Pink Rock Candy-Fashion

Not a fan of bright color combos and crazy patterns, avert your eyes and make sure you never fall for the nu rave trend. I for one am oddly attracted to bright colors and things that are so wrong, they’re right. That is the basis of clothing brand Naked Ape. According to them, they are just a bunch of people who come together “for the love of making stuff and having fun together”, but just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I find their “stuff” to be so much more.

Very rarely do you feel a bond with a garment unless you had something to do with its creation, and even then its questionable. However, the shear wrongness (is that a word?) of the eclectic patterns on the clothing made me swoon in a way I hadn’t in quite a while. Their pieces are urban yet nu rave, comfortable yet chic.

My favorite pieces include:

• The ‘Forynja Dress’, 265.0 € SOLDOUT- I rarely like dresses with hoods, but the loose fit of the dress works well with the drappy hood.
• The ‘Ponies Hoodie’, 110.0 € - Its My Little Pony gone nu rave, what more is there to say?
• The ‘Heartbreaker’ t-shirt, 40.0 € - Who can resist half-naked rockers in leopard pants? I know I can’t!
• The ‘Ponies & Yetis Snood’, 55.0 € - It’s winter and we all need a good hood-scarf. Except my idea of a snood is something like a hair-net, who knew! Oh, and its MLP meets the ever illusive yeti, come on…

The only thing to bring me down from this fashion high was finding out Naked Ape is based in Iceland, and realizing the USD/EUR exchange rate is crazy (1€ is about $1.50 USD).

For more information on Naked Ape visit their website: http://dontbenaked.com/.

Target is on a never ending quest to find great designers to collaborate with. They’ve taken the term capsule collection and run with it. After having quite a few successful collaborations with accessories designers like Devi Kroell, Hollywould, Dominique Cohen, and soon Loeffler Randal, they have decided to launch a line with Joy Gryson.

The accessories line will launch sometime in 2008, but according to Fashion Week Daily, they are previewing the line to long lead press (a.k.a. magazines) on December 12th.

Joy Gryson started her line Gryson in 2006 after being the director of design for the Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag and accessories lines. If you know anything about the Marc Jacobs & Marc by Marc handbags, you’d know they’re amazing, and the bags I’ve seen of hers are very reminiscent of those designs. The ‘Layla’ bag from the fall 2007 season is absolutely radiant. Giant, chocolate brown, Italian calf-skin leather totes tend to make me swoon.

For more information on Gryson visit gryson.com.

[via Fashion Week Daily]
Image courtesy of chinese.chosun.com.

There’s a new kind of vintage out there, and its called Trashy Vintage. Actually, Trashy Vintage is an ebay auction/soon-to-be-webstore that sells really rad vintage pieces. The great people at the Trashy Vintage headquarters are trying to help you get a head start on all of that holiday shopping. How? They’re giving you a discount, and having a discount on vintage prices is such a great deal.

From now until February 1st, 2008, you can get $5 off any purchase of $25 or more (that is not including S&H). Just send a message to Crystal on ebay with the code DEARSANTA, and voila! A revised invoice will be sent to you showing the discount. This can’t be combined with any other offers, discounts, or coupons (sorry!).

Right now Trashy Vintage is still in the ebay auction format, but that definitely doesn’t take away from the hipness of the clothes. They are also working on their new website as we speak. Since you’re buying their vintage finds on ebay, my suggestion is, if you’ve never bid on anything on ebay, scope out the items you want, and then wait until the last minute to bid in an attempt to be the last bidder and win the booty.

For more information and to see what’s new each week visit the Trashy Vintage website, ebay store, and myspace.

