2006 September » Bunnyshop

Embracing the Ricky Gervais Podcasts

09.27.2006

We stopped listening to this after it went from the free business model to the $1.95-an-episode business model, but … whatever. This is like the funniest shit we have ever heard in our entire lives. My Vine Gay? Santa, na? Honestly, we were laughing so hard we had to stop in the middle of Harrison Street to catch our breath. This is what we listen to when we do our little mysore at-home yoga program, which is probably the last thing our yoga teacher would want us to do but whatever.

This not-very-well-designed link will actually take you to their free video podcasts, but it’s as close as we can get:

When Shoes Don’t Need to Be Blahniks

09.27.2006

It was when we were mopping the salon floor last night, which basically means pushing bleach-soaked towels around, that we thought to ourselves: Mm, quite good that we didn’t buy those Belle by Sigerson Morrison flats we wanted. We were instead, and quite happily, wearing Old Navy ballet flats. This was, of course, money exceptionally well saved, because instead of crying, we are thinking to ourselves, Mm, ruined $19.50 shoes much better than ruined $195.00 shoes, proving once more the difference in emotional satisfaction levels a decimal point can make. Despite all the chatter we hear about how we are judged first and foremost based on our footwear, sometimes shoes just need to be good enough. This was one of those situations.

We would like to mention here that in our good-enough shoe shopping spree this weekend, we went to Macy’s, where we picked up this pair of shoes, and then realized they were “by” Jessica Simpson, and then we put them right back down, because we are not subsidizing that woman’s fashion adventures.

These are only a picture of our Old Navy suede ballet flats, and not our personal ones, because ours would have bleach stains on them. ON ballet flats, $19.50

Oh, God, these are actually hysterical, no? We are totally getting these. Talk about bleach \ rain \ aggressive psychotic bus-passenger protection. (And here we would like to add, the difference, to us, between San Francisco and New York: In NYC, we will happily take the subway home at 2 a.m. The only time we have felt unsafe on the subway—actually, we are thinking that it was only walking to the subway, through Park Slope, at 4 in the morning once for a 7:00 a.m. flight from Newark, which we must say, was the worst idea we ever had. Anyway: We are scared to take the bus at 9:30 p.m. here. Seriously. We counted at least two active drug users, one guy nodding up and down, from his lap to the window, and two other guys talking to themselves. Honestly, fuck you, SF public tranportation system.) Anyway! We do love these. Women’s “camo rain boots,” $15.98

Honestly we hate the bow but since they’re black maybe you can’t see them so well. That’s the thing with shoes that are just good enough: It’s hard to muster much enthusiasm, except for when you realize you’re about to be covering them with bleach-soaked rags. Isaac Mizrahi ballerina flats, $29.99

Oooh, and then there’s always eBay, right? We have a friend who won’t even take books out of the library. We’re thinking she’s probably not buy used shoes on eBay. We, however, aren’t even close to being bothered. Topshop platform heels, [current bid] $47.50. Okay, that’s not so cheap. There are cheaper ones. And these were like twice that in the store. Oh, Topshop!

Not-$$$$ Bags Continued

09.26.2006

We’re going to guess this means “I’m having a splash in my bidet,” though we cannot swear to this. $14.99! We recently had a very nice bag, and we put a peanut butter cookie in it, thinking, as you will, “Oh, we’ll totally remember we put that in there,” and then you find it in crumbs three days later. Or at least we do. This is why $14.99 is pretty much exactly how much we should be spending on bags.

Mixx tote bag, $14.99

Black: Not Back

09.26.2006

We are feeling utterly obligated to follow Shopbop’s lead here and move past past past the black leggings, and instead go with gray. (Or as Rachel Pally for some reason insists on describing this color, “bungee.”) We love this look. We are so over our black leggings, even if we did wear them out last night. Rachel Pally leggings, $84, which we would like to add seems a little out of hand.

Follow Up: Those Patent Shoes

09.26.2006

Okay, so these are pretty much the shoes we were just saying we really want, except in red. We want them in black. We always buy the red, and then feel just a little too obvious about it. We’re anti-peep toe, in general, but … so basically we’re saying these really are not, at all, the shoes we really want. We have really got to be a little more clever about this. Still, they’re pretty hot. Did we mention that we went seven hours without caffeine today and basically lost the ability to spell, focus, and watch any television other than Deal or No Deal. Nine West Francisco, $79

File Under: Skinny Jeans, Ankle-Length

09.26.2006

We recently came across the following comment in the commenting areas:

You don’t really like skinny jeans, do you??

