CasaSugar

Wrap Star! Letterpress Buckle With Ribbon

CasaSugar — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:30:39 PST

When you're no longer stuck on stick-on bows and curling ribbon doesn't make the cut, spend a few bucks on the DSharp Letterpress Buckle With Ribbon ($7.50). This large oval belt, comprised of letterpress red striped printed paper, will replace your fussy bows in a cinch. The buckle arrives with ribbon, and that's all you'll need to dress your gifts: Just slide through and pull. No tape required! We all know a belt can easily transform a basic outfit, so why not use one to dress up your solid gift wrap or some brown packaging? Instant style.

Pump Up Your Spring Florals Like the Pros - Just Add Leather

Brittney Stephens — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 08:57:17 PDT

Who knew that ladylike florals and edgy leather could look so cool together? Not only did we see the pairing on the Spring runways at Alexander Wang and Altuzarra (how amazing is that white leather panel dress?), but celebs have been getting in on the action as well. We've spotted Minka Kelly, Alexa Chung, and Jamie Chung showing off fun floral and leather combos, giving us an instant need to re-create the look for ourselves. Minka wore a J Brand leather tee and Dolce & Gabbana floral jeans on the red carpet recently, finishing her look with Spring-perfect accessories like a yellow clutch and cobalt blue heels. Alexa Chung flaunted her quirky, fearless style in a floral Céline mini, printed tee, and Nicholas Kirkwood loafers - topped with a quilted leather jacket. Last but not least, Jamie Chung added a tough touch to her feminine floral dress by adding sexy leather buckle heels for a subtle, yet still showstopping look. Try the trend for yourself by clicking the widget below to shop some of our favorite leather and floral pieces now.

The Ride-On Carry-On: Kid-Friendly Or Are You Kidding?

LilSugar — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:32:18 PDT

Have you seen this crazy new invention, the Ride-On Carry-On? Developed by a flight attendant mom, the concept is a collapsible, kid-size chair that slides over your rolling luggage's handle. Buckle your child in and wheel them off to your gate. It saves you the hassle of having to check a stroller and streamlines the entire airport experience. Once you're in your seats, the Ride-On Carry-On folds flat to fit in an overhead bin. The device sells for $40, or parents of multiple lil ones can get two chairs for $70.

At first glance, it looks a bit ridiculous, but for anyone who's ever trekked through an airport with a child on one hip, a carry-on on the other, and a rolling bag trailing behind, there just may be some appeal here! What do you think?

Financial Time Line For 20-Somethings

Anna Monette Roberts — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:15:14 PDT

While we'd like to blame the economy, Generation Y - often called the Boomerang Generation of Americans born in the '80s and '90s - have earned that snide title for their inability to land jobs after college and for commonly moving back in with the folks several years after graduation. In an effort to move away from this common trend, here's a list of goals and a realistic time line to help you move toward an independent, adult life.

Last Year of School and Graduation

While some college students apply for jobs or graduate programs during their last semester of school, you might feel overloaded if you start the search while you have a full schedule of classes, an internship, and even a part-time job. Rather than trying to juggle all of those tasks at once, focus on completing your degree. Do make use of your college career services, so you have websites and resources at hand when you are ready to seriously start the hunt.

If you have savings or financial support from your parents, go to Europe or take that dream vacation you've always wanted. It's important to take a break after graduation to decompress before jumping into a job search or a new job. Even if it's just a road trip with your friends, take the opportunity to celebrate your graduation.

Click here to read what to do during your first and second year after graduation.

Vincent Kartheiser Talks Pete Campbell and Says, "There's No Shotgunning of Any Beers on the Mad Men Set"

Becky Kirsch — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 05:30:00 PDT

Pete Campbell is one of Mad Men's most divisive characters, as he's schemed and smarmed his way through four seasons at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Ahead of the series' return this Sunday, we got a chance to chat with Vincent Kartheiser, the man behind Pete Campbell's suit and smirk. Check out what he had to say about Pete's evolution, his favorite costars to work with, and why being drunk on the set is a bad idea.

Do you have any rituals you do to warm up before filming?
Vincent Kartheiser: I used to jump around, scream and curse, and do all kinds of vocal exercises, but I don't really do that anymore. About halfway through last season, I found that none of that helped. I still do it once in a while, just out of habit. I've kind of killed most of my rituals.

Are you interested in a picking up a new ritual? Like shotgunning a beer?
VK: [Laughs] Yeah, no. There's no shotgunning of any beers on the Mad Men set. Contrary to popular belief, acting drunk while being drunk actually doesn't work that well.

Where do you hope Pete ends up at the end of the series?
VK: In the first season, I had all sorts of hopes, and I would sit and project, "Maybe it will be this," or, "Maybe they will send my character here," and a couple of times, I would talk to my friends about it. But I found that all the places that Matthew [Weiner] had brought Pete Campbell were completely unexpected by me. And were actually way more interesting and way more fun to play than any of those things that I had been thinking of. So I stopped having any expectations for my characters.

