Off the Beaten Path - Landwerlen Leather

As you know, the primary mission of this blog is to alert fellow Indy-ites to pockets of fashion and style, including the "off the beaten path" stuff. In that spirit, I have quite a find for you - Landwerlen Leather.

Longtime readers of this blog (well, all three weeks or so of its existence) will know that I have a love of mid-century Modern design. Believe it or not, Landwerlen is a find for mod lovers. You'd never notice by the look of the place - stuff is literally crammed into every nook and cranny.

I discovered Landwerlen on a quest to have a belt strap made. Landwerlen is primarily a supply store for leather workers, but they will make custom belt straps should you need any. While I was there picking out my strap, out of the corner of my eye I spotted several full cowhides, exactly like the ones sold as rugs by Design Within Reach, the phenomenal bastion of mid-century Modernism.

Here's the greatest part. While DWR sells cowhide rugs for $750, you can get a full hide at Landwerlen for about $250 or so. Prices vary depending on the size and condition of the hide, but they are roughly a third to a half of what you'd pay at DWR.

Of course, I snapped one up. Yee-ha!

Singing the Praises of Fountain Square

So, IndyStyle is considering where to put down more permanent roots, as in buying a house in the spring. I've been literally all over the map - do I want a mid-century modern abode over by Cathedral? Should I stay in a cute bungalow in my current 'hood, Meridian Kessler? Or, should I try to do a little more urban pioneering, and look for something a bit more on the fringe?

After my latest visit to Fountain Square, I'm leaning toward the fringe. If you haven't visited Fountain Square in a while, you really should. There are some fun antique malls that are always worth a look, and the gallery scene is interesting, as well. I need to spend more time perusing the galleries, but Excellent Virtu is an intriguing mix of sort of Goth-inspired art meets Disney villains and scented candles. I also have to do more exploring of the restaurant scene, but Deano's Vino looks like just my type of place.

I just love the vibe of this neighborhood. It feels to me like Bucktown (in Chicago) was about 15 years ago, before the yuppies moved in and MTV completely ruined it by stationing a "Real World" house there. You know, back when artists could still afford to live there and facades still had a bit of grit on them.

I'll be headed to Fountain Square next Saturday, 9/22, for two events happening in the 'hood - Fab for Le$$, which appears to be about how to transform one of the cool old homes down there for not a lot of cash, and the Fountain Square Art Fair. You can be sure I'll give a full report!

In the meantime, check it out for yourselves.

"Simply Vera" Simply Boring

Since one of the services I hope to provide for my readers is weeding through the best and worst of fashion available here in our great city of Indy, yesterday I went on a Kohl's excursion to check out the new "Simply Vera" line by Vera Wang, which arrived on the floor yesterday. Purely for research and reader service, you know.

I'm not typically a Kohl's fan; I'm much more of a Target girl, myself. To me, Kohl's has always felt like L.S. Ayres after they closed the Crystal Room - too much Monet and Liz Claiborne, not enough luxury, edge or style. Plus you can't pick up any cleaning supplies, food, or a flat-screen TV while you're there.

But I was eager to see the much-hyped Simply Vera collection for myself. I've got to tell you, I was utterly underwhelmed. Everything seemed drab and very sack-ish - big, shapeless shifts in tones of grey and muddy purple tones; a short-sleeved car coat that could have been cute if it came with a quality belt or sash besides the strange elastic band; a brocade bubble skirt (at least one nod to a current trend) that hit at just the wrong spot - right under the knee. Bubble skirts need to be short to work.

I also checked out the Simply Vera home stuff, which for now at least appears to just be bedding. That looked pretty cute from afar, but as I got up close and touched it, the material seemed cheap. And the price tag wasn't - I think it was like $350 for Queen bedding. Certainly, Frette it's not; but for that price you could buy multiple Isaac Mizrahi or Simply Shabby Chic ensembles at Target.

Don't worry - intrepid IndyStyle also checked out the Vera jewelry. Again, I recommend taking a pass. It looked to me like the line focused mainly on big, semi-precious stones (like amethyst and blue topaz) set in silver or vermeil, antique-y looking settings. Ok. But again, expensive I thought for what they are - price points in the hundreds for stuff that looks lifted from the QVC TV screen. Disappointing.

It's just the first season, so maybe Simply Vera will hit its stride in future collections. For now, I eagerly await Temperley for Target and - my most anticipated - Roberto Cavalli for H&M.

