The Paris Uniform by eighty jane

A few days back from my trip to the fashion capital of the world, I’ve had a bit of time to reflect a bit on my experience. I was surprised (and maybe a little disappointed) to find that Parisian fashion didn’t seem to stand apart from the global crowd. It might be a result of the nature of fashion these days: We all read the same magazines (the same publisher, at least) and, perhaps more importantly, we read many of the same blogs.

My trip consisted of days in New York City, Paris, and Amsterdam – and each seemed to be a mosh of the same H&M-informed style palettes. To be fair, each of these cities has more than their share of tourists, and each is a “Western” city. Perhaps if my international jaunt had included Merida or Calabar or Jakarta I might have gotten a bit more variety.

Above, see a Polyvore representation of the most common look I saw on the streets of Paris. I wish I could say that the striped shirt was characteristic of the classic Paris style we all think of, but I think it’s just a reflection of a global trend toward horizontal stripes. The look lost it’s jazz after seeing it for the 88th time, but it’s made up of good foundation-like pieces, so I’m not mad at it. Click here to shop the look.

H&M’s creative director Ann-Sofie Johansson has taken the scraps from that Lanvin x H&M collection that so many people went apeshit for, and – dare I say – the results are much more fantastic than that Alber Elbaz creations. Like, easily so. Hopefully the fast fashion chain will do more of this and less of THIS in its efforts to authentically join the sustainability bandwagon (it’s solar powered, BTW).

Due to the nature of the collection it will be available in very limited quantities at a just smattering of stores in Europe and the US (NYC only) starting in early February. See more of the sloppy seconds – otherwise known as the “Waste” collection – at Ecouterre.com

photos: handbag.com, coolspotters.com, ecouterre.com

Check out my Polyvore sets for some ways to wear the above pieces – E.J. style!

reduce, reuse, upcycle 2 by eighty jane featuring a suede tote

YIGAL AZROUEL Y14203WR JET EXTRA FINE WOOL FRINGE DRAPE SKIRT
289 GBP – farfetch.com
Draped skirt »

Easy in Studded Black Suede
$1,895 – ysl.com
Suede tote »

Earrings – Monroe
33 EUR – modekungen.se
Earrings »

Dolce Vita "Ivan" Demi-Wedge Sandals

$156 – bloomingdales.com

H&M ‘Waste” Collection Made from Lanvin Fabric Scraps | The Fashion…
thefashioncult.com

reduce, reuse, upcyle by eighty jane featuring a leopard bikini

It’s Tuesday night again and for TV-watching fashion heads, that means one thing: The Rachel Zoe Project. And now, thanks to the Cult and Polyvore.com, being a fan can do more than teach you a few soon-to-be-overused catch phrases. Create outfits (a.k.a. “sets”) using the editor below and be entered to win a $1000 Visa gift card (a.k.a. CASH) courtesy of Polyvore. View the contest details here.

And there’s more to win! Create outfits that represent either Rachel Zoe or Taylor Jacobson. Then sign on to Twitter and post the following with a link to your set.

“@thefashioncult I’m #teamrachel”
or
“@thefashioncult I’m #teamtaylor”
or
“@thefashioncult I’m #teambrad”

One reader from each “team” will win a Cult original t-shirt.

NOTE: This contest is closed

Powered by Polyvore

Incredibly, it’s been a year since the greatest entertainer of all time left this Earth & those of us that are die-hard fans are still reeling from the loss. It was selfish of us to want to keep him here, to be poked at, prodded, and ridiculed by the same public that raised him to his pedestal. Thankfully, he left a legacy that will ring on into eternity. And Michael Jackson left us more than music. He was a fashion visionary that was always dressed and never costumed, but rather stayed true to that singular and stellar rhythm that beat in him and through him. We love you, Michael!

Who’s Bad? by eighty jane featuring Alexander McQueen

Jamon! by eighty jane featuring Old Navy t shirts

Annie, Are You O.K.? by eighty jane featuring Dries Van Noten shoes

Smooth. by eighty jane featuring Marc by Marc Jacobs shoes

Human Nature by eighty jane featuring Marc by Marc Jacobs pants

photos: scrapyourtrip.com, IvanMIchellePerezEnciso @ Photobucket.com, ilkerugur.wordpress.com

Earlier this week fashion blogs and even business sites were buzzing about a new outfit creation called Couturious.com. Okay they weren’t buzzing, but they mentioned it. The site is made by the people behind polyvore.com and like.com and it seems they were trying to combine the creative drive of Polyvore with the super cash cow element of Like. Not a bad idea… too bad it was a complete rip off. If you’re into styling (and spending all day online) they way I am, you already know about Looklet.com. And if you know about that you’ll recognize how similar the concepts are.

Before I jumped to any conclusions, I reached out to Olle Hemmendorff – the creator of Looklet – to find out if perhaps he had collaborated on this new venture. No, he didn’t.

I’ve heard plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery. But i’m not flattered. Apart from the glaring lack of original ideas, i also think couturious doesn’t show much of the quality or attention to detail, essentially the LOVE we’ve put into Looklet. I hope others recognize this as well.

WE recognize, Olle! I’m sticking with Looklet.

The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world. Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus, early Europeans celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter. Many peoples rejoiced during the winter solstice, when the worst of the winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days and extended hours of sunlight. Read more at History.com

It wasn’t until the 19th century that Americans began to embrace Christmas. Americans re-invented Christmas, and changed it from a raucous carnival holiday into a family-centered day of peace and nostalgia. But what about the 1800s peaked American interest in the holiday? Read more at History.com

Ugly sweater “knitted” at WeLoveHolidaySweaters.WeHateSheep.com

Christmas Party Kitsch pt2 by eighty jane featuring American Eagle Outfitters

Christmas Party Kitsch by eighty jane featuring Marc by Marc Jacobs bags

I love Halloween. No other festive day is so focused on dressing and adornment, which makes Halloween a Cult member’s holy day. For me, though, I always prefer to be character inspired rather than costumed. Can you tell what my inspiration is this year?

SHOP ITEMS FEATURED IN THESE LOOKS – (Click for more info or to purchase):

When I first discovered Polyvore.com, I was completely smitten. After spending hours on made-for-kids dress up sites, Polyvore was heaven-sent. Nowadays I’m far to busy to spend so much time with it, but it’s still a favorite. Enter, Looklet.com. I came across the site while reading one of my blog buddies Glowing Doll. I’ve only just registered but I can see already it has the potential to be a new, time-consuming love e-ffair.

The key word here is potential. I definitely love that you can see the looks you create on “real” bodies, which makes a look that might look drab on the hanger look fab on the model. I also love that you can see your look from the back as well. On the downside, the selection is poor. One of the best things about Polyvore is that if you can’t find what you’re looking for on the site, you can go grab it from somewhere on the Web. Looklet is in Beta and I’m guess they will broaden there selection, but they will never be able to offer the self-stocking the way that Polyvore does. The site is also still quite buggy, but that’s understandable for a new venture. All in all it’s a cool site, but it can’t replace my beloved Polyvore.

Click to watch the gorgeously styled "Disturbia" music video.