Management Tip of the Day:3 Ways to Improve Without a Re-Org

Management Tip of the Day:3 Ways to Improve Without a Re-Org: "The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (http:\\www.hbr.org)."

Germans to swim 500 km to North Sea with pet ducks

Germans to swim 500 km to North Sea with pet ducks: "Two Germans set out on an unusual summer holiday on Monday, beginning a 500 km (311 miles) swim down a river from central Germany to the North Sea with seven pet ducks."

FACTBOX - Lohan latest in string of stars to serve time

FACTBOX - Lohan latest in string of stars to serve time: "REUTERS - Actress Lindsay Lohan was released from jail early on Monday after serving 13 days of a 90-day sentence and taken straight into a rehabilitation program, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department."

Lady Gaga touts abstinence to protect creativity

Lady Gaga touts abstinence to protect creativity: "U.S. pop star Lady Gaga is known for her skimpy outfits and sexually-charged performances, but she says she fears having sex with a partner could deplete her artistic energy."

Susan Boyle, McCartney music get spots on "Glee"

Susan Boyle, McCartney music get spots on "Glee": "Singer Susan Boyle and the music of Paul McCartney are to be featured in the new season of TV musical comedy "Glee" -- joining a growing list of performers eager to be associated with the hit show."

Gaiam Yoga Club Offers 10-Day Free Trial

Gaiam Yoga Club, which offers a 10-day free trial, includes tips from renowned yogis Colleen Saidman and Rodney Yee.

We love practicing yoga at home when we can’t make it to a class — but we still need a little instruction and motivation. So while attending a recent yoga event in New York City, we were happy to discover the Gaiam Yoga Club, a 12-week program with expert instructors Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman, designed to help create a home practice. Gaiam offers a 10-day free trial for the online club, which includes a printable pose guide, instructional videos, podcasts and access to community chats and blogs by Yee and Saidman.

“The Gaiam Yoga Club was created to help you get even more out of class and develop a deeper, more personal understanding of yoga,” says Donna Cornwell, Gaiam fitness brand manager. The program is designed for daily use, but each member can go at his or her own pace, she says. After the 10-day free trial, yogis can opt to continue for $5 per week.

For nine weeks, members get access to a 60-minute video containing short pose demonstrations — as well as insight from Yee and Saidman about common mistakes and proper alignment. After the 75 poses are learned, members are led through an audio-cued Vinyasa flow class. Members also can chat online with Yee and Saidman, read their blogs and use the Gaiam Yoga Club message board — as well as create yoga blogs of their own. The club includes 63 downloadable yoga and meditation podcasts and a pose guide as well.

We think the Gaiam Yoga Club could jump-start our home yoga practice. Would you ever use an online service like this?

Flash sales frenzy, Zozotown Japan, Seoul’s empty spaces, Ranking street style bloggers, Enninful’s world

Rue La La Flash Sale Site | Source: Capitolb

Available now, gone in a flash (LA Times)

“Private sample sales generated $1 billion last year, a relatively small piece of the $155-billion e-commerce pie. But the category is thriving, with more than $100 million in venture capital flooding into the space in the last six months alone.”

Zozotown Gets Japan Fashion Online (WSJ)

“Aside from Japanese start-up brands, many high-profile established Japanese brands such as A Bathing Ape have opened boutiques on [Zozotown]…the site may be the tangible sign that fashion e-commerce in Japan will finally take off.”

Why are upscale stores in Seoul empty? (Korea Times)

“Most Korean shoppers still prefer buying luxury products at department stores for sheer convenience, but this does not diminish the significance of opening a flagship store for luxury retailers.”

Most Influential Street Style Bloggers (Fashionista)

“We did consider a number of factors, including: blog traffic, overall appeal, notoriety, and maybe most important–big deals, placements, or campaigns that can be credited to the blog’s influence.”

Enninful’s World (Vogue.com)

“Nick Knight called Terry and Tricia Jones at i-D and three months later I was on the a train to Paris to write the collection reports for them.” And the rest is history.”

