

The store does carry women’s clothing, but the thing that sets them apart is their men’s apparel. It’s the best selection I’ve seen in DC thus far. (When I popped in yesterday I was told that the owner was in Philadelphia shopping for more women’s clothing!)

Women's Vintage Coat

A number of their pieces still have the original tags. The selection is great to dig through – pieces tend to be fun, interesting, and well maintained.

The items are also reasonably priced, which was a welcome surprise.

Please note that they are not accepting debit or credit cards quite yet. (Though that should change within the next 2 weeks.) So, bring along some cash!

Dr. K’s Vintage

1534 U street, NW

Open Everyday 10:00am-10:00pm

1026/2010

Nordstrom Rack – Pentagon City

Posted in Fashion & Stores

Nordstrom Rack Review (Pentagon City Location)

Nordstrom Rack in Pentagon City has been open for about 2 months now. I popped in there today to take a glance at the store and get an idea of the discounts.

Betsey Johnson Watches

Overall I enjoyed the store. Here’s what’s great about it:

*The discounts are truly around 50% off, which is wonderful.

*Nice mix of brand names. I found L.A.M.B. purses, Theory jackets, Calvin Klein suits, Cole Haan shoes, etc.

*Think it is a solid place to look for accessories including jewelry / purses / gloves.

*There were some fun surprises. Like men’s button down John Varvatos shirts for $40 and Ted Baker ties for around $30. They were spring pieces, but what great deals from amazing designers.

John Varvatos Shirts, Ted Baker Ties

*The store does tailoring, which is great if you are in the market for a suit.

Suits

Here’s what’s not so good about it:

*The setup is similar to a T.J.Maxx or Marshalls. Which isn’t horrible, but it can be a bit frustrating at times.

*You are going to have to dig. Clothes are marked clearly according to brand name, but you will have to rummage to find stellar pieces.

*It has migraine-inducing lighting. This is the thing that bothered me the most. Pop an aspirin if you think you will be in there for awhile.

The big picture – totally worth checking out if you have a little bit of time / some patience to look. The nature of the store means it will be a bit hit-or-miss. But, when you get that hit, oooh – how fun! Example – the best deal I found there today was a Michael Kors wool coat that was normally priced for $450 reduced to $150. Excellent score for someone who is the market for a new winter coat!

Michael Kors Wool Coat

Have you been to Nordstrom Rack? What was your experience there? Have you been to the one at Pentagon City? What do you think?

1026/2010

Eco Runway Show

Posted in Fashion Event

Runway Show at the Green Festival

Here’s a glimpse of the runway show at this weekend’s DC Green Festival 2010.

Green Festival DC Eco Fashion Show 2010 from Kaarin Moore on Vimeo.

Love it that DC is getting into eco and sustainable fashion practices!

I caught up with model / runway assistant Kori Lei backstage.

This girl is a superstar. A broken foot and she is STILL going strong working to make people aware of green fashion! I also had a chance to talk with Production Manager Jessica Colette of Hi-DEF Creations, LLC.

Fabulous belt. It’s so practical and pretty at the same time.

Loved the show – can’t wait to see the DC Green Fashion Scene Grow!

Models from the 2010 Green Festival Eco Fashion Show

1021/2010

The Green Fashion Scene

Posted in Fashion Event

DC Eco Fashion Show interview with Model Kori Lei

The Green Festival will take place in DC this Saturday, October 23rd and Sunday, October 24th at the Washington Convention Center. I chatted with model-turned-runway-assistant Kori Lei to find out more about the emphasis on eco-friendly fashion at this year’s Festival.

You told me earlier this week that DC is an amazing hotbed for eco-fashion. Can you explain why?

Lei: I think DC is just bursting with fashion. The world is changing, America is changing, and in DC we have people from every part of the world. Inherently there is such diversity in this area. We love to be active and are intellectual. So, DC will draw that depth of diversity for the Green Festival.

Can you explain what eco-fashion is?

Lei: Eco-fashion and environmentalism is a personal endeavor. It has to do with a person’s relationship with the earth. What I think is eco might be different than someone else’s definition. But, it is all about making an impact with your decisions. Everyone on earth gets dressed. So eco-fashion is a way to acknowledge the impact you are having on the planet with fashion, clothes, and beauty choices.

Eco-fashion designers are traveling the world just like mainstream designers. But, eco designers are going to ask questions like where did the fabric originate?

How long have you been modeling? What are your personal philosophies regarding eco-friendly fashion?

Lei: I just started modeling this summer. It has been a crazy experience for me. It’s amazing to be involved in eco-fashion because it is a revolution in so many ways.

