Hello New York!

My husband and I are moving to NYC. It's exciting. I guess that I will change my profile after we move there, and I am sure that I'll have more to write about. Stay tuned:)

WAIST DOWN - SKIRTS BY MIUCCIA PRADA

I just went to NYC to check out the Prada exhibition in their epicenter - the soho boutique designed by Rem Koolhaas.

In my mind, Miuccia Prada designs the most interesting and beautiful skirts among all fashion designers despite the fact that Prada is a highly commercial brand. She is so consistent that you can count on her every single season to come up with new ideas and new prints.

The exhibition showcases Miuccia's best skirt designs from1988 to 2006. Some skirts are hung in store spinning to accentuate the shadow prints, and some are attached to the same piece of material like a camouflage. The collection includes the lip print skirt from 2000 as well as several popular skirts from the successful FW04 season (my favorite Prada season).

Most of the skirts are going to be reproduced for sale, but the amount is limited to three per style (the lip print skirt is not reproduced though). Part of the proceeds will be donated to charity, but $6,000 per skirt appears to be very steep to a regular consumer like me.Like all exhibitions in museums, this skirt event also hands out brochures and pins. The brochures have all skirts printed chronologically with a store floor plan and section at the back. The pin collection, at the same time, includes the most famous Prada skirt designs printed. Both items are free.There are also three styles of Tshirts with skirt prints on sale ($75 each): the green shadow skirt from FW04 season, the lip print skirt from 2000, and the blue/red print skirt from SS05 season. Another interesting item is a book with all skirt designs, inspirations, and material information. It's a must have piece for a design book junkie like me.

Overall, it is a cute exhibition. My only complaints is that all skirts are blended with the current spring collection through the store, so it’s not very easy to follow if your only objective is to look at the skirts. All the goodies coming with the collection are great add-ons, and I appreciate those details.

Dior Gaucho pumps & tips to make heels comfy

I was so amazed by the details on the pumps when I saw them on runway. Months later, here they are on my coffee table.

They are comfortable shoes, but it takes some tricks to make them the shoes to wear shopping for hours. Those are the things I always add on:

1. Power soles. Leather sole can't take much walking, and a layer of rubber takes them long way. Most of the shoe repair shops do that for you, but you need to ask for beige rubber sole if the shoes are in lighter shades.

2. Pads on forefeet. They reduce the impact on the ball of the feet. You can find them pharmacies such as CVS.

3. Pads on the back of the pumps. Pumps tend to slip on your heels, especially when they are slightly large. The little pads at the back of the pumps will secure the heels and avoid blisters.

All those "add ons" will cost about $30, but the return is priceless.

The only jacket in this world

Yes, my jacket is the ONLY one, which surprises me and amazes me so much.

After months of waiting, my Balenciaga jacket finally arrived.

I fell in love with this jacket right away when it was shown on Balenciaga's '06 spring runway show. It was such an amazing collection which melts Baroque and Rock & Roll together in an extremely architectural way. I knew that it was THE jacket people see once a life time, and I had to have it.

I even put deposit to order the jacket I wanted. They only produced a couple of the variations showed on runway, but I wanted different combination of colors and details. The special order service got me the exact jacket I wanted, just for me:)

I didn't pose. Imagine Jing as a clothes rack in those pictures. I want you to see how the jacket fits and how the details look. I guess that I would wear that outfit to a nice dinner, or to a nice Rock & Roll concert. That is an evening look, and indeed it is so me, the single Jing with all those rebellious ideas and the Jing who rarely followed norms.

I wore the jacket out shopping today. I dressed it down with white corduroy(my husband got eliminated in a spelling bee contest because of this word) pants and a light grey tissue T-shirt under. I also tried a look last night with the Balenciaga tank under but pairing with a flowy schiffon skirt and killer heels. That would be the outfit worn at my birthday dinner with Mr. Jing, and maybe a dance after.

Life changes, but a jacket like this will follow me for the years to come.

Devil in Balenciaga

I just received a phone call that my Balenciaga jacket arrived! I can't wait to put it on me! It's been 5 months sinced I ordered it...and I hope that it's worth the wait. I'll also go to Louis Boston on my way home to pick up the black tank with the print:"Devil in Balenciaga".
Wait for my updates;-)

Balenciaga FW '06 - Skyrocketing price v.s. a semi-couture collection

Nicholas Ghesquiere is officially my favorite designer after another solid collection showed in Paris a couple of weeks ago. The Balenciaga FW 06 collection is the fruit of his research on Cristobal Balenciaga's archives, and it showed Nicholas' modern interpretation of Balenciaga women.

After appreciating the looks for weeks, now it's time for us to face the reality and see how much those semi-couture pieces cost. I will list some looks and the prices below...honestly I am itchy on some of them but I am not sure if the prices are justified compared with the spring '06 collection. Let me know what you think.

Look #11

Jacket $2,995 (double sided); Top $2,675; Skirt $1,285

Look #14

Top $1,160; Pants $890 (Satin lined wool pants)

Look #15 $1,650 (one piece)

Look #18

Jacket $1,975

top $1,685

Look #23 $15,000 (!!!) - the material is specially made for Balenciaga

Look #24 $2,919

Look #25 $4,700

Look #32 $990

Look #35 $4,375

Look #37 $4,695

Barneys New York's Boston store is open!

The store is renovated from an old movie theatre and they take advantage of the existing structure to introduce sky light to the two-floor space. The entire store was full of sun light on this sunny Friday.

I checked out the store during lunch hour. I am very impressed. For the past years I have shopped in the New York store for many times (including calling them for certain items that I couldn't find elsewhere). Now, the store in Boston will totally save my to New York. The first floor looks like a fashion museum. It features Rochas, Alaia (!!!), Ann Demeulemeester, Lanvin, Rick Owens, Martin Margiela (line 1 and line 4), Yohji Yamamoto, Junya Watanabe, Tao, Comme des Garcons, and so on. They are the most original designers in this world but not covered by adjacent Saks or Neiman Marcus for a long period of time (what a shame!). I also have to say that Barney's buyers did a great job to pick the most gorgeous pieces from the spring collections.

The men's department and Co-op are located on the second floor. Only a few designers are featured in the Co-op department, but they are the best ones in that tier.

Service is very nice. My SA was very helpful looking for sizes for me, and customers can put things on hold for up to 72 hours. Sales are not pushy, which is consistent with their culture in the New York store.

All in all, I give it 4.5 out of 5. The half point deduction is from the lack of Balenciaga ready-to-wear. I understand that there might be distribution restrictions on that brand, but for a department store like Barneys, the selection is not complete without it.