EXPERIENCE: Fashionista Fantasy Comes True

Attention bargain hunters: there are major deals to be found at Frankie and Faye, the Armory Square boutique that houses off-season finds from the high-end Jet Black store. Until the end of the year, EVERYTHING in the store is $30.

Our visit turned up gorgeous items such as Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses, Tahari skirts, Tory Burch tunics, Theory trousers, and about a gillion other amazing deals.

It also turned up what might be the deal of a century: a $550 Zoe Chicco necklace for – you guessed it - $30. A quick trip to the jeweler down the street confirmed that the necklace is 14 carat gold, complete with a tiger’s eye pendant with a (real!) diamond embedded in the center.

As you can probably tell, I was pretty ecstatic about it:




The sale goes until the end of the year, but it only started a few days ago – so hurry before the best deals get snatched up and away!

Frankie and Faye is located across from Pasta’s at 317 S. Franklin St.
The store is closed on Mondays and open all other days of the week from 11am – 8pm.

OBSESSION: Psychic Trends Network

In these uncertain financial times, you’re less likely to call your broker and more likely to call Ghostbusters: enter author and psychic Tori Hartman. The Los Angeles native recently talked to The New York Times about the financial future.

“People are sensing that the traditional avenues have not worked,” Hartman told the paper, “all of a sudden this so-called security isn’t there anymore. They come to a psychic for a different perspective.” So we decided to ring up Hartman for fashion perspectives for spring. Why not? If Isaac Mizrahi can plan his collection via Ouija Board, we can call our psychic friend for spring tips.

The Look: Camelot
“The 1960s will be very important in what we're wearing,” Hartman predicts, “especially the early ‘60s. Take a look at the turtleneck (Blue Jackie sweater, $15 at L.L. Bean), tights and dresses that Twiggy wore. We hope to revisit Camelot, a place and time of idyllic happiness and possibility.”
Psychic Inspiration: The Obamas



The Look: Color
“As we're all focusing on the environment,” channels Hartman, “color inspired by nature will become important. Look for two trends to break through in 2009: Nature-inspired colors (earthy Isaac Mizrahi skirt, $31.49 at Target) and bold, geometric, mismatched "Peter Max" colors for the nonconformist.
Psychic Inspiration: Law of Attraction


The Look: Statement
“Crystals (urchin ring, $49 at Banana Republic) will become a girls best friend,” Hartman promises, “Om pendants and prayer malas will be worn to connect us rather than separate. “Bling” is over as jewelry becomes about who we are committed to becoming as opposed to who we've been. Statement jewelry includes 12-step recovery bracelets, awareness wristbands and gemstones known for energetic healing.
Psychic Inspiration: The "Green" Eco Movement

BITE: Tipping the Velvet (Mafia)

You know you’ve heard it: if the owner of a salon cuts your hair, you don’t have to tip. It’s one of those beauty myths that I always just accepted as fact. When I asked Hairanoia salon owner Michael DeSalvo about it, he got his Sicilian on. “That’s fucking bullshit,” the goateed stylist yelled, “Who ever thought that up had their head up their ass.” Salty, Michael. Props.

Turns out potty-mouthed DeSalvo is on the money when it comes to tipping. “If the salon owner is also your stylist,” beauty expert Julyne Derrick writes, “then yes, you should tip him the same as your would a stylist who is not an owner. In the old days one didn't tip the stylist if he owned the salon, but times have changed and it's now protocol to tip.”

Real Simple limits tipping salon owners to “major metropolitan areas,” but DeSalvo is unswayed. “Think about it,” he begins, “I have one client who tips me and one who doesn’t. They both want to come in and there’s only one opening. Who do you think is going to get it? And another thing, it’s always the people that roll up in Mercedes that pull this shit. It’s very old school.”

“Listen,” DeSalvo continues, “I have one client that was blacklisted by McCarthy. That’s how old he is. He comes in and he tells me what he’s going to pay. He says, ‘Listen kid, I’ll give ya $12.’ And I let him. I even do a sliding scale for people who can’t afford a haircut.” It should be noted that at $17 a clip, Hairanoia is quite reasonable.”

“When you get me,” DeSalvo beams, “you get all of me. I walk you in the door, shampoo your hair and cut it. That’s not worth a couple of extra bucks?”