After such a long hiatus, is there fear among the cast that audiences have gotten over the Mad Men craze?
VK: I don't have fear about that because I know that we have a specific product that is not easily replaced, because it's not a genre; it's not a niche; it's a real story. It's not like we're doing a cop show, and there's a new cop show that everyone's into. It's not like we're even doing an advertising show. We're part of a show that is a specific story, and people have become interested in and intrigued with these characters, not necessarily with the genre or not necessarily with some type of gimmick. It's a story that I think people want to know the end of, and I think we have a group of fans that also aren't your usual television watchers. So it's a group of people that haven't refilled their DVR schedule with whatever is hottest this year, but rather it's people who have sought out our show in particular. We do believe that they will come back, and I also think that they will be rewarded for that, because when Matthew Weiner is given even a few more weeks to write something, it just gets better. And in this case he's been given a few more months. It's a great season. The scripts this year are intense and suspenseful and funny, and it's been a real joy to read and to perform this season, and I just know that the audience is going to be more excited than ever.

To see what Kartheiser had to say about Pete's fatherhood and more, just

What do you think about the path that your character has taken over the course of the last four seasons? Has fatherhood changed him?
VK: Well, I think fatherhood has changed him, in the sense that it has brought this level of expectation and pressure to his household for him to be even more ambitious than he was before. Which must be quite an accomplishment for someone like Pete, who has been willing to blackmail his way into success. I love where the character's gone. It's such an interesting time, 26- to 30-years-old, and I think that time in a man's life, you either succeed or find out that you never will really be the man that you wanted to be. Late 20s, early 30s is when you kind of have to stick your flag in the ground. There was a while there when it was up in the air whether Pete was going to get the opportunity to do that or not. He didn't really feel like he fit the job of account manager very well. He thought, incorrectly, that he should be in Don Draper's shoes, making creative choices. Somewhere in season three, he kind of slid nicely into his character, and I think that has to do with his profession, and I think that has a lot to do with his wife, who has kind of made him buckle down and made him see what he has to do and believed in him and supported him. And I think the same comes with this child. It's forced him to kind of man up and say, "OK, this is the path that I'm on. I'm doing OK here. Instead of trying to be all these other things, I'm gonna be the best damn account man I can be." So in those ways, he's found a way to make a name for himself at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, and he's become a partner, and he has a lot of responsibility at that firm. So it's been a great evolution. And it's been interesting because myself, Vincent Kartheiser, as an actor, I was also trying to find a role that would help me stick my own flag in the ground, and Pete Campbell has done that for me. So there's a bit of synchronicity between the two.

How are you and Pete similar and how are you different?
VK: I'm similar to Pete because we both can be immature and petulant, and we can act out of fear. But I'm also similar to him because I think me and him are both generally sure that we are doing the correct thing. Even though Pete sometimes is not doing the right thing, he thinks it is the right thing, and he thinks it is, sometimes, the only option. And I think I can have similar feelings. When it comes to being different, we have very different backgrounds and very different relationships with our family and very different outlooks on the priorities in our life. Pete is much more ambitious than I am and much more cutthroat than I am. I think he can be way more competitive than me as well.

What have been some of your favorite moments to shoot in the last few seasons?
VK: I love all the scenes I have with Elisabeth Moss. She's such a fantastic actress, and I just love all the stuff we've had together. I love all the stuff that John Slattery has directed me in. He's got such a great tone when speaking with me as an actor, and he's a real director at heart, and I think every actor should work with him as a director once in their life. He's phenomenal.

How to Live in Harmony With Your Parents

LearnVest — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:14:48 PDT

It's hard to find a job with no experience, so a lot of young people find themselves in a muddle with low job prospects and an empty bank account. This leads many of them to move in with their parents to save money. Our partner LearnVest tackles this topic and gives advice for both the kids and their parents.

40%(!) of adults aged 18-39 are moving in or have moved back in with their parents.

As much as we love our parents, this probably isn’t our idea of a good time (or theirs).

But hey, drastic circumstances call for drastic measures. And there’s a good reason so many are leaning on their folks right now: The unemployment rate for people under 25 is 18% - more than twice the national average.

This is despite the fact that the American unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest point in the last four years.

The Facts

According to a recent survey by the National Endowment For Financial Education, 40% of American adults ages 18-39 either live at home or did so in the recent past . . . and that's not counting students.

Meanwhile, according to The Wall Street Journal, young people are bearing the brunt of economy-wide wage decreases. Their pay has dropped steadily for the past decade, and men have suffered more than women: The average inflation-adjusted hourly wage for male college graduates ages 23-29 dropped 11% in the past ten years, as compared to the 7.6% decrease for women with the same criteria. In contrast, average hourly wages for the workforce overall have risen slightly in the same time period (although that may be simply because the workers with the lowest pay have left the workforce).

Read on for more.

