In the spirit of today’s Ohio State versus Michigan football game, we indulge in this Scarlet and Grey medley. Composed of the Grey Glossy Ostrich Westbourne bag by Notting Hill Design and an artsy red chair in downtown Fort Lauderdale, this Shutterbag edition prepares us mentally for the classic showdown between the two rivaling teams.

Beat Michigan.

Original post by Vlad Dusil

An eye catching evening clutch for a holiday party will definitely put you in a party mood. Add some sparkle, just a touch. Moderation is the key to not looking like you are trying too hard. Pair the gold accessories with solid colors such as black, charcoal gray or perhaps even fuchsia if you dare. But most of all, have fun with it and rotate your gold toned accessories with various outfits, perhaps add some classics to your handbag collection in shades that are hot right now, including a shiny metallic gold, an antiqued gold and even a bronze finish. This would make a great statement piece though!

First up is the sweetly dramatic Giuseppe Zanotti gold leather gathered stone convertible clutch (top, $930 on Bluefly.com). I love the red stone and the gathering detail, but am not so sure about the little ties hanging out at the bottom of the purse? Or if you are a fan of python, what do you think of Kara Ross’s “Nero” python clutch (middle, $795 at Net-a-Porter). The metallic finish python is exquisite, but the silver toned plate on front seems a bit irrelevant and unnecessary. But my favorite is the Rafe New York Washed Metallic Flap Clutch (bottom, $354 at Zappos). The distressed metallic leather clutch is sized generously at 13-inches long and 8-inches high. This curved envelope clutch features a top flap with a subtle push lock closure. On the inside you’ll find a pocket to hold your essentials for a night on the town.

Original post by Guest Blogger

Where were the fireworks last night? Where was the drama? Was it hiding in new housewife Alexis’s cleavage? Was her creepy, weak-chinned husband keeping it from the watchful eyes of the Real Housewives of Orange County viewership?

Wherever it is, we didn’t see much of it. Tamra copped to having jealousy issues, all of the housewives tried on lingerie without punching each other in the face, Gretchen got up on a pole but managed to stay clothed, and Jeana exited the show with little fanfare and a dinner where both of her sons managed to not be total douchebags.

Where was the wig-pulling? The bad, auto-tuned dance songs? The glasses of white wine with straws in them? Oh yeah, wrong housewives. Darn. I kind of miss those other ones.

So, about Gretchen and that pole. It was in Arizona, for a friend’s birthday, and there were burlesque dancers with sequin pasties and fire jugglers and things like that. Kind of a fun party, seems like. I bet it had an open bar, too – none of those stingy drink tickets. Gretchen had a few too many (she weighs approximately 110 pounds, so a few too many is probably two), almost kissed a “pole artist,” as Blair Waldorf would say, and then hopped up on the pole herself. She swung around drunkenly for a minute, and, uh, went and banged Slade? Passed out drunk on the bathroom floor like a classy lady? Who knows.

Admittedly, Slade is probably a histrionically terrible person. He’s apparently $80,000 behind on child support to his terminally ill son, and I’m not sure that there’s anything worse that you can do than that, but he made up a snarky lil’ nickname for Vicki (Ficky, because she’s fake and icky) and gave me a quote to use for this episode, so I’ll save his evisceration for another week. At least he’s willing to admit that he’s poor.

While Gretchen was in Arizona getting acquainted with a pole (which might be important for her future career, considering her current financial standing), Tamra was having Alexis and her husband over for hotdogs on the grill in order to gawk at her giant diamond ring and even gianter “knockers.” Alexis can’t go to a pool party without a nanny, so she brought one of those, too. Apparently the other one had the day off.

Tamra finally admitted that she was jealous of someone, although it was Alexis and not Gretchen, and the she was mostly quiet and ineffectual for the rest of the episode. Well, she did snipe at her husband for making a few completely reasonable jokes, and she also showed us that she has a really tacky body kit and ugly rims on her Mercedes SUV, but that’s about par for the Tamra course, I suppose.

The people that really got under my skin during this episode were Alexis and specifically her husband Jim. As soon as she started preaching about Jesus in their relationship, I knew I wasn’t going to like her (nothing gets old faster than self-righteousness, and did you hear the way she ordered that margarita?), but I actually like him even less.

It seems like he’s one of those guys that couldn’t date the hot girls in high school, but he eventually got rich and uses his financial power to bastardize the idea of a “traditional” marriage to mean that he calls the shots and expects the gold-digging broad he married to be the ideal, submissive female at all times, and she better not talk too loudly or try on lingerie in view of others or go on a vacation without him. And if she gains a couple of pounds as she gets older? Holy crap, someone call the divorce lawyer, he’ll just trade her in for a newer model. Although with his flabby second and third chins and pot belly, he appears to be unconcerned about whether or not she wants a hot husband.

Let this be a lesson to everyone: if you think your marriage is happy and you don’t need the cash, don’t go on a reality show. You might think that being famous looks fun, but it’s not. The diamond on your finger may do a pretty decent job of distracting you for what a dick your husband is, but unless he gives every entertainment writer and blogger on the face of the planet a similar giant diamond, we’re not going to find his “quirks” similarly endearing, and were going to remind you of that endlessly. This woman is easily the best looking housewife from any of the various cities and appears to more or less perfectly fit the traditional ideal of female beauty; she could do so much better than this slimy, sniveling douchebag that’s squirming his way uneasily through middle age in clothes made for douchey people two decades his junior.

Okay, I’ve taken a deep breath and hopped off of my feminist soapbox until next week. Let’s talk about the lingerie party. Specifically, let’s talk about why we didn’t see more of the underwear-clad male model that was serving champagne to everyone. A cute, silent, barely dressed guy giving out free booze? Where do I get one of my own? And mostly, that was the only interesting thing that happened, besides the fact that Gretchen and Tamra managed to not rip each others’ faces off.

