Fashionably Friday, March 4, 2011

Going with the color inspiration that I have been channeling the rest of this week, I would like to dedicate today's post to the Spring/Summer 2011 runway trend of the color white.  White has always been a color associated with hot summer days and tropical beach vacations.  It is also a color that appears fresh and clean, and can be used as a background for which to showcase or contrast other colors, or can be worn as seen on the runways this spring as a white on white ensemble.  Like I have mentioned before, I cannot picture white on white outfits without the image of crystal white sand and a turquoise blue sea, and maybe a palm tree or two.  It is the quintessential outfit of summer to me, and I can't wait for the weather to warm so I can unpack my summery clothes out of their boxes in the basement and don a crisp, cool, white dress and go read a book by the pool.  Until then, though, since it seems like I will have to wait awhile for that, here are some very inspiring images:
 

 

Alexander Wang

Calvin Klein

Ralph Lauren

*  Images courtesy of Google Images

Thrifting Video!

I have uploaded my first "thrifting haul video" to youtube, thanks to the suggestion of Goodwill Huntingg!  This video documents my thrifting finds from my favorite local Salvation Army store in Eastgate, OH.  There is always an abundance of awesomeness at that particular S.A.....and by awesomeness, I mean super oldie pieces that even Goodwill doesn't have the likes of.  I always find a few gems when I shop there and this time was no different!  Check out the (bad quality) vid!  Some of the pieces I got will end up on here re-vamped on a Thrifting Tuesday in the very near future!  The prints on the first outfit and the Oscar top are amazing, it's just hard to tell from the video really....


Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=harcRKqyXWw

Fashionably Friday, February 11th, 2011

Today I could tell that the weather was starting to make a change.  It was not exactly warm by any means, but the sun was so bright and pretty today, you could almost feel the warm spring air starting to filter in.  They say it will get to 60 sometime in the coming week, not sure if I believe that at this point but I certainly would love it!  I am ready to put away the boots, hats, and gloves of winter and ready to don the lightweight trenches, crops, and bright colors of spring!  For Southwest Ohio, this winter has been pretty harsh.  I mean, I did live in Kent for 4 winters, and compared to the NE Ohio standard, Cincinnati winters are relatively mild.  Usually it stays around 30-40 degrees during the day in the winter, and rarely if ever snows.  This year it seems like it has been one day of 15 degree temps after the next with snow storm followed by heavier snow storm.  Especially compared to last year, this winter seems like it has gone on forever, and I know it is not over yet....

However, with fashion, we are always permitted to get excited about the coming season before it is actually upon us, knowing in advance what the predicted runway trends will be and having a chance to play with different pieces and colors and mix them with our current wardrobes.  To me, this makes the coming seasons all the more exciting, and makes it harder for me to wait for their arrival, since some clothes for certain seasons are kind of impractical for the season at hand.  I mean, lets face it, a pair of strappy gladiator sandals would be inappropriate for winter's cold chill the same way a warm wool sweater would not feel good in mid-August's 80 degrees.  I tend to pick things up when I find them, whether that be during a thrifting trip or on clearance at my local department stores, and they may not be things I can wear at that moment but rather have to save until just the right weather arises.  This is the case with a lot of my spring wardrobe.  I can't wait until the temperatures rise so that I can debut some of my exciting finds to the world! 

Happy Friday everyone, and here's hoping the Groundhog day prediction over a week ago was right, that spring is right around the corner!

Fashionably Friday, February 4, 2011

Well, we have done it, we have reached yet another Friday!  Everyone rejoice!  :)   Although this particular Friday is not the best Friday for me, I do have a test in one of my classes today! Ugh!  Hopefully it will be easy, and over with quickly!

Today, in the Fashionably Friday segment, I want to feature an amazing blog that I found while browsing jewelry blogs: The Carrot Box.   This blogger constantly scours the internet to find interesting rings to post and display.  Some of the rings she posts on this blog are just absolutely amazing design finds, and so unique in every way.  I never even would have dreamed some of these designs up! 

For an example, here are some pictures from her post from February 2:
This is a ring called the "memoring" and it is a USB!  from the original website Gung

 

And here are just a few others of the amazing (I cannot stress this enough) rings that she has found.  She gives links to all the original websites that she found the rings on to, so you can buy them if you want!  Go check The Carrot Box out!  You will not be disappointed!

