Currently Hating, Loving, and Wondering...

It's been awhile. So here are the things that I've been thinking about the styles for this fall...

Fashion is a crazy mistress. One day, we're all wearing slim fits and skinnies, and the next, PEPLUM. Simply put, I hate peplum. If you pin it more than once on Pinterest, I will probably unfollow you, I loathe it that much. For those of you who don't know what peplum is:

thank you  http://lotusblossomdesign.blogspot.com

Peplum is described by Wikipedia as "a type of elongated hem resembling a short skirt, worn to lay over another garment...They are included in closely fitting clothing, where they accentuate a narrow waist." OH. "Accentuate a narrow waist." Thaaaaat's what it's for. Because I thought that it was used to add 10 pounds to your hips and break up the hourglass shape. But maybe that's just me.

My reaction to peplum is usually this: 

But I can't forget the things that make me go:

Studded heels. 

Let me boil it down for you:  boots. I have stripper boots, mid-calf boots, go-go boots, wedge boots, black boots, brown boots, ankle boots...and I will probably end up with more. Probably? Let me change that to definitely. It's boot buying season, if not boot wearing season (yet). Some favorite styles for this season?

Tall boots

Tall, furry boots. Short strappy boots. 

I could go on and on when it comes to boots. These are just a few of my favorite styles to wear with skinnies, tights, sweater dresses, and the works. 

The thing that I'm wondering about? What crazy new styles NY Fashion Week will bring. Runway fashion mystifies and captivates me all at the same time. Kind of like that time Lady Gaga wore a dress made out of meat. 

Tonight is Fashion's Night Out! Keep an eye on the runway for the weird and wonderful. 

#YOLO XOXO

The Times Be A-Changin'

Dear friends. I sincerely apologize for the distinct lack of posts, however, I have been studying for the GRE, and thus my time has been consumed with words such as "trenchant" (vigorous or incisive in expression or style) and "scurrilous" (vulgarly abusive). Shoot me now. But! I will be done with all this nonsense on Thursday (otherwise known as August 30th), and the blog posts will resume. Don't give up on me yet.

In the meantime, please enjoy this GIF of a dancing zebra.

Also, remember that boot season is upon us, so you clearly need to go out and take full advantage of that. YOU MUST BE PREPARED.

#YOLO, XOXOXO

Jeans! Of the Dry Variety.

I haven't washed my jeans in a little under a year. Well, that's a lie. I have washed my jeans, just not a certain pair: my dry denim Nudie Slim Kims. I do have a post on my personal blog from December documenting the lovelies--see here.

Dry denim is denim that has never been washed or chemically treated. For example, when you purchase "normal" jeans, they already have a fade pattern and distressing>>>>>>>

Dry denim, on the other hand, comes in one color--unadulterated, deep indigo blue. You typically wear dry denim for at least 6 months before you wash them, to allow time for fading to take place. In my case, I have chosen to wait about a year. Slim Kims are stretch dry denim, so they have taken longer to fade than just a normal pair of dry denim jeans. 

In addition, the "stretch" part made it a little bit harder to buy a pair that fit; I bought the jeans tight, and within about a month, they had loosened considerably. I'm hoping that they will shrink (at least a little) when I wash them. 

Pictures (taken in April 2012):

I will be getting some awesome butt fade,
as well as some cool whiskering on the back
of the legs

You can see the fading on the pockets!

As you can see, they aren't quite the skinny jeans that I was hoping for, but it's all good!

Those lines be all up on my jeans.
I'm hoping that I get some hip fade as well.

You may be wondering why I would want to wear the same jeans everyday. I don't, as a matter of fact, I just usually wear them every other day, or 5 days a week, depending on the weather and if I have to go into work. For the summer, I have been wearing them cuffed to about mid-calf. The resulting fade will be interesting to see....

THE LOOK:

Photo courtesy of Chad Stephenson Photography

I usually style with flip flops or wedges (depending on what I'll be doing) and a looser top, though I am a fan of tank tops in the summer.  In the winter, you'll see me wearing them with tall boots, and some sort of long-sleeved apparatus. Throw on some funky earrings and some bangles (love bangles), and you're good to go!

If you want completely unique jeans that are perfectly attuned to how you move, dry denim is the way to go. This is only my first pair of dry denim, and I'm definitely planning on buying more. I've already done some looking... 

