I know I’ve made repeated references to how the winners of “America’s Next Top Model” sorta fall off the face of the earth after their win, but Metrostyle is working their hardest to make sure that doesn’t happen.

The younger-women’s catalog and site from parent company Redcats (which also owns Chadwick’s and Woman Within) featured past winners Danielle Evans and Jaslene Gonzalez in its fall campaign, and Gonzalez even appears on the cover of the spring look book. (Those tote bags are cute, too. Especially the turquoise one.)
sammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 1/14/08
The shirt: Long-sleeved premium slim-fit button-down (Gap, 2004)
The pants: Cotton-blend trousers by Co-op, the house brand at Barney’s New York (Barney’s outlet store, Palm Springs, CA, 2005)
The shoes: Black leather lace-ups by Gordon Rush (Last Chance)
The scent: Tom Ford for Men Extreme (which will be in my Great Stuff column this week)

sammit

That’s right — the “adult superstore” at 838 W. Elliot Road, Tempe, has upscaled its merchandise and now carries luxury lingerie like Ascension, Lucy B and even a brand also found in upscale department stores, Le Mystère. Some styles are designed for particular bodies, like full-figure bras by RubyPink, or the ones designed for “augmented women” (read: breast implants) by Le Mystère.

And to make sure you’re wearing the right size no matter what, all staffers at the store have undergone fit training to help customers find the correct fit and right cut and style.

Speaking of Le Mystère … the line will donate $1 from the sale of designated bras through March 31 to the American Heart Association Go Red for Women campaign (with a minimum donation of $200,000). I’m not sure if Fascinations carries any of the five styles — the Tisha (#955), Dream Tisha (#9955), Shameless Strapless (#755), Dream Strapless (#9755) or Carina (#9155), but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

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Aeropostale has enlisted “Jumper” stars Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen, pictured, to promote the Do Something “Teens for Jeans” campaign, which collects clothing for the young homeless and needy.

(Why Aeropostale’s interest? It’s estimated that 1/3 of all homeless people are younger than 18, and the store’s target demo is in the 14- to 17-year-old range.)

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1. Wearing a suit makes people uneasy. Not me, but several people around me.

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One of my sisters is always sending me forwarded e-mails — you know the kind, the ones where you have to scroll down through three screens of “fwd” and comments before you get to the original message. And, save one, every single message is categorized as untrue on Snopes.com, which collects urban legends and reports on their veracity, or lack thereof. (My most recent reply to her consisted solely of the sentence, “WOMAN, YOU’RE KILLING ME!” and a link to the Snopes post that disproved yet another Internet hoax.)

My sister-in-law, however, usually doesn’t forward on such effluvium. And her e-mail, about a woman who got a rash from some discount flip-flops at Wal-Mart, turned out to be … true. (If you don’t like rash-y photos, avert your eyes after the jump.)

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Loving the Lather line: To me, the smell of Vicks VapoRub is like aromatherapy: It relaxes me, maybe because it reminds me of being sick when I was little and having it applied right before going to sleep. (Mmm … sleep.) Sometimes I use white camphor and eucalyptus essential oils (which the labels say are “clarifying,” “purifying” and “invigorating”) in a diffuser to scent the room.

So I was excited to try out Muscle Ease (4.7 ounces, $16), the creamy gel from Lather with camphor, menthol and capsaicin (from chili peppers) designed to — well, it’s called Muscle Ease, people. What do you think it does? Read the rest of this entry »

Wickenburg native Kit Carson, who calls himself “the wildest jewelry designer in the West,” is exhibiting his new collection of jewelry designs at French Designer Jeweler. The show runs indefinitely at the store, 7148 E. Main St., Scottsdale.

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Tonight I tried to make shortbread. It’s the easiest recipe ever, with only three ingredients: flour, butter and sugar. I’ve done it dozens of times, no troubles. But tonight, after a few minutes in the oven it was obvious something had gone horribly wrong. The dough was … bubbling, and not just spreading, but oozing across the pan. “What happened?” I asked my roommate. “This should have been easy.” (My theory: old flour. It turns out my roommate’s bag of flour had a “best-by” date of last January.)

I say this because sometimes a “Project Runway” designer – in this case, Kevin – gets booted not because of consistently bad work, but because of one spectacular flameout. But is he really the one who deserved to go?

And what about those poor girls who were all excited about their prom dresses — “I love it!” — only to hear how the judges excoriate the designs as shoddy, boring or matronly? Do you think they wore those dresses with the same excitement as before the runway show?

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Earnest Sewn jeans for $72 instead of $180. Pumps by Hollywould for $198 instead of $545. Online community Gilt Groupe offers sizable discounts on fashions by selected luxury designers, everyone from Zac Posen to Alessandro Dell-Acqua.

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I have a feeling Victoria Beckham doesn’t care much about being named worst-dressed on Mr. Blackwell’s annual list of celebrity fashion dos and don’ts. She’s got her own line of sunglasses, her own fragrance, the bob that launched a thousand stylists’ scissors and, well, David Beckham as a husband.

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