The Surprising Billionaire: 8 Interesting Facts About the Creator of Spanx

Emily Co — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:15:07 PST

Spanx is a word that most women are familiar with. It's a type of shapewear that helps to smooth away lumps and bumps and also leaves no trace of a panty line. The creator of this product, Sara Blakely, has been inducted to this year's Forbes billionaires list, which was released yesterday. Spanx, an international undergarment company, is worth an estimated $1 billion. Here are a couple of interesting facts about her from a Forbes feature:

She learned how to write her own patent from reading a Barnes and Noble book and she saved $3,000 in legal costs.
She worked at Disney World for three months and spent eight-hour days buckling customers into a ride.
She's the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world.
She has never spent money on advertising.
She owns 100 percent of the company.
She went from just having $5,000 in savings when she was 29 to owning a billion-dollar company at the age of 41 today.
She has her eccentric moments, and her husband describes her as "50 percent Lucille Ball, 50 percent Einstein." Some of her goofiest moments include wearing a boot on one foot and a Christian Louboutin heel on the other in Bloomingdale's, and wearing stretchable candy necklaces and bracelets (bought from a nearby candy store) to the Screen Actors Guild Awards because she left her jewelry at the hotel.
She witnessed a car run over her best friend when she was only 16, and facing mortality at such a young age has driven her. "I think that when you witness death at age 16, there's a sense of urgency about life," Blakely says. "The thought of my mortality - I think about it a lot. I find it motivating. It can be any time that your number's up."

Add Crispness to Your Look With These Military-Inspired Pieces

Marisa Tom — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:28:40 PST

With the Fall '12 collections fresh in our minds, it's hard not to love the resurgence of structured military-inspired silhouettes, utilitarian-style belts, and a whole new crop of cool olive-green pieces to soup up our wardrobe color palettes. Lucky for us, this "military moment" happens to fit right in with Spring's transitional styling MO. Looks straight from Topshop Unique, Balmain, and McQ Alexander McQueen runways have revamped the way we've been thinking about the army-heavy trend. Here's the deal: forget cargo pants and parachute tops, it's all about classic gold buttons à la Sgt. Pepper, clean lines, zipper detailing, slick leather add-ons, and two-tone paneling. For a military-chic look - that covers all the Spring '12 bases - take styling notes on Victoria Beckham's sleek dress with tough waist-belt cinching, Rachel McAdams's The Row sleek toggle-buckle overcoat, or Rooney Mara's edgy peplum-infused Givenchy jacket. For more military-inspired style inspiration and our editors' need-now picks, just keep clicking.

Chanel Fall 2012

Hannah Weil — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 06:53:56 PST

Both a reimagining and an homage to the label's signature aesthetic, Karl Lagerfeld plays in tweed, sporty silhouettes, and whimsical layers and texture (and bejeweled eyebrows) for Chanel's Fall 2012. Lagerfeld's all-star cast (minus a noticeably absent Freja), including Miranda Kerr, Joan Smalls, and Anja Rubik, took to the catwalk of a snowy white cave, done up in crystal embellishments that mirrored the life-size versions set on the runway. That in itself set the mood for whimsy, which only became more pronounced in Karl's colorful, metallic-embellished visions for Fall - shimmer reflected in slim pants, sparkly-tinged knits, and sheer skirts. Meanwhile, Chanel's tweed got the rainbow treatment, as did the offering of diaphanous frocks with a dose of soft brights. Outerwear maintained the label's sophistication, though the flair for drama was evidenced in roomier silhouettes, some that gave way to boxier shapes with sloped, rounded shoulders, but more that skimmed and highlighted curves in hourglass proportions. That's not to say that it was "ladylike" - very little here spoke to Chanel's ladylike sense. In fact, the feel was overwhelmingly sportier. Even when textures were dressed up in rich metallic detail, shapes were more nonchalant - tunics and dresses layered over pants and perfectly slouchy knits topped trousers. There was nothing too literal; even in playfulness, Karl never overcommits. Jewel tones and geometric details felt fresh, and proportional play felt casual, not overworked. He knows exactly how to draw us in with the theatrics of his runway, but never loses sight of what we've all come to see.

Trends: Dresses over pants, texture, sporty, brights, sheer, metallics.
Colors: Black, green, white, fuchsia, purple, yellow, gray, teal, blue.
Key Piece: The textured metallic trousers were amazing.
Accessories: Cutout buckled Lucite heels, oversize crystal pendants and matching bracelets, Chanel crossbody handbags and clutches in every hue.
Who Would Wear It: Karl's girls, Diane Kruger, Rachel Bilson, and Blake Lively.

Pringle of Scotland Fall 2012

Chi Diem Chau — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:23:07 PST

Alistair Carr showed a range of sophisticated offerings for Pringle of Scotland's Fall collection. Incorporating a rich color palette and plenty of cozy texture, Carr created oversized coats embellished with eye-catching colored collars, knitted dresses, and a smart play on twinsets. The latter, showcased layered sweaters made to look like a sweater and shell combo, but is actually just one piece. Additional highlights included the graphic colorblock slim-fit dresses, soft pastel-hued knits, and tailored two-tone trousers. More details from the classic-cum-cool collection below.

Trends: Colorblocking, oversized coats, leather..
Colors: Orange, gray, navy, black, tan, white.
Key Piece: The knit dresses and bright-collared coats showed gorgeous details and tailoring.
Accessories: Buckled boots, platform pumps, printed belts.
Who Would Wear It: Girls looking for a refreshing twist on classics like front row attendee Olivia Palermo.