If you're interested in learning more about dry denim (since I've barely told you anything), the Nudie website is a great resource. You can also visit their webshop from their home page. The price range on their dry denim is generally $179 and upwards, but it's an investment! Nudie's are not the only brand of dry denim--Nudie is just one of the largest retailers. So take a look around. You'll probably get hooked. 

The Wash Video, essential to every dry denim owner:

Here's some useful denim-related blogs to add to the blog roll:

DenimBlog

Denim Therapy

Denimology

#YOLO XOXO

My Weekend Escapades

I promise that I have not abandoned you, readers. I was laptop-less for some time and unable to provide you with the normal epic reading experience. Thus, we have a couple weekends to catch up on, outfit-wise.

My first weekend back in the wonderful city of Chicago, I met the Tony McGuinness from Above and Beyond (he was small and British, and pretty awesome) and Nikki Reed, who happens to be Rosalie from Twilight. The place: Studio Paris. The event: Samsung SIII Launch Party. You can check out photos from the event here. The only picture of me is highly unflattering, so I'll just let you peruse at your leisure.

What I wore:

This blue oriental off the shoulder dress is one of the softest, silkiest things that I have ever worn. This makes it good to go braless (in addition, it's loose fitting, so the boys won't notice if you happen to get a little cold). I grabbed it off the clearance rack at Maurices for $12 (!). If you live in a big city, you're not as likely to find one of these boutiques, as they are trying to stay in smaller towns.

These are my booties from Chinese Laundry (thanks, DSW!). >>>>>>>

This is what my feet looked like after wearing them for hours:

But no worries, I was back in heels again in a couple days. My feet just have to get used to it :)

Last Weekend in July. 

Sequin Top by Express
Skirt by Audrey 3+1
Belt by Express

This past weekend, there were shenanigans on shenanigans. I chose to wear wedges for both. Friday night was Release Fridays at Sound-Bar. I put on some killer wedges and headed out with the BF for some house music and wubs. See how happy my face is? >

<<What I wore (still working on getting a photographer)

Wedges by De Blossom Collection

Bartender Niki (check out her Twitter) was wearing a super hot pink bandage dress, and guided me to http://www.greatglam.com/. They have some awesome club wear at great prices--definitely check it out, and let me know what you get! 

Saturday night was a birthday blur as I headed to Wicker Park to celebrate a friend's birthday. I must have walked 3-4 miles in these wedges. My feet did not thank me, but they made my legs look awesome.
The full ensemble:

I snagged both the body-con skirt and the tube top from Rue 21. If you have a Rue near you, definitely check it out. You might think that they have nothing but neon, but they have excellent deals on cute tops and fantastic clearance racks. The shirts are not of the best quality, but I don't expect a shirt that I bought for $4 to last more than a summer. They are also currently running a "Win Free Jeans" promotion if you own a pair of Rue jeans--check out the link.

We hit up Wicker Park Fest (total hipster-fest), Standard Bar & Grill, and finally Evil Olive, which happens to be home to Porn and Chicken on Mondays. Don't Google that at work.  

All in all, it's been a good couple weekends back home. Now that I have a functioning laptop, I'll be posting #likeaboss. Omg, just click on it, it's the best.

#YOLO XOXO

It's Good to Be Back, Chicago

A domestic ungulate, known as "Cow"

Going from a city to a small country town is not easy. You realize, for the upteenth time, why you did not want to live there in the first place. You put up with "townies." You see the shirt that says "There are three kinds of racks that I like: the one on my truck, the one on that deer, and the one on my girlfriend" way too much. The mullet is still in style. Wearing short dresses and high heels is kind of unheard of (thus making half of my wardrobe unwearable). I wore flip flops to go out. Gasp. Oh, and look! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Bought these at DSW, 50% off!
Lulu Townsend, Effie

This is why, my friends, it's good to be back in Chicago. Not only can I go out in adorable clothing, and just be part of the scene, I can head downtown on the train and be within a million billion little boutiques and department stores in about a half hour. Can't beat that (my wallet groans).

But I've been good. I love that I can sit in Jamba Juice sipping (technically slurping) an overpriced but highly delicious Peach Perfection and watch Chicago stroll by. Impromptu break dance contest? Sure, why not. Three girls all wearing mostly the same tank top with grey and neon yellow stripes? There are other colors of neon out there ladies. Love it, but branch out.

The Ubiquitous Neon Striped Tank Top
(thanks Polyvore)

I adore looking at other people in cute clothing (don't make fun of me) and possibly incorporating their style. I love the club life, and the fact that bars are open till 5 and then can open again at 6am. What what. Ok, I never actually stay out that late, but it's nice to have the option.
Basically, Chicago is pretty fantastic. If you ever get the chance, you should probably check it out.