I’ve done this once before, and it was mighty fun. So here are the rules. I was tagged by Angelique from Couture in the City to write 7 random facts about myself. Not only do I have to write 7 random facts, I have to tag 7 other fashion bloggers and link to them at the end of this post. I have to contact the bloggers I’ve decided to tag by comment or otherwise and make sure they know its time to put their running shoes on because this game of tag is in full swing!So here are my random 7 facts:

1. I started wearing contacts for the first time ever in September. I was 18!
2. I recently realized I have a slight obsession with t-shirts and high heels. If it were up to me, I’d wear just the two all day…okay, maybe I’d throw on some underwear.
3. My obsession with green tea has transcended my beverage choices, and now encompasses frozen delights like green tea and white chocolate chip gelato. Mmmm!
4. I’m constantly scoping out new fashion blogs to read, sometimes I find myself going through the list of Coutorture fashion blogs just to see whats new.
5. I wear high heels almost every day of my life. I would probably even try to wear them with a broken leg, but since I haven’t ever broken a bone, that’s just an assumption. (does that count as 2..nahh!)
6. I haven’t gone to a concert in what seems like forever, and it makes me really sad. I always end up competing against the scalpers who have infiltrated ticketmaster, and I always seem to lose. I also can’t bring myself to pay said scalpers double for the same tickets.
7. My 3 favorite new cds right now are: Foo Fighter’s Echoes, Silence,Patience, and Grace, Radiohead’s In Rainbows, and Cobra Starship’s Viva La Cobra.

That’s it for this round, so my tags are: GLAM & TONIC, That’s Chic, Eye4Style, Diva in a Carry On, Fashion Fling, Fashionably Cute, and Discotheque Confusion.

I have been waiting for Snakes & Suits to officially open for what seems like forever. On their myspace page, they have been touting the dreaded, “coming soon” sign for as long as I can remember, but finally it has launched and I’m stoked. The question in a lot of your heads is probably, “What the hell is Snakes & Suits?” The answer to that is simple, and complicated at the same time. The short answer is S&S is a clothing line and a record label all rolled up into one nice package.

Currently, they’re selling t-shirts and hoodies, you know the standard start-up indie line gear. The difference between all t-shirts is whats on them, or not on them for that matter. The art and graphics on the tees and hoodies are really unique and in the case of the ‘Storms’ t-shirt a bit finger-painty mixed with splash of Jackson Pollock (if he went minimalist). Many of the items are very limited, as in they only have 75 of them, so impulsive buyers have the advantage.

As for the record label aspect of Snakes & Suits, they are taking a new-age approach to putting out music. They are releasing all albums via FREE mp3 downloads. They are starting by re-releasing the out-of-print Gatsbys American Dream EP, In The Land Of Lost Monsters. Included in the download is not only 7 great songs from GAD, but the album cover, and a little message from guitarist, Bobby Darling.

You can shop Snakes & Suits on their webstore, download the Gatsbys American Dream EP in their myspace. Above all make sure to “smile big and keep your hearts over money!”

For more information on Gatsbys American Dream, visit their website or myspace.

Who watched Project Runway on Wednesday night? ME!

Who only gained 5 points on their stupid ProRun fantasy team? Unfortunately, that was me too.

And, who was absolutely in love with the dress Victorya created? That was Sarah Jessica Parker, well, and me of course.

The dress totally fit the style of the Bitten line, and I loved the plaid, racerback vest. It’s something I could and would wear to school, out to dinner, or where ever I needed to go. I heard that the dress will cost $19.98 and will be offered in black and burgundy. The vest will only cost $14.98 and will come in black and gray. I also heard the pieces will be sold in Steve & Barry’s around the US as early as today.

The last bit of info makes me worried because today is Black Friday, and I wouldn’t leave the house to go shopping even if someone was giving me a million dollars. If it did come out today, that means it might be gone by the time I try to buy it. My only hope is the Steve & Barry’s around me is faulty, as usual, and don’t put out the items in time. If any brave soul happened to go out to Steve & Barry’s today, did you see the dress and vest? Just wondering.

Visit the Project Runway website on bravotv.com.

Black Friday is perhaps the scariest day of the year. It is when great sales drive the bold to brave the elements, crowds, lines, and fights over the last of items. Many, many shoppers will come home empty handed because they got to a store too late, even more will come home with frost bite because they got to a store hours before it opened and waited outside in freezing temperatures, and some, those brave few, will come home with all the booty they’ve ever wanted, a black eye, and a bloody nose. I, though, am not one of the courageous.