A-LIST: Carmex Electra

Come on, don’t act like you never heard it. Carmex, that Cadillac of lips balms, has a frenzy of rumor and support sites swirling on the web. Personally, we love the stuff, but like spider eggs in Bubble Yum, we think someone has been telling your children very bad things about a very good lip balm.

You know you’ve heard it. “Carmex contains ground fiberglass that necessitates repeated applications” or “Carmex is made with salicylic acid, which chafes the lips, making you crave more.” Comedian Paula Poundstone even jokes about a secret wing at Betty Ford for users with a Carmex addiction “begging for just one little dip of their finger into the pot.”

So let’s take a look at what’s out there in terms of support or myth-busting around this venerable, 58-year-old product:

Dictator Princess: Prinny hysterically describes Carmex as “Vaseline with a tingle” and details her Carmex addiction low: combing Paris for “the little yellow pot.”

Lip Balm Anonymous: This is the Nancy Reagan of Carmex addiction sites describes the amber goo as packing “a rush that rivals crack cocaine when you first apply it.”

Salon Selectives: A well-researched piece by Mary Roach that details addicts who go by first name, last initial only. Lisa M. applies an average of 108 times a day, poor thing.

mycarmex.com: This is the mothership: the official Carmex website. In addition to addiction issues, it addresses how to remove Carmex stains from your clothing. Messy!

Winehouse Is Da Balm: links Amy Winehouse to Carmex. This How-To wiki suggests slathering balm all over your face. “Carmex is the best.” Mmm-hum, we knew it.

HOW TO: Find a Brand-New Scissor Sister

“I’m sorry,” Michael DeSalvo says into the phone, “I’m booked for the night.” He looks up from the call and winks at me. Me likey, but Candy Bushnell’s advice echoes in my head: wait until you’re back home before you visit the salon. How do you think cornrows happen?














But I couldn’t wait any longer. I’d moved to Syracuse and was beginning to resemble a Pomeranian, so I had to go about finding a new stylist, which brought me to Hairanoia at 101 Green Street and Hawley Avenue.

I’d heard about the salon’s owner, “the wheel of Hawley Green,” but when I called to book my appointment, he answered the phone himself. I scheduled, then inquired if the owner could cut my hair. “I am the owner,” he replied unassumingly

At the handsome, double-height salon, DeSalvo offers hot cider and gets to work on an amazing tea tree shampoo and head massage. Someone who obviously didn’t get the “booked for the night” memo prattles on. If her talking means the magic fingers don’t stop, she can babble all night.

Soon I’m in the cutting chair and he asks me what we're doing. I look him dead in the eye and say, “Do whatever you want with me, Michael.” It’s the leap of faith one needs to take when finding a new salon, but DeSalvo, who insists it’s all about chemistry, has some more tips for finding a new man in your life:

Hang out: sit around and read some magazines in the salon you’re thinking about using. And if the magazines are more than five years old, press.

Cruise: is your hairdresser hot? Would you sleep with him? Don’t play the old stylist or ex-con game. If your hairdresser has tattoos, that’s a good thing.

Cheat: Don’t be afraid to step out on your man. DeSalvo encourages his clients to try someone new. They appreciate him more when they come back.

And not to get all Terminator, but I’ll be back.

LANDMARK LOOKS: Shaffer Shopping

Holiday Art Sale
Shaffer Art Building
December 3, 4, &5

A-LIST: Skin Musts for Men

Caring for men’s skin and caring for women’s skin goes beyond opting for darker colors on packages if you possess more testosterone. For starters, most men shave, and most women wear makeup. Although both genders need sun protection and benefit from anti-aging formulations, picking products that address the composition and daily rituals of your gender, help you get the most of your product. Here are four to consider:


1. Clinique: Skin Supplies for Men “Shave Aloe Gel” (Clinique.com; $13.50)
Though a little scruff gives a man the sexy edge (think Justin Timberlake and George Clooney), some occasions require a smooth shave. To avoid razor burn and dry skin, try Clinique’s men’s line. The facial cleanser preps your skin for shaving and the aloe gel prevents bumps. Men who use the products say it’s worth the extra splurge because it hydrates and leaves skin feeling smooth.


2. Anthony: Logistics for Men “A Clean Start Kit” (Sephora; $40).
This is a starter travel kit for any man who needs direction for his morning routine. This brand attracts a cult following and this kit offers a great way to test-drive the products without making a full-size commitment. For additional exfoliation, interchange the facial cleanser with the scrub a few times per week. Both prep the skin for shaving. A man can’t forget about his lips either. This lip balm is unscented, perfect for any man’s man.


