This blog is for the person who is concerned with luxury and pleasure above all else….the Luxist, if you will.  Luxist.com is a wealth of information on the best the world has to offer, even if you aren’t able to afford it just yet.

The posts on this site cover an extraordinary range of topics including art, auctions, every type of clothing and fashion, dining, spas, pets, etc.  In fact, there is hardly a topic that this site will not entertain, as long as it is regarding an item that helps bring its readers closer to fine living and pleasure in knowing about the best.

Here are some of my favorite topics:

Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills

The Hamilton Penthouse in San Francisco

The New Doxa Grafic Open Heart Watch

 

Rebecca Stice, The Clothes Horse

The widely read blogger, Rebecca Stice (23) of The Clothes Horse, recently participated in a panel at the chictopia 10 conference. In catching up with her, we learned that she started blogging almost 3 years ago as a form of personal expression upon returning to Pennsylvania after living in Japan for six months. With her post-college plans currently pointing to a career as a (J.A.G) lawyer, we’re certain that her she’ll apply her interpretations of law as judiciously as she does her unique sensibility for fashion & style. So, herewith is what Rebecca opines.

Q&A
beso: What’s your favorite pair of jeans right now?
Rebecca Stice: I have a dark green pair of Cheap Monday jeans. They’re surprisingly comfortable despite being skinnies and I love that they’re not a traditional color.

b: What bag(s) are you carrying right now?
RS: I just found this vintage croc doctor bag that barely holds my camera. It makes me feel dainty and elegant, a nice contrast from my usual massive, tote bags.

b: What gloss are you wearing right now?
RS: I don’t wear lip gloss; I just like Chapstick.

b: What’s stores are calling out to you? what stores are you drawn into?
RS: Right now, I like vintage stores and antique malls where you hunt around and find random bits of clothes between cluttered bookshelves and carosel horses.

Votive Light

b: What color is your new black?
RS: I’ve actually never been into black, but I love blues. Lately, I like navy and I am reawakening my love for teal.

Navy Military Band Jacket & Stockings

b: What’s your favorite LBD?
RS: A simple BDG tank dress with pockets; it is really comfortable in summer and can be styled so many different ways.

b: What’s your favorite vintage piece?
RS: A brown feather fascinator, the colors of the feathers blend seamlessly with my hair and since it is a neutral it goes with everything.

b: What Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court (past or present) do you most admire?
RS: Sandra Day O’Connor, I admire her on so many levels and agree with her case-by-case approach to judicial decisions and political views.

b: Lastly, we’d like to know: What’s your beso? My beso is: “be so compassionate”
RS: Choose happiness.

Well, Rebecca, we wish you much happiness and continued success with The Clothes Horse. Enjoy chocolate!

Handful of Chocolate

chictopia.com

I’ve been following chictopia for some time now, and have been impressed with the site’s tremendous success in building a lively and active community around fashion and personal style. But after attending the chictopia 10 conference during Fashion Week, my appreciation for what Helen Zhu, Corrine Chan and the rest of the chictopia team has accomplished has grown considerably.

At its core, chictopia is democratizing people’s ability to express their personal style and tastes and, at the same time, lets style-seekers discover trends and looks that match their tastes, shape and body size.

My favorite features of the site include the ability to upload photos of yourself (or looks you like), to tag them with the brands you’re wearing, and to create polls to get feedback on the look from other members of the community. To foster community engagement and participation in polls and other activities, site members can earn chic rewards, which are redeemable for items from popular brands like American Apparel.

I uploaded a few handy photos and created polls around them. How’s my hula-hooping?

Hula Hooping (poorly) at a Fourth of July Parade, 2009

If you like to express your style, use chictopia as your fashion soapbox. I, for one, will be following their success!

Ps. Here are some photos from the chictopia 10 conference.

Jane Aldridge, seaofshoes.com

Erin Hagstrom, calivintage.com

Greta (L), from gretaguide.com; Rebecca Stice (R), ClothesHorse

Judy Aldridge, Atlantis Home

Dave Cook, thefind.com

Conference Attendees

BRYANBOY

Greatness, the idea of someone being “the best,” is usually easier to conclude in hindsight.  What we love today can easily fall short tomorrow as the pace of the world quickens.  So, who are the great bloggers?  What makes a blogger stand apart from the ocean of opinions we surf through every day?  Only time will tell…lasting power alone proves a bloggers ability to connect with an audience; to affect the masses.

The reason I bring this up is because I recently found a blog that sparked my attention.  More specifically, a personality that comes through so strong in this new medium that I can’t help but want to know more.  Introducing Bryanboy.  It has a sort of superhero ring to it, no?  And he might just be the masked man for the job.

Bryanboy

The blog posts vary.  Some are very short and to the point, product focused.  Some take us behind the scenes on exotic fashion adventures.  Nothing appears to be mundane for this young enthusiastic fashion nut.  Take a look at his post of a hidden camera at the 2010 Chanel Spring Summer Show:

This kid goes the extra mile.  He’s not posting countless wish-lists and regurgitating the same old information…he is paving his own way.  He is chasing something, and he’s bringing us along for the ride.  And that…is the making of greatness.

I was truly sold by Bryanboy when I read his post entitled “Great Expectations.”  I realized he has the humility and wisdom to actually pull it off.  He goes on to explain that “in order to be a credible and authoritative critic, one has to possess a great knowledge of a particular subject they are talking about. And it doesn’t happen overnight.”  He refers to himself as a work in progress, another sign of greatness.  And above all, every post is bleeding with gratitude and awareness of the readers who have given him the life he has always dreamed of.  There is no doubt that his enthusiasm is infectious.  We will be hearing more from Bryanboy in the years to come, and we will be rooting him on the entire way.

Beauty Plus Power

Plus size, big and tall, outsize, whatever you like to call it, is a large part of the market.  It only makes sense that these clothes are cut and fit to enhance the beauty of the full figure.  This brings me to the blog of the hour, Beauty Plus Power.  This is an amazing resource for plus size shoppers.  The blog serves as an extension of the main site and includes over 500 listings.  The store profiles provide a ton of useful information about each store including: sizing, what they do and do not carry, links to shop, retail locations, etc.

The young founder and creative director of Beauty Plus Power, Lisa Alpern, describes herself as a “red-headed full figured fashionista.”  The inspiration for the site came from a lack of flattering clothing for women in the plus size category as well as a void of information on the web for a growing movement in plus size fashion.  Her site flawlessly achieves the goal of educating and empowering full figured women around the world, connecting them with clothing intended to celebrate and even show off the extra goods.

Regal Lace Baby Doll & G-String

Torrid Blue Halter Top - 4XL

Torrid Denim Adriana Wash Bootcut Jean Extra-Short