My mom still hangs our old Christmas stockings on the fireplace mantle -the ones that she made for me and my brother when we were in grade school. I love them. They’re hand-crafted with love and they carry with them years of stocking stuffer memories. What’s hilarious about my brother’s is that when she embroidered his name Christopher, she ran out of room and his stocking for the longest time read “Christ.” You know, as in the chosen one. Figures. So fitting given he was the spoiled baby of the family. For heaven’s sake…
Now that Christmas is around the corner, many of you must be hunting around trying to cross everyone off your list. Well if stocking stuffer ideas are what you need, here’s a holiday gift guide full of fab finds from FabGab and Forever 21!
This adorable pearl clutch bag will be perfect for any special occasion and only runs $14.80. The receiver will think you spent a fortune on it too!
Place either of these cutesy rings in a nice velvety ring box and instantly they’ll look like one-of-a-kind finds
If bunnies and bows aren’t your thing, how about this Chanel lookalike clutch? You can’t go wrong for just $10.80.
As a huge fan of Forever 21, I was super excited to receive the invite above. I think I’ve already proven through my blog and outfit posts that I’m forever a Forever 21 girl. I just love that you can get such trendy pieces at such affordable prices! And the brand name suits me for even though I’m in my 30s, I feel Forever 21 (as evidenced by my silly hello kitty purse in the picture below)! Ok so here are the pics from the Forever 21Spring 2012 Fashion Presentation.
My yellow poof dress is from Forever 21 (had to wear something from the brand to the party now didn’t I?). I winterized the summer dress with my new Cynthia Steffe cardigan from Marshall’s, charcoal textured tights, and accessorized with my Hello Kitty purse and necklace from Off 5th. Also pictured to the far left is “Courtney Henley-Anderson, from blog “That Girl At The Party” and my dear friend Kate who is wearing her signature legging look – sexy!
The spring 2012 presentation was in this beautiful loft space with the most amazing view of NYC but I was so enthralled by the fashion preview that I couldn’t take my eyes off the clothes. They had cute little vignettes setup shown below.
I wanted the Tiffany blue pumps, tan tie blouse on the left mannequin and necklace from the front and center mannequin. Speaking of jewelry, my fellow blogging friends told me that we were instructed to take whatever jewelry we loved HOME. I couldn’t believe my ears and actually had to check twice and then ask another person to double-check I was understanding correctly. I could take any jewelry that I wanted? Really??
My eyes widened as I tried to control my excited, thumping heart and search the room for my favorite finds. I looked around to see whether others were doing the same and indeed they were! This gave me the final liberty to select my new finds.
My friend, Kate and I both fell in love with the floral bow rings so we each picked up one and felt like screaming “wonder twins, unite!”
I kind of felt like a clepto when I took the bow ring and the bracelet seen here but everyone around me kept re-assuring me that it was A-OK. What a fun fashion party! Who ever heard of one where you can go in and take what you like? And if that wasn’t enough, we got to enjoy some free drinks and delectable treats served by models clad in head-to-toe Forever 21. How cute are they?
Call me Forever 21. Yesterday was my birthday and on the plane ride home from the Bahamas where I celebrated, I excitedly flipped through my free New York Fashion Week copy of Teen Vogue. I love teen movies, teeny bopper music and I love me some Teen Vogue. What can I say? The magazine reminded me of the fun time I had visiting their New York Fashion Week Haute Spot.
Here’s a clip of what I saw inside.
You’ll see from their list of events that there was a lot going on. At the time I was there, they were just finishing up a model open call with IMG and a line was forming for a personal appearance from some Disney star that I never heard of.
What I particularly enjoyed were the fashion trend stations alongside the room’s perimeter. The 3-D displays were adorable, weren’t they? They were styled and laid out like giant pages out of the Teen Vogue magazine.
These “prim and proper” and “school girl luxe” boards seemed the most “me.”
But I can see myself wearing bits and pieces from all of these boards! I guess I am truly Forever 21...strange being that I just celebrated my 30 something birthday..
Speaking of which, every birthday, I give away something on my blog. This year, I’m giving away the vintage red peplum dress that I wore to the Teen Vogue event shown below and here.
Just subscribe, post an announcement on your FB, blog and/or twitter about why you love FabGabBlog and you could win the dress! Leave me a link or links as comments here and please remember to leave your email -otherwise I won’t be able to contact you as the winner. Each post brings you closer to winning the dress. Entrants must live in the U.S. Contest ends after 50 comments have been made. I’m also considering all offers for the black calfskin leather Chanel purse pictured here!
When it comes to the weekends, I crave jeans, shorter skirts and casual sweaters in the winter. I hate not being allowed to wear any of the aforementioned items Monday – Friday that by the time I get to Saturday and Sunday, I can’t wait to rebel.
