FashionMista.com is For Sale

Pass it on...FashionMista.com is for sale.

Perfect for a mens' online fashion magazine.

The equivalent to Fashionista, YOU could own this growing household name that has already been spoken by such notables as Mario Lopez on the news magazine show, Extra.

Urban Dictionary defines FashionMista as:
n: the male version of the fashionista
n: a man who loves fashion

Once you own this domain, this blog will go away, and with it, the domination of FashionMista in the search engines as we know it, which points to womens' fashion and lifestyle on this website. Your FashionMista brand would soon replace the SEO stronghold.

I also own the FashionMista accounts for:
YouTube
gmail.com
Stylehive
Yelp
Flickr
StumbleUpon

All of these accounts can be yours for a fresh, clean start.

Contact me at fashionmista@gmail.com and let's start talking.

You're wearing the pants now, FashionMista.

Sweatpants in Disguise: The Anti Denim Jeans

By EVAN PERAZZO

Still wrapping your legs in rough suffocating denim? Like many wayward souls, you probably got duped into thinking blue jeans are comfortable.  Or maybe you found “stone washed” to be an irresistible marketing term. Well, here’s the sobering truth about denim jeans: they squeeze your legs, your jewels, and don’t even think about squatting or bending over. Do you think those barrel-bellied tourists trolling Times Square in jeans and white on white sneakers look good? You want to look like that? If so, I’d also recommend a belt and a Blackberry holster.

And don’t get me started on the button fly (all-time dumbest idea until McCain rang up Palin), or the skinny jean. This article is not about Halloween costumes.

Go, right now, to your closet and root out all the jeans you’ll no longer be wearing. Repurpose them by sewing up the legs and making potato sacks. Set your legs free. 

For me, comfort is king, and I’d wear sweatpants all day long if I could, but I do recognize the need to hold down a job. So what to do? Sweatpants in disguise.

The North Face Men's Pants and Shorts


Kuhl Crag Runner Pants



Jet Lag Tiago Cargo Pant





And for women, LuluStayAtHomeMom  are masters of cloaked sweatpants.


Truth be told, the first time I was sporting these and proudly uttered the phrase, “Sweatpants in disguise,” I was informed in no uncertain terms that they are “hardly in disguise.” Fair enough. But you’ll be rockin’ enough style to not get fired. And you’ll feel like you’re lounging on the couch at home all day long.

FashionMista's Male Contributors

EVAN PERAZZO Evan Perazzo lives in Manhattan with his wife and 2 children, where he works in film production.  He is a self-proclaimed superior athlete and cook, and refuses to serve his children chicken nuggets. When he's not playing baseball, snowboarding or training for the occasional triathlon, you'll find him on the couch in sweatpants.

Embracing the Male FashionMista

Welcome male fashionistas. You have earned this term, and therefore, I'm handing this blog over to you. This blog has been around for a while, focusing mainly on fashionista and lifestyle stuff, like when I interviewed emerging designers, tracked laser hair removal, designed my wedding dress, and got ready for my daughter Ruby Ray's entrance into...her cool room to say the least.

In 2005, FashionMista was a word I made up to mean "fashion mouse". Since then, it has become a word that means "male fashionista". And that makes sense, and it's creating a lot of great visual and content to play with.

So it is from a humble place, I bid farewell to the blog I knew, and hello to its new set of archives focusing on male fashion, hot culinary spots, and let's face it because I can't ignore it, some cool fashionista fashion too if you don't mind.

This might be my first editorial board. I know - they look preppy here, but they were in dress rehearsal attire in Maine for our wedding. From left is my filmmaker brother TJ who can get a bit hipster, then David's friend Evan who can sport some punk style at times, then David, and then David's brother in law Jim who is an open metrosexual and shops for jeans by the two dozen at a time.

PS: I'm married to a sports guy who lives Ohio State Football. He wears Blundstones almost every day, and won't wear any other slightly pointy or hipster shoe I force him to try on. I just bought him argyle socks with mustaches on them. Not sure that he noticed the mustaches. So, you'll have to help me out a bit while I assemble a team of real FashionMistas. He is a jacket-whore, but seems to buy the same one over and over. He's currently looking for a puffy Northface jacket that isn't too puffy because he gets hot. Maybe this is our first challenge.

This is David on a stylish day:

"It broke"

My next blog post was going to feature all of the little things we have set up in the baby room. We have a few highlights in there we are excited about. However, Highlight #1 just pulled a chicken-little, and we have to try it again.

When we went to Mexico for a wedding in January, I begged David to haul home 2 painted sinks and a Mexican hammock - the kind that you sit in, as opposed to lying down. I sat in one, and it was sooooo comfortable, I thought it could work as a nice soothing place to rock/swing with baby.

