Bearded & Tschorn: Mustache merchandise

So far in the marathon of mustache musings, I've forgotten to point out that "Movember" has become a great way of sponsoring brands to reach the tonsorial tribe and support a charitable cause at the same time. As you prepare for your postprandial foray into the retail wilderness, you might want to be aware of the following for the mustache maven or friend of facial hair in your family:

The Urban Demistache: This thick, handsome handlebar looks like it was plucked fresh from a carnival barker. Basic versions of the 2-inch-long mustache are plated pewter available in rose gold, brass gold, gunmetal black or silver for $38, or you can kick it up a notch with topaz, crystals, amethysts or pave crystals for a bit more (up to $98). Order one here through Jan. 1 and the company will donate $8 from the sale to Movember. ($38 to $98).

Dermalogica Shave products: Through the end of Movember, the folks at Dermalogica have pledged a dollar from the sale of each shaving product to the Movember Foundation, which will split the funds between organizations battling prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

Arbitrage mustache cuff links: If you prefer to wear your support on your sleeve instead of your upper lip, check out the 'stache cufflinks. In gold, rose gold, gunmetal and silver ($65). For each pair sold, $20 goes to the Movember efforts.

Giles & Brother by Philip Crangi tiny mustache earrings: The sterling silver ($65) or 14-karat gold vermeil ($78) earrings I mentioned back in October don't benefit the Movember Foundation, but they're worth a mention if you're making a list and checking it twice.

OK, so these two mustache-themed items from Urban Outfitters aren't kicking any money toward charity either, but they could be the perfect stocking stuffers for the handlebar-hosting hipster in your office pool.

Mustache ornament: O tonsorial Tannenbaum! Give your Christmas tree the gift of facial hair with a faux leather handlebar mustache ornament ($8).

Mustache bandages: Cut yourself shaving that upper lip? Cover the carving with the appropriate bandage -- one bearing a mustache graphic design. ($7).

-- Adam Tschorn

Photos, from top: Urban Demistache necklaces ($38). Credit: Demitasse Jewelry. Arbitrage cuff links ($65, shown in gunmetal). Credit: Arbitrage Clothing

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More pursuit of the hirsute from Bearded & Tschorn

Ann Taylor gets a makeover

About a month ago, a friend and I were strolling through the Beverly Center, when to my surprise she requested we make a stop at Ann Taylor.  A present for her grandmother, I assumed, but it wasn’t the case.  She, in a Balenciaga lace bandeau top and Nina Ricci ankle boots, made a beeline for a table of shiny accessories and started trying them on.  Still confused as to why we were in my mom’s favorite shopping destination, I spotted another young lady shopping, wearing beaded moccasin boots and the cover look from the Urban Outfitters catalog.  I knew right then, this was no longer my mother’s Ann Taylor.

Getting a second look at the holiday collection and a sneak peek at spring 2010 Thursday afternoon, I was again impressed and in awe of how different and good the clothes and accessories at Ann Taylor are looking.  Vintage inspired rhinestone baubles, chunky stone necklaces woven with grosgrain ribbon and decadent-looking cocktail rings are the bright spot of their holiday offering -- and everything is priced from $60 to $100, which is a lot of bling for your buck considering the high-shine impact these pieces make.  The dresses are classic and feminine,  simple shifts with bow details at the shoulders, a '40s inspired polkadot dress with side ruching and flirty black cocktail dresses adorned with delicate rhinestones at the waist can look subtle and traditional, but can easily get styled with fun and quirky accessories for an even more youthful look.

Ann Taylor’s facelift is due in part to their new creative director Lisa Axelson, who signed on starting with fall 2009 after creative roles at Club Monaco and Banana Republic.  Axelson has injected a fresh and more youthful feeling into the design of the line, but not to the point where you wouldn’t recognize it (there’s still plenty of ribbon-trimmed cardigans and practical trousers).  Also, look out for their ad campaigns -- Heidi Klum is the “face” for holiday and according to an Ann Taylor rep, the star of their spring campaign will be an even bigger surprise, someone most people wouldn’t have previously associated with the brand at all.

I’m sure the fashionable young ladies I saw perusing the Ann Taylor store at the Beverly Center won’t be the last.  The spring line is chock full of chic, silk trench coats, slim cut blazers and slouchy camp shirts in a color palette of dusty grays, ivory and plum that would suit various wardrobes and budgets.