3. L’Oreal Men’s Expert “Vita Lift Anti-Wrinkle And Firming Moisturizer SPF 15” (CVS; $11)
Men and women share at least one thing: their skin reveals much about their age. But it’s rare to overhear a conversation between men about the best way to get rid of crow’s feet This firming face moisturizer targets men beyond 45, but don’t let that scare you away if you still get carded on Marshall Street. That extra diligence now spares face years later. It goes on thick because of the sunscreen, but the SPF protection is worth it.



4. Zirh: Men’s Skincare “Scrub” (Sephora; $17)
Most men don’t need any frills to get the job done. Same goes for face wash; fragrances and fancy packaging is totally irrelevant. Zirh understands the “less is more” attitude, and it doesn’t get simpler than “scrub” or “clean” to name two. Users like this product’s fragrance-free status and its soft consistency, which avoids skin that feels abused after use.

HOW TO: Save Your Shopping Sanity

Forget club-member discounts. What you really want to save on is the stress of the season. Do so with this guide.

1. Check it Twice. Write down everyone you want to get a gift for, how much you intend to spend, and where you want to shop (consolidate stops and avoid zig-zagging across town). Plus a master list saves you running out to the mall on Christmas Eve when you realize Uncle Rick lacks a present under the tree.
2. Brand Yourself. You don’t want to be known as the aunt who only buys Old Navy sweaters. Opt for some quality items. Yes, that means more work on a tight budget, but it is possible. Just this past Black Friday I snagged a pair of 7 for all Mankind jeans that retailed for $198 for $47.45 from Costco.
3. Retain Your Identity. There can be many amazing deals online, but make sure it’s a secure site (the icon of a lock is a good clue) when you enter in your credit-card information. Companies like PayPal keep your personal information safe, but make sure you always do software upgrades when your laptop prompts you (waiting creates “holes” in your system that identity thieves capitalize on).
4. Save Paper. Especially your receipts (even if you know it’s the perfect size or exactly what they wanted). Someone else in the family may share your gift genius and do a repeat performance. Most stores only offer you store credit or the current selling price if you return sans receipt. Make an envelope to hold all 2008 receipts and make a record of the presents and recipients on the outside.
5. Rest on the Weekend. Avoid the stores on Saturday and Sunday. Keep those days to wrap gifts, decorate the house, bake cookies. Most stores offer the same deals on weeknights as they do early weekend mornings. Limit the hassle to the days of the work week.
6. Seek Special. Yes it’s true everyone loves a gift card from crazy Aunt Barbara who only shops at Tuesday Morning, but gift cards signal impersonal. Opt for something that demonstrates how much you know the people you love.

REVIEW: Digital Discounts

I admit it. I’m a sucker for any kind of discount. I refuse to pay full price for almost anything. Honestly, it’s like a game for me. One day I stumbled across this website privatefootwear.com. It offers more than a thousand brands, and most of them are discounted by at least 50 percent. They don’t charge sales tax, and there’s more than just shoes, including everything from Tiffany and Co. jewelry to Abercrombie and Fitch jackets. And thanks to the holiday season, they offer free shipping worldwide and other promotions. Check out my steals:

I bought my sister the Tiffany Mini Heart Tags Bracelet that retails for $198 for only $84.



Their outerwear selection excels: sweatshirts from D Squared and coats from Burberry. I bought the Dolce & Gabbana leather jacket for $229 in black for my rock ‘n’ roll uncle who’s the lead singer in a small Los Angeles band.

TRIPLE THREAT: Lace It Up

Why should corsets have all the fun? We think heels and boots deserve a little lace action.

These Joie Vintage Oxford Booties can be dressed up for nighttime or dressed down with a pair of tight jeans. You can either tuck the laces inside the boot or let your flirty side show with a little bow on the top. Find them at Neiman Marcus for $350.



