Fall 2011: Taylor Tomasi Hill's Must Haves

I am dying for the weather to turn in LA. I need some fall in my life already. Watch this dee-licious video and you will too

Taylor's Take: Taylor Tomasi Hill Styles Amanda Hearst in Her Fall Must-Haves 

Awkward Dancing by Lanvin: Oh Alber!

Long week. Traveling. So much to blog. But first this: the most refreshing ad I've seen in a looooooooong time. I LOVE when fashion meets funny. Taking yourself too seriously is so not haute.

TGIF and have a happy last weekend of summer!

Videos: Turbands, Gwyneth Raps & Jean Bean Tweets

1. Turbans? Soooo last year. It's all about turBANDS now, beotch. Hermes do-rags, if you will. I want to live in them this summer. THRILLED I found this easy tutorial. Rocking one, like, tomorrow.  p.s dare you not to fall in love with because i'm addicted's pretty kitty eyes in this video.


  

How To Tie A Turband 3 Ways from LEAFtv on Vimeo.

2. Gwynnie. Straight Out of Compton. AND Geoffrey Rush. Yes, it happened and you gotta watch. You're welcome.

3. Jean Bean was in Naples this week...eating and learning about couture for men (we're talking $50,000 suits) and generally, not paying attention to me. So I was thrilled to get some her time even if it was in this local news story.

LOOOOVE when she says "laces" and taps aways on her Blackberry so intently you'd think she was launching a rocket and rocks pretty eye makeup. Don't so much love that the story makes it seem tweeting is all Jean Bean does. Um, she's also driving Neiman's editorial voice through the blog she single-handedly launched.

Also wish the story had mentioned how she has a master's in journalism from Columbia and was a journalist for a decade before getting her "dream job." It's just not responsible journalism making little girls think you don't have to work hard and be smart to end up doing fun, glam things for a living.


Happy weekend, pretties!

My New Valentino Studded Lizard Heels

So Mr. Diabolina knocked it out of the fashion park with my Christmas present this year.  Here he is telling the story. Yes, I may have gotten him liquoured up enough to do a video. One day he'll thank me for capturing his cutness on film.






Amazing shoes AND boy, right????

I'm one lucky bitch.

Girl Crush Hall of Fame: Gwyneth Paltrow on Glee

I keep waiting to OD on Gwyneth.



I keep expecting another fashionable white girl to usurp her in my affections.

I keep wondering when I'll grow weary of her perfectly classic yet just edgy enough style.

But it just doesn't happen.  After 10 years of serious girl crushing, I can't seem to quit her.

And tonight she's guest starring on Glee??? Belting out the clean version of Mr. Diabolina's fave song, "Fuck You"???  Dancing around all old and awkwardly white gurrrl???  Ugh...well it's more than my girl boner can take.     

Waaaay too excited for Country Strong now---aka when G met B



Truth be told, B might be the only one who could give G a run for her money.

Fashion Halloween Costumes: Anna Dello Russo...and Bed Bugs?

Kicking myself for not being as smart as Brad Goreski or Prabal Gurung.  I didn't think to be Anna Dello Russo or Marc Jacobs for Halloween this year. FML.




That would have made it three fashion icons in a row---Karl Lagerfeld in 2008 and Rachel Zoe in 2009.

There was still a kind of fashion angle to this year's costume. Last month I spent  10 days in NYC with my  favorite fashionista Jean Bean.  You could say she is obsessed with the Big Apple's recent bed bug, um, situation (read: infestation.)  Jean's theory is that the parasitic bugs hitched a ride with the NYC fashion crowd after the European fall collections.




And so as an ode to Jean's phobia paranoia,
I decided to be the icky blood sucking thing New Yorkers fear the most this Halloweiner.   



I dressed in all brown, accesorized with a skull scarf, Frette bathrobe, metallic antennea, cat eye sunnies that look kinda buggy too, fangs and matching bloodied mouth.




 I also carried nods to some of the spots where bed bugs have been found: Macy's, Bloomie's and the Elle offices.  Couldn't figure out how to work in the UN.



Mr. Diabolina took a less fashionable, more TERRIFYING approach to his costume.




Ugh to that SCARY mask and self-fashioned creepy cardboard legs that my mom helped him with. And see the movie popcorn bucket above?  Yep, bed bugs are crawling all over the AMC theaters in NYC. Jean Bean hasn't seen a movie in months. 



Thank god we were Halloweening in WeHo not the Village this year. 




Mr. D and I were quite the hot bed bug mess on Santa Monica Boulevard. And by hot mess I mean more mess than hot.



Typical us.