The Guide to Geek Glasses

I fully admit that I am probably maybe a little bit sort of definitely a hipster, despite the fact that I don't know a whole lot of bands and I could take or leave PBR and I don't use Instagram for the very simple reason that I don't have a smartphone. I'll give you all a moment to recover and go light a hemp candle or whatever it is you need to do to return to normalcy. I'm kind of ish very close to being a hipster mostly because I love scarves and flannel and wearing glasses when I have 20/20 vision.

Rachel and me. And YES. I'm wearing a scarf. And plaid flannel. And an Explosions in the Sky shirt. And fake glasses.

I'm not the only one, right? Spectacles are GREAT. They're excellent accessories (they're in that rare category of being okay as Third Accessory), they make you Look Smart (if you choose the right pair), they can cover for you if you're having a bad mascara day, and, I've found, that they can even help get you in the right frame (badumpsh) of mind to be productive. True story.

1. Much like being funky, the key to wearing geek glasses is to Own It. Be confident! You have miles of hotness for which the glasses are simply a window!

2. Don't be afraid to get super large frames or a funky pattern, just don't do BOTH.

3. Retro is always a good play.

 

I was trying to find a picture of ugly retro glasses that no one could pull off, and I just couldn't find any. Seriously. It is possible to rock all kinds of vintage looks.

Wear glasses, friends. Even if you have 20/20.

Hannah and Rachel Talk: Accessories

Dear friends in fashion, we've gathered you here today to talk about accessories. They're a problem. They're smaller than your clothes, but they're also pretty limited in terms of what they GO with and then there's the whole pressure of keeping up with trends and if you're anything like me you have all this stuff that you feel guilty about since you never wear it and it's not like it's the accessories' fault and geez, just grow a pair and wear the necklace made of walnuts you bought at the flea market that one time. One morning I was getting ready to go to class and I spent probably a whole five minutes debating which earrings to wear, even though I was giving up my opportunity to eat breakfast in the meantime. One of my roommates quietly watched this process for a bit and then rhetorically asked, with something like admiration and amusement and pity and horror, "You do this every day? What is your life?" What indeed. So yeah. Accessories. They can be a pain.

The lovely Rachel, who is all things lovely, is aware of the sort of agonies I suffer over accessorizing, so she asked if I could lend her a hand in that department. Since my summer wardrobe is mostly raggedy jean shorts and a Dartmouth Football t-shirt, I was more than happy to reawaken that part of my brain.

Damn gurl, you lookin' fine. Anyway, the first consideration when it comes to accessories is to ask yourself what you want the focus point of your outfit to be. This is the easy part: what's your favorite thing that you're wearing right now? Exciting: you get to choose. And you can choose your accessories. That is allowed. Now, I don't know how Rachel feels, but my favorite part of this outfit are her shoes. Luuurrrrvvveee the color. Focus point: identified.

I'm a pretty big fan of the whole "less is more" rule, so this outfit really doesn't need that much. I love stripes because as long as there are only two colors and one of them is in the white-brown-black family, they can act as a neutral. Your accessories should either direct the eye toward your focus point or stand out on their own. Rachel's shoes already stand out pretty solidly, so I would recommend a funky belt or bracelet, maybe with a tinge of blue in them. Or a blue-ish pair of earrings maybe. Stay FAR FAR AWAY from the matchy matchy. Trust me. I went down that road in high school and it was NOT PRETTY. Frankly, she's got lots of options here, since basically everything she's wearing can act as a neutral or solid without too much distraction. She could wear a scarf or a righteous hat or a chunky gold necklace. Notice that I said OR. OR, people. Not AND. Pick two max.

Talk about SHOES. I dunno if you can tell from the photo, but those are glittery zebra print heels, dears. They should DEFINITELY be the focus of the outfit, even though the color and the neckline of the dress are pretty and eye-catching. It's all about the sparkle here. The dress is colorful enough without needing any assistance from the accessories to give it a bolster. If Rachel put her hair up, either in a ponytail or a top knot, and then wore some dangly sparkly earrings, she'd be ready to rock and frickin' roll. Maybe a bracelet too, as long as both the bracelet and the earrings are only sparkly (no colors or heavily-colored metals, like gold) and sort of go together. Matchy matchy in that instance is okay. They just can't be zebra print too, basically.

Rachel, godspeed on your journey of accessorizing.