Jezebel: tj maxx

Gisele, Michelle, And The Armani/Dolce Fashion Faceoff

TatianaTheAnonymousModel — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:40:00 EST

In non-Michelle Obama fashion news of the day, Gisele's Craig McDean Dior campaign is out. She looks sort of like she's Morris dancing. With bangs. [Fashionologie]

Armani accused Dolce & Gabbana of copying one of his mens designs this season. Both labels apparently showed quilted silk pants on the runway in Milan this weekend — although I did look through the pictures of the Emporio show on Men.style.com, and while there were plenty of merely ugly trousers, I only saw quilted snowsuits — and Armani sniffed: "Now they copy, later they will learn." Domenico and Stefano shot back "Surely we still have much to learn, but definitely not from him," and claimed they haven't even watched Armani's shows for "years." [ShoppingBlog]
Armani, in a separate interview, claims that unlike fellow Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, who confirmed plans to sell a minority stake in his company to a private equity firm yesterday, his business is financially strong, with no need for outside investment. [WWD]
Not so Burberry. Although the British brand has seen strong sales — up 30% in the fourth quarter of 2008 — it is implementing sharp cost-cutting moves, in part no doubt because it's publicly traded and therefore vulnerable to shareholder pressure for constant returns. Two hundred and ninety jobs are to be shed in the UK, and up to 250 additional positions are on the line in Spain. [WSJ]
Here begins your Michelle Obama tranche of Rag Trade. (Remember, we go back to wondering about what the Yale-educated lawyer is thinking and doing, as opposed to wearing, tomorrow.) First up: MSNBC thinks Diane von Furstenberg is out of the running for designing Michelle's inaugural ball gown because she was kinda grumpy at a party. [MSNBC]
Mediabistro has an interesting breakdown of the three Obama fashion stories you meet in transition: The breathless speculation as to what the new first lady will wear, the filler about Inaugural Gowns Of History or how the Obamas will bring back "style" to the White House, and the coattail-rider pieces, like stories about which label this or that appointee is "announcing" they will wear. [Mediabistro]
Also the endless street style stories about how Obama has "inspired" t-shirt hawkers to bedazzle his name on their wares. [StyleFile]
And the stories that are a breathless play-by-play of her fashion choices. This was cute six months ago when we were all amazed she knew who Thakoon Panichgul was; it's not so cute now. [StyleFile]
However, speaking of Thakoon, I'd as soon keep the adorable interviews he gives about how much he respects Michelle Obama and how nervous he was to see her wear his dress, lest she reveal some kind of overlooked flaw in his design. [Allure]
And, OK, we can keep the think pieces from good fashion writers about the tricky politics of 'style' in the broader sense. [WWD]
Now, for something completely different: Is Renee Zellweger angling for Jennifer Love Hewitt's endorsement deal? Zellweger filmed parts of New In Town in Winnipeg, Canada — a town where, the actress reports, "It's just commonplace that your face freezes within two seconds of stepping outside of the door." Hanes tights saved her life, three or four pairs at a time. "I would not be here today were it not for the Hanes," she humbly reports. [Daily Express]
Serena Williams has signed on to be the newest face of Mission Skincare. [WWD]
Sadly, Victoria Beckham thinks she looks all right in her Emporio Armani ads only because Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott obligingly elided her worst body parts. According to unnamed sources, Posh — who admitted having suffered from anorexia in her memoir, Learning to Fly — is still deeply uncomfortable with her body, and was grateful her stomach was "reworked with make-up and lighting" to hide her C-section scars and loose skin. Of course, a casual observer might imagine there was more than a little Photoshop reworking, too, and that it might help Posh's young, female fan base for the star to speak openly, honestly, and not through back channels, about that fact. [Daily Express]
One sector doing almost too well through this season: apparel liquidators. Discount stores like Loehmann's and T.J. Maxx are unable to absorb the bales of unsold gear from the major department stores, who have of course been trying to move units themselves with up to 85% off sales all through the holiday period. There's simply too much supply in the liquidation pipeline. Solution: Ship the lot to Siberia. No, seriously. [WSJ]

