Weekend Links: Grand Prix Edition

Hello from sunny, gorgeous Los Angeles! I'll be blogging and tweeting this weekend during Los Angeles Fashion Week. If you're in town and want to meet up, check out details on this meetup on Sunday...

Je Ne Sais Quoi Giveaway Winner + Coupon Code

I know some of you have been waiting for the winner of the fabulous Heimstone jacket (pictured above) giveaway courtesy of Je Ne Sais Quoi...

The winner is... comment #2: Chic n' Cheap Living!! I'm very jealous of your win. Enjoy it, my dear.

Here's the good news for everyone: Je Ne Sais Quoi is offering Dream Sequins readers a 15% discount off any items on the website (yes, including sale items!). Simply use the code: DREAMSEQUINS at checkout. The code will be valid for one month. Happy shopping!

Shop shop: http://shopjenesaisquoi.com

Link Love

Special shoutout to the top five commenters on Dream Sequins this week. Some great developments have been happening in my personal and professional life and that's really kept me from visiting blogs more regularly in recent weeks, but I wanted to thank you for leaving lovely comments... Thank you for your support! I can't wait to share good news with you (when deals are signed and finalized)...

The Style Revolution

BonBon Rose

The Sugar Diaries

Apparellel

Fashion in My Eyes

Accessorize This: Accessories from the Sea - Fish Leather

Accessories from the Sea: Fish Leather

by Denise Grayson

Animal skins and fashion go hand in hand – calfskin, lambskin (nappa), exotic and pricey skins like python, ostrich and crocodile are used to make some of our most beautiful and coveted bags, shoes and belts. And other than an increasingly superfluous use of fur in the past few years, we’re not really surprised by what the outfits in the collections are made of these days (Christian Dior shamelessly used real leopard in the 1960s!). But would it take you aback just a bit to hear that fish skins are wading into our clothes and accessories as a new and unusual material of choice? Salmon is one, perch is another.

Put that image of slimey silvery scales that flake on your fork away for good and think of a textile that can be both smooth and lustrous or velvety textured – almost suede-like – and durable. At fashion week in London I felt both salmon and perch as they were used by Rachel Freire for a garter belt and a good many pair of Gwendolyn Carrié shoes, respectively.

Gwendolyn Carrié uses an open scale perch leather which gives the shoes their exquisite texture. A closed scaling offers a fine finish. The scales may look delicate, but they withstood a vigorous hand rubbing and even the scales that appear to be hanging by a thread remained intact and perfect. (Photo: Gwendolyn Carrié)

Rachel Freire used smooth salmon leather to create the textured panels for her multi-fabric garter belt (Photo: Denise Grayson)

I’m told that Rachel, who is known for incorporating unconventional materials into her handcrafted pieces, will be using more salmonskins going forward and that she’s working with stingray as well. Her salmon leather is very smooth and glossy and the fine scales render the skin with a texture that could be mistaken for snakeskin. Gwendolyn Carrié’s ‘fluffy’ fish skin or perch, is also akin to something we know well – it looks something like crocodile but is very soft, like suede. However, these styles are just two of the ways the skins can be rendered; like any other leather they can be dyed and treated to a variety of finishes.

While salmon and perch appear to be the most popular of the fish leathers, there are other varieties available including cod and wolffish. And if you’re wondering how they’re acquired, rest assured that they typically come from commercial fish skins that would otherwise be thrown away or used as chicken feed.

The use of fish leather isn’t a brand new innovation but it’s been a fringe material thus far. Considering that it has numerous attractive qualities (including being waterproof, of course!) and it’s far cheaper than the exotic skins it mimics – yet is entirely unique – we’re likely to see a lot more of it in clothing and accessories from our more adventurous designers.

I’m hooked. How about you?

This Aquanaut Cloche Helmet by Jasmine Zorlu is made of Nile perchskin leather over a wool base. It’s available for purchase at Not Just a Label. (Photo: Spencer Hansen)

A bikini from Skini London who are known as the pioneers of salmonskin leather couture garments (Photo: Skini London)

A hairband and cuff crafted with salmon leather from Gastu, an accessories label from Reykjavík, Iceland that works primarily in fishskins. These pieces are available to buy through their Etsy shop. (Photos: Gastu)

Denise Grayson is our fearless Accessories Editor who also writes about fashion at The Swelle Life.

