Tommy Hilfiger’s fantasy fab fete is all eye candy – prep style and I love it!
Happy holidays everyone!
November 30, 2010
Fab Fete: Tommy Hilfiger
November 29, 2010
Style Diary: Merry Christmas To Me
Christmas shopping is fun – mostly because it means I come home with the perfect gifts for….me. Please tell me that I’m not the only one who comes home with gifts for myself each time I holiday shop for others. Why is everyone else so hard to shop for when shopping for me is so easy? It goes something like this, “One for person A, one for me. One for person B, one for me. One for person C, one for me.” Soon after, it simply becomes “Merry Christmas to me!” Case in point, I recently browsed the mall looking for holiday gifts and came back purchasing more for me than I had for others. For instance, I couldn’t resist this faux fur Express coat and Forever 21 lace ruffle tank top. Both were steals (about $150 for the coat and about $15 for the top) 
Here, I’m pairing it with my black leggings, suede lace-up booties, pearls and Chanel purse. When I wear something that I consider “cheap chic” I make sure to balance it off with higher-end designer pieces so that no one knows my cheap secret. I love this purse ‘cuz the pearls detach, can be worn as a necklace and the gold chain can remain for a more classic Chanel purse look. But damn, it barely fits my oversized wallet, cell phone and keys. The lady at the Chanel counter suggested I buy a new slim wallet from her to fix this problem – she’s gooood. 
This was my weekend look to go shopping in the city. I’m all about leggings and jeans on the weekend, mainly because I’m not allowed to wear them during the work week. What’s your favorite go-to weekend piece? Lastly, I’m giving away my vintage dress to one lucky blog winner this week. Just click here and follow the instructions for entry!
November 27, 2010
Style Diary: New Scarf
Fashion has a way of making you want to purchase things you really don’t need. Take a look through any woman’s closet and you’ll see multiples of everything. My latest don’t-need-but-had-to-have was my black scarf with metallic dots, discovered at Off 5th. Its modern cut (it’s already pre-formed into a loop that you can wear long or double-up) is what helped me rationalize the purchase. “I’m updating my winter look” er so I thought. In actuality, this scarf isn’t even fit for a chilly fall being that it is practically sheer and so lightweight. If I were honest with myself at checkout I’d have realized it was far less practical of a purchase and simply an impulsive fashion update.
Here it is with my mom’s vintage suite (skirt hemmed higher), flower brooch, masculine boots and Chanel purse.
What was your latest impulse buy?
I’m thinking of doing a shopping haul pictorial round-up and/or shopping video for my blog. Any interest in seeing what I bought over Thanksgiving week?
November 23, 2010
Oops I Did It Again – Fashion Mishap
Ever have one of those fashion mishaps where you look at yourself in the mirror mid-day and wonder what the heck you were thinking? Maybe it was your cubicle’s lights that transformed what you thought was a pretty pink into an embarrassingly fluorescent neon. Or maybe you didn’t notice that your pant was too short for the heels you wore. Or maybe the styling risk you took in the morning made you want to run back home and change by mid-afternoon.
Today I had one of those days. The day before, my boss mentioned that we were going to take a group picture with Santa (in the mall that we work at). I thought, “yay! must add take picture with Santa to my long list of work perks.” So excitedly, I prepared a Christmas themed outfit for the special shot with as much enthusiasm as Bridget Marquardt from the Girls Next Door would have had preparing her next celebratory themed outfit. I wore a red/white/green plaid ruffle blouse with army green suede-like pants and some fun red leopard flats. At home, I was sure the mix of patterns was an unexpected and fun twist on a holiday theme. But by the time I checked myself out at work, I had no clue what I was thinking. And to make matters worse, the Santa photo plans got cancelled so I ended up looking like a dorky elf all day for nothing.