Fashionably Friday January 28

This week's Fashionably Friday is dedicated to a trend that I am personally excited to sport, which is the 70's inspiration making an appearance on runways for this spring.  Simple elements, bohemian flare, glam, bright colors, and even flared pants are making a reappearance.  Excited for the feel of these styles, I was cleaning out the basement the other day and I actually found pieces which are totally elements of this trend:  a macrame purse, and a flowy, sheer printed dress.  These were items left over from a box of things my mom dropped off last summer that I was supposed to take to Goodwill for donation, and kept forgetting about it.  Now, I'm lucky I forgot!  Because these pieces are so cute, and I can't wait to wear them!  Had I never cleaned the basement, I guess I never would have found them!  (So, yeah, I guess I'm glad I did that, too.) :/

Apparently my mom tried to sell this one for $1 in a garage sale....so glad it never sold!

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs

 

Derek Lam

Altuzzara

 Marc by Marc Jacobs

Thrifting Tuesday, January 25, 2011

This week I want to show you an outfit that I actually re-designed months ago.  I wore this top when I went up to visit Stacey Kay at Kent in November.  I just never really took pictures of it un  til now, and so here it is!  The original dress was a crazy 80's piece from Goodwill, with a 100% sheer skirt and sleeves and a dropped but funky waist.  I didn't like the sleeves or the wierd really short sheer skirt or the dropped waist look, but I loved the fabric, black with silver threads woven in.  I also loved the neckline and how there were little rows of buttons across each shoulder.  Shoulder detailing is a major trend right now.  To make the sleeves more modern, I cut them back to cap sleeves and left the edges raw for an edgy look.  I did the same with the bottom of the top, cutting off the weird dropped waist elastic part for good.  The result was a cute top that can be worn with jeans, heels, and a long pendant for a night out, or with flats or boots for a day of shopping or hanging out with friends.  The top has just enough sparkle to be ready to party, but not so much that you cannot wear it for a day look.

Fashionably Friday January 21, 2011

Today’s Fashionably Friday is all about Spring 2011’s colors.  The Spring 2011 runways were full of bright colors…and by bright, I mean intensely eye-popping colors.  I am very excited about this!  Last fall, on a random Goodwill trip I happened to find this vintage Christian Dior suit…complete with shoulder pads, an asymmetrical button placket and hem, and guess what?  It is hot magenta pink and kind of like a pinkish-orange stripe.  It sounds crazy but the colors are very cute!  I have been waiting for a chance to wear the skirt, which is just a basic pencil skirt shape.  Now with the bright color focus for spring I can’t wait to bring out the skirt and wear it either with an equally bright top or to tone it down with black.  I have seen sooooo many images in my magazines and online of bright on bright outfits, and as cute as that skirt would look with black, I think it calls to be worn with something of similar brightness and intensity.  I think that would just make the outfit perfect!  I have a few tops in mind to wear it with, and I will have to get them all out and experiment to see which ones I like with it best.  And I will definitely be posting the winner here!  Until then, here are some images of the bright-on-bright combinations that caught my eye. 

(And I know I used the Dior necklace last week….but I can’t help it I love it!...It’s also the same colors of the suit I have)

 

Photos courtesy of Google Images

Thrifting Tuesday January 18, 2011

The outfit that I have re-designed this week was a dress that I bought at goodwill.  It was a beautiful print in a large shapeless style with a giant and I mean GIANT hole down the back seam.  Seeing as how it was only $2, I bought it anyway to see what I could do to fix it, because I loved the sleeves and the amazing floral design, which I thought would be perfect for the Holidays.  I had it in my head for over a month what I wanted to do with the dress.  I wanted to take it in slightly, so it was a little more form fitting but still loose, because I enjoyed the loose look of it.  I wanted to fix the hole in the back by placing a big, black and gold jeans zipper down the back that I bought in the fabric store.  I just knew it would look great.  It would be perfect for Drew's Grandma's Christmas party.  I had been planning it since November.  Well, typical me I waited until the last minute to sew the dress, and this was also during my time of Non-Inspiration during my job-mental-breakdown fiasco, so there it was Christmas eve right before the party was going to start and here I was sitting at home with the old original dress in hand, not even having pinned it for fitting yet.  Rushed as I was, but still determined to get it done to wear to the party I enlisted my mom to help with the pinning and sewing.  Afterall, I thought, wouldn't two people be quicker and more efficient than one?  Well in our haste to sew the dress, my mother took it in too far on the bottom half.  I didn't really have time to try it on at her house, having to rush off to get gifts wrapped and prepare for the party and for spending the night at Drew's mom's house afterwards.  I trusted our original pinning measurements to be accurate.  Well, was I ever wrong.  At home, after wrapping what seemed like hundreds of gifts and my overnight bag and loading everything into the car, I got dressed and was bending over to put on my shoes when I heard the sound NO ONE ever wants to hear....rrrrriiippppp!  the dress split open up the side seam!  What was I going to do!? That was the outfit I had been planning for months!  And I hadn't even put the zipper in like I originally wanted to!  Having no time to change my outfit or really think about what I was doing I grabbed some jeans, threw them on, and tucked in the dress to create a holiday top.  It looked so cute!  And I still had the benefit of getting to wear the pattern that I loved!  It ended up being a win-win, and I was happy, though not 100%, with the outcome, and I still got compliments on the top!  No one ever even guessed that it had at one time been a dress!  Everything worked out well!  I don't have pictures of the original dress, or the altered one, but here are pictures of the "top" that I ended up with!

