NYC

I have a new goal in life: to be featured on Advanced Style.

That's it.  That's all I want from life anymore.

I think I may be on my way, especially after this outfit! I wore it last Saturday to brunch, when i was so exhausted I didn't know what to wear. I am so tired of winter!

The solution? Pile as much crazy furry vintage as you can, slip into your shearling boots, oversized sunglasses and go drink a couple of Ramos Fizzes at Walter Foods with brunch. You'll be revived and as good as new. And if egg white in your drink is not your thing, we'll you're a wimp. Or you can try the oyster shooter.

Outfit details:

Fox fur hat, vintage via the Manhattan Vintage Show (I gave Kate's back).

Sunglasses, vintage

Paisley scarf, vintage via Old Hollywood

60s leopard print coat, via Lotus Vintage

Jeans, Adriano Goldschmied

Boots, Sven via Catbird

Bag, Antik Batik

On the way to Walters we saw this toothpaste green Chevy, and I thought it was just too awesome not to be in the picture. Don't you love it?

My favorite part? The die locks!

I attended the Chictopia 10 Conference last weekend, to hear the panels and support Market Publique sellers and buddng designers Corvus Noir during their jewelry presentation.

While I was a little late because I styled a Vargas-style pinup shoot that morning (photos *may* be too racy for the blog...), I did make it in time to hear what Susan, founder of ModCloth, the Botkier marketing team and Naomi Nevitt had to say about working with bloggers. After that, Helen, the founder of Chictopia, and Jess from Polyvore talked about building relationships with advertisers. Very enlightening.

However, my favorite part is always the fashion, so I eagerly awaited the presentations by new designers at the end of the night. Corvus Noir went first, presenting their statement-making line of vintage reconstructed jewelry. Don't you just want to drape yourself in chains and rhinestones right now? You know you do.

We also saw some dapperly dressed cuties from JCheikh, adorable vintage inspired rompers and scallopped detailing via Alexandra Grecco, jewelry from Triskaidekaphobia inspired by underwater sea creatures and tiers of ruffles and bows from Alyssa Nicole.

Here's a few pics of the event. It was quite crowded and a small space, so not very conducive to picture taking, so I apologize for the few pics!

Corvus Noir getting ready for their Chictopia 10 presentation. I'm behind Lauren (in the penguin dress), wearing a turban and tyring to figure out a way to fix the 'dongle situation'.

Craig and Lauren of Corvus Noir present their jewelry line.

Corvus Noir Documentary at Chictopia10 from Corvus Noir on Vimeo.

They also featured me on their video from their presentation! *blush*

After the conference, I went home for a quick wardrobe change and got read to party at the Tribeca Grand Hotel.

At the Chictopia 10 afterparty at the Tribeca Grand. With Lauren of Corvus Noir, Bianca or Cure Thrift Shop, and two visiting ladies from MA, one who works for Artifaktori! Small world, right?

Inspired by Alexandra's mixing up her collection with her grandma's vintage, I decided to wear my own grandma's vintage! (shoutout: Lila, you are such a style icon to me!) I wore a vintage feather headband passed down from my grandma Lila, vintage silver bib necklace also from Lila, Vena Cava dress via Maryam Nassir Zadeh.

If you want your own statement vintage necklace, but your grandma's style does not resemble yours, not to worry. Just pick one of Corvus Noir's one-of-a-kind vintage resconstructed designs and make the statement. Your granddaugther will thank you years from now.

Reworked 1950's Rhinestone And Gold Tone Waterfall Necklace, from Corvus Noir (featured in their Chictopia 10 presentation!)

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Reworked 1920's Rose Gold Filled Pocket Knife Necklace, from Corvus Noir (featured in their Chictopia 10 presentation!)

When I moved to New York, I vowed I would never get a puffy coat - ummm, as the saying goes, never say never. After the weather hit the 30s, I was a popscicle, even with all the layers.

Let's face it, the only other thing as warm as a down coat is fur - and you can't wear fur in the snow & rain unless you want to smell like a wet dog and ruin your fur. (For the record: I don't buy new fur, only vintage fur and most of the vintage fur I own used to by my grandmother's). And anyway, if puffy jackets are good enough for Norma Kamali, they're good enough for me!

So off to buy a down coat I went. And I never looked back.

