Coquette

Japanese Handbag Magazines

Leave it to the Japanese to create a whole market for huge handbag catalogs. I love getting these because its cool to see some of the trends that the Japanese love (trinkets, crazy accessories). I also love the fact that you can see everything in one place from the comfort of your own home.

The magazine is divided in sections by brand and each brand has their top 10 bestsellers. Here's the top ten Louis Vuitton bags.

There are also mini handbag books by brand. These are super compact and fun to look at. At a few bucks its totally worth it just for the novelty.

This mini book covers both Prada and Gucci.

I loved that the photos really captured the essence of Japanese fashion. The whole keychain and trinkets hanging from a handbag is pretty big. To me having these things jingle as I walk everywhere would annoy me. But hey, it looks cute!

JJ Chic

I went to the Japantown bookstore this weekend and went crazy with books and magazines. I love this fashion magazine JJ. First off, its got a good size and thickness to it so already some excitement just to get through it all. I think they use thinner paper than other fashion mags. But seriously, this magazine is the best at looking at anything super cute - handbags, hairstyles, jewelry and of course clothes.

I swear almost every single photo has one or a group of cute Japanese girls and they are all carrying some form of luxe handbag. This is my favorite "posse" photo. I love that there's the leader in the front. She's got her trinkets on her Balenciaga and she's stylin' in her Pucci coat. Her backup is ready with the LV. Again, there's a handbag on every single page. Sometimes they even show a little caption of the other bags as options.

I love all these coats, especially the top black one and the corner right white one. What the hell, I'll buy a Chanel bag to go with my coat!

This was a fun surprise. Seeing the spread for Stella Mc Cartney / H&M Collection.

Page 2 of Stella...

So apparently having a whole fashion magazine with tons of outfits with matching expensive brand name handbags is not enough. Inside the magazine was a special handbag insert mini-mag. It actually covered all handbags new to the season not just Balenciaga. There was Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Pucci, Chole, and more. I loved that they also had montages of celebrities carrying particular brand name handbags. It was like a mini US magazine.

I have to say overall this magazine was way more fun to read than most American fashion magazines. There were just tons and tons of photos -- eye candy for just about everything.

Get Ready for Olympus Fashion Week in NY - Feb 3-10

Woohoo! I am really really excited for fashion week to start next Friday, Feb 3rd. I wish I could be in NY but thank goodness for technology these days. Sure Gwyneth and Uma can sit in the front row, but I like to shelter myself from the paparazzi. Ahem...

One designer I am looking out for is Alice Roi. New York Magazine calls her style "Vintage nostalgia mixed with modern sophistication." Ohh! Here's an outfit from her Spring 2006 collection.

For now, enjoy style.com's fashion week preview.

Here are the sites I've bookmarked to check out during Fashion Week:

Olympus Fashion Week
Official Site with Full Schedule.

Fall 2006 Collections by Getty Images
Images of the collections via the official fashion week site.

Getty Images Site
Direct access to all the fashion images including behind the scenes and parties.

The Daily Front Row
by Fashion Week Daily

Style.com
Vogue's coverage of the Fall shows

New York Magazine
Coverage of the Fall Fashion Shows

If I were a fashion editor, here's the show's I'd want to attend. Those noted with a * means they are on high-alert in my book. Definitely a high-priority to check out.

Friday, Feb 3rd
9am - Kenneth Cole
9pm - Baby Phat (because you know this would be fun to sit next to Diddy or something. And there would be the best after-party.)

Saturday, Feb 4th
1pm - Alice Roi*
8pm - Lacoste (more preppy chic)

Sunday, Feb 5th
Noon - DKNY
2pm - Tracy Reese
4pm - Diane Von Furstenberg
8pm - Badgley Mischka*

Monday, Feb 6th
10am - Carolina Herrera*
1pm - Oscar De La Renta
3pm - Betsy Johnson (I want to see her do a cartwheel and/or splits!)
7pm - Zang Toi

Tuesday, Feb 7th
10am - Monique Lhuillier
1pm - Luca Luca
9pm - Heatherette

Wednesday, Feb 8th
11am - Michael Kors
7pm - Anna Sui

Thursday, Feb 9th
2pm - Vera Wang
5pm - Calvin Klein
8pm - Zack Posen*

Friday , Feb 10th
9am - Project Runway*
Noon - Cynthia Rowley*
5pm - Catherine Maldrino

Long and Slim

Taking a break from high fashion, I took some time to check out Urban Outfitters. Again, I think the trend for spring is long, slim, and waistless. (Like the silhouette in spring dresses I mentioned before.) A little bit of 80's but without the bagginess. I love this look so much better. I never liked the fact that T-shirts were short to show off the mid-driff area a la Britney Spears. I think this look is actually much more slimming and will be cute paired with capri pants and marc jacob flats.

I also came across this little article on oversized hoodies in the Feb issue of Lucky (p.54). I thought it looked a bit weird in the traditional heather grey material. But then yesterday as I was driving I saw a woman crossing the street with a really sleek chocolate brown long hoodie in a thinner t-shirt like material. I was loving that.

I'm definitely looking forward to spring. Finally no more belly baring tees and more covering for my hump.

Please vote for MAKE!

Thanks to everyone's support the MAKE Blog has been nominated in the Best Crafts Blog category in the 2006 Bloggies!

Please cast your vote for MAKE here: 2006.bloggies.com

Thank You!

