Hey Manolo lovers and Jimmy Chooholics… need your help and input. If you’ve been around The Luxe Mix since the good old days when I first started this, you should recall a post I did about high heels and how to wear them comfortably. This is a topic near and dear to my heart. So near and dear to me that I actually invented my own shoe pad. Mmmmmm Hmmmm, that’s right ladies. I have the perfect solution to all your toe boo boos and foot owwies. I tried pretty much every shoe pad out there to try to make my life at work on heels a little more bearable. I’ve tried everything at the store and a ton more tricks that I had up my sleeve.. until finally one day I said screw it I’m going to make my own shoe pad.

Thanks to Choxie Snoops, who has stepped in like the ever-energetic and superpowered leading lady that she is, we are bringing these foot pads to life! We are just getting ready to soft-launch our first batch of them in a couple weeks.

You can get your very first sample of our shoe pad by filling out 10 quick responses on our Heel Habits Survey. This offer is limited to fill it our quick! We’ll be giving away pads to the first 100 respondents. Please be patient for your shoe pad sample as we will be sending these out when we soft-launch our first batch.

Launch Survey

Thanks for you help and participation. One day soon we will end foot pain for all.

For those US mag readers (is there anyone not included in this population?) who enjoy the guilty pleasure of dissecting and occasionally trashing celebrities and their outfits.. here’s a blog must-read: Couture Candy’s Celebrity Blog.  I have no idea how long it’s been around actually but I found it recently and was immediately hooked.

The format is simple and the posts are dependably consistent…

The Scoop + Celebrity Fashion Photo + Links on Where to Buy

It’s so obvious that celebrities sell clothes better than any multi million dollar advertising campaign could ever live up to. Why don’t more online fashion retailers pick up on this?

Personally, I find sites like this and Frugal-Fashionista so addicting because I love to see how other girls put their outfits together. Getting dressed for events — even if it’s something as mundane as a work day can be something I look forward to and I can really get into about picking out an outfit. At other times though it can be a very grueling and painful task when feeling uninspired. Fashion magazines can provide a little boost at times but celeb photos are a far better source of inspiration. It’s real people putting real pieces together to make a look that is worn out on the real streets. The glossy fashion spreads of Vogue and Bazaar are fun to flip through but who leaves the house looking like that? A yellow feather skirt and patent leather bustier don’t make a complete look for me!

I’m curious about where the in-bound traffic to my blog is coming from so I like to check what Google Search terms are sending people to my blog. Recently, I saw someone had searched "Is Forever21 helping or hurting the fashion industry".

Forever21 Rocks!

In my humble view Forever21 and similar discount (luxe for less, also referred to as "chic n’ cheap") fashion retailers are most definitely HELPING the fashion industry. In the short term higher end fashion designers and retailers are taking a big hit. I remember being in Forever21 one weekend and having to fight the crowds to no end and then walking over to Saks Fifth to find a completely deserted floor — on a Saturday! The reality is that people don’t want to have to pay premium prices to look good. As you know, I don’t believe they should either. Forever21 and discount retailers are turning the fashion industry upside down. What used to be a very elite and segmented market, is now opening up to the masses. Everyone and their Moms’ shop at Forever21. Ok so maybe the Moms need to stay away but they are there! That’s a sign that more stores ought to target mature women’s discount fashion.

Necessary Evil

I must admit that the shady things Forever21 does in terms of knocking off designs and such has to come to a stop… but I think that’s going to take a long time to figure out. In the meantime, it’s going to happen but I think it’s a necessary evil in order for the fashion industry to take a step forward.

What do I mean by a step forward?

Well, I’ve always thought that the fashion industry was one sided — to the point where it’s unhealthy. It bothers me that fashion designers live in their creative worlds and never think twice about who their loyal fans or just a normal consumer is. They design things on their own whim… and do they ever stop to think about what it is that WE want? Do they ever care that the beautiful things they make are friggin unwearable?? Perhaps there are some that do but the most talented designers I’m sure never needed to waste their time and effort on such trivial matters. With the rise of discount fashion, which in turn made fashion accessible to the masses, this placed some of the power back into the consumer’s hands – US! There’s more of us and we have choices. The more consumers of fashion, the larger the industry can grow. The larger the industry, the more competitive the market. I feel all of this will bring about a much healthier and improved fashion industry.

I welcome all thoughts on the topic!

"Luxe" defined by Dictionary.com:

luxury; elegance; sumptuousness: accommodations providing luxe at low rates.

After talking with some people about my blog I realized I have never really defined what "Luxe" and the "Luxe Mix" is all about. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t even sure if the word "Luxe" existed in the English language. I’ve seen it used here and there in fashion magazine and such and I pretty drew my own conclusions of the meaning.

My own take on luxe…

"Luxe" — something that is luxury in style and essence. This is not constrained to luxury goods in my mind. I believe something that looks or feels "luxe" can be regarded or perceived to be luxury and does not necessarily mean it has to cost a lot of money.

The "Luxe Mix" –  a strategy I use in my personal styling. I don’t believe an individual has to spend exorbitant amounts of money to look "luxury."  There are some key goods that I firmly believe require quality investment such as handbags, shoes, certain jewelery and some beauty products. But other than that there’s so much great fashion and lifestyle products that come at incredibly affordable prices these days (see Luxe for Less).  You can see a huge shift in the fashion industry towards what’s referred to as "disposable clothing." Thanks to retailers like Forever21 and H&M, everyone can afford to look great.

I must caveat that my take on fashion and lifestyle goods works for me but wouldn’t suit others — especially my friend who I call "iRobot". iRobot shops much less frequently than me but anytime she makes a purchase it’s a life long purchase and she typically only buys the high end designer goods f’sho!! I on the other hand crave new things all the time. I get sick of things pretty quickly so it doesn’t make economical sense to purchase luxury goods at luxury prices.

So stay tuned to the Luxe Mix as I continue my quest for the life of Luxe without going for broke!

I’ve been following the Nitro:licious blog for the past several months and I’ve come to enjoy her posts. I like the edginess to her style and she covers a wide range of topics across fashion. I even find her restaurant reviews to be helpful and accurate (from the places I’ve been)l! I suppose stylish people just got good taste all around.

Her most recent post was about an outfit she picked out which I really love. It’s totally something I’d wear for myself. I have a black and grey striped dress very similar to this one from Splendid.

Check out my favorite sections of Nitro:licious

Rockin Today (various outfits she’s worn)

Kicks (sneakers)

Vintage Shops (for those in the NYC area)

Restaurant Reviews (for those in the NYC area)

Celeb Fashion

Go there!!
http://www.nitrolicious.com/blog/