Thieves Like Us: Ooh! Aah!

Folks, some new cool shit has hit the scene and I feel obliged to at least tell you about some of them. Not that I'm all that cool, but sometimes things I think are cool actually are. Behold, some of my current obsessions:

Keds (http://www.keds.com//): When I first met my bestie, Amber, we were prospective freshman at Emerson College in Boston, sizing each other up as potential roommates. I was about 65lbs heavier, sporting a black burgundy bob, and probably donning an Ani DiFranco shirt. Amber was of delicate frame and sporting clear braces and Keds. Not any fancy Keds, but the white ones, slightly dingy with usual wear. We ended up being roommates and shortly thereafter, best friends, and I used to razz Amb for wearing Keds. Little did I know, she was a trailblazer, a trendster well before her time. Amber was wearing keds when Mischa Barton was just a fetus (alright, a middle schooler, but still...). And today, Keds has undergone a renaissance of sorts. Not only are the classic styles updated with cute fabrics, but they now have wedges (the bane of Haley and my existences), flats, espadrilles, and, the piece de Resistance, the customizable classic. That's right, customizable. In partnership with Zazzle.com, a very favorite site of mine, Keds will let you customize three types of shoes with designer prints, fabrics, spray paint, and even pics you upload from your own computer (www.zazzle.com/cr/design/pt-kedsshoe/). I tried my hand at customizing a pair of mini-skimmers with the a picture of Falco's album cover. I'm still perfecting the design, but for now, I'm digging on the concept. Behold, my beloved:

(Oh, Falco, you are so Austrian. So handsome. So dead for many years...)

Liz Claiborne (http://www.lizclaiborne.com/): When I hear the words "Liz Claiborne," I usually think of my mom, trying her hand at being a real estate agent in the 80's, wearing (and rocking, I might add) a canary yellow, silky suit dress with massive shoulder pads and equally massive faux gold earrings. LC has gone through various iterations since then, but with favorite, Isaac Mizrahi newly at the helm, the stuff is looking cute and sassy again. If you catch the sale items, you can get a steal on brightly colored basics. Here are some of my favorites:

(Tomato Red Jersey Dress; Mixed Media Leather Bag; Retro Skort (yes, a skort). Something for everyone here, kids)

Dockers (http://www.dockers.com/): Anyone who knows me knows that I fucking hate khaki. Maybe it's because I was a husky child and my father insisted on buying me chinos from the Gap every Christmas. Maybe it's because those chinos were often paired with pleated leather loafers (ahem, Dexters) and a tucked-in, buttoned-down shirt (usually in a paisley print) and a tight, heavily hair sprayed ponytail with a valiant attempt made at creating fluffed, hair sprayed bangs. It was not a good look for me. It was not a good look for anyone who didn't want to go to the bars trolling for lipstick lesbians. But Dockers, with its budgety, lived-in looks, changes my mind a bit. Granted, I would never wear khaki (I'm too pale), but luckily, they sell their styles in charcoal and black. So, go to the site, score some comfy, bargain work pants and skirts (in the sale section, if you please. The regular priced stuff can be, well, pricey), and check out some of there other breezy styles while you're at it. The stuff is reminiscent of J.Crew and old school Gap looks (back when the Gap didn't suck as much). And men are not excluded! I think the men's stuff is almost better than the women's. Czech 'em out: