Zahra Saeed
Gah, I love this White Lotus dress by Zahra Saeed. I guess I usually don’t take most stores directly on Rittenhouse Sqaure seriously, because they always seem like places to outfit a child, Pomeranian or overpriced condo of privilege, and I have none of the above. When I’m (window) shopping, I generally don’t venture past the Barnes and Noble on Walnut Street.
But I’ve been missing out, apparently. Philadelphia Magazine did a story on the Moorestown designer’s second collection, and I was super impressed.
The Pakistan-born Moorestown resident (whose personal history includes an arranged marriage, a divorce, and moving her way up the corporate ladder at a South Jersey mortgage bank while raising two daughters; she self-financed her fashion business) is constantly inspired by the fabrics she finds around the world. And with the wholesale success of her eponymous lines throughout Europe and the Middle East, she sees quite a bit of it.
While I generally appreciate color and pattern more, and there are quite a few pieces in the collection that use those fabrics from around the world extremely well, what I especially like here is what this woman can do with plain ol’ white:
And what’s more, she has a way of keeping balance when employing interesting silhouettes and structural bits so that the wearer looks like she’s wearing something neat that you haven’t seen before, but doesn’t look like she got lost on her way to the Met Costume Ball (OK, the one on the right’s a little bit Swan Lake costumey, but I still like it).
I’m not gonna lie, though: her website doesn’t work very well (at least, not on my computer), and if you click “home” you’ll get blasted with unwelcome music. Whatever. Just wander past the Barnes and Noble next time, and check out all this gorgeous stuff from a for-real local designer.
Zahra Saeed, 1905 Walnut St.
Button Up Your Overcoat
Courtesy of Vintage Connection
A lovely lady from Vintage Connection has posted info on Vintage Coats on Philly2Philly. Vintage Connection is worth a look, it won the title of “Best Vintage Shop” from Philadelphia Magazine and your favorite newspaper, Philadelphia Weekly. With a little luck, you might even be able to get a Mad Men esque coat – for MUCH cheaper than those on sale at Banana Republic.
Even with the colder weather creeping up, Christmas commercials are freaking us out. They’re on entirely too early. Or so we think. However, we are positively tickled by the Sephora Holiday offers like this set of mascaras for $39 – valued at $104. Nice. There are similarly priced sets for fragrance, glitz & glam – that’s shimmer and bronzers for those who don’t speak Sephora. The only set we’re leery of is the lotion one. Sometimes skin freaks out when you use that many different lotions, especially in the winter months!
If you LOVE eyeliner Sephora’s got a kit with pencils in literally every color from Make Up For Ever. This set has 25 different shades. We think even Rainbow Brite would be jealous. This Smashbox set with 5 colors might be a better choice if 25 colors seems like too much of a commitment. We’re also loving this cute little set from Bare Escentuals avaliable only at Sephora called A Wink and A Kiss. It’s mascara and lipstick. So cute.
Sooo…we got a little excited about makeup. This morning NBC10 takes a look at Justin Timberlake’s style and how it’s progressed through the years. NBC10 also lets us know that there is going to be a piece of the Berlin Wall at Ripley’s Believe it Or Not in Atlantic City! I personally saw an itty bitty chunk of the Berlin wall and that was pretty moving. I can’t even imagine seeing a huge chunk like the one at Ripley’s, let alone actually being there for the historical event – which celebrates it’s 20th birthday on Monday, November 9th.