Neutrals & Neons or Just Neutrals?

Image sources: belt, shoes, shirt, pants, skirt.

Neutrals and neons? (Click to expand.)

 

Image sources: black 1, light grey, tan, dark grey, black 2.

Or just neutrals? (Click to expand.)

As I grow up and try to prune my wardrobe down to pieces I would wear all the time, I struggle with the age old dilemma of wanting to invest in classics but also wanting to look on trend. Sometimes the trends are classic, like stripes and slim cut cropped pants. But sometimes you know trends are going to look dated, like floral pants and logo bags. I'm not sure which category neons fall into, although if I had to guess (based on the 80s) it would be the soon-to-be-dated category. But still I love the fun kick they add to outfits and have invested in some. (These in festival green and these in citron yellow. Both on sale right now!) I am hoping I can get more than one season of wear out of my neon pieces by pairing them with neutrals like the first group of ladies (rather than going the oh-so-popular color blocking route). But then I see how incredibly chic and timeless the neutral pieces without the neon look on the second group of ladies, and I wonder if I am going to kick myself in 12 months for buying green jeans instead of a little black dress. What do you think?

PS: Whenever I need a reminder to refrain from buying something at F21, H&M, etc., I watch Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Thomas Crown Affair (the new one). Chicest movies ever!

All American Fashion

 

 

 

 Image sources: sparkly, Levi's shirt, white suit, red dress, Terekhow flower prints, stars and stars, Marlboro woman, cuff actions, candy stripes, Ermilio blue belle, and glitter and feathers.

 Looking for something to wear to your picnic, bbq, fireworks party tomorrow? Here's some classy and casual inspiration.

Oscar de la Renta Resort: Floral Dressing

Over the weekend I caught up on some of the bajillion blogs that I never get around to reading anymore, and one of them had posted Oscar de la Renta's resort collection. It was lovely and beautiful and classic; everything you would expect from ODLR. And it was also heavy on the florals; everything you would expect from a resort collection. But 2 looks caught my eye for their less literal interpretation of the floral theme. Instead of a flower print or a flower embroidery, these looks had the shape of flowers. It reminded me of the Roberto Capucci dresses (below) I saw this past summer at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with my mom. I think it is nice to be reminded that goods ideas never really leave us in fashion. It was easy to look at Capucci's dresses and pine for a time before fast fashion and the ubiquity of spandex. But ODLR's collection just goes to show that those gorgeous, structurally interesting looks are still out there, re-imagined every few seasons. Just probably not available at Forever 21.

 Image sources: peony, ODLR 1, ODLR 2, thistle flower, Capucci 1, Capucci 2.

Perfect Paris Dress

Have I mentioned that I'm going to Paris this summer?! If you ever gander at my Pinterest, I'm sure you've seen the ample of amount of Paris-themed pins I've added lately. One night while stumbling around Francophile pins, I came across the above stunning image of Jane Birkin. If anyone is the queen of French-chic, it is her. And now I'm dying for a simple white dress that strikes the perfect balance between conservative and fun for my trip this summer. I'm kind of liking the three options below, but if you see something else adorable, let me know!

Alice + Olivia, Lacoste, Nanette Lepore.

Theyskens' Theory Canapa Wedges

As this post goes up, I am actually sitting in a classroom right now taking my 1st final. But that is really boring. No one wants to hear me talk about my copyright final. So instead I'm going to talk about something you will probably find only mildly less boring, but it is something that really excites me: new shoes!

I found the white canvas and wood version of the very popular Theyskens' Theory wedges on eBay for a steal. I love the blue velvet version that I found on Gilt awhile ago. So I'm always checking eBay for other TT wedges in my size. These are actually more comfortable than the velvet ones, and the canvas-wood combo makes them perfect for the summer! I am definitely going to be wearing these to graduation.

PS: If I could find the purple velvet, my collection would be complete! Anyone getting rid of their 6 or 6.5 purple velvet TT wedges by any chance?

PPS: That is a terrible picture of the blue velvet wedges. I clearly had not mastered my camera yet. They are much more beautiful than I made them seem. Just look here.

PPPS: I swear I will stop with shoe talk after this, but did you see the TT shoes for F/W 2012?!?! Be still my heart! Thank goodness I will have finally graduated and will be getting a paycheck again because I'm going to need this one and probably this one and, geez, maybe even this one too.

Trend: Metallic Cap Toe Pumps

Louis Vuitton pumps as seen on The Clothes Whisperer, Nelly pumps as seen on Fashion Hippie Loves, leopard pumps of unknown origin (do you know who makes them?) as seen on Stockholm Street Style, Zara pumps as seen on Late Afternoon, Pringle of Scotland Pumps as seen on the RAW Shoes Blog, and Topshop pumps (sold out but similar here and here) as seen on Britt + Whit.

