It was a truly “un-S.F.” moment. A line of stylish guests gussied up in cocktail dresses, platforms, and trim-cut suits snaked down the block as a stern bouncer dressed in all black held back impatient line-jumpers from storming their way through the glass doors–at 6:30 p.m. “One in, one out,” he barked. “No exceptions.”
Photos by Nerissa Pacio Itchon, unless otherwise noted.
It’s not every day that a San Francisco fashion event draws the special breed of stylish male shoppers who probably know the difference between a three-fold versus a four-fold silk grenadine tie or perhaps the finer points of construction of a Goodyear welt wingtip oxford.
Scenes from the Men’s Styleforum 10-year anniversary event at the W Hotel. Handmade ties by San Francisco fashion newcomer Louis Walton. All photos by Edric Itchon.
But at the premiere fashion showcase last month celebrating the 10th anniversary of Styleforum, an online fashion community for men, more than 300 dapper guests turned out at the W Hotel for bespoke suit fittings, complimentary shoe shines and an opportunity to peruse 15 local and national vendors specializing in quality menswear.
Despite the pending change of seasons and sunnier skies ahead, my hands and cuticles seem to be perpetually stuck with the winter blues. Rough and dry from my obsessive hand-washing habit and battered from my constant tapping on the keyboard, my dehydrated digits could use some serious TLC.
Laline’s Dead Sea Salt scrubs. All photos by Alex Akamine.
Laline’s Beauty and the Beach Summer Kick-Off event in San Francisco couldn’t have come at a better time, if only to introduce me to the boutique brand’s signature Dead Sea Salt Body Scrub—now my go-to product for soothing parched and flaky skin.
Courtesy of San Francisco Fashion Film Festival. Design by Alice Lam.
San Francisco is adding yet another notch to its fashion-cred belt this spring, thanks to local style bloggers Adelle McElveen (Fashionista Lab), Kimara Mitchell Stokes (J’adore Couture), and Annie Wilson (Poetic and Chic), who co-founded the inaugural San Francisco Fashion Film Festival launching March 25 and running through April 8.
Today’s the first morning I’ve had all week to really sit down, look at all the images my husband Edric and I have been taking…and write. I needed to pull out for an hour and get some kind of semblance of my normal routine in San Francisco, so I went for a long run in Central Park, grabbed a breakfast sandwich at a liquor-store-deli after, (which had a line out the door–so I figured it must be cheap and/or good!), and stopped for a Starbucks iced coffee (it’s pushing 80 degrees with high humidity).
A view from my run this morning through Central Park.
Tracy Reese was the first show I attended this week at the Lincoln Center Theater, and it happened to fall on 9/11. I was curious to see what might be in store for the 10th anniversary of the tragedy in the U.S. city hit the hardest.
Sunflower print blouse, cropped high-waisted pant, and mustard anorak by Tracy Reese. Photography by Edric Itchon.
Inside the new Levi Strauss & Co. "neighborhood store" in Telegraph Hill, inside the SF retailer's world headquarters. All photos by Edric Itchon.
Did you know that a chic, new Levi Strauss store opened at the sprawling Levi’s headquarters in Telegraph Hill? Apparently the word’s still getting out, and to help garner some buzz for the eight-month-old boutique-concept store, the folks at Levi’s threw a swanky soiree at the shop last night for friends and media.
I’m typically the one asking the questions. So when friend and SF publicist Donna Berry Glass asked me to be interviewed for Landis Communications’ “Meet the Media” feature, I was reminded of the challenge of being on the flip side. It turned out to be a fun exercise– and a jog down memory lane of some of my most hilarious, not to mention unconventional, fashion interviews. Here’s the mini Q&A that published yesterday. (Thanks Donna … and Landis!)
William and Kate's balcony kiss seals the deal at Buckingham Palace. Courtesy of The Daily Beast.
Clearly, I underestimated my appetite for the whole royal wedding bonanza. Knackered as I was walking to work downtown yesterday, I passed by Fog City’s newsstand, brimming with Will and Kate covers, which immediately caught my attention.
Courtesy of Nylon
Happy New Year! A lot has happened since the holidays that I’m excited about–one of those things being the hire of my former intern Caitlin Smith as one of the new assistant editors at Nylon magazine. (You may remember her as the last style profile I included here for my December “My Favorite Outfit” feature.) She literally packed up her bags and moved her life to New York this week, and I couldn’t be happier for her. Be sure to pick up a copy of the March book and look out for Caitlin’s name on the masthead. She’s one to watch in the industry as her career progresses. Congrats Caitlin!
Nerissa's Notebook 