Posts from — August 2011

Today’s post is was inspired in many ways. First, the lovely Meg of Meg’s Mumbo just wrote about a gorgeous summer fashion magazine spread in Elle Germany, which is absolutely inspiring on its own. Then, I saw this spread in Baltimore Magazine’s September issue and thought, why not do the same?

This spread is especially special because not only is it in the most important issue of the year, but it’s my former editor’s last photo shoot and editorial at the magazine.

When I was a senior at Loyola University Maryland, I interned for Baltimore Magazine’s Lifestyles Editor, Janelle Erlichman-Diamond. My daily duties included picking up items for photoshoots, assisting as much as I could on those photo shoots, and writing short vignettes and sidebars for publication. Needless to say, I enjoyed every minute of it. The magazine has grown so much over the last three years and I’ve loved watching it do so, even from afar.

Janelle manged to incorporate all of my favorite trends seamlessly into one shoot. I love how each ensemble seems to pop on the model against her fair skin and light hair, yet any hair color or skin color could easily wear these looks. And naturally, I need everything that was photographed.

The spread is just lovely, Janelle. Thank you for everything and good luck with your troop

For more photos, styling/shoot credits, and where to buy, click here.
All photos from baltimoremagazine.net.

A week or two ago, I wrote about my favorite trend for fall, which is colored pants and denim. Since then, I picked up a pair and ventured out in them this past weekend.

These lovely pants were purchased at Anthropologie. After a few stares and my little brother exclaiming, “your pants are red!”, I finally started to feel a bit more comfortable in them. I definitely don’t regret buy them. I can’t wear them to work, but I think these pants are a great way to shake up your every day casual look.

I really love this particular pair of pants because of the color. It’s red, but not bright red, so 1) they’re not so intimidating, and 2) it’s easier to work in your existing wardrobe. You can wear just about any color with these pants, which will help incorporate this new item into your closet. In the words of my sister, when it comes to colored pants: let the pants speak for themselves. Don’t over accessorize and keep it simple!

I wore my pants with a navy blue sweater and flat sandals (and this is the best picture I could get, but I think you can get the idea of the look from this).

I would also wear light yellow, white, brown, beige, violet, basically any other color with these pants. Except red, of course. Also, I think these pants would look awesome with a pair of wedges or platforms as well as flats.

Here’s what I recommend pairing these pants with.

Aeolian Tee at Anthropologie, $39.99 (on sale)

Candy Button Skimmers from Anthropologie, $98

Stuart Weitzman is debuting a new collection this fall! The new collection, called The Young Hollywood Cares Collection, is a collaboration between Stuart Weitzman and four Hollywood darlings- Scarlett Johansson, Hayden Panettiere, Olivia Palermo and Michelle Trachtenberg- who each worked with Stuart himself to design four distinctive shoes.

The Young Hollywood Cares Collection will be available exclusively on stuartweitzman.com on August 22nd and will be sold in three Stuart Weitzman flagship stores: New York (Madison Avenue & 5th Avenue), Beverly Hills (Rodeo Drive) and Chicago (Michigan Avenue). It will be unveiled at Fashion’s Night Out in New York City on September 8th with Michelle Tractenberg and Hayden Panettiere.

As if beautiful shoes aren’t enough. All proceeds from this collection will benefit Dr. Marsha Moses’ ovarian cancer research at the Folkman Institute in Boston, MA. I love that! Shopping for a good cause…does it get any better?

A black suede extreme platform ankle boot with metal hardware accent co-designed by Hayden Panettiere, $498.

A denim crystal-snake calfskin extreme platform pump with stud detailing down the back of heel co-designed by Michelle Trachtenberg, $425.

A red patent man-tailored cut-out oxford platform with contrast burgundy lacing co-designed by Scarlet Johansson, $425.

A satin strappy ankle-wrap sandal embedded with fuchsia feathers co-designed by Olivia Palermo, $425. I had the pleasure of seeing these shoes when I was at Stuart Weitzman’s show room last week and I can say first hand that they are BEYOND gorgeous in person. Really amazing.

Already talking about fall fashion? Say it ain’t so!

In all seriousness, the summer FLOWN by, and it’s almost that time: fall. You know that retailers and brands are way ahead of us in the fact that they always think a season ahead, so stores are being flooded with cozy sweaters, ponchos, and boots as we speak.

I think fall might be my favorite season for fashion, and I think a lot of you agree with me. The trend that I’m most excited about coming up? Colored pants and denim. This trend has grown on me significantly since I first heard about it for fall, and I have to say, I’m a bit obsessed with the thought of pants in bright colors. I don’t know why. I can’t wait to get a pair and wear them with a plain t-shirt, cute flats, an oversized bag (preferably this one) and a scarf. That’s how I see myself wearing that trend…letting the pants speak for themselves.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite colored pants and denim for the fall. What do you think of this trend?

