Some of us were left drooling, earlier this week, when we spotted the teetering, space-age platforms/heels that were unveiled by Alexander McQueen at Paris Fashion Week. His bejeweled platform-clog amalgamations were the first thing I noticed while browsing a slideshow of images from McQueen’s runway show (see image #3). I imagined myself walking into Orchestra Hall this evening, waving hi to Judy Dayton as I strutted along in these bad boys—a bold statement meets a mighty workout, by anyone’s measure.

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When the documentary Unzipped came out, I had to scour the small town I grew up in to find a copy. It was 1995 and still a few years before words like YouTube, NetFlix, and amazon.com would become a part of popular vernacular. The Douglas Keeve-directed film, which follows designer Isaac Mizrahi through the process of creating a fashion collection, was my first real look inside the fashion industry. It provides a witty peek into the life Mizrahi while he searches for muses, refines fabrics, and fits models. Unzipped removed the veil on the fashion industry and what it really takes to create a beautiful collection—even if it was, as one critic at the time put it, “a line of Eskimo fashion knock-offs.”

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Star of The Hills, fashion designer, and now author, Lauren Conrad, was at Mall of America yesterday for the signing of her book, L.A. Candy. While I was originally supposed to do a video blog with her, her handlers decided last minute that we couldn't shoot any video.

Le sigh.

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In today's New York Times Thursday Styles section, Eric Wilson wrote on of the most succinct stories I've ever read on how trends are created. If you've ever seen The Devil Wears Prada, you might remember Miranda Priestly's lecture directed at Andy Sachs's ignorance in regards to the fashion industry:

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To: shopping@mspmag.com
Subject: Wallpaper
From: Lisa



Hi Style friends,  I really enjoy your design work in Mpls.St.Paul Magazine and on the website, especially with all the design mags recent demises!  I have a quick question.  A few months ago, I fell in love with some Designers Guild wallpaper that I wanted to use in our main floor's guest bathroom.  Just after that, I saw the same wallpaper in an East Harriet girls bedroom that you profiled online.  The wallpaper is amazing, and hard to forget, but is it worth it?  No one else who comes to our house is going to know how special it is!  Our house is a pretty regular suburban house with little natural charm.  I try to pretend it is the charming cottage of my dreams, but that is only in my head.  Should I try to find a less expensive alternative, (and if so, have you seen one) or should I just get the one I love?  Suggestions?
 
Thanks. 
Lisa Sheppard Pearson
 

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Before I even swallowed the last champagne bubble from my New Year's toast, my mind started obsessively focusing on one thing—spring fashion. As the Style Editor for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, it is my duty to bring my readers and fellow Twin Citians the very best fashions, presented in two large fashion packages, twice a year. And although I didn't start working on pulling together my shoots until after the New Year, this whole process actually started early last September when I traveled out to Manhattan for Fashion Week. While there, I spent a week going to shows and presentations, reading re-caps, and just wandering the streets, trying to digest and figure out what was going to be big for spring and how those big trends would translate for our readers.

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If I see another obnoxious, logo-emblazoned handbag swung over a shoulder in the skyway, I'm going to vomit. I've always taken issue with wearing labels and logos of any type (I am not paid to be an advertisement), but there is something particularly gauche, especially in these times, about an of-the-moment, logo-loaded handbag.

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The latest victim in a long line of shuttered magazines is my beloved Domino. Domino, with its provocative layouts, mix of high and low, and approachable covers and features, was kind of like my porn. Not only do I eagerly anticipate its arrival every month, but my stack of issues has been so lovingly dog-eared, Post-it noted, drawn upon, and discolored by wine and coffee stains that they're literally coming unbound.

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Nope, this isn't a Foodie blog. I just thought I'd vent about my latest pet peeve: Salt stains on my black suede boots. I know I live in Minnesota, where salt is a mainstay on the roads from about November to April, but every time I step outside wearing my comfy, slouchy black boots, they turn an ugly shade of white.

Read more to find the remedy for those pesky winter stains . . .

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So, I am pretty sure that given the right resources, I could single-handedly jump-start the economy. Even without any resources (i.e. cold, hard cash), I still manage to give our local retail sector nourishing injections nearly ever week.

But it hasn't been clothing that I've been buying. I've instead amassed a large amount of eyeliners, lip-glosses, dry shampoos, and other items of beauty that I definitely don't need. But I am as brain washed as the next fool, and somewhere inside of me, I must believe in the transformative properties of these potions. Don't they say that lipstick sales go up during a recession?

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