Channeling Style: Artist Julie Verhoeven

We've always been head-over-heels over the imagery in Julie Verhoeven's illustrations alongside her many collaborations over the years with everyone from Louis Vuitton to Versace & Mulberry as well as her own full-on collection for Gibo. Verhoeven has also held previous stints with John Galliano & Martine Sitbon, so it comes as no surprise to us that her personal style is just as rich, feminine & colorful as her work.

Verhoeven recently told personal style blog ShowMeYourWardrobe.com that her look is "all about volume, patterns & punch," and of course we at Vnyc find her boundless style just as inspiring as her work. Her look is layered, whimsical, a bit cooky and full of color with an air of 70's opulence that stands out in today's time of urban chic. We wanted to take a moment and share some of VagaBondnyc's own scores that could help you pack a similarly sharp punch...

60's Rudi Gernreich Contrast Dot Knit Dress-$948
80's Lanvin Silk Tiered Floral Dress-$228
80's Gianni Versace Tribal Print Bomber Jacket-$298

Shop-Talk Nyc: Orchard St.'s Ale et Ange

One of us is lucky enough to live right above Ale Et Ange on Orchard St, one of New York's sweetest new boutiques to recently pop-up. Charmingly located in the basement of #37 Orchard, it's super-cute facade complete with red door, green siding and naively painted flowers is a good indicator of the easy classics that are in-store. Once you're down the welcoming flight of stairs expect to feel as if you've walked into a soothing, dream get-away with it's charming use of retro fixtures used as display curios, stone walls and rustic appeal. The warm space houses an eponymous line of classic, well-made men's and women's preppy staples & accessories as well as a line of apothecary items.

Ale Et Ange is located at 37 Orchard st.-basement level

Fashion on Film: Zac Posen's Ma Vendeuse

Central St. Martin's trained Zac Posen is one New York based designer who's work stands on it's own with it's nod to MGM screen starlets and classic 40's era tailoring, so it comes as no surprise to us that his short-flim centered around his Resort Collection, filmed by old-school "It" girl Lola Schnabel, is as cool and old-world as ever. Today many designers are smartly turning to short films to display not only the beauty and movement of their clothes, but to also tell a directional narrative behind the collection as well and we have to say, Posen's Ma Vendeuse, is one of the best we have seen so far. In this film, models & it-girls alike romp around in Zac Posen's current resort collection while director Lola Schnabel's grandmother reminisces about fashions of the 30's and 40's. We love not only the narration of Schnabel's grandmother, but the overall moody, voo-doo-ish, textural tone of the film. It lends Posen's label a complex sense of heady warmth and charm, one that's often hard to portray on the catwalk and in editorials.

Keep a look out for VagaBond Nyc's own upcoming short film that we just shot a few weeks prior!

VagaBondnyc.com Presents 100 Under $100

It's September and the irony of watching the Spring 2010 collections trotted out on the cusp of daylight savings time isn’t lost on us at VNyc. That said, early autumn weather in NYC and in a large portion of this wonderful world, doesn’t call for the “investment pieces” - the autumn leathers, robe-tie coats and cocooning knits - the fashion-editors have been flogging us with for some time now. It’s a transitional time. So what better way to make the transition than with an on-trend-in-a-VagaBondNyc-sorta-way item or two? In this spirit we’ve added more than 100 of these items all under 100 bucks. You'll be fly as ever, your piggy bank will be none the wiser and those thigh-highs closer-than-ever to your thighs.

Visit VagaBondnyc.com now for some of the best vintage around, all with free-shipping worldwide!

Scent Seduction: Steven Meisel for Prada

Prada's latest addition to it's fragrance stable, L'Eau Ambree, is set to debut worldwide this October with an accompanying print ad and seductive twenty-second commercial that was shot by acclaimed photographer Steven Meisel. Eventhough the girls are wearing fussy updo's and the couture fabrications of S/S 2009, we love the fact that it at once feels so energetic, like a ribbon of beautiful girls being untwirled haphazardly, while also having that awkward, perverse edge that makes Prada so special in the luxury market.

Accessory of the Week: 80's Neon Goggle Aviators

With the neon exuberance of the 1980's being one of Fall 2009's most important trends and with collectors snapping up vintage sunglasses the world over, our latest Accessory of The Week happens to be a great way to channel the season's mood without being too literal. Made in Italy by sports accessory line Quettee, these hybrid goggle inspired aviator wrap sunglasses come in bold neon pink or green and come with an assortment of tricks to change their look from side temple extensions to different colored nose guards and lenses, best of all, they are light as a feather! We also like the fact that they are frankly very cool looking on, yet they somehow manage to not be so obvious/preposterous, a problem we find with many of the era's glasses and accessories that we come across today.


80's Neon Aviators available in Pink or Green-$138 each

Disco Darling: 70's Halston Jumpsuit

As all the fashion folk out there wait in anticipation for Marios Swchab's debut at the once highly influential American label Halston for Fall/Winter 2010, we at VagaBondnyc have unearthed one of the house's great legacies with this fluid tone on tone disco era vertical striped jumpsuit. And with the in-house design team's recent Spring/Summer 2010 outing(shot by our good friend/collaborator Garen Barsegian) featuring a somewhat disappointing(read banal) take on the of-the-moment jumpsuit in a similar glossy hue, we couldn't help but cherish ours even more.

