Stocking around Town with Kim Meinelt in Shorts with Fishnets

A hot trend right now is shorts with tights, as the weather fluctuates it is an easy way to layer, add texture and warmth to your summer tights! All around NYC, are women in summer shorts with Black opaque tights. It recently made the New York Magazine Matrix, and to make a correction-the look is shorts with black tights, not shorts with stockings. To say stockings would imply that these women are wearing full on garters under their shorts-tights and stockings are two totally different things. As I talked about in my blog posting about the difference between Tights, Stockings and Hold Ups. 

I am torn whether or not I can pull off this look. On one hand any look that can incorporate my love for tights, is something I am always willing to try. On the other, all the girls I see wearing this look as so HIP-which is a category that I never put myself in.

For today's Stocking Around Town I am featuring Kim Meinelt, the visual concept director at Eileen Fisher; whom I recently worked with on the Eileen Fisher Fashion show with at Columbus Circle.

Uniquely, Kim has paired her shorts with fishnets! Kim has an amazing flair, and why should her shorts and tights be any different!

I am incorporating two posts in one tonight, since I am a week late in posting. I have been totally swamped at work, and tonight/today is the first day I have had to relax!

I'm not a Model and I'm Okay with that! Thanks to Tina Fey and Agent Provocateur Stockings

Early on when I was writing this Blog, I wasn't scared or nervous about posing for the shot. I was confident in my hosiery collection and crazy thoughts that it would translate. Now every time I pose I worry that my nose will look to big, or that my ass will look fat. I have completely crossed over. Its very troubling because I really shouldn't care about these sorts of things. I do because I work the in the advertising and marketing department at Eileen Fisher and I see beautiful models being retouched to look even more beautiful everyday. So yes, I am more self conscious because of it...did I mention the Ford Modeling Agency office's are on the floor below my office? insert height anxiety here.

Then while listing to Tina Fay's audiobook Bossy Pants, I had an epiphany. Tina doesn't mind being photoshopped so either should I! So from now on I am just going to shoot in natural light, make sure I wear purple eyeliner, and have Ethan Stuber photoshop all my shots! Just kidding. I am going to stop worrying so much about how I look, and focus more on being happy in my own skin.

Tina's book is both hysterical and real. Just a story about a girl named Tina from Pennsylvania...

My hold-ups today are from Agent Provocateur, they are a royal purple with seams up the back...Agent Provocateur is a unique shopping experience. The women that work in this store, have the sexiest uniforms and stockings are required. Every time I go in I am temped to fill out an application for a job-just for the uniform.

Talk about being self conscience, you basically have to walk around and work selling Lingerie in Lingerie.

Agent Provocateur sells both Stockings that require a garter belt set; which of course they sell and hold-ups. They sell their own brand and some French brands.

Gray and White lace tights

Lace is a popular look this spring, so why should your legs miss out on all the attention  

This pair of tights I bought at Anthropologie a year ago. I also have them in black. 

They are grey with a printed white lace design. They are very eye-catching, hard to miss especially in contrast to a darker skirt. I have been wearing this skirt a lot lately. Its from H&M. 

I have love to wear full circle skirts with cardigan, it makes me feel like I am a fifties housewife. 

The cardigan is from Eileen Fisher. 

I love adding lace whenever possible to an outfit. 

As far as white tights go, I don't particularly care for them although I do personally own opaque white tights, white fishnets and a few white tights that have a crochet type feel. I will try and integrate them into my summer/spring wardrobe. I also have a pair of Cervin white seamed stockings, I wore for my wedding in 2006. . 

I feel white tights are only appropriate for small girls preparing for their first Holy Communion or for ballet or to wear with a school uniform. 

If you do wear white tights, its important to choose the rest of your outfit wisely. To wear all white, could make you look like a nurse. Pairing it with other neutrals can look both modern and sophisticated. In this grim April month, winter white can be the natural transition to a zesty crisper summer white.

This pair of white lace tights have a light floral motif

This pair of Wolford White Tight, have a Cervon design. 

