Thursday, May 20, 2010

Outfit Crisis Averted

*Sigh of relief*

After the other day's frantic wedding-guest-dress post I am happy to report that I found a dress to wear to the wedding this weekend.

Towards the end of the day I'd become quite desperate, I was even going through old facebook albums to see if there were dresses I'd forgotten about, so I rushed home in the rain.

The first dress, a fabulous peach lace Carmen Marc Valvo dress, washed me out so that was removed from the running. The second dress, a flirty Kelly green BCBG number with ruffled straps, had a spot on in from the last time I'd worn it to a wedding (lesson: take better care of one's property).

Finally, I had saved the best, and most likely viable, option for last. I slipped on the black chiffon Banana Republic dress that I'd bought at the outlets months back with the mindset that one can always use an extra LBD.

As I hooked the hook and eye and zipped the zipper, I knew it fit.

Now I am not a girl who normally stresses a little weight fluctuation and I rarely worry about clothes (other than jeans) not fitting because I (thankfully) went through my the-tighter-the-better phase Sophomore year of college. So the unique joy that washed over me when I zipped and exhaled was an emotion that was fairly new to me.

I am all about loving your body. Would I like to have larger breasts and a more-defined rear end? Sure! Am I willing to pay for or work out towards those ends respectively? No. So I love what I've got.

I embrace my petite stature, but everyone has had a moment where they say I have nothing to wear because of [insert body issue here] so I shop for clothes that mask those problem areas and/or create the illusion of a more perfect physique. And thankfully, this dress does all of that and does it with style.

Accessorized with my new "lipstick pink" Tory Burch heels and my new Olivia Harris clutch and I will look good, feel good, and have fun. May you do the same with your weekend...

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Sorry, We're Out of Stock, Try Again Later...

This weekend I have a family wedding to attend in Florida. I had my dress all planned out, as posted below, and even got a cute black clutch, at a steal of a deal, to complete the ensemble.

Since I'd already worn the dress accessorized in a similar fashion I thought it'd be fun to get new jewelry as well, but a search of the standard inexpensive accessories stops (Express, Aldo, NY&Co, Ann Taylor Loft, even Chico's and Claire's) yielded no results.

Upon arriving home I optimistically posited; I'm being ridiculous, surely I can make a killer combo with the accessories I already own.

In order to get the full effect of my look-options I decided to put on the dress. And that's when it all went down the tubes...

In addition to not zipping up with the usual ease, the dress was apparently torn where the bodice met the zipper and the boning was digging into my mid-section.

Before going into full panic mode I rationalized that it may just be the cut of this particular dress, as the waist falls at the natural waist line and that is the one part of my body that is completely out of proportion with the rest of it.

As I put on the dress I planned to the rehearsal dinner I knew that that one wasn't going to fit either (although this one was because of my bust line, so I really wasn't that upset about that) and I would need to do a total overhaul on my weekend packing spreadsheet (yes, I plan weekend outfits in Excel, now if someone would just hire me I could put this obsessive compulsive level of organization to good use).

At lunch I went over to the outlets, but much to my chagrin I didn't like anything I tried on and that wasn't even the worst part, I actually looked at the rows and rows of clearance items and thought; I'm too tired to look through all of this.

That has never happened to me before. Ever.

So now it is almost the end of the day and I'm going to my last resort: the black garment bag.

Whenever I'm kind of over a dress (translation: I've worn it to more than 2 events and/or I never really loved it in the first place) it winds up in this one very over-stuffed garment bag.

Wish me luck.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Olivia - Can I Call You 'Liv?'

Just got a $195 Olivia Harris clutch for $49! It's black leather and approximately 10"x6"x1.5" with cool lines that oddly enough remind me of the Flux Capacitor from Back to the Future.

Love this brand. Here's how they describe themselves:

"The OH line of bags is younger, edgier, and a little grittier then her older sister 'Gryson'."

Edgy, gritty, rock and rock, we're gonna be friends. So can I call ya' Liv?

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

About That Wedding Outfit...

