I’m so excited to be getting married on March 15, 2009–only a few months away!

I’ve been working like crazy to plan, organize and pull the event together, but one detail that seems to be difficult to wrap up is what shoes the bridesmaids will wear with their dress. I have five of my best friends and family serving as bridesmaids, and I’m so excited to see them in their vintage-inspired dresses with retro headbands/hair pieces.

But what shoes should they wear?

Here’s the bridesmaid dress:

It’s from David’s Bridal, and is fairly affordable, which is good since several of my bridesmaids are still in college. I love the retro styling. If you are interested in this bridesmaid dress, order it soon! According to a salesperson at my local David’s Bridal store, they are discontinuing this dress momentarily because it was a “trend piece,” the likes of which they bring in seasonally.

The bridesmaids are going to wear a navy ribbon around their waist, tied into a bow in the back.

I’m not going to go all bridezilla and tell them how to do their hair, but I do want vintage headbands and hair pieces (jeweled, perhaps) to give more of a retro flair.

Here are some shoes I’ve considered thus far:

Which ones do you like? Do you have any suggestions?

I’m looking for retro-inspired cream heels, but I’m open to gray, bone or off-white colored shoes as well. It’s March, so closed-toe or peep-toe is preferable.

Thanks for the help!

Halloween is possibly the holiday with the tackiest decorations there is, and I mean that in the best possible way! Surrounded by fake spider webs, rattling plastic skeletons, trembling paper ghosts, inflatable haunted houses, molding jack-o-lanterns, and skulls with glowing eyes it is hard to not get pulled in and surrender to the season of somewhat-bad-taste.

Here are some of my picks for this Halloween, trying to walk the fine line of wacky, tacky, and tasty. If it’s too late for this year’s party, you might be able to pick up end-of-season bargains for next year’s bash!

Trick or treat?

From top left: skull candles, Murano Alzate deep black glassware, Skull cocktail shaker and glass, bleeding candles, skeleton yard flamingos, and bone soaps.

From top left: Haunted Chocolate Castle, Bat-suckers with glow sticks, Costume Kid Cookies, Chocolate Skulls, and Chocolate Coffins.

Has the “It” Shoe replaced the “It” Bag? According to journalist Hadley Freeman it has, as evidenced by the crazy high heels (we’re talking about 6-to-8-inch stilettos) that scuffed up the catwalks in New York, London, Milan and Paris.

But I say it’s all about the “It” Accessory. With the economy going to pot, it’s all about using one or two amazing statement accessories to add new flavor to your favorite, broken-in pair of jeans or a “this old thing” dress.

Will you be buying a pair of “It Shoes” like the pair featured above for this season? Or are you with me on sticking with accessories?

Every once in awhile, something pops up on StyleFeeder that makes our staff stop and comment “I really didn’t know there was a market for that”.

This is one of those times:

We were especially surprised to find these so-called “crotch drop leggings” on Karmaloop, which we generally respect as a fun fashion source.

So maybe we’re missing something here…are there occasions when dropped crotch leggings are appropriate attire?

Perhaps, for Halloween, you’re looking to dress as an 80s version of Mr. Tumnus from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe?

Pregnant and worried about not making it to the hospital in time?

I’m totally serious here, I need to know.

I am one of those women who just doesn’t like to go out for the evening in dresses or skirts. Especially if I am going to a bar, pub, club, or concert. I like to dance, move around, sling my leg over barstools, all without having a dress or skirt hindering my movement.

What do I wear you ask? I go for comfort, creating a dressy casual, modern look.

I may wear a shirt like this one:

With these jeans:

And these very funky, cool, heels:

Get the whole scoop »

You can get a lot of style for very little cash, and thank god, because with the current economy, thinking like a frugal fashionista is a big plus.

Check out these 14 hip and stylish winter coats.

My new shopping mantra is no more black, but I couldn’t resist this luxe coat from Target (1). Love the detachable fur collar. This classy wool jacket is also from Target, and is more appropriate for an evening date or for a working woman (2).

