Ahh, couture: a phenomenon in which outrageous perversions of clothing masquerade as ‘art.’ Maybe the concoctions are interesting, inventive, absurd, possibly beautiful. But they’re too unwearable for me to comprehend, and it’s hard for me to give a shit about things I don’t understand.
After skimming the photo galleries of this year’s entries into the unofficial [...]

When I think about holiday shopping, the term “fun” generally doesn’t come to mind. I mean fine, religion mandates my celebrating Chanukah over Christmas, which – regardless of what your Jewish friends tell you – stinks like poo once you’re past the age of ten. Perhaps there are a few presents; there sure as shit [...]

Target announced an upcoming collabs with Zac Posen today, and everyone’s flipping their respective nuts. This bean-spillage on behalf of the big box is a highly strategic move: It’s almost enough to distract me from the ‘collection’ slated to launch in a few weeks. Almost.
I read somewhere that Rodarte for Target was inspired in part [...]

We saw it first on Carrie Bradshaw, and it was enough to distract us from her runway spill. Beyonce rocked it for her MTV VMA performance; Prada made it a focal point of a recent collection; Rihanna had the cojones to don it at Paris Fashion Week; Lady Gaga’s its biggest cheerleader. The no-pants [...]

My adoration for New York is about as obnoxious, enthusiastic and irrational as the Queen Bee of SOTC’s. At least it was, until the ubiquitous propaganda hailing Fashion’s Night Out as, like, the greatest thing in retail EVER is started eating away at my Apple-loving soul.
It took me approximately one week to figure out the [...]

The below email gave me a nice little chuckle yesterday afternoon:
so i was doing my daily shopbop.com browsing and i clicked on my favorite designer, alexander wang. his new runway stuff apparently JUST CAME OUT, so i checked it out. always one to be disgusted by these outrageous prices, i came across the alexander [...]

On their most recent cover, Lucky Magazine printed a phrase never before seen in the history of sartorial publications:
Everything in this issue is UNDER $100.
They weren’t screwing around either. After two uber intensive flip-throughs, I can confirm that every item pictured in the latest issue fulfills the mag’s promise. I’m impressed by Lucky’s willingness to [...]

Vanity Fair is one of those magazines I like in theory because a visually pleasing, reasonably well-written melange of culture, style and current events appeals to me in theory. In reality, it usually proves a mishmash of things I don’t care about, like Jessica Simpson’s weight and who got the short end of Brooke Astor’s [...]

The first (and only) time I saw Signs (i.e. the subpar M. Night Shyamalan effort, not a religious experience or whatever) I freaked out about the idea of the alien for most of the movie – What’s it going to be like, what’s it going to look like, will it speak?! But at the end, [...]

I’m a little rusty today as a result of taking a very un-relaxing four days off to paint my apartment. To get my keyboard groove back, I need to tackle something that pisses me off even more than bloggers’ block. Something that doesn’t just merit, but deserves the occasional uninhibited wrath of the Cheap JAP. [...]

I’m no trend enthusiast, but I’m totally on board with this
Pajama Party thang. Wearing your PJs night and day sounds like a fiscally friendly move. Unless you’re Elle, in which case, it’s not.

Okay, so these shirts are kind of cool. They’ve got that maybe-I-slept-in-this-maybe-I-didn’t vibe going on and, like lingerie in the wisest [...]

A week or so ago, I was riding the Fung Wah bus back from visiting a bestie in Boston and received an unsolicited compliment from an effusive man to my left.
Bus Guy: Excuse me. Are you a ballet dancer?
As someone with sub-par eye-hand coordination skills, I was both confused and amused by this question. I’d [...]

I’ve never been overly impressed by LC’s or Whitney’s outfits, so when their fifteen minutes netted them near-iconic fashion status in addition to getting them invited to, like, all the coolest parties, I was more than a little perplexed. Yes, they continually carried the latest It bag and always wore what was In, but shopping [...]

Ahh, December 31st. An eve where we vow to be better, more responsible people and seal the deal with all those toxins we’re soooo not consuming in abundance next year, and then proceed to crash without taking off our eye make-up and stumble out of bed the next morning toward a greasy brunch intended [...]

As I was yawning my way through Vogue’s VIEW section last night, the following words jarred me awake: “Big Deals” and “Chain-store.” Hang on a sec. Now Vogue, you’re intimidatingly cutting-edge, so some of your predicted Next Big Things are a smidge beyond my amateur grasp of the avant-garde. But if I understand you correctly, [...]

While I’m not entirely above whoring myself out for publicity sans monetary compensation, I was obvs thrilled when Lucky gifted me with $300 in Amex gift certificates post-shoot. I initially intended to spend this on something at Lucky Shops, then I realized I wanted to buy more than half a pair of shoes. Designer clothing [...]

Yesterday, I shot a TV thing for Style Network: A timed shopping challenge intended to promote Lucky Shops/Rafe Handbags/American Express and even Chevy Malibu – all in a three-minute fashion-reality segment! I’m coming clean with this info because if you happen see it and recognize that “Alexandra/Contestant#2/Eveningwear” is me, Cheap JAP, you will flip your [...]

Before we discuss my third – and possibly best – entry for Lucky’s “My Denim Transformation” Stylist Challenge, let’s talk about this blazer. Last January on my birthday, my uber fab mother and I hit Fisch for the Hip, where she immediately zeroed in on this Marc Jacobs number. Originally priced at $600 or [...]

Mmmkay, here’s another look in the spirit of Lucky Mag’s Dress Up Your Denim Challenge. (With the same Forever 21 jeans, in the spirit of Cheap JAP).

Jacket, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, (a gift!); Lace top, Goodwill, $12.99.

Boots, MICHAEL Michael Kors, $295 (Oy!); “Chanel” clip-ons, thieved from Mom’s jewelry drawer, $0.

I’m not sure if [...]

Mmkay, here’s one of my possible entries for Lucky Mag’s My Denim Transformation Contest. I’ve dressed up my fabulously cheap Forever 21 jeans ($24.99) not only to keep my outfit Cheap JAPtastic, but also because these totally budget thangs continually snag me more compliments than any of my brand name pairs. The components of the [...]