Monthly Archive for June, 2010

STYLish Traveler

Published on June 29, 2010 in Fashion Tips and Style Tips. 5 Comments

Travel has become a necessary evil.  Gone are the days when people dressed up to go to the airport to board their flights and cruise the airwaves in style.  Today, you see children in pj’s, women in sweatsuits and everyone in jeans. Although we’ve become much more casual in our approach to travel, doesn’t mean that style has to be sacrificed.  It’s easy to travel stylishly, yet comfortably, with a little planning ahead of time.  Here are a few of my favorite stylish travel essentials:

  • LUXE Travel Guides – I discovered these in Vietnam 4 years ago and have used them religiously since then.  They’re great – written in a cheeky manner with loads of info on hotels, restaurants, and the sights.  They even provide detailed shopping tours.
  • My Kindle – It’s wonderful to be able to carry my library with me.  Believe you me, I have traveled abroad before with a bag filled with books!
  • Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars – Comfy and stylish all at once.
  • Chocolove Chocolate Bars – Dark chocolate with chrystalized ginger is my fave.
  • Notecards – I try to remember to pack a few personalized notecards so that I can leave a personal note for an extra helpful concierge, salesperson or a new friend.
  • Rosebud Lip Balm – Great to keep your lips moisturized on long flights (it can do double duty as lotion too!)
  • A Cashmere Travel Blanket – I much prefer to use my own blanket on planes.
  • Beemans Gum – I’ve loved it since I was a kid, for some reason this gum reminds me of Summer vacations of yore.
  • Sunglasses – They prevent glare from the window seat, cover your eyes when you’re not at your best and act as a headband in a pinch!
  • Eye Mask – I know they give you a little travel kit on transatlantic flights, but I like the silky softness of my own eye mask.
  • iPod touch- Gotta have my tunes just in case there are no movies I want to watch.
  • Totebag – I’m a Goyard Girl, but Longchamps and Herve Chepellier make great light travel totes too.
  • Hermes Scarf – My neck gets cold easily, so I always pack a silk scarf to keep it warm.
  • Pashmina – You get the idea, I like to be covered from head to toe!

What are your travel style secrets?  Do share!

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From Paris With Love

Published on June 27, 2010 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

Paris Postcard

In Fashion News This Week . . .

Published on June 24, 2010 in In Fashion News This Week. 0 Comments

Retailers have finally begun to clue-in; plus-size women want to look good too and have the money to spend on beautiful clothes reports The New York Times.

Diane von Furstenberg will be wrapping more than dresses around nimble bodies; she just landed at gig at the venerable Claridge’s hotel to re-do 20 rooms in her hotel of choice while staying in London according to the Wall Street Journal.

New Pucci designs minus the prints; the latest trend on the red carpet as detailed by Christina Binkley in the Wall Street Journal.

POSSESS This:

Published on June 22, 2010 in POSSESS This:. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

There’s nothing like a good manicure/pedicure to set off the perfect Summer tan and/or outfit.  Whether you’re going out with the girls, on your way to work, running errands with the kids or out for a night on the town; properly painted nails (no chips or peeling please!) can make you look and feel like a million bucks.  I’m craving these two colors this Summer. OPI’s Do You Lilac It? And Essie’s Chinchilly. Try them out.  Tell me what you think. BTW – I believe in owning my own nail polish  . . . you just never know.

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Getting to Know You . . .

Published on June 20, 2010 in Getting To Know You. 1 Comment


As Anna in The King and I sang, “[g]etting to know you, getting to know all about you  . . .”  So, what do you know about me?  You know that I love the color purple, I believe manners are supremely important and I am a formerly practicing lawyer. I send you snippets about STYLE weekly and through those snippets you might know a bit about my personal style, but unless you know me personally, my personal style may still be a mystery to you.  I thought it would be fun to give you some insight into me and my closet. In addition, over the next few months, I’ll introduce you to some of my favorite STYListas. Let’s get started.

