No, don't reach for your glasses. You actually read that correctly. I bought not one but TWO pairs of stretch cargo pants from Forever 21 and I'm LOVING them. Seriously. They're cotton with a slight stretch, they pull on but not in a mom-jeans way, and they fit perfectly. Well, they fit me perfectly anyway. They're definitely more skinny cargo/ skinny jeans than leggings, so they don't come with any of that leggings-are-not-pants drama. I've been wearing them with a t-shirt, blazer, and booties. They're tapered at the bottom, so they're almost stupid easy to tuck into boots.
Oh, and I actually factually give these an A for quality though that's relative quality considering they're from Forever 21. But for fast fashion, these are really sturdy -- I've worn them for months, washed them (obviously), and they show no signs of slowing down (kind of like, say, the Tea Party, unfortunately). I actually may buy two more pairs for backup.
I bought these in both grey and olive, though the olive is basically your standard-issue khaki/ army green. I bought these in large (because Forever 21 is a store for teenagers, and I am not a teenager, at least not according to my birth certificate), and I'm about a size 8, so if you're an 8-ish or under, go crazy. Get two pairs. I did!
No, no, no, no, and, once more, with feeling.... NO, hos. Not even to the GYM. SO bad. Leave the tiger-striped booty shorts to the type of girls who'd pair them with an Ed Hardy tank. (Familiar with the name "Tara Reid"?) AND YOU are SO not that girl.
My friend Holly used to live all summer in what she called her "housecoat" -- a cheap, comfy cotton dress. For me it's the kind of thing you throw on any and maybe all weekends. Today, I decided to hit Forever 21 to find mine. I wanted something perfect for a rock show at McCarren Pool (which I think are happening somewhere on the Williamsburg waterfront this year): the kind of thing you can wear sneakers with, you don't mind spilling beer on, and you don't really care if it's all pilled up at the end of the summer, although you kind of do, because goddamn, that's pretty much your favorite thing to wear at this point.
Anyway, I found two. One isn't pictured on the site, but is sort of a white with navy/purple tie-dye-ish action on the bottom half. For $11.50! The other is:
Cute sleeveless leopard print top. As I type this, I just looked down and realized I'm wearing ALMOST the exact same shirt. Um, whoops. Oh well. It's a good layering piece.
I actually DID have the presence of mind to remember that I own not one but TWO grey jackets, so I didn't buy this cropped grey jacket (must... resist!!!), but it's certainly adorbs! Check out the detail -- black safety pins!
A few weekends ago, I traveled down to my half-hometown of Virginia Beach. While down there, I stopped into Lynnhaven Mall with my sister, who wanted to check out the new Wii games. (My parents and I got her a Wii for Chanukkah and her birthday because we are collectively awesome.)
First of all, I must congratulate Lynnhaven Mall on doing an excellent job keeping up with the forward-march of time and integrating itself seamlessly into the 21st century. (For excellent stories and photos of abandoned malls, check out one of my favorite blogs, Labelscar, which tracks malls into their obsolescence, which is nostalgic and creepy and fascinating to me.)
Anyway, mid-mall, Easter Bunny photos were in full effect (some things never change -- as long as there are suburban shopping malls, there will be opportunities to sit on the laps of the Easter Bunny and/or Santa for an overpriced photo), and while we considered doing the stupid high-school-level ironic photo, we opted for an even more juvenile approach: standing in front of the Easter Bunny photo area and aiming for a photo. (Again, some things never change.)
The half-assed result, featuring my sister: This all leads me to the fact that Lynnhaven Mall has a For Love 21, brought to you by the makers of Forever 21, except it's accessories-only, like a Claire's or Icing or whatever store you're probably a bit too old to shop at but you do anyway, like me.
So, I popped in and picked up these fun orange wayfarer-style sunglasses:
And then, lo and behold, who should I see traipsing and tramping about gay Paree but little ol' Mary-Kate Olsen herself, wearing a startling similar pair of orange sunnies!
