Ran the list of fall trends, as identified by Neiman Marcus, last week, but for those who need more visual aids, the store hosted a mini fashion show on Saturday, highlighting the trends. The event also marked the start of the Hawaii store’s 10th anniversary celebration. More details to come. How time flies!

The store has been very good for Hawaii’s fashion fans in that their arrival has also provided dozens of designers with a reason to come out this way to talk story and share their work. I’ve met and interviewed some incredible people along the way including Vivienne Tam, Anna Sui, Marc Carmen Valvo, Laura Mercier, Kelly Gray, Sue Wong, and so many more over the decade.

I’m waiting for the day they bring in Marc Jacobs or Philip Lim. Next five, maybe?

Bill Cunningham for the New York Times
Click on the photo to view Bill’s narrated slide show on his recent “On the Street” photo feature on the appeal of the heel.

Went to Ala Moana over the weekend to help the boyfriend pick out a jacket and nearly escaped unscathed. It was my mistake to walk into Nordstrom at the end of the day, “just for a look.” I wanted to see clothes coming in for fall—it’s a work thing. Never made it that far. Got sidetracked by a 2-day shoe sale going on and a pair of $60 shoes.

Tried it on. It was OK, but did I tell you these guys are goooood. The salesman didn’t just bring one pair of shoes; he brought out something like 10 different pairs. Even though I already have a pair of super-shiny red shoes, I tried on three more. In the end, one pair stood out — a pair of Stuart Weitzmans. And of course once the platform stilettos were on my feet, I had to have them.

The funny thing is, I had just gone to the Weitzman boutique opening Friday and thought myself immune. That happens at a high-end boutique because you know you really shouldn’t be buying, so you will yourself to tune out, though I did not see this style there. But at Nordstrom, when it’s mixed in with $60 shoes and $100 shoes, you get lulled into thinking, “How bad can it be?” With Weitzman, oh, it be.

Learning to walk in them without breaking a leg, when I’m most at home in rubbah slippahs, will be a trick, but then I start to think of those women in New York, who wear heels all around the city on a daily basis. See Bill Cunningham’s photo at the top of the page and click on the image for a slide show. If they can do it, I certainly can try.

I love all the new peep-toe pumps and booties and two-tone styles coming in as well.

Nadine Kam photos
Stuart Weitzman store manager Gillis Asao with his wife Avis. The new boutique occupies the Max & Co. space where Avis once worked. She’s now at Cartier, Waikiki.

Stuart Weitzman held its grand opening at Ala Moana Center this morning, with guests among the first to try on and snap up shoes starting at about $255. We admired, but stayed away from the 6-inch heels that we could imagine in many a life-or-death scenario.

Vouching for the brand’s quality, Pam Chambers wore a pair of Stuart Weitzman wing-tip, leather mosaic-on-suede shoe that she bought 20 years ago, that looked as new and stylish as any on the shelves today.

Pam Chambers admired the heel on this shoe, but when time comes to buy, she’ll opt for a flat.

“I can’t remember how much I paid for it, but I remember thinking it was a lot,” she said. “But whatever I paid, it was well worth it for something stylish and made to last.”

If store manager Gillis Asao ever needs a testimonial, he should call her.

It was a little strange to see Danny Kaleikini there, just because I’m not accustomed to seeing the entertainer/businessman on the fashion circuit.

Danny Kaleikini wasn’t in the market for shoes but was happy his daughter Leonn found a pair she liked.

“I looked for size 14 but they don’t have my size,” he joked. He was there with his daughter Leonn Kaleikini, who works for Ferragamo.

At one point, Danny started speaking to PR woman Masako Nashimoto in Japanese. I told him it was time to start switching to Chinese, and da buggah he speak five languages! I’m seriously thinking about enrolling in Chinese immersion classes. It’s just a matter of time before China takes over the world and I’d better be ready. I’m fairly certain there’s no one they’ll scorn more than a Chinese-American who can’t speak the Mother tongue.

Can you see me now? Masako Nashimoto is framed by a Stuart Weitzman suede pump.

Here’s the video for the Aloha!Alice story in the paper. It’s great how the Internet allows anyone with a creative streak to connect with a niche market.