It's been 5 years since my first New York CIty winter, and I've been wearing the same 'ol puffer. Not only does it have holes in the pockets now, I am sick and tired of it - as you know, you end up wearing the darn thing every day for about 4 months straight. The poor thing needed to be retired, as it had done its time. I got it at Searle, which was conveniently located downstairs from my old UES apt on Madison & 68th. So going with the tried and true, I decided to opt for a Searle coat once again.

This time, I added some drama to my winter with a shawl collar. You can put it up or leave it down. I gave up the hood because I don't really use it anyway, as I do love my hats. Let's hope this baby will last me for the next five years too!

And hey, to all the puffy coat naysayers - don't knock it till you've tried it.  I am from tropical climates and will never get through winter otherwise. Plus, you can spill all the coffee you want on this one, it holds up.

Also, I just saw that Carey Mulligan has my coat, so take that!

Carey Mulligan wearing her Puff Jacket. Image via Who What Wear

Independent Fashion Bloggers hosted a conference on Monday for bloggers to get together and discuss important topics in the arena.

Jennine Tam Jacobs, founder of IFB, did a fantastic job organizing the conference and attracting the cream of the crop in the blogging world. All panels were substantial and informative and I had a terrific time mingling and meeting people and reconnecting with out-of-town colleagues.

Read more about bloggers influencing fashion, the IFB conference & Chictopia 10 conference on WWD.com today!

I spoke athe first panel, along side Corinne of Threadbanger, Erika from Elle.com, Melody of The Crave Company, Nichelle of Stylemom.com, & Shubhankar of G-Star Raw (from left to right).

We talked about how to market yourself in the blogging world, leverage social media, collaborate with companies, make yourself findable and a destination and tons more other useful things. You can watch the panel on vimeo, courtesy of Bobbin Talk.

Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference Evolving Influence - Panel 1 from Bobbin Talk on Vimeo.

More fun pictures, similar to this one, where we are clowning around with Wendy Brandes, will be posted soon!

I was definitely cracking up in this picture!

The Chictopia 10: Social Influence Summit

We are so excited for tomorrow's Chictopia 10: Social Influence Summit. Market Publique is sponsoring the event, and I will be in attendance, of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world!

Today is the last day to register for a ticket, so hurry up and buy one! The caliber of the speakers, including Susie Bubble, Judy Aldridge of Atlantis Home, Naomi Nevitt and some of our favorite bloggers (who we've sponsored too! wooo!), Rebecca from The Clothes Horse and Liz from Late Afternoon. 

Plus, there will be a designer showcase featuring Market Publique seller Corvus Noir and friend Alexandra Grecco who will debut their latest collections. 

See you there!

Also, there's an after party hosted by Chictopia and The Six Six Sick girls at the Tribeca Grand later tonight! Come celebrate! (And note the new location...).

The event was covered in WWD, so exciting! See below...

 Woo! Market Publique is in WWD!

Super Sale at Sammy's!!

Don't miss out on 50% off her entire collection, plus complimentary cocktails - what an excellent combination!

Sammy D Vintage Lovin' Sale

Sunday, Jaunary 31st

2 - 6pm

170 E. 105 St., Apt 1C

New York, NY

Fabulous News!

We've been invited to participate in this year's Manhattan Vintage Show.

Manhattan Vintage Show

Friday, February 5th, 1 - 8pm

Saturday, February 6th, 11am - 6pm

Metropolitan Pavilion

125 W. 18th St., near 6th Avenue

New York, NY

We've attended the show several times, but this is Market Publique's first time as a vendor at the show. We're so excited!

Come visit our booth and check out selected, collectible pieces from some of our best sellers.

We'll be feauring specially selected pieces from:

Artifaktori

Dusty Rose

Erstwhilestyle

Market Publique House Store

Indola

Rabbits and more!

We'll have über-collectible labels like

Nina Ricci

Issey Miyake

Azzedine Alaïa

Norma Kamali

Gucci

Valentino

Paraphenalia

Betsey Johnson

Bonnie Cashin

Ungaro

Malcom Starr

and other designers, plus 30s pieces in mint condition, adorable dresses and hats, and other, more affordable items.

And for those of you too far to make the trip, some pieces will be listed online for a limited time so you can grab them there!

Leave a comment for a $5 discount on admission at the show. We'll mail you an invite!

It's no secret that Samantha Pleet is one of my favorite designers. You may remember a while back, I covered her Fall '09 show for Jargol.com, and I've been seen wearing her clothes on this blog, even before my 'regular' outfit posts (ahem, her shorts are totally my favorites!)

