Christmas presents...to myself

I know that I swore to myself that I wouldn't buy any bags until after Christmas. Well, to Hell with that! Last weekend myself and a few wonderful women from the Purse Forum had a Louis Vuitton meet and went on a great shopping spree. The highlight of the trip was when Sarah ordered her first Hermes Birkin.

I ended up buying a Louis Vuitton Damier Neverfull which is now my all-time favourite bag. It's really large but so light that I can stuff it with a bunch of stuff like my laptop and it won't get heavy. It's a miracle bag.

Also my Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two arrived this week and it's gorgeous. I haven't used it yet because of the shitty weather but I can't wait to take it out.

Here are the pics!

Louis Vuitton Damier Neverfull MM



Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two

My YSL Muse 2 muse

Miroslava Duma of Russian Bazaar. I die.

So I bought the Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two

From overstock.com. Even though I swore to myself that I would not buy anything for myself until after Christmas. But it called my name. And there was only one left! How could I say no to my new Holy Grail bag? I just couldn't pass this by.

This isn't the original YSL Muse Two I wanted to get; at first I wanted to get the embossed Crocodile version but I realized that I like this one better. As I was clicking the checkout option I could hear Rachel Zoe and her assistant Brad enabling me to just get it, even if it costs more than rent. This is why we have economic problems. It's all my fault! Damn you credit cards!

I'll post pics once I get it!

Help me decide which YSL bag to get

I really want to get the Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two in embossed blue crocodile but I can't find it anywhere. So my choices are between a blue and pink one or a black and blue one.
I like how the pink stands out but I don't know whether it's too cute. I like the blue one because it's bit more rock 'n roll.
What do you guys think? Or should I wait to see if the croc version comes out on ebay?

Found: The bag that Taylor wears in Rachel Zoe Project

I have to admit that I've been re-watching The Rachel Zoe Project a lot. Ok, like every day. I just can't get enough of all the gorgeous clothes and bags.
Today I noticed this beautiful blue croc-embossed bag that Zoe's assistant Taylor is wearing when they go shopping at Decades. It took me about 10 minutes to find it because at first I thought it was a Mulberry Bayswater bag but I realized that the handle was completely different.
Then I remembered Naomi Campbell in the new YSL campaign. Ding ding ding!
It's the Yves Saint Laurent Muse Two bag!!
It features blue croc-embossed suede on the front, leather on the top flap and sides, and canvas trim on the sides. There is goldtone hardware along with two side button closures and a middle lock.
The inside has two open compartments and a third in the middle that is closed by a zipper.

It's a little bit dressy but can be worn during the day and it really stands out which I love.




Watch for the bag when Rachel and Taylor exit the store:

How I missed the Yves Saint Laurent funeral

President Sarkozy, his wife Carla, Saint Laurent's partner Pierre Berge

When I learned that Saint Laurent's funeral was going to take place on the day I would arrive in Paris, I swore to myself that I would attend to pay my respects to the masterful fashion designer and of course to see other fashion legends that would attend. Alas, it was not meant to be. My boyfriend and I arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport at 7 a.m. and we took a bus that dropped us off at the Arc De Triumph. I pulled out a map I had printed of the hotel we were staying at. Or so I thought. I figured we would walk to the hotel to pass the time since check-in wasn't until 1 p.m. So we walked and walked and walked. We finally got to Rue Saint Honoré where we thought our hotel was (well, that's what my map said) and we continued down the street searching for the right address. As we passed boutiques such as Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Prada, Hermes, Chanel, Galliano and Gaultier I briefly wondered how we managed to get a two-star hotel on such an obvious high-class street. Maybe we lucked out. Although I should have been in paradise, I was so tired from being up for almost 24 hours that I barely glanced at the stores. I couldn't even drag myself into Prada to look at the fabled Fairy bag.
So we passed a large church and I barely noticed that there was a lot of hubbub around it. We must have gone up and down the street five times searching for our hotel. Then I read a little note I scribbled on my map. It said "This is where Yves Saint Laurent's funeral will be." Ahhhh...my boyfriend was not pleased. We had spent more than hour passing Eglise Saint-Roch where we thought our hotel was. So that's why there were a bunch of boxes that said "Y Saint Laurent" on them. So we took a cab to our hotel which turned out to be only a couple minutes away. After waiting another two or three hours to check in, we finally got the key to our room and promptly fell asleep. The funeral was at 3:30 p.m. I woke up at 4:30. I missed the funeral but at least I got to see the church.

And by the way, remember the flats I bought for the trip? Turns out they really aren't made for "European walking" as the Cole Haan SA told me. My bones felt like they were dying. Thankfully my boyfriend bought me runners which I wore for the rest of the trip.

(Photos: nytimes.com)





Valentino

Claudia Schiffer

Catherine Deneuve

John Galliano

Yves Saint Laurent: A retrospective

I've been thinking a lot about Yves Saint Laurent since his death yesterday and I wanted to see a collection of his most influential clothes. I never realized how he transformed the way women dressed. The "Le Smoking" tuxedo gave women the alternative to wear a pantsuit, rather than a skirt, which previously was seen only on men. Saint Laurent liberated women by giving them the option to choose to dress in a masculine way.
He really trounced traditional ways of dressing and made up his own rules: break them all. This can also be seen in his see-through evening clothes, safari jackets and " rich peasant" haute couture. He changed the way modern women dressed.

A full retrospective of his collections

I got a WWD update that his funeral is being held this Thursday in Paris near the Louvre. Since I will be in Paris then, I've decided to go to the funeral to pay my respects to this grand artist. (Photos: Style.com)



"Le Smoking"


Peacoat

Africa

Black evening dress


Bridal

Dali

Forties Revival

"Love Me Forever"

Mondrian

Peasant

Picasso

Pop Art

Safari

Evening wear

Spanish

The Blazer

The Pantsuit

The Pantsuit

The Tunic

Yves Saint Laurent 1936-2008

Just found a wonderful video of a Saint Laurent show in 1962. You can hear women and men reacting to the clothes as well as see the collection coming together backstage. There is also a wonderful little clip of Jacqueline Kennedy's sister talking about how Saint Laurent shouldn't be copied in the U.S.

A fashion legend is gone

Designer Yves Saint Laurent passed away today at the age of 71. Monsieur Laurent's impact on the fashion world is immeasurable profound and he was one of the last great couturiers included with the likes of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel.
In 1957, the Algerian-born Saint Laurent became the head designer of Christian Dior, making the line famous for his trapeze silhouette. In 1960, he was drafted into the military, setting off a lifelong battle with nerves and depression. After Dior died, Laurent became the head designer for the label at the age of 21. After leaving Dior, the "enfant terrible" started his own label and his legendary women's tuxedos, pantsuits and smoking jackets are still desirable even today. He retired in 2002 and has been battling a long illness.
He will be missed.

Times Topics: Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent collections from 2000 to 2008

His final collection before retirement (Spring 2002 Couture)

Here are some of my favorite looks from the YSL Spring/Summer 2008 collection: (Photos: Style.com)