Macy’s Great Tree (which stands 45 feet) on State Street is surrounded by 14 seven-foot trees featuring ornaments from celebrity designers, including Ralph Lauren, Betsey Johnson, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump andEmeril Lagasse. Each ornament on the trees retails for $10, with 10% of the purchase price benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Great Tree is on display until December 31, 2011.
Betsey Johnson Tree (left) and Tommy Hilfiger (right)
Here is a wonderful collaboration to keep in mind for the upcoming holiday season! MS is the leading cause of disability in young women, the second leading cause of disability in young men and the third leading cause overall in disabilities in the US. Designer Donna Karan became acquainted with multiple sclerosis through Marlo Donato, the manager of the Donna Karan flagship store in London. Marlo has been with Donna Karan since 2002 and was diagnosed in 2004, with MS.
Because of her personal connection and the crucial importance of the cause, Donna Karan has partnered with Nancy Davis, who herself has MS and whose foundation has made tremendous efforts to battle this disease, and created a unique product to aid in the fight. A bright, bold color and soft cashmere blend, this scarf is Donna Karan’s effort to help to erase multiple sclerosis, as part of the “Orange You Happy to Erase MS” campaign.
25% of the net sales of its $295 price will go directly to The Nancy Davis Foundation for MS. Nancy Davis notes, “This is the symbol of our Orange You Happy To Erase M.S, to help raise important funds for Multiple Sclerosis research and to help educate the public about this unpredictable auto immune disease that frequently strikes young women in the prime of their life, taking away their freedom and independence. With the big heart of Donna Karan, we are sure to speed along this process and make the dream of a world free of M.S. a reality.”
The scarf will be available at the Donna Karan stores in New York, London, Las Vegas, Costa Mesa, and online at DonnaKaran.com. Consider giving some bright orange cheer this holiday and help support an amazing cause!
Diane von Furstenberg is getting all these women a date tonight
If a DVF wrap dress can’t get you a date, maybe Diane von Furstenberg herself can!
Diane von Furstenberg is teaming up with the online dating service Match.com to help the fashion-ensemble-d and dating challenged find the love of their life. Furstenberg will also be pushing her new DIANE fragrance, as well as the message “Be the woman you want to be!” (well, “Girl Power!” must have been taken). The two will host three styling events featuring all the typical first date scenarios: cappuccinos, cocktails, and dinner.
New York was the first stop last night in the tour but don’t fret. You still have another chance to catch them around the US. The DVF boutiques in Miami and Dallas will hold the same event next week on November 10. Match.com will also be posting exclusive tips from the event on their blog.
“Dating is really all about confidence,” says the designer. “It is about dressing in a way that makes you feel comfortable and beautiful. Match.com and I wanted to do something fun to encourage women to be themselves and to go for it!”
Between this and the Rebecca Minkoff condoms, I think all these designers are in it just to get fashionistas hooked-up.
Bright and bubbly accessories company Little Miss Matched, known best for their endless combinations of unmatched socks, has launched a fun new initiative for a great cause! National “Rock Your Sock” Day was created to help tweens stand against the pressures of conformity and bullying and to celebrate their individuality. The store invited guests, both big and small, to write down what they thought made themselves special and unique. The footage was then compiled and turned into a Little Miss Matched’s SOCKumentary, called “What Makes You…YOU?” We managed to nab a clip of the mini film and just had to pass on the uplifting message!
Also, Little Miss Matched is holding a Facebook photo contest all weekend long in honor of National “Rock Your Socks” Day. Fans can post photos of themselves rocking their craziest socks (matching or not!) onto the Little Miss Matched Facebook page and the photos with the most “Likes” will win snazzy Little Miss Matches prizes! Stand against peer pressure and bullying (and have fun doing it!) with Little Miss Matched and their first ever National “Rock Your Socks” Day!
'The Price is Always Right' Game (which I rocked at!)
Who knew that HomeGoods was such a fun place?
