Shiny Little Things

Lace is clearly a big trend this season.  That’s not news.  But when I hear the words white, lace, and tights in one sentence, I immediately think back to the tights I wore to church when I was a wee little one in the 80s.  Needless to say, that doesn’t exactly inspire me to purchase them.  I mean, black is one thing, but white? 

Then I saw this photo:

She makes it look so chic!  Arg.  Now I want white lace tights. 

If you’re brave enough to rock these, you can get these at Urban Outfitters for $14.

p.s.  Remember when Chanel came out with those two-tone tights that cost like 40 gazillion dollars (ok actually $400, but still, that’s a ridiculous amount of cheddar for something that RUNS)?  Well, here’s a little refresher for ya.

If you love them but don’t want to sell an organ in order to purchase them, go to UO because they have these for 14 bones:

Seriously, UO has some of the cutest shoes.  I’m crushing hard on these booties:

What?!  Irregular Choice - $188

I’m digging all of these lovelies too.

Sick Sam Edelmans - $168.

Amazing Jeffrey Campbells - $178

Cozy, comfy Charlotte Ronsons - $260.

Go shop now!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that Who What Wear Daily has these Bakers boots on their site today.  Whatever, I’m still going to write about them, but I’m gonna write about some other boots that are the ish too.

The blogosphere has been unabashedly obsessing over Balmain for some time now.  The fringed booties from the Fall 2008 ready to wear collection have been lusted over by countless women.

So it should come as no surprise that there are some decent knock offs to be had.  These boots from Bakers are a pretty blatant copy of the original, so they’re fab, obvs.

They’re $130.  Get them here.

Fringe is really having a moment.  Remember the Gucci Fall 2008 RTW collection?  If you’re a regular reader, you know I’ve done, ahem, a few posts on it. 

These studded, fringed boots are amazing so they too have been ripped off and produced in mass quantities.

These “Rami” boots are from Guess and they are available here for $225. 

But the fun doesn’t end there.  Here are some other lovelies:

Sick!  I like these better than the Guess ones and you could DIY some studs if you really wanted to.  These are only 89 bones, people!  Get them here.

How about these for switching it up a little?

$90, get them here.

But, these are the fringed boots I bought last weekend and haven’t stopped thinking about since.  I mean, there are endless outfit possibilities with these things.

They’re by Chinese Laundry and I got mine for $119, I think, at Nordstrom.  For some reason, they aren’t on the Nordstrom website, but you can buy them here.

Ok, that was lots of fringey fun.  This was a labor intensive post and I’m tired now.  Have a great weekend!

I am loving over-the-knee boots right now.  If you think they’re not for you, I beg you to take a look at some inspirational photos:

Georg!  Kate Moss

Tommy Hilfiger show.  Lovely brown.

the oft-exclaimed-over Gucci show.  Amazing with tassels.

I recently purchased these: (take a look before I tell you who they’re from)

Ok, they’re from Pleaser BUT I swear they look so cool and they’re rather understated for Pleaser.  They are flattering and comfortable and look so A-mazing with skinny jeans, tights and leggings.  I found these at endless.com, but they were sold out of my size, so I bought them through Amazon.  They were extra cheap too!

Last year’s faves, the Chinese Laundry version, are available in lots of colors this Fall.

Pricier, but beautiful - Pour La Victoire, available on endless.com

Can I just say that I prefer endless.com to zappos any day?  I think they are much easier to search and if you’re looking for a shoe that’s uber popular, they’re less likely to be sold out at endless.

Cardigans are everywhere!  And why not?  They really are the perfect, snuggly addition to a great Fall wardrobe.  And there are so many different iterations: plain ones, printed ones, frilly ones, structured ones, soft ones, grandpa ones, double breasted ones… you get the picture. 

Click the pic for more info.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know what you’re thinking.  Sienna Miller is a husband stealer and home wrecker.  I don’t want to emulate her in the ways of love, but I’d often like to emulate her style.  I love this photo of her because it shows how a simple twist of the usual color palette, can render a typical ensemble of jeans and blazer, something unique. 

A grey blazer over gray v-neck, as opposed to black blazer over white T, feels new while maintaining the ease of the look.  I particularly love the jeans here though.  If you look closely, you’ll see that they’ve got some subtle bleaching to them.  I like this nod to the acid wash and bleaching of 80s denim.  As I’m sure you’re aware, bleaching and fading, and even acid wash, have made a come back for this season.  If you just can’t stand the thought of traditional acid wash denim, but want to get in on the trend, this may be your salvation.  

Why not take a lesson from blogger Kirsty Lee of Chictopia and That’s Just My Vibe fame and try creating your own bleach-y jeans?  Follow the link for a how-to.  This couldn’t be easier and I recommend trying this with a pair of lighter wash jeans, or cream colored jeans, if you want to make the effect more subtle a la Sienna.

I had to use that title cuz it rhymes.  Anyhoo, I love analyzing all the interesting footwear that seems to be appearing this season.  The so-ugly-it’s-awesome look is really making a break through!  Amazing fashion-blogger Rumi from Fashiontoast is a great supporter of the ugly-cool shoes.  Here is a great pic of her in her infamous red/orange Chloe doc wedges:

She is so cute, she can pull off anything and I love the way she styles these.  In a recent post, she says that she’s gotten tons of emails about them from people wanting to know where to get them.   (she has a link on her post, if you click above)  They are around $600. 

I recently found some black lace-up wedge ankle booties by Tapeet that have a similar feel, if you’re interested. 

I would imagine that most people would find these a little more wearable than the orangey-red Chloes.  These aren’t cheap either, but they’re less than the Chloes.

What ugly-chic shoes do you love?

I’ve made a couple of purchases recently for the fall.  Both of these shoes are so much better in person!  I’m sure to be rocking these all season. 

These are so great, from Aldo.  I can’t wait to wear them with colorful tights.

I got these in black from Colin Stuart for Victoria’s Secret.  They are so fierce.

I want these from Aldo, too.  I love the over-sized buckle.

Charlize Theron poses in a lace Prada dress alongside Will Smith at the premier of Hancock in Japan.  Lace is a big trend for the upcoming Fall season.  Prada used it a lot for Fall/Winter, and we’re seeing it show up on numerous items from tights to tops. 

Here are some of my picks for adding a little lace to your look:

A lace covered ankle boot by Nine West.

Kova and T lace leggings.  I would probably wear these with a dress or skirt and knee-high boots. 

Or, if you just want a small dose, how about a belt?

This one is from Top Shop.

Remember these lovelies that stomped down the runway on several of Gucci’s models during their Fall/Winter 2008 shows?

Yeah well, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone did a decent knock-off of these things.  I just didn’t think that someone would be Bebe.

And yet, here they are.  To be fair, the Bebe pair has a heel (it is Bebe people) and I’m not sure that they are over-the-knee like the Gucci pair, but they’re obviously at least inspired by Gucci.  At $298 they’re still hundreds less than the Guccis.