My Edhay Blog

Mitch McConnell

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:55:01 +0000

“This was in many ways a national referendum principally on the major issue we’re wrestling with here in the Congress,” said Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell.

Obama’s admission was a far cry from the euphoria of his inauguration exactly one year ago, which drew a crowd of several million people, and the nationwide feeling of hope and change sparked by his 2008 election victory.

Ppex Home Decor Goes Crazy With Shortcut Quilts_26

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:23:00 +0000

Home Decor Goes Crazy With Shortcut Quilts

Do you have all the makings of a textile artist inside of you, just itching to get out? Maybe you've always wanted to learn how to sew your own clothes or curtains and quilts to dress up your home, but the thought just seems intimidating? Well, today's featured artists, mother and daughter team Marguerita McManus and Sarah Raffuse, offer up advice to novice sewers and make it easy to begin creating your own modern quilts that will perfectly match you decor. One day it's quilts, and the next it's Project Runway here you come!

Tell us a little about yourself and your work. The main focus of our Etsy shop is to sell items related to the quilt book my daughter and I wrote together called Crazy Shortcut Quilts. The book was published in 2007 by Krause Publications and is in its second printing!

One of the reasons that our book is so popular is that the foundation of our advice for the quiltmakers is to make fabric selections that match your home decor. Ours is not a "perfectly precise piecing" book because neither of us is that fussy! Rather, we love teaching sewers our sloppy way of making crazy looking (as in 'crazy quilt looking') quilts without having to spend their lives matching points and squaring up blocks. Most of all though, our students *love* that they get to use the decorative stitches of their sewing machine to do the quilting -- in small manageable squares. In the technical terms of quiltmaking it's called "quilt-as-you-go" and ours is the easiest method on the market today. We often hear back from women who make 3 to 5 quilts a year using our methods.
How did you get started as a designer? Marguerita (the mom) got started quilting in 1995 and became a teacher and longarm quilter and Sarah (the daughter) was tricked into learning to quilt. We both love teaching quilting and take every opportunity to do demonstrations, classes and retreats.

Who are your favorite designers? We love Eleanor Burns! We also love many fabric designers and Sarah is particularly fond of Holly Holderman's fabric company, Lakehouse.

What are your top fashion & beauty must-haves? For us a "must have" is a sewing machine with lots of decorative stitches. While we can easily quilt with machines that have just a few, varying the stitch width and length, we just love machines with 100 or more stitches.

Any advice you would give to aspiring quilt designers? Marguerita loves to help new quilt designers and her best advice is to find quiet time to let loose the creativity and inspiration inside and then write specific goals and deadlines for each step of bringing your art to the public.

Where can people find your work? We have a website at www.crazyshortcuts.com and we both blog - Marguerita just moved to Wordpress and is at marguerita.loosefibers.com and Sarah is at sarahraffuse.blogspot.com

We opened up our Etsy shop to sell some quilts, autographed books, new designs for our Crazy Shortcut method and occasionally a few fabric bundles. We have photos of some of the quilts from the book on Flickr here. Marguerita has a demo of the shortcut techniques on YouTube here.

We love all of the amazing independent designers out there and we wanted to find out more about what makes these creative types tick. If you do too, check out more of our Indie Designer Interviews.

ojof Hooded Leather Jackets- Our Favorite Finds_29

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:23:00 +0000

Hooded Leather Jackets: Our Favorite Finds

We've long been fans of the classic leather jacket. But because the wardrobe standby is back in a big way this fall and winter, it takes a little something extra to make one truly stand out in the crowd. Our pick for wearing the trend is to look for a leather jacket with a hood.

The sweatshirt styling gives the look a dose of relaxed, casual cool that works whether you're pairing it with tights and a mini or jeans and a t-shirt. Plus, it just feels cozy. 

So skip the simple bombers--and please, the leather blazers--and try a few of these on for size.

sagx Hooray for Healthy Toes – Tip of the Day!_198

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:22:00 +0000

Hooray for Healthy Toes - Tip of the Day!

After a recent trip to the podiatrist to get our toes right for summer, she warned us of the dangers of wearing nail polish daily, the foulness of our weekly mani/pedi sessions, and taught us that a manicured toe sans polish can be beautiful too.

Although manufacturers are working hard to remove the harmful chemicals that dry out our nails and worse, create underlying problems that go right down to the root, most nail polishes just aren't what the foot doctor ordered, even the natural ones. "If you're going to use a nail polish, put it on for the weekend, go to your fancy events but take it off Sunday evening and let your toenails breath!"

