Wear What When

Of Baguettes, Peep-toes, and Discounted Rompers

Clementine Shoes x La Rousse x Bluebird Sandwich Company = your Thursday night

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Feb 25, 2010 at 06:30AM 0 Comments

A look by Margarita Saplala at La Rousse

In the New World shopping model there are snacks. And multiple stores in one location for your convenience. What’s more: A good-time party atmosphere. Ain’t the recession grand?

Tonight, Thurs Feb 25 from 6 to 9, you’ll get baguette sandwiches, Champagne, shoes, and white hot fall/winter sale deals while shopping at Clementine in West Seattle.

Yep, in addition to Linda Walsh’s collection of artisan-made, so wearable Chie Miharas and those ever on-trend Dolce Vitas, La Rousse owner Amanda Rosenthal (she does love a pop-up) will unpack her otherwise online-only boutique and call to your attention winter styles from Mary Meyer, Rabbit on the Run, Sophomore, and others at more than 50% off.

In the mood for Spring? Who can blame you? La Rousse warm weather looks from Slow and Steady Wins the Race and Margarita Saplala will be on hand as well.

Meanwhile, oh lucky stylish one, you’ll be among the first to sample Parisian-style sandwiches from the new Bluebird Sandwich Company.

Can’t make it on Thursday? The La Rousse pop-up will remain popped-up at Clementine through the end of the month.

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Tags: West Seattle, Fall/Winter Sale, Shoes, New for Spring

Price Range: $100

A special Saucony sneaker makes a sneak attack in Ballard.

Posted by: Chelsea Randall on Feb 18, 2010 at 06:00AM 0 Comments

New series by Chelsea Randall … what’s your price range?

Inspired by a popular graphic novel series, these limited-run Sauconys, exclusive to the Sneakery in Ballard, put a kick in epic mythology and pre-spring hangout nights.

The Lo Pro Red Star sneakers were dreamt up to run right alongside a graphic novel series called The Red Star. The group of stories concerns Military Industrial Sorcery, but … let’s leave that discussion for someone else’s blog.

We like them because there are only 800 pairs. In the world. And the folks in Ballard are the single Northwest retailer carrying them.

While exclusivity typically carries a pretty weighty price tag, these literary, bad-guy-battling runners will only set you back $100.

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You’ve been thinking about some new running shoes, have you? Read Home Runners, in which we direct you to five shops that go the distance.

More of a shoes-for-style-not-speed kinda guy? Try Sneaker Pimps, and get outfitted in sharp, streetwise style.

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Tags: Hamburgers, Shoes, Price Range

Stepping Out

Bellevue Arts Museum shows over a hundred shoes by pioneering designer Beth Levine

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Feb 08, 2010 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum

Slideshow: Beth Levine

View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum

Slideshow: Beth Levine

View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum
View Slideshow » Photo: Courtesy Bellevue Arts Museum

Considering modern designers like Diane von Furstenberg, Stella McCartney, and even Tory Burch, it’s hard to imagine an America that didn’t allow iconic, groundbreaking shoe wear designer Beth Levine to put her own name on the beautifully made souls of her artful pumps.

And in fact, as Bellevue Arts Museum curator Nora Atkinson told me, the designer and her husband Herbert Levine, whose name took Beth’s place there under the arched step of so many stylish women’s feet beginning in the early 50s, they were hesitant to use his when they sent their first shipment to a department store in the south, fearing anti-semitic backlash.

BAM’s Beth Levine show, which opens on February 18 and represents the only such show in this country (can you believe that??), is set to be a personality-driven, architectural heel-studded walk through fashion history that gives way to many conversations about the ownership of ideas and the cultural impact of haute couture and everyday dress in America.

Then again, it should also be really fun just crusing through and imagining wearing all that smart, practical, but completely beautiful design. And then maybe shopping afterward.

Some things to think about before you go:

-Levine was a Lithuanian farmer’s daughter who knew a thing or two about calfskin and animal hides when, at 38 in 1946, she moved to New York to work as a shoe model as a means of getting her … um, foot in the door to become a designer.

-Yeah, you guessed it: The leadership in the male-run factories in those days weren’t interested, until she proved to them that she was bringing ideas, and solutions. And an American design identity — until Levine came along, the shoe industry in the states was based on replicating European looks.

-Beth met Herbert in one of the factories; they opened their own manufacturing operation in ’49. It closed in ’75, though she continued consulting and designing after that.

-Her clients included Jackie O, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Cher, and Nancy Sinatra — Levine is credited with bringing those boots made for walking to haute couture.

-Yes, her sexiest styles would fit a modern day Carrie Bradshaw type, but she had a sense of humor and wild innovation, too. She designed one style lined in an AstroTurf-like material -- she was a farmer’s daughter, don’t forget, and thought everyone needed to feel the “grass” between their toes. Check the slideshow here for more.

-We wouldn’t know as much about Levine without expert and author Helene Verin, who will speak at BAM’s preview party.

-We wouldn’t have access to so many historical perspectives without the help of Seattle-based design legend Sara Little Turnbull, who loaned a dozen or so styles for the show.

Start making plans now to stroll through the exhibit with your most amazingly shod and design-savvy friends — as to whether or not you’ll want to wear your museum-friendly comfortable shoes, I’ll leave that to you.

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Tags: Design, Eastside, Bellevue Arts Museum, Shoes

Sale of the Week: Go West

Savings and reasons to shop in, around, and beyond the West Seattle Junction

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jan 25, 2010 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

Photo: Photo courtesy Capers blog

Have a seat: The Winter sale at Caper’s in West Seattle includes a 30% markdown on all upholstered chairs in-store and by special order

Six reasons* to shop in West Seattle this week:

Caper’s Winter Home Sale is in full swing; check the pillow table where an ample selection of cozy-making, room-updating tossables are offered for $9.99 each. All upholstered furniture is 30% off (in-store models and special orders), and fabric, findings, and gifts are discounted, too.

Edie’s Shoes is donating 20% of all profits from Wednesday January 27 will go to the American Red Cross in support of their Haiti relief

The Fall/Winter sale continues at Clementine; I’d advise checking in on available sizes of these Swedish Hasbeens

More markdowns and discounts at Carmilias; stock up on layering basics from Michael Stars and Three Dots

Take 30-70% off just about everything at Sweetie, including a half-off denim blow-out

Plus, I love love love those Pantone mugs, and the set of ten is on sale for $94 (down from $125) at Click! Design That Fits

If a *seventh reason is needed, c’mon: Spring Hill’s hamburger

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Tags: Fall/Winter Sale, home decor, Shoes