08/02: Super Saturday 13 and Daily Hot Shots

08/02: Super Saturday 13 and Daily Hot Shots: "Kourtney Kardashian was among the Hamptons crowd who shopped for a cause at the annual sale."

Product Review: Cake Beauty's Hair & Body Refreshing Powder

Product Review: Cake Beauty's Hair & Body Refreshing Powder: "In our weekly Test Drive features, staffers weigh in on products so you don't have to waste your money at the beauty counter. Well, now we're conducting style test drive-bys on the...
"

Spiked Heels Get Feminine in the Nude

Spiked Heels Get Feminine in the Nude: "TREND: Spiked nude peep-toes

WHO'S WEARING IT: Keep reading to find out!

HOW TO WEAR IT: Stars just can't get enough of spiked shoes. In past seasons, the...
"

Colombian Fashionistas Do Native American Style

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA–From Topshop to Bless to Pamela Love–Native American prints and their similar South American styles have recently flourished in fashion–or rather, the Western fantasy of the tradition.

It seems the trend has gone full circle: During Colombia Moda 2010, it was evident that local fashionistas have re-adopted the style, without, it seems, fully realizing that the look stems from their own history.

For example, I chatted to a Medellin-based fashion student who looked dead hip in a colorful canvas “Inca-style” backback, as she put it, matched with a black and white jacket in traditional Latin American prints. While the former was bought in a village near Bogota, the latter was purchased at…Forever 21. And ironically, she described it as “American style”!

Fashion picks and mixes cultures and isolates them from their roots. When the whole world began wearing Breton stripes à la Coco, the French too picked it up. But, according to my local field research (I live in Paris), the usual reference is not Chanel, but Jean Seberg in Breathless. Similarly, many London bands wear brogues and plaid thinking they look like the Strokes–who themselves mimic British classics.

Globalization is everywhere, from stripes, to plaids to embroided ponchos. As Barbara Kruger once said, “Our culture is saturated with irony whether we know it or not.”

Detergent, Chocolate, G-Strings: Weird Freebies at Colombian Fashion Week

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA–Colombia Moda 2010: The show of local designer Camillo Alvarez is about to start. As I sit down at my seat, I find an unexpected freebie awaiting me: a canvas bag with the logo “Blancox” is filled with a range of washing powders–for whites, colors, wool. Quite a change from Mark Fast tights awarded to London Fashion Week goers.

The catwalk is also heavily branded with Blancox, the local equivalent of Persil detergent. And there’s more–before and after the show, the sponsor’s extensive advert is screened, and nobody seems surprised.

Over the week, I gradually collect free fabric softener, chocolates and fluorescent g-strings. A show, sponsored by a fridge factory, even hands out their store’s catalog, and holds a fridge demonstration outside the show (but gives no freezer away, sadly).

Sure, fashion weeks round the world have seemingly unrelated sponsors–Mercedes-Benz for Berlin Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week is one the most visible examples. However, in most cases, the sponsors remain slightly more under-the-radar than what I witnessed in Medellin.

But regardless, why was I so disturbed? Perhaps it’s because these live infomercials break the theatrical bubble catwalks create, and brutally remind viewers they are watching a purely commercial event?

As Santiago Duque Mendoza, 24, local fashion student and socialite explained, “This isn’t like in Europe. Brands pay and there is little negotiation. The sponsor wants the highest brand visibility, and doesn’t care about being subtle.”

What do you think? How much branding is just too much?

Quote of the Day: Gaga Fears Losing Creativity Out Her Hooha

“I have this weird thing that if I sleep with someone they’re going to take my creativity from me through my vagina.” Lady Gaga in September’s Vanity Fair cover story.

First Look: Free People’s Vintage Loves Collection

Free People, Urban Outfitter’s original in-house brand–which has expanded over the years into its own entity–is launching a collection of hand-picked vintage, which we’re sure to need, want, have to have as soon as it hits Freepeople.com on August 9.

Vintage Loves–the name of the line–features everything from delicate slip dresses to suede vests to handmade jewelry. We’re particularly keen on that sheer 1940s house dress. Click through for more images and a video from the oh-so-lovely collection.