Uggs adds a twist to their classic pull-on boots. A little lace-up detail sets you apart from everyone in the Salt City. These Uggs retail for $230 at Uggs.com



Alessandro Dell’Acqua’s patent-leather stilettos lace up at the top with a simple bow. It adds a bit of fun to another pair of classic iconic black pair of pumps. Find them (but not the price) at: alessandrodellacqua.com

OBESSION: Liquid Line

Most girls shy away from steady-hands-only liquid eyeliner. But Mac’s new Fluidline is a fool-proof option for only $15. The gel formula gives a softer, silkier finish with an easy brush. It lasts from day to night without smudge and comes in black, brown, green, purple, silver, and blue.



Perfect Partner: Mac’s Mineralize Eye Shadow works well underneath the liner. Use Danger Zone for the perfect holiday/cocktail party look.

REVIEW: Rhino Records

“This is the most over-explained concert of my life,” a voice stage-whispered from behind me. Obnoxious, but that audience member had a point. David Byrne took the stage on Saturday night, November 29, at the Landmark Theatre inexplicably dressed in tennis whites and before playing a note launched into a presentation about the evening’s proceedings that lacked only PowerPoint.

Then Byrne and the band – also inexplicably head-to-toe in white – got to it, launching into “Strange Overtones,” the first single from Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, the first collaboration between Byrne and Brian Eno in over 25 years. It’s been out since the end of summer, but I haven’t picked it up yet so I fatigued rather quickly. Apparently, so did the pundit behind me, greeting the lyric, “This groove is out of fashion. These beats are 20 years old” with a hearty, “I’ll say.”

But then something amazing happened. The song ended, the reddish orange French fry lighting bathed the stage and Byrne and company launched into a raucous version of “I Zimbra” from the one of the three Eno/Byrne collaborations with Byrne’s band Talking Heads. His backup singers grabbed their mike stands and lined up in a row behind Byrne. Three dancers – also dressed in white with one notable exception to the dress code: one of the gamine numbers was wearing shorts! -- joined the fray. All hell had broken loose.

Byrne has always been an innovator. Anyone who remembers his band will remember “the big suit” from the Jonathan Demme’s concert film Stop Making Sense. The white ensembles matching Byrne’s now snowy white hair and Twyla Tharp-ish dancers who were now rolling across the stage in office chairs were starting to grow on me. Damn it, who says one can’t be in their middle-fifties and still push the fashion envelope?

With that the company launched into a song from an album that marked the last Talking Heads/Eno collaboration, Remain in Light. “Houses in Motion alone made this gig worth the ticket price, $37.00. Apparently, the Sotto voce critic behind me was won over as well. “David Bowie my ass,” he bellowed.

REVIEW: Get On The Bus

What does the underground world of drag balls -- an LGBT subculture in which primarily queer youth get up in either makeshift or stolen couture and walk the runway, garnering trophies for their houses -- have to do with Syracuse? Ask the three "homo-thugs" on the Centro bus. They declared themselves as such, snapping fingers over their heads, snapping the illusion that they were gang-bangers. Ride that bus to Manhattan, walk a "realness" category at a ball, or just take in the new play Wig Out!

Terrell Alvin McCraney's new drama plays at New York’s Vineyard Theater. This piece owes an extreme debt to Jennie Livingston’s 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning and also takes as its master shot the drag ball competition, dressing it in a fairy tale so labored one spends the evening waiting for a queen to throw down her weave from the catwalks now lining the Vineyard space.

There are grace notes of brilliance, mostly courtesy director Tina Landau, who utilizes the radically reconfigured theater beautifully. Everything builds toward a second act drag ball in which jungle beats pump and the characters prance to the end of scenic designer James Schuette’s extreme thrust stage that literally intersects the audience.

The problem is that intersection never really merges. Where actual pier queen lingo still zings — witness Livingston’s drag ball judge tell two battling contestants: “If you touch, I’m chopping you” — McCraney’s language is so florid it sounds straight out of Lord of the Rings.

Add to that a heavy-handed “homage” to Livingston’s film that seats the aging mother of the House of Light before her lit makeup mirror ala Paris is Burning’s legend Dorian Corey, a Greek chorus of three Dreamgirls and a stagey “face” demo in which “unpainted” queens wipe their visage with a white handkerchief and this house of blusher sinks.

The cast is uniformly excellent. Daniel T. Booth’s Playbill bio is slim, but his outsized alter ego Sweetie makes an entrance. And nearly mops — pier lingo for stealing: remarkably absent from the universe of Wig Out! — the show as Serena, mother of the House of Di’Abolique. His chinoiserie lip-synch to Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” alone makes this play worth the trip.