After Isabel Marant put Kate Moss in a pair of classic pumps in her fall 2010 campaign, simple pumps started creeping back into fashion. But while all of those Blahnik owners were busy saying "I told you so," designers were already looking for a way to spice up those simple pumps. So Marant ups the game with the cap toe pump. Then Zara sold a version last year that became a blogger staple. (Just see here and here and here.) But this year cap toes turned metallic, and I love this newest iteration! My favorite version that I've seen so far has to be this aqua pair with a rose gold cap toe by Nelly, but I certainly would not turn down any of the shoes above!

Trend: Military Vest with Leather Sleeves

Images from My Style Pill, Wendy's Lookbook, and This Time Tomorrow.

When you follow a lot of blogs, you notice a convergence on certain trends. And sometimes that convergence happens at lightening speed, like this military vest with leather sleeves look that popped up on 3 different blogs in less than a week! The two ladies on the left (Christine and Wendy) are wearing a jacket from Zara's spring/summer offerings. I think Zara, on its own website, did a terrible job of styling this jacket, and if it weren't for these bloggers, I would not have given it a second thought. But now I've about 95% convinced myself I need this jacket in my life. The lady on the right (Krystal) is actually not wearing the same jacket! She DIY-ed herself the same look with an old Zara leather jacket and an Old Navy vest, which I think is brilliant and looks fantastic. Will you by jumping on board this military/leather trend (two styles of clothes I am in love with as you can tell by my Pinterest boards)? Or are you more of a polka dots woman?

UPDATE: It's official, this Zara jacket is everywhere.

Lust: Derek Lam on Gilt

Derek Lam woven crepe seamed dress, wool vest dress, and linen leather yoke shift. Images from Gilt.com.

Were you just thinking to yourself "I'd really like to spend $500 or even $1000 on some nice clothes today"? Well you're in luck! Gilt has a Thakoon/Derek Lam sale going on right now and the pieces are gorgeous! You might been more of a Thakoon type of woman, but I'm in love with the simple Derek Lam dresses. I am lusting after the three above!

Trend: Polka Dots

Images from The Daybook, Style Scrapbook, and Bittersweet Colours.

I feel like its been awhile since polka dots were really trendy, but I am ready for them to make a comeback! I have a soft spot in my heart for large polka dots. When I was a senior in high school, I wore a mid-calf length, black-and-white, polka dotted, A-line dress to prom. I loved it. It was totally different than all the other prom dresses people wore that year. It wasn't floor length; it wasn't sparkly; and it didn't have any flowers, beads, lace, or other embellishments. It was a very classic and wise choice for my mere 18 years, and I've worn it several times since. But in the last 5 years, I'd entirely ditched polka dots in favor of stripes and, more recently, gingham. I am still loving my stripes and gingham, but in the past few weeks some stylish bloggers and the J.Crew catalog have convinced me I need to rework polka dots into the rotation! I'm loving the following . . .

J.Crew skirt, Anthropologie blouse (ok technically these are snails and not polka dots), Current Elliot jeans, and ASOS dress.

DIY Jeweled Heels

A friend alerted me to the wonderfully simple but surprisingly adorable heel-bedazzling project posted over at Honestly WTF. The part of me that is easily distracted by shiny things couldn't resist making my own version immediately! So the next day I picked up some cheap heels at Forever 21 and some plastic jewels at Michael's and got started. E6000 glue, toothpicks (for applying the glue), tweezers for the small jewels, and a plate to put the glue on are also useful. I highly recommend this project. It only took me about $60 for the heels and supplies and an hour to do each pair, and I think the results are perfect for holiday parties and nights out on the town!

Scary Movie Fashion: Spider

Image sources: 1 & 2, 3, 4 & 5, 6, 7 & 8, 9.

Today's scary movie fashion inspiration is Spider--a psychological exploration into an unhinged mind. (Think of something like Shutter Island.) Lacy, gauzy layers are reminiscent of the clouded memories and perceptions. And spider web details evoke a feeling of long unused spaces (rooms in haunted houses or corners of our mind). Creepily beautiful dresses like this would be perfect for Halloween!

PS: This post is also well-timed because tomorrow I will be going to see the Spider Pavilion at the Natural History Museum for their night time tour. Scouring the internets for this scary movie fashion post has me completely in the mood to see the spiders after the sun goes down. The Spider Pavilion will be there until Nov. 6th, but tomorrow is the last day to see the spiders at night!

Scary Movie Fashion: The Birds

 

Image sources: 1, 2, 3 & 4, 5, 6 & 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

This October has been so busy (Berkeley trip, Larson Family visit, fall party, and a house guest) that I have absolutely no energy to dress up for Halloween (which is very unlike me). Instead I've been thinking about things one could wear that were inspired by scary movies and a little creepy but not actual Halloween costumes. So welcome to my mini series on "Scary Movie Fashion." All of the outfits in the series seem perfect for Halloween yet so much easier to deal with than, say, this.