Clothing

For the guy who wants one-stop shopping, a new store set to open this weekend in Orange County offers a stylish solution. Cloth & Metal will offer clothes, accessories, grooming products, audio electronics and tech accessories under one roof. And for the man who doesn't want to leave home, the company is launching an online shopping site, too. "Our mission is to bring together a selection of the coolest products and make the shopping experience both streamlined and rich," company founder Scott Sablan said in a news release.

Find a laundry or dry-cleaner near your hotel. I travel throughout the world on business and pleasure. This is one of the easiest ways to keep the size of your luggage manageable and save money by avoiding the high cost of hotel cleaning services. Many laundries offer hourly or daily service and will return your clothes fresh and folded. Rich Friedman Simi Valley If flying out of an unfamiliar airport, arrive earlier than you think you should. My girlfriend and I flew from Austin, Texas, to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and arrived at the airport extra early just in case.

Los Angeles County supervisors agreed Tuesday to explore ways to restrict illegal vending and lawn sales, a move that could give sheriff's deputies more power to seize goods and issue fines. Selling used clothes or fruit from front yards or carts on busy streets has been common in Los Angeles for years. But Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and law enforcement officials say the tradition has evolved into a problem, especially in communities around Watts, where informal flea markets have developed on some blocks . Ridley-Thomas and some residents say the illegal vendors hurt legitimate businesses, dodge sales tax laws and increase traffic in residential neighborhoods.

SACRAMENTO --Goodwill Industries of San Joaquin County in Stockton is trying to corner the market on used clothing, other charities are complaining, and the conflict has moved to Sacramento. With many of its donations of used clothing and other goods coming from drop-off sites with attendants on duty, Goodwill wants to make it easier for property owners to get rid of rival collection boxes that sit unattended in parking lots and other locations. As a result, it is pushing legislation written by Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton)

If you and your spouse are traveling together and your credit cards are from a joint account, one spouse should carry one card and the other spouse a different one. That way, if one of you has a purse or wallet stolen, the other still has a usable credit card for the rest of the trip. Ginny Gibbs Woodland Hills For your return from a foreign trip, be sure that all your purchases are packed in your own luggage. Do not share with anyone else; you must go through customs with all your purchases Jeri Taylor Indio When things go well, praise the person who has provided good service.

Mother-daughter designing duo Marie and Kelly Gray are back in business together with a new label called Grayse, eight years after stepping down from their day-to-day duties at St. John when a private equity firm bought the company and cleaned house in a rebranding effort that famously also involved hiring Angelina Jolie as spokesmodel and alienating hordes of loyal customers. Although St. John is best known for creating the conservative, Crayola-colored knit suit uniform worn by a generation of women in the go-go 1980s and '90s, Grayse taps into the more recent trend of casual luxury and seasonless, day-to-night dressing.

Just when Lena Dunham and a handful of tech geniuses seemed to corner the market on wunderkind status, along comes Maria Stanley. At just 25, the Minnesotan is hoping to take L.A. by storm as head designer of new contemporary clothing line Harlyn. The guiding aesthetic for the brand, which hit stores including Planet Blue and Anthropolgie in February, could be described as "It's Jess!" - as in Zooey Deschanel's character in "New Girl. Girlie "fit and flare" dresses, collared jumpsuits, cap-sleeved peplum blouses and discreetly tailored peg-legged trousers in sand-washed almost suede-like silks with heavier drapes are spiced up with signature prints that play on classics like a navy and ivory chain link motif.

On Thursday night Stephen Colbert had some fun at the expense of the “world's most powerful religious leader. " Nope, not Pope Benedict XVI (though he got some air time too ) but, rather, televangelist Pat Roberston.  “In a world full of war and poverty and moral decay, Pat is always willing to confront the eternal questions,” Colbert said -- questions like, “Are the clothes I buy at Goodwill possessed by Lucifer?” Earlier this week on “The 700 Club,” Robertson counseled a viewer worried that her frugal secondhand wardrobe might be tainted by evil spirits.

It was like an Oscar flashback with all the Giorgio Armani gowns, Harry Winston bling and Veronica Lake waves on the red carpet Sunday. Then there was a Sharon Stone Gap turtleneck moment, when Helen Hunt revealed that her navy blue gown was from none other than cheap chic retailer H&M. (Apparently it was a custom job; Hunt worked closely with H&M designers exchanging sketches, fabrics and samples, according to the retailer.) PHOTOS: Oscars 2013 best dressed on the red carpet Back to Armani, though.

The year 2012 was full of films that captured the essence of memorable time periods through costume. Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" was brought to life by designer Joanna Johnston's stovepipe hats and wool shawls, for instance. And what would the film "Anna Karenina" be without costume designer Jacqueline Durran's lavish bustle-back gowns? The FIDM Museum and Galleries in downtown Los Angeles is celebrating those magical feats in costume design by showcasing more than 100 designs from 2012 films during its 21st annual "Art of Motion Picture Costume Design.