Should you indulge in a pair of Benjamins, might I suggest these great pair of clear ones, named after Jenni Kayne. They'll set you back about three and a half Benjamins:
I really like TheBudgetBabe.com, but EEeeeee, seriously no me gusta this Twelve By Twelve animal print minidress WITH jeweled embellishments AND Velour belt. One or the other, but PLEASE not both! While I love BudgetBabe's suggestion of classening the joint up a bit with a skinny black leather belt, I can't deal with the very "meat-on-meat" (my boyfriend's term for too much) trend orgy going on here. Less is always more with animal prints, peeps! I would, however, certainly go for this dress without the jeweled embellishments and a nice leather belt. Very Little Shop of Horrors!
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I really wish I'd have purchased this Forever 21 cardigan I posted the other day. Sure the See By Chloe one is cashmere and this one is probably made out of recycled Scotch tape and Splenda, but I actually like it better, especially due to its lack of '80s-ness. (I like a lot about the '80s BUT NOT its cardigans.) Buuuuut it looks like it's sold out online in my size. Bew. New York Bingers, anyone hit up a F21 here recently? Anyone see this in a large, by chance?
Forever 21 just launched their new "luxury line" (in this case, luxury being anything over like $12), Twelve By Twelve. Nothing totally earthshattering -- it mainly looks like French Connection crossed with Club Monaco, which isn't necessarily a bad thing -- but here are few cute pieces.
This tidbit came up the other day while discussing that Zara swastika (Zarastika?) story... in case you din't know... yes, Forever 21 DOES have wee little John 3:16s printed on the bottom of their shopping bags. Weird, right?
The highly underrated New York Sun (which, to me, is like Salon.com but less of a commitment!) did a good piece on the Forever 21 bags last year.
I love this amazing quote from the New York Sun article: "Jesus wore clothes," a 22-year-old from Brooklyn, Jason Schultz, said when informed about the phrase on his bag. He said it didn't bother him that the company wanted to spread a religious message.
TROOTH!
Anyway, I personally don't really have a problem with this. If I were Christian and super into the Bible, maybe I would, but then again, if I were Christian and super into the Beeblay, I'd probably be really stoked that John and his message were getting out to those who need it most: teenagers who buy cheap, slutty clothes! (Or, adult women like me who buy their designer knockoffs!)
I actually find it WAY more disturbing that In-N-Out burger prints a passage from Revelations on the bottom of their burger wrappers. Because NOTHING says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” like animal style fries!
(Photo by me from my trip to the ORIGINAL In-N-Out Burgz in San Francisco.)
Note I did NOT say MAD! Eventhough it's hotter than two bullfrogs here, I've been all about the most-unsummery plaid for some reason. Mucha what I've been admiring is dresses, several of which are by Marc Jacobs. So, I've been reduced to fantasy shopping, but if I were actual shopping, here's what I'd get:
($198, Marc By Marc Jacobs, Shopbop) Lovely and colorful, but...
($24, Forever 21) Also lovely and colorful cute and nearly $200 less!
N'sure how much it is, but it's super cute, and it's from World Market.
($25, Paul Frank, Karmaloop.com) K, it's not plaid, but it sorta feels like it could be related to plaid, doesn't it?
($30, Forever 21) Again, not plaid but it IS patterned. I threw this in because I was totally surprised to see something so elegante at f21. If I woulda said this was by Cynthia Steffe, you could even believed me! Case in point: ... But... lyin's for suckahs.
($104, Talla, Beklina.com) I truly adore this amazing top.
Because I'm feeling charitable, check out this amazing clip of Clay Aiken's soul-crushing horbsness. Why the fuck is he waxing nostalgic about "kids today" like he's some 85-year-old dude who once played the Catskills? Anyway, if you wanna skip over that, head straight for 3:00, where he does his rendition of "Baby Got Back" followed by "Like A Virgin." Seriously. Someone get this kid a tutu.