BITE: Paris Is Burning's My New BFF

In 1990, documentary filmmaker Jennie Livingston released her seven-year labor of love Paris Is Burning. The film chronicled disenfranchised members of a New York subculture composed of various houses, or loose familial amalgams of young queens miles away from Fashion Avenue, yet close enough to hold a mirror up to its gorgeous excess.

These queens walked the runway in elaborate drag balls where members of competing houses would imitate everything from high fashion models to urban roughnecks in the category “banjee realness,” or as its explained in the film, “looking like the kind of girl that walks her little brother to school.”

Livingston’s film grossed almost four million dollars domestically, gangbusters for a nonfiction feature. Three months before Livingston’s Toronto International Film Festival debut, Madonna’s song “Vogue” hit the top of Billboard’s Hot 100. That song, and accompanying David Fincher video, provided a slick backdrop for the intricate gesture and tableaux freeze movement vocabulary approximating the titular fashion magazine come to life.

Over the course of one summer, two white women loosed the perfect storm, unleashing queer black culture on an unsuspecting pop landscape. Over the next fifteen years, New York’s landscape changed so dramatically that drag queens and hustlers fronting pier culture — so named for the abandoned West Village piers on which houses would gather to “do shows” — were replaced by manicured Rollerblade paths trafficked by aerodynamic, three-wheel, jog strollers. Paris had burned.

Cut to 2005. Livingston’s film has its long-awaited DVD release ($23.99) and a full-on Vogue resurgence fires up in London, bringing piers queens back like phoenix from the flame. Maybe. There are still aerodynamic, three-wheel, jog strollers, but some of the children are vogueing.

REVIEW: Gothic Girl

“Death, destruction, and decay.” Not exactly words associated with fashion, unless one happens to be standing in line for a Marc Jacobs show. But this morbid platter is exactly what curator Valerie Steele promises in the exhibition catalog for “Gothic: Dark Glamour.”

“This is the first museum exhibition devoted to the gothic style in fashion,” Steele writes. It presents more than 75 sinister looks from designers as diverse as Anne Demeulemeester and Yohji Yamamoto.

She displays them astutely over tableaux ranging from ruined castle to mad scientist’s lab in the unassuming, but state-of-the-art basement museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

But who, precisely, is wearing this stuff? The local mall turns up plenty of Goths (check out the teens loitering in the black nail polish section of any Hot Topic store), but Urban Dictionary defines this subculture as: “Morbid, wearing black clothes almost all of the time, and wearing makeup regardless of sex.” This teen demo is not exactly a group known to don Alexander McQueen originals, but that’s the beauty of Steele’s show: it gives these kids a chance to dream. And maybe even pull themselves up by their Doc Maarten bootstraps and off their gloomy road to fashion hell.

Entering the exhibit is like stepping onto the set of Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. A ghostly pirate ship hovers in the distance and a wrought iron fence pointed with fleur de lis displays fashion behind bars. This show’s real triumph is its unexpectedness. On closer inspection, Thierry Mugler’s fur neckline is revealed as ‘faux monkey fur.” Hot fashion house Rodarte – the sister act of Kate and Laura Mulleavy – play with the gothic trope of skulls, burying theirs in delicate, red Spanish lace turning out their fiery Senorita perfectly for the Day of the Dead.

Karl Lagerfeld spins a spider web from feathers and beads while fashion’s enfant terrible Hussein Chalayan fashions a cape from carpet fibers. Goth is where you find it. Alexander McQueen (who claims ancestry dating back to a woman burned at Salem) here concocts her coming out dress: a black shell practically supported by its enormous, off-kilter cross that’s well on its way to inversion.

There are more big names like Chanel and Dior, and a vitrine that rheostats from clear glass to mirrored, showcasing more emerging designers. This reflective cabinet of curiosities is a brilliant touch. And a nice place to touch up your black eyeliner.

"Gothic: Dark Glamour" is free and runs through Feb. 21. An exhibit called "Seduction" joins it on Dec. 9. And if you're still smarting from that Marc Jacobs read in the lede, start primping now. Jacobs is sponsoring "Model as Muse" at the Met. This Costume Institute retrospective starts with Dovima and ends with Giselle. It also kicks off with the Met's annual gala on May 4 and Jacobs is hosting, along with Anna, Kate and Justin. Yes, that Justin.