Dolce Vita April

Love these YSL Imperiale-inspired heels! Got lucky and got the last pair NATIONWIDE in my size last night at The Grove. The right foot actually has a small stain on it, but since they were the last pair, I still got them (with a 10% discount). They also had them in black leather, but I think the suede looks much better. They also have suede soles. Fancy soles always make me feel more expensive and luxe (heh).

Dream

Marchesa

Fall10. Georgina Chapman is beautiful as are her designs. I have no words to describe how much I want every single one of these lovely delights.

(obviously I couldn't choose just a few photos)

Red NYC

Love this from The Sart.

Girly

The girly girl in me loves Erin Fetherston. Girly and fantasy-inspired, it's a nice escape from my real world of denim and everyday practicality. Her Fall '10 line showcased dresses and well-tailored pants and jackets, but I love Erin Fetherston for her romantic dresses. Some of my favorites above.

"I could make party dresses forever, but it's good to push yourself to try new things," she said. Even the biggest dreamers need to return to reality sometimes.
(from Style.com)

Vintage Vogue

Braidy

Hair Lurve.

The fashion world sure does love the braids from Alexander Wang's SP10 show (and so do I).

It's unfortunate that I just cut my hair a few weeks ago. My pre-cut hair was extremely long and Rapunzel-like. It would've been perfect.

I love coming home to find a fat March issue of Elle on the table. Remember when in middle and high school the March issue of Seventeen would be really thick because of all the prom advertising?

This post ages me.

When I say I want big fat teased hair, this is what I mean (I'm a little crazy).

I found his work very interesting and never banal. There was always some attraction to death, his designs were sometimes dehumanized. Who knows, perhaps after flirting with death too often, death attracts you.
-Karl Lagerfeld on Alexander McQueen

Pretty words. I've always found death and its circumstances fascinating too (ask anyone). Don't worry, I won't ever have the guts to ever do what he did.

Scott's Words

I think Scott Schuman says it best:

Alexander McQueen and Dries Van Noten were the two shows I was most excited to see during my first Paris fashion week.

To me, McQueen represented the drama of fashion. He represented the conflict and harmony of being a craftsman and an artist - Savile Row training, runway dreaming.

There are people in fashion I always figured I'd meet sooner or later.
I'd meet them in a very natural way (introduced by a mutual friend at a party or something) and the encounter would be so much more meaningful that way. McQueen was one of those people I felt I had time to meet. I almost wanted to save him for later. Not a conscious effort but just a concept. Well...I'm sad that won't be the case.

I hope we all remember him for the genius he brought to fashion.


ps. I'm rereading what I wrote and what has been written on other sites and blogs.

All very nice but I still feel so unsatisfied, so empty, even a little mad.

When a bigtime movie star or politician dies someone like Tom Brokaw has always been there to help put it into perspective.

If it was a sports star, fans would talk about it for days on talk radio.

However, for someone that loves fashion Alexander McQueen is just gone and no one seems to be able to make sense of it.

There doesn't seem to be anywhere to turn to make it feel right or understandable.

I don't have any answers for you either. All I know is this sucks.

Boots

Isabel Marant is my new boots lover.

She seriously makes the most coveted boots (at least for me). So boho chic! I saw the black studded Otway boots months ago but it slipped my mind that they were also Isabel Marant. I saw a similar pair to the brown chain ones at a cheap storefront in Paris. I really liked them, but I wanted something a little more high end (they were all manmade materials). Now I wish I would've bought them. Why didn't I? They were only 20 Euro! Now I'm on the hunt for the Zara lookalikes of the chain wrapped pair.

SO I posted about these Jeffrey Campbell Charlie clogs last month, and I just saw the photo above on another site and want them even more. They'd work now with tights or socks, and later this spring/summer with bare legs and little dresses. Oh they're so trendy. I'm not really into trendy trends, but I must admit I do love these Chanelian-inspired clogs.

Placing my preorder soon at singer22.com!

Legs

Some old favorites. Both by guess who? Scott Schuman. I've held onto these for about 3 years now.

I've never seen snow fall from the sky. Can you believe it? I've been a southern California gal my entire life, and while I've been in snow, I've never been around when it's fallen from the sky. This is partly why I love this Scott Schuman photo of the current blizzard in NY so much. It's kind of a fantasy for me - something so foreign it's beautiful.

JPG for Target

Just flipped through the images of the Jean Paul Gaultier line for Target, and I don't love much, except for this rolled collar floral dress above. I have a wedding to go to in May and I think this would be the perfect option. The line releases March 7th.

Pink Diamond

Big pink diamond. Pretty (AND would really hurt if you chucked it at someone).

RIP

RIP Alexander McQueen. Always loved his avant garde gowns and designs. I have a photo in one of my old posts from 2007 from when I went to New York and passed by his store window. I didn't take photos of other designer's windows, but I had to of his. Although I don't own any of his couture designs (despite Gilt making them very accessible) or McQ items, I'm very glad that I purchased one of his dresses when he did the Target collaboration (above).