Our's of course is from the ultra-luxe yet brash disco era of the 1970's and is composed out of a fluid, ultra-femme tone on tone vertical striped silk which ultimately elongates the body while it's sheer abbreviated kimono sleeves give the harshness of a jumpsuit a romantic, voluminous silhouette. It also comes with a smart 96" long sheer chiffon sash that gives this piece loads of extra styling options.
Above: 70's HALSTON Tone-on-Tone Jumpsuit with Sash-$878

Below: Halston's Spring/Summer 2010 Jumpsuit, Photo: Garen Barsegian courtesy of Halston

Rachel Zoe in 70's Yves Saint Laurent

Over the past decade the importance or prominence rather of stylists celebrity or not has risen exponentially. There are now books about stylist's, scores of t.v shows dedicated to their insights and no one can argue that many stylist's are now household names. And then there's Rachel Zoe, at the center of it all.

We have to admit that being stylist's ourselves and having a profound interest in fashion like we do, Zoe was not someone we were immediately ready to listen to. First off, we aren't fans of celebrities using stylist's, and more importantly, it's that L.A attitude towards fashion that turned us off. That was all until we saw the Rachel Zoe Project, yes her sound bytes are a little flamboyant for us, but we also have to admit that Zoe does her job very, very well and does have a great instinct for fashion.

So we were excited when we saw Zoe wearing our same 70's era YVES SAINT LAURENT coated wet-look wrap blouse. It looks great on her styled with a sequined beret and it's coated surface and rich jewel tones make it easy for us to see why she'd sport such a smart blouse. What's even better is that we're sure Zoe picked hers up at one of those overpriced vintage shops in L.A while ours is only $144!!! Snap it up ladies!

Our 70's Yves Saint Laurent Coated Blouse-$144(above)

Getting Dressed with StyleCaster & Vagabondnyc

Being an online entity like VagaBondnyc is, and being internet junkies ourselves, we are quite aware of how finding the right informative fashion/shopping websites isn't normally the easiest thing, in fact it's daunting to say the least. But we also know that when you do find them, it's like you've uncovered some sacred revelation, one that offers you a payback of endless information. The problem is that there are millions of blogs, fashion devoted networking sites and so on, so we understand how easy it is to feel lost/overwhelmed.

But then this summer we came across StyleCaster.com, a newly launched multi-media site that's devoted to fashion, shopping, and the joy of getting dressed. At first sight we were caught not only by how beautifully crisp the overall look of the site is, but also by it's lighthearted tone while offering what we think is some great, well-edited advice. The thing is, a lot of the other sites we have come across of this nature aren't really catering to our kind of girl, one that's style is sincere and street smart, there's no "old Hollywood" b.s with StyleCaster. We like their taste.

Stylecaster offers everything you want, and every corner they cover, they do very well. It offers cool street style shots, shopping advice, fashion news & updates, music notes and features hundreds of well picked items with full shopping details, all with a warm communal vibe.

What's exponentially beneficial is that when you become a member, each morning you are offered a line of well styled dressing options based on your area's weather, complete with shopping advice. And with New York's unpredictable weather, we couldn't think of anything more helpful.

VagaBondnyc has gotten to style about 35+ looks for their daily "Style Line" feature which for us is a treat because we get to go into their high-tech studio space that's stocked with everything from Etro to Giambatista Valli, and mix it up with our favorite vintage finds from VagaBondnyc.com.

Four of our "Style Line" looks are featured above and to check out all of our looks visit StyleCaster.com

Smart Buy: Mid 90's Gucci Jersey Column Dress

With the state of the world today, fashion's recent forays into maximalism sound out of the question at the moment, and we find that now more than ever is the time for understated, refined and quietly sophisticated pieces. So long Balmania, bye-bye ethnic prints & new rave and all of the other over-designed accoutrements that came with those heavy-on-the-eye trends. Take our latest Smart Buy for instance, this mid-90's white fluid GUCCI jersey column dress from one of Tom Ford's earlier blockbuster collections for the house, we find it to be a perfect example of beauty in it's purest form.

We like to think of it as a palette cleansing essential, where the true beauty of this piece is reduced to the simple impact of shape and silhouette, giving it that pure, therapeutic ease that we find necessary for today. And since it is so simple while being quietly dramatic, think of how many ways you can wear it year-round! After all, streamlining your look with this languid length & sinuous silhouette sounds like a rather refreshing way to approach the end of this decade.
Mid 90's White Gucci Jersey Column Dress-$294

Tauba Auerbach Here and Now/Nowhere

Last Thursday New York's Deitch Projects hosted a double-whammy of openings with the genius Kehinde Wiley presenting Black Light, an exhibition of photographs that plays with the black male image, and Tauba Auerbach's Here and Now/Nowhere, a multi-media effort composed of paintings, photographic works, sculpture and a custom musical instrument that are all structured around the threshold between order and randomness. We always admire Auerbach's work with it's rich abstract beauty and conceptual depth, and it was a very special treat to see Auerbach playing her Auerglass organ, a two-person wooden pump organ designed by the artist with her friend Cameron Mesirow of the band Glasser. If you are in the New York City area we suggest you visit Deitch Projects where the organ will be played daily at 5pm, Tues-Sat, September 3 to October 17, 2009.

Above: The custom Auerglass & two works on display at Deitch
Above: Tauba Auerbach, Crumple VI, 2009
Above: Tauba Auerbach's S/S 2008 Ad for Comme Des Garcons