Introducing the JoeyBra
It is no secret to anyone that knows me that when it comes to going out to the bar, I don’t like carrying purses. I feel as though it limits me being able to prowl-I mean dance- around with my friends!
Unfortunately, putting my phone, apartment keys, credit cards, and ID in my pockets is less than practical and the extra weight on my fanny is certainly not that comfortable. There is also that fear that by the end of the night I will be fishing any of the above items from the toilet, should I forget to take them out pre-potty.
Luckily for me, two good people from Seattle, Washington have invented a product to help such “free-spirits” like myself. JoeyBra, a company recently founded by Mariah Gentry and Kyle Barlow, is a sexy, pocketed bra that allows you to conceal any items you choose to stow in the safety of your bosoms. Most cell phones and any other items, regardless of breast size, can fit into the otherwise normal looking bra. The best part, besides that it comes in a must-have leopard print, is that this bra is only $19.99, and comes in sizes to accommodate any bust size.
They even have a video to show you how easy it is to use. Enjoy!
~Michelle Mass
Beth Shak ‘Shoes r Forever’ Launch Party
Photo: justluxe.com
Hi, my name is Michelle and I am addicted to shoes. Flats, sneakers, boots, heels, peep-toe platforms–pretty much any stylish form of footwear will work me up into a frenzy.
My obsession was more than satisfied last night at the Beth Shak ‘Shoes r Forever’ Launch Party at PNK Elephant Boutique on South Street. Beth, known for her professional poker playing skills as well as her uncanny beauty, adores shoes so much that she decided to hang up her playing cards and make a new-found career out of it. Owning roughly 1200 pairs of designer shoes (700 of them being Christian Louboutin’s), the mother of three has recently piqued the interest of the media, scoring her very own reality show which is set to air on VH1. Beth’s new Web site serves as an outlet for fellow shoe enthusiasts, specifically those with a shared appreciation for designers like Walter Steiger, Manolo Blahnik, Mark Schwartz and of course, Louboutin.
ShoesRForever.com contains links to Celebrity Style, Sales, Beth’s Picks and my personal favorite, Streetwalker where people can submit pictures of some of the crazy shoes they see walking on the streets of Philly.
I recommend you check out some of pictures from the event below then immediately proceed to the site.
~Michelle Mass
Checking in with Commonwealth Proper
After meeting the owner of Commonwealth Proper, Craig Arthur von Schroeder, at the Mitchell & Ness Spring Launch Party the other week, I was dying to see what his 17th and Spruce Street showroom looked like. I was lucky enough to charm my way into an invite.
Everything about this place screams: MAN! I’m not talking the juiced up, grunting, throwing furniture over their head kind of man either. I mean the cigar-smoking, whiskey-sipping, briefcase and custom-made suit wearing kind of man. Don Draper and Nucky Thompson would be regular visitors, for sure. Not only is the showroom a certified man cave, but it simply drips with Philadelphia culture and history–from the Revolutionary and Civil War maps that adorned the high ceilings, to the African war buck in the main dressing room and the shearing scissors from the 1800’s.
In between his busy schedule of dressing A-list stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and getting ready for the MTV awards, the fashionable entrepreneur (who was as handsome and debonair as his clothing) was able to talk to me about what was new with Commonwealth Proper, especially his newfangled ‘Ready to Wear’ pieces: “We at Commonwealth Proper have studied custom tailoring and bespoke clothing practices for the past several years and are now applying the fit principles we learned from those experiences to make the perfect button-down shirt, as well as other ready-to-wear garments that simply fit better because they are designed with the contemporary man in mind. There is no substitute for fit. We are essentially making tailored fit ready-to-wear garments. The proof is in trying our clothes on…”
Craig explained that, while he has a showroom in Los Angeles, he wants to take more time to focus on his presence in Philadelphia, having everything from design, measure, pinning and chalking to the final fitting take place right here. He wants his clothing to soak up as much local culture and vintage feel as his show room does. All Commonwealth Proper designs are equipped with a tag stating when it was “born” and that it was made in the USA. Now, the creative genius, as I fondly call him, wants to produce tags saying “MADE IN PHILLY,” and there is absolutely nothing we hate about that.
Making a Difference with United By Blue
United by Blue is a Philly-based apparel company that prides themselves in being ocean friendly. For every single product sold, members of the caring UBB team remove one pound of trash from the world’s oceans and lakes. As of April 20th, they’ve actually removed a total of 87,863 pounds.
The company recently launched its 2012 Spring/Summer line and let me tell you, it took an impressive amount of self-restraint for me not to immediately whip out my credit card and begin purchasing everything in eyesight. From their vintage, handmade and sustainable jewelry to their extremely soft and chic apparel, they’re sorta like a wonderful mash-up of Urban Outfitters, Free People and American Apparel all rolled into one.
Check out some of my personal favorites below!
