J. Crew Launches Blog

Because you love “Jenna’s Picks”, because if J. Crew had an offical season it would certainly be Spring, because you already read this month’s Vogue, because you can’t think of one reason not to click here and read J. Crew’s new blog.

And oh, Happy Friday.  What you up to this weekend?

The Perfect Chair

Images property of Herman Miller

After I bought my first loft in downtown Chicago, I spent any lunch hour I could sneak out of the office shopping for it.  On my wish list was this molded plywood chair by Charles and Ray Eames.  Originating in 1946, it’s still a timeless classic today.  In fact in 1999 it made Time magazine’s “Best of the Century” list for design, beating out the Swatch watch, which was a runner up.  Alas, I sold my loft before I ever acquired the chair.  I wanted it in cherry red back then, but I think I am leaning towards walnut now.  How about you?  What color would you pick?

Available at www.hermanmiller.com and other fine retailers.

A Fashion Favorite Returns

Images Property of Haute Hippie

We here at Delicious are breathing a big sigh of relief.  Haute Hippie’s website is back online.  Taken down for a few months to re-tool, the new site includes the Spring look book and Haute Hippie’s look books are always a delight to flip through.

I discovered Haute Hippie about two years ago, stumbling upon their website while I was shopping online (when I should have been catching up on emails, no doubt).  I was instantly drawn to the uniqueness of their designs and timeless, wanderlust feel to them. I remember seeking out a shop in Chicago to go see their wares in person, concerned that the look book may not represent as well in real life. Has that happened to you?  You fall in love online only to be let down when you meet the real thing?  Not the case here.  The care Haute Hippie puts into the design of their fashion is carried right through to the details of execution.  Back then, they were a few people working out of an apartment in New York.  But it is nice to see they have managed to grow without losing touch with what made them so wonderful in the first place: truly unique pieces created with an eye for detail and a care for craftsmanship.

So often when you hear the words “timeless classic” in fashion you think of ballet flats, little black dresses and Chanel-inspired jackets.  For me Haute Hippie is a fashion timeless classic for very different reasons.  Haute Hippie has the bohemian, jet -set feel of a one of a kind frock you score in a flea market overseas.  You know, that dress, bag or belt that is yours and yours alone?  So take a look at how Haute Hippie does Spring. I guarantee you, the wide leg jeans you are snatching up right now will eventually take a backseat in your closet, but you will reach for your Haute Hippie year after year.

Haute Hippie is available in a number department stores including Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.  Shopbop.com is where I typically get mine.

So, what did you think of their look book?

C/FAN Fan

Chicago designer Christina Fan's C/FAN 2011 Spring/Summer look book, is just one more reason we are so happy that Spring is finally here.  Her designs capture a sense of movement and have an effortless feel about them.  While plenty of designers are showing ballet-inspired looks for Spring, unlike some, Fan manages to keep the look from turning into a costume.  With pieces that range from dresses to tunics to shorts, you will have a hard time picking just one.  I am already on a waiting list at one Chicago boutique for the caftan, to start with.

For availability, click here.

Little Miss Hits the Marc

Miss Marc by Marc Jacobs USB key chain, $38, ShopBop

Office girls of the 50s knew to always have a mini sewing kit, nail file and extra stockings on hand.  I’d say that list still holds, with the addition of a USB jump drive.  USB drives have saved me many times, like when the wireless connection went down minutes before a big presentation or when I needed to do a quick print job in a hotel’s business center.

This Miss Marc by Marc Jacobs USB key chain will make sure I am never without a trusty drive.  Miss Marc has popped up on everything from t-shirts to totes over the years.  While I like her quirky-cute look, at thirty-ahem-something years of age, donning a shirt with her on it never seemed quite right.  But this key chain fits the bill perfectly and I won’t have to worry about anyone at my office walking off with my drive.

What about you?  Do you always have a USB drive on hand?

Love, the Second Time Around

Do you ever contemplate a purchase, decide against it, and regret doing do ever since?  Oh, I have been positively haunted by some of the things that I let get away.  But with Google, I find myself on occasion typing in the lost item with the hopes it pops up on eBay or elsewhere.  

About four years back, I was putting my husband through a University of Michigan graduate school program and watching every penny.  So despite the fact that a certain resin Marc Jacobs white guitar pendant watch necklace was at a “last call” price in my Neiman Marcus shopping cart, I let it go.  I was drawn to the ease and playfulness of it.  It seemed like just the thing I would throw on with one of the grey t shirts I live in and my Supergas, say to take in the Dinosaur Jr. concert that was paying down the street.  Or some for some other occasion where I could, ironically, care less about the time.   

With thanks to eBay, I will soon know if love really is sweeter the second time around.  And, even better, my necklace will be here just in time for me to throw it on with a grey t shirt to watch the Old 97’s play down the street.

So, how about you?  Anything you have let languish in your shopping cart only to regret it later?

Funny Valentine

Photo is property of Mattia Biagi

I have always loved Mattia Biagi’s tar teddy bear.  Perhaps a little sinister to some, I like the way it takes an innocent form, the common teddy bear, and makes you look at it in a completely different perspective.  The tar drips give the bear a sense of movement before it becomes frozen in time. What does it make you think of?  Does it conjure emotions of the innocence of childhood morphing into something else?