Never go cheap on your little black dress

Have you visited the new Hugo Boss store yet? It’s on 83 Bloor St. W. Not only it’s big and carries the very last collection but the staff is just melting to show you any item you lay your eyes on. And don’t worry if the price is not on your income radar, they will be happy to chat with you as that might be one of the rare opportunities to exchange a thought or two as not many women have $1700 to spare on a little black dress.

Speaking of which... I was there the other day with my friend as she was going through five or six little black dresses…all different styles, religiously precise in cut, from conveniently formal to unexpectedly asymmetrical and made of silk (a few types actually) to die for, from mate and soft to metallic and sharp shiny…for any occasion and any age…. So sexy you almost don’t need a girl in them (joking).

Suddenly I remembered a small talk from the tv news the other day….something like “don’t throw a fortune on a little black dress”… They were testing some cheap models from several stores and they looked like a good deal at the time but o my…their philosophy collapsed in a tiny second the moment I saw and touched these little ones from Mr. B.

So my advice…go to Hugo and get to know the quality. If you can't afford it..it's ok, don't get frustrated, but don't settle for cheap, go for the best you can afford and no matter how small your fortune is…spend it all on your little black dress. Why? Because you’d rather be a black swan in a floating dress than a duck in an apron.

Fashion and cows.

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair takes place every November in Toronto. It is one of the largest in the world and definitely the most famous and proudly celebrated here in Canada where Canadian and international breeders, growers and exhibitors rub shoulders with thousands of visitors and where one doesn't need to try hard to find something interesting and have fun.

Well I had a chance to visit this year's fair right after his Royal highness, Prince Charles and his darling Camilla have officially opened it...and let me tell you... among all those daily horse shows, superdog shows and cattle auctions, there were so many fashion stands with hundreds of uniquely displayed items for any occasion, from riding boots and jackets to some psychedelic sweaters and hats.

So just out of curiosity, I took some pictures to share with you. Love.

Why are Stylish Girl and Cool Guy good? Ask Maria Ogneva

Hi,

Checking the stylishandcool twitter the other day I noticed a direct message from Maria, with a few words of intro and a link. I thought, yeah, lets see what's this about. I clicked on the link and landed on her blog 'Social Silk' where she comments on fashion, art, business, social media and other subjects.

The page opened on a topic talking about iPhone Fashion applications so I scrolled the page down and as I expected, Stylish Girl and Cool Guy were there, with some screen shots...all well organized and displayed.

I was happy that Maria had expressed interest in Stylish Girl and Cool Guy in her blog but honestly, I didn't expect to find an interesting and relevant analysis about the current fashion apps, pointing on their strengths and weaknesses with a valid support and a word of explanation for each of them.

So thanks Maria Ogneva (that would be "fire' in English and definitely suits your style) and once again ( I did it twice already) thanks for your time and the interest expressed in Stylish Girl and Cool Guy...and wherever you are (I think I saw Moscow), have a great time and continue commenting with the same passion.

And if anyone wants to read the article or get to know Maria's style better, here's the link I was talking about.
Have fun.

http://socialsilk.com/2009/11/09/

Stylish Girl in Apple's TV commercial

It's a lovely sunny November day here in Toronto. I am sure everyone is loving it. We even feel some heat here even though it's hardly 6 degrees above zero. Must be that we are just exited because Stylish Girl is now featured in one of the Apple's commercials.

Apple guys saw Stylish Girl as a successful fusion of new technology and fashion and decided to feature the app in their well known campaign "There's an app for everything". The campaign airs in China for two days already and later continues to Japan, Australia, then west to Europe and across the Atlantic.
The spot can also be found on the Chinese Apple's web site. Take a look and have fun.

Holt Renfrew legendary Christmas Display

Good morning...it's early and I have to go ..will be out pretty much for the whole day..but before I leave..I promised something the other day...I said I'll be there at Holt Renfrew and be one of the first one thousand people to see the new magic behind the window display...so no more talking...here's what I saw...including the charming Feist who came out of nowhere so to speak to cheer us up on this cold day. Thanks Feist and thanks Holt on the great street party.
Enjoy. Gotta go...

Have a Stylish Halloween

Hello,

It's Halloween, and the longest day this year. As you know, the clocks go back to winter mode tonight so Halloween comes as a 25 hour day. YESSS... use them wisely - or better not. So what's your favourite costume for tonight? And don't ask me because as much as I'm into fashion, I'm totally out of identity change and disguise, no matter how stylish. But that's just me...and I'm sure you won't miss anything as every other site or magazine is full of stories and helpful tips about it. Anyway...it's the disguise night...so pick up your 'wanna be' personality, dress up and let go whatever is on your mind...have fun and enjoy. What came to my attention though was (speaking of disguise)...I was passing by Holt Renfrew today and look what I've found (see pic)...all the windows are mysteriously wrapped up and disguised...with a teasing message keeping us waiting in desire (as you all know HR windows are always spectacular)...if anyone gets the chance (I'll try but can't promise) to be there and see it first...please o please tell me how it was...

