Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:24:04 GMT

Love Your Style: Lykke Li

Not one to adopt “style icons” from the celebrity realm I have to confess to a guilty fascination with the sartorial choices of Swedish singer Lykke Li. With a look that perfectly mirrors the smoky, pretty dancefloor of her music, her world makes me want to dance dance dance amongst sequins, stripes and speakerphones.

Posted by: Katy Smail      Read more     Source

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:05:16 GMT

Would you buy them?

Would you pay $345 for a pair of rubber sandals? Presuming your answer is no…neither would I. Well, that’s how much you’d have to shell out for these jelly diamond beach sandals by Chanel (recently spotted on Cameron Diaz). O.K I get it, its Chanel, its embellished with a jewel and If you wore these babies on the beach you’d seriously be strolling in style. But honestly I’d rather invest the money in a Chanel bag. Available at select CHANEL Boutiques. Call 800-550-0005

If you answered yes could you tell me why? Posted by: Michele Obi      Read more     Source

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:55:52 GMT

Sunglasses: Shutter Shades For Summer!

Made famous by Kanye West, reader Erin quite rightly highlighted that we forgot to include the “shutter shade” in our round up of key sunglasses for this season.

Available in a number of colours, this summer the shutter shade has proved to be the biggest competitor for the Wayfarer. My only question is how the hell does one see out of them? If you own a pair can you tell me…”Do they annoy you after a while? Posted by: Michele Obi      Read more     Source

Sun, 18 May 2008 23:59:06 GMT

What's Hot This Month at Dorid Designs?

This month''s hot sellers:
Tay''s Design (autism awareness T-shirt) and Not Ashamed to Be Related to a Monkey shirts.

NEW ON DORID DESIGNS:

Embroidered designs on denim shirts, mens and women''s dark polos, and performance jackets. Cafe Press has added some new products, and they''re available in Obama election products and in the "home of the colossal squid" design on my shop. Look for new products coming soon! Posted by: Dori      Read more     Source

Sat, 17 May 2008 02:16:02 GMT

The Tartan Trend

Tartan shirts were a big trend during A/W ''07 and have appeared yet again on the A/W ''08 catwalks. I know it''s a bit early to start getting excited about winter fashion, but I do so love tartan. The question is, how will you wear it?

Posted by: Gabi Muller      Read more     Source

Fri, 09 May 2008 02:36:44 GMT

Dry shampoo, your new friend

You know when you just don't want to get out of bed and the alarm goes off and you just keep hitting the snooze button? You hit so often and loose track up time and before you know it you only have 15 minutes to get out the door? Yeah, it's fun right? Well I have a little trick for you, one that I use to get fabulous hair without washing it. Two words: Dry shampoo. Spray a little bit on your roots, finger tousle and tada! You are ready to go out the door.

(P.S. If you don't have any dry shampoo, baby powder works great too!!)

Klorane Extra Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Extract, $14.99 at Amazon.com OSCAR BLANDI Pronto Dry Shampoo Spray $21.00 at Sephora.com Alright, this might sound a little weird, but you can get dry shampoo at Petco. I was in a pinch once and I have this stuff for my dog, I tried it and it works just as well as the human products! Instant Dry Shampoo and Deodorant, $9.99 at Petco Posted by: Ryan      Read more     Source

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:19:51 GMT

Earth Day: Eco-Chic Fashion

Given that Earth Day was yesterday, we figured it would be appropriate to browse some "green" products. Even though more and more brands are popping up with organic and non-toxic lines, it''s safe to say that natural fabrics haven''t quite yet hit the mainstream and aren''t universally available. But, if you actually take the time to look online for alternatives to your otherwise synthetic-filled closet, you''ll find that there''s some great options that are stylish and more importantly, eco-friendly.

Posted by: Angie Omata      Read more     Source

April 8, 2008, 9:44 PM CT

Misery, Not Miserly

Off to buy a new handbag and fabulous red shoes, or how about overalls and a riding lawnmower? Before going, a mood check for signs of despair and gloom might be in order because how a person feels can impact routine economic transactions, whether he or she is aware of it or not.

So says a team of behavioral scientists from four major U.S. universities, whose research study finds that sadness impacts spending. Specifically, people who feel sad and self-focused pay more money for goods than those in neutral states, even when purchasing the same item.

"The tendency is to focus on oneself when sad drives this effect," says the study's lead author Cynthia E. Cryder, a doctoral student at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa. "Our studies revealed the more self-focused people were in the sad condition, the more money they spent.".

"More research is needed to determine whether participants are deliberately trying to improve their sense of self by acquiring goods," adds study co-author Jennifer Lerner, an experimental social psychologist at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Mass.

The study, "Misery is not Miserly: Sad and Self-Focused Individuals Spend More," was funded by the National Science Foundation and was presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. in February of this year. It would be published in the June 2008 issue of Psychological Science--a premier journal for scientific experiments in psychology......... Posted by: Trista      Read more         Source

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:31:13 GMT

Canvas Wedge Sandals

Platform wedge sandals are staples in my wardrobe. Being very petite, I love to crank myself up with 3-5" heels on a daily basis and am rarely found in flats. I will admit, however, that as I get older, it gets harder to trek around the city in sky-highs around the clock. Aching feet and caught heels in subway grates seem to get less justifiable over time.

Posted by: Angie Omata      Read more     Source

April 1, 2008, 10:21 PM CT

Precise cut for sparkling jewels

Rubies, emeralds and tourmalines can only sparkle with the right cut. Since early this year, a fully automatic machine has undertaken this grinding process for Paul Wild GmbH. It saves up to 30 percent of the precious material and grinds the gems with greater precision.

Not until they are given the right cut do precious stones reveal their true value. And they only fetch the highest prices if the facets are even and exact. However, the grinding process - which has hitherto been performed exclusively by hand - leaves little remaining of the valuable uncut stone: 66 to 70 percent fall to the ground as dust, while only a good 30 percent eventually sparkle in the light as a precious jewel. But which of the numerous cuts will make the most of the raw gemstone in question? Experienced lapidaries have an instinct for it.

For the first time ever, a grinding machine is challenging this collected experience: On average, it uses 15 percent more of the volume of the uncut stone. The machine has been in use with Paul Wild gem-cutters near Idar-Oberstein for three months, and has already transformed over a hundred lumps of rough stone into sparkling gems. "The machine - a CNC grinding machine with 17 axes - first maps the surface of the uncut stone," explains Dr. Karl-Heinz Küfer, head of department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM in Kaisers-lautern, who developed the software for controlling the machine with the help of his colleagues. "To do this, narrow bands of light are projected fully automatically onto the uncut stone, and its geometry can be determined from their curvature. The computer takes ten minutes to determine the image of the enclosed gemstone awaiting grinding, and sends the appropriate commands to the process control unit. The 17 axes ensure that the milling head can move along any desired path and grind the facets to an accuracy within ten micrometers - the gemstones become perfectly geometrical." For comparison, hand grinding achieves an accuracy of about 100 micrometers, or the width of a hair. Hand-polished gems appear less exact, their facets and polished edges seeming to be slightly rounded......... Posted by: Trista      Read more         Source