Fashion

Style Diary: Rainy Day Outfit -summer

I was surprised to see that “rainy day outfits” was one of my blog’s most frequent google search terms. First on the ranking was even more startling…”andrej pejic” the male model that I wrote about once – yea just once. When people search his name apparently they come across my blog for the first time. His name is my blog’s most frequent search term with Olivia Palermo and rainy day outfits a close second and third.

It got me thinking that I need to write more about these 3 hot topics. So here I am posting my summer rainy day outfit, sort of as a continuation of my earlier post.

This outfit is a TJMaxx find, sorta a onesie for adults lol. It’s by Nanette Lepore. I’ve paired it with my favorite insulated wellies by Kamik, a studded belt and a necklace from a Korean boutique in NJ that I frequent.

Speaking of wellies, I just ran into the cutest pair from Kate Spade. The Randi style runs about $107 and comes in a few colors. My favorites are the fushia and the cream. Don’t you love the bow detail?

LOVE!

Ok and now onto the umbrella – did you notice how uniquely clear it was? These types of umbrellas were all the rage in Japan and ever since my trip there, I just had to get one. If you need a new umbrella, you might want to check out umbrellas.net

One of my favorites is this beautiful fushia vintage one for $129.

And I thought this white ruffly one was perfect for a wedding or a little girl.

Their umbrella selection is so cute that you’ll actually find yourself looking forward to rain. Another of my favorite umbrella finds is this comical black umbrella. What looks like your average and basic black umbrella is really a ray of sunshine from underneath. Can you say, “rain rain go away?”

Style Diary: Navy outfit

in Fashion, Style Diary

I’m constantly converting my day dresses into something more appropriate for work. And why not? I’m all about making my clothes work double-duty. In this case, all it takes is a blazer and making sure the skirt length is appropriate. Here, I’m wearing a Rebecca Taylor navy dress with pom pom trim. Here is a close-up of the dress’s skirt under the military, Forever 21 blazer.

The shoes are Christian Louboutin lucite stilettos with yellow bows down the middle that I found at a high-end consignment store. And the tote is Juicy Couture.

Here’s the back of the blazer – loving the feminine ruffles and how they offset the masculine military details. For more on my style and what I wear to work, click here.

Fashion Show: Think Pink

in Fab Fetes, Fashion

A couple weeks ago, I hosted a breast cancer charity at our store and led a pink-themed fashion presentation. Prepping for it turned my office pink. Here’s a peak..

Though the idea of running your own fashion show or getting to style beautiful models seems like a fun task, the reality is that you have limited time, people pulling you in different directions, and a thousand other projects and to dos. Imagine a game-show-like challenge with a major time crunch and the pressure of being on TV (remember how those reality TV stars sweat?) That is what it’s like.

Scurrying through the two retail floors grabbing everything pink in sight, I must have looked like a crazy pink ball of fire. It was a somewhat frightening task knowing pink was not a trend color this season, but somehow I managed to pull more items than I thought imaginable all the while making sure to pull sizes that my itty bitty models would fit into. Then, I’d drop everything onto this rack and spend the next hour creating out of nothing, 20 head to toe outfits.

The pressure was on. I knew all eyes would be on me. And I knew I had to be prepared enough to not run out of things to talk about. I imagined my mic in hand running through topics such as:

how to find your perfect shade of pink
how to dress up and dress down each outfit
how to go from cubicle to cocktails
how to wear pink in small doses
how to vary each dress option and create 3 different looks
what colors match well with pink
etc. etc.

Once my filler topics were listed, I organized the outfits by category:

little black dresses with pink pops of color
casual daytime looks
everyday dresses
evening looks

And then I organized the categories further – worn by model vs. on rack as filler piece. It was important for me to have additional items to talk back to since some of the pink finds didn’t have model-appropriate sizes and also because I knew I’d have to kill some time while waiting for my models to change and reappear.

