Pink Rock Candy – Top fashion trends, news and shopping of 2010

Currently, all I want is for it to be warmer so I can go out with friends in a to-die-for party dress without being hindered by a winter coat or tights that make my feet slip out of my shoes.

However, sometimes after a couple months of hibernating, this winter-spring middle ground is what we need. We still have to throw our parkas over our skintight dresses, but the tights we wear to prevent hypothermia can sometimes do double or even triple duty.

Much to my surprise, Spanx, the brand best known for sucking in the post-holiday gut with their body-shapers, also has a line of stockings/tights perfect for this transitory period. Whether you want to go for the basic black tight or a sexier fishnet, you can play the fake-it-til-you-make-it game and hide those extra winter pounds until you’ve convinced yourself the gym isn’t your arch enemy— or is that just me.

I don’t own a pair of fishnet stockings, but I’ve always like the idea of them. They’re stereotypically sexy and femme fatale similar to the way a corset— of which I only own one and never wear— is a sexy allusion to the pin-up girl. So, why not splurge for the shape giving ‘Finally, Control Top Fishnets’ found on MyTights.com?

Does the added support via a control top make them less sexy? When worn under a Hervé Léger dress, absolutely not!

Plus, if ever I find myself in a situation where the ideal Hervé Léger dress is to be removed, I’m reassured by the knowledge that guys my age care more about taking garments off than how they actually look on.

I may be a fairly thin girl, but I am not averse to getting a little help from science a.k.a. Spanx— there’s even an ‘x’ at the end of the word, totally scientific— when I feel Mother Nature (i.e. mashed potatoes and apple strudel) has forsaken me.

Today, I wore one of my new Twinkle by Wenlan Spring 2010 pieces. I tweeted about it, but the picture was , in my very self-critical opinion, horrendous.

I’ve loved the ‘Oil and Water’ print since I saw it being made— a lot of Wenlan’s prints are created by the design team and then sent to a fabric manufacturer. There’s something about the busy nature of the print that easily gets me through a gray day like today.

You can’t see the back, but it’s made of black and white striped fine gauge knit, adding an extra bit of pizazz without needing sequins, studs, chains, grommets, or any other glimmering details. It is the lack of necessity for such pieces of flare that make me love Twinkle as much as I do.

On a completely different but strangely connected note, there was an article on Fashionista about telling the world you’re wearing a sample.

“I’ve spotted at least three people proudly sporting their ‘Sample’ label. At ThreeAsFour’s show at Milk, a man took off his jacket to reveal a sample label pinned inside; a model threw a tantrum in sample-stamped shoes, and while waiting in line for Hakaan I noticed ‘Sample’ written across the back of of a woman’s army jacket in Sharpie,” writes Britt Aboutaleb.

It’s a known fact in the fashion industry many people wear loaned samples. It is also known that just  as many people, including models and interns, get “paid” in samples instead of cold hard cash. I’m not exempt from this process. While working at Twinkle, I had a clothing allowance and was able to convert my hundreds of labored hours into something similar to Twinkle Bucks to purchase samples or order pieces from the new season. This tunic is one of the many pieces I ordered using my allowance from Twinkle.

The question on Fashionista was whether it is “cool” to publicize that you’re wearing a sample?

In my opinion, there is no need to do so. It isn’t as if you’re sharing a great sale tip with a friend. I don’t think it’s a gold star on my shopping record to say I’m wearing a sample. I’d also like to note, I only used my allowance on items I would have actually purchased, not simply because I was jonesing for a Twinkle sample.

Samples are everywhere, and you aren’t in an exclusive club or making a unique sartorial statement simply because you’re wearing one. Think about it, a sample sale is called a SAMPLE sale for a reason, and there are hundreds of them each season. Not to mention, those hundreds of sample sales are attended by hundreds of people. I see no novelty in said situation.

That being said, I, obviously, have nothing against samples and will continue to wear them and trade labor for them as I see fit, but I won’t be leaving the sample tag in, sorry!

What’s your take on showing the world you’re wearing a sample?

p.s. Follow me on Twitter

The randomly chosen winner of the Sedu Revolution Pro Nano Ceramic Tourmaline 1 Inch Styling Set ($140) from Folica.com is…

Azn_Barbie

Congratulations!

I’d also like to thank Jackie Johnson and everyone at Folica.com!

Left to right: Gina Garrubbo, Mary Scherpe, Carl Hoyt, Jessica Schroeder, Imram Amed, and Diane Pernet

Ethics…

I had a philosophy class about ethics, once, and my professor was promptly fired for calling another professor a douchebag and telling him to do Oedipal things to his mother. Needless, to say that class was more interesting than helpful. The next couple of years, ethics in terms of Journalism and Public Relations had been beaten into my brain, however the “Navigating Ethics Pane” at the Independent Fashion Bloggers Evolving Influence conference I attended on February 15, left me struggling internally.

“To be a good PR professional, you have to, first, be a good journalist,” is the mantra of my many public relations professors.

“Never, NEVER accept gifts from people or brands you are writing about. A journalist is supposed to remain unbiased,” tout my journalism professors all having either worked at Newsday, The New York Times or both.

“Getting free stuff for writing a blog post is like the barter system,” exclaims a semi-scandalous blogger at the IFB conference. What can only be described as a rant by said blogger, went downhill fast after making slightly anti-Semitic generalizations about the Jewish people (read about it here).

None of this information is helpful in the blogging ethics situation.

Even the discussion had between the panelist of the “Navigating Ethics Panel” at the blogging conference— The New York Times‘ Carl Hoyt (also, a Pultizer Prize winning journalist), What I Wore‘s Jessica Schroeder, BlogHer‘s Gina Garrubbo, The Business of Fashion‘s Imram Amed, A Shaded View of Fashion‘s Diane Pernet, Still in Berlin‘s Mary Scherpe, and jewelery designer/blogger Wendy Brandes as moderator— left things quite unresolved. Continue Reading ‘What Are Blogging Ethics?’

A little over a week ago, I received an email from Jackie Johnson from Some Notes on Napkins, telling me one of her clients, Folica.com, was hosting a contest called the Folica Style-Off.

In the contest, you have to create a video showing how you use your favorite Sedu product to create your favorite hairstyle, whether it’s going from straight to curly, curly to straight, down to up, etc. The winner will receive “$1000 cash, a selection of Sedu appliances and a feature on Folica.com that will be promoted to millions of viewers!”

The contest started on Feb. 8, 2010, but I was a little sidetracked by my sick brother and fashion week to post about it earlier. All video submissions should be emailed to contest@folica.com by Feb. 28, 2010, and should be no longer than seven minutes.

Check out the Contest Instructions & Inspirationation above.

Also, in the spirits of contests, not only was I given a dazzling Sedu Pro Ionic Ceramic Tourmaline Flat Iron (1 1/2″) so I can create my contest video— when I get a bit of time, I’ll put post about it— but, I also received a Sedu Revolution Pro Nano Ceramic Tourmaline 1 Inch Styling Set ($140) to give away to one lucky Pink Rock Candy reader. To enter, comment on this post between now and Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010. Make sure to provide an email address, if you comment using your twitter or facebook login. US residents only. After that, I will randomly choose a winner, good luck!