I found it so cool that Lorde danced her way through the VMA’s because she had the flu and, thus, couldn’t sing. What a brave woman!
Entrepreneurs say this is the No. 1 factor in their success. Can you guess what it is?
This is for all you cheese lovers out there.
What a cute and quirky lamp. (Note: I have a thing for owls.)
Does anyone else see “cat ears“?
So much hate on the newsstands. Kinda makes you depressed.
Beautiful girl, you belong in my house. Gorgeous print by Stella Im Hultberg can be purchased on Spoke Art’s website. There’s only 100 copies of these 12″ x 16″ print!
Due to a leak in our kitchen, we are getting the opportunity to completely remodel our kitchen. One day we came home from work and found the whole island removed! I’ve always wanted a very modern but glamorous kitchen – all white with gold handles. Instead of going with Houzz, I decided to try out Laurel & Wolf.
We went with the highest plan, the Signature, which is $249 per room. After providing our “inspiration pics,” I shared Christina Applegate’s kitchen, you get three different room concepts from three different designers. For an extra $100, you get to work with one of the more experienced designers, which we read was well worth it.
We got our three designs back and this one (picture above) is the one that I instantly loved. It’s a ten day process, the designer creates a design board for you and you get to comment on each picture, telling him or her what you love or hate. Then, they fine tune their board.
Now let’s see if we can make this happen!
One of my all-time favorite artists (and presumably yours) is having a blockbuster event at The Broad in Los Angeles! Yayoi Kusama already has one Infinity Room there but now there will be six of them! Yes, six!
The Broad is the only California stop on its six venue North American tour.
The exhibition will be on view from October 21-January 1, and advance tickets for the full run of the show will go on sale September 1. A limited number of same-day standby tickets will be available each day during the run of the exhibition. Mark your calendars, people!
Per The Broad:
“Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors will provide visitors with the unique opportunity to experience six of Kusama’s infinity rooms—the artist’s most iconic kaleidoscopic environments—alongside large-scale installations and key paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the early 1950s to the present, which contextualize the foundational role the concept of infinity has played in the artist’s work over many decades and through diverse media. The exhibition also marks the North American debut of numerous new works by the 88-year-old artist, who is still actively creating in her Tokyo studio. These include large-scale, vibrantly colored paintings and the recently realized infinity room, All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins, 2016, featuring dozens of her signature bright yellow, dotted pumpkins.”
Advance tickets $25 for adults, children 12 and under free. This will be a a must see!!!
I used to be a person who enjoyed the mall experience. Wander around department stores like Bloomingdales or Nordstroms and picking out a thing or two. BUT THEN! I discovered subscription boxes and I was hooked!
You may have heard that Amazon just entered to the game. (You have to be a Prime member.) There, you can select 3 to 15 items of clothes or accessories and you have seven days to decide on whether or not you’ll keep any of them. It’s good for the working women who doesn’t want to spend a lot on work clothes like dresses.
I tried Stich Fix and I just felt like it didn’t fit my personality. The clothes were too bright, didn’t fit and wasn’t up to par in quality. So I turned my attention to two companies in the game: MM.LaFleur and Le Tote.
MM.LaFleur makes polished clothes for the working women. Their prices are a bit high but they’re pretty fashionable despite the fact that they’re clothes for work. I usually just buy one out of the five or six pieces they send me. Their customer service is great, a stylist sends you an email asking you if there’s anything you need. After I try on all my clothes, I jump on my computer to give my feedback about each individual item. This ranges from style (did not fit, does not like the color) to price (too expensive). You have only four days to try on the clothes and then return them in their prepaid mailer. Recently, I got this this jacket called the Woolf. It’s like a stretchy blazer. It has small shoulder pads that give you that extra umph. It’s my new favorite piece of clothing. You can dress it up or down. Today I’m wearing a Skylar Yoo statement tee with it along with black leggings and heels.
The second company I’m buying from is Le Tote. This works like “Netflix.” You pay $49 dollars per month for three items of clothes and two accessories. After you’ve worn their clothes, you can return them for more. Cool thing is that you can keep your items as long as you like but, if you’re like me, you either buy it or you return it soon so you can get the next box. You’re basically paying the monthly fee so why not get the most bang for the buck (variety). It’s important to note that this company lets you “swap” out items and pick them out yourself, rather than have your stylist just send you what they think you want. They’re having a big clearance sale right now if you want to see what they offer. I recently got this blue floral blouse and I loved it enough to buy it.
Shopping will never be the same again! Bye bye department stores. Hello, online subscription boxes!
Wow! Now these are some shoe stopping shoes! Christian Louboutin looks like they’re taking a page out of the playbook of Saint Laurent’s rhinestone boots that was all the rage (especially when Rihanna wore it). Love how these come in a subtle but shimmering blush color, yet they still have their trademark red sole. Of course, these Loubtouin’s are sequins and Saint Laurent’s were made of rhinestones but both are pretty fab!
