EBay Store: Trendy Outfitter

I'd like to begin by saying that I have no experience with EBay at all and that I have no idea how this EBay store works, so I make no quality guarantees about what I am about to expound on. But from all accounts and the many reviews this seller has had, it does look pretty reliable and should I ever decide to start using EBay, I think I'd start with this store. So, what made me suddenly so interested in Ebay? The Trendy Outfitter store! They sell trendy Japanese and Korean inspired apparel worldwide (they apparently ship from Taiwan, so I'm not too sure where the products originate).
But anyway, onto the fashion. This was the coat that caught my attention. When my friend first showed me, I was like, OMG I want that coat! And when I saw the price- I wanted it even more! Who can resist a gorgeous wool blend coat for $25? That, you see is the beauty of this site. I don't know why it is so cheap, but nothing you see on list is more than $30. The catch, we soon discovered, was that the delivery is the same price as the coat. But still, that makes it $50... still not too bad. As to the quality... well, you can't expect too much at that price. So I guess expect H&M quality? From the reviews, most customers seemed happy with their purchases....
More pretty coats. I'll take these two as well please.
And I absolutely LOVE this cardigan. Its so chic and girly. The perfect fashion item.
This will look soo cute on me! And you really can't go wrong with the fit of such a simple dress.
A perfectly simple sweater dress.
And I LOVE this sweater (though I'd like one in black/white). Its so simple yet trendy with the genie sleeves and the fancy turtleneck. Did I mentioned everything is priced below $30?

Personally, I am still a bit iffy about buying anything on Shopbop, let alone EBay. Especially here, there are the questions of: Why is it so cheap? Where do these clothes come from? Are they a copy of these pictures we see or the actual thing? How is the quality and fit? Is this store reliable? What do you think readers? Anyone have experience with Ebay stores?

Nevertheless, don't all these images just make you want to go to Korea or wherever these clothes originate from and have a super shopping spree? I know I do!

Image Source: Trendy Outfitter

Roberto Cavalli at H&M

Whenever I think of Roberto Cavalli, I think of animal prints, lacy tops, corsets, tight and glittery clothes and Victoria Beckham -all glamorously tasteless. Obviously I am not a fan of Roberto Cavalli. I don't care that his recent collection has improved a bit. The Cavalli style imprinted in my brain is still negative.

First off, you will notice that practically the whole collection is made of animal prints. There are leopard prints (in 2 different shades) and zebra prints. Talk about animal-prints overload! I can't believe he even put the prints on trousers!

Black and white animal-printed mini-dresses. I can't decide if these dresses are fun and crazy-looking, or just tacky.

The only thing I remotely consider decent is this sweater dress.

The things that I am interested in are the accessories, especially now that it's party season.

This braclet looks really pretty in the photo. I wonder if it will look that pretty in real life.

Another thing I'm interested in (as inspired by Mary Kate Olsen) is this cocktail ring.

So that's it. Anyways, just because Roberto Cavalli isn't my style, it doesn't mean that other people won't be anticipating the H&M collection. Look out for any craziness. The collection hits stores Nov 8th -that's tomorrow!

Image credit: http://www.hm.com/

A Weekend in NYC

Having wanted to go to NYC for the longest time (I haven't been since I was 4 years ago!), I finally went this weekend. And let me say, it is more awesome than I remember! Besides the usual Times Square, Saks Fifth and Madison, I also managed to visit Barneys, Carnegie Deli's, Korean town, W Hotel and a few other more interesting places....
Interesting place no. 1, the New York Palace hotel where Serena lives and Chuck owns in Gossip Girl. When we were planning it, we imagined lots of gossip girl-esque pictures- which we realized in the end. The place is as luxe as it looks, except for one thing- it has more traffic than one would imagine from the show. But oh well, it IS a hotel. Oh and behold the picture above of the courtyard- it is not the official xmas decorations for the hotel but for filming purposes only- expect to see this scene on GG. Next place I visited was Soho. First my friend took me to Le Pain Quotidien, a Belgium chain cafe (also available in the upper east side, amongst other places) which served the most delicious Belgium waffle I've tasted this side of the Atlantic. If you have a sweet tooth- you must try this place!
Then, I finally got to visit the Prada store in Soho. It is like the fashion mecca that I forgot to visit last time I was there. Interestingly, outside, it completely blends with the rest of Soho and doesn't look like a Prada store at all. We nearly missed it, if we didn't have the address (that is ONE good thing about blackberries)! And I find it fascinating how such small entrances can enclose such large spaces in NYC, because inside it was HUGE. And the stairs down.... it was just incredible. Definitely a fashionista's stop when in NYC.
Another highlight for me on this trip was the fact that it was SAMPLE SALE SEASON in NYC. So I visited one random sample sale in Soho on Greene St (one of the reasons I went to Soho actually), where I FINALLY found wide legged jeans which I liked! They are from Rich & Skinny and they were only $75! Score! I also went to the Helmut Lang and Rags and Bones sample sale on 32nd St. I was in heaven. Besides the already cheaper prices, there was an extra 25% off everything. In the end, I got a classic white dress shirt and black dress pants from Helmut Lang for $160 in total. I DO need more office clothes after all. And the material and cutting for these two is amazing- smooth and not wrinkly at all (which is SO important for office wear). My white dress shirt is actually slightly different from the one above. It has a slightly asymmetrical cutting, which makes it interesting and at the same time subtle enough for interview purposes. So I thought that was pretty good for HL. There were more stuff too, like HL jeans and this Rag & Bones dress shirt that I liked.... I had to restrain myself!