-- Melissa Magsaysay



Photos: looks and accessories from the Ann Taylor holiday collection/Ann Taylor

Steven Alan’s take on the perfect travel bag

Getting frustrated with schlepping heavy and lopsided luggage through the airport terminal, when all you really want is to look effortlessly chic while traveling just like Angelina Jolie?  (Though come to think of it, I’ve never actually seen her toting around any cumbersome bags.)

Cool, bi-coastal retailer Steven Alan went to Australia to get inspired by the country and the travel experience.  Now he’s in the process of making the perfect bag, based on places he went while Down Under, making sure it’s got all the compartments, straps and reinforced seams he thought would make packing and lugging much easier, not to mention stylish.

He’s still in the sketching and developing phase and welcomes your feedback as to what you’d like to see appear on a perfect bag.  Visit his blog to check out the bag and comment.

The bag is set to hit Steven Alan stores and www.vaustralia.com this January.

-- Melissa Magsaysay

Sketch for the perfect travel bag by Steven Alan

Commune's Community Shop sells locally-made gift ideas, including L'Oeil du Vert scents and Clare Vivier bags

Commune, the design firm behind the Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs, opens its Community Shop this Saturday (Nov. 21) stocking wares made by American artisans, mostly all handmade. Commune also runs an online Community Shop.

The Community Shop is located inside Commune’s studio on Robertson (next door to the Christian Louboutin boutique).

Some of the goods offered are Clare Vivier’s bags, Free City apparel, L'Oeil du Vert scents, Atwater Pottery and Tanya Aguiniga’s jewelry plus Commune’s own houseware collaborations with Heath Ceramics, sculptor Alma Allen and others.

Community Shop plans to open a store at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs in January.

650 N. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 855-9080. 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday or by appointment.

-- Max Padilla

Photos: L'Oeil du Vert Carmot Fragrances; Community Shop logo. Credit: L'Oeil du Vert / Commune

Dana Davis’ pop-up shop attracts major foot traffic

Stores may be closing all over town, but last night Melrose Place got a little love with the opening of Dana Davis’ pop-up store.  The store, which took over the old Lambertson Truex spot, right next to Frederic Fekkai’s new salon, will be open until Dec. 3, selling shoes from Davis’ fall-winter collection. 

Celebrities and socialites, including Anjelica Huston, Paris Hilton, Crystal Lourd, Jerry Bruckheimer, Liane Weintraub and Jamie Tisch, came to support their designer pal and fellow social fixture.  Davis’ mother Barbara was also in attendance before dashing out to attend a concert. 

Davis was inspired to create her line of ultra-comfortable shoes when she was having trouble standing for long periods of time due to foot pain caused by her diabetes.  She and  her family  have raised over $75 million for diabetes research, with the Carousel of Hope ball fund-raiser being founded in her honor. She developed a shoe with an orthotic sole that’s as cushion-y as any Easy Spirit, but far more fashionable.  In fact, Davis has figured out how to increase the heels on pumps to almost 6 inches, while still maintaining the comfort of the built-in orthotic.  Those heels will be offered for spring and are sure to be seen on any celebrity who cares about comfort while walking the red carpet.

The Dana Davis pop-up store is open now until Dec. 3 at 8459 Melrose Place, L.A.
Hours: 11am – 5pm. Closed Sundays and Thanksgiving, Nov. 25 – 29.

-- Melissa Magsaysay

Photos: Top: Anjelica Huston, Barbara Davis and Dana Davis, Bottom: A wall of Davis' shoes/John Shearer Wire Image

IWC keeps a watch on the Galapagos

Swiss watch brand IWC showed its support Wednesday night of the Charles Darwin Foundation’s mission to conserve the Galapagos Islands, with a celeb-studded evening showcasing the photography of Michael Muller.  Large images of the Galapagos and the animals that inhabit the islands were projected on the stark white walls of a hangar at Milk Studios in Hollywood.

Eric Dane and Jason Bateman donned IWC watches while taking in the projected photographs. When IWC North America President Benoit de Clerck announced that the gift bags contained keys -- one of which will open a box with an IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Galapagos at the IWC Beverly Hills boutique --   guests' focus immediately shifted from sea turtles to swag bags to claim their chance for a winning key. 

That’s an early holiday gift for whoever scored the lucky key.