Once the untagging, scanning and re-tagging was done, my intern (love her!) made my flash cards – each card detailing the outfit’s pieces by brand and price. I later numbered the backs of all the cards in case I dropped them (which I did do during the actual presentation btw). Note to self, also add holes and a ring clip so that if they are dropped, time is not wasted trying to put them back in order.

With any leftover outfits, I styled my assistant, intern and myself so that we would also represent additional looks (on real people’s bodies), then hurried off to deal with all the other events’ setup needs. Here are some pics!

And you can’t have a pink party without pink cupcakes…..I’m disgusted to think how many pink cupcakes I’ve eaten during my many breast cancer fashion events.

Yummy- looking huh? Mind you, I had no event budget for decor. F&B was all donated (perk of partnering with a charity), flowers were begged off of our visual team, and all other items were things I scrounged up in-house!

As guests checked in, they were greeted by the charity, welcomed with complimentary cupcakes and pink sparkling wine and encouraged to mingle / shop. The models stood on platforms wearing SFA black dresses while wearing pink jewels from our jewelry department.

My events are all about sell-through so I had the models spritz guests with some of our pink – colored perfumes, just as another way to highlight product.

Here are some shots of the fashion presentation. There was something for the pink-shy…those who wear pink in small doses and/or those who wear pink only as an homage to breast cancer charities at these sorts of events. And there was something for the pink-enthusiasts whose closets scream pink and yearn for more.

Where do you fall on the love-of-pink spectrum?

I’m learning to love the color. My next entry is about my very own pink outfit. (here in these photos, I was borrowing the store’s DKNY striped dress and cardi from Lavia. What do you think?

After running around all day, being the host for the event, the stylist and emcee for the show, serving as the event designer and planner, I put on my next hats: event financier, charity shmoozer, events team manager etc. And before you knew it, I was off continuing to plan my next 10 events!

Style Diary: What I wore to work

in Fashion, Style Diary

The best part of my day was when I met one of our top customers and she immediately complimented me and my outfit saying that I was so Saks Fifth Avenue (where I work). Little did she know that I actually wasn’t wearing a single thing from the store that I work at but I wasn’t about to tell her that.

I wore a sheath dress by Calvin Klein (that I bought at Marshall’s), with a cardi from the Loft, a vintage stretch belt, and heels from Zara. Can you believe that I was all the way in Italy when I just had to stop at the Zara (only to fall in love with these shoes and just HAVE to pay the overpriced exchange rate for them)?

Now let’s talk accessories. The purse was a gift from my model friend who was in the ad campaign for this brand…which I can’t remember at the moment. They used to sell at Bergdorf Goodman..anyways, I thought the tribal feel of the handle matched well with my NY street fair find – necklace. It’s funny how this outfit came together (in a matter of minutes). I started off with the dress (isn’t everyone excited to wear a new dress?) then I added a cardigan cuz I’m not allowed to show shoulders at work – apparently that would be too risque’. That looked shapeless so I added the stretch belt and jumped for joy when I remembered this old tribal looking necklace. Then I looked at myself in the mirror and thought I looked a bit Bam Bam. I added the Wilma beehive-like bun and voila! I had a modern-day Flinstones look!

What do you think?

Style Diary: Sweet Studs

in Fashion, Style Diary

If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll know that I’m a fan of fashion juxtapositions. I love mixing vintage with modern, girly with masculine and sweet with tough. Here’s yet another example and it has to do with studs. Back in the ’80s when studs were hugely popular (remember Madonna and her studded black leather jackets?), I never ventured into that rock ‘n roll territory. I was too much of a goody two shoes to adorn myself in such tough leather and studs. It would have felt too costume-y for me.

But I’ve since learned that I can incorporate the rocker look in small doses and in doing so can up the “cool” quotient of any of my more feminine pieces (and Lord knows I have a ton of them!)

This entry is about mixing studs, and spikes with sweet pieces like lace, skirts and dresses. The first outfit is something I wore to work today. It all started with my new H&M find, this navy lace top which I found for about $30. I brought it home thinking, I could easily wear it now this summer, and transition it into fall because of the darker color.