Today I went out to Saks Fifth to have lunch with a friend and to check out the sales there. I wore my new metallic Forever 21 tunic style top with a flirty skirt, and baggy, buttery soft black leather boots. The chain necklace is from Express and the hat was from a mall shop. I loved that the hat added a little masculinity to the girly skirt.
Each piece costed about $20 except for the boots which costed $0. They were a gift from my stylist friend at Bloomies. (having fashionable friends has its perks!)
Stay tuned for goody bag giveaways! I’ll be giving away a goody bag each month.
Sometimes it’s the accessories that make the outfit. And for those of us who want to update our look without breaking the bank, accessories are the way to go. I recently bought a statement necklace at Forever 21 that I last wrote about and here I’ll share my other new necklace purchases.
I found this great fringe necklace at Bloomingdales during the friends and family sale. I fell in love with it because it was the perfect mixture of classic (the pearls) and cool (the edgy chains). It retailed for $86 but somehow I nearly stole it for $16 after finding it in the clearance bin. Here, I’m pairing the necklace with fall’s trends. I’ve got a faux LEATHER jacket (Forever 21), LACE vintage sheath dress, and MILITARY inspired tote bag (Aldo). The boots are suede with a knit trim detail from Aquatalia ( I think I purchased it at off 5th?) The bracelet is from Express.
My 2nd Forever 21 jewelry pickup was this pretty piece also worn in this work wear post.
In the above pic, I’m wearing a Forever 21 jacket (which often gets mistaken for Chanel, hilarious I know), a striped tank tee from Target and navy skinny jeans from Forever 21. The outfit costed a mere $45. The Celine boots were free from my stylist friend at Bloomies and the Fendi tote, well, that wasn’t $45. The ring was from off 5th, the headband -can’t remember and the necklace was Forever 21. See, you don’t have to be 21 to wear Forever 21.
Ok, so I’ve given up on my grand idea to make a fortune off eBay re-selling what I thought were irresistible brocade dresses. I learned in fact that they were resistible at least at my 99.99 starting price so I’m returning them back to Target soon. I did however end up keeping the back-zip pleated black skirt as it was really well made and a totally different silhouette than my other, ehem, 5 black skirts haha.
Thankfully, the skirts weren’t as short on me as they were on the model in the lookbook. Here are my latest outfits which all began with the pleated Zac Posen skirt. Other outfit details include a cloister hat by Olive Branch (bought on sale at TJMaxx), Forever 21 tank, studded heels with fuschia lining by Unlisted.com and tote from Juicy Couture.
I love the traveling fashionista print on this Forever 21 sweater tank. The tank’s racer-back is tied with a ribbon bow too.
I used the same tote and skirt and changed up the top and shoes for the 2nd outfit below. Can you believe my mom bought me this silly nerd blouse back in high school and I’ve kept it ever since? I’m actually thinking about tailoring it so that it fits tighter or cutting the sleeves and creating an entirely different look all together. Have any ideas for me? I can’t bear to get rid of it since the nerd in me adores the pocket-protector-like notepad and pencil detail.
The white/black platform shoes are by a brand called Vivayou and they’re from Shanghai.
The below outfit features suede shoes by BCBG that I bought on sale as well as a sweater and bow headband from Forever 21.
I bought the flowers at the grocery the other day. Having them in my bedroom makes me happy Does anyone else randomly like to buy flowers for themselves?
Don’t you love finding a designer look for less? I’m all about mixing the high and low. For instance, I’ll wear my high-end designer purses with frugal but fab finds. I’m no fashion snob. I love vintage, I love discount retailers and I love stores like Zara, H&M and even Forever 21 that bring you looks for less.
I’m getting compliments left and right about this Balmain knockoff jacket that I found at Forever 21. Everyone assumes its some famous designer and I’m always asked where i bought it. With its quilted black leather and silver chains you would think Karl Lagerfeld was all over this (maybe Balmain first copied Chanel?). With a little research, I learned that the Balmain jacket pictured below (the obvious inspiration behind my F1 jacket) costs $10,770(choke). Ehem, I only paid a mere 30some dollars.
Here I paired the F21 jacket with 2different dresses, and again with skinny pants and a tee.
Now that Christmas is around the corner, many of you must be hunting around trying to cross everyone off your list. Well if stocking stuffer ideas are what you need, here’s a holiday gift guide full of fab finds from FabGab and Forever 21! 
Place either of these cutesy rings in a nice velvety ring box and instantly they’ll look like one-of-a-kind finds
If bunnies and bows aren’t your thing, how about this Chanel lookalike clutch? You can’t go wrong for just $10.80.
If you love nerds like I do, you’ll love this nerdy Forever 21 version of Domo. He had me at hello.
Or how about this glam but affordable necklace? Who can resist all this bling? Can you believe it’s just $12.80?
Finally, make the everyday special with these key fobs. They’re sure to brighten even the most mundane morning. $6.80
And there you go! Stocking stuffers at a steal! Holiday gift-hunting doesn’t have to break the bank after all.
Does anyone else randomly like to buy flowers for themselves?