Uniform Bravo Bravo Scoop Neck $34/ S.O.S Scoop Neck $34/ Pacific Garbage Patch $34
Navy Women’s Laptop Bag $98/ Vintage Women’s Unstructured Bag $42/ Women’s Blue and Grap Stripe Bag $38
Top Row: Turquoise Cluster Silver Ring $75/ The John Dillinger $28
Bottom Row: Western Shore Strawberry Rhubarb Necklace $38/ Artisan Turquoise Ring $50
S.O.S $34/ Old Boat $34/Sit Ready to Shove $34
~Michelle Mass
The Better Way to Get Rid Of Chocolate Cravings
It’s late, and you’re lazily draped over the couch watching re-runs of Fashion Police after a long day. Just when you least expect it, it hits you – the inevitable late night chocolate craving. Don’t be that cheesy woman in the Special K commercial who allegedly satisfies her chocolate cravings with a cup of Special K Chocolatey Delight cereal. Nobody does that. Even if they did, it surely wouldn’t get rid of their persistent chocolate craving.
If you’re trying to satisfy your stomach’s desire, you have one of two options – spend the rest of the night slaving over a batch of double chocolate fudge brownies using your grandmother’s prized recipe, or whip up a chocolate mug cake in two minutes or less.
Not much of a baker? Not a problem. It’s entirely possible to make a serving of delicious, moist chocolate cake in the microwave with just three ingredients that you might already have lying around in your pantry and minimal or non-existent baking skills. Yes, this is real life.
As someone who’s spent a good deal of time making various confections with painstakingly long lists of ingredients and steps, I was a bit skeptical when I saw there were only three ingredients. My initial doubts quickly subsided, as well as my seemingly insatiable craving for chocolate, once I tried the recipe out for myself on a lazy Sunday afternoon. If someone made this for me without informing me that only three ingredients went into it, I wouldn’t have been able to tell.
Even the greatest of bakers need a break sometimes, and chocolate cake in a mug is the perfect alternative for when you’re low on time, or, motivation. Plus, because the recipe fills exactly one mug – no more, no less – you won’t be tempted to snag another slice (or ten) of cake and go overboard.
Try the recipe out for yourself, because I can only muse about it for so long. If you’re feeling more adventurous, the article includes nine other mug cake recipes, like cookie dough, nutella, and chocolate peanut butter, though they do call for more ingredients. Happy baking, and may your chocolate cravings disappear!
-Lauren Arute
The Fashion Sweatpant
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been profiling otherwise slack-y garments that have made their way into high fashion as a too-cool-to-care staple. I’ve talked about overalls and baseball caps, and now I’d like to take a closer look at the sweatpant.
Otherwise known as the high symbol of giving up on life, as demonstrated by George Costanza.
Fashion is all-encompassing. The most interesting kind reaches to every class of people and mixes it up. The Madewell sweats look totally polished with a fitted button-down, blazer and velvet slippies.
3.1 Phillip Lim makes a super luxe pair that would right at home at the office.
And, of course, the king of lazy luxury, Alexander Wang, makes a fantastic ribbed pair that look super chic with heeled sandals.
What are we taking away from all this? Sweatpants are cool, and can even be sleek, but, there are rules. Do not, under any circumstances pair them with a sweatshirt. Keep your sweats to one at a time. Make sure they are tapered at the ankle, anything else would have you looking like you are in pajamas. Keep them a neutral color and as plain as possible. Nothing pink and nothing that advertises something across the ass would be nice. And, keep the rhinestones out of it. Actually, keep rhinestones away from everything, they are just awful.
Conceptual Earrings
We’ve all done the studs and the danglies, and we know they’re not going anywhere, but, in the wake of top-bun season, we, as the style council, urge you to start thinking a bit deeper about your ear adornment this season. Modern jewelry designers are experimenting with earthly elements, magnets, electronics and shapes that defy nature.
Here’s some examples of the completely wacky and beautiful designs popping up for Spring.
The Upper Metal Class Control Earrings turn your head into a fashionably bronzed remote control.
Artist Akiko Oue’s mag_net_ic designs are two pierced earrings and several magnetic pieces that attach, allowing you to customize the design.
By the fift company comes a super smart idea called the Pick a Jewel line. Their zinc-plated earring have a clamp on the end that allow you to attach anything you like to make earrings. Flowers, a leaf, a crumpled up piece of paper, a doily — the world is one, big exciting earring waiting to be hung!
Need a Quick Remedy For Dry, Winter Skin?
With new studies finding chemicals, such as lead, in cosmetics and beauty products, you might be worried about the ingredients in your favorites. But what if there was a high quality soap that was so naturally pure, you can technically eat it? Thanks to Beekman’s C.O.P.A. Soaps, there is!