A bit more pricey, but exceedingly stylish is this mustard yellow bow-accented coat from J. Crew (3).

For a pop of color, this Forever 21 coat is great, but not too practical. I’d wear this for a date or with an evening dress (4).

DELiAs actually has exceptional coats this year, if you do a bit of digging. The military coat buttons on this navy jacket are what really drew me to it (5).

If you want a more feminine silhouette, try this pink Isaac Mizrahi for Target jacket (6).

This bright, bold fuschia jacket from DELiAs is warm and practical, but not boring (7).

Forever 21 has this genius, vintage-looking faux leopard coat. I’d wear this with very quirky and vintage-inspired pieces: dark/gray tights, a bright-colored dress and maybe high-heeled oxfords? (8). This shorter jacket from Forever 21 is good for a boots/jeans/scarf day, when it’s too cold to dress up (9).

ASOS’s Kylie Minogue-inspired jacket looks almost like a dress. So pretty (10).

I love plaid, and Nordstrom’s bomber jacket with a great black, gray and white print is chic and practical (11).

My absolute favorite coat of the bunch is this bold plaid version by Forever 21 (12).

The most inventive style here is this plaid coat from Urban Outfitters: see the drawstring hemline? (13).

Last but not least is this classic and sexy maroon coat from Urban Outfitters (14).

Take your pick: which coat is your favorite?

Cheers, people!! I know it’s been foreva since I posted, but now that Project Runway’s 5th season is over, I can breathe again – and make up for my absence with a little Runway dish. As many of you diehard fans know, the finale was shot in the Bluefly offices so we got to pilfer from the production’s craft services table, bump into Suede and Jerell in the halls, and meet Tim Gunn(!!). My colleague Mindy Dorf got to get all the goss since she was tasked with helping the finalists pick the right shoes for their collections! You have to read Mindy’s blog post.

You’ve seen the iPhone commercials… who hasn’t? The thing that kind of makes me mad is that they don’t really show how you can use the iPhone from a woman’s point of view. Men are not the only people that use technology, and it seems that Apple, and other retailers, have a real problem seeing that.

For example, I’ll bet you didn’t know that you could get up-to-the second updates of Style.com directly to your iPhone without visiting their site, or that you could see Chanel’s entire collection in a few seconds. Below, I’ll go through my discovery of some iPhone fashion features, illustrated by images directly from my iPhone.

Style.com iPhone App (Free)

Style.com’s iPhone application is hands down the best iPhone application I have ever used… especially for fashion enthusiasts and bloggers. You can get up-to-the-minute updates, pictures and videos on ever major collection! I’m not kidding… it’s a powerful application, especially indispensable during Fashion Week.

First I downloaded the application to my iPhone from the iTunes Application Store and synced it to my iPhone… it showed up on my home screen (top right corner).

Get the whole scoop »

Colored tights are suddenly stylish again–and I’m scared to death. My comfort zone lies distinctly in the realm of grays, blacks and the occasional–gasp–blue. I envy girls who pull off red and bright cobalt tights. I’m working up the nerve, but sometimes I still feel like a clown when I wear them.

For a style blog I started with my sister, I posted a picture in these teal DKNY tights:

(Above) That’s how they looked on me.

(Above) That’s how they look on the DKNY model.

A good source for colorful tights once you’ve worked up the nerve is We Love Colors. They have a bright blue pair I’ve been checking out.

Are you ready to try colorful tights yet? Have you come up with some great outfit/tights combinations? I’d love to see them!

Regular readers of The Tastemaker Diaries are well aware of my obsessive hatred of scarves. My scorn has risen to a new level with the rise of this season’s version, the so-called scarflette.

My friend Beth drew my attention to this new trend. How could I resist opening an email with the title “Is this the new dickey?” And yes, I believe the insidious scarflette is indeed the latest incarnation of “a false shirt-front - originally known as a detachable bosom”. Check out some examples:

Why do I hate these so much, you ask? Let me count the ways:

Get the whole scoop »