Fall 2011 Trends: Hemlines do double duty as dusters...

Photo: Dan Lecca for Cynthia Steffe

...for your floors, unless you have a handmaiden to lift the bottom of your dress as you scurry about town. Boy blazers, boy flats with shoelaces, menswear-inspired plaids, shapeless bulky sweaters - for girls - why do designers design to dress dames like dudes? Guys look out for a little extra competition from women tomorrow at the Barneys Warehouse Sale who may be stocking up for themselves for Fall 2011. Leather everything. A resurgence of jade, emerald and sea foam greens -- redheads, this is your season to rule. Lush luxe fur looks in rainbow of hues. Sleeves on dresses are back - finally. Opaque tights - use those Lord & Taylor coupons now! Cozy neck wraps. Antique gold. Red. Color me happy.

/nancy brenner

Best Buffed Men in NY...

...spend nooners at the Leather Spa where their bespoke shoes are polished to perfection.

This shop is is lined with tell-tale red soled Louboutins and exudes eau de exotic leather. A woman with a mink caplet and matching headband dropped off her boots for full treatment. My six-year + Barneys warehouse sale Prada boots looked like they would be in good hands. I also left a leather lambskin lasercut cut skirt with a rip (don't even ask how that happened). The results: the boots look like they never touched a sidewalk and the skirt - well if you can see where the original tear was - you are standing way too close to me.

If Dorothy's ruby reds needed a spit shine, she'd head to The Leather Spa. Expect to pay more than your neighborhood taps and heels guy, but this is the place if you need a little leather Botox, 10 West 55th St.

~Nancy Brennahhh

A report from The Front: Labor Day Edition

As experienced by Nancy Brenner:

My biggest retail boot score ever (so far) was yesterday at Barneys' Warehouse Sale, in the shape of Fiorentini+Baker - the uber stylish buckle boot that also does double duty as an awesome ankle boot as well - $85. Yes - $85 - reduced from $650.

So, there was a little work involved - like trying to bypass the Labor Day line by coming in later, figuring I'd miss the die-hards who came in at 9 a.m. to be the first ones at the starting gate at 10 a.m.

Wrong - waited with the Manolo masses for 40 minutes to get in, at which point the shoe shelves were nearly bare. I begged them to bring in the brown bags in the storeroom with my size - a few paltry pairs at that. Fiorentini boots in hand, I waited on the 'matching pair' line to discover they bought one boot that was full length and the other one ankle. I begged them to find the match - they did - but buckles were missing. Next step - brown buckles appeared instead of black ones - they suggested dye. I suggested finding black buckles. They did. So it was a bit of a project.

Next -- The line to pay was full of disheveled harried women in need of a bio break and their shoes. I used my back-up strategy and headed to the men's department to close the deal. The line was more than double its normal size - but the men were much more relaxed than the women (p.s. why doesn't Cosmo suggest Barney's as a place to meet guys - men are asking the few women there for fashion advice).

Oprah - bring Gail to the Barney's Warehouse Sale sale! You don't have to come in stilettos or makeup or run with a dog to get attention here.

Ladies - note to selves for next big Barneys sale - head to the men's department - they come pre-certified and well-dressed!

Shoes and Boots and Gloves! Oh My!

Hi y'all, I have two sample/warehouse sales for ya:

1. Delman - Yes, everyone's conservative-and-overpriced shoe brand is having a shoe & boot warehouse sale (60-70% off retail) starting Weds. Nov. 19 thru Fri. Nov. 21, from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 123 W. 18th St., 4th Fl. (between 6th & 7th Aves.). Fall '08 merch. Credit cards accepted. All sales final.

2. Portolano - Started yesterday, but runs through Fri. Nov. 21. Go to 15 W. 37th St. (11th Floor) and get yourself some new leather gloves - the selection is huge. The prices are OK. Credit cards accepted. All sales final.

Ike Designs: Black Diamond Necklace

Ike Designs: The Black Diamond Necklace

Local Williamsburg jewelry designer, Dori O'Dea (aka Ike Designs Jewelry), is offering a limited supply of sterling silver black diamond necklaces online only for $95.00 + $8.00 S&H.

