Shiny Little Things

Fergie has been dabbling in the fashion design realm with her line of bags for Kipling and now she is launching a shoe line.  She is doing the line in conjunction with Brown Shoe and it is set to be released in Spring 09.

You may have seen this pic of Cameron Diaz floating around the web this week.  I just had to put this pic up on my site because to me, this is the epitome of the perfect hot summer’s day outfit.  I love the graphic print of this Monrow tank.  The cut is great too because it’s just the right length to be flattering and the straps don’t leave you feeling too bare, but you’re going to feel nice and cool in this breezy look.  The ripped jeans are the perfect pre-cursor to the shredded denim (among other things) Alexander Wang-ish looks that we’ve been seeing lately.  The yellow bag adds a nice pop of color.  I just love this even though it’s not something totally new. 

I saw the new Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly movie, Step Brothers, last night.  If you are a fan of the Will Ferrell type humor, you will probably like this movie.  My friend and I laughed pretty much the entire way through. 

As I was watching the movie, I noticed that in several different scenes, both John and Will are wearing these great old t-shirts. 

Will’s is the Judds and John’s says ‘84 Spring Break.

Classic Mountain Dew logo and Converse “Chuck Taylors” hanging around the neck.

Seeing these Ts got me thinking that I’m kind of tired of wearing the same old white and gray v-neck t-shirts from American Apparel.  Since it’s still too hot to start really getting into the new Fall clothing, but you’re sick of your boring old summer wardrobe, and you don’t want to invest a bunch of money in buying new hot weather clothes, why not trade out some of your plain Ts with some new, more colorful ones?

Here are some of my faves.  I also included some items at the bottom just to get you thinking about your abundant styling options.

The top row of shirts are from Delias.com and the second row are from Urban Outfitters.

Over the knee socks have been showing up all over the place.  It turns out that they can be much more versatile than you might think.  They’ve been popping up on hipsters and prepsters, the very young and the more sophisticated.  Depending on how you style them and which socks you choose, they can add a grunge sensibility or a clean and proper look to an outfit.  I’ve been tempted to style them in an updated version of the classic school girl look.  This is a somewhat daunting task in that my goal is to make the look work appropriate and not super Lolita-esque.  Admittedly, if you work in a conservative office, this probably wouldn’t work, but for many of us 9 to 5ers, this look is fair game.

The plaid blazer is great because it has that classic school uniform sensibility, but it’s done in a very sophisticated way.  I added a white blouse with details that kept it from looking too much like a uniform.  This shirt is very grown up, and would be a great staple in any girl’s work wardrobe.  I chose a skirt that is dark and has just a little bit of pleating.  You want to avoid a skirt that has the very traditional “Catholic school girl” larger pleating because you risk coming off looking too costumey.  For this same reason, I chose to steer clear of a plaid skirt and opted instead for the plaid blazer.  You could do this look just as well without any plaid at all, of course.  Next I added the over the knee socks in a textured gray.  I like the gray because it’s a slightly unexpected and softer shade for this look.  I used a cute pair of flats as the finishing touch.  Heels would look too tarty, so you’d want to avoid them.  A lace-up oxford would work quite well here.  For a couple of fun accessories, I threw in a charm bracelet and a classic initial necklace.  I chose the black and white bag becuase I liked the strong graphic look and thought it would really pop against the rest of the outfit.

If the socks aren’t for you, you could do the same look with a thick opaque pair of tights instead.  All of these items are from Forever 21 and are available on their website.

There are some lust-worthy items for Fall from Elizabeth and James that are showing up for pre-order on the internet this week.  Unlike The Row, which Mary Kate and Ashley have made clear that they are heavily involved in the design process of, Elizabeth and James is really more of a license deal for the Olsen twins.  However, the items I’ve viewed for this Fall from Elizabeth and James seem to get at the Olsen aesthetic pretty effectively. 

Take this great jacket for instance:

It’s a slim-line, hip length blazer with a twist.  The ruffled plaid collar is somehow dressy and grunge at the same time.  If that doesn’t capture the essence of an Olsen ensemble, I don’t know what would.

