Un-Guilty Pleasure

Mason Detra — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:15:10 +0000

Today’s un-guilty pleasure is a pair of incredible suede wedge heels from Rosegold, $168 and available on shopbop.com

Available in brown or black, they will go with everything and I guarantee this becomes your go-to summer wedge (when you don’t feel like scuffing up the louboutins, you know?)

Wear it: desert chic

Mason Detra — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:07:09 +0000

One of the biggest trends of the summer is desert chic. Lots of earth tones, utilitarian elements, some embellishment mark the trend. It’s super wearable, just remember to balance utility pieces with more elegant, spare pieces so you don’t end up looking like you joined the army.

Clockwise from top right: cream Ever dress at Shopbop; J Brand Houlihan cargo pants at Bloomingdales, Abraxas Rex necklace at Barneys.com, Helmut Lang shorts at Barneys.com, Stella McCartney one-shoulder top at net-a-porter.com, sandal at shopbop.com

Dressing for a Wedding

Mason Detra — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:55:58 +0000

Or any celebration, really. Don’t you feel like you go to your closet and look at it like there is absolutely nothing there?

Here are my choices for perfect dresses to wear to something festive:

A LITTLE RED DRESS…

clockwise from top left: sandals by Banana Republic, Prabal Gurung dress on shopbop, Sigerson Morrison black heel on saks.com, Guiseppe Zanotti shoe for Thakoon on shopbop

The red dress by new fashion darling Prabal Gurung has interesting (and forgiving) drape, the sexy neckline is perfect for someone younger or someone who has great shoulders and wants to highlight it. Keep the shoe clean and simple, avoid platform, anything too glamorous will make the outfit look cheap. The key themes to this outfit are daytime, casual, fun, playful, young, fresh, sexy. I wouldn’t wear this to anything too formal, unless you want to dress it up with a tuxedo jacket (from stella or helmut lang)

OUTFIT 2: ELEGANT GLAMOUR

dress from net-a-porter.com, elizabeth and james heels on shopbop

This metallic print is so cool and festive, but the silhouette is elegant and refined. I’d wear this to an evening black tie wedding. Nothing hugs the figure too tightly, and all the attention will be drawn upward to the dramatic one-shoulder. Pair this with a cool cream or black heel, avoid more metallic. The key themes to this outfit are evening, elegant, festive, formal.

OUTFIT 3: MODERN SOPHISTICATE

A LBD is just so easy, it works with everything, and you know you’re going to look great whether you’re pale or tan. This is jersey and gathered in the front, so it’s going to be super flattering on any figure, and the nude mesh detailing on the back is sporty and very modern. The key themes to this outfit are: sleek, sophisticated, body-conscious, forgiving, urban, modern.

dress by Alexander Wang, avail on net-a-porter, and Atwood shoes on Saks.com

OUTFIT 4: FUN-LOVING COCKTAILER

This is a great dress for someone who wishes they had a curvier body, who loves to sparkle but not too much, who appreciates classic silhouettes with a twist. I would wear this to an evening party or a fancy cocktail hour. I love a simple strappy heel like this Louboutins, or why not go for all out drama with these incredible Jimmy Choos? This would be an amazing early autumn outfit as well. The key themes to this outfit are: classic, curve-creating, playful, flirty, retro, glamour, drama, cocktail

Jimmy Choos, Alice and Olivia dress at net-a-porter, Louboutins at saks

Summer Sailing

Mason Detra — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:48:57 +0000

I keep imagining my summer like this: I go sailing in the Adriatic sea. I spend a month in Martha’s Vineyard. I take a roadtrip to Maine and eat lobster rolls. And in each summer fantasy I’m wearing stripes or rope, thanks to the coolness of nautical-inspired dressing. I love mixing the classic stripe with bold metallics or a sleek nude, and of course taking edgier versions of classic seafarer pieces. Here’s how to wear it:

A body-conscious skirt with a metallic top:

DKNY sequin top, $ at net-a-porter.com; BCBG skirt, $135 at bcbg.com

A little striped shift dress with killer nude or brown heels (a simple sandal would be great for day):

DKNY dress, left, shopbop.com Right, net-a-porter.com

Left, Tory Burch at shopbop, center and right, YSL and Dior at Neiman Marcus

Canvas heels, off-grey skinny jeans and a playfully edgy top:

Or a really cool statement necklace and a hot lwd (little white dress, you need one for summer)

Lizzie Fortunato necklace, left. 3.1 Philip Lim necklace at net-a-porter, center. Dress at shopbop, right

Real Fantasy

Mason Detra — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 02:44:29 +0000

A young Mark Walberg (did he always look 12 or am I getting older?). An ageless (but okay, baby-faced) Kate Moss. Sexy, wanton, disaffected, rebellious, sexy, topless, spare, rugged, sexy, timeless. Oh, how I love old Calvin Klein ads. Today’s ad campaigns are a bit more aggressive.

Beautiful things should be so simple, not overly thought out. Although I will be obsessing how to affect that innocent seductress look that Kate Moss is SO. GOOD. AT DOING. In the meantime, the lesson is: a man’s white shirt. a black sleeveless tee. black jeans. underwear.

men's shirt, $39.50 at gap.com; boyshort, $12 at cku.com

Acne jeans, $269 from acnestudios.com; muscle tee, $14 at american apparel

Find la peche:

a muscle tee from American Apparel

a men’s white shirt from gap

CK underwear, I suggest the boyshort.

lightwash, a little 80s but still super sexy jeans, I would only trust Acne.