I paired it with this red skirt which is actually half of a Calvin Klein suit (always think about your suits as being separates for increased wearability!) and being that I was wearing red, it seemed perfect to pull out these studded red ballerina flats to match.

The Zara flats have this cute Chanel-like chained ankle strap that makes everyone take a second look. I had 2 co-workers today try to figure out whether I was wearing ankle bracelets or whether the strap was part of my shoe.

Do you see what I mean though about balancing out the girly lace with the edgier studs? It gives the outfit a little more interest than say, if I were to wear a pair of red pumps; don’t you think?

That necklace is my mom’s btw. I make a point to steal something from her closet every time I visit

Okay and now to the 2nd sweet studded outfit. This one was also something that I wore to work (last week). And this time I mixed a vintage lace sheath with a more modern Patrizia Pepe black blazer while again contrasting the girly lace with spiked belt and shoes.

Sorry the photo is a bit grainy due to the bad lighting but you get the picture (pun intended). Below, you’ll see a close-up of my spiked accessories. Hopefully, if you didn’t think you could do the punk look, you’ll agree that it is highly do-able in small doses.

You wouldn’t normally think to wear spikes with lace but I think these pictures prove that the contrast works!

By the way, I’ve been thinking about selling this Chanel leather purse. So if you want it, make me an offer I can’t refuse! It’s in great shape!

By the way, if you’re noticing what looks like Scotch tape on one of my eyebrows, that is surgical tape. Instead of getting stitches, you can sometimes use this new surgical, breathable, waterproof tape to adhere two parts of cut-open skin. Thank God for it because I’m a huge crybaby when it comes to pain and needles! Okay, so you’re wondering what happened to me… I’m sorely embarrassed to say that I was retarded enough to walk straight into a street sign. Yea, and as if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, I now have to repeatedly re-tell the stupid story of how I was so fixated on the going out of business -last day sale that I walked myself straight into a pole. (blush)

I truly am a fashion victim.

Toilet Paper Wedding Dresses

in Fashion, WEDDING STYLE

Brides are emotional. Brides cry. Brides need something absorbent to wipe their tears away. So I guess the thought of making a toilet paper wedding dress makes sense….. right? ….

Cheap Chic Weddings runs an annual contest asking contestants to design and create wedding dresses out of toilet paper, tape glue, and/or needle/thread. Perhaps some of you know the rules having been faced with the daunting task at a friend’s bridal shower. Having never been faced with the real-life challenge myself, I wouldn’t even know how to begin. It seems like a daunting task!

One of my friends attended a bridal shower and shared these pics.

How cute are they? I love all the details like the peplum skirt (so trendy right now!), the flower details (how much toilet paper did they use, I wonder?) and asymmetrical straps (you see that pleated crumb catcher front?). Clearly, there were some true fashionistas at this shower.

There’s the scissor and toilet paper roll in the background to prove this is the real deal! If you ask me, that’s some pretty talented taping! I was thoroughly impressed!

That is, until I saw the winners of the cheap chic weddings toilet paper wedding dress contest. O. M. G

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These girls deserve honorary F.I.T degrees though I wouldn’t be surprised if they already graduated with honors. Vera Wang, here are your new hires!

Personally, I think miss 3rd place should have won the $1000 grand prize -what about you? Here she is having just taped up 20 rolls of toilet paper.

Using only 4 rolls of toilet paper, here is the toilet paper wedding dress contest winner, Susan Brennan

In my next post, I’ll share some photos and ideas from my very own bridal shower!

coming soon

Style Diary: white ruffle dress

in Fashion, Style Diary

You know what they say about having too much of a good thing. That’s why I’m conscious of not overloading one particular style. For instance if my outfit assembly starts off with an overly girly and frilly dress, then I try to balance it out by pairing it with something opposite.

In this case, I started out with a white, front zipper dress by Tracy Feith that I bought at Target and totally fell in love with. The bottom poofs out into a bell shape and ends with a cascade of girly ruffles.

It was such a sweet, overtly girly dress that I had to toughen it up. So I found my military jacket, purchased last fall when the whole army and military green trend was in, added that and from there found the matching accessories.