Chanel Sunglasses

I've been looking for some stylish sunglasses for a few months lately. Ever since I lost my Kate Spade sunglasses 2 1/2 years ago on a train in France going to Monet's Garden in Giverney, I have been a bit lost. Back in October, I broke a really cute pair that I got for 5 bucks at Forever 21. My emergency sunglasses proved well and now I needed to really splurge on a stylish pair of good quality.

Today it happened during my lunch hour and it only took me 5 minutes to decide. I found these new Chanel sunglasses that are a part of the new Spring 2006 collection. The frames aren't too big or too small, and the logo isn't too sparkly bling, more subdued. But the glasses just feel so darn good on. The lenses are fantastic. Hello world! I can see!!!

What sucks is that they had no more new ones in the brown tortoise shell so I actually have to wait a few days for it ship in from the east coast. I can't believe its not even Spring and they were selling them out in the store! It could be just a California thing since it has been so nice and sunny lately.

Coquette Things - Chinoise Style

This coming weekend is Chinese New Year: The Year of the Dog, Year 4703. Asian style has influenced fashion a lot lately and I thought I'd show some key pieces I like.

Shanghai Tang Floral Mini Dress ($515)
Really cute and sexy to wear out about town. Pair the dress with some skinny jeans and boot for a sleek urban winter look.

Kris Nations Lucky Black Onyx Buddah with Horn ($150)
This style is super hot and will go nicely into Spring. I love the multi-charm look.

Cashmere Dragon Tee ($212)
Perfect with jeans, stiletto heels and a leather jacket!
I found this off NY Times Sunday Fashion Slide Show. I found this to be the best of the bunch in terms of picks.

Sublime Stiching Chinatown Embroidery Pattern ($3)
Make your own tea towels or embroider your own t-shirts and bags with this cute mix of asian themes.

Chanel Blunder at the Golden Globes

I thought Reese Witherspoon looked stunning at the Golden Globes. She was telling everyone she was wearing "Vintage Chanel" and I thought to myself, "Oh how classy!" Turns out poor Reese was bamboozled. The dress was worn by years earlier by waifish/boobless Kirsten Dunst at the 2003 Golden Globes! (Read Defamer's take on it.) The word is that Reese knew that one other person had worn that dress before. She just probably thought it was Audrey Hepburn or Sandra Dee.

Coco Chanel must be having some stiff martinis and chain smoking up in the bar in heaven right now. I mean what kind of filing system do they have at Chanel? Is it little mice on wheels? Hey Chanel, there's something called a computer. It's called technology, you know the "digital revolution"? I mean, didn't Karl showcase a big iChanel computer (aka Chanel branded iMac) down the runway for Spring? Also what kind of person works in fashion and doesn't know the details of the collections? Maybe its just me who can pinpoint the year for a particular Marc Jacobs dress and hell I don't even work for Marc Jacobs! It has to be a young clueless intern who had only been working there less than a year or someone who didn't like the sequel "Legally Blonde 2". It seems kinda crazy that this person had no idea the dress was from a collection only a few years back. Next, its crazy to me this person did not know who previously wore the dress because again, it was ONLY A FEW YEARS AGO. Here's a tip, if your technologically challenged, safety pin a piece of paper to the dress in big writing with: 1) when the dress was made and 2) who wore it and when.

What is annoying is the press coverage turns to cover Reese's reaction in all this. What is she supposed to say or do when she was basically conned? No woman ever wants to be seen in the same dress as someone else, celebrity or not. I say, Chanel needs to own up! This is a major fashion house of the world and their reputation is at stake. Of course Chanel's PR team is deeply apologizing for the mix up, which they should be. But saying "sorry" is just too darn easy. Chanel needs to show us, the fashion public, they are sorry. Hey, they should send Reese their whole entire new Fall 2006 collection and let her sit in the front row of the Paris fashion show as an apology. I think that would be sufficient.

Anyway, Reese has nothing to worry about. (Photo from rediff.com) The dress looked way more flattering on her than on Kirsten (who's got some bad posture issues). Reese looks like a million bucks and she won the Golden Globe!

Wrap It Up with Heidi

I really love paper. What I haven't had the room for lately, much less the time to indulge in, was gift wrap. My former roomate Kathryn was really good at this. We used to have a cabinet in our old victorian style apartment that was simply for gift wrap, boxes, etc. It was our "Martha" cabinet. Living though now in a loft space, its hard to find good storage solutions so I've pretty much abandoned all hope to collect this stuff again. Right now, I have a measly little kate spade bag stuffed with ribbons and tissue paper on a shelf in the closet.

Today I came across Shop Heidi. Not only are there some really pretty wrapping paper for sale (along w/ note sets and journals), she even sells this great hanging storage solution which is perfect for me and the price is perfect at $19.99. I'm totally getting this!

But Heidi doesn't stop there. She gives you lots of tips on how to wrap, how to recycle scrap paper, and more.
I like this solution of using scrap paper as a band design around plain brown paper bags. It looks so stylish. I love it!
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Marie Antoinette

I can't wait for Sofia Coppola's new movie Marie-Antoinette to come out. The trailer just looks so cool and I already know that I'll love the soundtrack. Already from the trailer you can see how elaborate the production and the costumes are. I've always loved period movies and this one looks like it is going all out. It will be cool to see if this movie inspires the fashion runways. Perhaps we'll see something in Sofia's BFF Marc Jacob's Spring 2007 line?

It's quite amazing that they got permission from the french government to film on location at Versailles. I've been there many years ago and its breathtaking to see the palace and the landscape come back to life as it was in history. What a great follow up to Sofia's last movie, Lost in Translation. I am hoping with her talent as a writer and director that it's a cool modern indie take on one of the most famous women in history. "Let them eat cake!"