Mustaches Don’t Necessarily Belong on ShopTalk, But…

You might enjoy keeping up with the lip fur of D contributor Ryan Jones, in honor of the month of Movember. Movember, yes. It’s spelled correctly.

How to Improvise Rain Gear

I’ve never really been prepared, fashion-wise, for rainy days. I like the rain, and I typically don’t mind getting a little wet. But, this morning… me no likey. It was pouring, and I just couldn’t stand the thought of cold, wet feet, a soaked maxi dress, and dripping locks. Problem was I didn’t have an umbrella. I grabbed a 10-year-old rain coat (I don’t much like pink, by the way), the free rainboots we got from Marnie Rocks during last year’s Plaza Style event, and some Tupperware for my head. Laugh if you must, but please note: though I don’t know how many times I was snickered at on my way to work, I arrived as dry as a martini.

Target Does Designer

Target’s designer collaborations aren’t new. We’ve seen the inexpensive made-for-Target lines of Jean Paul Gaultier, Rodarte, Anna Sui, and other heavy hitters. Now, designers have hit the diapies scene. Cynthia Rowley and Pampers combined powers to create high fashion pee pads for toddler tushies, available at Target. Would you spend $15 a pack? Sound off. (Or don’t. However you feel.)

Ps. The next round of designer duds at Target will be that of William Rast, available in December. Woo hoo!

The Greatest Soda Machine Ever Lives at Pei Wei

And probably all kinds of places that I don’t know about yet. Have you seen one of these things yet? (Check it out left.) It’s a digital choose-any-kind-of-soda-you-can-think-of touchscreen machine. Yes, touchscreen. On the main screen, options include Coke, Diet Coke, Dasani, Flavored Dasani, Barqs, Minute Maid, diet Minute Maid, and even Fanta and diet Fanta (weird, but awesome). From there, you can select one to see which flavors are available. For example, in the diet Fanta menu, I filled my cup up with two of the options: raspberry and grape. It was like drinking a Pixie Stix: delicious and kind of gross. Next, I tried the Diet Coke menu. Behold! Lime! Vanilla! Orange! Cherry! Raspberry! Soda heaven. Is this like Groupon, and I’m the last to know again? Or is this is cool as I think it is. Jump to see the Diet Coke menu. (more…)

Tights for Men. “MantyHose.” Umm…

For Shakespeare it was fine, but I’m not sure about this.

Spider Silk – The Newest Luxury

And you thought you worked hard.  How about collecting one million wild spiders from telephone poles?  For 4 years?  To produce a piece of cloth 11 ft x 4 ft?  Just the latest in the “hard to get” category, and it is on display at the American Museum of Natural History.  It is supposed to be stronger than Kevlar, but don’t expect to see it yet in military haz-mat suits – unless we only need one per year. Maybe that’s the answer to get us out of the war.   “Sorry, no equipment, those damn spiders just aren’t working hard enough.”  Thanks for the link, Danny Piassick.)

Fashion Flashback: Little Darlings

Once upon a time, there were two adorable children–the Kostelny sisters–whose hobbies included performing scenes from Star Wars, pursuing dreams of becoming professional roller skaters (figure not speed), and dressing alike. Then they moved to Saudi Arabia. When they moved back a few years later–to the thriving metropolis that is Beaumont, Texas–they were the biggest outcasts in the world. Oh. And they were in junior high. With cruel junior high kids.  In Beaumont, Texas. So, their mother decided to make things worse by enrolling them in a “charm school,” where the girls learned important lessons such as how to get in and out of a limousine, how to eat soup, and how to “mannequin” model. (They are the two beauties who are  doing the c-3PO and the collar grab.)  You know, like you do, when you’re a lady. And although the setting looks like a prison, it’s actually a room in a school. God. It’s a wonder those poor nerdy Kostelny misfits made it through the horrible, unkind 1980s. The end.

The Biggest Chair You’ve Ever Seen Lives Right Here in North Texas

The other day, I got an e-mail from someone at Sunnyland Furniture. The gentleman said the store was home to the world’s largest patio chair. I didn’t fact-check that statement, but I did decide I needed to see the monster seat for myself. So, with Peggy Levinson, Laura Kostelny, and Jamie Laubhan-Oliver in tow, I drove north to the corner of Coit and Spring Valley. And, lo and behold, there it was: the biggest chair mine eyes had ever seen. Then, as you can see, we did what anyone else would have done. Your next road trip has just been planned. Thank me later.

Cankles! And The Ladies Who Loathe Them

There are a couple of local connections in this Wall Street Journal story about fat ankles, such as the area surgeon who says he does 10 to 12 ankle liposuctions a year, and the Irving-based Gold’s Gym having declared July “Cankles Awareness Month.” Those two tidbits alone had already left me scratching my cankles, but then I got to the part about Preparation H. Jump for it.

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TV With Laura: The Bachelorette Episode 2 Recap

Get your laughs on FrontBurner. But leave your comments here, ladies!

TV With Laura: The Bachelorette Recap

My little recaps have moved over to FrontBurner. So go here to get my take on last night’s episode of The Bachelorette. But guess what? FrontBurner doesn’t have comments anymore. So, if you have questions, comments, arguments, beefs, or any other feedback, please do so here, okay? I like hearing from you!

Deconstructing the Cuchini

As far as beauty product reviews go, this one really brings the lolz, as Best Week Ever blog staffers might say. Gosh, BWE, you make me happy. Also, whoever designed this logo is a mad genius. Note the swoop on the big “C.” That was no accident, friends.

TV with Laura: Tough Love Part VII (?)

Hello, dear friends. Forgive me for falling down on my post last week. I promise, I will never allow my “real” job to get in the way of my commitment to bringing you updates on some of the saddest television shows. But that’s all behind us. Let’s focus on last night’s episode of Tough Love. Steve said the lesson was about reconciling the past and the present with the future. WRONG. The lesson here is that all reality show roads lead back to Dallas. Jump to see what I mean.

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Super High Tech (Fun) Modern Purse

Seriously. I wish Chanel would get on board.

TV With Laura: Needs Your Help

I’ve been at the office since about 2:30 p.m. finishing the May/June issue of D Home. The tragedy here: I missed Tough Love. (Yes, I know. I should get a DVR. But my favorite channel, VH1, replays everything over and over again, so that seems like a waste of money.) Can any Shoptalkers give me the scoop? Maybe you could even write a little recap with highlights? Who was in the hot seat? Did Arian pull any of her funny business? Any good quotes from my girl Taylor? Thanks in advance for making my day.