My philosophy is about small decisions in order to make an impact. My journey with modeling just started. But, for me it is about creating images and having to say something behind those images. For the Green Festival all of the models were asked the question, “What makes your life eco?” Everyone has a different story.

I was supposed to be on the runway, but I broke my foot. I was upset because the concept means so much to me. Eco-fashion is my passion in a big way. So, I just said, “let me see what I can do behind the scenes.”

What is the Green Festival? Can you tell me about the fashion events that will take place during the 2-day event?

The Green Festival is a national event. They go to major cities in the U.S. and bring together local business and the community to celebrate green life. There are different speakers and they cover lots of different bases when it comes to living in an environmentally friendly way. The Green Festival really tries to focus on integrity because sometimes the business of green living is about marketing.

It’s really DC’s eco time to shine. Eco-fashion is only growing and broadening in scope. Eco-fashion speaks to having a sense of purpose with how you dress.

There are a number of different runway shows.

On Saturday

Children’s Fashion Show at 11:30am

Teen Fashion Show at 1:30pm

Adult Couture Fashion Show at 3:30pm

On Sunday

Wedding Fashion Show at 12:30pm

Adult Couture Fashion Show at 3:30pm

The designers on the runway will also be vendors. It truly is about eco-fashion instead of having the newest and latest thing. There is a sense of recycling that will go down the runway. One big component is vintage clothing. There are handmade items, new creations, and taking parts of things to make a new element of clothing. Part of the purpose of the Green Festival is to give audience members ideas. It is so people are inspired if they find a random piece of fabric to make something new. The impact can go far.

What are you seeing in the larger fashion industry with regard to switching to eco-friendly practices or materials?

I kind of compare it to what it was like to becoming a vegan. When I started 7 years ago there weren’t many options. Now when I go to the grocery store there are so many more options of food that I can eat. It’s not like the fashion industry will do it out of the kindness of their hearts – change can come about by marketing.

Part of changing the world is using the market that you are in. Not everyone is passionate for the same reasons, but the end result is the same – changing the world is changing the world.

So, people can start asking questions: is this really handmade? Where does it come from? How do you know? Do the models know about it? How do they feel about it? The Green Festival is asking those questions and hoping that it can influence mainstream fashion.

So, what comes first – the clothing or the mindset that people want eco-friendly clothing? It’s kind of a chicken-or-the-egg situation. But, this weekend we are bringing together over 20,000 people. If we can those teach people that you can have fun while making an impact people begin to understand the larger picture.

************************************************

Many thanks to Kori for taking time to share her thoughts on eco-fashion!

To find out more about the Green Festival or to purchase tickets go here. (For every ticket they sell online they plant a tree!)

To learn more about Kori checkout her Facebook page here.

To learn more about the companies that are working behind the scenes of the Green Festival (Including the Eco Friendly Fashion Association of California and Hi-DEF Creations, LLC) go here.

Green Festival

October 23-24, 2010

Saturday 10:00AM-7:00PM

Sunday 11:00AM-6:00PM

Washington Convention Center

801 Mount Vernon Place, NW

Washington, DC 20001

1020/2010

Is it Art? Is it Fashion?

Posted in Fashion & Art, Fashion Event

Smithsonian’s Craft2Wear Event

The Smithsonian Institution is holding a show of jewelry and wearable art this Saturday and Sunday (October 23rd and 24th) from 10:00am to 5:00pm at the National Building Museum. Admission is $5.00.

A list of exhibitors can be found here. All items are limited edition pieces and are handmade in the United States.

1019/2010

Redefining Sexy

Posted in Fashion & Stores

Provocative and Amazing Lingerie Advertisement

I have watched the above ad for the lingerie store Liaison Dangereuse many times over the last few days and have been pondering it quite a bit. On the first view the ending surprised me in such a great way. It’s a beautiful piece that makes a point about fashion, beauty, and the definition of sexy in about 40 seconds.

I think there is a tendency within the Western World to make judgments regarding beauty and sexual identity when it comes to the burqa. This commercial really challenges all of those ideas. On the flip side I wonder if there is a bit of molding to those Western ideas – that it is saying our methodologies of what is sexy can be adopted anywhere. I keep going back and forth on whether this commercial is a sign of progress or it could perhaps be offensive to those who wear the burqa.

What I do know is this: I have never spent time contemplating a lingerie ad before seeing this commercial.
What do you think?