The Royal Wedding- Preparation for THE spring event-Part 1

As I am sure everyone knows, a Royal Wedding is near. Kate Middleton and Prince William are set to tie the knot on April 29th at Westminster Abbey. I personally tied the knot with another lesser known British Prince 5 years ago this September. The Brits have away of making something that seems so romantic both trivial and exciting at the same time. Simultaneously embracing the wedding with endless media hype and lot's of uncomfortable navel gazing

Apparently Kate Middleton will be wearing Aristoc hosiery on the day of her wedding, which is made in Derbyshire England. Good choice for the future Queen of England, keeping the manufacturing in the sceptered Isle. Aristoc is made by the same company that make Pretty Polly, House of Holland and the PP NYLON's collection.

Liberty's is by far the most exciting shop in London-comparable to Barney's and Bendel's. Liberty of London collection for Target was the British invasion of the year 2010. I, like a lot of New Yorkers, flocked to the Pop Up shop last Spring. There floral patterns are right on point for even this spring.

Lucky for me I didn't get bored of them last season. Every-time I go to London, I go to Liberty to check out both the amazing selection of wallpaper and fabrics and of course Hosiery!!

My top is from the Liberty of London collection for Target 2010, and my tights are from a small boutique in East London circa 2006.

Stocking Around Town with Lydia Kornegay

One of the best aspects of living in New York City is the sheer variety of the way people dress. You can, in just a few minutes, see someone in a complete hipster look, a high end sartorial stance and even someone dressed in newspapers. You never know who that person sitting next to you on the subway is, what they do during the day and who they can become at night.

Where I am currently working, Eileen Fisher, there is a very casual vibe. I guess that is due in part to the clothes that are designed here.  There are a few exceptions and Lydia Kornegay is one of them. Lydia wears both vintage and vintage inspired pieces with flair and allure. Her hosiery collection is both classic and attention-grabbing. Theses beautiful tights she is wearing have a black floral motif with a gray under color. She purchased these at Daffy's a great place to find of the minute trends in Hoisery!

I love the way her shoes and scarf coordinate!

Hunting the Missing Cobra of the Bronx Zoo

We went to the Bronx Zoo this weekend in search of the missing snake. When we arrived we found out that she was found! THANK GOD, because I was very wary of visiting a zoo that had a cobra hiding in some place other than in a contained environment.
I never really liked snakes, but I wouldn't say that I am scared of them. I find them creepy and sneaky...
The Bronx zoo is hosting a competition to name that sly snake that escaped!  Max thinks she should called Slippy

Max and I posing at the Bronz Zoo

I am also using my Thursday Friday Together Bag whenever I can! Its not only stylish and interesting to look at it holds everything! Great for a MOM with style- and a suspicion of snakes!

These are another pair from Nordstroms! I felt these tights were appropriate for the snake hunt! They are a grey slate color with spirals that look like snakes climbing up my legs......


 

Nordstrom has the best Hosiery Department!

Nordstrom hands down has the best hosiery section of any department store.  

Nordstrom has everything from the basics; Spanx, HUE, Orablu and both DKNY and Donna Karen . They also carry their own private label that has some of the best textures patterns that are sometimes equally as great as Europe's Calzedonia. 

At the beginning of each season, I dash to my local Nordstrom and scour both their private label brand and the brand names. Their recent rebranding of their private label packaging is both modern and fresh. 

After my recent visit to the King of Prussia Mall Nordstrom PA, I decided to see what they had for spring. I found a pair of floral leggings similar to a pair of tights I got from Calzedonia spring collection. Usually, Nordstrom private label are made in Italy. This time, the pair I naturally assumed were made in Italy were in fact made in China. 

The fact that they are made in China did not stop me from wanting to purchase the whole range. I did buy 4 pairs, 3 pairs made in China and one pair made in Italy. The quality of some hosiery made in China is not nearly what it is if was made in Italy. I don't know if its the choice of yarn, the dying of the yarn or just the machines that the hosiery is knitted on. But this particular pair was identical to the pair made in Europe. 

This particular pair of black lace floral leggings are right on trend for the Spring 2011 season. A mixture of bold florals with a classic lace. Whenever I wear a bolder tight or legging I am inclined to wear a simple outfit. 

Today, I wanted to wear these leggings as tights, so I paired them with boots to hide the legging aspect.