Now here is a little story. We have written before of our dental mania, and our long-standing obsessive relationship with our brilliant dentist, Dr. Elliot Rifkin of Manhattan. (We limit, we would like to add, our obsessiveness re: Dr. Rifkin to all things dental. That is all.) Unfortunately, we suffered what we have been assured is an exceedingly minor dental trauma this weekend, and, lacking the $800 it would take to fly home to Dr. Rifkin, whose dental hand-holding is metaphorical but effective, we were forced to find a substitute in San Francisco, a city, we have said before, is alarmingly full of hippies. And the last thing we want, in the entire world, is a hippie dentist. [Blah blah blah], we found ourselves in the chair of a new dentist. The hygienist did not ask our name, and she did not, like our nice hygienist in New York, tell us little stories about her weekend. We were not surprised, then, when tears started streaming down our face, thinking of our nice hygienist, far away. “Is it something I did?” our new dentist, who was really quite patient, asked us. “[We] just miss our real dentist,” we said. To his credit, our new dentist took this quite well. And then he taught us some breathing exercises. We shit you not.

This is just to say that we don’t always commit ourselves to rational actions. As with: skinny jeans. They are not as flattering on people built un-model-y, and yet we still wear them. Part of this is because they are really the only reasonable options for wearing under boots, in our opinion. And really, most of it, it’s not even like you’re getting dressed, it’s like you’re saying: I recognize that skinny jeans are quite trendy at the moment, and I am aware enough to know this and etc etc etc. We are sure there is a university class about it. In our classes, we are too busy talking about performance artists humping walls to get into that, unfortunately.

We reiterate, we are so much more into ankle-length skinny jeans than otherwise. Miss Sixty J Lot jeans, $199

Ditto. And we totally love those shoes, no? Citizens of Humanity Paley ankle-length skinny jeans, $154

Mmm, love those shoes too. Skinny ankle-length jeans + black patent heels = exactly what we are looking for at the moment. Radcliffe denim super-skinny jeans, $181

It’s those shoes again. This is really maybe more about how we need to buy shiny black heels. Imitation Jeans, $220

Alvin Valley Sample Sale Alert

09.25.2006

We cannot be in New York, so we will have to satisfy, or, more to the point, unsatisfy ourselves, by not availing ourselves of the half-off Alvin Valley sample sale tomorrow (9/26), 552 Seventh Avenue between 39/40 (third floor), (646) 228-0815 in case, we don’t know, you feel like calling someone who will probably not be a position to offer any useful \ helpful information. Ooh, that sentence was rather tortured. In short: Alvin Valley, in NYC, noon-6 p.m. Elsewhere, we must live, generally and unhappily, with full price, like these from Shopbop: the Alvin Valley Lana pant, $253. Tsss.

Oprah Etc

09.25.2006

This is quite possibly the most amazing thing we have ever heard. Oprah ’08! Second in our independent-candidate-loving hearts only to Mayor Mike, who we like to envision stomping into the Senate and spanking Bill Frist over his knee. Not in a sexual way. In a way that says, “I am Michael Bloomberg, and I, unlike you, am not a partisan asshole.”

And we quote:
“Oprah would not say ‘bombs away,’
’til there was no other way,
She’s bring the States a new kind of strength,
If Oprah was pres-i-dent.”

Because $1300 for a Bag Seems a Little Excessive

09.25.2006

We’re so OD’ing on overpriced handbags that we are going to do super cheap tote bags all week. Because seriously, fuck that, spending $1000 on a bag. How about $20? Yeah, that’s better. And okay, so we totally want a Mulberry but like Diet Coke, which we are totally about three hours into giving up forever, we are not entirely convinced it is good for us at all. Besides: squirrels. Love squirrels!

Squirrel tote, $20

NB Our very favorite Fred Flare tote, with the French speaking ducks, is now back in stock and similarly priced in a friendly manner at $24

Ask the Stylist: Working From Home, Without the Juicy-ness

09.25.2006

Now this is an Ask the Stylist we can personally relate to:

I work from home. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m so lucky, I save so much money on gas, blah, blah, blah. No. The truth is working from home makes one feel like a hermit, especially since one wears pajamas all day. If one is lucky, one may change into workout clothes and venture out into the sunshine for 10 minutes. If one is unlucky, one wears old pajamas one’s mother bought at T.J. Maxx 5 years ago with appliquéd flowers and shoes and purses and sayings like “Girls rule” all over them. And feels like a dirty hermit. Who spends too much time reading fashion blogs and wallowing in self pity.