I truly fear going out of my house on Black Friday. I would much rather watch marathons of my favorite shows and eat Thanksgiving leftovers. I know I’m not alone in this, and that is why I’m am very excited to hear about “Cyber Monday.” “What’s Cyber Monday?” you ask. Its the same thing as Black Friday, except for the e-commerce stores. The technical Urban Dictionary definition is, “Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday, when online retailers will be looking for their biggest sales from those who checked out products over the Thanksgiving weekend, and will now be ordering them Monday at work.” So, before you hit the e-tail stores hard on Monday, here is a list of some stores that are participating:

1. Max and Chloe: You can get an extra 20% off by punching in CYBR20 at checkout anytime between Friday, November 23rd and Monday, November 26th. After November 26th, you can enter MJ15 for a 15% discount.
2. Shoes.com: On Cyber Monday, you can enter CYBERMONDAY at checkout to get 20% off your entire purchase.
3. Pink Mascara: From now until November 30th, you can type in AFF20 at checkout to get 20% off any purchase over $100. You can also get $20 off a purchase of $150 or more by using the code SAVE20, $50 off $250 or more by using the code SAVE50, and $115 off $500 or more by using the code SAVE115.
4. Jules Smith Designs: Only on Monday, November 26th, can you get 20% off your purchase by punching in JULES20 at checkout.
5. StandardStyle.com: From now until midnight on Monday you can receive $50 off any purchase of $200 or more by typing in THANKS50, $100 off any purchase of $400 or more by typing in THANKS100, and $200 off any purchase of $800 or more by typing in THANKS200.
6. MaxStudio.com: Until December 31st, you can will receive free shipping and $20 off all purchases over $100.
7. Bluefly: If you’re a newbie to Bluefly shopping, you can receive 10% off your entire purchase of $100 or more until November 30th. You can also get an extra 10% discount on your entire purchase for Monday, November 26th, only.
8. Shopbop.com: By entering the code GETAJUMP at checkout, you can get $25 off an order of $150 or more, $50 off and order of $300 or more, $100 off and order of $500 or more, and $250 off an order of $1000 or more.
9. ModCloth: They’re having their “Biggest Sale Ever” until Monday. Tons and tons of cute clothes marked down, and no discount codes are needed!
10. Johnny Cupcakes: Print out this coupon and take it to one of the JC retail stores in Boston, MA or Hull, MA to get 20% off your entire purchase, or you can head to the website and enter COAL at checkout to again get 20% off your purchase. The offers are valid until November 28th.
11. Rocawear.com: On November 26th only, the first two customers to have a purchase over $500 will get 2 free NJ Nets tickets and everyone else will get a free Rocawear umbrella with their purchase.

Do you know of any Cyber Monday deals? Tell us in a comment or email Chelsea at pinkrockfashion@gmail.com so I can add it to the list.

Why do I love Heidi Klum? Let me count the ways…

1. She is the host of one of my all time favorite TV shows, Project Runway (for those who live under a rock)
2. She’s a Victoria’s Secret Angel, and I’ve wanted to be one since I was a little girl (that won’t ever happen)
3. She’s had about 50 billion children and she still has a better body than me (okay, maybe that makes me jealous, but in a good way)
4. She totally started the whole spelling “offed” like “auf’d” (never will you see me doing this, but…)
5. Because of #2, she probably knows what Victoria’s secret actually is. (I assume the secret has to do with her being able to shed the baby wait in about 5 days.)
6. Finally, I love Heidi because of this video from TMZ.

In the video she’s Heidi’s touching her boobs and talking about being nipplely. She also states the obvious by saying she has great knockers (her words not mine). This may also be a part of Victoria’s have-the-perfect-body secret, self-realization. If we all go around saying we have great knockers and talking about our nipples, we might all have bodies perfect enough that we too will be nicknamed “The Body”. Actually, I think this might have just been bloopers for part of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show commercial (the fashion show airs on Dec. 4), but its funny none the less.