I can't wait to go back to NYC! I still haven't covered the Met, Magnolia Bakery, Serenpidity.......

Image Source: ShopBop

FW07 Trend: Ankle Boots II -the Cute Ones

So last Saturday I blogged about the basic ankle boots, the ones that go with almost all outfits. This post is about the cute ankle boots, by that I mean the ones that go with skirts and dresses.

V-slit ankle boots are another 'it' thing this season. I didn't like them at first but now I'm seeing their charm. Only wear them with dresses or skirts though, because I suspect the slit would look really odd peeking from under trousers. (This pair is by Costume National.)

This pair by Urban Outfitters looks really young and casual. I picture them with denim skirts and casual dresses.

If you like the London and LA style, then you'll like these bright yellow Top Shop boots. They would totally add casual funkiness to ones outfits. Imagine them with a plain cotton, mini-dress, plus a chunky bright scarf and a bunch of crazy cocktail rings. Fun!

Even though they're not my style, these suede KG boots are feminine and can be used for casual or semi-formal days.

These white Top Shop boots have more of a 'utility' feel to them. I'm not sure how one would wear these boots. I imagine they would match black stockings really nicely.

I've seen these Marc by Marc Jacobs boots 'inspire' a lot of other high street version. They're cute -sort of like leg-warmers combined with ankle boots. Cute as they are, they are unfortunately not very practical in real life, are they?

The thing about these cute boots is that while they are certainly more eye-catching and distinctive than the basic, black ones, they're just not as practical. So unless you get to dress casually a lot, then I'm not sure if they're worth buying. But hey, if the boots are from the high street stores, (ie. totally affordable,) then have some fun with them!

Credit Images: http://www.barneys.com/, http://www.topshop.com/, http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/, http://www.kurtgeiger.com/

The Runningback on the Shallow Cross Route

The shallow crossing routes have become very popular recently. A recurring question is how to use the running back on the play. Send him to the side the shallow is going, or where he came from?

For an earlier discussion of the shallow cross, see my article on how Mike Martz uses the shallow cross in various ways here. Martz is a pretty comprehensive guy and this covers most of the bases.

But here are some thoughts on how to use the runningback in the route:

Depends what you're doing on the play.

The Airraid (Mike Leach/Texas Tech, I think Kansas with Mark Mangino, Troy St., Hal Mumme) guys let him "leak" out to the side the shallow came from. This creates a nice "triangle" for their hunt route coming over the middle and works as a nice hi/lo read. They look at the shallow first.



Some other coaches will send a shoot/swing/wheel to the side the shallow is going. Petrino used to do this at Louisville a lot (especially with a no-back protection, shallow came from trips side, single rec side (TE or split end) would run a post or a square-in).



The reason is that the RB will pull the flat defender on that side out. That way the shallow will come open in the void he has created.

Another good option is to have the RB run an angle route to the side the shallow came from. Mike Martz often does this. Any hesitation by the Mike backer can create a nice void for the RB to get into. The "crease" concept is built around this.



Purdue and the Airraid guys will also send the running back on a full swing or shoot to the side the shallow came from. Both will usually have the outside receiver run a curl. (This also relates to the drive or "stem" concept but without the rubs.) The reason for this is that the curl essentially fits into the same void as the "leak" or "short hook" RB just outside the tackle, but obviously he's farther downfield. But it's the same passing window. There they just use the RB to widen the flat defender out.



So the point is there is no one right way, just different ways to attack the defense. This gets back to the notion of "concepts." In other words, the "shallow" is not a concept, it is a route to be used within those various concepts.

While a pro team may use each of these and more, a high school team may only have room for one. But each affects the defense differently so what you choose to do may depend on what you already do, what defenses you see, and what you can fit in well.

Building Stretches

The question was: How do you build downfield routes that stretch defenses horizontally (from sideline to sideline)?

An example of a short stretch is all curl. There you have 3 "short" receivers (tight end over the middle, backs in the flat) and two curling back receivers (outside guys) who come under the deep shell of the secondary and stretch four underneath defenders with five guys. Sid Gillman invented the play and Bill Walsh ran it for years and years.

See this article for further discussion on concepts and horizontal and vertical stretches.

Here are some thoughts on applying this procedure to routes farther downfield:

Examples of "downfield" routes that still use horizontal stretch concepts are the three-verticals (corners and a post) which is used to "horizontally stretch" two deep safeties. Also the four verticals play is a deep horizontal stretch, where you use four receivers to stretch three (or, more simply, the two inside receivers to stretch the middle safety).

I'm not sure it counts as sufficiently "downfield" but other common ones would just be a 10-12 yard out by #1 with a curl or seam by #2. You read this out to in. Often the RB sits over the ball so you get a kind of 1-2-3 horizontal stretch.

Note that several of these routes (like the three verticals with the corners and the post in the middle) employ both the horizontal stretch and the vertical stretch. For example on three verticals you stretch the two deep safeties horizontally with the two corners and the post, but you also stretch the cornerbacks/flat defender hi/lo because you send the runningbacks or a TE type player to the flats.

A final thought on this question, however.

This may seem like a simple question, but it really gets to the heart of how good passing concepts are built.

They are built with sound stretches, often layered over each other to put the maximum pressure on the defense. They are finished by making each route good versus man to man, or including a man to man concept.

You cannot build pass concepts that beat all potential coverages, but your goal is to make the defense work at stopping you and make them pay for their mistakes.