Jump In

Mason Detra — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:32:00 +0000

The jumpsuit is sexy, I suppose, precisely because it’s not supposed to be. You’re a chick in a flight suit, albeit one made of silk. It’s slightly androgynous and demands confidence to wear it, but there is the allure. I have three I really like, but I envision them for different girls. Let’s call them Polly, Calliope and Elodie:

Halston Heritage Jumpsuit, $335 at shopbop.com

Polly strides into the club, long blond hair falling loosely down her back, bangles jangling, smoky eye very, very smoky. She’s at least 6 ft tall in her platform heels, which are hidden beneath the extremely long inseam of her white Halston Heritage jumpsuit. Stopping to check her Blackberry, she thinks, for a moment, of the great Bianca Jagger riding into Studio 54 atop a white horse for her 30th birthday party. If that were her, she would have found a better looking naked man to lead her horse. She smiles to herself. It’s thirty-three years later and her favorite MGMT song is playing. The Boom Boom Room, (it’s not called that anymore, she thinks) is packed. She sees her girlfriends at a table, clinking champagne glasses, and waves to them, admiring her tan in the process and making a mental note to book that flight to St. Barth’s. A shame she has to fly commercial, but c’est la vie.

Zero Maria Cornejo Jumpsuit, $897 at Creatures of Comfort

Art Basel Miami Beach again, but this year was different because Calliope was representing her own gallery. She looked out the window of the Viceroy and grimaced: it was raining again. So much for beach parties. She had packed lightly, bringing only her essentials: Helmut Lang jeans, Jil Sander jacket, Yigal dress, Eres bikini and her new blue jumpsuit. The jumpsuit she would wear to the opening, she reasoned. She would be strong and chic. And if he came. No, if he had the gall to show up to her party, her show, she would- she pauses. She fastens a belt, steps into her Alaia’s and winks in the mirror. Well, she would be very, very nice.

Caroline Hedaya jumpsuit, $385 at shopbop.com

She was born in Paris and now lived in Copenhagen, and the first thing Elodie would tell you was that she passionately loved the color red but only wore versions of cream and beige and camel. It suited her, and she only liked to wear what suited her. She believe that what she loved and what she wore must exist separately,and her life was softly ordered that way. Her sheets were white and she liked calla lillies. She drank Lillet on the rocks in the summertime, and Lillet Rouge in the winter. Her favorite food were oysters, she could easily eat 2 dozen in a sitting, with a nice glass of gruner veltliner. The one funny part of her life, the part that made her giggle, was her deep belief in astrology. Her sign was Aquarius, which is why she was always slightly surprised to wake up everyday next to a Taurus man. They were bulls. She hated bulls. But she loved him. She loved him more than the color red. She was a dreamy bird, and her Taurus man kept her on the ground.

Live this life:

Buy the jumpsuit:

shopbop

creatures of comfort

Go to New York:

The Standard Hotel

Experience Art Basel Miami Beach:

Art Basel Miami

Viceroy Hotel, Miami

Drink Something Delightful:

Lillet

Communal Table: Fava Beans and Italy

Mason Detra — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:58:25 +0000

Look here at these fava beans I saw at Dean and Deluca. Spring is really, truly here. I would take this basket of favas and sit down at this sun-dappled table outside a rambling Tuscan villa, shelling the beans and when that was done, I would call my friends and say, hey, come over.

We would toss the favas with a nutty pecorino, some torn mint and grassy olive oil. We would break big loaves of bread and few bottles of wine and spend the afternoon here, at this long table under the shade. We might get hungry again, so we make crostini with the leftovers. I’ll tell you the recipes after the break.

That’s what I thought about when I saw these fava beans at Dean and Deluca.

Recipes-

saveur.com

brooklynfarmhouse.com

Where You Wear…

Mason Detra — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:55:13 +0000

I am always planning a trip in my head. And when I saw these dresses from Stella McCartney Spring 2010, I thought, let’s go somewhere.

Like a treehouse in Kenya. We’ll watch for elephants and lions and zebras and maybe a monkey.

And this dress needs a breezy beach, with whitewashed walls and soft pillows for lounging. This is a rooftop in Mexico. After spending the day at the beach, we’ll come here. We’ll drink good tequila on ice with fresh-squeezed lime and eat fish tacos and guacamole.

Stella McCartney pictures from style.com

Location pictures from luxist.com

Want to buy those dresses? Visit stellamccartney.com.

Safari? Read this.

Mexico? How about Tulum?

Strong Chicks

Mason Detra — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 02:36:44 +0000

We’ve come a long way. And yet it still rings true.

Desires and Needs: Shoes

Mason Detra — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:55:48 +0000

Lanvin Spring 2010

I dream of this beautiful Lanvin shoe. It’s so pretty, and the textures and details make it feel so bohemian. But I just can’t afford it. $1,320 at Barney’s

So I thought about what I love about it. Do I want a more bohemian heel? Something textured and leather? What about this Elizabeth and James shoe? $425 at Shopbop

Elizabeth and James Spring 2010

Still, I run around the city all day. What I want (bohemian, textured, interesting, but polished) could marry what I need (a comfortable flat sandal that I can walk blocks in) in this shoe from Nine West, which is only $130:

Nine West Spring 2010

Dilemma solved!