Carlee Santarelli, a native Virginian and graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, knew from a young age that fashion was her life.  It wasn’t until she began working for Sonya Ooten, however, that she discovered her passion for jewelry.  Carlee’s first entry into the world of jewelry design is with a lovely collection of rings.

We love to make a statement, so when Carlee sent us her signature vintage fabric cabochon rings, we were thrilled!  Each hand-made ring is undeniably bold and one of a kind.  Carlee tops recycled vintage fabric with a cabochon to magnify the beauty of each unique textile.

Rings are $50 and available exclusively through Carlee’s studio and select LA boutiques.  For ordering information, email Illona Szabo.

If you get a chance, take a look at the video of last week’s Louis Vuitton’s Men Fall/Winter 2009/10 Show in Paris – for two reasons.  First, you’ll undoubtedly catch a glimpse of Kanye West getting really excited over the debut of his sneakers (right), which will be available at LV stores in June for around $500 (btw, leave it to Kanye to wear the shoes that are in the show to the show!).

Second, you’ll notice that the looks are surprisingly accessible, simple and really easy to find inspiration in.  When we work with men, we find that they often think there’s a secret formula or a set template that once we give them – will secure them a place in the well-dressed category.  “Just tell me what I should be wearing,” they say.  It’s not that simple, and yet, it’s actually simpler.  It’s a misconception that whatever comes down the runway is meant to be “the template” (perhaps this is something women understand a little better than men).  Templates change from season to season.  The key to sustainable style is finding inspiration in the little things – the way a scarf is tied or a coat is belted, an interesting color/texture combination – and working those things that appeal to you into your everyday look.  It’s not a quick fix, but over time, you’ll notice the difference.  That said, here are some of our favorite looks from the LV show.

Michelle looks absolutely stunning in her Jason Wu (Narciso Rodriguez‘ intern!) inauguration gown.

After spending some time debating whether our quality standard for luxury goods just too high, we reached the conclusion that it’s absolutely not.  After all, we’d like to continue living in a world where young fashionistas can raid their mothers’ (or grandmothers’) closets and score some great vintage designer pieces. Is it really too much to ask for the seams of our Speedys to remain intact after a few years of use or for the red soles of our Louboutins to not show wear after only one night out?!

High end brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci have enjoyed success because they’ve had brilliant creative directors and great marketing strategies for over a century. But the quality of their products seems to have decreased over the years – quite ironic given the fact that superb quality, not status, was the original value proposition for both of these brands.

Take Louis Vuitton, for example. In the mid-70s, to keep up with growing demand in the US, LV provided “The French Company” (now French Luggage) a special license to manufacture bags with its iconic monogram. Our vintage Speedy has held up better than its modern counterpart, a clear sign that they really just don’t make things like they used to.

In 2005 Louis Vuitton hired consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to help implement lean production techniques. Interestingly, the direct impetus for the program was not to increase quality, but to reduce production time and actually be able to stock to meet demand (very much counter to their previous strategy of forced scarcity). So while it doesn’t exactly resemble a Toyota plant, each LV factory has now shifted from having 250 employees each specializing in one task to “clusters of six to 12 workers, each performing several tasks” (read the WSJ article). LV proudly boasts that the defect rate has decreased.  That certainly saves the company money but doesn’t directly impact the customer since the quality control process happens before the bags hit the shelves. Ultimately, the defect rate doesn’t account for the quality of the material, which is probably diminished as it is moved around from station to station!  Our hunch is that our 2006 Speedy was produced under the new system and is evidence of the tradeoff between production speed (and a lower manufacturing cost) and the bag’s quality.

So, where exactly does that leave us? No more LVs – we’re holding out for a Birkin, with the hope that the ultra high end brands can actually live up to our quality standards (note that Hermès has increased its number of craftsmen, and has NOT changed its manufacturing system).

What better way to spend a Friday afternoon than lunching with friends and viewing Dior’s 2009 Cruise Collection?

Thanks to Fashion Boston Magazine and its stylish editor-in-chief Alexandra Hall, Boston fashionistas had the privilege to enjoy the city’s first Dior fashion show. Models walked out of the Dior store and right into the Copley Atrium, where we enjoyed a fabulous lunch provided by Citrio.

Our friends at Boston Fashion Industry have photos and an article that do the luncheon way more justice than ours, but here are a few of our favorite pieces, courtesy of the Christian Dior site.

The growing popularity of virtual sample sales means that we’re constantly alt-tabbing between three or more sites to find the good stuff. Is our energy even worth it?

In November, we set out to crown the #1 online sample sale. We ranked 3 sites: Gilt, Ideeli and HauteLook based on which had the best designers and highest average discount %.

First, we must confess, we discounted ideeli pretty quickly.  It was very accessory-focused and the brands weren’t all that spectacular.  So, we moved on to Gilt and HauteLook.  Both sites offer clothing and accessories for men and women.

The whole point of a virtual sample sale is that we don’t have to fight a mob of frenzied fashionistas (and fashionistos?) to get at that spectacular Badgley Mischka gown or that John Varvatos blazer.  Or do we?  After refreshing the sale page at 12pm on the dot and some harried clicking, we still couldn’t get the dresses we were eying from Gilt!  Feeling spurned, we decided to scour the internet for a particular party dress we had our eyes on and what did we find?  Gilt is actually marking up their items!  Another Badgley dress we saw on Gilt for $158 was $134 at Saks.  Same deal with a few others, but none of them were sold out.  So the lesson is, the good stuff goes fast and the leftovers aren’t worth it.

The winner was HauteLook, although the race was close and we’re still hoping to get lucky at Gilt one of these days.

HauteLook doesn’t have Gilt’s aesthetic appeal, but we actually managed to purchase a DvF dress from the Fall ’08 collection and a Modern Amusement men’s overcoat both for super cheap (60% off).  A little digging around found the dress on sale on a few other sites but in a very limited number of sizes, and HauteLook’s price was the lowest.  HauteLook is slightly different in that instead of purchasing the items, they actually hold the sale and then order the reserved items that sold from the designer (a better business model, in our opinion).

While Gilt consistently brings the designers, prices aren’t the best and quantities are extremely limited.  HauteLook has a good balance of labels, price and availability.

iShopFem is premiering its first sale on December 8th, so we’ll let you know how it measures up next week.

Use code NOVSALE30 to get an additional 30% off these sale items at Cole Haan (until Nov. 30th).

This is WAY too good to be true!  Where do you even begin? To make it easy for you we’ve picked out some of our faves. The code is DB40 and it’s good until Friday 11/21.

Diane von Furstenberg is one of the fashion greats and a HUGE favorite of ours!  Credited with inventing the wrap dress we all know and love in the early 70s, DvF has maintained her place as a force in the fashion industry, constantly updating her iconic cuts and beautiful patterns to fit the times.  In 2006, she was named President of the CFDA.  Her board of directors?  Michael Kors, Derek Lam, Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren and John Varvatos, to name a few!

Shopbop usually carries a wide selection of DvF, and when we saw the Finola dress, we came to a complete halt.  LOVE the pattern, cut and the suptle lace detail around the hem.  The BONUS?  It’s also on sale!  This is a DvF too good to pass up!