Cheryl Shops

Fans of Uniqlo's +J collection, rejoice: Jil Sander has renewed her contract with Uniqlo [subscription required]! The notoriously detail-oriented German minimalist is so pleased with how her first two collections for the fast-fashion chain have turned out, she will continue to work with Uniqlo indefinitely. With her confidence in the future of fashion at a price, it just goes to show how visionary she remains. In related news, Uniqlo is taking over the old Brooks Brothers store at 666 5th Avenue, and the store, which probably won't open until next year, will be more than double the size of the original location. So, in the meantime, don't forget--the Costello Tagliapietra collection hits the Soho store May 20.

Isabel Toledo's shoes and bags for Payless won't hit stores until September, but Nitrolicious has sketches from the upcoming collection, which will include 7 shoes and two bags. Whimsical, no?

Speaking of shoes, Refinery 29 has photos of a Pierre Hardy for Gap fall design; the lace-up boots are reportedly from Gap's main line, but the gray peep-toe booties are Hardy's. All I have to say is: WANT! No details on price or when they hit stores, but as soon as I know anything, I will of course share it. In the meantime, Hardy's spring collection is due in stores next week (May 4th, to be exact). This time, I'm not waiting for my friends & family coupon--those nude wedges must be mine.

And, I totally forgot to mention this last week; bridal is not an area I typically cover, but this is pretty major: Vera Wang is designing a line for David's Bridal [subscription required}. Vera is obviously one of the best-known names in the bridal biz, and David's is, well, a place to go for a relatively inexpensive gown. Wang's dresses can easily run into the five figures, but her line for David's will retail between $600 and $1500, with most of the 20 dresses under $1200. The jury is out on whether this will impact Wang's high-end business; while I would venture that most people who shop a designer's namesake collection don't necessarily shop their masstige collaborations, a wedding dress is something you wear for one day only, and when it comes down to spending $10,000 versus $1,000 for two very similar dresses, I personally would go with the cheaper option. But that might just be me--after all, there's a multi-billion-dollar industry built around giving women their Perfect Day*. Regardless, this is likely to make a lot of brides, who otherwise couldn't afford Vera Wang, quite happy. The line hits David's Bridal stores next spring.

*I haven't yet acknowledged this here, but while I'm on the topic of weddings, I guess this is a good time to note that MW and I are engaged! I hadn't planned on blogging about my wedding, but if anyone is interested, I can talk about dress shopping and the like here. (Several people have asked me if I'm going to start a bridal blog, to which I just laugh.) If you have any opinions on the matter, leave them in the comments below!