Fashionably Friday, January 14, 2011

Happy Friday Readers!  As part of my new resolution I want to start doing features that repeat every week so that this blog will stay interesting for you as my readers, and also so that I have something to talk about that will force me to keep up with timely updating!!  As you know I have been bad about that before!!!  But I promise never again, especially thanks to these new weekly rotating "feature" posts.    Today's Fashionably Friday deals with upcoming Spring 2011 trends in the jewelry world.  As I sit here by my 'fire' (A.K.A. electric fireplace) watching snow out the window it is hard for me to imagine that warmer weather will soon be here, but it will.  And in this upcoming fashion season, break out your big intense jewelry because statement pieces are going to be back with a vengeance.  Colorful pieces, as well as ones that combine geometric patterns and or shapes are going to be major players, as well as pieces that are metallic.  In my opinion, the edgier or more unique the pieces, the better.  Bring on the bright  bold colors and unique shapes!  But if you are a reader of my blog and have seen the jewelry I have made, you probably already know that I love crazy colors and big bold pieces. :) 

Here are some bright, bold, and edgy jewelry pieces from the spring 2011 runways, personally, I'm loving Dior's line:

 

Emporio Armani

Christian Dior

 Malandrino

 

Dior

 

Dior

Photos courtesy of Google Images

Wire Wrapped Wednesday

I decided lately that I have fallen in love with the look of wire wrapped pieces of jewelry.  I have not really made much wire-wrapped jewelry in the past, and I would absolutely love to get more experience in making it!  Some wire-wrapped jewelry can be so inspiring and beautiful, and have a look that is extremely unique.  So I decided the other day to create this ongoing feature (for as long as I decide to keep it up) called Wire Wrapped Wednesday where I will either showcase wire wrapped jewelry that inspires me, or wire wrapped pieces that I have created myself.  This week, I am showcasing a piece that I have attempted to create myself, that is to say, it's not perfect, but hey, like I said I don't really have experience with this, and want to get more, and what better way than to just start practicing??  Hopefully with the continued occurrence of this weekly feature, I can improve my wire-wrapping skills!  I would also in the near future like to get a jig to play with wire on.  In some of the random jewelry making items my aunt gave me, I obtained some bits and pieces that go with a jig, but I did not get the actual jig board, which is of course the most important part.  I will probably buy myself one once I get a job.....haha.  (I really need some income before I start buying random things).  Hopefully that will come soon.  But here is my piece, hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Thrifting Tuesday

On this hopefully re-occurring feature I would like to debut items that I have re-vamped or recreated entirely from thrift store finds.  I really became obsessed with the way New Dress a Day took an otherwise old, ripped, torn, or just plain ugly frock and re-created it into something that any fashionista would die to have in her closet.  I have done a lot of this re-creating myself in the past, with posts like my Thanksgiving Party Dress and my Leopard Print Top among others, but I wanted to make this something that re-occured every week.  I love doing it, and it definitely gives me something new and exciting to wear, which I can never seem to get enough of.  And the best part about it, besides the fact that one of these re-created outfits almost costs me nothing, is the fact that I made it myself and it is completely unique to me and my style.  No one else in the world has anything quite like it, which makes it really special, and really fun to wear!  And it is kind of fun getting to design something specifically for me, too, that I know will fit just right on me the way I want it to and look just like I imagine it looking....(well, sometimes....haha)  Anyway, the outfit that I have re-designed this week was a skirt that I purchased at the Salvation Army down the street from my house.  It was an old fashioned, vintage silk skirt, and cost about $3.  The skirt was originally very longgggg, but I thought it looked festive, and deserved to be holiday party attire.  It is high waisted, and I love the look of high waisted skirts with tops tucked in.  So I shortened the original length by tucking the skirt up inside of itself to form a poofy skirt look that was short and ready for a party!  I then wore it with a black sequin tank and black tights, with black high heeled boots to complete the look.    This outfit did "Double Duty" for me, allowing me to attend Drew's Mom's side of the family's Christmas dinner, but then afterward come straight home and host a Christmas/Birthday bash at our house for all of our friends.  The sequin top added just the right amount of sparkle!

Also, I wanted to share the bread loaves I baked today!