Posts with tag burberry

The house of Burberry is to the UK what Tommy Hilfiger or Ralph Lauren it to the United States: iconic, respected, and wildly popular amongst those in the know.

Slightly less reprehensible than stealing from independent designers, designer knock-offs still exist in a moral gray area. While police are cracking down on counterfeit handbag makers and sellers in New York, websites like Finders Keepers openly sell costume jewelry "inspired" by luxury designers like David Yurman and John Hardy.

It seems to us that the line in the sand is whether or not the item is trying to pass as the real thing. That fake Burberry bag might pass muster at the Junior League lunch, but any lady worth her pearls will be able to spot these fake David Yurman pieces a mile away. Two miles away!

Wow. How quick the mighty have fallen.

It seems as if it were just yesterday that we began ragging on supermodel Agyness Deyn's coveted and contrived grunge style, gasping over her dethronement of Kate Moss on top Tatler's best dressed list, and giggling because of the party that's being thrown in honor of a life-sized mannequin that bares her resemblance.

Really, just how many shirtdresses can we have? Is there a point at which we might have too many?

Never.

Especially when the next one we buy is a shiny bright fuschia short sleeve shirtdress from Burberry. The color is perfect for the bright color trends we're seeing for Spring. The satin dress has viscose and elastane so it stretches and hugs your curves. We love the detail on the seams, the top-button closure, and the belt at the natural waistline. The hemline falls to the knee.

Available from Bloomingdale's for $895.

For $26,000, I'd want a bag that could fly, do my taxes, or at least make my coffee in the morning. Sadly, the new "Warrior" bag from Burberry does none of those things. And yet, it's still worth significantly more than my car.

Sure, it's trendy-looking, has a nice shape, comes complete with armor plating and is cut from gold-painted alligator skin -- all of which should send up the price a little. But $26,000? Seriously?

And this isn't the only bag with a jaw-dropping price tag. In fact, compared to some, the Warrior is actually a bargain. That said, even if I had the money, I'm not sure I could justify spending that much money on an accessory I'd probably be bored with in less than a year. But maybe I'm missing something?



[via Jezebel]

Oh, whom are we kidding? It doesn't ever rain in Los Angeles. And that 11 hours of mist in the middle of February that halts the entire city because "OMG! It's raining!" isn't really rain.

Still, we'd love to have the Burberry Knit-cuff Rain Boot for those days when the sprinkler systems on the front lawn get a little out of control. The black rubber boot has a lug sole and flat heel, and features Burberry's signature beige, black and red print on the knit cuff that folds over the top. It's Burberry alright, but a little less subtle than the rain boots that are made entirely of rubber in the same beige check print (which we also love).

Available from Neiman Marcus for $210.

Why bother with a putting on a dress and then covering it up with a coat to keep warm when you could do it all in one shot?

It may not be quite as cozy as multiple layers, but Burberry's Metallic Shirtdress takes the classic styling of the trench coat and turns it into a stylish dress. Like a trench coat, the deep dark, metallic ruby red dress features a spread collar, double-breasted button front, yoked button-flaps on chest and back, and a belted waist. The A-line skirt has side gathered-flap pockets. The only thing is that the dress has short, cap sleeves, but isn't that just the perfect way to show off those arms you've been working on all month?

The dress is available from Neiman Marcus for $895.

Ahh, the trench coat. One of the most beautifully classic pieces of outerwear. Just think of the rain-soaked kiss of Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's, or the typical super-mistress of espionage, and you can get the full effect of this lovely coat. Although the trench is not necessarily a wardrobe staple, it has managed to stand the test of time, so having one on-hand in the closet is never going to be a bad thing.

When shopping for a trench coat, it is impossible to go wrong with Burberry, since the company was the first to come up with the coat, originally intending it as a raincoat for army officers. However, when I say it's "impossible to go wrong with Burberry", I'm assuming that everyone has at least $1500 to spend per coat. For those that don't have that sort of pocket change, the trench is popular enough to be available in stores everywhere... Well, it will be available everywhere once the sweltering hot Summer is over. As with any coat, the fit of a trench coat is very important. The structured lines can be very flattering, as long as the size is perfect against the body. One size too big, and the coat can look like a lumpy coat, emphasizing all the wrong parts.

And for those of you who are daring enough to stray from the traditional beige and black, many designers have come up with brighter colors to liven up the rainiest of days. Burberry even has a stunning tweed trench with their famous check pattern, but, again, don't bother unless you have at least $1500 to spare.