Last week, bloggers were able to shop the wares at the HomeGoods store located on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. One might think of “HomeGoods” and immediately conjure thoughts of scary, tabletop decorations or mismatched track lighting but neither were available (thank goodness). The HomeGoods concept comes from the same chain as TJ Maxx and Marshalls, so it is expected that one would get goods deals walking in the door.
HomeGoods contains nothing but the best housewares and furniture pieces, with lo, affordable prices. Many were even name brands you wouldn’t expect to see in HomeGoods, like Kate Spade or Ralph by Ralph Lauren. Between one of a kind merchandise to exclusive high-end designer goods, if you’re looking to furnish your home, what would be better items with up to 60% the original price?
The scavenger hunt that all bloggers participated in!
Who doesn't love Kate Spade dishes starting at $10?
So we’ve completed the first week of October and surely by now, you’ve all noticed that Breast Cancer Awareness Month is in full swing. And while countless companies are doing their part to support the fight against breast cancer with “pink”- themed products and services, there are other ways to give a voice to the important cause. This week, Estée Lauder Companies Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) Campaign kicked off its “Shine A Light on Breast Cancer” social media program. This year, the BCA Campaign launches an integrated digital program that centers around a Facebook application that will live on the BCA Campaign’s Facebook page. They invite guets from all over the digital waves to add their own personal messages of hope. The application was inspired by the BCA Campaign’s Global Landmark Illuminations Initiative, through which more than 200 prominent global landmarks are lit in bright pink lights as symbols of hope and empowerment.
Mrs. Evelyn Lauder, Senior Corporate Vice President of The Estée Lauder Companies, stated “This year, The BCA Campaign took its important breast health awareness message to new heights through a multi-faceted, exciting and provocative digital program. Our first-ever global website, combined with our “Shine a Light on Breast Cancer” social media program translates into a new and inspiring High-Touch vehicle to encourage women and men from all corners of the globe to come together to rid the world of a disease that has no boundaries, for a future free of breast cancer.”
If you only do three things this month to show your support in the fight against breast cancer, let this be them:
*Write your own personal message of hope on the BCA Campaign Facebook application to spread the unwavering support for breast cancer patients, survivors and their families
*Tune into the BCA Campaign Online Press Conference with Elizabeth Hurley and Estee Lauder and BCA Campaign Spokesmodel and Marisa Thalberg, which covers the history, breadth and key objectives of the Campaign, along with essential facts about breast cancer and the importance of healthy living. (Bonus: Elizabeth Hurley answers one of the Second City Style questions!!)
*Check out our own carefully edited 15 Pink Picks for Breast Cancer Awareness, which features some of the best (and most charitable) “pink” products out there, benefiting a number of breast cancer research foundations.
Earlier this week we had the pleasure of getting a little pre-fashion week treat with an evening of tips, tricks and picks from style guru Robert Verdi. Verdi generously opened up his chic Luxe Laboratory to a select group of fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers for his exclusive Chic Week Twitter party! We were taken though everything that’s hot right now – from beauty to bling, quick energy fixes to protein on the go and bandages to contacts – with Verdi serving as our charming and hilarious tour guide through the must-haves for this fashion week season.
Here are a few of the fashion week fixes we found:
From Maybelline New York: Top trends for Fall beauty include – Bold lips are still here but are more berry and plum in shade, Smokey, dusty eye looks with metallics are all the rage, and beautiful, porcelain skin reigns supreme this season. Shop all the trends at maybelline.com
From Remington: Remington’s new Ultimate Stylist puts multiple style choices at your fingertips – with the exclusive curl slides, you can go from straight to curls or waves! www.remingtonproducts.com
Remington's Ultimate Styler takes you from curly to wavy!
The Cynthia Rowley and Band-Aid Brand fashion emergency kits!
From Sheets™ brand Energy Strips: Sheets brand Energy Strips dissolve in seconds and give you the energy you need to get from the fashion show to the after-party to the after-after party. Sheets Energy Strips com in cinnamon or berry flavors and are $5.95 = 10 pack / 4 pack = $2.95. takeasheet.com.
