Watch out Beyonce and Jay, Angelina and Brad; there’s a new fashionable couple on the scene! The cutest Chemical Engineer majors ever spotted at UCLA prove that physics can be hot, too! Amber and Jason give us a taste of what wearing lab coats everyday and being in a loving relationship can do to your wardrobe.

What is L.A. street fashion to you?
Amber: L.A. street fashion is like saying “my personal style, meet the city of Los Angeles.” L.A. street fashion is about bringing your own flavor and allowing yourself to broadcast that. People are open canvases, billboards, and another form of mass media in my opinion. Some people may look at you and say “What was she thinking?” or “Wow, how did she think of doing that?” but either way it’s about infusing your own personal touch into what’s hot and trendy.

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1. The Shopaholic Sample Sale will feature samples and overstock inventory from “T Luxury, Leonard Street, Mynx, For Joseph, Jenny Hann, T Bags, Subtle Tones, Karen Zambos, Hale Bob, and more” (bargainsla). All is discounted 50 % off or more. I am a huge fan of Subtle Tones. There’s a boutique on Montana Avenue filled with lovely linens and silks, as well as beautiful home decor - for instance, sparkly chandeliers I’d buy for my house if I won the lottery. No, but seriously, there’s some nice and affordable stuff too: for instance, the black silk poof-y dress I got for $40 at the Montana Avenue Sidewalk Sale. Yes, $40. Proof that not all on Montana is outrageous, and proof that this sale won’t be either.

When: Saturday 8/3 and Sunday 8/4. 9am - 7pm.

Where: Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Suite 104, Pasadena.

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1. The Shopaholic Sample Sale will feature samples and overstock inventory from “T Luxury, Leonard Street, Mynx, For Joseph, Jenny Hann, T Bags, Subtle Tones, Karen Zambos, Hale Bob, and more” (bargainsla). All is discounted 50 % off or more. I am a huge fan of Subtle Tones. There’s a boutique on Montana Avenue filled with lovely linens and silks, as well as beautiful home decor - for instance, sparkly chandeliers I’d buy for my house if I won the lottery. No, but seriously, there’s some nice and affordable stuff too: for instance, the black silk poof-y dress I got for $40 at the Montana Avenue Sidewalk Sale. Yes, $40. Proof that not all on Montana is outrageous, and proof that this sale won’t be either.

When: Saturday 8/3 and Sunday 8/4. 9am - 7pm.

Where: Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Suite 104, Pasadena.

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From Bombay to the City of Angels, the orchestra musician, runway model, modern Audrey Hepburn incarnate Teji Kapadia breaks down L.A. Street Fashion like a pro.

What is L.A. street fashion to you?
Throwing together bright colors with the typical black. Dealing with the heat in fashion. A classy sexy. Layered clothing, creatively toped with equally creative accessories. Dressing with a mixture of thrift store and the biggest brands your money can buy. That’s the beauty of L.A., no one reps that they don’t wear their brands to make them look street. It’s accepted. L.A. fashion is very accepting

What pops out to you as a global trend that started in L.A.?
I’d have to say the amazing accessories. The bright Nike SB’s mixed with the preppy polos, or the beaters topped with a scarf and a chain that seems perfect for the outfit. The way L.A. cats accessorize has to be my favorite. They don’t seem scared to try new things or branch out. The low V-necks that fall off the girl’s shoulders seems to be the latest big L.A. trend, clothing wise from what I’m seeing though.

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I’m sure most of you know, or at least are vaguely aware, that Sarah Jessica Parker has her own line of clothes. I’m also sure you know she’s considered a style icon and is the motivating force behind Sex And The City’s influence on the fashion footprint. What I don’t think you know is that not one of the items from her line BITTEN™, sold exclusively at BITTEN™, sold exclusively at Steve & Barry’s®, is priced over $10.98. I would not have believed it either had I not seen the $8.98 chinos with my own eyes.

Steve Shore and Barry Prevor, God bless them, are the great minds behind the Steve & Berry’s® retail genius. Their roots were planted on college campuses, selling casual sports wear and collegiate paraphernalia to students. Two hundred and seventy stores later, they are still operating their business with the student budget in mind. In any given city, college campus present or not, you can find well-made clothes for insanely low prices.

