Retro Swimsuits from Malia Mills

I stumbled on the Malia Mills shop in Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn one afternoon and just fell in love with her fantastic, retro-inspired swimwear. I also dig the way she uses her real-life customers as models.

Packing List: Sun Hat to Go

I’m fair and freckled and I’ve faced facts: I will not get tan. And sunblock can only do so much when I’m scouring the Brooklyn Flea in the blazing sun or on the deck of a boat in Capri (more on that soon, I promise!) So I always carry a hat, but I don’t always want to wear it all day. That’s why I was so happy to find this awesome, orange sun hat (modeled above by my daughter, Marguerite), San Diego Sun Hat’s large-brim ribbon hat.

It’s cute, has a big brim that can be bent up or down and, best of all it, can be folded up and put in my purse or suitcase and won’t get crushed. So I will never again be caught carrying a straw hat around an airport in January.

See what other genius clothes and accessories are on my Packing List.

Shopping in Brooklyn: Great Design in Boerum Hill

Lately I’ve been eating my way around Brooklyn, and spending long afternoons in Prospect Park, but New York’s other great pastime – shopping! - can’t be beat along Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

Boerum Hill is a tiny brownstone neighborhood just south of Brooklyn Heights (and probably best known as the former home of Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams). Its main thoroughfare, Atlantic Avenue, has become a chic main street to the tony adjacent ‘hoods with its new Barney’s Co-op, Jonathan Adler, Steve Alan and, more importantly, tons of cool, locally owned boutiques. Here are a few shops with great design (and – I couldn’t resist – a place to stop for a bite).

Alexander McQueen Still Haunting Me

I was so completely taken with the new Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met’s Costume Institute I can’t stop thinking about it. The show, which runs through July 31, 2011, features his incredibly creative clothes – from a straight-jacket-like kimono to butt-crack revealing pants – as well as accessories like a silver, rib-cage breast-plate, eccentric hats from Philip Treacy but best of all are the videos.

The catwalk is where McQueen’s vision really came alive. I walked away with new respect for the way he completely re-thought the catwalk. Forget models simply walking the damn thing. Instead he put models on a life-sized chess board, or used robots to spray-paint a model wearing a white dress, actually creating the dress in front of the audience. How amazing is that?! But the most haunting video was this hologram of Kate Moss at his Fall 2006 show. A hologram, people!

“Savage Beauty” is a must-see show in New York this summer. So far none of the other museums have come up with anything quite to striking and poignant.

To see how the Kate Moss video worked in the context of the room check out this video. So incredible. How I wish I had seen one of his shows…

Calypso for Target Brings St. Barth Style to the Masses

Calypso St. Barth, the brand that brought sheer, beachy tunics to the pastey women of Manhattan is about to go national. Today the Calypso for Target line debuts and, based on the photos I’ve seen, I’m a little disappointed. I’m a fan of the boutique for its pastel, ethnic tops and white AG jeans. It’s a well-edited vacationwear that makes you want to hop on a plane to St. Barths, and the home shop is lovely, too.

The Target  line tops out at $79, which might buy you a t-shirt or half a tunic at a Calypso boutique so that could be part of the reason the Target line is less than exciting. But these dresses look cheap and I don’t see even one cute tunic top. I’ll have to take a look in person to see if anything surprises me. Here are some preview photos after the jump. What do you think?