carrie tucker | ChinaShop

Fashion The Limited Edition Santigold Vans Collaboration

March 1, 2011 - 11:02 am

Vans is no stranger to awesome collabs, but they’ve gone one better with their latest. Longtime Vans-fan and multitalented musician Santigold teamed up with the brand to put her own personal spin on the Tosha Hi. With black perforated leather, removable faux-gold chain accents (wrap ‘em around your wrist if you’re not feeling them on your shoe), interchangeable gold laces, and the sweet bonus of a custom SG gold pin created by jewelry designer Jules Kim of Bijules, they’re a tough-chick twist on a unisex silhouette.

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Fashion Tattoos: From Cutting-Edge to Couture

by Carrie Tucker

February 10, 2011 - 9:35 am

High-fashion thrusts tattoo art onto the runway and into the spotlight

First it was Ari Marcopoulos’s short film “No Way Back” for Yves Saint Laurent men’s spring/summer ‘11 collection, featuring famed tattoo artist Mark Mahoney in action. Then – or perhaps simultaneously – it was tattooist-to-the-fashion-elite Scott Campbell’s SS’11 collaboration with Louis Vuitton, and the accompanying “video diptych” part one and part two.

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Fashion Beyond H&M: The Hottest Scandinavian Designers Right Now

by Carrie Tucker

December 13, 2010 - 11:23 am

It’s really annoying when the fashion industry declares something to be having “a moment” – the implication being that the other 51 weeks out of the year, that “something” has not even entered their minds (like healthy runway models). So let’s not say that Scandinavia is having “a moment;” rather, it’s more like an avalanche of fashion, art, music, and design talent sure to become household names like stereotypical stalwarts H&M, Ikea, Bang & Olufsen, and Abba.

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Fashion Holiday Lacquer: Buyers Guide 2010

by Carrie Tucker

November 29, 2010 - 1:07 pm

Like most anything even vaguely fashion-related, when it comes to nail polish, you’ve got those for whom it’s just a passing pleasure, and then you’ve got the fanatics. They have blogs about nails where they preview the new collections; they line up outside Chanel to get the Khakis. They’ll tell you all about their disappointment in NARS’s failure to bring back Midnight Express in the first round of vintage re-releases, and how ecstatic they are that it’s in this season’s line-up. They talk about “3 Free” and brush strokes and polish brands so indie you wonder if they’re made up.

I, sadly, fall into that latter category. Yes, I’m saying it loud and saying it proud: I am a nail nerd.

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Fashion Housing Works 7th Annual Fashion for Action Event

by Carrie Tucker and Courtney Dudley

November 22, 2010 - 12:44 pm

“Where’s the Marc Jacobs?” a frantic fashionista yelled from across the room, while sockless Thom Browne groupies modeled button-ups and demanded, “Is purple my color?” People were indeed changing in the aisles, despite the available dressing rooms (sample sale habits die hard); at one point we tried to add a fellow shopper’s unattended coat to our pile of wares. Oops! Welcome to the Housing Works 7th annual Fashion for Action sample sale, which kicked off this past weekend in Housing Works’ Chelsea location with cute fashion kids, plenty of booze, and a store full of primo merchandise.

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Art/Design Gallery Levi’s Photo Workshop: 1001 Images

by Carrie Tucker

October 29, 2010 - 11:36 am

They are known as the “photo inept”, identified by the lack of quality images on their blogs/Facebook/Twitpics. iPhone’s Hipstamatic – as well as any simple photo-editing tool – is their best friend. They try to pass off head-chopping as “intentional” and red eyes as “arty”. Beautiful images are a happy accident, akin to winning on a scratch-off lottery ticket.

But novices rejoice – you can hone your skills at the Levi’s Photo Workshop, running now through December 18th. Not just for the individual who salivates over a 1920s Leica Compur, the temporary community space in Manhattan’s Soho is hosting an array of exhibition openings, parties, lectures and educational workshops centered on photography. Vintage cameras, a professional photo studio, and a variety of photo printers (like my fave, the t-shirt screening Zazzle Apparel Printer) are all available for use by pros and amateurs alike – the space is open to everyone. Bumbling photogs, don’t stress – workshop employees are there to help with your gear, set-up, and printing.

Oh, did we mention it’s all free?

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Fashion Not Your Mama’s Flip Flops: Fiel Shoes

by Carrie Tucker

October 5, 2010 - 11:19 am

It’s only a week into fall, and already the cold rain is flooding our subways and frizzing our hair – while you peeps in sunnier, warmer locales still get to kick it in flip-flop weather. Bitter? Not me, nooo, I’m not even thinking of my next beach vacation, where I can wear flip-flops 24/7…if only there were cute, affordable options other than neon-colored Havaianas or sea-horse adorned thongs.

Thank the tanned beach gods for Fiel Shoes. Fiel – a Spanish term meaning “faithful, loyal, and trusted” – was born in 2008 when founder Alice Gu discovered herself shoe-less at a handful of tropical destination weddings. “At the time, there were no leather flip flop options other than designer,” she says. “I ended up wearing my very beat up Havaianas to all the weddings, with dresses by Mayle and Phillip Lim!”

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