Fashion p.i.

This Item is being Watched in Your eBay...well, it is now!!

2006-09-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

Lots of lovely things on my eBay watchlist, as ever, but I’ve already bought a couple of things – a great Diesel Lorrain bag for a quarter of the price, terrific Schumacher pants and a Mayle skirt, all of them bargains – so I don’t think I’ll be clicking the paypal button for a little while. That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway.

So, in the spirit of eBay altruism, I’m going to share a couple of the really special-looking things I’ve spotted on the site this week:

This Anna Corinna Drawstring bag is just amazing in the flesh; really soft and slouchy, but with great structure to it as well. It retails for around $400, and bids are at $117 on this auction at the moment, but I’m looking out for the bag in a gorgeous chocolate brown, rather than the black. Still, I’m sure the black is lovely.

At the tents in Byrant park last week, on one of the days that the skies opened and the rain poured down on fashion itself, I watched enviously as the Conde Nast and Hearst girls came in through the glass doors clad in the most sleek and stylish raingear imaginable. Can umbrellas be fashionable? Yes they can – just ask Marc! Anyway, the waterproofs, W -stylewere just fabulous, and made me long for a killer mac myself. Something like this baby would do the job. Vintage, well-cut and edged in snakeskin with a matching belt. Love the styling here…I think I’m having a beret moment this fall!

And speaking of moments, am I EVER having a 3.1 Philip Lim moment. I am adoring this designer right now, and have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of his stuff floating around at good prices on eBay. Nothing as amazing as this coat/jacket, though. In beautifully soft wool, with that lovely drapey/capey/mannish look that’s looking so perfect at the moment. I can’t afford the bugger, though. But I hope you can…

And speaking of beautifully soft wool, check out this bit of loveliness, a tie-front cardigan from a new favourite of mine, the Velvet line by Graham & Spencer. I can just see this with those wide-leg pants I’ve been lusting for…but the budget has been spent, and that’s that. So go get it!!

Hurts so bad...

2006-08-29T08:54:00.000-07:00

Never mind too-tight new shoes. Something that pinches even more sorely is losing out on great vintage shoes on eBay...take a look at these nearly-hads from the past week. Vintage snakeskin is my thing at the moment...too bad I'm forever being outbid...

Laetitia black flats

2006-08-29T08:38:00.001-07:00

My Laetitia black flats fromCreatures of Comfort arrived yesterday - look how gorgeously they were packaged! And the shoes themselves are very cute, but, I'm afraid, a little too tight. I'm in two minds as to whether to try and stretch them out using some of the show-stretching methods I've found online, or just to send them back and ask for a 9. They were on sale, so I'm not sure CC will do an exchange. But aren't they amazing? Fit onto my feet, shoes. Fit onto my feet. Please.

Oak, Brooklyn

2006-08-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

Looking for something to wear for a TV appearance in May, I took a stroll around Brooklyn. Feeling slightly lost as I wandered down a quiet residential street, all Italian flags and stoop-dwelling grandmas, I was flabbergasted to stumble on one of the most impressive boutiques I've been in since moving to NY - Oak, on Ainslie Street. In here were dresses by DKNY, Mimi Turner, Laura Seymour and Hussein Chalayan (who has recently, it seems, changed his name to H. Chalayan...an over-cautious PR move?) and jeans by Habitual, Harmon and Superfine, among others. Terrific bags and shoes, too, and a really friendly service. I ended up getting an amazing bubble/drape top in black cotton by Laura Seymour and my first pair of skinny jeans - the Liberty by Superfine.

Anyway, Oak has since moved to North 8th Street, elsewhere in Williamsburg (the Bedford L stop...the shop is between Driggs & Roebling) and has merged with its brother store, the men's store Canary (or were the names the other way around? Doesn't matter now, they're both Oak.) Plus they've finally got their website up and running, and a great site it is too. Except that it induces fits of if-I-don't-pay-the-electric-for-three-months-or-eat dreaming. Though for some reason the fall range is almost entirely in black, there are some truly amazing pieces in there. And they've just taken 15% off all new items for fall, which is pretty generous. What I'm most drooling over is this short-sleeved, cape-like coat (above) by Opening Ceremony. It's so elegant and grown-up, yet chicly avant-garde, with its flared, chopped-up details. I want, want, want. And it's now down to $368 from $433...that's only three months of light, heat, laptop power...

The Harmon vest dress is another story. Though I'm not crazy about the bow on the back, this is a stunning piece - look at the details on the hem, at the waist, at the straps...and those knife-sharp pleats. I'd bet it looks incredible on. But at $993 (that's reduced from $1168...sheesh) I won't be finding out any time soon. But someone out there should buy it! It's not a piece that will date quickly.

Diesel boots

2006-08-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

Have just been to the Diesel store on Union Square, and I'm still drooling. That label has undergone a serious upgrade in quality lately. Beautiful, soft fabrics and sharp cuts: wonderfully-drapey jersey tees, smart skirts and elegant cardigans and sweaters. And great jeans, of course. But, the accessories...oh, my. Diesel boots and bags have always included some gems, but this season they're positively luscious. And pretty unaffordable; bags from $350 to $1500 for an amazing, if way-too-heavy carry-on, and boots from $340 to just under $500. The boots and shoes for men are, if anything, even more gorgeous than those in the women's range - great, chunky biker boots, a really striking and handsome pair of olive-green shoes, and some very funky and unusual ankle boots which look like converse, except made out of great leather and very soft and cool.

