It's the home stretch of summer and swimsuits are all we can wrap our mind around. We're gearing up for fall editorials and spring shows (Spring 09 Fashion Weeks are looming) and, at this stage in the game, we know that the best purchases are swimsuits for the beach and accessories that will take you straight into the fall season. So, we blocked up and went up to our fabulous intern's rooftop pool, to shoot these pieces. From Dolce and Gabbana to Marc by Marc to Old Navy, our options for July shopping are still plentiful. We firmly believe in mixing the high and low price points, and below, you'll find the items in our Island Life shoot, up for grabs. Later today and tomorrow we'll bring you enough swimsuit content to make you want to head straight for the beach on Thursday afternoon, it's only Tuesday and we're just about there ourselves.

The aggressive debate over whether it's better to be in 'in the city' or "in the country" has raged since Plato's Republic. Strong feelings about what constitutes the good life in relation to the city have been active since antiquity as we ponder our place as individual in society. The current iteration of the debate seems to center around that elusive topic of "summering." For New Yorkers in particular, that means a discussion over how much time should (or could) be spent in The Hamptons. But no matter where you live, 'summer in the city' is a concept which requires defending.

To that end, when we grabbed hold of pieces from the Karen Walker Fall 08 collection we immediately thought of our shoot's concept (or argument, if you will). Although the collection winks to many different fashion eras, something about the striped turtlenecks, the vibrant colors, and the lux velvet tie-dye trousers, said 1970's and thus we found our angle. What era is the hands-down the most infamous (and surprisingly celebrated) era in the history of New York? The 1970's of course. When you think of New York in the 1970's you think of crime, of parties, of politics, and of, at the very least, personality. From there we pulled a navy striped Jets swimsuit, some high waist jeans by Denim & Thread, and some of Catherine Holstein's amazingly 70's Fall pieces (including all that bright yellow and one velvet tie dyed shirt).

If there's anything a homebound New Yorker can put on the table when his friends flock to the beach for the weekend, it's the fact that the city is the place where everything happens (no, the opening of a Rugby store does not an event make). While those beach bound city-dwellers are tanning and shopping, the rest of the city is sweating and drinking margaritas in the street, playing baseball under bright white lights, having rooftop cocktails to the sound of sirens in the background, and wearing clothes that fall somewhere outside of the sarong and flip flops category. If something is going to happen, there's going to be concrete around and there will not be sarongs.

It might sound crazy, but to us, that possibility might just keep us here weekend after weekend. In honor of summers in the city, everywhere, here's our 1970's salute to saturated color (both on our clothing and our building facades) and saturated experience.

Style in the flyover states isn't something that concerns the fashion flock. We love to focus on pretty girls in pretty flocks at music festivals, fancy parties, and cocktail hours. And yet it is in the heartland that one of the quientessential events of American style takes place. The Kentucky Derby has been home to the iconic floppy hat but in truth the scene is a far deeper comment on American style.

The Kentucky Derby is an endearing testament to the American love of the high-low combination. From the debauched and reckless infield scene to the elegant society women in the stands with their pearls and hats, the Derby welcomes everyone.

The mix of hearty sportsmen, superbly bred thoroughbreds, drunken rural scumbags, and nouveau rich stable owners makes for a vibrant, clashing, and beautiful moment of American style that says no matter who you are, where you come from, or what you do you can come, get dressed up, be dressed down, get drunk and fit right in. The purity of the experience is American fashion at its best.