{inspiration} chanel mimosa le vernis nail color

the little yellow birdie has landed

i'll admit that, when the whole lemon yellow nail polish trend thing first came about, i was really lacking in the whole enthusiasm department pensive.  while i've never been one of those people who needs someone to hold their hand while trying something new, the thought of painting my nails a color associated with chronic bronchitis, fluid retention, diabetes, and liver disorders (not to mention the fact that nicotine is often a major culprit of the dreaded "yellow nail syndrome") was not something that i was going to be placing on my to do list anytime soon. 

then my friend kelly s. (i associate with no one more hip to the makeup world and its trends) wore some to work, and my interest was immediately piqued in all the right ways.

brilliantly bold and unabashedly lemony, mimosa is this season’s most anticipated color from chanel. it is currently in-store, on counter, and requires your undivided attention. most “beauty girls” predict that mimosa will disappear in a flash…a la chanel jade 2009.

i’m thinking that a visit to the beauty level of bergdorf’s is in order, no?
 

if you want to take the trend a bit further, try this recipe from the BG restaurant.  they have a passion fruit mimosa recipe, inspired by Chanel’s mimosa, that is sure to impress {or at least get you wasted}! so grab your champagne glasses and get ready to say “cheers!”.

you’ll need:
5 oz champagne {or sparkling wine}
0.5 oz passion fruit puree
splash cointreau
splash simple syrup

first, pour the puree into your glass. then, slowly pour the champagne to mix it up (make sure not to pour too fast or you’ll end up with foam...trust). if you want to be fancy, gently stir with a long bar spoon. then, garnish with a candied violet {luckily I have a billion of those on hand}. and voila… you’ve officially ushered in the spring.



{a little obsessed} butter london



branwen's feather



no more waity katie

everytime i acquire a new bottle of butter london's cult worthy nail polishes, my "it's not crazy to spend blank (14) bucks on a blank (bottle of nailpolish) if it's worth it" mantra is totally reaffirmed.  there isn't a company that i know of (besides, say chanel, at 30 bucks a pop) that uses such rich, on trend pigments.  i dig pretty much every color, however, a few of my absolute faves are "no more waity katie" (a gorgeous "greige" produced right after the royal engagement was announced), "saucy jack" (a blood red, those familiar with "this is spinal tap" might recall derek smalls' infamous moniker for jack the ripper), "la moss" (a deep bordeaux), and "yummy mummy" (a perfect universal beige).  a lot of their other colors have been created exclusively by designers for their runways. now, when compared to other things on the runways, which you might have to rob a bank to afford, 14 bucks for couture doesn't look too bad.



teddy girl
co-created by victoria beckham for her spring/summer 2011 runway



minger
as seen on the prada and 3.1 philip lim runways



blagger



{images butterlondon.com}

tommy's twisted country club

truth: had you asked me before the spring/summer 2011 shows {even after the brilliant f/w 2010 campaign, which i brushed off as just a peter som influenced fluke}  if i would ever foresee myself turning the spotlight on to a tommy hilfiger collection, i would've answered "no" without the slightest of hesitations.  the fashion snob in me used to come out in full regalia at the slightest insinuation of "tommy".  he, the king of the t.j. maxx masses could never really be considered fashionable, let alone trendy...right? 

however, since i am able to recognize when proven wrong, i will gladly recant my previous disavowel.  the spring/summer 2011 tommy hilfiger portfolio was the final coup de grâce to my opinion of the house as being the prevailing standard for mediocrity.

the new life in the collections is no doubt the result of bringing in peter som to add his uptown eccentric sensiblities.  and while tommy stuck with the aesthetic that made him famous: preppy; there was a nice twist on country club clichés added to set the framework.  don't get me wrong, while this was a great collection, it was far from being one of the best of fashion week {this of course being solely my opinion}.  there's still some work to be done, but given that, on the 25th anniversary of hilfiger's business, he promised this to be the first collection of his next 25, i'd say it's not a bad start at all.



{photos courtesy of wwd}