Entertainment: Akira Fashion Show Recap

Last week, Akira filled the Lyric Opera house with whose who of Chicago to get a preview of what the fashionistas of Chicago will be wearing this spring. All looks will be available in stores and Shop Akira.  The zig zag runway brought out media and shoppers alike to look at the many stories Akira had to share this season in their annual spring show called Valley of the Castles. PrivyDoll had seats ready to scope out the latest trends from Chicago's retail megahouse, Akira.

Opening the show was Erin Martin, a local who happens to be on The Voice who preformed a brand new song.  Guarded doors that opened up to the runway were released and models in spring tones appeared. The biggest trends of the season: chiffons, pastels and girly prints. Jumpsuits and sheer looks also made it into many of the looks.

The men were not left out on this cat walk. Men sporting boat shoes and colored sole shoes rocked the runway with preppy looks. Colored shorts and stripe sweaters were in the majority of the looks for spring. A fashion show for mens would not be complete without a series of shirtless models rocking swim trunks. Accessory: armor. Clearly, their abs and shields will scare off any straight girl.

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Entertainment: Get the Oscars Looks for Less

Last night's Oscars was a star studded event as always with designers pulling out the couture and the rarest jewels are accompanied by security lined the red carpet. As red carpet unrolls, there were some hits and misses but overall the fashion was as high as it comes. Privydolls may not have designers begging them to wear their next seasons couture but you can get some of the top looks of the Oscars for less. Enter Unique Vintage. The website has unique finds and happened to find some Oscar worthy similarities for a fraction of the price. Check out some of my favorite Oscar red carpet looks for less!
 Angelina Joli looking seductive as usual in a Atelier Versace gown.

                                      The gown here so similar to Angelia Joli's is $98!

http://www.unique-vintage.com/black-gathered-fairytale-ending-beaded-gown-p-19329.html

Another dress that makes you look twice
from the oscars is the Giambattsta Valli red gown.

This look from Unique Vintage is $78!

Tina Fey looked flawless in this black Caroline Herrara dress with the trendy peplum detail.

                                    Get this look for less with this look -a like with a sheen for $258

Kristin Wiig from Bridesmaid looked ladyike in this J. Mendel gown that was feather like on the bottom. 

This nude featured looking bottom gown is a great find for $780 on Unique Vintage.

 

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Entertainment: Gift Guide 2011 For Your BFF

Happy Holiday Dolls! Another holiday means another time to break your budget? Find gifts for your girlfriends without breaking the bank. We all have the girlfriends that have it all. When they want something they go out and buy it themselves. What to buy for the girlfriend that has it all? Check out these Privy finds of unique, gifts to put under the tree.

Gifts for your Shoe whore girlfriend:
 A new brand, CovFurs is a fun accessory for your boots. Do you have some old boots that need a makeover? Try a slip on faux fur cover to update your old boots and make a trendy statement. In many colors and for only $29.99 these are a fun gift idea.

For your girlfriend who owns more shoes than a shoe store... Attachable rhinestone bow clips. Adorable accessory for the girl that already has every heel in town. Found at ASOS for $25.43. 

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Entertainment: Your 2011 Black Friday Guide

It is a shopper's national holiday. The Friday after thanksgiving is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. This is Privydoll's 2nd anniversary sharing some of the top deals for this holiday. Retailers and online stores offer ridiculous deals. But, where to go first and what are the best deals out there? Here are a few Privy Doll great finds to help you plan out your Friday. Set your alarm most stores open at midnight!

Deals to be had:

Armani Exchange is offering $50 off every $150 purchase in stores only from Thursday November 24-November 28th.


Sir Allstaur Rai is offering hourly deals on their chic scarves on Friday November 25th.
Save 25% all day long on http://www.siralistairrai.com/

Not done shopping after Friday? Shop on what they call "cyber Monday". Online deals that take place online only on the Monday after Thanksgiving.


Have many holiday parties you haven't bought dresses for yet? Rent them. Rent The Runway is offering deals on Cyber Monday for all your needs for upcoming events. Receive 20% off any gift card up to $50. If you spend $50-$100 , receive a $15 gift card . Spend $100-$200 receive a $25 gift card. 
Not a member? Join free here! http://www.renttherunway.com/referral/sebastianfashion

Want to score designer deals any day? Check out new website similar to Ebay , www.stylerecovery.com. A website that is changing the way people are shopping. This is a stylish alternative to Ebay that members can 'recycle' designer products. Shop gently used high end finds or sell yours here!

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Entertainment: Gift Guide 2011 For Your Man

Tis the time for shopping and showing the one you love, and a perfect time to update your man with some style help. Let's face it men will wear the same shoes and wallets until they literally fall apart, and then maybe tape them to ride them out a little longer. It is up to us to upgrade and buy them some key accessories that are also functional. Here is Privydoll's 2011 Gift Guide:

Put your money where your mouth is. Your man may need a new wallet. I love these 100% Italian leather wallets in fun colors by Hlaska out of San Francisco. For under $200 these wallets are functional, high quality and frankly cooler than what he is already carrying.

