OLSEN TWINS are STYLEMINT!

With clothing lines The Row, Olsenboye and Elizabeth and James in the bag, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have found another fashion venture to occupy their well-dressed time: StyleMint.com.


Women's Wear Daily reports that the actresses-turned-designers, along with MySpace founder Josh Berman, will launch the site in July. The fashion newspaper breaks it down:

StyleMint will meld e-commerce and social media platforms to offer consumers a personalized shopping experience, based on a monthly opt-out model, similar to book-, music- and wine-of-the-month clubs. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will help design and merchandise the offerings -- starting with a collection of women's fashion T-shirts retailing for $29.99 -- as well as create regular videos for the site.

Users will initially be asked to register as members and can then participate in short style quizzes to determine which items would most interest them. The first collection of t-shirts will include eight different cuts in a variety of colors.



Ashley told WWD, "Online commerce is the perfect medium for us to create a new brand that is as much about the clothing as it is about the customer experience."



Are you ready to accept the Olsens as a formidable fashion force?

COLOR HIM FABULOUS!

Guy's Guide to Spring/Summer Accessory Must-Haves!

New-Wave Boat Shoes
Nothing wrong with traditional brown boat shoes, but with everyone from Sperry to Gucci doing creative new riffs, why not go for something more up to date than the ones JFK sported? Try a streamlined new silhouette or a splashy color instead.

Patterned Pocket Squares
By now you've caught on to the 1960s Mad Men pocket-square thing—and so has everyone else. Stay a stride ahead by mixing plaids and checks in your rotation. Just be sure to pair them with solid shirts to avoid pattern overkill.

Plastic Aviators

Wire-framed aviators have been a stone-cold classic for decades—now they've gotten a timely update. This new riff co-opts the chunky plastic cool of Wayfarers and applies it to the timeless fighter pilot's silhouette.

The Straw Fedora

Dressing seasonally applies to your headwear, too. That means going with a straw—not felt—fedora come spring and summer. The coolest version right now is known as "stingy," in reference to its super narrow brim.

 

Brightly Colored Faces

Even if all the dudes at your office have thrown a chunk of cash at an impressive watch, they probably don't have one quite like this. A red, blue, or green face will add a shot of badass-itude to your otherwise conservative business look.

 

A Brighter Striped Tie

It's time to take the striped tie—the preppy staple that never goes out of style—to another dimension by adding a couple of doses of bold color. Yes, you can wear these ties at work, where they'll make even a well-worn suit look vibrant and new.

THE BEST STYLE SITES

Whether you are wanting hot new trends or fun ways to wear what you already have, jump start your spring look with these amazing style sites!

BEST MERCH

ShopBop.com The Shopbop was started in the year 1999 as a store called Bop. Shopbop is a premier online shopping boutique for the female fashion.

Bluebee.com Blue Bee is our original store where you will find unique and fun contemporary and young designer collections ranging from dressy tops, suits and dresses to casual pants, jackets, t-shirts and sweaters.

Farfetch.com Farfetch.com unites Europe’s best independent fashion boutiques, so that you can buy from the most interesting designer fashion brands in the world in one easy-to-shop website. Our aim is to provide an exciting range of designers and labels, while maintaining the personality of unique, independent boutiques. This new concept means you can shop from boutiques in Paris, London, Florence and Copenhagen in just a few seconds, all from the comfort of your own home or office.

Stefanibags.com Like most little girls out there, we too, loved our mommies handbags.  We adore clutches, hobos, satchels and totes so much we decided to share our passion for this notorious accessory.  StefaniBags.com brings you the best selection of handbags to help you distinguish who you are every day.  StefaniBags was developed to fill a growing demand for the freshest, “coolest” handbag designers online.  We love the convenience of shopping at home and had the fantastic idea that it would be fun to be able to find all the bags we love in a sophisticated and stylish boutique setting.

$$$ SAVING

ShoeDazzle.com ShoeDazzle's fashion experts choose the hottest shoes for you every month based on YOUR individual personality and tastes. The shoes we pick for you will express your individuality and sense of style. Distinctive, yet trend-right.

Ideeli.com Ideeli is the first members-only shopping community in the U.S. We offer limited-time sale events that feature the most sought-after brands in fashion, home and beauty -- at up to 80% off. Membership is by invitation only and there is no fee to join.

PriceGrabber.com PriceGrabber.com is the industry innovator in online comparison shopping. Millions of consumers use PriceGrabber to quickly obtain free and unbiased information about products, services, merchants and sellers before making a purchase decision. Through continued innovation and consistent focus on providing the best comparison shopping experience on the Internet, PriceGrabber has established itself as the most trusted and effective online destination for savvy shopping.

TheFind.com Find every product from every store, every coupon, and every review.
Everything you need to decide quickly what to buy and where to buy it.

Gilt.com Get access to today's premier fashion and luxury brands at up to 70% off retail. Membership is free and we accept new members daily.

