Two Sweet Spring Bags

ONE:

($175, Pa-Tou-Tou, Piperlime)

Springy, yet sophisticated. The print reminds me of the decor at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica. Also, very Kate Spade.




TWO:

($22.50, Delia's)

A stylish friend assures me it's an Orla Kiely knock-off. Wee! Not that we condone that kind of thing... oh wait... we very much do.

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A VEHEMENT NO! To Mary-Kate's Lennon Glasses! An ADAMANT YES to Lily Allen's Wayfarers!

(Photo via Hollywoodrag.com)

PLEASE, whatever you do, do NOT take a cue from Mary-Kate (Olsen, that is, NOT to be confused with Mary-Kate HOPKINSON!) and go out and buy yourself some Lennon glasses, like the ones she's shown here wearing at Sundance. (And holla at Binger JP -- Chicago JP for those of you keeping track -- for standing next to Ashley. And yes, I realize how lame that just sounded -- shouting out someone for merely STANDING in the presence of someone whose claim to fame was appearing on Full House, but whatever.) And do you really want to be seen in the same sunglasses as Howard Stern? They're detestable. In fact, I think they're probably my least favorite fashion accessory EVER. Not even if you smoke an eighth of wizard a day should you let that be an excuse to wear these terrible things. Truly, it'd be more advisable to stare directly into the sun and burn out your retinas. At least that way, you could blame your lack of taste on your blindness.


A far far far better celeb choice: the always-adorbs Lily Allen's green Chanel wayfarers:

(Photo via: Breesays)

Lily wears these bad boys EVERYwhere, and why? Because she is a teensy, precious little bad ass. And because they rule. Admittedly, the multi-colored Chanel branding makes them a bit tacky and too dear, but fortunately, knock-offs abound!

($9.50, Delias)

I almost bought these the other day, but then I realized the S/H was a bit wack. But I'll probably still get 'em. (Let's be honest.)

($12.50, OC Shades, Amazon)

So fun in pink -- they'd look great with a black trench. Like an international yet STYLISH woman of mystery!

($18.99, Amazon)

Amazon seller Vintage Designer Sunglasses may not have employed maje creativity in naming their shop, but their goods are on point, with all kindsa vintage wayfarers in non-played colors like bold matte yellow, lilac and dark green. Noice!

($10, FredFlare)

Always-cuters standby Fred Flare has lots for just $10. Check out the ones in mint. Weeeee!

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Global-Warming-Induced Seasonal Ambiguity = Jacket Attack

Inches MATTER, people! And I'm not talking about the fleshy kind. I'm talking Weather Channel. Where's the snow, yo? Anyway, since I've woken up excited to find piles of the white stuff (not THAT kind of white stuff) outside my window and have pulled back the curtain to instead find dry sidewalk or general wetness (wow, the innuendos are totally unintentional, I swear), let's take a look at some lighter jackets -- trench coats and the like -- some of which are ridiculous, shall we?

($1,970, Chloe, Net-a-porter.com)

One of the fun things about brightly colored rain slickers is that they're bright and they're colored. One of the less fun things about them is that often, when they're vinyl or satin, they look like graduation gowns, church choir robes or those things you wear at the hair salon. A not-fun thing about this one is that it's $1,970. Oh well.

($2,740, Versace, Saks)

Here's another one where it's like, okay, great idea, IN THEORY. Or... I could buy a wedding dress. Or three.

($1,658, Yves Saint Laurent, Neiman Marcus)

Extra-large leopard print is another example of things that should be left to theory and not practice.

($595, Diane Von Furstenberg, Net-a-porter.com)

As compared to the jackets above, $595's a freaking steal. I'm normally not really into the idea of beige trenches -- yes, they're a total wardrobe staple as anyone with a modicum of fashion sense will remind you, but, a.) beige is so.... beige; b.) they get dirty really easily. That said, I might bend for this because while the color's sorta expected, the cut is nice and edgy -- yay for the asymmetrical buttons and big front pockets.

($58, Delias)

Again, beige = sorta boring sometimes, but this is a fun variation. I like it in their grass-green version, but then again, I had a green duster/ trench, and I got really sick of it, so I guess I'm a hypocrite.

($27, Forever21.com)

I saw this in grey at the store, and while I was attracted to it from afar, I was dubious up close, because it sorta felt like weird, gauzy post-consumer-recyclable material that they make shopping bags out of and that you're glad exists for the Earth's sake, but you'd never really want to wear. It felt like something you'd wear to go white-water rafting, not that I ever would. But it's got sort of a fun retro feel.

($370, Distilled)

Refinery29 did a little piece on the Distilled's flak jacket, and while it's green (though olive here) AND for dudes, I think it'd do quite nicely for ladies, if the fit's right.

($79, Avenue)

I'm not personally into florals much, but this gardenia trench is really darling, and florals ARE back this spring.

($78, Flying Tomato, Styleviolet.com)

So cute! So cheap! So yours!

($265, APC, Creaturesofcomfort.com)

APC's putting it down, I'm picking it up.

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