Sofia Coppola's LV Line Debuts In Tokyo

Sadie — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:30:00 EST

Sofia Coppola debuts her line of "sure, why not?" accessories for Louis Vuitton in Tokyo. The luxe line is made up of "slouchy duffle bags, discreet clutches and retro wedge sandals." [WWD]
Speaking of qualified designers, Posh's dress line is a hit in London! "The presence of her name on the shop floor alongside such greats as Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano was quite an achievement for a designer who unveiled her first collection of dresses just three months ago. More impressive still was the fact that by 3pm on its first day on sale only three dresses were left unsold." [Guardian]
Tim Gunn is not sanguine! Quoth the silver fox, "We have this horrible, nasty court case. We have an angry Bravo/NBC. We have an angry Lifetime. We have, I'm sure, an angry Weinstein Company. We have Heidi and I despondent about the whole thing. We worry that season six will never be seen by anyone." [Washington Blade]
Addressing the severe shortage of celebrity perfumes, Faith Hill is in talks with Coty. [WWD]

Ivanka Trump confirms our suspicions that she's rich, by premiering a jewelry line that ranges from $4,000 to $45,000. [WSJ]
Whether the Wintour rumors are founded or not, "Save Anna" gear is big for Christmas! [Racked]
Courteney Love's "shopping secrets" are disappointingly obvious. [ElleUK]
Liz Claiborne takes steps to retain executives. [WSJ]
Women keep clothes longer than their husbands - and sometimes longer than their marriages! [Telegraph]
Eileen Ford can't sell her mansion. [WSJ]
Courteney Cox is Avon's latest celeb spokesperson. [WWD]
Versace expands its glitzy empire to Vietnam. [New York]
The economy's loss is TJ Maxx's gain! “With department stores canceling orders, we’re getting additional brands. They have excess product. They know we pay our bills on time and we can’t return the product.” Have I mentioned how smart I find that 'how we get our cheap stuff' ad campaign is? [Fashionista]
Wait, Whitney Port doesn't really work in fashion? “Well, she just goes into the office to shoot scenes like she works there, like what they did on The Hills. Actually, it’s kind of sad. When they film her spots, they make the girls that actually work there move from their desks and into some cubicles in another part of the floor, because they’re actually working, but the camera people want Whitney and her on-screen work friend to look like they have real desks.” [Fashionista]

Gwyneth Paltrow Tells You How To Dress Like An Oblivious Rich Person!

Sadie — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:30:00 EDT

In case Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle blog, Goop, wasn't quite irritating enough, now she brings us a breakdown of how to get her look. Apparently Roger Vivier bangles help. And don't think that one Uniqlo skirt fools anyone, Gwynnie; we've been wise to those tricks since Lucky hit newsstands! [Racked]
Fashionologie claims it's "always a treat" to hear Kate Moss talk. We respectfully disagree. Draw yout own conclusions from this video of her "designing." [Fashionologie]
Here are La Moss's "10 Style Rules": one of them's "Make It Look Effortless." Another is, "When In Doubt, Buy Diamonds." Oh, okay! Maybe this is Gwyneth's secret? [The Guardian]
Karl Lagerfeld is now a proper noun in Le Petit Larousse Illustré. He also designed the cover. [WWD]