Fashion News Roundup: David Beckham To Design Menswear, Gaga Goes Gray for VF, and Jessica Biel Gets Photomangled

Vera’s Other Bride: While all the attention was on Chelsea Clinton and her Vera Wang gown this weekend, Alicia Keys also wore Wang when she wed Swizz Beats this past Saturday. The styles, however, couldn’t be more different: Keys wore a one shoulder draped goddess gown in ivory silk. {StyleList}

Gaga Follows Gray Trend: Gaga’s usually setting trends, but on Vanity Fair’s September cover she’s right in line with the already established young-people-wearing-gray-hair trend. But she still looks smoking. She’s also got an interesting theory about sex and why she’s afraid of having it. {Vanity Fair}

Like Husband Like Wife: David Beckham is reportedly designing a menswear line to launch for SS 2011 under his wife’s label. According to the Mail On Sunday “Victoria has been trying to persuade him to do it for a while and he’s finally succumbed,” but she had to reassure him that “he has an eye for fashion.” Sure he looks good in those Armani underwear ads, but designing? We’ll have to see it to believe it. {Vogue UK}



Jessica Biel Gets PhotoMangled: In Jessica Biel’s recent spread for Glamour UK it looks like the photoshop team forgot to finish retouching one of her thighs. Her left arm looks pretty wonky too.{Jezebel}

Mad Men Designer Collabs With Maidenform: Fresh off her line for QVC, Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant is teaming up with Maidenform to create a viral marketing campaign for the brand. {The Thread}

Tucker’s Fall 2010 Video, Starring People We Like

TUCKER – FALL LINE from I AM PICTURES on Vimeo.

Yeah, this Marie Antoinette-inspired video, featuring Tucker’s fall 2010 collection, is pretty adorable. But I really like it because I spy: One of my bridesmaids, a former Fashionista, and plenty of other lovable New York girls. Enjoy!

Who What Wear Teams Up With Visa To Launch a New Online Shopping Tool

Attention online shopping addicts: Tired of keeping track of the items you like, trying to remember a million different passwords for different e-commerce sites, staying on top of orders, and constantly refilling shipment information? Your life just got easier.

A new online shopping tool by Visa called Rightcliq, launching today, aims to simplify the online shopping experience. It allows you to consolidate all your browsing within one place so you can visually compare potential purchases, stores all your checkout and shipping information, and tracks all your purchases. Depending on your credit score, this could be a good or bad thing.

The tool piqued our interest because Katherine Power and Hillary Kerr, the lovely ladies behind Who What Wear, are endorsing it. In fact, Power says Visa beat them to the chase on this one. “We never get out of the office during business hours so we do the majority of our shopping online,” says Katherine Power. “We really thought about how we could build this ourselves for our site before this came along because it’s so necessary with all of the options for online shopping.”

So we got an exclusive tutorial from Katherine and Hillary (yes, we were virtually in their computerz, lookin’ at their internetz) on how to use Rightcliq and why they’re so psyched about it.

How it works: Users download the Righcliq plug-in and can then add any potential purchases to their “Wishspace” on Rightcliq. Items are added with images and can be organized in groups so you can visually compare items for a more informed purchase. When you want to make a purchase, the tool securely stores multiple credit cards (not just Visa) and automatically fill in all the information you need to checkout. After you’ve made your purchase, the site tracks your orders. You can even watch your purchases make their way to you on a map. This is sort of an amalgamation of all a shopping search engine and those auto-filler widgets that were popular at the beginning of the aughts.

WhoWhatWear's 'Urban Warrior' Bundle on their Wishspace

What we like about it: You are your own curator. The tool gives users the ability to store and sort the things you might want to buy, and then share your potential buys with your friends via email or facebook so they can help decide which pair of boots, or bag, or dress to invest in. “It’s that visual aspect that makes it so nice,” says Kerr. “In the past if I found, say, a great coat that I liked, I would just bookmark it, but then I had like a zillion bookmarks and couldn’t necessarily remember what it was from the link–this way you can visually curate and organize your items which is very nice…one thing we do well on WhoWhatWear is curate and this tool gives everyone the ability to curate.”