I’m not going to lie, there are times when you could see me walking down the street, and you’d be 100% sure I was from Williamsburg. I’m a sucker for hipster trends, I even have a tendency of denying my attraction to arrow-skinny jeans, ironic tees, and over-sized glasses around people who scoff at the Williamsburg hipster (hipsters never claim to be hipsters). The goal of dressing like you’re from Cali but live in NYC can be fun when the entire world doesn’t do it, but American Apparel, a front-runner in supplying hipsters and the wannabes with all the leggings, hoodies, and tees they can handle, is exploiting this guilty pleasure of a fashion trend to the nth degree.

True, there are Am Aps everywhere, but now they aren’t only peddling crazy metallic leggings and mono-kinis, they are taking things a step farther and selling vintage items. So far they’ve started by putting vintage eyewear on their webstore, but they are taking the next step and creating a sister store called California Apparel. The first Cali Apparel will open in LA, but other stores are bound to pop-up around the US and the rest of the world.

Now, back to the vintage glasses on the webstore. I for one have a problem with them. As cute as the crazy, over-sized granny-gogs are, I am definitely not going to pay $50 for them. I get it, they’re vintage, but they are also novelty glasses (meaning no prescription lenses). There’s a little thing I like to call a drugstore. They sell over-sized glasses for cheap, pop the lenses out and voila! Where them at night, and no one will be able to tell, we did it in 2nd grade, trust me. Or even better, go ask your grand parents if they have any old sunglasses/glasses you can wear. Not only will those be vintage, but heirloom. As much as I may protest against the inevitable commercialization of the hipster, the fashion trend will flourish thanks to American Apparel, and the likes. You know what that means? Its time to find a new counterculture fashion trend, or maybe I’ll just rehash a different decade start my own!

As a college student, with a very limited income, the words luxury and clothing don’t often find their way into the same sentence. I may swoon over a pair, or ten, of Christian Louboutin shoes or the entire Chloe ready-to-wear clothing line, but in all actuality my acquisition of luxury clothing is confined to birthdays and holidays when I receive presents from people who are much older, wiser, and monetarily secure than I. This brings me to the term, affordable luxury.

When I think of luxury, I think, “out of my reach”; so, when the word affordable is place in front of luxury, I get a bit confused. Does this mean the Balenciaga military jackets are on major sale? In my dreams!

Affordable luxury clothing is the term given to brands like Coach, DKNY, Baby Phat, etc. This is pretty much the major brands you can buy at stores like Macy’s and Nordstrom’s. According to the Wall Street Journal, the once booming industry of affordable luxury clothing, is plunging into the pit of doom. No longer are middle class buyers spending all of their extra money on these affordable designer duds, and even more interesting, the luxury clothing industry is feeling no negative effects because of the lack of consumers. In fact that industry is blossoming, but why?

Obviously, there are economic difficulties in the United States and around the world for that matter. This is definitely having a giant effect on the spending habits of middle and lower class people. Also, it can be noted that people in the upper class may be losing money, but most times this loss of money means less to the wealthy than to the people living from paycheck to paycheck. When you have money to blow, you usually do.

There is also the access factor. When everyone has the same Louis Vuitton bag, it isn’t worth spending the money to buy it; so, what do you do? Save a little bit more money and buy a higher end bag (a more luxurious bag). To me many brands have become so accessible and such a ’status symbol’ it is an annoyance. We’ve all seen the person who looks exactly like this model in the Coach perfume ad. Why is it necessary to be a walking Coach billboard? Many brands are trying to distance themselves from this affordable luxury category in an attempt to save face and continue making money.

Perhaps this is a lesson learned. Every other day there is a new celebrity clothing line coming out at Macy’s or a new capsule collection at Target or H&M. Not to say I don’t adore the options, “Do I want to go to H&M and shop the Roberto Cavalli for H&M line or do I want to head to Target and get that white and purple Erin Fertherston dress I’ve been fawning over,” but often when people have too many choices they become overwhelmed and tend to choose to abstain. Its all celeb-line fun and capsule-collection games until the fashion industry gets hurt!

[via The Wall Street Journal]