 Bostonista was in China last week. Well, actually, just me, and just Shanghai. With over 21 million people, it’s now the largest city in the world, and its population is exploding, apparently through mitosis, given that the Chinese are only permitted one child per couple and must donate the rest to charity.
(To see Rachel Levitt’s photos from her trip, go here for a slideshow).
I traveled there for a few reasons but mainly to escape the press which has been hounding me lately for opinion, photo-ops, and gaffes. China looked so far away, I thought it might be the promised land for the paparazzi-exhausted, and as a communist country, it would reveal to me all the reasons why we shouldn’t nationalize our banks or health care. Continue reading “Bostonista is Ambivalent About…Shanghai” »
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 Last week, posh jewelry shop Dorfman welcomed esteemed American jewelry designer Henry Dunay for a trunk show in celebration of his book A Precious Life. The dapper, soft-spoken Dunay showed off his collection with all the romanticism one could hope for from a 73-year-old jewelry legend. “When I see the shine in the customer’s eyes, I can tell she saw what I wanted her to see when I was designing it,” he gushed. “It’s my art.”
Filled with his collection, the glass cases glistened with grandiose tanzanite rings, glittery diamond bracelets, and a breathtaking one-of-a-kind necklace that combined unique shades of coral and rare black and green jade.
And that’s not to mention his most famous masterpiece on the market: the Lachrymosa Mask, a platinum and gold spectacle with 749 diamonds and a price tag of, ahem, $1 million, which is all to benefit AIDS research organization AmFar. Originally designed for Elizabeth Taylor, the mask has also been worn by Princess Diana and Vendela Kirseborn. Continue reading “Bling with Vision” »
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 Should you still be feigning ignorance to the fact that you’ve been wearing your “just in case” jacket with regularity, let Bostonista break it to you—summer is over. Say it with us… It’s over!
It’s time to back away from the flip flops and loosen your death grip on those summer scarves. No seriously, let go. We’ll get through this together.
Continue reading “You Say Goodbye, We Say Hello” »
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 Hey, you, in the pilly sweater: Just because the economy is in the toilet doesn’t mean you have to dress like you’ve just crawled out of one.
All this talk of recession, and sad-sack dressing to match, is just so damn depressing. Caring about—and even, gasp, spending money on—things that make you happy doesn’t make you insensitive, shallow, or even irresponsible. It might just lift your spirits. Just know your limits. (And if you’re one of those overspending, credit card maxing types who helped get us into this mess in the first place, you can stop reading now.)
Your first assignment: A jewelry event at Barneys New York. Continue reading “Bostonista Pleas: Stop Dressing For a Depression” »
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 Training for a half marathon would have been impossible without my iPod. It made those training sessions fly by because I could sample new music every time I hit the pavement. But, for all my iPod gave me, I misused and abused it to the point where it no longer functioned.
How did I ruin it? Well, I hated running with awkward arm bands, and carrying it in my hand messed with my stride. I preferred hands-free and arms-free gadgets while jogging, and so I would…stick it in my bra. Obviously, I wasn’t that surprised when the device fizzled out after suffering too many sweat sessions. (Thankfully, after I completed the race.)
But then I found RhythmBRA. Continue reading “Bostonista Loves: RhythmBRA” »
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 So the Clover—a coffee machine that, as far as we can tell, is basically an $11,000 French press—has arrived at Starbucks. The company was pretty excited. (Remember those apocalyptic 9.9.08 signs?) This, after all, was supposed to be its secret weapon in the fight to win back customers in a post-Starbucks age.
But after getting used to the new brew, we must ask…Are we the only ones who are disappointed? Apparently Irish Bostonians are not instantly receptive to just anything involving clover. While staking out our local Starbucks, we noticed customers awkwardly eye and pass the new samples in line while sticking to their familiar caffeinated drinks.
We’d say the reaction was lukewarm at best. (But at least it wasn’t as big of a flop as those Vivanno smoothies.) Continue reading “The Coffee Wars’ Latest Battle” »
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 In her debut column on the store’s new website Louis Boston owner and undercover feminist Debi Greenberg lays forth her feelings on fashion and business, with a hint of subtle politics thrown in for good measure. Louis started out as a men’s store, she says, but now caters to both sexes—equally.
She goes on to issue a call to arms: Against retailers with agendas, big money advertisers, and the media, who are credited with too-often kowtowing to retailers on whose ad dollars we can’t help but rely.
The word fashion, Greenberg goes on to write, is limiting, but the world itself is not. Continue reading “Spinning the Web: loooeezboston.com” »
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 So we’re pretty sure the real tragedy of FacebookTumblrTwitter has nothing to do with mind-boggling indiscretion, nor with the irretrievable loss of an hour at the hands of your freshman algebra classmate’s Italy photos.
The true problem, clearly, is that social networking has robbed an entire adolescent generation of the opportunity to scribble overwrought prose in dinky-locked Lisa Frank diaries.
Luckily, writer/blogger Sarah Brown has been working diligently to salvage those soon-to-be cultural relics.
Continue reading “Bostonista Endorses: Cringe” »
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 At last week’s Best of Boston Style party, magazine staffers, winners, and guests swigged scrumptious gin martinis as they indulged in topnotch shopping and pampering. Inside the Back Bay Events Center, beauty pros from Mario Russo Salon, Emerge, Moore Massage, and Ardan provided complimentary services including mini-facials, hairstyling, and chair rubdowns.
Though models showed off fall styles from award-winning boutiques like GrettaLuxe, Stil, and LuxCouture, which offered a selection of their wares for sale, they weren’t the only ones strutting their stuff:
Click here to check out the fashionable crowd, sporting looks from rocker chic to country club cool.
—STEFANIE TUDER & EMILY A. BROWN
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We’re not the only ones begging you to 