While we were worried a tool like Rightcliq might sink online shopping addicts into credit card debt, Kerr and Power say the tool really helps users make a careful and informed purchase rather than an impulsive one, since you can see all your choices. “It makes you feel a lot more comfortable and confident in your purchase because you know then, what else is out there,” says Power.

What we didn’t like: On many e-commerce sites, like Gilt, product goes fast and you’ve got to be quick to click to make the purchase. In it’s current incarnation, Rightcliq has no way of telling you when inventory is low on an item that you’re watching.

Will you try it?

Mad Men Style Recap, Episode 2

It’s Christmas on Mad Men, and as this episode’s title proclaims, “Christmas Comes But Once a Year.” You’d expect everyone to be jolly with seasonal cheer, but this is Mad Men, so, naturally, everything takes a darker turn. Don spirals deeper into his alcoholism and depression, the former Draper residence gets egged, and the rest of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce works to deal with clients’ requests and each other.

The fashion on Mad Men is changing, and fast; women are leaving behind their New Look silhouettes for slimmer, shorter options, and men are experimenting more with suiting. Hair is higher and shorter, and large, statement jewelry plays a starring role. Everything is modernizing inside Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

Everything except Don.



Don is still showing his unwavering commitment to diagonally striped, monochrome ties. There are clearly other neckwear options, as seen on Roger (white and black dots) or Lane (shocking red), but Don is too bedraggled to even care, at this point, what he looks like. This episode shows Don Draper to be a complete mess. His style is failing, no longer keeping up his exterior image as a successful, American businessman; his suits are boring and not special, and his behavior is that of a sloppy drunk. If it weren’t for that scheming twinkle in his eye, we wouldn’t recognize this Don Draper at all. Here’s to hoping Don gets back on stable footing, both sartorially and in life altogether.

Part of Don’s shameful behavior includes attempting to seduce every woman within five feet of him. First comes Phoebe, his adorable neighbor whose quirky, mod style is much appreciated. After her Christmas party she lugs a drunk Don into his apartment, wearing a gold brocade dress with black lace tights, slim dangly earrings, and the hair and makeup of Edie Sedgwick. It was a moment of fashion bliss. Next, Don puts the moves on a blond, female marketer who will have none of it. During her presentation Don notably exits, refusing to complete her personal survey. Realistically, he probably left because staring at a woman covered in black and white houndstooth is nothing but an eyesore. She even had a matching houndstooth scarf to complement her suit. How anyone else stayed in that meeting is a mystery. She makes up for it at the Christmas party in a chic black dress with a cut away neckline and perfectly bobbed hair. Even then, however, she has no patience for Don’s attempts.

In the end, Don gets some sympathy from his secretary, Allison, who’s opening look of an orange jumper and white tie neck blouse marks a new fashion trend for Mad Men’s ladies. In most scenes in the SCDP offices at least two women in jumpers can be seen in all colors and patterns, heralding in a newer, more modern aesthetic for style on the show. During the Christmas party, however, Allison looks stunning, albeit less modern, in a blue and green, full skirted dress and crystal statement jewelry. Even though she leaves Don immediately after sleeping with him, she can’t help but feel bad the next morning when he hands her a bonus without any affection, and she resigns to typing alone in a white and blue plaid jumper and lace trimmed blouse. She’s looking a little like she borrowed that look from Sally’s closet, which is just all over wrong. But I’ll forgive since she looked so perfect at the Christmas party. [Ed.'s note: I feel like the Christmas party look was Betty, day after was Sally.]

Also looking perfect at the Christmas party were Mad Men’s other leading ladies, Joan Harris, Trudy Campbell, Jane Sterling, and Peggy Olson. Joan does not disappoint in this episode, from her red dress with bow details that “makes [her] look like a present” (Roger’s words) to her brightly hued suits in the office, Joan revels in her power at SCDP. One issue, however, was the pink dress with skinny floral print scarf that she wore in the last episode. Is Joan repeating outfits or is this just a continuity error that occurred during filming? Please let it be an error, I don’t want to imagine a world where Joan’s closet has bounds.

