Gentlemen, lock your closets.

A pin-thin leg is undeniably chic. Always has been and always shall be. I love the look of a girl with bedhead, last night's Atwoods, an oversized cashmere sweater and the skinniest of black pants. So here is a tip: While leggings and tight skinnies are easy to come by, I want to clue all you ladies in on where to get your cashmere. The boys! Menswear may have been previously deemed shapeless and yawn-inducing but I am telling you they've got the best sweaters. So ladies I am advocating a little rifling through your boyfriends and best friends closets -"borrow" that XL forest-green V-necked cashmere! Let the men "lend" you their Calvins! I'm in total awe of the dizzying array of cashmere sweaters my sister has accumulated. Taupe with a crew neck, black and nubby in cardigan style, sheer and off the shoulder dove gray. Girls, even if it is 78 degrees without a single gust of wind, tell him you're chilly and help yourself to his sumptuous Maison Martin Margiela...you know the one with the chic dark leather elbow pads?

xx til next,

A

Picture: Caroline Vreeland takes a page from The Borrowers. I would say the lashes and Cristal only enhance the delicious feeling of cashmere on bare skin, don't you think?

Our flies are undone for Lily Donaldson.

For over a year I have been shamelessy style-stalking Lily Donaldson. I would have to say she stole my heart away when I saw her strange, awkward gait tumbling down Lanvin in 07. An adorable alien!  I just eat up strange beauty. Maybe it's the fact that she looks like a beautiful nymph- something kooky straight out of Lord of the Rings (What could possibly be more chic than a femme Legolas?) or maybe just because she is is madly in love and dating Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld who is deliciously mad hatter and long haired (Can you imagine Carine as a stepmother? I'd just die!). Either way I've got a girl crush. This is not helped by the fact that some of her besties include Gemma, Irina and Margherita. We fell even more deeply enchanted with her when we learned that at 16, she dropped out of high school to hit the catwalk. How terribly brilliant of her. 

xx til next,

A

Balmain's new Focus

While it may be limited to catwalkers with tomboy bodies and killer legs, the rock chic look has been triumphantly reinvented by Christopher Decarnin this season at Balmain. Billy Idol-izer's rejoice! The skintight metallic tubes and cropped/shirred ankle pants paired with rocker ankle booties and absolutely sick little jackets are perfect for a Saturday night at Villa or even a Tuesday at Hyde. Each and every model pounding down Balmain's fall runway looked like a Jagger darling, and Natasha Poly and Abbey Lee just drove home the point. The look is can only be described as "Turn on, tune in, drop out."

xx til next,

A

Photos all Style.com

Blue Doors of Tunis

Two years ago I took a holiday in Tunisia. Prior to this trip, I was rather confounded as to the desirability of this vacation destination. Yes, perhaps Lord Byron waxed poetic and Eugene Delacroix consumed great canvases with North African Scenes but I was not yet convinced. 

When I arrived however, I was awestruck by the beauty I found. Not just by the white sand beaches and cool green sea, but the vast bleakness of the desert. The svelte palm trees supplying little shade. The mystic quality of the air and the incredible architecture. Each and every house framed by a blue door, varying from a soft light sky blue to a deep and highly pigmented turquoise. The luxe bougainvillea in jewel tones. 

And now I find that many of fashion's most influential designers are of Tunisian descent; Azzedine Alaia, Hedi Slimane, and Max Azria. Could it be the Proximity to Milan and Paris? Or maybe Tunis is a much more chic locale than it is credited for. Either way, I highly advise a trip. 

xx til next, 

A

Quote of the Day

"We're French! We smoke, we show flesh, we have a lot of freedom."

-Carine Roitfeld, Editor, French Vogue.

Things I just adore.

In my life, I love to focus on beautiful things...Botero and Champagne, Party Frocks and Rigaud Candles, Sushi at Matsuhisa and Waterford Crystal. But some of life's most exquisite pleasures are simple and easy to attain. Here are some everyday things I definitely adore. 

1. Second day Mascara.

2. Trader Joes' Pinot Grigio.

3. Impromptu Facebook photo splurges.

4. Tealights.

5. Our fabulous new throw pillows- just 10 dollars on Melrose. Turned our IKEA couch into a Marrakech mirage. 

6. Theory tanks. Truly the most amazing second skin. 

7. Driving on Fountain Ave with Caroline, listening to Razorlight's Golden Touch. 

8. Sunday morning coffee on Larchmont.

9. Perfect penmanship, all caps architectural. 

10. AXE on Abbot Kinney for the most simple, incredible Bolognese in the world. 

xx til next, 

A

Why Don't You?

Why Don't You....

..Place your heels in the bookcase? Louboutins surely must be more Feng Shui than Rhonda Byrne's The Secret.

..Buy flowers for yourself? Nothing is more attractive than a beautiful girl and a bouquet of florals, and of course everyone will be wondering about your marital status. (This is best played with a coy smile and something interesting like lilac or ranunculas.)

..Purchase magazines instead of lunch? Vogue is a much more well balanced meal for me. 

xx til next, 

A