The Cultured Girl

I know I already raved about Target’s GO International collection, which features exclusive lines by designers such as Tara Jarmon. But I would be remiss in not mentioning that today marks the debut of the Target fashions by ultra-hip French label Paul + Joe. The designs range from very simple staples to cutting-edge items that you’d never know came from a discount store. Better yet, the collection is very of the moment, so it’s a great way to pay low prices for must-have fall trends like plaid button downs, miniskirts, and skinny jeans. I particularly like the wool roll-up shorts for $30. (After all, who wants to pay a lot for a trend as silly and fleeting as wool shorts?)

I’ve been wearing Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars since seventh grade, but I never dreamed I’d get to dress my iPod in them too. Now, you can have a laptop case that looks like a wine tote and an iPod case that looks like a sneaker (Thanks, Shiny Shiny). Plus, this Speck accessory looks like it would provide great rugged protection if you drop or otherwise imperil your gadget.

Ordering flowers remotely is always a gamble. Traditionally, the tightly packed standardized bouquets from national services such as FTD and 1-800-Flowers are just plain tacky, but at least you know what you’re getting. Calling a local florist where the recipient lives is often a better bet, but only if you know of a good one.

Now, 1-800-Flowers has come up with a great new service, similar to Target’s partnerships with designers like Tara Jarmon and Isaac Mizrahi. Its line of Designer Flowers offers high-end floral arrangements designed by some of the world’s most famous florists, including Jane Packer and Preston Bailey. They may not be household names to most people, but their arrangements are refreshingly un-FTD.

Target has gotten a good deal of press for its GO International collection, in which a sampling of global designers are contributing exclusive lines to be sold in Target for just 90 days. British designer Luella Bartley kicked it off, but I’m partial to the current line by Parisian designer Tara Jarmon, particularly the $30 pleated embroidered skirt and round handle dot handbag. The items are truly unique and eye-catching, the kind of pieces that elicit comments from random people who are then shocked to learn they come from Target. This line won’t be around much longer, so get to Target now to catch the sales.

People who love Crocs shoes are willing to overlook their dorky appearance in favor of their ultra-lightweight, foot-conforming comfort. Now, the very successful Crocs brand has actually released a cool-looking sandal (thanks, Uncrate).

The equally lightweight Athens flip-flop ($30) has a sleek look and a number of stylish color combinations, and they’re made with anti-microbial and stink-proof material. A flip-flop that’s actually comfortable? What a novel idea.

Most of us have been recycling clothes for even longer than we’ve recycled trash. When I was a kid, my mom engineered a very beneficial hand-me-down system, in which one of her friends passed along her two older (and fortunately, stylish) daughters’ clothes to me. Even now, I find it impossible to throw away an item of clothing. I’d rather pass it onto a friend, donate it to charity, or, in the case of expensive mistakes, try to resell it at stores like Buffalo Exchange. For some good advice, check out this guide to recycling clothes, from the fiftyRX3 blog, which bills itself as a guide to “style and sustainability.” It offers some great ideas for reusing and trading old clothes. Consider this very wise tip:

“if you decide to go to a ‘trader’ store … DO NOT watch them sift through your cast offs. You don’t need the play by play of why they aren’t buying your stuff or why they are. You don’t want to hear about the $10 they’ll give you for those pants you maxed out your credit card for and then never wore.”

In addition, the blog recommends altering old pieces to update them, but I would add another idea to that: Use pieces that might have great fabrics but bad cuts or style and turn them into non-clothing items, like throw pillows or purses.

Wearing high-heels in warm weather is an imperfect art. Heels are way more comfortable when you have a barrier between your foot and the shoe, but summertime isn’t exactly conducive to tights. Then, there are those half-assed shoe liner things, which always manage to creep out of my shoe in some unsightly manor.

Enter my latest obsession, the Minisock by Delphine Murat, a shoe liner that’s actually supposed to show. The various designs, which slip onto the foot and adorn the ankle, are sort of like interchangeable accessories for your shoes. They are pricier than typical shoe liners (about $20 or so), but when you consider the fact that they prevent blisters while giving an old pair of shoes an entirely new look, they are well worth the price.

I spill things on myself a lot. Just this morning, in fact, I splattered hot tea all over my cream-colored blazer. Fortunately, I had on hand a brilliant stain-removing tool: the alcohol swabs typically found in first-aid kids and used to prep the skin before injections. My mom first turned me onto the clothes-cleansing power of the alcohol-soaked pads (you can buy like 100 of them for $2), and now, I always try to carry a few in my purse.

For best results, attack the stain immediately by rubbing vigorously with the pad, then wipe the area with a wet paper towel or cloth. The results are miraculous: If you saw my jacket right now, you’d never know that I doused nearly an entire cup of tea on myself just hours ago. The alcohol, however, can have a bleaching effect on dark clothes, so I recommend using these only when you’ve spilled something on a light article of clothing.

It’s summertime, and all of my child-rearing friends seem to be having babies left and right. If you’re in the same boat, check out Lacy Metals. The company makes handcrafted sterling-silver spoons with handles that spell out a baby’s name in script. It’s a cute but classy gift idea that doubles as a functional tool and a nice memento. The personlization is a bit pricey—names under six letters are $110, and each additional letter costs $10—so use it to reward parents who choose short but sweet baby names.

As children, our yearly evolution was neatly chronicled by the obligatory school photo, which captured us at the same time every year, dolled up in our best outfit. But as adults, our photo ops are far more scattershot. That’s why I love this idea for a birthday ritual, which my friend Stacie dreamt up after graduating from college and has done every year since.

Every year, she puts on what she considers the “quintessential outfit of the moment” and has a friend take her photo in front of the building in which she’s living at the time. She keeps all of the photos in one album, complete with notes on where she’s working at the time and anything monumental that happened that year (e.g., getting married.) Here are some of her insights:

“My guideline is that I cannot re-take the picture no matter how much I hate it, and I have to have to ‘keep it real.’ I want to capture what I really look like, so no getting a fancy hairdo the day before. Now that I’m about 10 years into this project, I’ve noticed that I’m more consistent than I would have ever imagined. It’s actually kind of surprising. I’ve only moved once, and while I question a few of my fashion choices, I look pretty much the same as ever. Who would have thunk it?”

I wish I’d thought of this when I graduated from college too, but I suppose it’s not too late to start!