You all know I love myself a shirtdress, and to have the classic stylings of Burberry? I would fall over for that.

Burberry's Belted Shirtdress takes only color inspiration from their signature trench, then adds a military twist to create this almost-all cotton dress with a spread collar, button-flap pockets at the chest, work-friendly three-quarter length sleeves, and a black tie at the waist. You could go comfortable with a pair of simple black heels, or take the dress to dinner by rocking knee-high stiletto-heeled boots.

The dress is $695 at Neiman Marcus.

It is hard to think of a company that has gotten more mileage out of a design than Burberry has out of their iconic check. The check has been rendered in gold on jewelry, etched on glass and slapped all over bags, trenches and of course, scarves.

The latest version is the sliced check which gives the impression of looking at the nova check through glittering window blinds. This bag combines the sliced check theme with the shape of Burberry's new bag of the season, the Manor Bag as well as throwing in the hot look of metallics which are nearly as ubiquitous as the Burberry check (for this season at least). The bag sells for $1795.

I must just be in a Burberry mood after all this talk of Spring trends and trench coats!

Normally, I wouldn't look to Burberry for anything other than trench coats, rain slickers, and maybe a very unnecessarily luxurious umbrella. However, for some reason, I am quite taken by the Burberry Check Dress. It's got to be the fact that not only is it a shirt dress, which happens to be my favorite silhouette, but it has absolutely no shame in flaunting its brand - the entire dress printed in Burberry plaid, and you would know that Burberry check from three blocks away! The front has buttons down the front, a sash tie at the waist, and falls to a modest knee-length. I probably wouldn't go so far as to wearing Burberry check rain boots with this dress, but a cute pair of flat heeled, knee high boots would be marvelous.

The dress is $345 at Neiman Marcus.

Over the years, I've scored incredible loot at the Goodwill store in my hometown: a black leather Coach handbag for $3, a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress for $6 and a pair of heels from the same DVF label for a cool $4. I have to say, however, that the only drawback of shopping at Goodwill is actually shopping at Goodwill. (I don't know about you, but I've seen enough Little House on the Prairie dresses to last me a lifetime.)

Luckily, Goodwill is taking its extra special loot online with live auctions, a la Ebay. After a quick scan of the merchandise, everything seems reasonably priced and in good-to-fair condition. Of course, like the in-store experience, you still have to sort through a lot of crap to get to the worthwhile goods. There's a black leather Coach bag for $21 and a Burberry coat for $31.02. Last but not least, there is an amazing feathered cloche hat for $10.00.

Kate Moss probably thought that she was sitting pretty. Going from a cocaine scandal last year to being voted Model of the Year by the British Fashion Awards this November, Moss has proved to be a survivor in tough industry.

But Kate's career comeback hardly makes her immune to new controversies. A case in point is the recent attack on Moss by the animal rights group PETA for wearing fur in the latest Burberry advertisements. Protesters have collected outside the Burberry store in New York with picket signs, chants and fake blood. PETA has also launched on-line campaign against Moss and Burberry at bloodyburberry.com, a website featuring graphic images of skinned animals beside models on stylish black and white backgrounds.

The ironic part of all of this is that Moss was once opposed to the use of fur and even agreed to pose for a few high-profile campaigns against animal cruelty. Whatever the reasons for her change of heart, her new found love of fur is not sitting well with animal rights activists or with cruelty-free designers like Stella McCartney.

Style can be expensive -- what with exorbitant prices on designer handbags, shoes, clothes, accesories, not to mention ridiculous prices on department store and other high-end cosmetics. However, that most certainly doesn't have to be the case, if you rely more on "looks" rather than labels.

One good place to fashionably fakeout the designers is on shoes, which don't usually have designer names, logos, or other such branding splashed across them (except for things like Gucci sandals and Burberry rain boots), so no one knows if you're wearing $800 D&G pumps, or a cute pair from Aldo, one of my current favorite shoe shopping destinations. You could spend $995 for a pair of Christian Louboutin Boulogne suede ankle boots, or get a similar pair at Aldo for $119.99. The Aldo ones even have a cute little ruffle.

Maybe you really are a DJ who uses real vinyl, not a Macbook, iPod, and CDJs. If that's the case, you could pick up a couple of slipmats for your turntables from the fellas over at Sicmats out of Los Angeles. They have a whole bunch of interesting designs, but for the uber-stylish DJ, they have "designer" prints.

So technically, they are not made by the real designers, but are knock-off prints of the Burberry plaid and Louis Vuitton, which is reversible to a white Gucci print with the signature red and green stripe down one side.