So here it is, or an adaptation at least. As I mentioned my actual dress is from last season, but this one is also Rebecca Taylor and it's the same shade of blue. I like to think that mine is a bit edgier as the polished cotton is tone on tone blue zebra print; I threw in the bangle to add that missing element.

And don't forget the handsome man I'll have on my arm, it wouldn't do justice to the Madonna homage if I didn't ;)


The Pre-Metallics Era

When I was growing up when getting dressed for a formal event (whether it be a bat mitzvah or a sweet 16), you wore black shoes. There were no fancy metallic options unless they were of the Nina brand bridal shoe variety and therefor, to be avoided.

Then, somewhere between High School and College, right around the same time "black pants" were replaced by jeans as the new going out attire, metallics were reintroduced to the fashion canon. And so black shoes became the footwear equivalent of a dirty word to me.

Black shoes with a pink dress? Ew, what was I, like, 40 or something?


Now, several years later, I have come to appreciate the black shoe again, but in a different way. Now black is used as an accent, a statement of contrast, like it's used with pink at Victoria's Secret or as a color scheme for a wedding.

With this in mind I am choosing to wear black shoes with a blue dress to an upcoming family wedding in Florida. The dress is from last season, but I'll attempt to create a collage that's as close to the real thing as possible on Polyvore and post in a bit.

I guess when it comes to black, you can go back.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Promised Polyvore Posting

So here's an idea of how I styled my new AllSaints skirt for dinner last nice. It's so comfy and I must admit that I felt terrible cool in it, but of course the best part of the night was the company. (Especially since no skirt could pull me out of the mood that a multitude of Liz Lemon situations put me in.)


Thursday, May 6, 2010

AllSaints Day

When I was in London a few years back my roommate Steph and I stumbled across a little shop in Covent Garden on Long Acre called AllSaints. After yet another trip to Zara, which despite having British buyers was still very similar to the selection in the US, we walked into a store a few doors down and began to mill around.

The exposed brick walls and sparse metal fixtures gave the place a great vibe, very industrial, and the great clothes with their deconstructed lines and cool color palette, which could technically be described as neutral and washed but is really anything but, complete the very London vibe.

We browsed and tried on tons of stuff but, being students on study-abroad budgets and the exchange rate being about .50 cents on the dollar, wound up each getting 1 item: the exact same leopard print slip dress with chains draped across the back. It was on sale and when we both came out of the dressing room you could tell we both loved it since our mutual reaction was ‘well when are we ever going to be together that we have to worry about wearing it to the same event?’ (Steph was an undergrad and I was the only grad student on the trip; so, while we still chat from time to time, we’ve definitely never worn the dress at the same time) and we immediately changed so we could rush up to the register.

The chatty sales person let us know they’d be opening a location in Ibiza next and one in New York “soon.” Upon returning home I checked once or twice to see if they were opening up in the US, but eventually forgot about the store.

Fast Forward to a few months ago; I’m on People.com and I notice that Pink is wearing this kick a** leather jacket and, sure enough, it’s from AllSaints. Within nanoseconds I’m on their website and pleased as punch to realize that it’s the same shop I’d loved in London not so long ago. Still no NY store but they did have a US website and, as it turns out, they ship from New Jersey so when I placed my order for 3 dresses for my Vegas trip the package arrived in 24 hours. No joke.

Naturally I joined their mailing list and the other day Christmas came early because I received an e-mail saying that they will be opening up a Soho location this month! I can’t wait to be able to try everything on instead of selectively ordering items I’m almost positive will fit.

Plus I’m really hesitant about ordering shoes online and, despite my secret desire to totally master the Anglo-style, I just haven’t been able to persuade myself to order one of their many pairs of combat boots. In addition to being unsure about fit, there are just so many styles to choose from and I may actually make a day out of selecting a pair at the new store. Crazy, I know, but if you didn’t understand these desires of mine, you probably wouldn’t be reading my blog.

P.S. I’ll post Polyvore collages of my most recent purchases soon. I’ve been playing around with how I’ll style them since they arrived earlier this week. <3