If the closest you’ve come to attending an art show is buying a $17 sofa-size painting at a Starving Artist show, get a culture shock on Saturday at the Gateway Arts District Studio Tour. More than 30 painters, mixed-media artists, sculptors and photographers will open their studios as part of Mount Rainier Day in Prince George’s County. The event will include the work of artists living at the Mount Rainier Artists’ Lofts, including Joel Traylor,…

Not really – it just makes DCist giggle to say that. Actually, online indie boutique Unsung Designers on Saturday will open its Adams Morgan showroom for its first trunk show, which will feature local designers Barefoot Czarina and Oovoo. Barefoot Czarina designer Maria Fyodorova will feature her spring jewelry line, which includes items like cherry necklaces make from hammered wire and dyed seashell beads, and square wood earrings adorned with peridot “leaves.” Pauline Lewis of…

Remember season one of Project Runway (fashion-speak translation: SO last season)? You know, back when the show was a guilty pleasure and way before you developed a doomed, unrequited crush on Daniel Vosovic? Surely you haven’t forgotten season one finalist Wendy Pepper, the “Mom from Virginia” designer and arch nemesis of fellow finalists Kara Saun and Jay McCarroll. She was the one who — whether because of reality TV necessity or her actual personality traits…

In the first Design Capital of April, we highlight Caitlin Phillips of Rebound Designs, a purse and accessory designer who isn’t afraid to admit that she will judge a book by its cover. “You know how some people attract stray cats? I attract stray books.” Caitlin Phillips always loved books…until she started tearing them apart. Actually, Caitlin’s affinity for vintage volumes runs so deep that she started creating handbags out of old, damaged and unwanted…

In the spirit of DCist feature Three Stars (and we heart the music section), we’re launching Design Capital, which will highlight emerging local designers. Today we start with Morgan Hungerford of Muss Line, a designer who’s never met a vintage piece she couldn’t tear apart and sew back together into something infinitely cooler. Meet Muss Line. Designer Morgan Hungerford’s indie clothing line (she got the name from a children’s book) is a mix of hand-screened…

Have you ever been tempted to ditch your suit on the way to work? No, it’s not No Pants Day (not yet at least – that’s on May 5), but you can lose your pinstripes for charity tomorrow for the “Send A Suit” professional women’s clothing drive. Donate dry cleaned women’s suits to Send a Suit, which will help low-income women in the D.C. area who are seeking employment. You also can donate gently used…

National Cathedral clergy will showcase their mad skillet skillz this afternoon for the annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race. According to the Cathedral’s Web site, the eighth annual race builds on a tradition dating back to fifteenth-century, where Christians cooked foods like pancakes to get their fill of eggs and fat before Lent started on Ash Wednesday. At around 12:30 pm – after the noon Eucharist – Cathedral staff and students from Cathedral schools with join…

Break out the AmEx black card – Barney’s Co-Op has moved in. Barney’s Co-Op yesterday opened at 3040 M St. NW, welcoming fashion conscious shoppers with discerning taste and deep pockets. The Co-Op’s M Street location was the temporary home of the Ralph Lauren store before it moved into its new digs on Wisconsin Avenue, and it has since been transformed into a modern space with a loft-like atmosphere. On previous trips to high-end stores,…

H&M, that bastion of trendy and cheap clothing (and we mean both price and quality) on Friday will host the “grand re-opening” of its downtown store at 1025 F Street, NW. Grand? Re-opening? Now, it’s been a while since we’ve been to H&M, but we weren’t surely we hadn’t missed some huge overhaul? When we asked an H&M sales associate what constituted this “grand” re-opening, he motioned to a new coat of paint on the…

Valentine’s Day: Do you hate the crass commercialization of love and the fact that it forces you to analyze your current relationship status (or non-status, as the case may be)? Or, do you secretly love the gooey sentiment and the small window of time where it’s socially acceptable for you to dot your “I’s” with hearts and spray cologne on a card? Color us apathetic. Regardless of your feelings about the holiday, it’s a reality….