 

Your man dresses up whether its an every day suit and tie gig or you drag him to events. He has to wear a tie at some point. Why not make sure his tie shows some personality and edge. I love these ties from General Knot. Bow ties or regular ties these are some fun patterns to choose from. 

 Keep your man's tie down in the windy city and show some personality with a unique, vintage reconstructed Tie clip.Back in style thanks to Madmen and shows a like the tie clip is a modern twist to the forever trend among mens accessories. Check out the many handmade options with a steampunk influence at www.jojoandsofia.com for under $40.

Your man is techie. He can always use a new, cool Ipad case. This one is different and found on a favorite mens site of mine, MrPorter. This Ipad case has a pillow and a stand all in one. For $150 this is a unique find.

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Entertainment: Akira's Fall Fashion Show Recap

All photos by Francis Son

The biggest yet, the brightest lights and the largest crowd ever seen at an Akira fashion show last Sunday. Every year this annual event draws a bigger and bigger crowd. The 3rd annual fashion show gave proceeds to Immerman Angels charity and showed the latest fall/winter trends down a zig zag runway that took up an entire level of a car dealership.

The show opened up with mens fall fashion looks. Some of the top looks were plaid on plaid. I loved the layering of collared shirts buttoned up all the way up with chunky V neck sweaters. Pants were a little shortened and even cuffed at times showing off a great ankle boot.

Womens fashion followed and capes stole the show, a huge trend for fall. Paired with platform shoes and some were Prada looking, laced and floral printed. I adored the lace booties that shuffled down the runway. The media pit was the largest I have seen for a show in Chicago. Every blogger and local magazine was there covering the looks that soon will hit the stores in Akira's location and Akira.com.

After a short intermission and a performance
by My Gold Mask who covered a Robyn song, men in shirtless football pads filled the runway as models rocked the next looks while weaving around the 'body guards of fashion.' I call the next looks 'the band leader of the band.' There was a definite look of rock and roll meets marching band. Red platform shoes and leather pieces.

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Entertainment: Top Shop VIP opening

The highly anticipated Top Shop/ Top Man store opened its doors yesterday for a private VIP/media experience. It was definitely the calm before the storm. It was a great way to preview and shop the looks, talk with employees and even meet the owner who was at the store as well. The store is gorgeous, beautifully done and three levels of fashion heaven. This is going to save me a lot of money having to fly to NY or Europe for these looks. I was most excited about the limited edition Chicago branded merchandise for women and men. I adored this 'From London with Love' with Chicago on it. There were some vintage-looking collared shirts and harem pants with a 'Chicago' stamp print. Hang tags that said Limited Edition Chicago hung on many racks.

I was extremely in aw of the shoe section. an amazing place to hang out and try the beautiful shoes that included platforms, leopard print and combat boots. The store was a mini department store, with a good sized make up section as well that has been newly launched and by the same distributor as MAC I was told. The accessories department took up most of my time with the rows of GORGEOUS pieces that just are too good to be true for the prices. Feathers, animal heads and skulls paired with pearls and rocker-ish looks had me having a very hard time just choosing a couple pieces. Most pieces ran between $20-$50 and were stand out accessories. There was a necklace choker that had fringe down to your hips! A style icon has arrived on Michigan avenue!

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Entertainment: OC Housewife Gives Chicago Makeover

Last night, Gretchen Rossi (known from Housewives of OC on Bravo) made an appearance at Chicago's own, Watertower Place during their In Fashion Lounge that is including appearances from numerous housewives leading up to Fashion's Night Out. Gretchen, known as the Barbi entrepreneur in the past 6 seasons didn't showcase her current hand bag or cosmetic line. Instead, she ran around watertower and in about 40 minutes put together some looks from stores found in the mall that were styled "OC worthy". How does the Chicago women look OC? Ask Gretchen. She picked up looks from BEBE, White House Black Market and Betsy Johnson to name a few. She explains her look as, "girly-girl and loving dresses." She explained she loves mixing high and low priced items to complete a look, including the one she wore last night. She bragged she got the bling necklace from TJ MAXX and the tank top from Target, while her shoes and skirt were designer splurges.

These were the picks that Gretchen put together with her speed shopping spree for fall looks. She included a fall trend she likes, color blocking and she may wear that pink dress to the grocery store. She loves BEBE and picked the black retro dress form Betsy Johnson because it reminded her of being a housewife in the 1950s. She is a busy lady these days between her handbag line which is growing to 'everything else in the closet' to a cosmetic line to (she shared with the Chicago fans) a mens line debuting next year. A Q&A finished off the night.

Gretchen and PrivyDoll

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Entertainment: Coach Poppy Fragrance with Denise of Flower Girl

Coach has done it again, launched a new fragrance that will be your new signature scent. Flower Girl founder and owner, Denis Porcaro of NY is the flower spokesperson of this new scent. Floral is huge for fall and this scent is sure to be the accent to your fall fashions. On Friday afternoon Macy's State Street hosted an informal flower bouquet making lesson by Denise.