Anya Hindmarch for Target sells out in 2 minutes! [VogueUK]
PR's Jerrell comes off as a class act. "Who wants drama? That's not what we're there for. This isn't I Love New York; we're not sitting in a hot tub getting drunk. We're here to show the world what we do." [EW]
Elle teams with Stardoll to make a tween/teen virtual mag. Kids can dress avatars in "high end virtual couture (such as apparel from DKNY). Users can also play virtual dress up with celebrity avatars such as Paris Hilton or Katie Holmes." I'm still holding out for a virtual thrift store! [Media Week]
Recessions make strange bedfellows: Ann Taylor teams up with Proctor and Gamble to promote cleaning products that cut down on dry-cleaning. [NY Times]
Zara succeeds by making fashion faster — and paying workers better. [Business Week]
Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor launches a fashion web site. [UPI]
We can't really improve upon Mollygood's description of Stylista, the new Devil Wears Prada reality ripoff: "Incompetent people who have no business being involved in the fashion industry? Check. Frightening dictator (fashion news director Anne Slowey)? Check. Inane tasks that have seemingly nothing to do with fashion? Check. The difference: We wanted Anne Hathaway to succeed in the movie; in the reality TV version, we kind of hope everyone fails miserably." [Mollygood]
Mary McFadden: "When people look back at this period in our civilization, they'll say: This was the beginning of functional clothes ... I'm sorry, in a way people's lifestyles have become very utilitarian." Well, that explains sparkly leggings! [BlackBook]
Not shockingly, discounters keeping their heads above retailers'. Does anyone else think those TJ Maxx ads where they explain how they keep their prices so low are completely genius? [NY Times]
And, yes, LVMH is finally feeling the pinch. [WSJ]
Louis Vuitton keeping them afloat. [WWD]
That said, Armani is still really confident about opening shop in India. [Hindustan Times]
Liz Hurley's Versace safety-pin dress has been named "The Greatest Red Carpet Gown of All Time." "Greatest" is apparently open to interpretation. [Mirror]
Pixie Geldof takes on human trafficking. Via a tee shirt, obvs! [ElleUK]
Ethical knitwear label Izzy Lane has won the RSPCA Good Business Award for its sheep-friendly practices. [Guardian]
Leona Lewis snubs Harrods because of their continuing sales of fur. [Peta2]
Someone's plastering Rachel Zoe's face all over New York. [Fashionista]
Taylor Momsen's first modeling shots! Based on our newfound Top Model expertise, we'd say Little J is still looking for her signature pose. [Fabsugar]
Balenciaga launches new frangrance, hopes to "renew Balenciaga's image as a serious fragrance contender." [ElleUK]

Halle Berry Heroically Addresses Shortage Of Celebrity Perfumes

Sadie — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:30:00 EDT

Addressing the alarming shortage of celebrity fragrances, Halle Berry, who is releasing her own, proclaims: "It’s a real, true expression of who I am — I was involved in all aspects of making it." [WWD]
Oh, those wags at PETA! In another devastating jab at their fur-sporting nemeses, the animal rights wits have produced "Trollsen Twins" masks for us to wear on Halloween! "To complete the "Hairy Kate" and "Trashley" look, PETA recommends Starbucks, cigarettes and boho chic gear." [MollyGood]
Hey! Wanna go to the Viktor & Rolf show? It's online! (No, you still can't afford anything.) [NY Mag]
Kaiser Karl is coming to America! Specifically, Vermont. Quoth Lagerfeld, “I love it. It’s very much Emily Dickinson." [WWD]
Leighton Meester "does her part to end domestic violence" by walking in a celebrity fashion show. [People]

Irina Lazareanu, the Barbra of modeling, says she's really retiring this time. [Style.com]
Yup, Alessandra Facchinetti's out at Valentino. [WWD]
We're starting to feel bad for Lauren Conrad's clothing line . [Perez Hilton]
And if LC and Heidi are too high-profile for you, perhaps you want to patronize a smaller designer, why, here's Audrina's denim line! [Perez Hilton]
Anna Wintour: the Rasputin of the fashion world. [NY Mag]
The CEO of Coach went all Joyce Carol Oates on us and just wrote a book about wrestling. [MediaBistro]
Are we the only ones who think of Electra from Gypsy when we hear about all these high-tech "intelligent" clothes? This new jacket has a solar panel. Hey, you gotta have a gimmick! [Reuters]
Possibly because of her complete blankness, Kate Moss is the most popular artist's muse of our age. [Independent]
Kate also really likes that solid gold statue of herself. [VogueUK]
She also doesn't wear underpants. And her hairdresser takes total credit for her style. [GraziaDaily]
Rich people discover second-hand clothes. [LA Times]
Uniqlo is up, at least. [WWD]
New beauty director at Nylon, late of ElleGirl. [Fashionista]
Vanessa Paradis on Johnny Depp: "Maybe I'm a good girlfriend because I'm his girlfriend. I'm not sure I'd be a good girlfriend to anyone else." Yeah, we're guessing we could go good for Sparrow, too. [ElleUK]