Next year, I'll likely revert back to a more obvious fashiony costume.
Fruits on my head, see through clothing, sequins, feathers and legs for days obvious.




























 I'll need to start working on that Anna accent too.
I lucked out with bed bugs.  They don't so much talk as gurgle human blood.

Though they do tweet. Follow the hilarious Bedbug Life here.

For more Fashion Halloween costumes check out
style.com, refinery.com, Harpers Bazaar, W.

Moving Chanel Pictures by Garance Dore

In case you weren't already as in love with her as her bf The Sartorialist is, now Garance Dore is shooting  video straight from the front row of all the hottest shows: Dries Von Noten, Lanvin, and Celine!

I've been to fashion shows in Los Angeles and New York but they clearly are T-R-A-S-H compared to the European shows. Take a gander at this spectacular SPECTACLE at Chanel.

My lady boner still hasn't gone away. Merci, Garance, for the taste of Chanel ;)

Video: Johnny Weir and Gwyneth Paltrow Heart Fashion

Johnny Weir is my new imaginary fashion bestie. A Balenciaga tree=the best thing I've learned in a long time. And how cute was he on Rachel Zoe this week?  I wanted to gay bestie propose when he said what kind of man would he be if he didn't know the 90210 episode when Kelly and Brenda show up wearing the same dress to the Spring Fling. Remember my not-so-secret obession with that same storyline???? Love.




And OMG!  Thanks to my oldest imaginary fashion bestie Gwynnie I can't wait to hit Kirna Zabete when I'm in NYC later this month. Doesn't the store look like heaven on earth?  Don't even get me started on the wall o' purses.

Why I've Been MIA and New Fashion District Baubles

To schedule a 3-hour fashion district tour with me for the low, low, low "Friends and Family" discounted rate, email me at diabolinadafashionista@gmail.com.

p.s. I just saw that  the tour of my closet video has gotten over 3,000 views.  WHAT THE WHAT??? and I'm shy ;)

Mama Diabolina Speaks!

So much has happened in the last few weeks and I can't wait to catch you up on all the fashion, fabulousness and funny!

But first and foremost, I wanted to let you know my mom had her 3 month MRI and got the all clear from her neurosurgeon!!!!  No signs of  any residual tumor tissue, no signs of new growth, no need for radiation.  Her next MRI won't be scheduled until December, a year from the date of her surgery!  This is huge news since she's been doing (and dreading) one MRI every 3 months since we discovered the tumor. 

I wanted to thank you - stranger and friend alike - for all the support over the past two years.  It's meant the world to both of us as we've confronted and - fingers crossed - conquered this bump in the road.   

Also wanted to share a little video I made right before we went in to see the doctor.  We were both so nervous and I was trying to distract her by playing with my iPhone - even though I was on the verge of throwing up.

I think it's a testament to how brave and sparkly and adorable and loving my mama is. And if you listen to my voice, you can tell just how much I appreciate all those things about her.  Kiss!

The Easter Bunny brought me an iPhone!

So you get another awkward Olympics video.  I don't know who's luckier ;)





p.s. Tomorrow is my little momma's three month MRI scan.  Can you believe it's already been three months since her brain surgery?  Please send positive, healthy, tumor-free thoughts!

Da Fashionista Super Sweet Closet Tour

I've been wanting to put together a video tour of my closet foreva. Have put it off for over a year because, well, I am THE AWKWARD OLYMPICS around video cameras. I'm the person at parties and weddings that just waves at them...like a deaf mute deer caught in headlights.

Enter Mr. Diabolina. To the rescue. Per usual.

He LOOOOVES him some video cameras. Totally ironic since in most social settings I'm the extrovert to his introvert. But he is a big shot litigator which requires theatrical flair and zero self consciousness. And one of his greatest regrets in life? Not submitting an audition video to the Real World. He'll deny it but it's true. Sad but true.

So after viewing a closet video tour I made on my own and declaring it "totally lame", Mr. Diabolina offered to help me shoot one. I resisted for days. I mean the only thing that could be more UNCOMF than doing a totally lame video would be doing a totally lame video with your mister. Shudder.

Then tonight I had a cocktail, watched some horrifying American Idol auditions and decided to succumb to The Auteur. I'm still SHOCKINGLY awkward in it but the pop up bubbles I added help break the tension. And major kudos to Mr. D for indulging me with the Q&A...and the blog... and everything else that's important to me. He is a prince.

The Scene
For the last 4 years, Mr. Diabolina and I have kept things pretty low key on New Year's Eve. We typically have the Rose Bowl bright and early the next day. You know how it is when you went to the best university...in the Universe ;)





Tonight was probably the most low key New Year's of the last 10 we've spent together. Mr. D was still feeling under the weather so he curled up with my Obama book most of the night.