1015/2010

Read My Pins

Posted in Closet Caucus, Fashion Event

Madeleine Albright’s Jewelry and Communication Through Fashion

I just got back from the Smithsonian Exhibit Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection which features more than 200 brooches within Albright’s collection. She utilized jewelry as a means to deliver diplomatic messages as the former U.S. Secretary of State.

Albright began tailoring her signature style after a poet within Saddam Hussein’s regime compared her to, “an unparalleled serpent.” She took the comment and ran with it by displaying a snake pin during talks with Iraq – the underlying statement being, “Don’t Tread on Me.”

Her love of pins became a means of communicating a larger message:

Hot Air Balloons were used as a sign of high hopes.

A pin with fragments of the Berlin Wall was worn on a trip to Europe.

A space alien pin was worn, “when things took a weird turn.”

Turtle pins were used as a symbol that she was going to forge steadily ahead, bit by bit.

Spiders were worn, “on those rare days when I felt devious.”

A snail or crab was utilized when diplomatic talks were causing her irritation or were going at a slow pace.

A bee was worn when she had to deliver a sharp message.

The collection is stunning. Clothing is always a means of communicating who we are – our hopes, dreams, and personalities. Albright found a way to fully express her strength, sense of humor, and patriotism without saying a word. Even though the messages varied- sometimes it was a warning, sometimes it was done as a way of being a bit cheeky – it was put forth in a classy manner.

And it worked. Vladimir Putin once told Bill Clinton that Russian diplomats routinely checked to see what pin Albright was wearing to get a sense of her mood and expectations. Her jewelry became a barometer and a diplomatic signature.

When I work with a client on his / her personal style one question I ask is, “How would you like others to perceive you?” This is not so people are encouraged to be inauthentic. On the contrary, it comes down to identifying the message an individual would like to convey. Our clothes can be an ambassador of that message.

Albright’s fashion definitely says “strength of spirit.”

The pins exhibit will close this Sunday, October 17th, so hurry on down there! It is located within the Smithsonian Castle.

1014/2010

Kim Kardashian’s W Cover

Posted in Hilarious Fashion

Kim Kardashian’s W Cover (Or, Girl, where are your clothes?)

So, Kim Kardashian is on the cover of the November issue of W Magazine.

And, she’s in the buff.

I really don’t care one way or the other about Kardashian posing nude. It doesn’t upset me and I don’t have any type of moral dispute with it. But, one reason that I love W is that is is such a beautiful fashion magazine. It’s oversized format makes it perfect for fashion photography. The viewer gets a sense of the drama and beauty of clothing. Its format also allows the audience to see clothing detail that is lost in other publications.

So, when I see a fashion magazine I want to see clothes. And this girl is nekkid. (See previous explanation of the word “nekkid” in this post.) Kardashian talks about her public perception in this issue and how she plays into it – which may be the reason that the editors chose to place her minus clothes on the cover.

W does occasionally push boundaries when it comes to their cover images. Remember when their cover of Angelina Jolie was huge news back in 2008? It was for the November Art Issue as well. I’m just a bit confused about the objective of this particular issue. Is it for shock value? Is it because the female form is utilized in so much within artwork? Is it to try something different? What’s the connection between art, fashion, and a nekkid Kardashian? Any theories out there?

1012/2010

NOVA Fashion Week

Posted in Fashion Event

Interview with NOVA Fashion Week Executive Director, Andrew Roby

I’m thrilled present an interview with Andrew Roby, Executive Director of NOVA Fashion Week. Fashion Week will be held October 21-24 at Waterfront Park in Old Town Alexandria. Andrew’s dedication, passion, and positive attitude are such an inspiration.

First, can you tell me what inspired you to start NOVA Fashion Week? Why does NOVA need a fashion week and why now?

Andrew Roby: It’s funny how many times I get these two questions, but it’s always great in order to express the excitement my team and I have for fashion and trying to build a standardized fashion week in this area that educates designers on the true business of a fashion show. Designers are the lead machines for their own show, from model selection to sound, decor, and most importantly, PR. NOVA isn’t simply for Virginia-based designers. We have designers that have participated from around the world. Our inspiration for creating Fashion Week is to have the opportunity to give back to charity and the local community. People love fashion and most importantly they love helping others. The reason NOVA is relevant is because designers presenting in this area have never had a chance to present their lines exclusively. They have always followed or lead a stream of designers, which means a designer could simply be overlooked if you have four or five designers showcasing at one time.

How have you seen the fashion scene change over the past few years in this area?