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Sushi fiend, future cosmologist, habitual line-stepper, and trendsetter Beverly M. takes a minute to tell us why L.A. Street Fashion is the shit.

What is L.A. street fashion to you?
Comfortably expressing individualism without having people giving a shit about your image since there is diversity all around you.

How has this city molded your style?
I have always been into the fashion world considering my major was fashion marketing or design. As far as fitting into the mold, I pretty much just get up on a daily basis and put on a kit to what I feel that day, whether it be plain Jane or just wild.

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Men will be channeling Mr. Rogers, famed children’s television icon, this fall when they slip into this season’s must-have: the cardigan. Or as I like to call it, the mandigan. Never before has one item of clothing been associated with such a wide range of iconic and proverbial figures: ladies who lunch (paired with a pencil skirt), your 4^th grade teacher (worn with khakis and loafers), your grandfather (that smelled of stale smoke), and Cliff Huxtable (which was immediately removed by the oft amorous Claire Huxtable). It’s the uniform staple for soccer moms and members of the PTA, and every third woman at church sports one with a camisole and string of pearls.

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Full-time student, journalist, and sports enthusiast, Justin brings a male’s perspective on L.A. Street Fashion.

What is L.A. street fashion to you?

L.A. street fashion = giving a damn about what other people think.

How has this city changed your style?

Honestly, this city has F’ed my style up. Wait, I take that back. This city has F’ed my wallet up! Why does all the “cool” stuff have to be so damn expensive? My clothes are always two years late because I wait until they go on clearance before I buy ‘em. I used to think I was cool in a Nautica jacket and jeans. But I guess that’s out of style now, isn’t it?

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With gas prices fluctuating between miserable and laughable (less “Ha ha,” more “I laugh to keep from crying), I am now looking for ways to exist without having to leave my home. The internet has become my dearest comrade, bringing everything from financial planners to now-discontinued shades of my favorite Smashbox lipstick within a fingertip’s reach. What does the real world have that the internet can’t offer? Absolutely nothing.

Here are a few sites I’ve come across that you should find useful if you’re like me and enjoy having an “in” on the latest trends and scoring goodies without surrendering your first born to the fat cats at the oil companies.

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Angie Vasquez
L.A.’s very own artist and DJ, Angie Vasquez, tells LA.Cityzine why she’s on a mission to bomb your handbags. She also reveals how her independent clothing label, Girlfitti Love, was humbly conceived, distributed to the right people, and ended up on Pink’s superstar head.

What made you decide to start Girlfitti Love?

Well it was definitely by accident, but the story goes: I was in a mall and this chick was rocking a graffiti trucker cap. I knew I could do that myself so I went out and bought a trucker and hooked it up with the worst graffiti ever. (Haha!) I knew it wasn’t great graffiti but I was proud of what I did. So I hit the dancer scene in my new hat; before I knew it I had people asking me to do a hat for them.

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Last Tuesday our favorite stars collided for the 2008 BET Awards Show at the Shrine Auditorium here in the heart of LA. While I could focus on the best dressed or the performances that had us texting our friends to make sure they were watching, I’d rather focus on another issue of much greater importance. I consider it my civic duty to address what appears to be a terrifying trend emerging among my people, and must be stopped at all costs: sensible women sporting haircuts apparently inspired by Dora the Explorer.

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A Small Glimpse into the Wild Success of L.A. Sweatshops

As American as apple pie and embarrassment, sweatshop-made clothing has been a reality in the City of Angels for decades.

- What is a sweatshop?
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, a sweatshop is “a shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions.”

The Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles more specifically defines a sweatshop as “a workplace where workers are subject to extreme exploitation, including the absence of a living wage or benefits, poor working conditions, such as health and safety hazards, and arbitrary discipline.”

- How many sweatshops are really in L.A.?
In a 1995 New York Times article titled “Los Angeles Sweatshops are Thriving”, The Economic Development Corporation of Los Angeles reported that out of 120,000 garment industry workers, up to 20,000 worked in sweatshop conditions.

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