Obviously, it was straight onto eBay with me the moment I got home, in the vain hope that some of these beautiful things might have been posted up there by someone who went crazy with their credit card in a Diesel store and then decided they didn't want anything and were willing to sell it all online at...oh, 60& below retail...but no. No such luck. The thousands upon thousands of Diesel items on eBay are largely unimpressive, consisting mostly of limp-looking cotton, boring sneakers and canvas bags. Not interested. BUT. There is one fine pair of boots on there, the Gaskette black ankle boot, at an absolute knockout price, and they push lots of this season's buttons. They're ankle boots, in very nice-looking black leather, with hardware details at the top, and a sharp heel. They'd look great with opaque tights and a tunic, great with a minidress, great with a bulky coat, great with cigarette pants...and of course, they're a size too big for me, a 9.5. Your size? Check them out!

If you have the legs....

2006-08-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

These vintage corduroy short shorts from Parker Hawn could look amazing, but I'd never pull them off with my thighs. Or maybe that should be on my thighs. But if you're one of those thin-thigh'd, bronzed girls I've seen swanning around Manhattan and Brooklyn this summer, these could be just the thing to make me hate you even more. Plus, they're reduced to less than $9. Can't beat that. And I love that the cord is fat and horizontal, rather than the usual vertical cord. Very very seventies...

UPDATE: I've found just the thing to go with those shorts...this "#1 Miss National Teen-Ager" burlap tote bag is cheeky and practical. I think the $20 price tag is a little on the cheeky side too, for what is essentially a novelty shopping bag, but hey...don't listen to me!

More Veronique....

2006-08-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

I've already raved about Veronique Branquinho footwear (see below), but there are also two pairs of Branquinho pants on eBay at the moment which are well worth a look. I made the mistake of buying a pair of pants from eBay a couple of years ago - they were Branquinho, they were a bargain, they were divinely cut and in the most soft, expensive silk-wool blend - but they were a size too small, and while I wore them, they just didn't fit right on the hips, and they felt too tight, so to the charity shop they went. What a find for some lucky person, i know. That and the Viktor & Rolf tuxedo skirt I bought without realizing that the sizing was Italian, and that a Euro 38 is actually an Italian 42...that just about made it past my hips, but never saw the light of day. I wonder who found it in that shop, priced maybe $10...hope they're enjoying it.

Anyway, back to the Branquinho pants. Her pants, as I've said, are of superb quality, and if you get them in the right size, you really can't go wrong. So what's up for grabs? Firstly, this great-looking pair of mannish pants in a sable wool, which look wonderfully slouchy and rich, and would be great with platform pumps, a luxe tank and a cropped jacket, among many other pieces. They're a size 40 (Euro), which is a US 8. They're ending soon, and there are, unsurprisingly, a few interested bidders fighting it out over them.

Secondly come the brushed cotton pants, with a low rise and in midnight black. Now, these actually are my size, but I'm saving my cash to spend on a good pair of black wool pants this fall, preferably wide-leg (and, in my dreams, the pants below, by Reyes), so they're not for me.But they look really nice - soft and well-cut - and with a Buy-It-Now (BIN) price of $38, you really can't go wrong. My only concern is that brushed cotton can look very worn out very quickly, but if you dry-clean the pants (which you'd always do with Branquinho pants anyway), they should have a long, unshabby life.

Veronique Branquinho black heels

2006-08-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

Veronique Branquinho is one of those designers whose clothes and accessories make you go ooooohhhhh... And then, after you've drooled and stroked and sighed for a while over the amazing fabrics, the sharp design and the timeless cut of her clothes - not to mention the supple, super-soft leather and innovative look of her shoes and boots - the next noise you'll make will probably be a plaintive moan, because unless you're in the money, hers are the kind of pieces you really have to save for. And once you've clapped eyes on her stuff, you never want to buy just the one piece.

I've seen a few shoe and boot designs by Branquinho, both in New York and in Europe. They're the kind of shoes that you can NEVER get out of your head afterwards - I'm talking for years afterwards. Which is why, now that a pair of pumps designed by her has come up on eBay with a starting bid of just $10, you'd be mad not to go here and put a bid on them. Yeah, there's a reserve, but anything up to $180 or so represents a terrific bargain for these shoes. They're not the platform pumps that everyone's going wild over this fall, but they're close enough to allow you to tick that trendbox while still bagging yourself a really unusual, really well-made pair of pumps that will last you for a long time. Check out that fat little stacked heel - wood, 4 inches - and the terrific shape of them. I can't see the stitching on the toes very well in these photographs, but you can bet it's eye-catching and subtle at the same time.

Oh, if only they were a size bigger. But they're not. They're a 7.5 US, a 37.5 Europe. And since I can't have them, I'm passing them on to you. .

And the same goes for these amazing boots, also by Veronique Branquinho. The bidding on these currently stands at $189.00, and they're also too small for me...a size 7, European size 37. They are GORGEOUS, and you can bet your last dollar that the leather on these boots is the best you will ever see. Branquinho doesn't skimp on these details. They've got brilliantly chunky hardware at the top of the boot, and then that elegant pointed toe...and then the same heavy heel as on the shoes, which keeps them looking tough and graceful at the same time. Yum. Get bidding, you lucky smaller-of-feet types.