Now we just need spring to arrive so I can wear my new white lace leggings and 

the rest of the amazing Calzedonia haul Nathan bought me!

Calzedonia for the Eileen Fisher All Store Event

This weekend Eileen Fisher held their annual spring event, a special day of shopping which supports local leadership programs for women and girls.  


Each store/region partners with a local non-profit organization that promotes women's leadership, and solidarity.

10% of the total sales are donated to the organization that the individual store partners with. I attended the store event at the King of Prussia Mall outside of Philadelphia, a location I chose on its close proximity to my parents and one of my favorite old Sephora accounts!

The King Of Prussia Eileen Fisher location partnered with Moving Creations Inc. 

Moving Creation Inc. is an organization that empowers girls and teens in impoverished communities in an arts based education program, to promote social change through rites of passage, by using the performing and creative arts. 

These events are an integral part of the Eileen Fisher culture.  The EF empowering initiatives along with other grants for women owned businesses and other leadership organizations are one of the most inspiring aspects of the Eileen Fisher culture.

Eileen Fisher foundation and the EF company as a whole strives to bring that vision to other young women entrepreneurs and activists. It's a real lesson on how to give back once you've made it, I hope I can do the same thing one day! 

The awsome team at KOP!

A selection of clothes from the spring collection

Sips and Sweets

Moving Creations Inc

For the  Event I decided to wear my favorite Calzedonia leggings, along with a beautiful Eileen Fisher shirt , with two underpinnings a black jersey and my favorite Free People raw hem slip. The juxtaposition between the stylish simplicity of the Eileen Fisher top and the raw edge of the slip compliments the lace insert of the ankle portion of the legging. 

Oh yeah - I wear green now - with Wolford Hold Ups of course!

Every once in a while you need to step out of your comfort zone.  Today, I am wearing green. Other than on Saint Patrick's Day green is not in my normal rotation. So when Loretta gave me this beautiful underpinning that she found at the sample sale at work, I was a little nervous. Loretta is awsome by the way!! So, despite my insecurity in wearing a color other then black, purple or grey I decided to give it a shot. My decision was made even easier by donning a pair of my favorite Wolford Hold-Ups!

I get more complements on this pair of Wolford Hold-Ups then any other piece of hosiery in my collection.  I love the geometric pattern, they look like old tin ceiling tiles.

Max wanted to wear Green too!

My complete Eileen Fisher ensemble are all pieces from the various sample sales at work.

Pretty Polly-House of Holland Bandanna Knee Tights!

These fabulous House of Holland Bandana Knee tights are perfect for a snowy March day! When I first woke up this morning I was surprised at the inch of snow that had dusted the ground just as spring has arrived. My thoughts immediately went to the Daffodils in my front garden and if they would be able to stand up to the weather.

Many of the House of Holland collection feature a "bandana detail".  I love the bandana knee detail, it reminds me of  Dexy's Midnight Runner's "Come on Eileen" music video. Then after viewing the music video several times along with A-Ha Take on Me and having a mini dance party, I completely got distracted from the point of my blog posting. Needless to say in the "Come on Eileen" music video they do not wear the bandanas around their knees only around their necks. I do remember putting bandanas every where, when I was a kid in the 80's just like Punky Brewster who did in fact wear them around her knees.

So today's outfit and tights pairing was a Punky Brewster throwback- 

Complete with bandanas around the knee!

Stocking Around Town-Corinn

To continue my series of "Stocking Around Town"- I feature my co-worker Corinn Tesssitore. Corinn is the Video and Photo Producer at Eileen Fisher, she is spunky and energetic just like her tights! Corinn is wearing a plaid shirt with a pair of striped black tights. No that isn't too many patterns, she breaks up the patterns with a simple skirt and the vertical lines in the tights compliment the direction of the plaid in her shirt. Her tights are from Macy's, and are the perfect alternative to sheer black tights!

Monoprix Collant

In France there is an amazing selection of Hosiery- From Galeries Lafayette to Monoprix. French women wear hosiery even in the summer.  There are boutiques that house fantastic French brands like Gerbe and Cervin and small boutiques with selections of hosiery that are eclectic, and full of surprises. I could spend a lifetime in the backstreets of Paris turning up new finds.

