Red On The Carpet

I know it's not the Oscars, but come on actors, it's still Hollywood and it's still a red carpet!  This is an opportunity to get dressed to the nines, to wear something spectacular.  I was truly hoping that somebody would be bold and step out of the box a little a la Cher/Bob Mackie circa 1986, but the carpet was a homogenized sea overloaded with Leiber, Leighton and Louboutin.  Okay, but that's just the accessories, right?  What about the dresses?  Nice.  That's all I can say.  Nice.  Nothing daring or spectacular.  Nothing memorable.  So, I'm not even going to bother with a best-dressed/worst-dressed list.  Instead, I'll just touch on one of the trends that showed up on the red carpet -- red.  The color is always classic so it's a safe bet when in doubt, but naysayers and annoying "fashion police" might argue that it's not a good idea to wear red on the red carpet, but I disagree (as I do with most of what they say).

 

Maybe I'm biased, but I think the best example of a red dress on a red carpet is jewelry designer Wendy Brandes wearing her custom piece (by STACY LOMMAN : NEW YORK of course!)

Here are some other lovey ladies wearing red to the 2012 Emmy's...

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

 

Tina Fey

Kat Dennings

*all pictures from WireImage.com

Post Olympics - Missing Britain

I was sad to bid farewell to the Olympic Games even though I wasn't overly thrilled with NBC's coverage.  Did we really need to see four thousand hours of water polo?  I said it before, I'll say it again, "Fun to play, boring to watch."  Aside from a few athletes/races/events, I thought the fun segments that Mary Carillo did as she traveled all over the city of London and the country were pretty much the highlights of the summer games (BTW, doesn't she have the BEST job?).  They made me miss England since I haven't traveled there for several years now.  Since the Games have been over, I've been feeling nostalgic and I took the opportunity last night to wear the "Union Jack Dress" from my Fall 2012, Modern World Collection. 

 

posing in front of Lincoln Center

 

Dress: Stacy Lomman : New York

Shoes: Via Spiga

Bag: Francesco Biasia

Skull Ring: Wendy Brandes Jewelry

 

As most of you know, New York Fashion Week is happening and last evening Zang Toi showed an unbelievably exquisite collection.  I attended the show with jewelry designer, Wendy Brandes who looked beautiful (and tall!) in one of Zang's dresses.  I might be a bit biased, but I think the two of us were the best dressed!  Kirstie Alley had nothin' on us -- okay, she had her dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy on her arm, but I digress...

 

Wendy Brandes wearing Zang Toi

 

front view of my "Union Jack" dress

 

Chicago Gold Coast Fashion Show

I'm thrilled to tell my Taffetadarlings that I have been asked to show my Fall 2012 "Modern World" collection at the 57th Gold Coast Fashion Award Show in Chicago in September.  The show is also a charity event and a competition.  I'll be competing against seven other well-known and established designers such as; FGI Rising Star winner (2012) Wes Gordon, Lyn Devon and Rubin Singer to name a few.  Previous winners include: Oleg Cassini, Bill Blass, Carolyn Roehm, Anne Klein, Donna Karan, Monique Lhuillier and Dennis Basso.  Not bad, huh?

 

Whether or not I end up winning the competition, I feel very honored to be part of an event that not only celebrates young, up-and-coming talent, but also serves as a fundraiser (hosted by the Children's Service Board) benefiting Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago -- one of the top children's hospitals in the nation.

Below is a video "sneak peek" of the magazine shoot.  How nice of them to use my outfit for the thumbnail! 

flattered that tha
 

R.I.P. Anna Piaggi

The fashion world lost an icon.  Editor, writer, muse and eccentric style maven, Anna Piaggi passed away in Milan on August 7th, 2012. I'd like to think the eighty-one year old poster child for "Wear What You Want" (as WendyB would say) was wearing one of her whimsical Stephen Jones hats and a colorful ensemble (maybe Westwood or vintage Patou) in her very last moments.