Kalyn Johnson Lifestyle Blogger, Fashion Stylist and Lawyer

What I’m Wearing Now A Tibi dress that I bought last Fall.  I have a number of Tibi dresses that range from dressy to casual.  I really like the playfulness of Amy Smilovic’s designs for Tibi – they’re always interesting and unique. When I saw this dress it literally made my heart leap and that’s how I knew I had to have it.  It’s a bit dramatic and I’ve never been one to shy away from the spotlight.  One of my friends calls this my Diana Ross dress because of the way the sleeve drapes so spectaularly.  I have on my trusty YSL Tribute sandals in gold.  I thought about wearing black shoes, but I love the little hint of gold peeking out from the bottom of the dress.  I’ve been obsessed with India for as long as I can recall, the bangles are a tribute to that obession from jewelry designer Tejani.  My clutch is from TopShop and my pashmina is a Chinatown special.  I believe in pairing high-priced and low-priced items; if you can afford to pay top dollar for everything knock yourself out  . . . but if not, as long as you know which items to skimp on, you can as Tim Gunn says, “Make it work!”

Style Credo For me, it’s all about buying things that make my heart leap! Whether those items are on trend or not.  I go with my instincts.  I’d say I’m a chic dresser, bordering on classic but there’s always a twist!  I love a little bit of sparkle and I believe that accessories can make or break an outfit.

On Shopping I believe in buying quality items.  Of course, this is much easier to do as you get older and have a little bit more to spend.  Clothes are an investment; if you buy quality items they’ll last over time as long as you take care of them (and keep in shape!).

Favorite Things in My Closet Right now, my YSL Tribute sandals and my YSL Easy Bag.  I fall in love with certain designers every now and again.  Definitely my Cj Joy jeggings, a couple of really cool necklaces I got on the street in NoLita when my friend Donna was here visiting a few months ago, my Rachel Roy black wool dress, my Hermes Brazil scarf, my Kier+J heather grey crewneck cashmere sweater, my fox fur coat with 3/4 length sleeves, my Acne butterfly wing black dress and my Saundra Messinger diamond leather bracelet.

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[photo by Mel Barlow]

In Fashion News This Week . . .

Published on June 17, 2010 in In Fashion News This Week. 0 Comments

Even the rich and famous use consignment shops.  In a recent WSJ article, a Kentucky socialite reveals the Chanel suits, Fendi purses and Manolos she consigned (some with pricetags still on them!).

CNN reports that tennis fashion plate Maria Sharapova just signed a $70 million dollar deal with Nike.

They say what goes around comes around; The New York Times reports that a number of retailers are bringing back styles from the Summers of 1910, 1949 and 1957.

Pretty or Ugly?

Published on June 15, 2010 in Pretty or Ugly?. 8 Comments Tags: .

I saw this pair of shoes a week ago in the window at the legendary British shoe store, Church’s, on 63rd Street. I was running late for a doctor’s appointment, but these caught my eye and I did a double-take as I rounded the corner onto 63rd off of Madison Avenue.  These are Church’s Burwood Brogues.  Not generally my kind of shoe – I typically favor a heel of at least the 3″ variety –  but these did make my heart go pitter-patter.  They’d look great with a pair of jeggings or black leggings, don’t you think?  I know people usually think of Church’s as a stuffy shoe store for the discerning gentleman, and it is, but they make beautiful shoes for women too. Each pair of Church’s shoes takes 8-10 weeks to manufacture.  Believe it or not, each pair of Church’s shoes are still hand made in their historic Northampton factory. What do you think? Would you wear them?  (Oh by the way, the come in black suede with silver too).  Pretty or Ugly?

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[image courtesy of Net-a-Porter]


To The Manner Born

Published on June 13, 2010 in Good Reads. 5 Comments

Manners. Manners are the standard of conduct that show others you are proper, polite and refined.  I’ve been thinking a lot about manners lately.  On some level, it seems to me that manners have gotten pushed to the wayside. I must admit, I’m big on manners.  As a child, my mother reinforced manners in all sorts of ways.  For example, I knew from an early age on that “please” was the magic word, but I learned from the folk singer, Ella Jenkins, that “please is a pleasant expression, please is nice to say.”  (The fact that I still know every word to a song that I learned when I was 5 is testament to the strength of my mother’s tactics).  I cannot lie, I truly appreciate a courteous person – friend, salesperson, stranger – it almost makes me swoon when I receive a hand-written thank you note in the mail.  Call me old-fashioned, but I’m a sucker for a well-mannered individual.  The other day a new acquaitance told me that when she met her husband, the first thing she noticed about him was how well-mannered he was.  Believe you me, manners are things that people notice even if they never comment on them.