I LOVE this muted yellow color for fall. Pilcro Stet Slim Straight jeans at Anthropologie, $98 (available in other colors, photo from anthropologie.com)

For the bold and daring. J Brand 811 Mid-Rise Skinny Leg, $176 (available in other colors, photo from jbrand.com)

Office-appropriate, as this pair isn’t denim! J. Crew Café Capri, $79.50 (available in other colors, photo from jcrew.com)

Blue jeans with a jolt of brightness. Current/Elliot Low Rise Cropped Skinny Jean at Saks, $168 (photo from saks.com)

Ah, Target. One of my favorite stores for a variety of reasons, mostly for the brand’s GO International collections. Target works with a famous, luxury fashion designer- like Zac Posen, Anna Sui, Proenza Schouler, Rodarte, and more- and creates a collection that brings the designer’s vision to customers at Target prices. I like this a lot, especially the Target prices part.

The newest designer to work with Target is none other than Italian label Missoni. Missoni for Target, launching on September 13th, will be Target’s largest GO International collection and will feature more than just clothes; there will be clothes and accessories for men, women, children, as well as home goods and accessories, luggage, office accessories, and a bike [click here for the full look book]. Simply amazing! Here are just a few amazing items:

Now, I have to say, I agree with the gals over at Styleite…I’m a *bit* more excited for the household items than I am about the clothes. I’m sorry! I love the clothes and the bright, colorful patterns. I do think those patterns translate better to household items and accessories, though. There’s something about the vases (especially the one I posted here. I’m dying about how amazing it is), platters, home furnishings and martini shakers that really get me. I seriously need that martini shaker.

I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a new Target collection coming. What items will you be picking up from the collection?

All photos from facebook.com/targetstyle

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On July 21st, I found out that all of my dreams would come true. On that day, I won a contest Stuart Weitzman was holding through Twitter: a VIP style appointment in Stuart Weitzman’s showroom in New York City with Stacy London. STACY LONDON! It really couldn’t have been more perfect.

The appointment was yesterday afternoon, and it was a wonderful way to spend a rainy day. The Stuart Weiztman showroom is beautiful…such a nice place for all of these shoes to live.

The shoes were all for Spring 2012, if you can believe it, and this is only the first showing! Karen Ferko, Vice President of Public Relations for Stuart Weitzman, said that this was the first week of showing new collections and the showings will continue into September. Needless to say, this first round didn’t disappoint.

My appointment consisted of browsing the new collection and picking out my three favorite pairs to take home. It was a daunting task, considering there were hundreds of shoes to pick from! Luckily, I had expert help from my sister, the Stuart Weitzman PR/Communications team, and Stacy London. No big deal or anything.

Stacy took the time to talk to me and ask me about my style, both fashion-wise and lifestyle, what I do for work, and more, to see what would make the most sense for me. She made a very good point by saying that no matter what you do in life- apartment hunting, dating, shopping, etc.- you need to take a lap around once to see all the options before settling. This theory proved very helpful today as we narrowed down the choices.

We went from this:

To this (!):

I am so happy with my choices and I can’t wait to wear them. I won’t be able to wear them until the end of September or October, as the shoes are being special ordered and made for me. I chose to add a higher heel to the shoes on the top right, at the recommendation of my sister, but kept everything else true to what I saw in the showroom. To me, they were perfect just the way they were. I will definitely write a follow up post as soon as the shoes arrive.

Me and Stacy with my shoes, picture taken by Stuart Weitzman!

I had the most amazing time visiting the Stuart Weitzman showroom and meeting the lovely Stacy London. I am so lucky and thankful for this opportunity! Thank you, Karen, from the bottom of my heart. This is a day I will NEVER forget.

Click here for more pictures!

[Outfit details: Dress, watch: MICHAEL Michael Kors, Earrings: Robert Rose, Shoes: Nine West]
[Outfit details for my sister: Dress, Anthropologie]

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This post doesn’t require too many words. Ryan Gosling is pretty much perfect in every way, especially the way his character is dressed in “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” Every scene is like a moving photoshot for GQ. Major. Swoon. Factor.

FYI, the movie is amazing, and I highly recommend seeing it. Like right now.

Fellas, enjoy some Monday morning style inspiration and take note. Check out Dappered, which is a great blog for some affordable tips for men’s fashion. A few of the posts offer options to get the style I swoon over in this post.

Ladies, enjoy some Monday morning eye candy.

Photo from teen.com

All photos from imdb.com unless otherwise noted.

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I’m not one for doing personal style posts, but this one I couldn’t pass up. Mostly because my friend Lindsey asked me to do a post if I ever wore this dress.