CELEBRITY STYLE

CelebrityStyleGuide.com CelebrityStyleGuide.com was launched in 2005 by Heather Campbell-Green and is dedicated to celebrity style and fashion, clothes and accessories.
Heather's insight as seen in Celebrity Style Guide has brought fashion to a new and exciting interactive level...we put "the fans with the brands!"

Coolspotters.com Coolspotters is a online service that makes it easy to discover and buy the products, brands, and fashions being used by your favorite celebrities – in their real lives, and in movies and television.

SOCIAL SHOPPING

Polyvore.com Polyvore is redefining how people around the world experience, create and shop for fashion on the Internet. Polyvore's easy-to-use virtual styling tool lets people mix and match products from any online store to create their own fashion collections called "sets". The Polyvore community consists of trendsetters, shoppers and aspiring stylists, who create more than 30,000 sets daily and spend an average of 10 minutes on the site per visit. With over 6 million unique visitors and 140 million pageviews per month, Polyvore is the largest fashion community site in the world.

Polyvore members also share their creations on blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, extending Polyvore's reach by an additional 22 million impressions per month. This viral distribution network fosters the exposure and discovery of new products, brands and styling insights across a large global audience.

StyleFeeder.com  StyleFeeder is a personal shopping engine that learns your style and helps you shop for apparel, accessories, shoes, furniture, home goods, jewelry, gadgets. Think of us like a Pandora or LastFM for shopping, or a personal stylist who shops the web on your behalf.

Happy Shopping!!!! xoxo

5 SPRING BEAUTY TRENDS

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but behold the new trends in beauty for Spring 2010. From lips to eyes and skin, we've got you covered. Gone are the days of dark, moody as we welcome the days of color explosion and glowing skin.

1. PAINT ME PASTEL. Understated hues that are eye-popping in shades- lavender, turquoise, pink, and sage green- in matte to shimmer are capturing the lids this season.

How to achieve this look: Start slow, one color at a time. Limit your shade below the crease of your lids. Fresh and clean is the name of the game. Have no fear, pastels work on all skin shades, from porcelain white to olive, these universal hues make the whites of your eyes brighter. Stick to a lil eyeliner to create the drama and a nude lipgloss to complete the look. (Our favorites: Chanel Soft Touch Eyeshadow in Bambou, Lancome Color Design Eye Shadow in Personal Style, Clinique Colour Surge Eye Shadow in Frost Blossom.)

2. ORANGE you RED-Y for SPRING. Vibrant red adds a jolt of color and panache to your lips. Jump into Spring full throttle and embrace this fabulous hue. Toss out the dark purples from the past, this is RED HOT!

How to achieve this look: Start with a lip liner that matches the color of your natural lip. Mix a red-orange lipstick with a lil lip balm and apply with a brush. Make sure to keep the rest of your face fairly neutral and then kick it up a notch in the evening with a lil liner on the upper lids. Remember this color transitions from day to night! (Our favorites: Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Fire, Tarina Tarantino Conditioning Lip Balm in Paramour, and Kat Von D Painted Love Lipstick  in A Go-Go.)

3. TOUSLE ME TENDER. Slightly effortless and a whole lot of sexy, tousled, romantic curls are in. Get a modern, yet edgy look that looks like you just rolled out of bed.

How to achieve this look: Blow dry your hair with your hands and not your typical round brush. Once dry, add a texture spray (we love Shu Uemura Art of Hair, Liquid Fabric Mineral Texture Spray). Then section hair into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch pieces and curl with a 1.25" barrel. After your whole head is curled, gently run your fingers it to give movement.

4. NATURAL BEAUTY. Go for glow. Luminous skin is IN. Gone are the days of the matte skin, radiant complexions are all the rage!

How to achieve this look: Remember that you should illuminate or accentuate your cheekbones, brow bones, and the bridge of your nose. Select a color of foundation that has a luminizer in it to make your life easier. Apply with a foundation brush and blend into your own skin. Dust with a translucent powder to seal the look. (Our favorites: Nars Orgasm Illuminator liquid luminizer, Laura Mercier Radiant Creme Colour, and Dior Poudrier Dentelle Illuminating Lace Effect Powder in Rose Dentelle.)

5. LIKE PUTTY "ON" YOUR HANDS. Nail polish is one of the best accessories to top off an outfit, so with that said, say goodbye to the blacks and navy blues, but definitely try Putty, which is a brown/grey tone.

How to achieve this look: A lighter color can replace a french manicure lovers typical fare, where as, olive skin and darker tones can definitely make a statement with this subtle taupe color. (Our favorites: RGB in Toast, OPI in You Don't Know Jacques, and Deborah Lippmann in Waking Up in Vegas)

NYFW REWIND

Last Thursday marked the end of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City and the last time the event will take place in Bryant Park, its home of 17 years.
More than 100 designers showcased their Fall 2010 Ready-To-Wear collections at one of the most talked about fashion weeks in years due, in part, to its somber beginning.

