I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a sucker for designer threads at cut-rate prices. So when my editor asked me to scope out the goods available at online consignment shop My Girlfriend’s Closet last month (created by Revere native Nichole Addario Di Modica), I was psyched. The concept is, in theory, a solid idea: For a small fee, you can upload overpriced but underloved pieces taking up prime real estate in the walk-in–and, in turn, open the door to thousands of new possibilities.

Paying homage to the mantra “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure,” registered users post their seasonal leftovers with a photo, price, and description, then wait for a taker to pounce. Major clotheshounds with even more to unload can open up a “boutique.” And best of all–they can also peruse other’s rejects to restock and revamp. (more…)

In a season full of underwhelming disappointments, leave it to nondescript little Alber Elbaz to knock the fashion world on its ear and give those of us craving a return to realistic glamour reason to cheer. His powerful black and gold collection for Lanvin, which closed Paris fashion week with a bang Sunday night, was a meticulously beautiful antidote to the wacky and awkward designs some houses paraded out for the press over the course of a rather substandard fashion week.

It all started with John Galliano’s collection for Christian Dior. Coming from a designer who once shocked (and awed) with avant-garde sexuality, the collection looked dull and dated, if not plain-old cheap. As a watered-down version of his voluminous haute couture collection, it took inspiration from “Vreeland’s Vogue,” with candy-colored silks and tacky beaded appliqués. Perhaps Galliano is simply becoming tamer with age, or, more likely, he simply understands too well that in today’s precarious luxury market, society matrons are more likely to buy a simple orange wool skirt suit than a skin-tight, breast-baring editorial darling. (more…)

For years, glitz-loving New Englanders—the kind whose idea of fun is more blackjack than backpacking—had two choices: Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. But starting in May, before Massachusetts even gets its own gambling going, they’ll have two new area places to play and stay.

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It’s been quite the few weeks of mini-masochists, as Bostonista combats the winter blahs by slathering ourselves with products. (Forget the sun lamps—we say a trip down Sephora’s aisles is much more therapeutic.)

On a recent mood-lifting visit there, we’re embarrassed to say we were drawn in by a huge display for Fuze Slenderize Guilt-Free Lip Gloss by Too Faced. Blame our laziness on the weather, a persistent cold, or the newly opened Cleveland Circle Chipotle, but we’ll take non-gym-induced weight loss any way we can get it. (more…)