Designer Mara Hoffman is one of those cool designers I like to keep my eye on. I love her colorful bathing suits and her long dresses. She recently collaborated with Converse to create these ultra-unique shoes. (You know I have a thing for rainbows.) They don’t officially go on sale till August but I found them on Free People’s website today so you can purchase them early, before they run out. They’re actually embroidered shoes! They come in two colors, I prefer this one called Purple Multi.
They’re expected to be shipped out on August 4th.
I was browsing through Moda Operandi when I came across these rainbow colored clothes by New York-based designer Caroline Constas. How stunning is that gathered top with the ruffle skirt? As a person who loves ruffles and rainbows I almost cried when I saw these! (Not really, but it did make me emotional…like buy, buy, buy! But then, no, no, no.) I put these clothes in the, “Really beautiful but too expensive category.” (I should make a board called that on Pinterest!) The gathered top goes for $420. Yeah….no.
I have this theory that the retail industry is currently pushing out the middle market. High end luxury brands with beautiful unique designs will stay in business as will fast fashion brands that rip off the luxury market’s designs. With the rise of Instagram, I think a lot of women love following trend setting style influencers like Aimee Song or Chriselle Lim. I remember after seeing Aimee wear that black and white Self-Portrait blouse, I was like, “Where can I buy that?” The influencers know how to put their outfits together, they look A-MAZING so they amass a legion of fans who want to dress just like them too.
So who are the big losers? Coincidentally, they’re the same ones who built too many physical retail stores. BCBG, Bebe, J.Crew, The Limited, Abercrombie, Guess.
On the luxury end, it’s fun to discover new designers (or at least new to you/me). Browsing by designer, getting to know who they are is interesting too. In this Vogue article I learned that Caroline Constas is known for her off-the-shoulder tops (ok, like everyone) but ones that are “well priced, flattering, and not too flimsy as to pose a wardrobe malfunction risk.” She has a “straightforward signature—classic shirting with a twist.”
The woman is a force! “Constas is also savvy in that her business is vertically integrated, so her patternmakers, sewers, and seamstresses are all in-house. Not only does that maintain high margins, but it means she can be involved in every step of the process, from the size of the buttonholes to buying strategies. ‘Getting my hands in production and sales has been so important,’ she says. ‘I can’t imagine having a label and doing it differently. As a designer, you have a vision for what you think will do well in the market, but it’s great to be in those sales meetings and hear what buyers’ needs actually are. At the end of the day, it’s a business.’
That’s my kind of gal!
P.S. Sorry about the lack of posts! I’ve been swamped with Skylar Yoo, the fashion brand for bold women coming out in mid-October. I’ll try to post more!
For weeks and weeks, I’ve been looking for the perfect girl to represent the Skylar Yoo brand. I can’t put into words who I was looking for, I just hoped and prayed she would appear. It now brings me great pleasure to introduce you to Victoria Peyser, a Ford model. You can see more pictures of her, here, or follow on Instagram, here.
We’re set to shoot at the end of September. Can’t wait to show you the behind-the-scene pics!
Excited to have you on our team, Victoria! We’re so lucky to have found you.
I wanted to give you a guys an update on how the brand, Skylar Yoo, is shaping up. We have 10 solid designs in the pre-production phase, we’re testing out colors to make sure they look exactly right. For photography, I’ve picked out the one that I think has the best experience and the eye. Her name is Karen Rosalie, she worked as the editorial manager for The Chriselle Factor from 2014-2016, leading the brand’s photography and digital content production. She has created strong editorial stories with Chriselle for brands like Viktor & Rolf, Dior, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo. Her work with the Chriselle Factor has been featured on Vogue.com, Elle.com, InStyle magazine & Harpers Bazaar.
Rosalie led me to the model I think we’re going to sign. (That hasn’t been locked in yet so I’ll introduce you to her once that deal is done.)
Because there’s so much to do before the October launch date, I hired a good friend of mine, Kat, to help me part-time. We’re totally on the same page with everything but it’s tough trying to balance friendship with business. That being said, I thought about it a lot (A LOT A LOT), and I think she’s going to help me bring this brand alive!
Yesterday, I broke down a bit because I’m feeling stressed. Excited, yes, but stressed. Will you all love the shirts? How can I be sure? I’m investing so much time and money into this new venture, I just have to hope and pray that I’m on the right track.
Hello, I’m Alice Yoo! I’m founder and CEO of Skylar Yoo, a company dedicated to inspiring and empowering women to be bold. We sell apparel, art prints and accessories to the modern feminist.
In my former life, I was editor-in-chief of the art and culture blog My Modern Met, which I founded back in 2007. I curated and wrote about art, design and photography for more than seven years. (In fact, I published over 7,000 articles which were seen by millions of people worldwide.) I’m also co-author of a book called For Love: 25 Heartwarming Celebrations of Humanity, which is on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
I live in southern California along with my husband and my two toddler boys.
This blog is about what I love, the tough experiences that I’ve learned from, and my journey as a second time entrepreneur. Right now, I’m in the midst of a 365 day challenge, to read one book a day. If you share my passions or want to learn some cool new facts, come along for the ride. I hope to inspire, educate and entertain you!