On Feb. 11, the first day of fashion week, the news of British fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s suicide shook the entire fashion industry. Vogue Editor-In-Chief Anna Wintour release a statement calling McQueen “one of the greatest talents of his generation.” Curtains shrouded the glass windows of the McQueen store in New York City and flowers and cards were left lying against its walls by fans. However, the shows did go on.
The first show of the week was BCBG Max Azria showing color-blocked silk dresses, paired with white tights and black platform heels. But the BCBG show hardly set the tone for all the major trends that were to be seen in the days to come.
One of the biggest trends from the fall collections was fur. Real or faux, fur was everywhere from coats, to hats, to shoes. Oscar de la Renta used it as a hem for his vibrant jewel-toned skirts and coats. Thakoon’s coat collars and hoods were lined with it, and J. Mendel used it on just about everything.
While the fall collections were not without an abundance of the season’s traditional dark colors, there were plenty of graphic prints, metallic fabrics and sequins to balance it out.
Proenza Schouler showed pants and shirts with a paint-splattered effect. Peter Som, in his ’70s inspired collection, mixed and matched colors and prints that worked surprisingly well together. Diane von Furstenberg used vivid colors and embellished fabric in one of the more glamorous collections in recent seasons.
The final shows of fashion week were that of Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. Both designers brought their unique takes on American style to the table.
Ralph Lauren showed his classic floral prints and equestrian inspired ensembles but with a bohemian twist. Floor length dresses were paired with masculine coats, multi-colored beaded necklaces and beanies. But the collection was still signature Ralph Lauren with its impeccably tailored separates and whimsical, country club sensibility.
Tommy Hilfiger’s collection was surprisingly more relevant and had a more youthful edge than his recent collections. There were sequined skirts and cuffed leather shorts. This change could be due to the fact that fellow designer Peter Som consulted on the line. But the change in tone seemed to be a positive turn around for the recently lackluster brand.
With the last two shows radiating optimism, change and a sense of looking ahead to the future, New York Fashion Week ended on a better note than which it began. New York Fashion Week will take place again Sept. 9 to 16 at its new venue Lincoln Center.

LIFE IS A BEACH!

Swimwear 2010 takes a new turn, . . .here are some of the hottest swimsuit trends for 2010

FASHION WORLD LOSES AN ICON

PARIS—Provocative British designer Alexander McQueen has died, the company that owns his fashion house said Thursday.

"He has passed away," said a spokeswoman for Gucci Group, part of Paris's retail-to-luxury group PPR SA.

Alexander McQueen at his fall-winter menswear collection in Milan in January.
More on McQueen

* McQueen's Last Tweets
* Twitter Reactions to Designer's Death
* McQueen's Primordial Reveries (10/06/09)
* McQueen's Theatrics Revs Up Audience (03/10/09)
* McQueen Holds (Goth) Court (03/01/08)
* McQueen Pays Tribute to Isabella Blow (10/06/07)

Samantha Garrett, a spokeswoman for the British fashion icon, said the designers body was found at his London home Thursday morning. "We don't have any information in terms of circumstances," she said.

Police didn't directly comment about how Mr. McQueen died, but said the death wasn't being treated as suspicious.

Mr. McQueen was the creative chief behind the brand he founded in the 1990s and sold to Gucci Group in 2000. His dramatic designs, such as reptilian dresses and hoof-like shoes, were met with critical acclaim, yet he struggled to get commercial success.

Mr. McQueen, who was also once the designer for French fashion house Givenchy, was due to present his collection during Paris fashion week less than a month from now.

"McQueen influenced a whole generation of designers. His brilliant imagination knew no bounds as he conjured up collection after collection of extraordinary designs," said Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue. "At one level he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashions shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern day genius whose gothic aesthetic was adopted by women the world over."

Mr. McQueen received his training at London's Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design, long recognized for its fashion-forward approach and encouragement of young designers. He worked for traditional Savile Row tailors Anderson and Sheppard, and Gieves and Hawkes before branching out into his own more theatrical designs.

His edgy creations have been seen on numerous red carpets, worn by celebrities including Lady Gaga, Sandra Bullock and Cameron Diaz.

News of Mr. McQueen's death came as New York fashion week kicked off, sending shock waves through the industry. "Everyone in this tent is shocked," said Cindi Leive, editor in chief of Glamour magazine. "He was obviously incredibly talented and had a creative energy. There was a real sense of energy in everything he did."

Hal Rubenstein, a fashion director for InStyle magazine, said Mr. McQueen started out tough and angry—in his work and attitude—but softened over time as he felt more appreciated by the industry. Mr. McQueen, he added, was a master of integration of technology into fashion. "He changed the way so many of us see shows," Mr. Rubenstein said.

Fashion designer Richard Chai, who learned of the news as he was preparing for his 11 a.m. show at Bryant Park, called Mr. McQueen's death a tragedy. "He was a genius. I really have no words. It is just sad," he said.

The British designer's death comes three years after the suicide of fashion guru Isabella Blow, who helped launch Mr. McQueen's career.