Did you know that black diamonds originated in dying stars, when shock waves from exploding red giant stars crushed carbon into dense aggregations of black diamond and sent them hurtling into deep space? Eons later, the Sun's gravity lured some of this material into our solar system, where blocks of it slammed into our atmosphere, shattering into the fragments we find strewn over select areas today, perhaps billions of years after they formed! Interested in wearing the ancient solar system around your neck?

Visit http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9066648 and buy it online.

Trunk Show: March 11 in Soho

So this doesn't sound ALL THAT, but if you are in the 'hood and bored, what the heck?

90% off at Barney's Warehouse Sale Today

While I was cleaning and putting together some DIY pieces of furniture (a bathroom shelving unit and a coat rack - I DO NOT recommend doing this), I received a note from a loyal GS blog reader regarding today at Barney's Warehouse sale. I'm hoping somebody got this on tape:

"It was sheer madness - the guy trying to manage the line outside, which curled around seventh to who knows where announced "enter at your own risk" - no hair pulling, biting or fighting - you can check your stroller at the door, but not your baby - and of course, ladies you need to check your big bags - you know who you are!"

Los Angeles: An Insider's View

I really do not like LA. But I try to make the most of it whenever I go. This year I had the great good fortune to see it through the life experience of my friend who lives downtown and works for a certain late night talk show host.

At least three good things came out of my experience:

1. I got to see one of the cool new lofts they are remodeling all over downtown. My friend now lives in one and it is a huge, real (i.e. real kitchen appliances - look at the size of that refrigerator!), two-bathroom apartment that would cost $3,600 easy in New York. See photos. Cat not included. The biggest drawback that I could see is that it only has one small closet. They have enough space to trick out a walk-in closet, and they should! But it merely gave her an excuse to...

2. Take me to a private furniture sale that was amazing. And if I lived in LA, I would have bought the place up and been done with my decorating for years. "Sweet Smiling Home" on Palmetto Street is open to the public a couple weekends a year and offers tons of cool middle eastern/Asian-style furniture and lighting (and handbags?) at 30% - 90% off retail.

3. She also took me to see one of rock-n-roll's fashion icons du jour - Marilyn Manson. The get-ups on the people in the crowd are now rivaling Marilyn himself. The biggest drawback on this experience was that it took place in the Wiltern, which we both agreed sucks. It shouldn't be surprising though, seeing how it's a "Live Nation" venue, which is secret for Clear Channel...

OH! I almost forgot! She also took me to Fred Segal - my first time there, believe it or not. I did buy a little make up a la Laura Mercier, but overall I was underwhelmed. I liked the venue though - it sort of reminded me of a small department store that could have existed in the mid-west in the 50s or 60s - or an upscale Florence Shop (does anyone remember that joint in Bergenfield, NJ?). But I think the goods were way too trendy and girly for me.

I went to Barneys Warehouse Sale

(Photo courtesy of Racked.com)
Yes, I went. Last night after work at around 6:15 p.m. It was not crowded at all. But it was calm chaos nevertheless. Shoes all over the place, clothes all over the place. I was almost moved to buy some shoes, but then thought that perhaps I should wait til the final day and return in hopes of scoring a real bargain. The prices are certainly lower than usual, but I wouldn't have felt as though I had led a retail revolution. Also, so many of the shoes have 4-inch heels, and my feet have been through the wars the past couple of years, so I just can't try and hobble around the city that way any longer. At least not until I get a podiatrist on the case.

I was also seeking an evening bag, but the prices were too Crazy Eddie for me. As you might know, I am not a handbag lover, so I won't throw down hundreds of dollars for something I may only use twice.

And in closing, the sizes are teeny tiny. Seemingly Barneys equates a 10 with huge mongo giantism and they shove that small rack off in the corner for the "special people." OK, maybe I'm feeling a little bit out of shape this mid-winter week, but you get my (snow)drift.

I also went to Loehmann's right 'round the corner looking for similar items. That place was (is) a disaster and I found no bag there either. However, they did have what appeared to be a recent shipment of fancy schmancy shoes including many styles from Sigerson Morrison that you might want to check out.