So we got it set up. Hurrah.


And then it fell down. Sad.


I was downstairs working when it happened, and the whole house kaboomed. David has been worried about it since hanging it, and keeps sitting in it to test it. Last night, he heard kinks in the screw making strange noises as he felt the first sprinkles of plaster land on his head. This morning, he sat in it again, and waited. Legs crossed, just as you see him in this picture. And then it happened: he just fell. From the air. Onto the floor. Sad. And it's the hardest I've laughed this month.

Belly Photos: 30s Weeks

I was really bad and did not record when this belly photo was...so I'm thinking it was in the early 30-ish weeks. At this minute, I'm 35 weeks pregnant, and am in the stage of serious duplication, meaning, I'm just growing really fast. So, you'll still have to stay tuned for the up to the minute most recent belly photo. ;)


This is just before Easter, and just before I ODed on a lot of tempura from Sushi Samba. It was so good! But too much fried for this pregnant body. I got a little giddy at the store and bought some things to plant, like lavender, rosemary, and little purple daisies of different varieties. Exciting. Yes, I planted them as a pregnant lady, and yes, that did wipe out my back and hips and sent me straight into recovery aka bath.


Some question this - a pregnant lady on a chair painting a scalloped trim - but I went for it. Yes, it once again wiped out my back and hips, but I just had to do it. I cut out a scallop of the size I wanted, outlined it with chalk, and then painted in the lines. Might try to package this into a little product to sell to add to the stencil market. Was fun.


Yeah, so this is against the rules, but Oliver is used to trying out all new beds when they come in. Mom: You are not allowed to write any comments here in all caps about why this is not allowed. We are aware, and this was a good test run to see what his tenancies are. :) But it was darn cute. Are they going to be like the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp? We'll see...I've been training Oliver for being outside, and he's loving it. Dinah is easier, and she can't jump into things.


This is our seriously pimped out pac 'n play. They are all pimped out now, and it's a matter of what you want on top. David is operating out of the changing table attachment at the moment.

Here's what's been happening:

SHOWER
We had a little baby shower here at the house, and that really motivated us to make things nice. David touched up the chipped paint on the porch, bought a corn toss thing as a game in the back yard, I planted flowers, and we finished hanging pictures and such. We had some maternal belly dancing courtesy of Suzanne Caesar of Maternal Dance (ps, we are redesigning her website!), and delicious food from HomeSpun, our local and delicious cafe in Beacon. We are outfitted now with some childrens book classics, onsies and blankets, mysterious drug store items for me that I guess I'll soon learn about, and other things that make me feel calmer about at least having somewhere for the baby to sit other than the blank nursery. We didn't know that there were so many swings a baby can have - side-to-side, back-and-forth, and the bouncer. And that doesn't include the portable bassinet, and infant car seat that the baby can hang out in. All I can say is, good thing we moved. And darn, cats also like sleeping in these conveniently low to the ground empty baby seats.

STROLLER
This was a source of overwhelmedness for us simply because of the sheer volume of options and reviews. So many reviews! We ended up going with a BabyTrend jogging stroller with snap on car seat (not for jogging with newborn, but for inflatable tires, easy maneuvering, walking through grass and broken sidewalks). It looked pretty snug and safe, so, we shall see how this stroller pans out.

BABY MOVEMENTS
Baby is totally moving around, getting comfortable. The tush is on the right side of my belly, just sticking out like a little booty. I was on the train yesterday, riding into the city for a social networking conference, and was wearing a tight shirt. The baby was just swimming in there, and you could see lots of movement of my stomach! Kind of felt like I was that person in the movie with a secret alien in her stomach, but just pushed those thoughts from my mind. Lots of hiccups have been happening, and for the most part, the baby is in a good position, or so I hear.

HOSPITAL TOUR
So we have two hospitals - the one in the city with the Dr I love, or the one out here for the backup in case things go faster than we think and I know nobody (eesh). Also a point of stress for a few reasons, the main one being insurance. In the city, apparently, the private room may not be covered. But the one out here is, and it's ginormous and has a pretty view of the Hudson River and mountains. Of course the private rooms in the city have different prices for different views. Bastards. Also, apparently, it is possible for a medical person to come into your room, and bill you, and not be on your insurance. Maybe this mainly happens with anesthesia people. Not happy about this, and am making a sign that says: BLUE CROSS BUE SHIELD ONLY - ALL OTHERS KEEP OUT.

So that's the update!

