Sweet Tater Vintage on Mulberry Street in NYC specializes in gorgeous upscale vintage pieces. Every item has been hand-picked by the shop’s two lady owners, from their tours of the East Coast of the US to the side streets of Italy and Greece (with their native aunts as guides). Their adventures in Mediterranean fashion inspired an in-house collection of voluminous dresses, tunics, and tops - all available in three sizes only, designed to flatter all body types (just like in the Old Country).

The Fall/Winter collection this year consists of simple tweed wool and pinstripe suiting, including the outrageously great Duckhunter Dress (above, far left), a fully lined herringbone wool dress with a kangaroo pocket in front and a button-closed “duck pocket” in the back. Because semi-formal duck hunting never goes out of season.

($156, on sale at sweettater.net)

Logo T-shirts have gone through many phases - the product placement tee, the humorously reworked logo tee (FedUp - get it?!?), the completely fabricated and slightly racist logo tee (cough - urban outfitters - cough) - and now, the based-on-a-true-work-of-fiction tee. Last Exit To Nowhere, a company based out of Nottingham, England, promotes invented companies made famous or infamous by the stories they inhabit - and company founder Mike Ford makes sure their logos are poetically suited to the company’s character and context as told in the story. Thus, a logo for “Bladerunner“‘s Tyrell Corporation incorporates a frowning owl - a reference to the scene in which Deckard visits Tyrell for the first time and sees an artificial owl - while Amity Island, from “Jaws”, gets a woman serenely sunbathing on a float in the ocean. It’s a novel idea, one that harkens back to the days where the product placement in fictional works was actually fictional. ($36 at lastexittonowhere.com)

         

Sweat suits make the least impression when it comes to making a fashion statement, they are ideal for house doing chores, sleeping, and working out, but that’s about to change with the introduction of a French brand called ARTYSM. Made of 100% cotton, this sweat suits from Artysm feature an all over woven construction, contrasting stitching, and other techniques to make the sweat suits stylish and yet comfortable. Artysm carries the brand in different colors/styles including hoodies, crews and v-necks.

           

On a more dorky note: Code named ‘Takkiainen’ this jacket (above) is specifically for bored/lonely people. Designed by Aamu Song and Johan Olin, the jacket is made out of velcro strips of different sizes, that are sewn together side by side. It’s supposed to be a medium of communication between lonely/bored people. When two or more similar jackets come into contact, the velcro holds them together, prompting a conversation between the lonely individuals. (talk about breaking the ice in a crazy way)

         

via (yankodesign)
 

For those of us serious about dance - not capital-D Dance in a studio with a bar and a requisite body dysmorphic disorder, but dance! in a space packed with friends, no restraints, no regrets, and no cover - 2 things are essential: amazing music and room to move. Music meaning sick beats that not only make you want to dance, but make you have to dance, and room to move as in hot, free-wheeling joy-clothes and dancing shoes that never hold you back.

 

 

Nixon is mostly known for it’s watches, but its a full line of accessories. Check-out their new Prep Collection which features a pattern called Sky Plaid. The collections has goods like: the rotolog watch, enamel Icon buckle, enamel key chain,  spring clip wallet, and a surface “the obsolescene proof cap.

Also Check-out their Diamond Rotolog Watch.  [uncrate]

Okay, this just cracks me up.  Courtney B. of Stylecourt.com has put together a rather wonderful list here called A Bit Jaded, and here I thought it was another set of green picks – ‘green’ as in all-natural products, organic, sustainable, simple, etc.  No.  Not Courtney.  Courtney means green, as in the color.  Like a (great-looking) green tufted chair from Anthropologie.  Green pillows.  Green paperweights.  And some wonderful jewelry all made of jade. And a chartreuse urn, a malachite mirror, wrapping paper and wine glasses.  Here’s ThisNext at its finest: great products, carefully chosen, wonderfully described … and entirely unexpected. 

So what’s your favorite color?  I working on my list right now: my blue Honda, My Blue Heaven, The Blue Beetle comic, “Am I blue?” sung by Better Midler …

 

In a recent article, NY Time’s Style writes how “Fashion Aims Young” with designers making and marketing trendier and sassier frocks to be rocked by the wee ones.

Which ThisNext can testify to - check our little collection of kiddie chic with our “childrens clothing” tag.

Click the tag, and you’ll see some of what NY Times talks about as going in kids’ high fashion - designer Ya-Ya’s “Kennedy” dress for the little ladies, a businessy button down for little boys, and Antik’s designer denim for kids.

“Premium jeans, for instance, an item coveted by Maisy Gellert, a third grader living in Westchester County, N.Y. ‘I’m very particular,” Maisy said. “Sevens are the only jeans I actually wear.’ “

Maisy sounds like she should be shopcasting children’s clothing with us.

...continued: Fashion Aims Young

There’s the gleeful little witch up Canada way by the odd name of the kitchener bitch who’s just NUTS about knitting — especially vintage knitting of stockings, caps, sweaters and more from yesteryear. 

Like her fellow knitting apassionata (she’s got a great blogroll), she’s making her own yarn from raw wool, collecting the best and sometimes most bizarre patterns, and showoing off her “finished objects” with a style and personality that can’t be beat. 

Take a look.  The colors alone are worth remembering and returning for more…

Enriguqe Gili is a freelance writer about LOHAS, and in the process his blog, commonground, has become a nexus of good information on green living all by himself.  His clean, fast blog is a treasure trove of info and articles on the practical, modern-day effects of global warming, the changes in business, government, and living that are making things better (or making them worse), and suggesitons on what you can do about it.  And it’s not just the same-old same-old.  Recent entries have covered everything from Levi Strauss’ new organic cotton jeans to the disapparance of frogs to the re-emergence of the organic hot dog.   “Despite a pending crisis, we do have options,” he says.  “There are a plethora of steps we can take in this increasingly networked and technology- driven world to improve people’s lives and save the planet. Commonground provides links to news of people, places, and events trying to make a difference.”

As I’m sure Kristopher will tell you, it’s never too young to look fahhhbulous…and it’s nice to have somebody out there looking for stylish stuff even for the miniature people among us.  A great place to start: the highly active blog of Urban Baby Runway, where you’ll find product reviews of everything from slings to drawstring pants to soft sole shoes (and that’s just the last few days).  “We don’t care what the celebs are into,” say the UBR bloggers.  “Our goal is to cover unique and affordable items that everyone can enjoy.”  And they do it with a kind of happy abandon that makes you glad you stopped by.

A Comme des Garcons blouse almost anyone could appreciate?

Bloggers find everything.

Via Jared’s Fashion Blog

This is how ThisNext says “Happy Birthday!” to America:

With gorgeous red, white, and blue products:

Anthropologie dresses via I am Fashion.

Stuart Weitzman heels via The Manolo

Crystal ring via Bella’s Jewelry Blog

I remember when all the Moms in our neighborhood sewed their kids’ clothes. And believe it or not, even herein the Jetsonish 21st Century, there are still people like Rowena — a wife, a mom, a choreographer, and a costumer in Nashville — who simply loves to sew. She makers her life (and the life of her kids) special and unique as she discovers and shares finished clothing and patterns for parents — everything from nursing tops to maternity clothes to slippers and diapers themselves. Rostitchery is the name of her blog — “where almost perfect is good enough.” And that’s a pretty good definition of this blog.