« September 2006 | Main | November 2006 »
Handknitted and remarkably soft to the touch. As an added bonus, they're eco-friendly. Available at VivaTerra.com.
- Lesley Scott
With a 60th birthday looming, along with the demise of her 33 year marriage, Meg Noble Peterson decided it was high time to see the world. Armed with only a backpack, open ticket, empty journals, and a camera, Peterson headed for Africa & Asia for eight months of deadline-free wandering across Africa & Asia.
Chronicling her experiences in Madam, Have You Ever Really Been Happy?, Peterson covered four continents and 12 countries from the crowded streets of Cairo, to contentious apartheid South Africa, to India's Taj Mahal, to the peaks of the Himalaya. "In 1987, after a divorce, a career, and raising five kids, I decided to escape everyday life and travel around the world," she explains. Traveling on a shoestring and making plans as she went along, Peterson ventured well off the beaten path. She rode on dilapidated buses through Egypt and Zimbabwe and squeezed into hot, crowded trains in India. In Kenya, she encountered roadblocks and Masai warriors, and in Nepal she found romance with an Austrian scientist. Abandoned at 14,000 ft. by their drunken guide, the two climb to Everest Base Camp through the snow and ice, and were almost buried by an avalanche before they reached Kala Pattar at 18,500 ft.
"My memoir illustrates that it's never too late to strike out for places exotic and unknown," notes Peterson, now 78. "I didn't let the fact that I was a woman approaching sixty deter me from traveling. I had some of the most exhilarating and thrilling experiences of my life."
For more on her recent travels, visit MegNoblePeterson.com. The book is available at Amazon.com.
Via The Travel Snob.
Fly around the racetrack at 175+ miles an hour in a real-deal stock car with a pro racing instructor at the wheel. Available at SignatureDays.com.
- Lesley Scott
Regardless of your figure "challenge," Kasil's got a pair that will make you look your denim-clad finest. The sexy Evie is a super-skinny low rise; Devoted is tailor-made for for bootylicious chicas; hourglass figures will appreciate the lack of gapping in back in a pair of the Eleanor; Gia is great for anyone with tummy issues. And tall girls with any of the above? Feel free to choose from any of the styles, because they all come with a long inseam!
For a podcast interview with the designer, check out L.A.Story. Find a pair at store near you at KasilJean.com.
- Lesley Scott
A slim & chic convertible shoulder bag/clutch that's just large enough to hold a cell, lipstick & hand mirror. Available at Zappos.com.
- Lesley Scott
A recent spate of articles in the popular media have focused on how sexy Halloween, and, in particular, Halloween costumes seem to have become. However, research by Youth Trends indicates that earnest & well-meaning writers may have missed the humor - and the boat - altogether. "Like many other youth-focused topics covered by the mainstream media,
this looks to be another mis-guided effort, because I can tell with a
very high confidence level that 90% of the feedback we received from
our panelists concerning Halloween, Halloween costumes and Halloween
parties, is the polar opposite of what the so called "experts" are
being quoted as saying in most of those articles," explains Josh Weil, CEO of Youth Trends in a piece on his GenDigital blog. "For young people today (for many whose dress code would be considered
racy on a normal Tuesday morning) Halloween is a "theme" party to dress
up and pretend to be something they're not, to get a few laughs out of
their friends, and party."
- Lesley Scott
(photos: HalloweenMart.com)
Just in time to capitalize on holiday shopping madness, diminutive disco diva Kylie Minogue will be dropping her new fragrance, Darling, coinciding with the start of her Showgirl Homecoming Tour in Sydney, Australia on November 11. A collaboration with Coty Beauty, the fragrance will be launched in the U.K., Ireland & Australia, and be available in Europe and the Americas in the spring; distribution will be a mix of chi chi department stores and mass retailers – mirroring the crossover appeal of Minogue. "She's a democratic entertainer," Steve Mormoris, senior vice president of global marketing for Coty Beauty, told WWD. "[Darling will] be in different channels of distribution, as consumers shopping in both prestige and mass channels know Kylie Minogue and want to buy a fragrance by her."
Because of the millions of dollars at stake creating, launching & marketing a celebrity fragrance, a vast amount of market research is always the first step in the process to verify that the celeb indeed has global appeal. "Kylie Minogue has proven to be one of the leading celebrity entertainers," explains Mormoris about the star’s A-list status in the U.K., Australia, Asia, Europe, Canada, and select U.S. cities. "She's a celebrity who reaches people of all socioeconomic specifications…She has strong appeal with three generations: women and men in their 20s, 30s and 40s. This is rare in the celebrity marketplace. Kylie is a musical artist, she's a beautiful woman, she's accessible and charismatic. All of these characteristics we know translate well into a fragrance."
Priced in the 15 to 35 Euro range ($20-$45), insiders guesstimate that the fragrance, shower gel & body lotion will rake in a cool $50 million in retail sales the first year. Because of her large & devoted gay following, a men’s fragrance is not surprisingly in the works. "Some men have asked about it already, as they know Darling is coming out," says Minogue about the fragrance which is named for her pet moniker for friends & loved ones. "To have interest is such a luxury." (via WWD)
The deets on Darling – a chypre-floriental scent created by Thierry Wasser of Firmenich:
TOP NOTES: passion fruit, freesia & lychee
HEART: lily and boronia (an Australian flower)
BASE: sandalwood, amber wood and vanilla
- Lesley Scott
(Luella Bartley Fall 2006)
Amelia Earhart wouldn't have looked out of place in this Luella ensemble, striding smartly toward her destiny. If you've got the pennies saved to splurge on an authentic shearling, it's without question a piece that will look fab for many seasons to come. If a more affordable - but equally cute! - faux version is more in your budget, let the jacket set the color tone & build the rest of the outfit around it. This budget-friendly chocolate version (below) dictates a slightly more brown hue in the pant & the bag than the Luella runway version - but the groovy overall vibe it still the same.
Great options for workin' it Luella style on a non-Luella budget:
Faux shearling aviator jacket - HSN.com
Cuffed menswear trouser - Nordstrom.com
Shearling trimmed bag - Zappos.com
Chocolate platform pump - Piperlime.com
Fashion Focus studded bronze belt - Amazon.com
- Lesley Scott