As for those pedicures we so diligently attend each week, she said you are 100% better off doing them at home. "Not only does it save money but there are so many types of fungus that women catch and don't even know they have. And one of the few ways to get many of the most common ones is sharing a foot-tub and tools with dozens of other women."

Bottom line: Our trip made us nervous about our nail polish habits (we've seen the dry, yellowing, brittle nails more than we care to remember!). So we're going to give the doc's method a whirl – a luxurious, pampering, at-home pedi -- but this time we'll leave the polish safely in our drawers. As long as they're oiled and moisturized, "a natural toe looks just as beautiful as one with paint on it," the doc said smiling. And if we do decide we need the little extra oomph polish gives, we'll stick with our new favorite brand, Sula Paint & Peel so we can skip the stinky, drying polish remover step all together. Cheers to healthy toes!

Check out Campaign for Safe Cosmetics for more safe beauty tips.

Cbwx FALL 2009 FASHION WEEK – Catherine Holstein D

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:18:00 +0000

FALL 2009 FASHION WEEK - Catherine Holstein Does Glamorous Goth for Fall/Winter ... and We Love It!

By Annie Georgia Greenberg for Refinery 29

Although Catherine Holstein's models wore dark, grim makeup and pouty expressions, friends and fans of the designer greeted the fall/winter 2009 collection with nothing but praise (present company included!), reveling in the designer's mastered fusion of feminine and masculine silhouettes. The palette mixed deep plum, heather gray, sharp black, plaid, and a streak of leopard throughout some impecably pleated trousers, striking oversized coats, and sublime little mini dresses. Aside from the collection's gothic elegance, we'll certainly look forward to the Italian and French fabrics at recession-friendly prices.

Catherine Holstein on Refinery 29

bdqj FALL 2009 FASHION WEEK – Fans Rock Out For Ta

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:18:00 +0000

FALL 2009 FASHION WEEK - Fans Rock Out For Target's New McQ Line


By Sarah Moroz, Photos by Callie Klebanoff for Refinery 29

Ah, Liela Moss. Wearing a sculptural patent vest with big shoulders, short gloves (the miniskirt of gloves-they didn't extend past her knuckles), and long blonde bangs to the bridge of her nose, she sang with her band the Duke Spirit and fist-pumped to a crowd of champagne sippers and McQ for Target perusers last night. Held in a hangar on the cusp of the West Side Highway, the space was industrial and made even more so with pseudo graffiti, fences, and Target ads postered all around. Racks of McQ's line of magenta zig-zag leggings, and black jumpsuits bordered the space and every gal was smitten, as evidenced by the queue for try-on, which was jaw-droppingly long. Spotted in the crowd were the adorable Rose Byrne and the pseudo DvF employee Whitney Port with her entourage.

See more photos from the show at Refinery 29

prxr Fall 2009 Fashion Week – Cho Cheng_2207

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:17:00 +0000

Fall 2009 Fashion Week - Cho Cheng

Fashion Week Fall Trends

One way to show off an "it" bag at Isaac Mizrahi. Is this look heady or too ahead of its time? Let us know in the poll.

Blue chasing away the gray at Donna Karan.Like it? Vote in the poll.

Blimey, that's pretty limey at Michael Kors. Sublime or subpar? Let us know in the poll.

Karl Prouse, Catwalking / Getty Images

Randy Brooke, WireImage

Not major shoulder pads, but major shoulder at Marc Jacobs.Wild or wacky? Vote.

Thomas Concordia, WireImage.com

A hot – hot pink, that is – librarian look at Malandrino. How does it rate in your book? Vote.

Thomas Concordia, WireImage

Pink and green, but not particularly preppy at Marc Jacobs. Is it wonderful or weird? Vote.

Thomas Concordia, WireImage

Randy Brooke, WireImage

Not so mellow yellow at Marc Jacobs. Sunny or funny? Vote.

Hot, hot pink at Michael Kors. Is this topper the tops? Let us know in the poll!

Randy Brooke,WireImage

For the birds at Anna Sui. Does this look fly? Let us know in the poll.

Randy Brooke, WireImage

All tangled up in blue at Christian Siriano. Do you dig the drape? Let us know in the poll.