Belly Photo: 28 Weeks

Hey Everyone,
Since you've requested, here is an official belly photo. I'm not one to have belly pride, although now that I have one, I kind of get it. Otherwise, it's winter so I reap no benefits of being pregnant with people offering their seats to me because I'm in coats and big cumphy sweaters. Although I did just buy two books last night at Walmart (yes, we were at Walmart now that we don't live in the City, but we were really there for cheap spring curtain rods), and I dropped one of the books. When I dropped it, I just stared at it because this pregnancy has softened my bones and taken a lot out of my hips, so walking is a little less perky or strideful. A woman must have seen me staring, and just swooped in, picked it up and handed it to me. Very nice.

And yes, that picture is in the baby room, so that is the color of the wall, that in my mind, might become stenciled if I think I can do it...Not so much stenciled as free-hand...And that black band is the bella band, so it can keep my painter pants up.

And here is a picture of Oliver, on the belly. My mom thinks he is tracking a mouse in there, which is pretty much what it feels like.

Wonderwoman Underwear Set

Might have to get these. Wonder Woman underwear. They came across my inbox via the www.bustboobtique.com newsletter. Then, I might get a pink monkey key cover.

Operation: Dig Out the Bushes

These bushes were a bit much for me when we first moved in, but now I really like them. They smell good, are hearty, provide a wall of green, good times. But then the heavy snowstorm came (actually 2 back to back), and flattened them! The bushes in the front of the house are probably not going to make it and are brown, but they are a different type, and I'm cool with losing them. It gives a nice excuse to get a hydrangea bush or something flowering and wonderful.

But I look out my sunroom office window each day to see these bushes flattened, and I just want to dig them out! David does the whole driveway and plenty of other things, so I'm doing little baby shovel-fulls for the exercise. The baby wanted to breath winter air, but we only do it for a few minutes and then stop. Gerdy usually comes to supervise.


You can't tell what anything is here, but the bushes are on the right.


We're in the middle of a Big Melt, and I've gotten those bushes out so far. Otherwise, they'd still be stuck in ice and flat. A few raw branches where they just bent too far. In the foreground of this picture is a limb we lost from a tree on the side of the house, one of those decorative kinds. Maybe cherry blossom or something.


I uncovered enough snow from the top that the branches could pop out again, but they are kind of stuck that way now. The rest of the bush is under that snow.


To me, the bushes are saying: "Bla! Help me!" as they splay in every direction. Yes, that is a neighbor garage in the background that is slanted and falling over. We thought maybe the snow would bring it completely down, so that the insurance could take it away, but not just yet.

Here's What I've Decided About Maternity Jeans an Shirts

That they will always be falling down. We bought the pregnancy jeans to be a size 3 (out of 1-3) because I'm a taller girl with love handles, so who knows what could happen.

The Page Skinny Jeans (which are not so skinny), that had the spandex elastic band, are fine and comfortable, but they just keep slipping. If I put the bella belly band on top of that, eh, it could help, but mentally, I don't want to double up on the elastic.



The Habitual jeans are skinny, but have the two side pull elastics. I like those, but they really don't stay up either, and need the bella (belly) band. So that bella band is on my body almost every day. Get two. I thought I ordered the Habitual Knocked Up jean, but the skinny jeans came, and I'm totally happy with them.



A friend handed down to me another pair of Habituals, and these are not skinny, but more roomy and ultra comfortable, yet the waist is ultra big, so they really slide. Bella band to the rescue again to keep them in place.

The thing with shirts is this: though I'm not "eating for two" in the sense that I'm having 2 cheese burgers, my belly is not huge. Yet. At 28 weeks. So some of my old shirts do work, and I don't want to buy official maternity shirts, and I like wearing my old stuff. However. Today I've realized that it's the waist height that is the issue, not the stretch or fit up top or in the arms. These normal shirts are all waist long, and slide up over the belly button, so I'm constantly pulling it down. I also noticed this in my Maternal Dance video, where the work out ladies have long stretch t-shirts on covering their bellies. Much better because you don't have to think about how much slippage is going on.

RECOMMENDATIONS
My recommendations so far are:

• Spring for the designer jeans (as recommended by Beth). I'm glad I did (well, my mom did), as they are the perfect length (usually jeans are too short on me). I wear them every day, when not wearing stretch pants.
• If you are going to exercise, get longer shirts. I didn't do this because it's winter and I've been doing DVDs and not jogging (personal choice), so I haven't been outside to need to look cute. But. If I were to go to a yoga class, I'd need longer shirts.
• Get the bella band, for your old pants, and for your maternity pants that won't fit. The "rubber band trick" where you loop a rubber band around the button and through the hole didn't really do it for me, and pants still slid.
  
• That bella band inventor is a genius. So simple, yet...Bravo for taking her idea to fruition!