Early in the night, I met my mom and we got our nails did.



Nothing like stripper nails to ring in the new year ;)







Tonight ended up being the perfect night to quietly reflect on the rollercoaster of a year it's been. To remember the beautiful moments and the heartbreaking ones. How much has changed and how much has stayed the same. How much I've grown and how far I still have left to go.





This year, I quit one job and started another. I traveled to Portland and Puerto Vallarta for the first time. I played with my closest friends all over the country: Jean Bean in Austin, Peaches in San Francisco, Jean Bean AND Peaches in New York, Flower in Boston and Mr. NBC back in New York.



I randomly ran into both my childhood best friend and Dylan McKay. I partied at Saks and at Chanel and at Armani and at Tarina Tarantino - and ended up buying something from each of those stores this year too.





I celebrated with Mr. D as he turned 31 and we marked our 10 year anniversary of being happily unmarried. I beamed with pride as he chaired his third successful fundraiser and won his first trial. I even cajoled him into writing a little funny fashion something for the blog.





I survived grueling bootcamp classes and my first 5K mud race. I dared to wear leather leggings to a Hollywood hot spot, shorts on the verge of my 31st birthday and a Betsey Johnson dress I bought when I was 16.





I watched one friend become engaged and another turn a year older and wiser. I saw one friend lose the ability to walk while other friends lost the right to marry. I bonded with strangers on the internets and revisited a shared history with one of my oldest friends.





I dressed up as Madonna on my birthday and Karl Lagerfeld for Halloween. I was bolstered by love on one day and horrified by hate on another. I pegged my jeans and wore - yikes - PINK by Victoria Secret.





I was equally enthralled by Julio Iglesias and NKOTB in concert. I bought YSL shoes on layaway and was given a free pair with red soles from the kind peeps at Solestruck.





I supported Sable Crow at two Trevor Project fundraisers - one where we rocked a Miss Universe crown, the other where we met Rachel Zoe and Michael Patrick King. Oh and I also encouraged him to start a blog, reacquaint himself with his writing, with his own voice. Kinda a big deal.



I spent 67 days out of the last 365 with my mom - laughing and eating and watching movies and duh, shopping. We celebrated Mother's Day and her birthday. She held my hand as I pondered motherhood and I held hers as she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I watched her become a citizen and then proudly vote to elect the first black man President of the United States.

And this year, one year to the day, I started a blog. On a lark. I figured it would be a great way to keep in touch with Jean Bean. To stay motivated to work out and get my fashion mojo back.

Figured it might also create some structure for my writing, give me some discipline. I 'd write every day - not because I had to but because I wanted to. Because I wanted to chronicle my life.

Never thought I'd be able to accomplish what I've accomplished: documenting every single day of my life for an entire year. Every outfit. Every event. Every major emotion.


Never ever imagined anyone would read it. Not really. Not regularly. Never dreamed of 64,321 visits, 214,592 page views.




Never dreamed it would change not only how I see myself but how others see me. Old friends now glimpse different sides of me, layers of my personality. There's a window into my life and my SELF that never existed before.

And I think these friends may even see themselves a little differently because of that. Now that they see themselves through my eyes, through my writing, through my prism.


Never imagined dozens of women - strangers from all over the world - would write me. With questions and compliments. That they would take the time to tell me how much they love my writing, or my relationship with my mom, or the way I dress. That they find me - GULP - inspiring.

Never thought I would create a place for women and a couple of men ;) to come together and laugh and forget and share and cry and BE. Never imagined I would find such joy in reading their comments, never thought their support would see me through some of the darkest days of my life.

Never imagined I would be so accepted. For loving clothes and shoes and bags more than I should. For being silly sometimes, deep other times. For being a storyteller. For being open. For being me. The real me.



So I made this little video. And - UGH!- being the total vag I am I got choked up within seconds. And F! the orientation's all wrong and the angle not flattering on chubby cheeks. But it's the thought that counts, right ;)





Kiss you and happy new year -make it one that counts!


The Outfit
Fashion District cape
Gap long sleeve tee
Old Navy jeans

The Accessories
Tory Burch shoes
Chanel purse and earrings
Ray Bans

The Grade
D is for Diabolina Didn't Care Today


The Commentary
Yes this cozy turtleneck/Slanket AH-gain. Chic Intution is featuring an expensive and cheap chic version here - can you guess which is which?


Just wanted to be comfortable and get out of work as fast as possible today. Hence the flats - my new Tory's. I heart.

And the new sunnies. After all my future's so bright I gotta wear shades :)