Meet Me in LA + Last Day for a Giveaway

I've scheduled a last minute meetup with some friends in Los Angeles during Fashion Week/Market Week. Come join us at the Space 15 Twenty courtyard for an Etsy flea market on Sunday. I'll be hanging at the LA Vintage Exchange booth between 2-3 pm. There is plenty to do and see, and the weather will be fabulous, so let's meet up! Email me for more details or to RSVP. Love to meet!

P.S. Don't forget that today is the LAST day to enter the fabulous contest to win a quilted moto-style jacket courtesy of Je Ne Sais Quoi. Enter enter enter! Very jealous of the winner. It looks gorgeous!!

Video Love: New York Fashion Week Fall 2010

Here's what I did last night in lieu of work... As I was going through some of my files from New York Fashion Week, I realized that I never put together footage of the finales from shows I attended this season. So here they are set to "Don't Dream It's Over" as sung by Sarah Blasko. Still trying to learn iMovie on my new MacBook Pro...

On Thursday, I'll be heading to LA for Fashion Week/Market Week, so expect to see some new coverage soon! What do you have planned for the week?

Beauty Beat: Fifteen Minutes of Fame + Oxymoron with Lipstick Queen

Getting the Royal Treatment with Lipstick Queen

by Tamara

If you are a lippie girl, you MUST check out Lipstick Queen. Founder Poppy King's obsession with finding the perfect, pigmented lipstick lead to the creation of a great, niche company, which has become a cult beauty label favorite, and now carries a range of lipsticks and glosses. I recently had a chance to try out two of their products: Fifteen Minutes of Fame, a series of pigmented glosses and Oxymoron, a matte gloss.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame

all images courtesy of Lipstick Queen

If you like pigmented, opaque and long-lasting lip glosses, then Fifteen Minutes of Fame should be in your makeup bag right now. Inspired by Andy Warhol and Pop Art, Fifteen Minutes of Fame these lip glosses are rich in color, with a great consistence. These lip glosses are not sticky and very moisturizing. What I love the most is that I can apply several layers for an almost-lipstick finish, or just one layer for a delicate, lip gloss look.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame comes in a click-pen applicator with a brush tip, making it easy to carry and great for an on-the go application. It does take several clicks to get the product from the pen to the tip, so be prepared to hear that click-click-click! However, once the product reaches the tip, the brush allows the gloss glide on your lips. As the name implies, Fifteen Minute of Fame comes in 15 delicious and colorful shades, named according to the minute. How clever! My favorite ones are 7 Minutes (Tropical Pink) and 12 Minutes (Deep Rose).

Oxymoron

I always like to mix it up between lipstick and lipgloss. When I wear lipstick, I love the old-Hollywood, glamour feeling of matte formulations. However, matte lipsticks can be drying on the lips and the upkeep of matte lips, ugh... High maintenance anyone? Well, I have discovered that I can have my cake and eat it too. What if I told you there is such a thing as a matte lipgloss? Sounds like an oxymoron, but it does exist!

Oxymoron is Lipstick Queen's matte lipgloss that feels as smooth and sheer as a lipgloss but it has a creamy, matte finish on your lips. When I put Oxymoron on my lips, "WOW" blurted out of my mouth! It feels incredibly smooth and did not dry my lips at all. The best part of Oxymoron is that it's a double-duty product. I applied it to my cheeks as a cheek stain, giving my makeup look a sweet, romantic feeling. Oxymoron comes in four subtle and beautiful shades and they are packaged with a small lip brush.

Have you tried any Lipstick Queen products? Would you rather have Fifteen Minutes of Fame or wear an Oxymoron?

Disclosure: Samples of both products were provided for review purposes.

Tamara is our gloss loving Beauty Editor who also writes about beauty and fashion at Brunette and Pink.