--Melissa Magsaysay

Photo: From left, Benoit de Clerck, Jason Bateman, Federick Martel and Michael Muller. Credit: IWC

Sweet Treats spring up at the Anya Hindmarch store

Culver City-based Platine bakery will be serving up complimentary sweets to nibble while you shop through the store this week, Thursday to Saturday.  Fifteen percent of all Anya Hindmarch purchases made during the two days will go to CoachArt, an organization that provides art and sports training to underprivileged children faced with life-threatening diseases.

Bite-sized pumpkin cheesecakes, apple and pumpkin pie will be made with the help of several children from CoachArt.  When not acting as assistant bakers, they will be decorating tote bags to display around the store. 

Shopping and a satisfied sweet tooth? The holiday season has begun.

Platine Bakery at Anya Hindmarch, Nov. 12-14, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., 118 South Robertson St., Los Angeles, CA (310) 271-9707

--Melissa Magsaysay


Photo: Platine Bakery at Anya Hindmarch/Anya Hindmarch

Louboutin open its doors in West Hollywood

I’ve always loved the stretch of Robertson Boulevard between Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue — the site of cute restaurants, home interior stores and several high-end shops that have popped up in recent years.

And with the new Christian Louboutin boutique kicking off its opening last night with a shopping event complete with champagne foot baths, the block has even more appeal, even if all you are in the market for is a little drooling and window shopping.

The quaint, two-story shop with a charming courtyard filled up quickly Thursday night, with several die-hard Louboutin shoppers and plenty of people who mostly gravitated to the champagne table.  Party guest Renges Fabris donned a sparkly pair of silver Louboutins from last fall, but has already scooped up about seven pairs from this season and was eyeing a pair of hot pink, patent leather heels from the holiday collection.  “They’re like the original Barbie shoes,” Fabris said.

Upstairs, the usually closed-off VIP room was set up to give guests champagne foot baths.  Rose petals and champagne were poured into tubs while ladies had their tootsies pampered.

And as if you needed more décor than the shoes themselves, the shop is filled with fun and unique treasures from Mr. Louboutin's travels, far and near.  A beaded zebra-print chair and a giant white bird statue were hauled in from the Rose Bowl flea market and hand-blown glass bubbles made in Syria hang on the entire stairwell.  The space is one of the largest Louboutin boutiques in the world, modeled after the shop on Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Paris.  Bigger store just means more shoes to love.

Christian Louboutin, 650 N. Robertson Blvd. West Hollywood.

— Melissa Magsaysay

Photos: Christian Louboutin neon sign and a pair of sparkly shoes from the collection/Melissa Magsaysay

Natalia Brilli's jaw-dropping leather accessories

You know you've fallen deeply in love with a fashion item when you dream about owning it. And that's exactly what happened mere hours after I first laid eyes on designer Natalia Brilli's leather accessories at Zainab, a new high-fashion boutique on Melrose Avenue.

Whimsical -- and often comical -- Brilli's jewelry, bags and small leather goods are defined by what can most succinctly be described as leather shrink-wrapping: objects wrapped so tightly in leather, you can distill every bump and curve of the item underneath. 

There are bags dripping with leather-wrapped bones, an eyeglass case sporting leather-wrapped specs and (perhaps Brilli's most inspired piece) the ghostly, futuristic "Nolexes": fake Rolex watches-turned-bracelets that are wrapped in hides and affixed with snap closures ($378).

The stuff of dreams, for sure. 

Natalia Brilli accessories are available at Zainab, 7021 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 930-8951.

--Emili Vesilind

Photo of Natalia Brilli's brilliant "Nolex" bracelet. Courtesy of Natalia Brilli.

This is not your mom's MCM bag from the '80s

As things go with fashion, everything old is new again.  And sometimes that can be a good thing.

This is the case with MCM or (Mode Creation Munich) bags, which we all remember from the '80s — our moms toting around a logo-emblazoned satchel or our cool older sisters tossing the Tambourine bag across her body on the way out to meet a hot date.

Styles have certainly been updated since then, but there's still that old-world feel — as if you’ve had it forever, which seems to make more sense these days rather than splurging on a trendy “It” bag you’ll just want to replace next season. Accessories designer Joy Gryson was tapped to refresh the brand and create a collection of bags, the first of which recently hit Saks Fifth Avenue.  The line continues for spring. Keep your eyes peeled for the Annodare tote, which is a black and white origami-esque leather bag with what looks like a knot twisted on the front. It’s buttery, slouchy and most likely doesn’t look like something you already have.  And if it does, oh well — like that’s ever stopped you before?

MCM is available at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills.

— Melissa Magsaysay

Photo: The Annodare Tote bag/MCM