Back at the party, Trudy Campbell looked like perfection in an electric pink dress with gold and silver bead trim. I’ve always admired Trudy’s style choices, from her kooky hats to her matchy-matchy daywear. Conversely, Trudy’s husband Pete just looked weird in a burgundy, double-breasted jacket of sorts, although I commend Mad Men’s costume designer Janie Bryant on variety in the male character’s wardrobes, maintaining each character’s identity through his clothes. Roger is classic in three-piece suits in black or gray, usually with a funny tie–a wink to his personality. Lane is a conglomeration of mismatched patterns and a proliferation of red neckwear, Don is messy and boring nowadays, Harry is experimental with odd colored pants and brown blazers, and Pete is put-together but basic is blues and blacks. I can’t understand why Pete is wearing that ridiculous jacket, other than to emphasize his awkward disposition.

Jane Sterling looked Cleopatra in white, which was as fabulous as it was out of place at the SCDP makeshift Christmas party. Also looking fabulously out of place was Harry’s wife, whose dress incorporated at least five different colors, not including its metallic gold trim. I’m almost certain that my grandmother has the exact same dress in the trunk in our basement, meaning that I’m going as Mrs. Crane for Halloween.

Last but not least is Peggy, who’s style has changed dramatically even from the last episode to this one. In the first shot of Peggy this episode, she wears a red dress that imitates the fit of a suit, with a white blouse sowing at the neck, her newly-signature pearls, and a black beaded headband. Peggy’s new style is hard to peg down; it’s more powerful than her past looks, but still far more modest than most of the other female characters on the show. She later wears a nude-toned wide neck dress, and a dark green dress with asymmetrical buttons to the Christmas party, complete with Christmas tree brooch. I thought her Christmas look was adorable, but her matching green eye shadow was a huge mistake. Never match your eye shadow to your outfit unless your outfit is Givenchy couture and your eye shadow is applied by Pat McGrath, as seen here. Nevertheless, Peggy is making an effort to express herself through her style choices, and I commend her for that.

While the SCDP offices are a hotbed for fashion change and modern style, the Francis-Drapers are keeping it classic.

This episode begins with the Francis-Drapers selecting a Christmas tree for “their” home. Betty, never one to dress down, stands out in a teal blue coat and white and red patterned headscarf. She’s doing her best to keep up her image as the perfect model-cum-wife, starting, in signature Betty fashion, from the outside in. While the Draper family stands together on the right, each dressed impeccably; Henry Francis stands alone at left, marked as different by his awkward stylistic choices. He wears a dark green turtleneck under a beige open coat, looking like a cross between a 70s porn star and an undercover cop. Visually he is incongruous with the Drapers’ projected image of familial perfection. I blame it all on the turtleneck.

Later in the scene, Sally’s stalker/friend/sociopath Glen enters in a mélange of wintry patterns, none of which can reduce his instantly creepy vibe. You may remember Glen to be the boy who stows away in the Draper’s garden shed and later asks for a lock of Betty’s hair in season two. His partnership with Sally this season is sure to stir up more trouble in the Francis-Draper home.

After Glen and his friend ransack the Draper residence, Betty arrives home looking more glamorous than ever before. She’s holding nothing back in this look, her hair meticulously bobbed and curled, startling red lipstick that matches her red party dress with a gigantic red skirt and bow. She covers it all up with a tan fur trimmed coat, looking more supermodel than mom.

Ultimately there’s a style divide between the modern, progressive style in Manhattan, and the conservative style in the suburbs, a clash that represents the difference between a lot more than minis and full skirts.

Street Style: Kricket Has the Best Name Ever

Name: Kricket

Age: 25

Occupation: Artist’s Assistant

Who is your favorite artist? Marcel Duchamp

What is your favorite magazine? The Nation

What is your current favorite song? “The Point” by Harry Nilsson

Which area in New York do you most enjoy? The East Village

What is the most prominent color in your wardrobe? Blue Denim

What is your favorite denim brand? For now, it’s 18th Amendment.