Maybe I’ll start a photo shop at Etsy.com. A friend told me that any business started on 8/8/08 can’t fail!

 For those who can’t have enough pairs of rubbah slippahs, and you can snatch those up at Old Navy on the 28th, “Flip Flop Saturday.” Solid color slippers for summer will be $1 per pair, with a five-pair limit per customer, as a door buster special beginning at 8 a.m.I guess they’ve done this before, because when I talked to one of the employees at the Ala Moana Center location on the phone, she said, “If I were you, I’d get here early.”

Nadine Kam photos
Clinton Kelly, of TV’s “What Not to Wear,” received a warm welcome from petites and non-petites alike at Macy’s.

Petite women had a lot of their style questions answered by Clinton Kelly at Macy’s Ala Moana June 7 when the co-host of TLC’s “What Not to Wear” presented a brief fashion show and style workshop.

Poor thing, he’s from New York City where walking 20 to 40 blocks is no big deal and quite pleasurable given all the sights and wonderful places to stop along the way, whether you want to shop or eat. So he thought he could walk from Waikiki to the mall. Well, he didn’t count on Hawaii’s intense sun and lack of shady, inviting sidewalks. So he was hot and exhausted when he got there, but did his showman’s best in entertaining the crowd, just like the show!

Kelly asked for volunteers to be critiqued. So he asked this woman why she would come to see him in athletic shoes, when they so obviously bring her ensemble down. He recommended she try ballet flats instead. He said her skirt also could have been narrower.

Questions from the audience were pretty basic, like “do you have to match a black bag with black shoes.” I believe the last time that was done may have been in the 1940s/50s. Do these women who want advice not notice the explosion of color and pattern featured in every newspaper, magazine and TV show? Kelly said that combining color, pattern, texture and shine is what creates interest in an outfit.

Empire seaming just under boobs and above the natural waistline creates the illusion of length, camouflaging a thick waist, bottom-heavy figure, and making legs appear longer.

Like learning any skill, from swimming to playing poker, dressing well takes paying attention and practice. Kelly reiterated that it takes WORK and trying on A LOT of clothes, and not just whining after trying on one item and complaining manufacturers don’t make anything that fits. (more…)

tokidoki

If you saw the brief item about tokidoki creator Simone Legno’s appearance at Nordstrom  1 to 4 p.m. June 7, here’s a picture of the tokidoki for Onitsuka Tiger  Snow Heaven 72 boots — created for the Sundance Film Festival — that will be given away.

I don’t know what size it’ll be, but you can also try your luck at winning a pair at http://blog.tokidoki.it/ You’ll have to brush up on your tokidoki history though, and answer six questions about Simone, tokidoki and Onitsuka Tiger. Sizes available online are in women’s 9-½ to 10-½ only, which pretty much rules out all the little Asian girls that turn out at all his local signings.

Nadine Kam photos
From left are Chihana Onozeki, Maria Garrido Gabaldon — who some scene observers like to call Hawaii’s Penelope Cruz — and Susanne Sjodin.

mixmix celebrated the opening of store No. 2 at 1440 Kapiolani Boulevard across from the Ala Moana Center branch of Bank of Hawaii Wednesday night with champagne, chocolates and a peek at designs by Diane Von Furstenberg, Dries Van Noten, McQ, and more for women, and Veronique Branquinho, Kris Van Assche and Super Fine for men.The Bethel and Pauahi street original remains open, although there are plans to branch out into other directions, so keep your eyes open.

Unlike the white party that marked last fall’s opening, there was no dress code this time.

Maria and Tomoya Tsuruhara.

From left, stylist Crystal Pancipanci, N. Trisha Lagaso Goldberg and Lesa Griffith. Crystal will be in tonight’s episode of “Lost,” as one of the paparazzi/reporters participating in an international press conference. (Just so’s she doesn’t get into trouble, I found out about it from other sources before I saw her.)