From Band-Aid® Brand by Cynthia Rowley: Fashion Designer, Cynthia Rowley has joined forces with Band-Aid Brand to fix your fashion emergencies and celebrate the national release of Band-Aid® Brand by Cynthia Rowley adhesive bandages. Band-Aid® Brand by Cynthia Rowley Adhesive Bandages are available now at cynthiarowley.com.
From Plastics Make It Possible: Plastics Make It Possible® highlights the ways plastics inspire innovations that improve our lives, solve our prob- lems and help us design a safer, more promising future. Plastic fibers and fabrics help give clothes their shape and help you look your best whether you are working out the gym or headed out for a night on the town! plasticsmakeitpossible.com.
Me with Kristin Booker of @fashionstbeauty receiving our bright Plastics Make It Possible totebags (check me out tweeting away!)
Robert Verdi being fabulous, as usual
From Hanes: Two key legwear looks: From Super Sheers that won’t run to flawless Black-out coverage, Hanes Silk Reflections has the essentials to build your Fall hosiery wardrobe. Ultra Sheer Tights, Blackout Tights, Blackout Thigh Highs $10 Ultra Sheer; $12 Blackout haneshosiery.com.
From Jewelista.com:Jewelista.com is an innovative, new online shopping destination where fashion discovers jewelry that features jaw-dropping collections from 15 jewelry designers from around the globe. “We are going to turn all of you fashionistas into Jewelistas!”
The beautiful Michou mesh bracelet we received from jewelista.com
From Sebago: The new exclusive Artisan Collection Shoe Styles for Spring 2012 is now available. All handsewn and developed in the factory by each artisan, Sebago has partnered with young and innovative designers like Kimmie Smith, MDot, and Ronnie Fieg. sebago.com.
Sebago shoe styles designed by Kimmie Smith
These amazing sponsors and more were all on hand to give us the low down on their fabulous products, each designed to make the fashion week experience more enjoyable and a little less exhausting for everybody! For more information on Robert Verdi and the sponsors in the Chic Week Twitter party, visit robertverdi.com.
Michael Kors is releasing a new online website: all Kors, all the time.
DESTINATION KORS is the new online lifestyle destination centered around the world of Michael Kors, curated by the designer himself. One part editorial site and one part digital dashboard, DESTINATION KORS is the first of its kind to integrate all facets of a luxury brand – from the designer, to product, to e-commerce – all in a seamless, unified destination. The site will also serve as the content engine housing the brand’s digital touchpoints, such as Facebook, its popular Twitter page, and eventually retail points of sale. DESTINATION KORS will also offer localized editorial features in each of the brand’s markets, starting with Japan and China this fall, and all locations by early 2012.
“I am so excited to have an online destination that can serve as the home to everything this brand is about,” said Michael Kors. “With DESTINATION KORS, I can create engaging, interactive content for my customers and fans. I can also showcase who I am and what I represent in the fashion and lifestyle space on a digital level.”
Hey fashion fans, get ready for your closeup! Lord & Taylor has just announced that consumers now have the opportunity to submit their favorite New York City-inspired photo to be displayed in the store’s Fifth Avenue window.
The windows, including the winning photo will be curated by Candy Pratts Price, Creative Director for VOGUE.com, and displayed for this season’s for Fashion’s Night Out!
From now until September 9th, anyone may submit their own photos of what inspires them in NYC via a special Facebook application on the store’s fan-page. Candy will select the images to be displayed in the windows and new images will also be accepted live during FNO.
The projected, dubbed “Candy Loves NYC,” celebrates New York City and offers consumers the opportunity to share their love of the city in the store’s windows and online. Candy has chosen four themes, one per window, that she will be
selecting images based on including:
• Favorite Art Moment- Candy loves the Dubuffet in the Financial District
• Favorite Green Space- Candy loves chic spaces to relax outdoors
• Favorite Place to Meet-Up- Candy loves salsa dancing at Guantanamera
• Quintessential NYC Photo- What says NYC to you? For Candy it’s all about yellow cabs and the Met.
