For all of you Philly beauties who missed them at Fashion Week, Earthly Beauties will be holding a holiday fashion show and shopping event next weekend, on December 11th and 12th, at CITYSPACE. In addition to a screening of the original Earthly Beauties Fashion Show video (created by Mechelle LaVelle), you'll be able to shop looks from five local designers and two of Philly's best boutiques, Arcadia and BUS STOP, and view (or buy!) looks straight from the Fashion Week runway. There will be a DJ and cocktails and a live fashion show, scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from the event will go to The Career Wardrobe, a non-profit organization for women in transition (see careerwardrobe.org for more info).

                Earthly Beauties started last April with collaboration between three of Philly’s emerging, eco-friendly textile designers and snowballed from there into an even larger collaboration. For more info on the event, check out busstopboutique.com or arcadiaboutique.com. (-ck)

Earthly Beauties Fashion Spotlight & Shopping Extravaganza
Saturday, December 11th, from 12-8 p.m.
Sunday, December 12th, from 12-6 p.m.
CITYSPACE
2200 Walnut Street
(215) 625-3650

As I'm sure all of you fabulous SnapGlowers have noticed, many city retailers have holiday paraphernalia (wreathes, lights, candy canes) on display. Yes, already.
 
Now, whether that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside or completely panic-stricken, it's safe to say that we all want to look our best for the rapidly approaching season. So, on November 17th from 7-9 p.m., Giovanni & Pileggi (along with Sebastian Professional and Elle) will be hosting a Holiday Style Refresh party to help you revamp a major part of your look: your hair. In addition to tutorials on all of the hottest holiday styles, the salon will be offering complimentary hair touch-ups with the purchase of any (discounted!) Sebastian product, not to mention goodie bags, drinks and apps. And bonus: guests who spend more than $25 will also receive free tickets to Christina Aguilera and Cher's new movie, Burlesque. Happy-early-holidays! (-ck)
 
Giovanni & Pileggi
256 South 16th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102-3334
(215) 568-3040
www.giovannipileggi.com/
 

Philadelphia Fashion Week’s “School Night” sure gave us an education here at SnapGlow! After watching gorgeous collection after gorgeous collection parade down the runway, we went backstage to hear from the fledgling student designers themselves on everything from inspiration and favorite pieces, to advice for other aspiring designers. Here are three fabulous lessons we learned from the equally fabulous (and inspiring!) fashion mavericks:

1. Inspiration is key! Most of the designers we spoke to had a single image or idea in mind before creating their collection. For Erica Reed, of Drexel University, it was as concrete as “the silhouette of a Spanish violin,” but others, like Daimon Arrington of the Art Insitute, had a more, uh, fluid point of reference in mind—his inspiration was water! The point is, there has to be a starting point from which everything else just flows (and we promise, no more water puns for the rest of this post!).

2. Don’t procrastinate! At least three of the designers we spoke to emphasized that putting things off was their biggest pitfall. “Drink coffee, keep going, don’t stop!” warned the Art Institutes’s Paula Sim, who showed her collection on the runway at Fashion Week for the first time. So get started early, and stick to your timeline…or you will regret it later.

3. Never give up! With any job, there are struggles and setbacks, and this is especially true in creative fields like fashion. Practically everyone we interviewed stressed that there will be hard times, but to persevere. As Riona Faith O’Malley, from Drexel U., put it: “Fashion can really wear you out!” Still, everyone we talked to urged their fellow designers to stick to their guns and live their dreams. Simple, but sometimes difficult, we know!

So, make sure to check out our soon-to-be-posted videos and galleries from Philly Fashion Week, because there will be more words of wisdom, revelations, and of course, tons of beautiful clothes from all of the designers to come! (ck)

 Watch SnapGlow's 'Tomorrow's Stars' video, here:

Even though I’ve been out of high school since flared jeans and baby tees were cool, something about the return of Fall never fails to evoke thoughts of A New Year, which in turn creates a frantic high school-ish urge to “reinvent” my look and my wardrobe.

To satisfy that urge, Cherry Hill’s Salon Rouge is teaming up with trunk show vendors Rack & Roll Clothing, handmade hair-accessory purveyor Monalda4, and sweet spot Pretty Sweet Bakery for the Back-to-Style Trunk Show on Thursday, September 30th from 5-7 p.m. There will be tons of cute clothes, yummy treats and special deals on hair accessories. Plus, Salon Rouge will be staying open until 8 p.m. with stylists on hand to dish out tips or salon services, and will be offering up complimentary conditioning treatments to undo summer hair damage. Basically, the Back-to-Style Trunk Show is the one-stop makeover shop I wish I had back in my high school days. Still, there’s always the dreaded reunion, right? (-CK)

Salon Rouge
2110 Marlton Pike E #6
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003
(856) 424-3611
www.Salonrouge.com

Last week’s episode of “Project Runway” had us first waiting with bated breath then sighing in disappointment as Germantown native Kristin Haskins-Simms was eliminated from Season 8. But Haskins-Simms isn’t letting it get her down: the Penn grad has big plans to continue designing and marketing her fashion line, Strangefruit, including a planned debut at Philly Fashion Week and a revamp of her website, bestrangefruit.com (check out her gorgeously drape-y skirts, tops and dresses!).