Owners David Fischer and Antonia Daly swear by their soap after being in business at their Fishtown location and specializing in crafting handmade soap for the past 14 years.
The abbreviation C.O.P.A. stands for coconut, olive, palm, and almond oils. These oils, combined with other essential oils, make up the base for every bar of soap.
The soap comes in a variety of scents and combinations, including 5 variations of Peppermint, 6 variations of Lavender, Avocado, Mango, Aloe, Sage, Tea Tree, and TripleMint, to name only a few.
According to Daly, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, a sudsing agent used to make soap not last as long, and Propylene Glycol, a fancy name for a petroleum-based anti-freeze, are added to many largely distributed soaps. The soaps at Beekman’s C.O.P.A. Soaps are free of these chemicals.
Fischer and Daly could have confidently talked to me all day about their soap. Their passion was visible after speaking with them after a mere 5 minutes. However, I had to see for myself. So I took home Lavender Scrub, an exfoliating soap, and Shea and Mango, both emollient or moisturizing soaps, and tested them all out myself.
As someone whose skin is so sensitive that it will remain red for an entire hour after an accidental scratch, I felt as though I was a good candidate for trying this stuff out. I quickly found out the reasons why the successful business has diligent clients in Philadelphia and worldwide – Italy, Ireland, Afghanistan, Denmark, and more.
First, I used the Lavender Scrub to smooth the skin, and followed it with the Shea to moisturize my legs that were defeated by the harsh winter cold. There was virtually no irritation after shaving my ever-so-sensitive legs. And I can confidently say that the vigorous leg-scratching session that’s been taking place habitually after every shower lately is now a thing of the past. My legs were left feeling clean, smooth, and moisturized but with no sticky residue like what tends to happen after I use lotion on them.
Every time without fail, my daily face wash leaves me with bits of eyeliner, mascara, and lip stain, which I then have to forcibly wash off, leaving my skin red and sad. I was blown away that the Mango soap was able to magically wash off all the makeup on my face, while the Lavender Scrub gently washed away all the lip stain without causing irritation or pore-clogging residue.
And it surely doesn’t hurt that all of Beekman’s C.O.P.A. Soaps work this well while having no harmful effect on the environment.
To order soap for yourself, visit copasoaps.com or call (800) 315-5690.
-Lauren Arute
Get Your Swagger On at Swag Boutique
Alright readers, here is your daily vocabulary lesson from your friends at PW Style:
Swag (n): Appearance, style, or the way he or she presents them. Oh, he’s got killa swag!
Swag Boutique, a chic store-front in one of my favorite city hot-spots, NoLibs, is dedicated to helping customers “get their swagger on.” Whether you’re shopping for art, gifts for the home, or adorable fashion must-haves from local artists, your swag will sky-rocket upon entering this boutique.
The posh shop specializes in selling pieces from local artists and crafters. Unfortunately, due to the delicate shipping requirements of the one-of-a-kind items, you can only shop for them in the store or by contacting the artist directly as opposed to online shopping. Visit the North 2nd Street location to see unique jewelry from local artists including Bernadette Sunner, Pretty Little Things, Unique Annick and more.
Have no fear online shopping addicts, you can most-certainly get your fix with the rest of Swag’s products.
Some of my favorite Swag items can be seen below!
Everything about these two outfits scream swag. The bright colors, the adorable and sexy design. I’ll take both!
I’ll take the one in coral, please.
And then there were the purses…SWAG OVERLOAD
**Photos courtesy of the SWAG’s Facebook
~Michelle C. Mass
BreakawayINK Apparel Reveals New Eco-Friendly Tee
As a dedicated PW reader, you have already been alerted to one of the city’s newest fashion trends, BreakawayINK Apparel. With his unique line of hooded sweatshirts, baseball caps, beanies, tote bags, rugby tops and top-selling graphic t-shirts, owner Kyle Rheiner has managed to top himself yet again.
The newest piece to join the BreakawayINK family is entitled “Know Your Roots,” a design featured on a 100% organic and eco- friendly canvas. The natural colored tee exhibits a tri-colored Public Transit image using eco-friendly ink and earth-friendly materials. The shirt, blended from organic cotton and recycled polyester, even displays a hidden message that can be found weaving through the transit routes: BREAK AWAY INK. As with all of his creations, the Know Your Roots shirt is adorned with a tagless neck and a hand-sewn hem tag.
When asking what the source of inspiration was for his latest fashion conception, the always intuitive entrepreneur replied “We created this tee with ‘sustainability’ in mind after learning more about a friends involvement in the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia. From the shirt materials, to the ink, to the design – it’s promoting sustainability.”
Kyle followed up with stating that BreakawayINK is also continuing to learn more on how they can become a more sustainable and earth-friendly company. “Moving forward, we’ll continue to use eco-friendly clothing because we really like the feel and the fit. We’re always looking to improve our brand.”
~Michelle Mass