ABC photo
Crystal’s not alone with her TV closeup. Honolulu Nightlife Diarist Christa Wittmier — complete with apparently non-working camera (pictured behind Cheech Marin) — will also be in the episode, as well as Shana Peete. Wish I could watch in real time but I’ll have to catch up later online. I hate that because I find the resolution distracting. I can see the makeup tricks and think, “Hey that’s not dirt; that’s Guerlain Terra Cotta or Stila Sun.”

Nadine Kam photos
A detail of an Eli Baxter installation.

From time to time the way other people dress can inspire me to bust out my camera. So it was when I spent Friday afternoon at The Contemporary Museum during a walk-through of the TCM Biennial of Hawaii artists featuring site-specific installations of Eli Baxter, Vincent Goudreau, Javier Martinez, Yida Wang, Cade Roster, Wayne Zebzda and Meidor Hu.

I enjoyed walking around Wang’s exploration of breast cancer with an installation of hanging Latex breasts, Cade Roster’s series of manga-inspired Plush Gaiden, and Eli Baxter’s sculptures of recycled, polished bicycle tires, inner tubes and molded wax, somehow reminiscent of Alexander McQueen fashion designs.

While there, I ran into TCM’s PR officer Pualana Lemelle and took a photo of her in the museum shop next to the Art-O-Mat, which dispenses miniature pieces of art, whether jewelry, collage or a small sculpture for, last time I checked, $5.

Pualana Lemelle wears an Express wrap dress and gold Western boots from Catherine’s Closet in Manoa.

That reminded me I had a couple of photos of Neiman Marcus’ Contemporary Sportswear/Theory Specialist Alen Ajed. I’m in that department a lot, most of the time just looking, and he’s typically wearing designer, top to bottom, though in his own colorful style. I like that he’s not afraid to wear color and have fun with clothes.

Alen Ajed at the recent Hip Event wearing an Etro shirt with a watercolor-wash print, D&G jacket, Cicinnelli pink pant, Prada belt and Paul Smith tie. His favorite part of the ensemble are his Paul Smith floral design shoes.

On another occasion, I took Alen’s photo (below) with Donna Walden, who also caught my eye because she was wearing this season’s flora-, insect- and fantasy-inspired Prada shoe. Shoes that beautiful have to be uncomfortable, I thought, but Donna said they’re really comfortable.

Alen wears an Etro jacket over a heart-print Prada shirt with a Gianni Versace tie. I cut off the toe of Donna’s shoe, so below are details from Prada’s ad campaign.

When I highlight some of these pieces, I get emails or on Twitter, tweets along the lines of, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Well, to most people, nothing. I don’t want people to walk around looking like fashion clones or slaves. These are just the things I find particularly beautiful and enjoy seeing because they bring an element of beauty into daily existence. It serves the same function as a flower arrangement in an office or lobby, or, if so inclined, a Precious Moments figurine on your desktop. I don’t intend to encourage people to go out and consume, but I am inviting people to train their eyes to see more and to see the ordinary elevated through art.

Nadine Kam photo
You might see this pair of Paolos out one day, if I can ever learn to walk in them.

I’m not a shoe person just because my feet are so tiny, at size 3, very few of them fit. As a result, I am able to breeze past shoe departments with zero longing, which is so great! Think of all the money I save, though I compensate for the loss by being a purse person.

There are a lot of cute shoes at the new Nordstrom, but I wasn’t going to actually sit down and try any on, because I knew they wouldn’t fit.

Well, sometimes people invite me to help them shop, as if my daily job isn’t hazardous enough. When you’re in the stores, you see stuff and you start wanting stuff that you probably wouldn’t want if you just stayed home.

So, L. wanted to check out Nordstrom, where I made her try on a bunch of stuff that she would never try on and she bought one of the dresses. Trouble is, we were in the shoe department when she took charge and had them bring out the smallest shoes they had, resulting in my spending double what she spent on two pairs of size 4 Paolos. Too big, but with three layers of padding, maybe.

Only trouble is, one of them is a non-platform with 4-inch heels. I haven’t worn 4-inch heels since I was a teenager, and now find them perfectly good for just standing around looking pretty, just the sort of thing that makes certain shoe people I know easy targets for ribbing. They’re not so good for walking around. So far, I’m just practicing around the house.