Lynn continued to not do anything at all, which appears to be a constant problem in her life. Her family is preparing to move to a smaller home, which we know that she’ll eventually get evicted from, and I can’t figure out for the life of me why they don’t own a home of some sort of her husband is in construction and real estate and they were, at one point, rich. And apparently they have no savings to fall back on, and also, nothing taking up the spaces between their ears. I feel sorry for their one kid that appears to be at least temporarily well-adjusted. That won’t last long with parents like hers.

There was also blessedly little Vicki in this episode, except for a brief appearance at La Perla and a conversation with Jeana about how Jeana was kind of sick of hanging out with Mean Girls. I don’t think that Vicki realizes that when she said Mean Girls, she meant her and Tamra – she was probably too busy cutting apples to go in her lasagna (WTF? Is apple lasagna, like, a thing?) to even notice what they were talking about. And then Jeana had a cute family cookout with her kids (her drunken douche of an ex-husband was, inexplicably, still roaming around the house), who were all fairly civil and human-like for the entire thing, even the male ones.

And then Jeana rode off into the sunset, removing any last vestige of likability from this entire nightmare of a show. We can only hope that maybe her financial situation won’t improve and she’ll have to come back, but for her sake (and that of her daughter, who seems like a genuinely normal girl), I hope she gets to stay far, far away from all of this.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Back when I wrote about the fantastical, confusing, reptilian shoes that Alexander McQueen showed for his brilliant Spring 2010 runway show, I remember thinking that the only person that I could see actually trying to wear the shoes in any serious way was Lady Gaga. Apparently I can predict the future, so if any of you would like to know if you should dump your current boyfriend, you know who to ask.

Ok, really, it wasn’t that impressive of a prediction – these shoes are beyond fierce and Gaga is the only person on the face of the planet besides maybe Daphne Guinness that can really own them. And that’s exactly what she does to no less than three different pairs in her brand new video for Bad Romance.

To make things even better, she also sports head-to-toe McQueen straight off the catwalk about three and a half minutes into the song. The shiny, reptilian ensemble that she chose was my favorite of the collection and a total standout across all of Paris Fashion Week, and it deserved to be enshrined in pop culture history this way. I’m seeing her in Atlanta in December, and I can only hope that she takes a piece or two of this McQueen brilliance on the road with her. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Original post by Amanda Mull

Net sales for the fiscal first quarter ended October 24, 2009 increased 7% to $404.1 million from $376.4 million for the fiscal first quarter ended October 25, 2008. Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 4%.

By division, net sales for dressbarn stores increased 6% to $248.0 million compared to $232.8 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, driven primarily by a comparable store sales increase of 5% for the quarter. Net sales for maurices stores increased 9% to $156.1 million compared to $143.6 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2009. The increase was driven by a comparable store sales increase of 4% and 13 new stores opened for the quarter.

Original post by no@spam.com (Maxamillion Blick)

This time, though, I think they got it right – the argyle pattern of the Bottega Veneta Argyle Veneta Intrec Argyle Boston Bag works on its own and with the weaving.

The traditional diamond structure of the painted argyle shares some of the diagonal lines of the intrecciato leather without completely mimicking it, which is the key to its success. The rounded edges of the argyle is in contrast to the right angles of the leather, but the two still fit together in a logical and visually pleasing way. From a distance, you don’t notice the woven structure, but it provides a nice surprise when the bag is examined close-up. The bag works on both levels, and it provides a great example for how to mix textures and patterns the right way. Buy through Barneys for $2700.

Original post by Amanda Mull

I’ve always been critical of Christian Louboutin handbags in the past, but I’ve seen a few that I don’t hate in the past season. With all the design genius in that company, I knew they would pull together their handbag line sooner or later, and they appear to be slowly but surely turning out some purses that do justice to their drool-worthy shoes. The Christian Louboutin Lolita Montone Bag is surely a step in the right direction.

The biggest criticism I have of this bag is that it’s a bit plain, but since most of Louboutin’s bags are very simple and clean, I’ll chalk that up to a fundamental difference in personal taste between me and whoever is in charge of this line. The pleating, which is the bag’s main visual element, is soft but still refined, and the gold chain handle and Louboutin logo give bag a little bit of shine. Besides, I’ve always been partial to gold hardware with white leather – it just looks right. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1195.

Original post by Amanda Mull

ShopBop continues to bring us a small, eclectic group of vintage handbags. What are we digging the most? The Chanel bags. Chanel vintage handbags show us that the brand is not only timeless but also that their designs continue to be relevant. The newest addition to the vintage collection at ShopBop is a Chanel Vinyl Bag which features signature chain straps with a clear vinyl body and interlocking black letter Cs at the front and back.

The reason this bag doesn’t do much for me is because I have never loved vinyl bags. If I wanted to own a vinyl bag, this could be it. I can picture pairing this bag with large oversized sunglasses and a casual outfit of jeans and a tee. In my mind it looks good. The other thing about a clear bag is to make sure whatever is showing through is not entirely awful. I would opt for oversized colorful pouches to be the innards which will show through with a little pop of color. Dimensions are 12.5″H x 16.5″L x 4.5″D. Buy through ShopBop for $2,860.

Original post by Megs Mahoney Dusil

Original post by Yahoo! News Search Results for wedding designer

The new MFG.com marketplace ushers in globally integrated features that help drive efficiencies at all levels of the online sourcing process, from RFQ (request for quote) creation and manufacturer-supplier collaboration to supplier selection. Because the platform intelligently connects manufacturers and suppliers with the right expertise, capacity and credentials at the right time, products can be brought to market faster and at higher levels of quality and profitability.

Original post by no@spam.com (Maxamillion Blick)