Bunnyshop and Stylist, I need help. I can’t justify spending money on nice “officey” clothes I won’t wear, even though I love classic things and adore dressing up. On the other hand, I shudder at the idea of typical lounge clothing. I’d love to do my fashion blog reader duty and “build up my closet,” but, again, can’t fill it with the black shift dresses and croc pumps (*sigh*) I don’t need. Any ideas on how can I satisfy both my urge to look un-hermit-like but still be comfortable? All without going into serious debt (thus requiring I become an actual hermit)?

Thanks!
Carissa

The first year we freelanced from home we would be lucky if we bothered to put on jeans: We’d just walk to the convenience store, since that was probably as far as we were going, in shorts and Havaianas. And we mean we would do this even in February. (The convenience store was quite close by.) Because really: Who was going to know? Oprah? Oprah didn’t care. Dr. Phil? Ditto. This situation changed, if somewhat marginally, when we had roommates again, and in a good way, because you can not walk around in your underwear at four in the afternoon when you live with two guys. Not because they will think this is overtly sexual, but because they will say things like, “When are you going to get a fucking job? Get a fucking job!”

And this is especially a problem when you are buying clothes, because all of a sudden that entire realm of clothing is unnecessary. This is usually, but not always, a benefit, and when it is not, it is because you suddenly realize that 90% of your wardrobe is denim and the other 10% is various pieces of clothing suitable for yoga \ sleeping. You have the nice tops you wear when your friends with jobs make time to go out on the weekend, but mostly: You are wearing clothes with elastic waistbands.

This so beautifully … er, “dovetails” is the word we want with what had been the planned topic for the day, as well as our own stylist’s personal wardrobe. We have not seen this woman out of her fall 2006 uniform since … August. Right. In short: vintage dress, stretchy belt, opaque tights, vintage shoes. We were thinking about this because this is also the uniform of all the girls at the salon where we are now gainfully employed. It is a very Nylon look. We love Nylon. We love the look. We do not know how to continue on with the positivity, but continue we must. Because the thing is, this look is extremely excellent for the homebound worker. It is actually, we have realized, easier to wear a dress than it is to put jeans on. Many jeans require a certain amount of wriggling, and possibly a belt. Most dresses require neither, though we are thinking, as well, that many denim belts require holes and hooks, or whatever they’re called, and vintage dresses like these require only stretchy vintage belts with little snaps or some kind of made-for-baby closures.

So anyway, we went to work today, and everyone was wearing the same kind of outfit we have seen our stylist wear a million times, and first we texted her to tell her this knowing she would be quite annoyed, and we also asked the exceptionally nice receptionist who was training us where she got all of her vintage dresses \ belts \ shoes. The Painted Bird, she said. And we went, and we have to say, it was quite amazing. We have been resisting doing a 25 Best Stores in SF because we are so ill at ease in this city, but now there is no avoiding it, because we just love this store so much. We tried on five things, including a size 14 vintage DVF dress that we knew was not going home with us, and a very Celine-y white shirtdress that was four times as much as anything else and, thank goodness, had a few tiny tears in the bodice that made putting it back not a miserable experience. We forget the third one, and then we bought two: a cream mini-dress and a non-DVF wrap dress. We are very excited about both of them. Did we mention these are even easier to wear than jeans? We ended up spending most of our day’s paycheck on reasonable standing-for-four-hours shoes, which we were a little annoyed about, but then we realized we were not really back $50—we had broken even! And come home with two dresses we were v excited about and a pair of reasonable if non-amazing shoes! This is more than a person can dream of, we believe.

So anyway: We are talking about dresses under $30, under $20 preferably, and since we wanted to give her something to do, we had our stylist go through and pick out a couple more, but not without limiting her to the stock at Forever 21—no muss, fuss, or otherwise.

“I am so into this dress [at top] I already bought it for myself. I advise however not wearing it over leggings—let’s move on from that.” Wild plaid dress, $22.80

“This one, too. Love the big pockets.” Plaid empire dress, $22.80

“This needs to be brightened up with a bold, simple, one-color belt, but otherwise few things will be easier to wear.”

“This is really rather dressy but when you’re thinking about comfort jersey should really be your first and most important stop. Plus it’ll be hard to beat the price. The right belt will make all the difference.” Jersey dress, $19.80

And that is this week’s Ask the Stylist. Do you have a question for our stylist? We hope so, desperately. E-mail us here.

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