PrivyDoll with finished Denise-approved bouquet

  Denise taught me that building a bouquet is similar to building a fragrance. Something maybe one wouldn't put as similar. There is a base, a middle and a top. We utilized three different types/sizes of roses. Step one: Greens. Choose some good base greens to start with. We used lemon flower and ivy. Step two: Stagger the roses. Use different sizes and layer them to make the bouquet look fuller. Step three: Choose a fun element. Something whimsical like a feather.



Flower Girl, Denise and PrivyDoll at Coach Poppy Launch

 We sprayed the feather with the new Poppy scent and bundled the bouquet. "The foundation is a refreshing mix of wet ivy, citrus, lychee and cassis." I love the light scent and mix of musk with the citrus.

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ENTERTAINMENT:Style Look Rooftop Show

A fashion show on a rooftop makes a summer night even better. Last night, StyleLook  (a personal styling company) showed some of the hottest trends and looks for fall at Market's rooftop while Grey Goose cocktails were sipped. Geneva Seal was on hand as well with gorgeous jewelry pieces. Fall trends included belted sweaters, red pants and wedges. Layers will be huge but still classic silhouettes . Fall colors were expected and shown: red, burnt orange, brown and gray.





PrivyDoll at Fashion Show: photo by Your Trendy



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ENTERTAINMENT: Glamorama 2011 Recap

Last Friday night, 3,000 of the most fashionable Chicagoans showed up at the Chicago Theater to view the hottest fall trends from top designers: Sonia Rykel, Marc Jacobs, Jean Paul Gaultier, Armani Jeans, Tracy Reese, Papi, BarIII , Karl Lagerfeld for Impulse. The show fused art and fashion with music as well. Far East Movement and Cee lo Green performed their top hits. The mini collections for fall from all the designers where so well choreographed with different sets, music and a unique art approach that made you feel like you were at many of these designer's couture shows.



Karl Lagerfeld for Impulse

 I am still buzzing over Karl Lagerfeld's pieces for Macys. Mark your shopping calendar for August 31st-this will get me in the doors. The showcase was dramatic, like him. The models all wore sky high black s with tights. Leather and tweed shorts made the cut as well as party dresses in fuscia and a lot of black.  I will be on the wait list for the black and white part dress with his signature, over- sized  collar.


Marc by Marc Jacobs

  There were some apparent fall trends. I loved all the heavier tweed pieces and plaid. Each collection included some great solid , rich colored party dresses with longer hem lines. Fur collars and jackets were also in and seen over suiting and dresses. For men, the obvious trend that we have been seeing is tucked in trousers or even dress pants into combat style boots, loose flaps. It is very urban office. The fall fashion wasn't the only entertainment that got the crowd on their feet. Far East Movement and Cee lo Green performed their top hits  well as mini dance intermissions with some great child dancers from breakdancing to ballet.

PrivyDoll @Glamorama in Walter Dress

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Entertainment: Heshima Kenya Fashion Challenge

Tuesday night was an evening of fashion designers competing and charity. The room was filled with beautiful, oversized, tie dyed scarves that support the refugee women in Kenya. Heshima Kenya was built to protect and empower girl and young women from Rowanda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. When you buy and wear a scarf (which are all so beautiful) you are supporting this cause.

photos courtesy of YourTrendy.com

This was the first annual Heshima Kenya Fashion challenge which gave an opportunity to 10 local designers to compete in a competition that revolved around the scarves. Each designer received a scarf at random with two weeks to transform a Heshima scarf into a piece.

 The celebrity judges which included: Billy Dec of Rockit Ranch, Christian Hanson of Nordstrom, Bianca Alexander of Conscious Planet and Matt Lorenz winner of Design star all had the tough task of picking just one of the designers as the winner. The winner was Jade Nguy whose design is pictured in the main photo of the blog and received a huge reaction when it first came out on the runway. The long train and peacock inspiration made you look twice as to where the scarf was even used. All of the pieces were auctioned off after the show to raise more money for the fund.

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Entertainment: Oliver People is for the Chicago People

This week, Oliver People eyewear boutique has added Rush st. to their resume.  PrivyDoll had the pleasure to meet and chat eyewear fashion with the owner and founder, Larry Leight. The chic and classic sunglasses and eye glass line has been a staple for the fashionable since the 80's and has, in my opinion found a new fan, the sophisticated yet statement-making Chicagoan.



Antique shapes have made a comeback and yes, the classic O'Malley frames are available from the American Pyscho get up that really helped define the brand. I asked Larry, why open a boutique in Chicago, what is cool that sets it apart? " The stories you hear from the people that come in and share their first Oliver People's experience. Their family brought them in , it was their first pair of glasses....  and a lot of Chicagoans have traveled to Ny for glasses for years. "



Privy Doll and Larry, founder of Oliver Peoples

 One of the most exciting elements to this store opening in Chicago is the 50 pairs of limited edition Chicago sun glasses. Retail for around $600 these frames are going fast. The style is the Benedict, one of their most iconic shapes almost an aviator look with a 24 ct. gold coating and mirrored glass and happen to have polarized lens.

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