Where is your top from? Duo in the East Village.



Where are your jeans from? They are 18th Amendment.

How about your necklace and shoes? The necklace is by Erica Weiner and these are authentic Swedish clogs.

**All photos by Ashley Jahncke.

Racked Dealfeed: Groupe Seize sur Vingt, Smashbox, Creatures of Comfort

Groupe Seize sur Vingt

Deal: Markdowns on merchandise from the conglomerate’s brands Seize sur Vingt, Troglodyte Homunculus, Wolf-Rayet, and United Boroughs of New York.

When/Where: Saturday, July 31 through Sunday, August 8. Mon—Sat 11am—7pm, Sun noon—6pm. 78 Greene St between Spring and Broome Sts (212-625-1620)



Smashbox

Deal: New customers enter WELCOME2 at checkout to save $15 off any order over $75 and get free shipping

Ends: August 31, 2010, Online!

Creatures of Comfort

Deal: Up to 70% off spring items from brands including Alexander Wang, Repetto, Rachel Comey, and more.

When/Where: Monday – Saturday, 11am to 7pm; Sunday 12pm to 6pm. 7971 Melrose Avenue. Online, too. (323-655-7855)

Should We Make Over Snooki?

Personally, I love Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi. I’m kind of over Jersey Shore, the series, but I love the characters. I love that they exist. I love that they’re too tan and greasy with the worst hair ever.

Style transformations like Nicole Richie’s happen once in a blue moon, so why not embrace what Snooki has offered us–a nearly uncensored look at how she lives her life. Because Snooki isn’t anything if she’s not genuine.

Not everyone agrees with me. Some, who were perplexed by the vision of Snooki’s butt crack last week at the scene of her arrest, feel differently.

What do you think? Do you want to see Snooki transformed into something more sublime? Or do you prefer the chaos?

“I Dreamed I Walked A Tightrope In My Maidenform Bra”; We Get Why Mad Men’s Janie Bryant Partnered With Maidenform

News broke today that prolific Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant partnered with Maidenform to help with a viral marketing campaign for the 88-year-old brand. I used to look through old Seventeen and LIFE magazines form the ’50s and ’60s at antique stores, and distinctly remember the Maidenform “I Dreamed I…” ads because they were so over the top and hilarious. Buxom women dreamed they were doing everything from riding a roller coaster to barging down the Nile to covering the Paris collections in their Maidenform bras and little else. And they all looked so so happy to be wearing these super structured pointy-boob-making bras.

Turns out Bryant had a thing for Maidenform’s “I Dreamed I…” ads as well. According to WWD, the partnership came about because Bryant had reached out to Maidenform about using ads from the famed campaign for her forthcoming book, The Fashion File, out this fall.



Thanks to the magic of the internet, many of these vintage Maidenform ads are online. We pulled a bunch of our favorites. Where would you dream of wearing a Maidenform bra?

Express yourself with the Fragrance of your soul

Express yourself with the Fragrance of your soul: "When you step out, you step out with an aura, an aroma that expresses your soul. Be it a soft floral fragrance of vanilla or a spicy hot fragrance of cinnamon, it whispers your heart in every step."

Biyan: Reflection on Tradition and Heritage

Biyan: Reflection on Tradition and Heritage: "There’s no other word to describe Biyan’s Annual Show held last Wednesday, 28 July 2010 other than spectacular! When I entered the venue, it was as if the audience were transported to a rugged temple somewhere in central Java. I forgot for a moment there that I was actually at the Grand Ballroom of Hotel [...]"

Wearing Black to a Pure White Event

Wearing Black to a Pure White Event: "It was one of those busy weekends where I had to run around from one place to another trying to fulfill all my obligations, work and family. I was invited to Pond’s Pure White festival that night and because I’ve been out all day, I really couldn’t be bothered with mixing and matching colors. So [...]"