coutorture --

Friday Indulgence: The Thursday Version

coutorture — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:53:41 -0700

We're a little excited for the weekend to be here and thought we'd just get this out of the way. We're going to suggest you take tomorrow off completely. We know, we know--you have to 'work', but hear us out. First of all, if you're anything like us you've been working all summer, writing/reading/dreaming about going away from behind your desk. That, if you ask us, is not okay. Especially with the insanity of fashion week quickly approaching. We're going to need to be well-rested because we're going to have to absorb a lot of information (and champagne) and someone along the line will snap and scream in our faces or do something else completely unladylike and declasse. These are things you need to prepare for. To that end, if in New York, we've got you covered. Today marks the start of a nice little sample sale with brands like Form, Jenny Yuen, Whistle & Flute, and Fremont. The sample sale includes silk jersey dresses that were 600 and now hover around 100 and it's in Nolita of all places (170 Elizabeth Street). So, get up late, go there at noon when it opens, and grab lunch in the neighborhood thereafter. Later on, you know, that whole bicoastal Opening Ceremony Olympics party gets underway. The Friday night party is private (cough, cough, 8808NYC@openingceremony.us) and it goes from 7-10. After that, grab a bottle of wine, a kick ball, and some friends and go to the park. Parks at night are what summer is all about. Especially when you're wearing something you just got at an end-of-season sample sale and it's all in celebration of the Olympics.

Colette X Gap= Is That What That Is?

coutorture — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:07:14 -0700

So the pop-up we thought was just next to the Gap, is actually a pop-up of the Gap. Say what? They've launched a little website to explain the collaboration, complete with a moving diagram of little boxes, one saying 'Gap' and one saying 'Colette', being hoisted by cranes. Cute, guys. Anyway, the little space, as reported by Racked, is said to include collaborations a plenty including Paris X NYC t-shirts such as those made by graffiti artists Andre (from Paris) and Neckface (from New York). See, it's almost like a wrestling match! There is also going to be some 'exclusive products' by the likes of Longchamp and Repetto. Looks like the Gap decided to squish every single possible collaboration idea into one endeavor. We just can't help but think that this whole thing would have been a little more special had Colette popped up in Opening Ceremony's space or some such thing. Alas, we suppose they are just competitors in the end. It just feels a little strange to say Gap and Neckface in the same sentence.

Opening Ceremony Goes E-Commerce

coutorture — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:25:12 -0700

There's a rumor going round that Opening Ceremony plans to go ecommerce in the near future. It's not a far-fetched idea. Because we couldn't find much of anything on the all-powerful world wide web, we went into the backyard, took out our smallish pad of paper and pencil, and rang the damn store. This is how it went down...more or less...

"Hello, Opening Ceremony"
"Hey there. My friend told me that you guys are starting a website for, like, the store...Is it true?"
"Yeah"
"O rly?"
"Yeah, it's not launched yet but hopefully it will be by the end of the summer."
"Neat. Will there be the same inventory as in the store?"
"Yeah, that's what we are trying to figure out right now. Like, how much to put on the site because our inventory is always rotating you know?"
"Yeah, I do know. That's what I like about you guys."
"Thanks."
"Hey so, are you going to put the Topshop stuff on the site? Hell, are you going to even carry Topshop anymore?"
"Yeah, we're not going to put it on the site because of the new [Topshop] store. We're probably not going to carry it at all once the store opens up."
"Kind of like the Acne thing."
"Yeah, exactly...but hey, we're getting a new delivery of Kate Moss for Topshop today."
"Sweet, I'll tell all my friends."

There you have it folks. Opening Ceremony is going ecommerce and giving the flyover states something to believe in. All we can say is that if Topshop ends up opening at the same time Opening Ceremony goes ecommerce (October-ecommerce never launches on time) fashion will have hit some kind of monumental vortex and our wardrobes might disappear in the middle of the night.

Immaterial: Opening Ceremony Mid Boot With Cut Outs

coutorture — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:55:55 -0700

A lot of things are happening in fashion down around the ankle. This is, indeed, a transitionary period and one that doesn't evolve over one single season. Having lived with the skinny jean for quite some time, trouser silhouettes are, as we know, starting to open up again. Now wide legs are all the rage but what's tricky is actually making the switch from one season to the next. Your silhouette is something that you don't change that often and so those of us who have a closet full of skinny jeans are kind of perplexed as to how to begin the transformation. Because of this we've seen spats, or spat-like footwear, appearing all over the place. Pant rolling, another big trend for spring is, likewise, evidence that the ankle is changing and we're just not ready for it. In other words, these micro trends are emerging where the skinny jean is altered (or covered) but not, er, gone. It's like rehab really. Anyway, rehab has never looked so good. These Opening Ceremony Mid Boot With Cut Out Sandals are straight up amazing. They're burlap with an ethnic/geometric print, and, most importantly, they address the changing ankle situation without making, you know, a big deal of it.

Mooka Kinney A/W 08 Presentation

coutorture — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:31:51 -0800

Mooka Kinney's A/W 08 was packed full of pretty young things who'd just gotten off work (and not in the tents). From the collection expect the usual vintage-inspired dresses for gals who haven't the time to sift through thrift stores. The presentation, which took place at a packed Hanger Bar in the East Village, was attended by the pre-Opening Ceremony party crowd and modeled by girls from Nylon, television show Arrested Development, and the musical Spring Awakening. It's a perfect example of "off site" fashion sense, where the desire to dress people of status, throw memorable parties, and be associated with like minded brands, involves an entirely different cast of characters, no matter how similar the formula.

Opening Ceremony Party on 2/4

coutorture — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:20:18 -0800

Last night we went to the Opening Ceremony party at Webster Hall, thrown to celebrate Chloe Sevigny's line for the store. Three short guys let people in Studio 54-style by pointing to the pretty folk who messed up their hair or put on their lensless Raybans for the occasion. There was a gentleman with a clipboard, but we'll be damned if he checked in every Seymore and Esther in the lot. It was handsome, there were stairwell debaucheries, as with any party, people walked around and looked at each other. Some people, like us, took pictures of each other.