The jacket is from Forever 21 and the bag is from Aldo.

Each of these pieces (including the dress) were all under $100!

What do you think of this outfit?

Style Diary: BCBG Metallic heels

in Fashion, Style Diary

I made a pitstop at our shoe department during the huge July consolidation sale and ended up not being able to resist a couple pairs from the sale rack. One pair was this metallic BCBG stilettos that looked both sexy and edgy at the same time. I couldn’t believe they were only going to be around $50 with my employee discount. And I loved how they looked so designer at a fraction of the cost.

I immediately put them to good use the next day and wore them to work with my Calvin Klein charcoal sheath – something that I find so comfy and glam at the same time. It’s stretchy and never wrinkles which also makes it the perfect travel dress. Because of all the glitz, I toned it down for work with a chocolate, half-sleeve cardigan that I bought at (gasp) Target! With all the sparkle and shine, I figured I didn’t need much in terms of accessories. So I just added my sunglasses and a brown tote and I was off! What do you think?

Frugal and Fab: 1 $15 dress worn 3 ways

in Fashion, Frugal and Fab, Style Diary

In one of my earlier style diary posts, I wrote about how Olivia Palermo’s outfit inspired mine that day.

And it all started with this H&M cheap and chic find from the sale rack for only $15. In the above picture, I’ve winterized the classically cut sheath with tights, booties, a hat, cardigan and belt. (For outfit details see earlier post).

As you know I try to never wear an outfit the same way twice. It’s my somewhat ineffective way to keep myself from getting bored of my clothes. How do you keep from getting bored of your fashions?

I constantly need to edit and update my wardrobe. Perhaps it is a side effect of working in retail. After all, there is constant temptation by the latest, newest and more fashionable items. You’re constantly in want of what’s new and suddenly the old clothes sitting in your perfectly fine closet at home just don’t seem good enough or enough period. But really, before I worked in retail, my personal obsession has always been fashion. I’ve always struggled with being satisfied with the overflowing closet already at home. It’s so easy to tire of what’s in your closet, isn’t it? Aren’t you always craving the next new thing? I never understood how people could stand to wear the same thing over and over, year after year. My husband wears out his clothes until he bores holes through them and even then, he’ll practically throw a fit if you try to convince him to stop wearing it. I. do. not. understand.

To keep my budget in check and to keep the inevitable boredom from setting in, the personal styling challenge helps keep things interesting! Here are a couple more ways that I’ve worn the same dress throughout the past year.

For work, I’ve paired the dress with my black blazer as well as my more summery white blazer (also from H&M). It’s pictured here.

I got these crazy white/black heels while on a trip to Shanghai, the black biker cuff was from Claire’s of all places, and the purse was a gift that I’ve since given away.

For the summer, I took the same dress and color palette as the first outfit except I switched out the winter accessories for bare legs, sexy stilettos, a BCBG suede belt and then ditched the cardigan.

I find this dress to be so versatile and am happy to report that I’m not quite done with it yet. I can do so much with the black and white graphic print. Add a pop of color with the accessories, purse, shoes or cardigan and you have a bolder overall look. Layer a shirt on top of the dress and convert it into what looks like a graphic skirt – in fact I think that will be my next fashion move. This $15 investment is going a long way!

Style Diary

in Fashion

Back in the ’80s, I used to love being a prep. I wore penny loafers, navy sweaters with green whales and mixed pink and green so often, you’d think Lilie Pulitzer was my idol.

I still like the preppy look but find myself more attracted to JCrew’s version. Smart with funky jewelry. I especially love adding unexpected twists to my preppy basics. For instance, today, I started my outfit with this pretty Tahari printed skirt and basic black button down (from Karl Lagerfeld’s limited H&M collection). Preppy and basic. That is until I added the rocker influenced studded belt (don’t remember where I bought it) and funky booties from Aldo.

The purse is still classic but the Chanel chain strap adds a little more interest and the bib necklace found at a Charlotte Russe outlet store for only $5 completes the eccentric look.