In addition to her beautiful clothes, you gotta love Kristin’s honesty—she says she was more surprised to have been selected to do the show at all than she was to have been eliminated, and calls the stress level during the competition “unbearable,” even copping to getting medical help in an interview posted on Philly.com: <http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/dan_gross/20100824_Dan_Gross__Haskins-Sims_votes_for_South.html>. Still, Kristin ultimately says competing on “Runway” was a “blessing,” and admits she has her own favorite to win this season: freelance designer Andy South.

Check out Kristin’s designs at bestrangefruit.com, and at Philadelphia Fashion Week on Friday, October 8th!

--SnapGlow Team CK

If you are a curvy fashionista, never fear! Liz Ayerle of Fresh Ayer in Wayne, PA knows just how to find the right jeans, outfit and accessories to cultivate your inner curvy desires. Whoo hoo! Plus, she’s having a sale of designer denim jeans, like Kiyonna, Svoboda, C. enne V. for under $40 bucks.

Some new items in her store can help anyone fix their figure flaws, including “Line”, Skinny Britches by Spanx, which is a lighter weight option from Spanx. These pieces can be layered for more control and you won’t get as hot from doing so. Ah, but the results could be quite steamy.

Liz also carries Israeli-born European designer Sophie Finzi whose clothes are perfect for all occasions, including the holidays. (What! That’s coming up?)

Lastly, Liz and her sister Whitney Bachrach are quite the entrepreneurs. Whitney is opening Kat Bradley Accessories this September at the Eagle Village Shops in Wayne, PA. They can help you pull together your wardrobe, using all the secrets of the trade including Hollywood Fashion Tape, Bootights and Spare Soles, but the real draw is their carefully picked mix of jewelry and handbags. Liz and Whitney say their items will be unique, fashionable and affordable! Love that. AND we love to support our fellow women businesswomen!

Mom always said never to mix business with pleasure, but would she approve of mixing business with shopping?

Rack and Roll Clothing is a “mobile boutique” in Philadelphia that schleps their wares around town to host personal trunk shows featuring the hottest styles of the season.  Because Rack and Roll works to accommodate your schedule, coordinating the events at a time and place convenient for you (yes, you can even have it at the office!), the “mobile boutique” concept is ideal for gals-on-the-go and stay-at-home moms, alike.

 Oh, but what would Mom say about overindulging?

 To reward the fashionistas that decide to host the trunk shows, Rack and Roll gives 10% of what the boutique sells in free clothing back to you (-- typically resulting in hundreds of dollars worth of style)! 

 Personal trunk shows, free clothing… It’s too good be true!

 So, ladies, it looks like business and shopping just may be a winning combination after all, because this is surely one fashion proposition even Mom would approve of!

Oh, and be sure to check out their latest “bra bling,” the perfect accessory for summer!

For more information on Rack and Roll Clothing and hosting your own trunk show, visit http://www.rackandrollclothingco.com/.

Beauty insider and stylist to the stars, Philly's own Carie Brescia sprinkles her magic on famous faces like Taylor Swift, Dennis Quaid, and Jane English. Carie also keeps Philadelphia's NBC 10 Team looking fresh and flawless.

Carie currently spends her time helping women everywhere look and feel fabulous, whether they're posing for the red carpet or at home vacuuming the dirty carpet (alas!). With the launch of Carie Brescia Cosmetics, Carie hopes to offer a collection of quality products that is accessible to all women.

However, it was when Carie decided to host make-up sessions for her clients that she set a new standard in beauty

"After I launched my makeup line, I realized that no one out there is offering their makeup customers a more extraordinary experience," Carie explains.  "None of my fab clients want to go schlep to the cosmetic counter anymore to be oversold."

Carie's next "Beauty Lounge" will be held tonight at Ardmore's Apricot Lane Boutique from 11am to 7pm.  Guests will be treated to a fabulous day of pampering (champagne, cosmetics, clothing - need we go on?) and, most importantly, a personalized consultation showcasing the best looks for you!

For more information on Carie and her Philly fabulous line of cosmetics, visit www.cariebrescia.com!

The words "green," "local," and "eco-friendly" usually bring to mind images of Priuses, canvas bag-clad grocery shoppers, and well, the previous life of the food on my dinner plate. Sadly, I sometimes associate fashion (as much as I love it) with words like "extravagance" and "waste" (particularly when the guilt sets in after I've dropped two-hundo on those new Dior sunglasses...sigh).

Not so with Philly's own SA VA, an affordable, stylish, and yes, green fashion label and retailer, whose 17th and Sansom Street outpost opened almost a year ago. The store features CEO Sarah Van Aken’s ready-to-wear apparel, custom jewelry, and both local and fair trade accessories, most of which are produced here in the Philly area. Plus, Van Aken created twenty area manufacturing jobs simply by hiring and training a team of local seamstresses and tailors to work in the loft above her Sansom showroom. Cool!

Aside from SA VA’s commitment to the environment, Van Aken also wanted her company to involve customers in the design process. There’s an interactive website that allows you to try your hand—er, mouse—at the design process by contributing tear sheets of what you want your clothes to look like, as well as a blog that can help you answer all of your most dire fashion questions.

Now that you know all about SA VA, check out the goods for yourself at the first LOVE Park Fashion Show, to be produced by the company. The event will take place on Saturday, June 19th, from 6-8pm, and it’s free and open to the public. It’ll be fun, and it’ll make you feel phantastic about Philly’s commitment to the environment.

To see some of SA VA’s apparel in action before the big event, watch their video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7BPnOsCG20. (posted by SnapGlow's Glow Girl Chelsea)

SA VA Boutique

1700 Sansom Street

(215) 587 – 0004

www.savafashion.com