“I am thrilled to be partnering with Lord & Taylor for this exciting Fashion’s Night Out project,” noted Candy Pratts Price, Creative Director of VOGUE.com. “I am a true New Yorker and love the fact that Lord & Taylor is embracing the city. I can’t wait to see the places that are close to me in New York in the Fifth Avenue windows and also discover new places other New Yorkers love.”
So start that brainstorming now and we’ll look for YOUR New York-inspired photos during New York’s Fashion’s Night Out! Follow this link to link to submit photos: http://apps.facebook.com/candy-loves-nyc/
After speaking with the stars of the show, we were definitely ready to see what Macy’s Passport Presents Glamorama 2011 had in store for us! With amazing seats to catch every inch of the action, we sat back and waited to be wowed.
The show began with on a tranquil note. Modern dancers gracefully unfurled onto the stage to a choral rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep” and for a moment, we forgot we were there for fashion! But Show Choreographer Myron Johnson’s signature sense of inventive movement soon shone through as the girls tore their tutus off, revealing outfits with a striped referee motif and were joined by male break dancers to jam out to the opening number.
Sonia Rykiel
Sonia Rykiel was on the fashion lineup first, serving up a sumptuous Parisian boudoir as her backdrop. She showcased her signature knits in rich, earth tones like crimson, emerald and slate gray and displayed both ladylike silhouettes and voluminous outerwear, perfect for fall layering.
Jean Paul Gaultier Collection
The Jean Paul Gaultier Collection was next with sassy suits in tweed and brightly printed separates. The theme seemed to embody a ladies who lunch aestehtic, as many of the models slinked in with cat- eye glasses, pillbox hats and furry cuffs. A standout piece was this cobalt-colored, slim-fitting dress with a head-turning ruffle down the center. Love!
Jean Paul Gaultier Collection
In between designer’s we were treated to more performances, including an adorable ballroom dancing set by the young dancers we had seen on the red carpet, which morphed into an amazing break dancing set that included more pint-sized performers. And finally, both grown ups and tots took the stage for a rousing, black-light lit spectacle of tightly coordinated moves to the beats of today’s biggest pop stars like Britney Spears, Rihanna and Lupe Fiasco.
Tiny ballroom dancers!
Blacklight dancers
Next in fashion was Armani Jeans with achingly handsome male models walking a moving sidewalk and jumping off to pose. And then came Marc Jacobs. Models were styled identically to Jacobs’ fall 2011 runway, sporting head to toe polka dots in some variation and the chin-strapped berets which Jacobs made so famous at last season’s fashion week shows. Tracy Reese came through with her specialty— bevy of beautiful gowns and flirty dresses and Far East Movement took the stage as the best possible background behind bar 111′s urban and slightly boho line.
Marc Jacobs
Tracy Reese
The big fashion reveal of the evening was Karl Lagerfeld for Impulse, a capsule collection available only at Macy’s as part of the retailer’s designer capsule series. Designed as an extension of the designer’s signature style, the collection featured refined dresses, airy tops and modern tweeds for Lagerfeld-esque flourishes like high-collared necks and crocodile prints.
Karl Lagerfeld for Impulse
Karl Lagerfeld for Impulse
The last highlight of the evening was Cee Lo Green’s performance, which began intimately as he took the stage and spoke to us, Chicago, like we were old friends. As the set continued, things started to heat up and the audience went from waving their hands in the air, to dancing in their seats to getting on their feet for the final number of Cee Lo’s hit “Forget You”, (a Macy’s rep later told me that out of the four cities that Glamorama tours, she had never seen an entire theater on their feet, dancing in the aisles like that before). With all of us singing along and the dancers, big and small, taking the stage to back him up, Cee Lo closed the show out right with his crazy energy, soulful vocal stylings and a final burst of confetti!
Cee Lo Green!
Press and industry professionals alike, all agreed that few other shows offer up this much fun. Still dancing out of the theater, we continued the night onto the after party!……
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