http://www.hautelook.com

The HauteLook web site is a fun and innovative way for customers to shop online. Not only is this web site an online clothing shoppers dream, it is also set up to inform its customers of great sales that are going on. The site sends email alerts as to when a sale starts and tells you when it will end. Customers can browse the sale items online which are all shown in large and colorful pictures. Upon choosing a specific sale and a specific item, if it is sold in various colors you can choose to see the item in any available color you would like to buy it in. If a customer would like to purchase items they simply add them to their cart and proceed to a typical online check-out.

When browsing the various sales customers also have the option to learn more about each designer. Further into this option the viewer can watch a video of the designers collection, see images from their runway shows or even read the background of the designer.

Another link the web site provides is one to the HauteLook magazine. In this section, customers can find information on an array of various fashions in the news. Viewers can see celebrity fashions, highlights of online sales, designer news, party fashion, Haute or Not picks, etc. On a side bar viewers can search the sites archives by brand to see the latest fashions or news under a specific brand name.

HauteLook also offers an incentive to their customers. If a customer refers friends and those friends purchase something from the web site you will receive a one time $10 credit toward your HauteLook account!

I like this web site for all the fun things it offers. From the online shopping, sales email alerts, designer info and fashion news; everything seems to be in one convenient location. The site is visually appealing, simple and very easy to use. I recommend signing up for this web site or even taking a look around at www.hautelook.com.

Reviewed by Library Staff Member - Valerie Muscarella O.C.

Alice Rawsthorns book, Yves Saint Laurent: A Biography not only details the designers career and accomplishments, but it provides a peek into the life of the sensitive genius. It begins with his childhood in Oran, Algeria, where he read his mothers copies of Vogue and Paris Match for news about Paris plays, operas, and ballets the costumes and set designs fascinated him. Soon he was reading the magazines fashion pages, and sketching his own designs for cocktail dresses and gowns. The rest is history: he won an annual contest for young fashion designers, met the editor-in-chief of Paris Vogue who introduced him to Christian Dior, and took over as designer there when Dior passed away suddenly in 1957, when Yves was only 21 years old.

With the help of his lover and savvy business partner, Pierre Berg, Saint Laurent soon started his own line and revolutionized fashion. He was the first designer to translate street wear for the couture runway -- the “Beat” collection referenced the beatniks of Paris Left Bank. He was also the first couture designer to create a prt-a-porter (ready-to-wear) line, Rive Gauche, which had its own identity and wasnt just a cheaper version of the couture designs. He is also known for:

• “Les smokings” (tuxedo jackets) & tailored trouser suits for women
• Arts influence on his work, such as his woolen shift dresses with Mondrian colored blocks and “pop art” dresses inspired by his friend, Andy Warhol
• Ethnic inspiration from the cultures of Africa, Morocco, China, Spain, and Russia

The Yves Saint Laurent exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the only U.S. venue for the exhibition, will certainly stir more interest in Yves Saint Laurent, and Rawsthorns biography is an excellent introduction to the designer. Although he passed away this year, his legacy can still be seen in the work of designers such as Marc Jacobs, who often cites Saint Laurent as a major influence, some of which can be seen in Jacobs Spring 2009 collection.

Reviewed by Library Staff Member - Kirstie Harless - S.F.