FASHION

• Hollywood Shop Til’ You Drop | Saturday, August 9, 2008 | 11 a.m. | Free | Republic - Map | L.A’s top photographers, models, designers, stylists and editors will be at Hollywood Shop Til’ You Drop, which features clothing, jewelry, product giveaways, complimentary eye brow treatments, massages and more. Music provided by Celebrity DJ Q (Pharrell Williams and LA Clippers) RSVP To: shopmelroseave@yahoo.com to reserve free tickets or reply to this email.

FESTIVAL

• Sunland-Tujunga Watermelon Festival | Friday, August 8 through Sunday, August 10, 2008 | 5 p.m. (Friday), 12 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday) | $1 donation | Sunland Park Recreation Center - Map | The 47th annual Sunland-Tujunga Watermelon Festival takes place all weekend, sponsored by the Lions Club of Sunland-Tujunga. The event features free watermelon for all, watermelon carving display, eating contest with prizes and a watermelon seed spitting contest and much much more

FILM

• Samurai Rebellion | Saturday, August 9, 2008 | 7 p.m. | $10 | Silent Movie Theatre - Map | From Masaki Kobayashi and directed by Toshiro Mifune, Samurai Rebellion is a story of feudal-era political intrigue, vengeance and loyalty. The story revolves around a warlord’s retainer (Mifune) who has happily promised his beautiful daughter to her true love, but his decadent master has claimed the girl as his own. After his attempts to negotiate backfire, Mifune has no choice but to turn to his sword in a beautiful and brutal climactic showdown. 1967, 35mm, 128 min.

Photo by pinkspleen

I remember back in olden times when a trip to the mall was just that: a shopping trip to the mall. Cruise through the department stores, stop by the specialty shops and threaten violence against the guy on the hand lotion cart. But with the advent of lifestyle centers offering everything from movie theaters and sit-down restaurants to the more traditional specialty shops and boutiques, a trip to the mall is not a simple outing. It is work and work requires sustenance, which is why we’ve created this multi-part series devoted to the best mall eats in town.

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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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Shoe fiends, start your engines for the TRANSIT: LA Shoe Show! BCBGirls, L.A.M.B., Crocs, Chinese Laundry, Zoo York, and much much more!

When: August 10th-11th (Sunday-Monday). From 9am to 5pm.
Where: 110 East Ninth St. in downtown Los Angeles on Floor 13 of the California Market Center

*More information here!

I’m telling you, take advantage of these sales, because a lot of them are happening at stores that might not normally have such big sales, but that are simply because it’s summer. So buy up for next summer, unless don’t like wearing something from last season, that is… As for me, if I like it, I like it! Anyway, to the important stuff

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1. The Foley and Corinna Sample Sale will feature discounts from 30 - 80% on purses, retro dresses, tops, and much more.

When: Saturday, July 19 - Sunday July 20. Open 11am - 7pm both days.

Where: 8117 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. (323) 944-0169.

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These sales are ending soon, so make sure to catch them in L.A. soon! Hurry Up!

Temperley London Sale

• When: Monday - Saturday from 10am - 6pm (Ends July 31st)
• Where: 452 Melrose Pl.
• Los Angeles, CA 90069
• More information: 323.782.8000 or online at www.temperleylondon.com

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1. DNA Boutique started their Summer Clearance Thursday, and it’s still going on. The store’s actually already a boutique, so a sale AT a boutique should be even more deal-alicious. A PLUS for those male readers: this boutique has not only women’s clothing but men’s, too - something probably unfairly unaddressed by yours truly… Anyway, female or male, young or old, prices will be discounted 20 to 65%. A good thing for everyone!PS: To make the sale more tantalizing, they aren’t allowed to tell us the brands they sell - so not to hurt the “regular price business” of their sellers. This is like serious undercover, well kind of undercover, sale business! I like it.

• Where: TWO Locations. Yet another plus: The first, at 7519 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. The second, at 411 Rose Ave., Venice.
• Call (310) 399 - 0341 for details.
• When: NOW.

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Sometimes you feel like going crazy shopping.  You know ‘crazy shopping’, where you run from store to store in a frenzy, buying up whatever strikes your fancy and filling that hole in your soul that subconsciously knows that life is meaningless with fabulous merchandise?  Ha, I’m telling you how to fill your soul hole.  That’s funny.  Anyway, if you’re like me, a mall usually won’t cut it.  So, I’ve come up with a shopping itinerary for you.  You can save gas, get your shop on and do your part for the economy.  Don’t worry about a thing, I planned your day for you.  (Make sure you have several hours and are wearing your fun hat.) Here are my picks for Sunset Blvd.

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What better way to celebrate the All-American 4th of July holiday than to participate in some hardcore consumerism via sample sales?Buy-Rite Furniture Clearance Tent Sale

• Super discounted furniture!
• When: July 3rd -July 8th
• Where: 2077 South Vineyard Avenue, Ontario, California
• Phone: 909.923.7789

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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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Nichole Palumbo
The best-dressed restaurant hostess in the west by day, Professional Dancer and Choreographer by night

- What is L.A. street fashion to you?
Combining different elements of the city (music, grafitti, the rich & the famous, grunge) and creating a style all your own. Mixing genres, sharing ideas, making it by hand, and making it your own.

- How has this city changed your style?
I think it’s changed anyone who lives in Cali’s style. If you lived in Hicksville you wouldn’t really care about fashion. We live near L.A. We’re obligated to have some kind of style. This city has influenced my style by its sheer versatility. You like to people-watch? Go to L.A. You’ll see bums strung out on coke, millionaires in their Rolls Royces, entire families J-walking to catch the bus, starving artists and musicians, hole-in-the wall coffee shops, and mile high corporate buildings. What more inspiration do you want, right?

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