Tesoros Trading Company: Little Gifts on the Cheap

I love giving gifts, but as I've grown older and accumulated more acquaintences, co-workers, and social networks, it has become harder and harder to always come up with something creative and thoughful for the various occasions that arise. I've come to appreciate the act of giving "little" gifts -- gifts under $10. I'm not talking about an anniversary or Christmas with the family, but rather, events like housewarmings, birthdays, dinner parties, etc. I try to consider the personality of the recipient [unless I don't know them well, and then I always just give wine], and I try to give something slightly off-kilter or unique...so when the person looks at or uses the gift [albeit small], they will remember me!

I discovered Tesoros Trading Co. while living in Austin, and their website is chock full of great little imported oddities under $10. I often order 10 or more items, so I have cool stuff stocked away when I need to grab a gift and go...

Mermaid purse mirror, Peru. $5.00.


Lucha Karate Toy, Peru. $8.50.


Heart Milagro cards, Nepal. $2.00

Floral Oven Mitt, Vietnam. $8.00.

Floral coin purse, Guatemala. $8.00.

Copper Heart, Peru. $6.00.

Sequined multi-color orn, Bangladesh. $5.00.

Floral Wrapping paper, Vietnam. $8.00


I love the oilcloth-print floral paper with a little black ribbon:

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween To Everyone!!

Celebrities and Their Unforgettable Shoes

Everyday we see our favorite stars in their latest fashion get-up. Their taste in fashion were unveiled right before our eyes as we watch them on tv or read them in the papers. With all their photos, we can't really seem to remember who's looks hit or miss last week or even last month. People.com compiled a slideshow of celebrities wearing their unforgettable shoes. Can you walk with their shoes?


Left: Victoria Beckham wore a tall Antonio Berardi boots with no heels while launching her perfume in N.Y.C.
Right: Madonna in her pistol-heeled Chanel pumps that she wore to her directorial debut in N.Y.C.


Left: Beyonce opted for Rainbow Brite Balenciaga sandals at the American Music Awards.
Right: Rihanna wore woven Balenciaga gladiator boots while shopping.


Left: Mary Kate Olsen grabs the knee-high Givenchy by Ricardo Tisci gladiator sandals straight from runway.
Right: Mischa Barton felt like she was a celestial goddess that's why so she took the moon boots while walking with her dog.


Left: Lily Allen struts in her two-in-one (stiletto and platform wedge) Louis Vuitton satin platform heels.
Right: Julianne Moore enjoyed a pair of flitflops last summer.


Left: Sarah Jessica Parker made a comeback as Carrie in the Sex and the City movie in flower-bedecked Alexander McQueen heels last March.
Right: Ashly Olsen showed off her own over-the-calf Azzedine Alaia gladiator sandals at an event in August.

Halloween is Every Day

Halloween is Every Day by Nothing Elegant

All items are from: fitzsu.com
Citizen Kite, Falco, $58.
All Black Playing Cards, $15
Crucifix Clothes Brush, $95
Animal Shot Glass, $28
Ballistic Nylon Rose Corsage, $175
Gorilla Ash Tray, $38

Eiko Ishioka's Horror Aesthetic

[Thanks for bearing with me on my Halloween/Horror obsession; I know not everyone is quite as fascinated by it as me. Only three days to go...!!]

Ever since Coppola's Dracula came out in 1992, I have been intrigued by designer Eiko Ishioka's creepy imagination -- she won an Academy award for her design work on that film, and she also designed costumes for The Cell and The Fall. She has worked on numerous stage productions, as well as Cirque de Soleil, and Bjork's more-eerie-than-usual video for "Cocoon." Here is a sampling of her work so far...hopefully there is more to come.

The designer herself:


From The Cell:


From Bjork's "Cocoon":


Costume designs from The Fall (2006):


Some of her own designs:

From Dracula:

James Piatt's Fashionably Weird/Violent Bags

When you visit James Piatt's website, you can see his handbag creations that will surely caught you by surprise. Let me tell you something about them.

Tinkerbell bag was based on Paris Hilton's discarded pet. According to the site, the design of the bag capitalizes on the trend of carrying a small dog as a fashion accessory but as we can see it looks like a dead Chihuahua.



The PeaceKeeper 400 bag offers you a handy self-defense gadget for $85. It is manufactured with a soft polyurethane handle that looks like a brass knuckle. Definitely, you can handle terror attacks in a fashionable way.



The Pursuader bag comes in the form of a machine gun. It features a handy cell phone compartment in the clip. With this bag, you can create a fashionable war-freak look.



The Chesterton is an everyday bag with a large compartment for carrying many items and an internal pocket for portable electronics. This $220 bag is styled with a polygon shape that looks like a pyramid that was cut in a half.

Valentino Garavani: The Last (Fashion) Emperor

Valentino's fahion house is among the world's most famous haute couture and ready-to-wear fashion empires. For almost 45 years, he created some of the most sophisticated dresses to be seen and worn in the glamorous world of fashion. Valentino became known for his red dresses, popularly called "Valentino red" in the fashion industry.

Valentino: The Last Emperor was produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer and documents the colorful personal life and career of Valentino. The film also tackled about the special relationship between Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti, his business partner and companion for 50 years.

The filmmakers shot over 250 hours of footage with exclusive, unprecedented access to Valentino and his entourage from June 2005 to July 2007. The film spans between Valentino's seventieth birthday and his final couture show

Source

Philippine Fashion Week: Spring/Summer 2009 Updates

The following are the photos taken during the Philippine Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2008.

Opening Gala Show





Frederick Peralta Wedding Collection





Design Fusion Collection




Photo Source