Thomas Concordia, WireImage

4gep Danielle Nicole Handbags Are the Bomb_2131

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:59:00 +0000

Danielle Nicole Handbags Are the Bomb

We went, we saw, she conquered. Danielle DiFerdinand, the 22-year-old entrepreneur of Danielle Nicole Handbags makes some of the best handbags in the biz; no kidding. There is simply no comparison between seeing her utterly soft and totally cool handbags in person versus seeing them on a computer screen. So what makes these bags so darn good?

First and foremost it's the leather. We had to see it for ourselves. So we went to our local Neiman and scooped one of Danielle's incredible bags into our arms and immediately embraced the bag as though we were getting a warm hug from a long lost pal (yes, we really are that big a bag-hag). Then we compared, we contrasted. The buttery leather on that Danielle Nicole bag was some the softest we felt that day, all day. 

But there's more. The way Danielle tools the bags is also beyond compare. The details are subtle but bohemian in style – a little rouching here, some fringe there. These minimal but strong details are what keep the bags sophisticated but also what gives them their one-two punch. 

Our personal faves? That's easy – the mustard yellow Kristi Mini for day and the Sarah clutch for night in black or bronze; just take your pick.

tsaj Cynthia Rowley for Roxy Surf-Inspired Line De

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:58:00 +0000

Cynthia Rowley for Roxy Surf-Inspired Line Debuts at Barneys CO-OP

Cynthia Rowley with surfboard designer Thomas Meyerfhoffer. Photo: Chance Yeh, Patrick McMullan

Cynthia Rowley is apprehensive about saying she's a surfer.

Though the designer lives on the beach in Montauk, NY, on summer weekends and takes her board to the waves any chance she gets, "It makes me nervous to say I'm a surfer, because then I have to be f-ing good," she admits to StyleList.

Whether Rowley shreds or not, it's safe to say she definitely looks the part, particularly in her new collection for Roxy.

The line made its debut exclusively at Barneys CO-OP in New York City's SoHo neighborhood at a stylish soirée filled with fashion types and hard-core surfers like Tracy Feith and Katie Lee.

The collection of swimsuits, cover-ups, and neoprene pieces evolved organically. "I hooked up with the Roxy people, and it was an instant explosion of ideas," Rowley says.

"They have the history and expertise for the functional side, and I know what my dream surf stuff would be. It has the technical expertise of surf wear."

Rowley has wear-tested all of the pieces and admits you don't have to know how to hang ten to appreciate the collection.

"In a way, actually, the only thing that is really authentic surf is the wet suit," she says. Still, that doesn't mean wearers won't experience the benefits.

"You know how they say everyone looks good in a wet suit? It's like a body shaper on the outside," she explains, gesturing to a magically slimming color-blocked neoprene tank dress.

For pieces designed to slim on turf, read about the designer's upcoming shapewear line.

Dhvv Debenhams Debuts Size 16 Plus-Size Mannequins

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:58:00 +0000

Debenhams Debuts Size 16 Plus-Size Mannequins to Reflect Average Woman


New size 16 Debenhams mannequins reflect the average size of women. Photo courtesy of Debenhams

Though Debenhams typically features slimmer size 10 (US  mannequins in its displays, the average woman in the UK is around a size 14 or 16, with garments in those sizes accounting for 42 percent of the store's sales, according to the paper.

Real women have curves. 

And, now, apparently so do the fake ones. 

British department store Debenhams has put size 16 (the equivalent of a US 14) mannequins in its Oxford Street, London store windows to better reflect shoppers' body types, the Daily Mail reports.

Do you think mannequins should reflect an average woman? Or do you prefer the skinny fantasy? Tell us in a comment.

Plus, check out Victoria Beckham’s comments about skinny models on “The View.”

“If it’s popular with customers we would love to roll it out.”

Fingers crossed. The mannequins have already gotten a thumbs up from body image advocates.

“Women often feel it is their fault that clothes don’t look as good on them as they do in the shop window, so we congratulate Debenhams on taking this initiative,” Susan Ringwood, chief executive of the eating disorders charity Beat, told the source.

And, to quote the immortal words of one Hollywood Montrose, “At least she’ll never tell you that your hips are too fat.”

“We are proud to offer a broad and varied choice for women of all ages, shapes and sizes in store,” Debenhams spokesman Mark Stevens told the paper. “So we thought we should reflect this in our window displays.

The larger mannequins — reportedly seen modeling the Principles by Ben de Lisi collection — are part of a plan to gauge customer response to the size issue, with signs next to the mannequins reading, “I’m a size 16. Do you want to see more of me?”

That’s right, gals — it’s time for some guilt-free window shopping that doesn’t make you want to spit out your non-skinny latte.