Have a Happy and Stylish Halloween

New Stylish Girl and Cool Guy

The new versions of Stylish Girl and Cool Guy are out! We delivered our new "minor" update with the featured we promised, but there are couple of extras you asked for, check it out :).

We worked hard to make the shopping and lounge modules more stable, removed the ads as nobody likes them except AdMob, but then just this morning I found another bug that causes a crash. Time to plan for another update I guess :).

No iPhone/iPod Touch?

Stylish Girl and Cool Guy for those that still want to go analog or don't have iPhone/iPod Touch

http://www.unplggd.com/unplggd/books-guides-resources/free-printable-organizaton-tool-days-of-the-week-tags-097409

Small bug fix update for Cool Guy

We are releasing small bug fix update for Cool Guy next week that should fix the missing icons problem when saving new items. Also in this new bug fix update we have new RSS pointer for GQ in the lounge section.

Stylish Girl and Cool Guy on New York Fashion Week

So happy today. Just received a message from Bryan Johns who works for Apple. He's currently in New York, presenting a list of successful and interesting fashion apps. to potential clients from the industry. Stylish Girl and Cool Guy are on the list, rubbing shoulders with some seriously big fashion giants like DKNY, D&G, Ralph Lauren...
Is there anything more exciting than having your work presented to the elite in the industry?
Thanks Bryan and a million thanks for loving our apps. And for all of you stylish girls and cool guys...instead of listening to me blabbing about it...open this link and see for yourself.

http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_guide/2009/09/10/2009-09-10_iphone_apps_gets_a_frontrow_seat_at_fall_fashion_week.html

m(AD)man

Website relaunch

Finally! We sat down and re-did our Stylish & COOL website.

Why 3.0 only?

I hate that we did it iPhone OS 3.0 only, but the reality is we are small bunch and we can't support backporting for very long. There we layout issues with 2.1 compared to 3.0 and we couldn't make it fit all nice and compact. We tried very hard to compile with 3.0 and make it work for 2.2 at least, but at the end things crashed randomly and Facebook Connect wouldn't work at all. Frustrating.

New updates to Stylish Girl and Cool Guy

We are trying to finalize the feature list for the upcoming versions of Stylish Girl and Cool Guy and here's the plan so far:

Version 2.0.1
- Change the item view to go in full screen mode
- Add filter by favorite for my closet and outfits
- Remove AdWhirl

Version 2.1
- Calendar/Organizer, finally :). I'm going to hold off saying what kind.
- The rest is open, perhaps we'll add password lock if it doesn't prevent us from offering the app worldwide (apple cares about encryption added), perhaps lingerie section for Stylish Girl, although this will definitely make the application 18+ (check out what the pics look like on shopstyle.com http://www.shopstyle.com/browse/womens-intimates)

Rearranging items in outfit

OK, if I get enough feedback that rearranging the items in outfits is valuable to Stylish Girl and Cool Guy users we'll do it. We'll put that mannequin model in the background and you can make a model for the outfit. The reason I always thought it was bad idea is that pictures usually have background, they are not nice photoshopped cutouts that fit. It just looks messy. But hey, I wrote all of the code for Tickle the Beaver postcard maker so it will be very easy to port.

To the Fashion Conquers

You know how there are days when you talk until your mouth goes all sour and dry and people start rolling their eyes around you and then there are those days when you wouldn't even pronounce your name properly so you friends start calling and asking if they can be of any help? We feel the same. Sometimes we have so much to tell that the 140 characters on Twitter are simply not enough to keep our thoughts flowing and sometimes those 140 characters feel like a 140 page PhD and we simply click 'sign out' button.

So for the days like today for example when we are in the talking mood (or mode), we decided to put on this blog so we could interact with all you fashion lovers, professionals, enthusiasts and friends. No victims here thank you very much. Stylish Girl and Cool Guy are about fashion conquers. We are all here to win. You by enhancing your individual style and fashion sense and we, as creators of these two amazing little mobile apps. by following your suggestions and opinions and upgrading them to fit your needs.

And forgive me if I sound weird by talking in the second person plural. I promise this would be the first and last time I am offering you this corporate plural BS tone. We are the two guys behind the Cool Guy and Stylish Girl. I am the design guru and my friend is the code wizard. We discuss the ideas together, I shape them to look great and he connects the brain of the machinery and makes sure everything goes smoothly and in the right direction. So just as in the "Blades of Glory" we both get 6.0...6.0...6.0...for both 'technical merits' and 'presentation'....horrible, horrible analogy...anyway..where was I?

Yes...no more we...it was just a welcoming 'hello' to all of you. From now on I am m(ad)man and my friend is Marquis De Bytes. Anything you need or want to know...just ask...leave your comments....suggest...criticize. Welcome to Stylish&COOL. Feel like home and keep playing with our apps.

Love you all,
m(ad)man