Andrew Roby: The fashion scene in the DC area has really started to blossom. We have amazing designers that are youthful and very happy to showcase their collections. I have seen the change from the standard DC look – where it’s all business and no color – to a place where you see plenty of tailored suits and the true essence of couture designs from home-based designers that are really making an impact.

Do you see a difference with what is going on with fashion / design in DC versus Northern Virginia?

Andrew Roby: Because DC, MD, and Virginia are so close together you notice that lines do cross multiple times. The difference with how a show is put on is really based on the production team and how much of a say a designer has. With NOVA we strive to have each designer in the driver’s seat because it is their brand that is seen and their inspiration to that line that must be captured on the runway.

There is so much work that goes into planning a fashion show! What is the thing that has surprised you the most about getting everything together for an entire Fashion Week?

Andrew Roby: Nothing is ever easy. I have been an event planner for a few years and from planning a fundraiser to a wedding and now planning a fashion week it is all very challenging. What has surprised me the most in planning October’s event is the amount of people that have to be involved. From the City of Alexandria, to permits and zoning codes, inspections…it has been a little overwhelming. But, when you want to set the standard in having this event in your own venue these things are expected.

How do you personally define style?

Andrew Roby: To me style will always be about how you feel and your attempt to express that through what you wear. It is a pair of Louboutins that can make an entire look, or a Ben Sherman bag that simply compliments a suit. It is truly about you owning the look.

How can people learn more about NOVA Fashion Week or get tickets?

Andrew Roby: The best way to learn about NOVA Fashion Week will not be found on our website or through talking to staff. It’s about attending one of the shows and feeling the ambience that we create through months of planning. That’s the ultimate feel that we want you to experience.

Is there anything else that I haven’t asked that you would like to talk about?

Andrew Roby: I have talked about the designers, but the second most important thing that I would like people to know about Fashion Week is our heart to give. We have gone from one charity to now having three: Susan G Komen, Lupus Foundation, and Baby Haven. I have always been a person to give back to the community and I really want the community to help us in supporting these three charities. Fashion Week is more than an event, we are a company that lives up to support the area we live in.

Many, many thanks to Andrew for taking time to talk to True to Style!

If you would like to learn more about NOVA Fashion Week please go to their website follow them on Twitter or check them out on Facebook. For more information about tickets or location details click here.

1011/2010

Forever 21

Posted in Fashion & Stores

Forever 21 + DC + Shopping Tips

It took me Forever, but I finally had a chance to go to the District’s only Forever 21 store. (Or, as a dear friend likes to call it, “Forever 20 Dollars.”)

I was pretty blown away by the size of the store and how much merchandise they managed to pack into the space. Here are a few tips if you are shopping at this location downtown:

1. Come with an extra dose of patience.

I went on a weekend and it was PACKED. For such a large store I was amazed on how many people I bumped into. The dressing rooms also had long lines. My guess is that it’s normally pretty busy on Saturdays / Sundays so if you venture out during a weekend remember to take your time and just breathe. Enjoy it.

2. If you are short on time go in with a plan.

Need the perfect necklace for an outfit? Go in with intention. It’s easy to get distracted by so much trendy / sparkly merchandise. Stay focused and get in and get out!

Jewelry section of Forever 21 DC

3. Know that the lighting is inconsistent.

The store can be a bit dark in some spots. It doesn’t make for a horrible shopping experience – it just means you may want to carry an item you love into a place in the store where the lighting is brighter.

4. Think about how you want to spend your money.

The great thing about Forever 21 is that so many of the items are on-trend and have a reasonable price point. The wonderful thing about this particular store is that it has so much stuff. And the bad thing about this store is that it has so much stuff. It’s easy to find aisles worth of fun items. But, keep in mind how long that shirt is going to hold together as well as stay in style. You may get 1 or 2 seasons worth of wear out of it, but that’s it. Which is perfectly okay – it is knowledge that can inform your overall clothing budget / strategy.

5. Check out how they style the mannequins.

It’s creative and can help give you ideas on how to put together outfits.

6. Make a day of it.

With H&M and Zara nearby it would be easy to make a morning or afternoon out of shopping for new pieces. Take a girlfriend along, grab a cup of coffee and see if you can find a great deal!

Have you found something wonderful at Forever 21 recently? Purchased a key item that tied your wardrobe together? Let me know!

True to Style

Real People. Real Style.

Monthly Archives: October 2010

Vintage on U Street

Nordstrom Rack – Pentagon City

Eco Runway Show

The Green Fashion Scene

Is it Art? Is it Fashion?

Redefining Sexy

Read My Pins

Kim Kardashian’s W Cover

NOVA Fashion Week

Forever 21