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Photos by Taylor Sullivan

Wendy VanDerMaas is celebrating. You see, it’s the second anniversary of her cute-casual-chic boutique, Swank (2405 West 32nd Avenue), so she’s hosting a champagne bash on Saturday, June 30, from 6 to 9 p.m. In honor of the big night, Cat asked her what she would be wearing -- and by extension, the dress code for everyone else.

The only problem? She has so many options, she couldn’t decide on one thing.

For her party, Wendy knew that she would be in her Hudson Jeans because they are so versatile. “I’m definitely a jeans and a sexy top girl, always with high heels.” And the skinny jeans are perfect for her style, either rolled up with flip flops or down with heels. As for her upper half, Wendy was torn between a tank dress from NU Collective, a sheer brown Seven Gate top, or a Deborah Lindquist scarf top.

No matter what, she advises, people should be comfortable while still having style. Kind of like Denver itself.

When she started Swank, Wendy realized that Denver wasn’t as uptight or glamorous as the New York crowd, but also not as experimental or laid back as the LA scene. So she strives to bring the best lines from both worlds into her store to meet Denver’s unique mix of casual but stylish needs and offer pieces that women can wear to a picnic and out shopping or to work then out for cocktails.

Cash in on her good taste by taking 15 percent off the whole store on Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

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New York Times: The return of RM, the designer formerly known as Roland Mouret.

Cool Hunter: Huh. A house of camoflage. This may take even Cat's love of camo too far.

Elle.com: It's a rave new world.

Washington Post: Hard times for an “It Girl” – a look at Paris's predecessors.

L.A. Times: Protect your men: It's mandals and manpris for spring 2008.

Coutorture: Coutorture doesn’t heart the new heart trend.

Fashionista: Sneak peek -- early images of Erin Fetherstone’s November collection for Target.

Style.com: The turban is out, it's the babushka for fall.

Papierdoll: Why do we all want to look like we’re pregnant? A rant against the sack dress. (Cat has one of her own coming -- they just beat her.)

Cat can't decide if she's in love or if she's lost her mind. (Yes, Stacy, we know what you will say. Your thoughts on Cat's shoes have been duly noted in the comments.) You see these green Corazon sandals from Re-Mix Classic Vintage Footwear are either the most darling thing she's seen in a long time OR something her great grandmother would have worn with a housedress in the '40s -- but not in the cool retro hipster way. (via She's a Betty.) What say you: Fresh or ready for retirement?

Here are some of the site's additional styles that Cat's hot for:

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In the case pitting retailers against designers, the Supreme Court ruled for the designers today (June 27). In a five-to-four decision, the justices chose to overturn an old anti-trust law that allowed the retailers to set minimum prices on the goods they sell. The question now: Will this drive prices up in smaller stores and put an end to deep discounts online? Or, will it mean that luxury brands will become more available because they won't fear dilution of identity through pricing? The Supremes say the courts will have to look at it on a case-by-case basis.

Here's a poll from earlier this month, when Cat first posted about the case.

Liz Claiborne died today at age 78. It's very sad news, but Cat didn't actually know all that much about her. She knows the woman was an icon who revolutionized dressing in the '70s -- when a whole lot of women suddenly needed a whole lot of work clothes. But unfortunately, Cat only knows her label from its days languishing in Ross and TJ Maxx bins, reeking of a time long gone.

Peace be with you, Liz.

Thursday, June 28
Beauty Bar Happy Hour

Hit DC10 for complimentary champagne, $4 mojitos and $5 spa services. Happens every Thursday night.

DC10
940 Lincoln Street
6 to 8 p.m. (open bar for ladies from 9 to 11 p.m.)
Free

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At the BET Awards last night Beyonce wore the gold gladiator-type leggings from Balenciaga's spring/summer 2007 collection. Cat isn't a big fan of leggings, but those are so Mad Max, she can't help but admire them. The blogosphere has been abuzz about them for weeks, so it's a good bet that you'll be seeing them in stores by fall.

Think the trend will make it to Denver? Will we start seeing gold leggings walking down Larimer Street? Cat is dubious ...

Or, if you prefer...copper!

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Cat just discovered that Vogue online does a weekly best-dressed list. And wow are there some doozies on there for the 6/23 installment. (via Fashionista)

1. Katie Holmes in kahki shorts and heels. (Would have been palatable if Tom weren't on her arm.)
2. Shoelace as headband
3. Tan lines

Yikes! See the train wreck here.

This season is all about the brights, whether they're in modish '60s dresses or swingy '70s-style maxi dresses. And the biggest of all the brights is yellow. In your face, eat sunshine yellow. Yellow that under normal circumstances should either warn you of a blind curve or a terror alert. (Pretty much the exact color Cat painted her room when she was a kid; Cat loves yellow even though it looks somewhere near atrocious on her.)

This color is awful on pretty much anyone who isn't either black or a fake blonde with a fake tan. So how do you make it work? Accessorize!

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Cat is so enthralled with this Louis Vuitton heel. She wants it for herself. But at $1,060, it's not likely to happen any time soon. But there's a very similar pair at Aldo Shoes for about $120. That's possible...

Here are the rest of the sale items Cat found. Some tasty, tasty treats.

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Too much fashion for one blog post! Cat went shopping on Satruday, doing her monthly swing through the boutiques and malls to see what's on shelves. Sales, sales everywhere. Seriously, if you've been needing to stock up on basics, Banana Republic is having a giant end-of-season mark down before new merch comes in after July 4. (Cat picked up a pair of dress pants for $11.97; you can shop online for the sales, but the selection is better in store.) Same with Anthroplogie (makes the store actually affordable), Neiman Marcus, and most other national retailers. So get there while the pickings are still good.

(More photos after the jump.)

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The New York Times reported on Saturday that Barneys New York was purchased by the government of Dubai -- for $825 million. This is the fashion Mecca of the U.S. Seriously. Cat lived down the street from the Co-op on 17th, and when Barneys had its twice annual sale, people would line up around the block to claw each others eyes out over some slip of well-monikered fabric.

As Flypaper points out, the sale is the equivalent of the Fed deciding to buy Collette in France or Harrod's in Britain. Weird.

Read all about it here.

Note: Here's the video -- finally posted on YouTube.

Last week the blogosphere was all atwitter about Diesel webcasting its spring/summer 2008 collection, scheduled for Friday evening and titled "Liquid Space." Even boingboing got in on the action when Diesel announced that the models would be walking in "a futuristic world of bioluminescence, giant mechanic cephalopods, futuristic aquanauts, and mysterious galactic polips."

Cat had no idea what that meant -- other than that she would tune in. Sadly, she was a bit disappointed and couldn't get through the whole video. The clothes, though futuristic, were meh, and the giant mechanic cephalopods left something to be desired. Cool concept, but the execution didn't live up to the idea. Or maybe it was just better on the runway.

Photos by Taylor Sullivan

Note from Cat: What to Wear Fridays, a feature on what this city’s most stylish are wearing for the weekend, is now back. It had gone on hiatus, but with the warm weather all kinds of cute frocks are turning up. So tune in every week for sartorial advice from the groovy and well shod.

This week the WTWF honor goes to Inbar Kishoni, who isn’t your typical cartographer. (But really, who is?) Besides writing user manuals for open-source, 3D, satellite-mapping system, Inbar also plays the keyboards and theremin for Denver’s Mannequin Makeout. Well, she did do all of those things. The job went stale, and as for the band, she says, “it was just time for us to move on.”

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