Coutorture editorial

If you want the goods in our The Sun Doesn't Care photo shoot you can have them at anywhere from zero to eight hundred dollars. You can also have them for Resort 09. Yep, we're all over the map this week. Our spread below includes those current season goodies in our shoot courtesy of Shopbop--all will undoubtedly work for fall (heck, some of them are fall). From the pink sequin ombre frock to the elegant purple blouse, it's all up for grabs. As for the clothing in the shoot not shown in the spread below, well that's Pencey and we'll be bringing you the low-down on that line and the Resort collection later today.

Finally, anything randomly ombrized (oops, we just made up an awesome word) well, that's our styling skills with the help of e-commerce aficionado and former Anthropologie display coordinator, Stephanie Draves. From the chain and feather necklace, to the purple rope necklace, and its matching ascot necktie, it came from us--we dip dyed in our bathroom until the wee hours of the morning with the help of Ms. Draves. There's not too much DIY advice to give aside from making sure you don't splash your roommate's white towels with a giant orange ombre bow (soaking wet). We just hope that you take our interpretations as encouragement to embrace the sweltering weather, buddy up, and get wild with some drug store dye.

Three key pieces made our Island Life shoot from eLuxury. Namely, a hot pink Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, and a patchwork bag and pair of patent peep-toes by Dolce & Gabbana. Our concept for the shoot was swimwear and acessories: the only purchases outside of a sample sale that make sense this time of year, and so these pieces made our wishlist from the e-commerce site. A rundown of their draw, below.

Dolce & Gabbana Runway Miss Pocket Patchwork Bag: Clocking in at four grand, this bag is intricately detailed and luxe in the best sense of the word. Narrow horizontal panels of genuine snakeskin make up the exterior of the bag and a super-soft grey suede trim adorns the frame. Trust us when we say this bag, in person, is a show-stopper. Each panel of snakeskin has its own unique color, sheen, and perforations making it look, from afar, like a beacon of exotic skin dangling off the arm. On the practical side of things, there's a cell phone pocket inside and has (we love this in a bag) a long strap and short handles, so you've some styling options at the end of the day.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Pretty Nylon Little Tate Tote: This bag certainly falls in a different category that the patchwork number but it still made our wish list for eLuxury nonetheless. We thought the $158 dollar nylon tote, for its color and size, would be an apt accessory for the remaining summer months. One thing we hate about the generic canvas tote is how supple the material is and how dirty they can get in a matter of days. This bag is easily washable and would not pick up every grain of sand it touched. Furthermore, the Tate Tote is quilted, giving it more girth than your typical beach-tote (which makes it feel more like an actual handbag).

Dolce & Gabbana Patent Lace-Up Bootie: Reasonably priced and Fall-ready, these shoes made our list for their sheer end-of-summer appeal. Because they are open-toe, these booties are more than appropriate in warm weather and, come fall, could be worn with a sheer sock or pair of stockings just fine. They're sexy, masculine, and trend-appropriate shoes and they are, indeed, something to swoon over. For the shoot, our pairs were grey and snakeskin but the shoes also come in patent black. As we know, seven hundred dollars in today's world can buy you one sick pair of shoes.

Coutorture is proud to produce its own original and exclusive fashion spreads with a team of savvy editors, photographers, makeup artists and stylists. Our photo editorials are inspired by what we believe is happening now in fashion, from the immediacy of a collection fresh off the catwalk that won't hit the store for months to current season collections that reflect the cultural moment. Our ethos is firmly grounded in the belief that fashion does not happen with a three month lead time but in the moment. We aim to capture and publish style at a pace as quick as the business of fashion itself. But most critically we publish original work that comes from our own unique vision, a vision honed by the best new media and the blogosphere has to offer, with quality and standards to match. Julie Fredrickson, Editor in Chief

oscar

brace yourself

coviello

haunted

nostalgia

girl porn

late night

spin

subversive

stop the feeling

Afraid

siwy

california

san merci

maxim

This Sly and the Family Stone anthem is spot on. We won't ruin your Friday with some pedantic speech about how funny it is that anyone can be famous these days. It doesn't matter much to us who is in the tabloids and what they have spilling out of their purse. We cover people and things we think are dynamic and, dare we say it, cool. It's really as simple as that. We like the sort of people who get their hands dirty and the sort of people who you can sit down with for a cup of coffee. Those are basically our two requirements for stardom. That said, when we picked up 10 pairs of sunglasses one afternoon, we decided to forego the fourteen year old models and asked a bunch of our friends and colleagues to come over and sit for us. We picked people that, in our minds, embodied stardom in their sense of style, creative contributions, and good attitude. We think this speaks for itself. For today's original Coutorture editorial we've featured eleven lucky stars wearing shades by Theo, Selima Optique, and Anne et Valentin.




Lys Opp-Beckman

Chris Habana

Ann Malinowsky

Jennifer Gerson

Leilani Arita

Carissa Ackerman

Joshua David Stein

Dustin Kime

Amanda Simms Hunt

Jeffrey Robbins

In today's exclusive Coutorture editorial we've pulled garments from the Spring 08 collections of Alice Ritter and Trovata. The two brands, though seemingly dissimilar, are on common ground in terms of their contemporary style and appeal to twenty-something's with a penchant for smart casual dress. From Ritter, we've covered her Spring 08 collection as well as her Fall 08 presentation during New York Fashion Week (it was one wild party). In our video, we spoke with Ritter, who attributes the Fall 08 season to have been influenced by legendary rougue Serge Gainsbourg. From Trovata, we popped into the showroom to shoot Fall 08, an exclusive Coutorture editorial that made us want to move upstate and start a family (only kidding!). It, as always, had an East Coast prepster aesthetic that pulled at our Cape Cod-loving heartstrings. The two brands appear again in today's editorial, La Belle Dame sans Merci, so, consider yourself an expert.