In Support of Stylists

I've not usually been a fan of stylists. I always thought if I ever become a hot, filthy rich starlet I'd never hire a stylist. The process of shopping and putting together outfits is just too enjoyable for me. I thought stars relying on stylists were taking the lazy way out.

And then I watched last night's VMAs. Britney Spears' fired stylist must be having the last laugh this morning. Sure, lots of bloggers are focusing on her sleepwalking performance and 10 extra lbs...but what about that outfit? The truth is, if we saw Britney on the street, I'm sure she'd look thin. The camera adds weight, she's held to impossibly high Hollywood standards, etc. That we all get. But Britney - please take a cue from Alicia Keys or Beyonce. Neither of those two are stick thin, yet they usually manage to look great. Accentuate the positives, hide the negatives.

A stylist could have told Brit what she clearly didn't see when she looked in the mirror - you're just not quite ready for the hot pants and bra yet. A few more situps, a few less beers - then fine, bust it out. But not yet...

Was anyone else reminded of Elvis's final performance in a much-too-revealing jumpsuit? Let's remember, that happened right here in Indianapolis at our very own Market Square Arena.

Here's hoping that we don't find Brit dead on the toilet following a drug binge anytime soon.

Britney has left the building...

Back and Better Than Ever!

Sorry IndyStyle's been MIA the last few days. But I'm back, and hopefully soon to be better than ever. A note on future direction for the blog - soon, IndyStyle will begin taking to the streets, including shots here and there of particularly well-dressed Indy residents. So keep that in mind as you get dressed in the a.m. - IndyStyle might be watching! But only positives will go up here, no negatives.

It's a little past-due given that the Colts' home opener was last Thursday, but I thought it important to address some burning issues around the wearing of Colts jerseys and other paraphernalia. Apparently, there's some mayoral proclamation declaring "Blue Thursday" (before this game) and "Blue Friday" (before typical Colts Sunday games) - literally a plea from the mayor to sport your Colts gear, or at least some blue, on those days. My take on that is, blue is fine; full-on Colts regalia is not. I just can't imagine a scenario - a return trip to the Super Bowl included - where I will ever believe that is acceptable to sport a Colts jersey, or an athletic jersey of any sort, in an office setting. Go ahead, wear your jerseys to the game, pep rally or free Colts concert; wear them with glee all you want around your house...just, please, for God's sake, don't wear them to the office. Or out to dinner. Or to a bar/club. Please.

Along this same line of discussion - and I know I've promised to use my blogging powers for good rather than evil and stay positive here, but this must be said - under no circumstances is the pink, "girlie" jersey acceptable. No, no, no. Jerseys may be worn only in official team colors. The pink horseshoe should be reserved for some sort of women's health or women's rights statement. Perhaps the pink horseshoe could come to symbolize the fact that you've joined the fight against hoof and mouth disease in women. Or maybe it could become a symbol of "good luck for women" or something, but it should never, ever be used to show girlie pride for the Colts.

'Nuff said. Go Colts!

Eye of the Tiger

So I completely broke down and splurged on a beautiful tiger's eye ring from French Pharmacie. I know, I know - tiger's eye? you're thinking...that tacky brown stone with the stripes? But seriously, this is cool. Big, chunky, interesting stone and the color of the season - brown.

It seems that tiger's eye might be part of a fall trend. As I was purusing Vivre catalog yesterday, I saw more tiger's eye - this time in the form of a very cool cuff bracelet with a giant tiger's eye stone.

Hmmmm. I might need that one, too. My birthday's coming soon-ish, after all.

Summer's Done

Hi, all. IndyStyle took the weekend off to enjoy some relaxing time in Culver, IN, with a couple of days by the lake - Heavenly! While style was not a main focus of the weekend, I did enjoy both the Vanity Fair "Best Dressed" issue, and the September issue of Vogue - supposedly the biggest ever.

So Summer '07 is officially over. Now we enter what is, in my opinion, the most challenging time of year, fashion-wise. It's September 4, but the forecast calls for 94 degrees today. We're all dying to pull out the fall clothes, but it's just too darn hot.

I think the rule for transitional dressing is that summer shapes are ok, just make sure that the color palette is on the darker side. Think black shift dresses, neutral khakis and browns...sandals are still ok, just keep them black, brown or bronze rather than white or brights.

And don't worry - this transitional period won't last for long.

Stay cool!