Cheryl Shops

Cheryl Shops...Daryl K at Barneys
Since last week was double points week at Barneys (arguably my favorite store on Earth) and because I just got promoted, I decided to treat myself to a mini shopping spree at good ol' 660 Madison--primarily to check out the new Daryl K/Co-Op collaboration. Yes, it's remarkable what I can justify in the name of "research." (Brief history lesson: I discovered Daryl K's 7th Street shop in 1999, my first summer in NYC, and promptly fell in love. While her pants--rivaled only by the also-now-out-of-business Katayone Adeli--give you long, lean, rock star legs, she also makes ultra-flattering jackets and superlight cotton jersey tops. Her company was bought by the Pegasus Apparel Group, which then ran it into the ground, a.k.a. bankruptcy. In the past few years, she's reopened her Bond Street store and produced a very limited collection.) The collection is on the 7th floor, directly to your left when you come off the escalator. But--happy surprise!--not only are they carrying the Co-Op collaboration label, they're also carrying good ol' Daryl K, her signature collection! I was so happy, my eyes welled up with tears. And seeing this obviously had the same effect on many of my fellow fashionistas, as the two racks were ransacked (lots of smalls left; I saw one size large). Thankfully, I found one pair of pants in my size, and they are soooo gorgeous--a molasses-brown stretch velvet, styled like a sailor pant, from the collaboration collection. I also scored a heather-gray short-sleeved jersey top from her signature line. There were two styles of trousers from the collaboration line--the pair I bought and a pull-on pair, both in velvet. Top-wise, Daryl's all about the super-flattering cotton jersey, tricked out with all sorts of cool, figure-enhancing gathers, bands, and seams. There was a leopard-print shrug, two Prada-esque cashmere-blend sweaters (on the basic side, but very well-fitting), several slinky cotton jersey tunic tops, and velvet blazers to match the pants. Her signature line was almost all knits--she has a weird knit pant that looked really long (only size small left), an awesome cotton jersey skirt that looked pleated and kind of Grecian goddess (unfortunately a bit too constricting for my mortal booty), more cotton jersey tops, and some kickass blazers made from a stretch double-knit cotton (yes, even knit blazers). I'm still thinking about the blazers; maybe I'll go back and get one. Well, um, maybe not--prices are not terrible, but they're, well, for those of you who remember her two distinct lines, somewhere between Daryl K collection and K-189. But since I'm trying to adhere to the "buy less, spend more" way of shopping, well, let's just say I'm doing pretty well this fall.