Fake Purses…Brilliant? or Busted?

I went shopping in Chinatown this past weekend for fake (but real) looking purses. My friend had gone there the previous week and said that they had great deals. I decided to check it out for myself. After browsing shady (and by shady, I mean REALLY shady) stores….left empty handed. I did leave Chinatown with a handful of knowledge and a great experience.

First off, the “good” fakes aren’t anywhere you can see. (I use the term ‘good’ loosely because they really aren’t that great). You get pulled into a store into a hidden passageway where you are crammed into a small hidden room in the back with the designer fakes. Either that, or you follow someone down a deserted street into a basement 2 floors down to look at the purses. I did both. All the purses are the same. In my opinion they were bad fakes and I would never buy one. The leather looks fake, the straps are unrealistic and obviously not even close to the real thing.

But then I realized.. is it quality or quantity?

Chicks with Kicks (and guys too!)

Lately, I’ve been feeling like I don’t want to wear heels, boots or anything remotely dressed up. I like kicks and who doesn’t? With this unpredictible weather, they are perfect for having to sprint to the subway when it starts pouring, or allow you to walk for miles in the nice (eh.. sorta nice) weather. Here are two of my favorite… one pair for guys and one for girls. Check ‘em out!

skull stencils

Being able to say that you have a one of a kind T-shirt is well worth buying these stencils pre-made and pre-designed to do just that! You can make endless shirt, sweatshirts, etc. These are available at Urban Outfitters. In fact you can go wild and stencil you wall….bed sheets….towels…. you get the point!

Vintage for real.

So you know how you can go to tons of stores and find vintage “inspired” shirts? Well this shirt, it actually vintage and it comes from a great site, MPVintage.com with a ton of other vintage clothes. The best part is that they carry everything from clothes and accessories to housewares and handmade cards!

golden shoes!

Ok… so how awesome are these shoes? They are from Bebe and they are just fabulous. If you know me, you know that I’m addicted to gold, especially golden shoes!

Posers? or the Real Deal?

In honor of Haute Couture Week in Paris, I decided to put up this video. Fashion or Faux? You decide for yourself….

Pretty much the best deal ever. EVER.

Headbands are so great because they can really pull an entire look together. This headband is especially great because of all the cool trinkets on it.

And, here’s the even better part: a little bird told me that in the Urban Outfitter store, its on sale for……$1.99. Yes people, $1.99. You really can’t go wrong with that - that’s cheaper than a coffee!!!!

Social T, not just another T-Shirt!

So… I have come to the conclusion that T-shirt subscriptions are the new magazine subscriptions. Social – T is awesome because you buy a month to month subscription which means you can pay monthly as well!!! Ane each shirt comes with an insipration box on the hem which tells the inspiration behind the design and artist comments / info.

Basically this is a great deal. I think this would make a great present for someone.. even yourself because its an unexpected gift every month. And let’s face it, who doesn’t like to get suprise gifts?

Thanks Kaipo for reaching out to us and letting the readers know about this fantastic subscription!

Although chloe handbags are known for their resemblance to dooney and bourke handbag, they sell more, even more than louis vuitton handbags. They are topped by none other than guess handbags whose motto is sell handbags now.

Crooked Monkey strikes again! (Save 20%!!!)

Ok, so I gave you a day to check out the cool shirts on Crooked Monkey. Now you saw what you liked and it’s time to buy!

Crooked Monkey wanted to give all you Urban Updater readers special discount promo code! Woohoo!!! Type in the word “BlogsRule” for a 20% discount!

And you can thank Micha at Crooked Monkey for letting us know! THANKS!

I love art and I am always looking for great art… which is one of the reasons why I was stoked when I got this email about Andyland!

Andyland is a new online gallery shop that features affordable contemporary art by cutting edge Scandanavian illustrators. After browsing the site, I found that the art is very eye catching and they feature a wide variety of different styles! One of the cool things about this art is that each piece is numbered on the front and signed with an enclosed certificate… AND the editions never exceed 100, so you are guaranteed a rare piece of artwork!

(Many Thanks to Ulrika and Alexandra at Andyland for letting us in on this secret!)

And they can float above the grass…. in circles if they tried.

This album came out yesterday. Amazing. Check it out for yourself.

Let’s call this the comeback.

Bangles are about to make a comeback. Well… just as soon as the weather allows us to wear summer clothes. These beautiful bangles are from Urban Outfitters… crafted with much detail and just a perfect addition to any outfit. Needless to say, bangles are just fun to wear!

Its more fun with a monkey on your back!

This just in from one of our readers.…. Crooked Monkey T Shirts! This company was started merely 1 and a half years ago and now has just been picked up by its 400th boutique!!! (Way to go!!!!) Check out their website and I guarantee you’ll find something you’ll love. These supersoft vintage shirts are hilarious, but best of all, they all come with the signature crooked monkey on the back!!!

Thanks Micha for writing in and check back for more cool stuff!

Christian Louboutin loves leopard…

… and so do I! How cute are these shoes?!?!? I LOVE them! Especially the 2nd one with the little bow. Christian Louboutin surely has outdone himself again. Oh and don’t forget the red heel and the red soles. It definitely adds some class to this already classic shoe!

the CONSOLE.

You know you love video games — old school style. Let’s take a trip back to Donkey Kong, Contra, Mortal Kombat, Zelda, Pac Man…. and you get this great t-shirt, which I found on defunker.com. By the way, if their styles look similar to Busted Tees (which we all love as well!), its because its run by the same guys.

And best of all, they only make their shirts on American Apparel clothing (vertically intergrated, in case you don’t know.) So check out their site and I guarantee you’ll find something you like there!

Gold is the new black. And clutch is the new purse.

This gold clutch purse has it all. Its designed by Michael Kors and its great for day and night. And we love those things because essentially, its like buying 2 purses. (and by “we” i mean “I”). It has a magnetic closure AND a zipper for extra security!!

What’s hot?

This is.

Men in designer jeans?

I have a friend that still wears his jeans from the 1980’s. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but do you think that with the generation of ridiculously expensive designer clothes (and jeans), it has forced even the un-stylish (or those who could care less) to buy into this new fashion statement?

Is it too weird for men to wear designer jeans? I like these True Religion jeans (and this was before Fergie started singing about it). What do you think?

Dress in the City

A little bird told me that dresses are the “it” item for this season. Therefore, I searched and searched and came up with this beautiful and edgy dress designed by Mara Hoffman. If this style looks somewhat familiar, she’s also one of the main designers for Sex and the City. If Carrie Bradshaw can pull it off, so can you!

Thankfully charm bracelets and necklaces & pendants are not half as expensive as wedding rings or today people would have been wearing earrings only.

Nea Jewelry… so elegant, so beautiful!

One of our readers suggested I take a look at her handmade jewelry line and I was pleasantly suprised! The line is called Nea and its all handmade in Montreal, Canada. And you know, I love handmade stuff because no 2 pieces are alike.

I browsed their site, which features beautiful and unique earrings, pins, necklaces and more, in tons of different colors, styles and stones, and picked three of my favorite. But to tell you the truth ALL the pieces are so edgy and different from what you find in stores, it was like a breath of fresh air to see this stuff! I instantly fell in love with this jewelry. Its great to dress up a plain outfit and I can guarantee you’d have someone stop you on the street if you wore one of these. You can check out the website http://nea.fonetik.ca … and be sure to tell them who sent you!

Thanks Janick for the tip!