only Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs and his boyfriend on the beach with their Louis Vuitton x Stephen Sprouse towels. AMAZING! Only Marc could get away with this...

my christmas presents

my new stools. designer Konstantin Grcic for Magis. available at hivemodern.

my new backpack. from Altadena Works in collaboration with South Willard. available here.

my new shoes. Bass by Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony. available here.

down puffers by Crescent Down Works

I came across these great down jackets made by a small company out of Seattle called Crescent Down Works. The one above is part of a collaboration they did with APC for a simple down jacket but it is unfortunately available only in Japan. Then I found a men's store in LA called South Willard that is producing a line of jackets in collaboration with Crescent Down Works. If you have a spare $350, you should order one.

The quality is top-notch outerwear while the styling is very simple and pared-down, a true Pacific Northwest wilderness look. And they just got several of the better styles back in stock. Check it out on their website: South Willard. They also have a great blog too.

black with brown again

Another black outfit paired with brown shoes (see Kate Moss post from October). This time by the flawless Michelle Williams while strolling in Brooklyn with her daughter. And the brown oxfords she's sporting look very similar to the J.Crew ones spotlighted in an earlier post. I also love Michelle's long peacoat. The extra wide collar and the shiny brass buttons combined with the longer length are great updates on a wardrobe staple.

sofia forever

Sofia Coppola is another style icon of mine. Her movies are amazing, especially the underrated Marie-Antoinette. But her personal style is another thing entirely. While her red-carpet looks are fairly formulaic: almost always a little black dress, knee length with small, low black shoes and a small black clutch. Her casual day-to-day style is also very simple but extremely chic. And given that she's been living in Paris for the last several years, her style seems to be getting better and better

Unfortunately, since Sofia's not one for making headlines, it's rare to see a candid of her street-style. So imagine how happy I was to find this great Sofia blog today: oohsofia.blogspot.com. Below are a couple street shots of Sofia that showcase her daytime style (all from said blog).

I also learned some exciting personal and professional news about Sofia as well. She has a new movie coming out in 2010 that she wrote and directed called Somewhere starring Stephen Dorff (great casting choice!) AND, she is expecting another baby with Phoenix frontman and frenchman Thomas Mars. Congratulations, Sofia! Which brings to mind another thing about Sofia I love - her sparkling white wine available in the mini-cans. Yum!

Maybe she should be a lifestyle icon too. Do her own "GOOP". I'd be much more interested in her picks than Gwyneth Paltrow's.

LOVE these leggings

These leggings are AMAZING! They are by Future Classics and have a buttoned placket all the way down the front. Unfortunately they are $350. I am sure H&M will be doing the knock-off version soon. In the meantime I will continue to sweat these. See below for them styled in a look.

They are available at totokaelo. Although the grey is already sold out (!) but you can still buy them in black.

diane kruger, killer style

I saw this picture of actress Diane Kruger walking through LAX yesterday and definitely think she has some of the best style out there. She is able to effortlessly switch between the gamine tomboy outfit seen here and her ultra girly red-carpet looks.

Love the belt over the cardigan. And the oversized man's shirt (borderline dress) is so cool (note: jcrew men's shirts would work for this look.) And she's mixing basic colors - navy cardigan, tan belt with black leggings, black oxfords and black ray-bans. and the hair is very simple, pulled back out of the way.

She also has great beach style too in this swim look. I love the long gold necklace worn with the mismatched bikini. And the bikini contrast is great because one of the colors is a basic and the other is the pop. Two pop colors would've been too much.

tried and true: part two

As a continuation of the series started with L.L.Bean, now I've been looking much more closely at the J.Crew catalog lately. Who hasn't of course? Their look is amazing right now and just the right combination of old Marc by Marc Jacobs, preppy Americana (pick your brand) and super-feminine high fashion niche brands like Nanette Lepore or Mayle. Each piece is effortlessly feminine. Ruffles, sequins, pearls, satin trim are dripping off everything. These looks are great and have been extremely successful for them (double digit Q3 increases). However I'm much more interested in the other random items lurking under all the fluff. Takes this one-piece "union suit" in red-stripe. An adorable night-time look...or a great layering piece for day. Especially on those very cold days. It was available in navy and white as well but it has since sold out. It is only $69.50.

Another great piece I found instead in the men's department. The men's shirts come in a variety of plaids (lumberjack and otherwise) and are a lot less expensive than the women's fitted shirts. And it is much more chic to wear a loose men's shirt with the cuffs rolled up. This one is $59.50.

This adorable oxford is actually from the women's department, even though it looks like men's. And is very cute in brown especially once it's scuffed up a bit but would also be cute if it were offered in black, which it's not. There are very few sizes left, so this one might be on its way toward being sold out. Also affordable (for shoes) at $225. These are also a much better buy than any of their countless varieties of ballet flats, which sadly are definitely on the way out on the trend cycle. (More on this to follow in a later post.)

Personally I am feeling these skinny, stretch cords. The ankle-length keeps them from being too high-school or granola. Corduroy has had a hard time of late, really falling off the pant radar in women's (and in men's, unless you're a professor). It is slowly making a comeback. The black and the dark charcoal are definitely the best colors although I also think the soft ochre is very striking and could work with the right outfit (grey large-plaid men's shirt, simple black cardigan, black ankle boots, done.) They are $59.50 but I would imagine they will go on sale relatively soon.

And lastly, I just love this laptop case. It comes in 3 colors (red, black and navy) and 3 different sizes (13", 15" or 17") . It is a collaboration called "Want Organic for J.Crew" with a leather goods company out of Montreal called Want Les Essentiels de la Vie. I saw some of their stuff at Opening Ceremony in New York. Beautiful quality and unisex styling. The price is a little high at $285 but it is such a unique piece and sure to be sold out soon. Also, there is room for storage inside the case too, which is a bonus.

While J.Crew is presenting one look, there is much more to be had than face value if you are willing to dig for it. All items available at j.crew.com.

tried and true: part one

Looking through the L.L.Bean Christmas catalog today, I noticed this cute mock-neck cardigan sweater in a Nordic pattern with nice metal buttons..and (for some unknown reason) a random little skier navigating his way down the front of the sweater. This one quirky detail makes this otherwise kind of boring and very "LLBean"-esque cardigan a unique piece.

It reminds me a lot of the Paul&Joe cashmere sweaters (I don't think they are doing them anymore) that were a totally normal piece - like a solid, red cardigan - and then they would just have an owl on the side, staring at you. Or I used to have a pink Paul&Joe cardigan that for some reason had a frog holding an umbrella in the rain on the back of it. Also not unlike Lucien Pellat-Finet cashmere sweaters (see below) but less dark, less skulls and marijuana leaves and more happy, snowy adventures.

Like I said, quirky but still cute. The L.L.Bean sweater, by the way, is 100% merino wool and sells for $79.

And after discovering this one interesting piece, I felt inspired to look through the rest of the L.L.Bean catalog and even the website to see what other diamonds in the rough were to be found. I found a very cute cotton flannel tartan robe in the men's section, available in a variety of different plaids (I like the red tartan). It is also moderately priced at $49.50.

And since duck boots are all the rage right now and L.L.Bean basically invented them with their "Bean boots", I found these tall shearling lined versions that are actually a little more wearable than real duck boots. I mean, it's hard to go to work wearing duck boots and not look like you are going hunting. Am I wrong?

Because of their durability (and craftsmanship, I'm sure), they are a little more pricey at $184.

All items are available at llbean.com. And the Lucien Pellat-Finet picture was borrowed from the blog Tweed and Velvet.