I actually own one of the dresses I wrote about in my post about getting Kate Middleton’s style for less. This pretty, light and summery T. Tahari number just screamed DUCHESS at me the minute I saw it, so naturally, I had to have it.

I absolutely love this dress and received so many compliments on it. I wore it yesterday, for a presentation at work, and was surprised at how light it feels, even though there are sleeves (it was also 15 degrees cooler than it’s been, so that probably helped…). The belt doesn’t come with the dress, but I felt it looked a little too “bridal-y” without it, though the model for Tahari looked lovely in it without the best. And, of course, I paired it with a pair of nude heels.

Another thing I love about this dress is the way it fits. I don’t think I could’ve gone down a size, but I like that it’s a bit bigger. It’s definitely work appropriate, and that’s something I look for when buying new clothes.

I LOVE the back of this dress! Exposed zippers are one of my favorite trends.

I paired the outfit with these blue stone earrings, just to add a little bit more Duchess to my outfit. They are a similar style (by style, I mean small drop, not stone) to the ones that Kate wears, which belonged to Princess Diana and Kate had reset.

Dress: T. Tahari
Belt: Christian Dior (old, so try this)
Shoes: Nine West (old, so try these)
Earrings: Marc by Marc Jacobs (old, so try these)
Watch: MICHAEL Michael Kors

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As I was scanning the headlines of various fashion blogs yesterday, one theme kept reappearing: Kate Middleton re-wears her clothes. As in wears things more than once.

Must be a slow news day.

It seems as though Kate re-wore this pale gold brocade coat not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES (another time in 2010). CAN YOU IMAGINE? Also, the dress worn underneath the coat? RE-WORN ALSO. And her shoes, and handbag? You got it…we’ve seen it all before. The only new thing was her fascinator.

In 2006.

In 2010.

In 2011.

There was speculation that Kate was a “normal” girl when she re-wore J Brand denim, L.K. Bennett shoes, and various handbags and jewels while she was touring North America last month, and that seemed to surprise everyone. When Kate appeared at Zara Phillips’ wedding re-wearing almost all of her outfit, save her amazing fascinator, that seemed to throw the fashion world off. So much so that the Huffington Post felt the need to write a whole post about which outfits have been re-worn and which time looked better. What? A Duchess re-wearing her clothes and not buying something new for every occasion? I’m confused.

Anyone else find it a bit sad that this is newsworthy? I understand writing about Kate’s fashion, because I do it too and I love it. But, I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal if she wears things more than once. All that says to me is that she is a responsible young woman who is fiscally conservative, even though she is a Duchess, and not wasteful when it comes to money and clothing. Kate wears beautiful clothes and she should wear them more than once. Dare I say, it makes her a bit more “normal” and “just like us,” and I don’t need a quote from Rachel Zoe to tell me that.

We should not be surprised by this. It’s how we live every day, and I’m sure that’s how Kate lived before she became royalty. You have a items in your closet that you build a wardrobe around them by adding new, different accessories to make new outfits. Wouldn’t we complain if she was buying new clothes all the time?

If you ask me, Kate influencing others is much more interesting and would be something I’d like to read about. Call it The Kate Effect, which I will be doing research on this week. Why not focus on her as a style icon and less on her re-wearing stuff?

I would love to know who made up the rule that royalty can’t wear things more than once. If anyone has any leads on who that is, please let me know.

Photos from What Kate Wore, The Daily Mail and The Fashion Office

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As if I don’t love Michael Kors enough already.

I mean, what’s not to love? The beautiful clothes, the quality of the beautiful clothes, how adorable Michael is, his stunning new jewelry collection, his timeless watches…I could go on and on here, but I think you get the point.

No. There’s one thing that Michael Kors gets a lot better than most companies, and that’s advertising.

Now, I was a certified advertising geek before I got wrapped up in fashion, so this is coming from an advertising point of view. Michael explains his vision for this campaign in a short YouTube video (another thing I love about the company…excellent use of social media), where he says that the inspiration for this campaign was paparazzi shots of celebrities, specifically in the 1970s. He wanted the photos to show what would be happening in the limo of the world’s most glamorous couple. I think he got his vision down pat here.

I look at Michael Kors’ new Fall 2011 ad campaign, and I actually want to be the female model. I want to run out and pick up all of the beautiful clothing I watched walk down the runway in February (live stream, of course). This is Michael’s first brunette female model in a long time, which I appreciate. She looks so glamorous, with her sparkles and beautiful gowns and pretty fellas surrounding her. She looks effortlessly chic, which is always the intention.

Michael Kors always gets the advertising just right…just look at last year’s fall campaign. I would love to have coffee or cocktails with the creative genius behind these advertising campaigns.

All photos from michaelkors.com and facebook.com/michaelkors.