In the fashion industry, such fashion mishaps can be devastating to your reputation. Ever see Devil Wears Prada? Yea, well today, I felt I must have put my job in jeopardy. To top it off just yesterday, I had a wrist slap from my boss for wearing five – pocket pants (I’m not kidding). Who knew they weren’t allowed – they weren’t jeans…only jean like. eh..the fashion police was in full force.
Anyways, with the next two days off, I figure I have a couple days to recover with more than enough time to schedule a successful series of work outfits of which I will post here in my usual dedicated fashion while winning back the respect I just lost. 
November 19, 2010
Style Diary: 1 dress, 3ways
Today I wore a Calvin Klein cowl neck sheath dress with patterned tights, an Express chain necklace, Ann Taylor leather jacket, Aldo booties and Fendi tote with my cloister hat. The whole outfit costed around $250 without the tote. Where I work, you couldn’t even find a dress for that low of a price. Here are the pics.
I got tons of compliments on my tights today but I can bet I got some strange looks too.
I’m a secret fan of Express. They have edgy and trendy accessories for cheap. Here, I’m wearing a Chanel knock-off style with a blinged out camelia and leather chain accessories. I just wish Express had a frequent customer card. It would have come in handy when I was buying hundreds and hundreds of shirts for my the booth models I used to hire.
This dress is the dress I wore on my first day at work but with a softer, more romantic look.
And lastly, here it is with a black H&M cardigan, black chanel purse, flower pin, and ankle strap heels.
Speaking of heels, that’s my shoe closet pictured there. It got a pink makeover when I moved. I couldn’t decide on the wall of curtains (which hid my makeshift closet) so I started out with pink (shown here) but have since opted for the white/black striped tweed curtain shown in my first picture. Yes even my shoe closet got a makeover…
This last look is much more conservative and could be a safe, appropriate choice for various work environments.
The other way I’ve worn this dress in the past four months is with a short-sleeved, chocolate brown cardigan, belted with the metallic belt that the dress came with (shown above), brown croc boots, and my silver Prada lady purse. Sorry I must’ve gotten lazy and not captured it on film ‘cuz a photo was nowhere to be found.
This Calvin Klein is such a basic go-to dress which is why I wear it once a month (more than I can say about most of my dresses). Sometimes the most basic dress is the most versatile. I hope I showed you that one basic dress can have lots of styling potential.
So there you go, 1 dress worn 4 ways, pictured 3 ways in very different styles. Which outfit was your favorite?
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to enter my vintage dress giveaway!
November 17, 2010
Style Diary: Cloche Hats
I have a few cloche hats, one red, one green and each with a bow and another simple black one featured in a different style diary entry. I love the retro shape and how they easily take any outfit to the next level.
Here was my work outfit today which included a 2-piece semi-formal dress by Kathlin Argiero that the designer herself gave to me for free, Burberry heels, a Sinclaire trench, H&M cardigan and St. John tote.
The classic color combination of khaki, black and a pop of red is so Burberry. My Burberry plaid (on the shoes) sort of just tied them all together. 
I fell in love with this trench coat at Saks. The girly bow plus the fact that I could buy it at 44%off the already reduced sale price was simply irresistible. 
This was the first time I wore this Kathlin Argiero black, 2-piece dress out to a non-semi-formal occasion. I made it a work look by pairing it with a simple puff-sleeved black cardigan and wearing it with work heels. What do you think? Did I get away with making this dress work overtime?
The necklace I wore was a cheap find. I liked the edgy metallic chains mixed with the oversized bling.
My green cloche hat is something I’ve featured before. Here it is again but with a more work/fall look.
What do you think? Would you wear a cloche hat? If so, how?
November 16, 2010
Royal Engagement
The world gasped a collective sigh of delight when they heard today that Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement.
It turns out we are both hoping for a late spring / summer 2011 wedding, both got engaged while on vacation and both had rings hidden in a backpack, making the guy ultra nervous during the trip. I can’t wait to hear more about their royal nuptials.
Let the wedding planning begin!
