“Project Runway” used to be a winter affair, but today Bravo announced will air its fifth and final season of the reality show beginning this July.

Read the rest of this entry »

I may have given Moss Wellness Spa a little grief for the eco-themed spa’s elevator-only entrance, but I can’t say they don’t put their money where their mouth is.

Read the rest of this entry »

I really, really want to like Aldo. The concept of a specialty shoe store that falls somewhere between Payless and Neiman Marcus on the price scale is appealing — but, unfortunately, this shoe is not. And it’s $150.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lather, the skin care store at Kierland Commons shopping center, will throw a party April 18 to celebrate five years in the Valley.

To commemorate the occasion, the store will offer 15% off purchases from 5 to 8 p.m. — so it’s a good excuse to visit the shop if you’ve never been there before to check out everything from slices of geranium facial soap (right) to tubs of cranberry sugar scrub and bottles of lavender soothing baby wash. (And if you *have* been there before, it’s a good excuse to stock up on Mother’s Day gifties.)

The discount will only be available in store, not online. The store is at 15211 N. Kierland Blvd., Phoenix. Information: (480) 483-6633.

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 3/18/08
The sweater: Rough-texture polo by Fred & Howard (Last Chance)
The pants: Wheat-colored low-rise khakis (Old Navy)
The shoes: Loafers by Gordon Rush (Nordstrom, Scottsdale)

sammit

A few weeks ago I went to a neighborhood street fair and alongside all of the art and food vendors was a woman who sold what she calls “Wordles” — funny/punny definitions for new words.

I picked up three, including the one above. (The others were”fornilate,” which means to create a plan to get someone into bed, and “wormfinder,” someone who is consistently unable to find a good mate. And with those three, you get a pretty good glimpse into my psyche.)

The wordles aren’t anything fancy — mine are affixed to corrugated cardboard with a magnet attached — but I think they make cute little touches. Get a hold of the creator via e-mail at this link .

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 3/18/08
The sweater: Rough-texture polo by Fred & Howard (Last Chance)
The pants: Wheat-colored low-rise khakis (Old Navy)
The shoes: Loafers by Gordon Rush (Nordstrom, Scottsdale)

sammit

Back when I wrote this article about a local affiliate of the Parents Television Council, it took me a long time to figure out a way to write something that didn’t make me seethe: It was pretty common knowledge that a majority of the complaints “received” from the PTC were form letters with a spot for a signature and, in the online cases, a handy click-and-send button. A majority were from people who hadn’t even seen the programming in question.

So it made me roll my eyes when I heard the PTC lodged an indecency complaint against a recent episode of “America’s Next Top Model,” in which one of the contestants, Anya, posed for portfolio pictures “nude” on a bed. (You might recall I blogged about the episode here.)

Sure enough, here’s a shot of the click-and-send form about the episode. I love how they also include a handy screen shot “of the most indecent frame” — which allows them to still see the “filth” but feel morally superior because they’ve tagged it with red letters.

Most of the fuss seems to be about full-frontal nudity, which just proves these people need (a) better glasses, and (b) better screeners. Because anyone with half an eye would have seen that Anya was not actually naked during the shoot — she had a flesh-colored thong on. That’s right: No full-frontal. You can even see the line of the garment in the “graphic screen shot.” It’s darker than superpale Anya’s actual skin tone.

Now, am I begrudging these people the right to police the airwaves? Absolutely not: With freedoms come responsibilities, and a little watchdog action never hurt anyone. But who’s going to trust such a lackadaisacal sentry? They can’t even figure out what “naked” is, which shows their powers of observation are severely lacking.

It’s pretty apparent that the gladiator sandal is the shoe of the season. But that’s a pretty all-encompassing phrase — designers are using it to describe everything from the high-heeled sandal by Nicholas Ghesquiere at left to the more Roman-looking sandals at center.

I do of course have some reservations about some of these shoes. First, the higher up the straps go, the stumpier your legs are going to look, as evidenced by this photo of one of the Olsen twins trotting around in a pair. And the effect is even worse if it’s a true flat-soled shoe. And the ones with laces that wend around your legs and end in a tied knot have to be secured so tightly, they tend to leave indentations in your leg or the laces fall down. That’s why I think the most wearable shoes are the shorter styles, like the Yves St. Laurent ones at top right.

Or like this sandal that Kate Moss designed for Topshop. Read the rest of this entry »

I have trouble believing that Bravo’s parent company NBC didn’t want to keep “Project Runway” around, which the producers and new network home Lifetime claim is how they ended up with the fashion-design reality series starting in November.

Indeed, NBC Universal has filed suit saying the Weinstein Co. didn’t allow the network to offer its rights of first refusal before they signed with Lifetime. It would be a major coup for Lifetime. I hope if they keep their hands on the program, they’d agree to broadcast the episodes a bit earlier than Bravo’s viewer-unfriendly 11 p.m. Wednesdays.

What will remain the same, no matter what: Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn have signed on.

Before this week, if you had asked me which was a greater force of devastation in America today, Tyra Banks or the influenza virus, I would have gone wholeheartedly with Miss Banks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, Reba. … I wish I didn’t have to do this to you, but:

You’ve created some seriously ugly shoes.

Read the rest of this entry »