Anna Piaggi: March 22,1931 – August 7, 2012

Photo: Getty

A Day At The Beach

I've only managed to get to the beach one time this summer and I accidentally forgot my suit bottom (don't ask!), so on the first day I had to wear my bikini top and running shorts.  Not a good look.  Eventually, I did find one of those surf shops where you can buy tops and bottoms separately and I picked up a new bottom.  So, I'm hoping to plan another beach day and if I do, I have already picked out my perfect beach outfit.

a photo I snapped at Melbourne Beach, FL

Unless I'm swimming laps in my Speedo or TYR, I usually opt for a bikini, but there is something so refreshingly chic about this strapless one piece stripe bathing suit from KIWI Saint Tropez.

cobalt and white stripe strapless one piece: 68 Euro

A suit like this requires a fabulous shoe -- not a flip-flop.  I would pick up the cobalt color with these summery Burberry Prorsum woven raffia and printed wedge pumps.  Plus, the heel height is a leg lengthener!  Bonus.

Burberry pumps $1095

Of course, no beach look is complete without a pair of shades.  I'm in love with these fabulous rectangular retro specs by Karen Walker.  And yes, I would wear them with the alien headband accessory.  I mean, you gotta ask yourself, "What would Steve Martin do?"

"Cabbie" Sunglasses, Karen Walker

Finally, I would top the outfit off with a huge floppy hat by Scala -- not because I want to shield my face from the sun, but because I want to feel like Sophia Loren!  My fashionable mother actually bought me a slightly less gigantic version of this hat and I love it!  Thanks mom!  The thin wire they've cleverly encased along the edge of the brim makes it easy to shape and adjust the hat however you like.  Okay, I'm all set.  Now I just need a beach.

gorgeous Sophia Loren

Scala oversized hat, $45

Minty Fresh!

Being a typical female, I love it when I'm right.  And I am right 100% of the time -- even when I'm wrong.  As a designer, I don't believe in following trends, but I still get a little gratification when I see strong evidence that my brand is right on target along with some of the best names on the runway.

It was more than a year ago that I selected my fabrics and color palette for my Spring 2012 "Biohazard Collection" and it's interesting to see how many other people were feeling this fresh minty blue color as well (as seen in the photo below).  Since my collection was titled "Biohazard," I opted for toxic sounding color names and labled this color "Vapor Blue."

STACY LOMMAN : NEW YORK

Spring 2012 Campaign

Photo: Shane LaVancher

I love this color so much (and decided that it looked great with a summer tan) that I have worn this dress twice already!  Granted, I fill it out quite a bit more than the model and I don't consider that a bad thing.  In fact, I have gotten a lot of compliments on the dress and I find that it's very helpful for potential customers to see things on regular people and not always on runway models. 

wearing my "Vapor Blue" sheath dress from my Spring 2012 Collection

Dress - STACY LOMMAN : NEW YORK

Shoes - Camilla Skovgaard

Bag - Francesco Biasia

Necklace and Bracelet - Vintage

Blue "Ice Cube" Ring - Dome NYC

Silver "Stacked" Ring - Metal Pointus

Take a look at this GIANT series of minty fresh pieces that cruised the catwalks (Spring 2012) from a variety of designers...

Antonio Berardi (T) / Akris (B)

Aquilano Rimondi (T) / L'Wren Scott (B)

Giambattista Valli (T) / Rochas (B)

Narciso Rodriguez (T) / J. Mendel (B)

Peter Som (T) / Sportmax (B)

Tibi (T) / Versace (B)

Jil Sander (T) / DVF (B)

Jonathan Saunders (T) / Versus (B)

Yves Saint Laurent (T) / Chanel (B)

Louis Vuitton (T) / Vera Wang (B)

All Photos: Style.com

And don't forget the nails!

Essie nailpolish in Mint Candy Apple

Traveling...

Just like Marcel the Shell's sister Marissa, I'm traveling today and won't be posting here, but you can find me on Lookonline.  Check out my coverage of last night's Fashion GPS event and while you're there, you might even want to become a full subscriber to the content-rich, longest running fashion publication on the Internet!

*click forward to 2.05 in the video to hear Marcel discuss his sister, Marissa