Sometimes I feel some people are meant to make their impact and abruptly leave, just so people appreciate them and their work more. I feel Michael Jackson was one, and McQueen another.

if everything happens that can't be done

I'm not much of a poetry kinda gal. I loathed it in high school. But I have enjoyed some E.E. Cummings stuff. Probably because most of it is written in such a funky poetic way that I don't really understand it. I love the last part of this poem, "If Everything That Happens Can't Be Done". Lovely.

we're anything brighter than even the sun
(we're everything greater
than books
might mean)
we're everyanything more than believe
(with a spin
leap
alive we're alive)
we're wonderful one times one

I never paid much attention to Isabel Marant until I saw her Fall 2009 line and fell in love with those ohsolovely suede boots. So I was genuinely pleased when I was doing my usual online routine when I stumbled upon her Spring 2010 line and wanted everything. It reinforced my original feelings for her as a designer (since I can't accurately judge her based on one collection). The elements that caught my eye? Slouchy fringy boots with everything, bright pink little numbers, and light and floaty dresses. I know the bohemian thing has been done several times, but I don't care for what's in or what's out (though I do love Project Runway). I enjoy what I enjoy, regardless of what magazines and style experts may say. For me, Marant's Spring collection exuded a refreshing bohemian vibe. I think the reason I enjoy this collection in particular is because of its wearability. Now while I do love the crazy, risk-taking Hussein Chalayan type designers, I appreciate Marant's collection differently. I can actually see every one of her looks off the runway. She makes flirty little frocks and pairs them with equally adorable jackets and boots. She pairs black ensembles with contrasting colored boots -- a combo I've always enjoyed.

Every season, I can't wait for the next. This season is no exception.

From The Sartorialist. Zara and Topshop leopard coats anyone?

I know my blog has been all over the place in terms of the title, themes, and photos ever since I started it in college, but it's all due to me growing, my tastes changing, and me figuring out what I want to focus on. I just went through some old posts from 2007 and while I still feel similarly towards most of what I wrote about, the outfits and things I put together aren't so much my style today. I try to keep the tone of this pretty casual. I'm not writing an essay, I'm just speaking as I think. I don't think in fancy words and semicolons, so why should my blog? I write whatever I like. This is mostly for me, not for anyone else. I hope for the most part that my tastes have only gotten better and a little more mature. It would suck to regress.

The photo above has nothing to do with this post, I just didn't want this to be all text. But isn't she cute? She's my little puggers. Look at her cute little Piggie face! Look at her cute little tongue and matching collar! Aside from fashion and the duh things that make people happy, photos and videos of little Piggers always makes me smile.

Kiss

Kissss. Although I do feel like it should be the man on the ground and the woman on the fence.

Hooky

Today I ditched work with a fellow coworker and enjoyed a lovely day minus the pressures and annoyances of the office. We started a little past noon at Urth Caffe. I know it seems like a pretentious LA spot, but they do have good food and drinks and a nice outdoor seating area, so what the hell. I actually really like it. Boyfriend and I often go on sunny weekends when I crave some green tea boba. My Urth Farmer's Salad:


Urth was followed by a trip down the fancier side of Melrose, with visits to the Marc by Marc Jacobs store (great little affordable gifts), Vince, DVF, and CHLOE where the lovely salesperson talked to us for almost an hour. Poor girl, we were her first customers and it was around 2 when we came in. The store opens at 10. When we exhausted Melrose, we drove to Beverly Hills and walked around the Canon/Beverly Dr/Rodeo area. What did I buy? A couple Sprinkles cupcakes, food, but no actual clothing items.

I took the above photo at the end of our hooky day. I didn't go in. It would've made me too depressed.

I love this photo from The Sartorialist. So glamorous 20s. Of course this photo was taken in Paris. How come I never see anyone here dressed like this? How come most of the style I see here is this disheveled, I-look-like-I-just-rolled-out-of-bed, Urban Outfitters unnatural forced style? Is it that people here just can't pull it off as well as foreigners? What is it?!

The style I'm talking about is this (from lookbook.nu):

and

UGH. This is not good style. Unfortunately, I know I'm in the minority in thinking this since the site continues to succeed.

My hair in my face. San Francisco April 2009

This is off the typical fashion subject, but I'd like to take a little detour from the usual. It doesn't even matter since my blog is basically a secret and known to no one but me, anyway.

There are several things I've been unlucky in, but I don't feel that relationships has been one of them. Sure, I didn't start any sort of relationship ANYthing until I was 19 and I've had the horrible arguments and fights, but overall, I've been very happy. Our relationship is pretty simple. No fuss, little confusion.

1.5 years on the 15th.

I just noticed we don't have many good photos together.

Yeah, that's as emotional as I get.

Oxfords

I've been on the lookout for a good pair of flat leather oxfords for a while now, but I've always held out on actually buying a pair. I never thought I had the right clothing or body proportions to make them work. Now, however, I don't care. I want a pair. I saw some nearly two years ago or more at Anthropologie. They were white and sold out quickly. Today my tastes are a little different. I want a good brown pair, similar to the Frye Erin style above. I think they're much more versatile than the me at 22 years old believed.

Emmanuel Alt in my favorite sold out Isabel Marant boots. The Zara pair were the closest I could get to the real thing.

On a side note, that's quite the stylish child. Khaki trench, cropped denim, and black flats. It's a combo I'd wear 20 sizes bigger.