Then we have a gray, boyfriend style cardigan which is perfect for adding one of many Olsen-esque layers to any outfit.  Add some fringe and you elevate the look to something pretty great.

This “budoir shrug” is just the sort of item that you’d see either Olsen wearing with ripped up old jeans, a gray raglan top and sky-high Givenchy booties.  If I saw that pic, I’d swoon and wonder just how I could create such a look.  I guess I’ve got my answer!

All of these items are available for pre-order at Intermix.

I was at DSW with my mom yesterday.  We were just looking around, not really searching for anything specific, when we saw a row of the cutest flats.  They each had a bit of metallic detailing that made them look so cute on the foot.  They also felt like an absolute dream to walk in.  I felt like I could take these babies to the gym and hit the treadmill without any problem (not that I would, of course :))

It’s nothing new that Dr. Scholl’s is making more stylish footwear these days, but these in particular reminded of another pair of shoes I’ve seen lately.

I searched by memory banks and realized that the shoe I was reminded me of was this Juicy Couture flat with the similar over-sized gold buckle on the toe!  The beauty of it all is that while the JC flats will set you back $248.00 at Shopbop, the Dr. Scholl’s look alikes were only $49 at DSW.  If you don’t have DSW or your local store isn’t carrying this shoe, you can buy them from Dr. Scholl’s website here.

Today I was reminded of the Gucci Fall runways and I thought that since this was one of my favorite collections, and Fall is around the corner, I ought to begin looking for some pieces that will provide me with a Gucci-ish look.

Here are some pics I used for inspiration:

I love these looks!  The boots have the fringe that has been such a big hit as of late.  The whole thing is very embellished.  I love to embellish, probably too much at times, but this look seems to be conducive to adding lots of sparkly finishing touches.  Unfortunately, these particular boots are about $2,000.  If you’ve got that kind of cash, you can find them here.  The other pieces in these looks are quite expensive as well so I’ve made it my task to find some pieces that could give you the same feel for a lot less.

Here’s what I’ve found:

You could start with your favorite black skinnies (if you happen to have velvet ones, so much the better), then add some gold chain belts.  You could probably find something great if you really hunted at a thrift store, or you could pretty easily make this a DIY.  I found this intricate gold belt by Christian Audigier on zappos for about $135.  Next, I added a detailed, tailored jacket.  Again, if you hunted at vintage and thrift stores, you might be able to find one with some great brocade detailing.  To keep it simple, I went with this military jacket from Topshop.  I added two pins to it to add some color and extra detail.  These pins are both from Forever 21, as are the two necklaces off to the side.  I found two boot choices that I thought would work well.  The first is the fringed “Arizona” boot from Steve Madden available on their website ($110).  The second pair are by Gabriella Rocha and can be found at zappos ($85).  The sunglasses I found are by Diesel and can be purchased at zappos for $144.

As you probably are already well aware, Botkier has launched a line of handbags for Target.  The line became available in stores on July 20.  I was pretty excited about this line because I think Botkier’s stuff has a fun edge to it.  When I checked out the line for Target on the internet before the launch, I was a little worried that it was going to be lackluster.  However, I made my way into my local Target yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the products looked somewhat better in real life.  I’ve posted images of a few of my faves from the line.  I purchased the silver hobo in the last photo.  It has a really nice crackled metallic texture.  As you’d expect of Botkier, there are lots of nice details that you can really appreciate on close inspection.   I know that the recent Gryson handbag line was quite popular and I’m predicting that Target has another hit on it’s hands with Botkier.

I had almost forgotten that Bilson was doing a line for DKNY.  The news first appeared back in March, 2008.  More details have surfaced in anticipation of the line’s debut in September.  The line is called Edie Rose for DKNY becuase Rachel didn’t want people to look at the line solely because of her attachment to it.  She is however, featured in the ad campaign.  The top pic is her although I had a hard time recognizing her at first.  I’ll be interested to see this stuff when it hits stores.

photo cred: Just Jared