Monoprix is a SUPERmarket! - Think Target with style. They have everything from a vast selection of Yogurts and other grocery's- children's clothes and yes hosiery! Monoprix is always on point of the trends of the season, and their hosiery is no exception. The color of the hold-ups below are purple fishnets, I know I said I don't wear fishnets but purple ones I can make an exception for. They always have fishnets in the current trend colors, and in both hold-ups and tights. They are only around 8 Euro's so I bought two pairs of both.  They have trendy leggings and basics like opaque black and neutral skin tones. After spending close to 100 Euros I had to make my way over the cookie aisle and buy my favorites-  Lotus Speculoos and a bottle of wine that didn't cost more than 4 Euros and finally a shirt for Max, because they have the cutest kids clothes. This was the least expensive hosiery buy of the trip.

The combination of purple fishnets, black mini and combat style boots make me feel like it's 1997, with the exception of my very grown up Eileen Fisher sweater that I bought at the sample sale at work. I was going to attempt to wear one grey fishnet hold up and one purple, but my conservative nature got the better of me. So in the mean time I will have to conjure up another outfit for my grey fishnet hold-ups. 

My day with Eileen Fisher

Today, I had the great pleasure of making a presentation to Eileen Fisher herself. She is as you would imagine, graceful, collected and completly witty! It was amazing pleasure to meet someone whose company histroy has always inspired me. As I continue on my journey on getting my store from a concept to reality, I will always keep in the back of my mind how Eileen Fisher got her start!

Today's hold-ups are another new pair from my Calzedonia, I paired them with a simple black skirt and black tee. The crinoline is from Anthropologie and adds a little body to my simple skirt.

I also am including a photo of the amazing flowers that Nathan bought me for Valentine's Day.

WSJ Article-What your Legs are Saying about You

I stumbled upon this article in the WSJ today on FISHnet which is the Intranet where I work. The article "What Your Legs Say About You"is basically my blog in a nutshell, minus me. The article was totally encouraging packed with a ton of fun facts about what to expect for Spring 11 hosiery and how Fall 11 is going to be HUGE for hosiery. Not that I needed any validation from the fashion industry on this, I love all things hosiery after all. 

"What Your Legs Say About You", also discusses where to wear hosiery, and what is suitable for different types of work environments. I know one of the main reasons I started wearing funky hosiery was because of a dress code I had to wear at work. When I worked for M.A.C we were required to wear all black. So I would wear funky tights etc to jazz up my outfit and it stuck. It became my thing. I felt proud and totally indulged my habit. There was one down side which was also touched on in the article. That some hosiery styles can be labeled as "Gothic". 

I do want to point out a common misconception about hosiery being the "Goth" accessory. I honestly hate that connotation. Hosiery, yes, is worn by all sorts of people, which includes Goth's but it was once also the staple of every woman's wardrobe. I feel it pulls an outfit together that adds a layer of creativity mixed with sophistication. Also, in Europe its totally normal for someone in any sort of profession to wear a great patterned hosiery and just because you like something that happens to be different there is no reason to have to give it a label. 

I found this little matrix fun that was also in the WSJ article "What your Legs say about You"

After all of that, I would like to talk about my outfit and hosiery pick of the day. These are my absolute favorite pair of tights. They are from Wolford, the creme da la creme, at least here in the states since other great brands are not so available. I work in a fairly causal office as far as the fashion industry goes. 

I work at the Creative Center of Eileen Fisher. There we have every sort of style, which is great. You can really just be yourself and not worry about the label. Most people wear Eileen Fisher, but its not required. Eileen Fisher has had a reputation about being only for woman of a certain age, but in recent years they have crossed all barriers at least in my opinion and there current collection has something for the loyal Eileen Fisher client as well as the new Eileen Fisher client. 

These tights were a great find. Wolford has amazing quality, but patterns and styles have not been my taste the last few seasons.  I do however have a few pairs on my wish list, but at $55.00+ a pair 

I will have to wait till the end of the season... 

*as a little tip-you can sometimes find these at places like Tj Maxx. I saw these particualr tights at Bergdorf Goodman and even with my employee discount I had at the time I still had to pass them up.

 I later found them at Tj Maxx for $19.99. Which made it easier to buy them in both colors!*