Levi's Curve ID for Women: It's a Booty Call

No item of clothing is more basic than blue jeans, but finding a flattering pair is difficult for many women. Levi's hopes to change that with Curve ID, which FA2L recently previewed at the company's New York store on lower Broadway. Our shapely intern (let's call her E.V.) stood patiently while she was measured for her differential–the slope of her curves–and questioned about past experiences: Did waistbands tend to gap? Were jeans that fit her hips too tight elsewhere? Then she was handed two pairs and asked to give them a try.

It's nice when a woman comes out of a dressing room wearing a big smile–and E.V. positively glowed with the combination of sun-kissed skin, good hair (new cut and color) and a pair of bum-flattering, medium-dark jeans that hugged her curves and made her legs look impossibly long. She'd tried on the salesperson's first suggestion, and was so happy she didn't bother with a second opinion. Of course, new jeans require new shoes (and words like Christian Louboutin definitely entered that conversation). Men of New York, beware! E.V. is stepping out, and you guys won't know what's hit you.

Photograph courtesy of Levi's

Addicted to the Scissor Sisters: Any Which Way

From Fashionable Travel to Fashion As Furniture

It's rare to find old Louis Vuitton trunks in good condition, because cases like this usually saw hard use over many years of service. Before air travel turned global circumnavigation into mere hops, skips and jumps, intrepid voyagers packed at least a month's worth of clothes and necessities into serious luggage; loaded it onto carriages, wagons or lorries; transferred it to ocean liners; collected it on the further shore; and continued the process indefinitely. Even a single Grand Tour could sorely test the strength of corners, locks and hinges (not to mention human limits of patience and endurance).

Still, trunks do show up from time to time, and they're always in great demand–not as trunks per se, since only old-school nomads and those hoping to mimic them bother schlepping gear in such an impractical way, but as status coffee tables. Rau Antiques, in New Orleans, currently has two low trunks like the one above, and an enormous, upright wardrobe that would look spectacular in a loft or a walk-in closet. Obviously, they're very expensive, but they're also good investments: the asking price for cases like this tends to go up every year. And even stuffing money in your mattress won't accomplish that.

PETROU\MAN: An Officer, Gentleman & Punk

New York is first and foremost the home of classic sportswear, but its runways and showrooms offer plenty of surprises in the realm of "forward" fashion. Last season, we came across an aggressive collection by Nicolas Petrou, who's toiled at other companies more than 15 years but recently launched his own line, PETROU\MAN, for which he's designing clothes refreshingly in and out of sync with current trends.

Diana Vreeland loved to say that Coco Chanel had very little taste, but all of it was good, whereas Elsa Schiaparelli (Chanel's rival, and a spectacularly inventive designer) had loads of taste, most of it bad. In other words, too much "good taste" can sometimes get in the way of good fashion. We happen to like Petrou's clothes because they're beautifully made but slightly outré: there's an odd, raffish quality to these pieces that suggests layers of traditional British tailoring, early-80s punk rebellion (all those safety pins!) plus a dollop of cool minimalism from the mid-90s. That's a lot to juggle, which is undoubtedly why the collection is only being sold at directional stores like Bellhaus, New York, and Joyce, in Hong Kong. (Of course, you can also check with the New York showroom–just call, or write, and ask very, very nicely.) Meanwhile, the safety pin jacket alone is a thing of beauty–worth, perhaps, even a ticket to China.

From top: 1) Wool tweed anorak and stretch pullover by PETROU\MAN. Velvet scarf by Maison Martin Margiela. 2) Wool topcoat, pants and cotton shirt by PETROU\MAN. Cotton scarf by Dior Homme. Boots by Christian Lacroix Homme. 3 & 4) Tie-dyed cotton jacket with safety pin shoulder details and wool drawstring pants by PETROU\MAN. Cotton shirt by Dior Homme. Stainless steel watch by Baume & Mercier. 5) Leather jacket by PETROU\MAN. Cotton shirt by Costume National Homme.

Photographs by Noël Sutherland. Hair by Davide Marinelli at De Berardinis. Model: Parker at dna models. Fashion assistant: Evie Cutshaw.

In Fashion Land, It's Always Christmas in July

Christmas in July is fashion shorthand for an annual ritual–the unveiling of holiday collections during the hottest month of the year. It's a holdover from earlier eras of long magazine lead times, but we sometimes wonder if it still holds sway because it enforces a certain Darwinian ruthlessness. (Think of it as natural selection for party frocks.) As temperatures climb into the 90s and overheated editors schlep from one appointment to another, their patience, and attention spans, shorten dramatically. Products have one, brief moment in which to shine or wither away. Further proof that fashion is not for weaklings.

Jerome C. Rousseau's tartan pump probably wasn't designed with Yuletide in mind (Vivienne Westwood seems a more likely inspiration than Father Christmas), but seeing it reminds us that so-called holiday items will hit the shelves or be available online anytime between now and the holidays themselves. And therein lies the problem. Most women wouldn't wear this shoe every day, so they don't think to buy it now; however, there are plenty who will miss having it in their closets when parties roll around and it's long-gone from stores. In other words, strike while the iron is hot (whatever that means). It's the beautiful things you don't buy you always regret.

Oribe Sprinkles Moon Dust in Your Hair of Gold

On a recent photo shoot, we watched, fascinated, as Davide Marinelli, a stylist at De Berardinis, New York, used Oribe's 24k Gold Pomade (sold at the salon) to tame Parker's tumbling surfer curls. The product itself is gorgeous–real gold suspended in liquid pomade that looks like molten metal, packaged in an embossed tub worthy of Gianni Versace–and the effect is literally brilliant. Using his fingers, Marinelli applied it along grouped strands; and with each coat, Parker's sun-streaked hair glowed more and more. It brought to mind Marlene Dietrich's wily movie star trick of sifting gold powder over her platinum locks, to catch the director's key lights and form a halo around her head. Of course, in Parker's case the effect was more '80s Bruce Weber-golden boy than '30s silver screen, but that's fashion for you. Each generation seeks a glamorous new version of the Midas touch.

Photograph by Noël Sutherland. Grooming by Davide Marinelli at De Berardinis, New York. Model: Parker at dna models. Fashion assistant: Evie Cutshaw.

Bozeman Watch: Designed in Sight of the Rockies

We love Montana: it's a big, gorgeous, unpretentious state with so much beautiful scenery it looks untouched by whatever happens anywhere else. Ted Turner owns a ranch south of Livingston large enough for bison herds; he also runs a decent steakhouse in Bozeman, where some of those animals end up on the menu. We stumbled across this handsome watch while shopping along Bozeman's Main Street–it's part of a limited series designed by the Bozeman Watch Company, one of few American brands specializing in mechanical timepieces. And although it's made of Swiss and German components (and partially assembled in Switzerland), it has a bold, no-nonsense American sensibility we find very attractive.

This particular model, the Cutthroat 2nd Edition, is named for a native trout that's been luring fishermen to Montana's rivers season after season. It's big (42mm in diameter), housed in a stainless steel case and mounted on a simple leather strap. There are no unnecessary gimmicks, just a sweeping seconds hand, a date window and markers around the outer dial (plus a red-tipped indicator) providing 24-hour GMT. Questions? Visit the website by clicking the company's name, above, or call 1-877-878-1780. Don't be shy: as is the case everywhere in Montana, the people we met in Bozeman couldn't have been nicer.