So, imagine my excitement when I heard about her sample sale at Dossier this weekend! I went to check it out and found many of her Fall '09 pieces I fell in love with, including the bubble romper and little black dress we featured in our photoshoot, the emerald green sheer dress, wool jumpsuits, and 90s-inspired wool dresses with peplums and ruffles galore.

Along with her collection, Samantha has brought a few select vintage pieces from her collection, including amazing silk high-waisted Christian Dior shorts she bought in Paris. If that's not enough to get you to Fort Greene, there is also cider and gingerbread cookies to warm you right up!

Another thing I found out about this Brooklyn designer while chatting it up with her today: all her clothes are eco-friendly! As she pointed out - "My clothes reflect my lifestyle. If I eat organic, why wouldn't I use organic materials for my clothes?". So hop on over and grab some organic silk dresses and organic wool jumpsuits with wool from Vermont. A bonus: all her clothes are made right here in New York City!

I knew she was one of my favorites for a reason.

Samantha Pleet Sample Sale at Dossier

244 Dekalb Ave.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Sale through the weekend.

Get ready ladies! Cure Thrift Shop is having a huge handbag sale this weekend only. They will have as many handbags as they can put out during this event, including some of the fabulous finds pictured below. And no buyer's remorse - all purchases benefit Diabetes research!

For all of you who are not in New York, don't fret. Cure Thrift Shop has some amazing finds in the Market Publique shop.

Here's the deets:

Cure Thrift Shop

Handbag Sale

Saturday, January 16 - 11am - 8pm

Sunday, January 17 - 11am - 7pm

111 East 12th St.

A few tempting examples of what will be available:

Vintage Louis Vuitton Speedy

Fabulous Christian Lacroix Tote

Dainty-yet-tough Vintage Brass Minaudiere

Vintage Needlepoint Handbag

I'm already home for the holidays, back in Guatemala, relaxing and visiting my family and friends, who I don't get to see very often. One of those friends is my best friend Patti, who came to visit me earlier this year. Here's some photos of our adventures around New York City. It was so fun to have her nearby, be able to hang out, eat, shop and eat some more, plus share with her a bit of my life in the States. 

Patti and me, shopping at Williamsburg vintage store Monk, trying on some outrageous vintage hats. 

Here I am modeling another outrageous hat. It reminds me of something Hilary from Fresh Prince would have worn. I am also wearing the vintage leather jacket that Jon's grandma passed on to me (which I wore the entire Fall), and a vintage scarf from Old Hollywood.

After a day of shopping, we went to my friend Leslie's party. I loved this shot Patti took of Jon and me... awww.

It got chillier the next day, so I lent Patti a vintage knit beret. I snuggled into my Eugenia Kim hat, my favorite leopard print sweater and a Maje sparkle tweed cape.

Thankfully, the weather came through the next day, so we walked around Williamsburg enjoying a bit more of the Fall weather. We asked someone on the street to snap a pic of us in front of a brownstone. He neglected to mention my face was in the sun, and hence I look like I am some kind of vampire who doesn't appear in photos - but hey, vampires are in vogue now, right?

We'll consider this shot an outfit shot? Why not.

I wore:

Tee, Fred Segal

Belt, vintage Christian Dior

Skirt, J. Crew

Tights,  American Apparel

Shoes,  Marc Jacobs

Shoe Clips, vintage from Erica Weiner

Necklace, vintage from Amarcord

Cardigan, Zara

Jacket, Geren Ford via Gilt.

Patti wore my vintage black coat and some newly purchased boots from Steve Madden

Here's a close-up of our shoes. I swear these are probably the oldest pair of shoes I own. I love the classic pump shape, with a small stached heel, and the bright fuchsia color. You may remember them, since I wore them to our Fashion's Night Pop-Up Shop. I accessorized them with these vintage shoe clips from Erica Weiner, which I love because they feature my initial - C. 

One of our shopping pit stops was Built by Wendy, which is a favorite label of mine. I love the quality of materials and the classic construction, and invest in pieces by her almost every season. This time around, I got this dress. I take care of them a lot, hoping someone will treasure them when they become a vintage classic.

Patti laughed as she took this picture of me leaning into the counter, which makes me look like a 5-year-old trying to peek at the ice-cream flavors at a soda shoppe. I barely reach!

Later on we went to pick up my last CSA delivery, and Patti couldn't resist riding my vintage trike. I don't blame her, it's way too fun!

Then out and about & dinner in the East Village. Patti- come visit more often!!