Great manners can definitely make climbing the ladder to success a whole heck of a lot easier.  None of us are born knowing all of  this stuff, but some of it is just merely common sense.  However, even the most mannered of us out there can polish up on our manners every now and again.  There are tons of etiquette books out there now; along with Miss Manners, even folks like Whoopi Goldberg have thrown their hat in to the etiquette ring, she’s got a great etiquette book for kids called Whoopi’s Big Book of Manners.  As long as the message gets across, it doesn’t really matter who’s conveying it as long as it gets conveyed.  These are my thoughts.  I’d love to know what you guys think.

How big are you on manners? Do you put your napkin on your lap for meals? Do you say please and thank you religiously? Do you kindly ask people to do things, or do you tell them to do it?  Do you interrupt others when they’re talking or do you allow them to finish their point before launching into yours?  Do you apologize when you’ve mis-spoken?

I’m just trying to gauge what others view the importance of manners in today’s society to be.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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My Own Little Story

Published on June 6, 2010 in Good Reads and STYLISH Baby. 1 Comment

Every week, I share a bit of my own little story.  And dear readers, you’re each kind enough to indulge me. I’ve loved personal stories since I was a little girl.  I wanted to know things like how my parents met, where my grandparents grew up and what my parents were like when they were children.  As an adult, I love to watch tv shows like A&E Biography and James Lipton’s Inside The Actors Studio.  We each have our own personal story and some of us are lucky enough to have parents who chronicled our lives laboriously; others of us aren’t so lucky (if you fall into this category, it’s likely you were not a firstborn).

For those of you with children, you know how important it is to try to chronicle your child’s milestones.  You have every intention of doing it, but somehow life gets in the way . . . especially as Baby No. 2 arrives.  For those of you not yet in the parent trap, not planning to get caught in the parent trap or for the auntie or uncle to many, you were a kid once and asked your parents a thousand times for details about your childhood.  If you are the eldest, there may be some sort of memory book.  Mine is by Dr. Seuss’s, it’s called My Book About Me.

Today we live in the age of iPads, iTouches and crackberries . . . what better way to record your child’s milestone’s than to do it online?  Kristin Coons, mother of 3, has created unique approach to recording your child’s most precious moments.  She’s created a Milestone Memory System on her website, My Own Little Story; a completely free service that reminds you, via email, to record milestones and narratives of your child’s life.  It sounds like a great idea to me, non-parent that I am, for today’s tech savvy parents. However, I did ask a few new moms to road-test My Own Little Story; those who responded said they thought it was great, but weren’t sure they’d make the time to respond to the email reminders.  Parents, godparents, aunts, uncles and grandparents – My Own Little Story could be one of the best gifts you give to your little one.  Check it out.

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In Fashion News This Week . . .

Published on June 3, 2010 in In Fashion News This Week. 1 Comment
  • Sex and the City 2. I LOVED it, but the critics panned it along with many die-hard fans.  Two college friends and well-known writers on the New York scene discussed their disappointment with the movie in New York Magazine.  What did you think of Sex and The City 2? I know you have an opinion! Let’s hear it.
  • Do you ever wonder what happens to the Project Runway winners? Remember Christian Siriano?  The seemingly obnoxious but gifted winner of Project Runway: Season 4.  He’s actually parlayed $100,000 winnings into a viable diversified business.  In a candid interview with RunningWithHeels, Christian talks about his budding empire.
  • Five, yes 5, Al Jazeera TV anchor women collectively resigned their positions due to clashes with management over their on-air wardrobe reports The Huffington Post.

Keep Calm & Carry On

Published on June 2, 2010 in Home STYLE and Life Is Good. 8 Comments Tags: .

Keep Calm and Carry On.  These five words were originally on a propaganda poster created by the British government in 1939 at the beginning of World War II, but never used.  The poster was rediscovered in 2000 and has been used on clothing, mugs, tote bags, bumper stickers, baby clothes and other merchandise from various vendors.  Leave it to the Brits to be relevant 70 years later!

For me, these five words, kind of sum it all up, no? I’ve adopted “Keep Calm and Carry On” as my new mantra.  What’s your personal mantra?