adulterated cotton

i have a fondness for sweaters, cardigans particularly. but it's been pretty difficult to find a fun one that also fits well. so i decided to check out places that i don't typically look at. like talbots.

so the other day i went to the local mall and tried on a sweater. and it was amazing! i don't know if i even own a cardigan that fits as well as the one i tried on. and then i checked the label. cotton/rayon blend. ugh. what's wrong with just plain cotton (or wool or silk)? why does rayon need to be thrown into the mix?

i was really looking for something 100% cotton or 100% wool. or i'd consider a little bit of lycra or spandex. so i stood in the dressing room for another minute or two, deciding whether i should ignore the rayon since the sweater had such a great fit. i couldn't do it though. instead i proceeded to check every single style of sweater in the shop. and they're all cotton blended with rayon or nylon. why? does it really make a difference with the feel and/or color? i don't know the answer.

so i ended up buying a 100% cotton sweater from jcrew. not as colorful or fun, but totally me.

more cardigan shopping

just came across this one too. cute, but i think i'll just wait for their 75% off sale =T

brunello cucinelli

seen at saks

cardigan shopping

went shopping yesterday. and was on the lookout for a fun cardigan, as usual. found a couple but the sleeves are super long. maybe that's the look?

burberry brit ... see, even on the model the elbow patch falls below the elbow. oddly, the version i tried on had regular buttons, not hidden snaps.

tsesay ... imagine it without the ruffly pink dress, as seen here ... and again, the sleeves are bunched up around the elbows. much cuter than either picture shows. the gold stripes are actually a looser mesh knit.

pictures from burberry and tse sites

fun weekend find

over the weekend, bought my first skirt since july 2007. (yes, i keep ridiculously meticulous records of all my purchases.) 9-10 months from runway to purchase. very work appropriate.

dkny fall 2009 ready to wear

source

gualala-la-la-lah ...

we found ourselves in the small coastal town of gualala for a wedding over the weekend. it's about 3 hours up the coast from san francisco (a long but pretty drive up). anywho, we certainly didn't expect to find a design shop that would fit right into hayes valley or jackson square or fillmore st, but we did! ... placewares+lyndondesign

apparently, the couple (lu wendel lyndon and maynard hale lyndon) who runs the shop have a long design history. they met in 1971 at design research, left in 1973 to open their first placewares shop (later to open another 6 shops and a catalog business) and lyndondesignstudio to design products, married in 1980, and then closed up shop in 2004. they moved back to northern california and eventually decided to re-open a single location in gualala! glad they did.

lots of fun stuff but i was most drawn to their wide selection of tableware ... (clockwise, from top left) heath ceramics ... sara paloma ... mud australia (my favorite in the store - thin porcelain, glazed on the eating side, matte stone finish on the other) ... asa selection from germany ... soule studio (by local artist aleth soule) ... bee house teapots ... showroom finland tuisku bowl ...

they also carry a bunch of other fun stuff from iittala, alessi, marimekko, joseph joseph (like their chop 2 pot), h concept and more

and another fun fact ... the owners designed a totally neat house for themselves just minutes from the store. check out the cute photo tour

cb2: san francisco

CB2 finally opened in SF last thursday (july 31st)! except i totally forgot about it until the next day. but once i did remember, i promptly left and headed over. on the south end of the same block as the regular crate & barrel, and right behind the apple store, is the newly opened CB2. and now for a quick little tour.

storefront on ellis st

cute geometric kickplates along the bottom of the storefront

the staircase on the right leading to the second floor: with the same geometric ironwork (appears to be raw metal rather than painted white) used for the risers, and tread planks that look like end grain cutting boards

a view from the second floor, looking through the beams down to the first floor

the second floor

and i have a confession. i actually went to the store twice over the weekend. but for a valid reason. i purchased the big dipper arc floor lamp, but since i wouldn't have been able to fit the box (about 4' x 2' x 1.5') into my car, i had to come back later in the weekend with a larger car. and on my second trip, i noticed that most everyone who bought smaller items carried them away in cute cb2 logo canvas totes. fun.