{ sheerly }

{ elizabeth & james 'monroe' sunnies, gifted kimberly taylor blouse, the loved one bra courtesy of modcloth, michael kors watch, primary clutch, missoni pants, dries van noten shoes }

just a quick post today to say hello; i'm currently in las vegas to support my girl cleo in her debut showing at project (the cute clutch i'm wearing is her design) ~ if any of you are around, please stop by booth #16015 and say hello!!

{ that JACKET }

over-the-top, meet perfectly unassuming. i can't remember the last time i wanted anything more:

what a dreamy piece! { though i secretly wish she had paired it with another shoe // photo by wayne tippetts }

{ stole the show }

started obsessing over leopard stoles when first i saw them on dries van noten's fall 2010 runway...

...the fire was rekindled when they recently began popping up all over the street style sites...

...and the desire has finally been (delightfully faux!) satisfied by my most recent e-order:

i promise you, this piece is even better* in person!! i'll probably be wearing it all winter...
---
{ dries photos via style.com, taylor tomasi streetsyle via style.com/bloglovin/moodboard, leopard stole courtesy of modcloth }
*and it's only $20!! honestly, i would have bought it even if they weren't a sponsor of this site. it's a great trend, a fun piece & SO versatile!

wishin' { and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin' }

i always seem to slip into a fashion funk once late august rolls around. at this point, i'm so over all my summer clothes! it's too late in the season to justify buying more, but too soon to start busting out fall goodies. basically, i just want to jump straight to being able to wear thiiiis:

and then stay there for the next six months (at least).
{ dries van noten / fall 2010 // photos via gobackstage }

{ bloggers } they're just like us!

do you ever have those days when the best you can do is throw on whatever's on top of the closest pile of clothes? me too! that's why i repeated this skirt instead of 'officially' unpacking my vegas suitcase. i guess it seemed easier than hanging it back up! okay, maybe i just really enjoy wearing it.

i liked the way this tie-dye tank dressed the skirt down for daytime, while the little plaidie camp shirt got added for the sake of modesty. call me old fashioned, but i'm not really comfortable with having bare arms/shoulders on the subway. too much creepy rubbing-up against strangers! so ~ even when it's sweltering ~ i always bring a little something to cover up with when i'm underground.


{ vintage ysl sunnies, earrings from india, cut-off vintage shirt (used to be a dress!), alexander mcqueen tank, forever21 skirt, dries van noten shoes }

{ costume of the day } soco color

{ antique rayban sunnies, the glamourai earrings + necklace (brand new lapis collection just arrived in THE SHOP today!), vintage vittadini dress (shortened), unconditional shorts, dries van noten shoes }

i've hopped over to austin for a few days, to celebrate my brother's graduation from law school. assorted festivities have included swimming in secret spring-fed caves, enjoying the margarita machine (temporarily) installed in my parents' backyard, marathon sushi dinners, late night bowling, and shopping on south congress's 'soco' strip. will return to reality far more quickly than i'd like.

{ provocative prints }

yowza. this gal gets even more excited about mixed prints than i do. speaking of, please keep the votes rolling on this week's costume contest. it's a crazy-close race!
{ oyster mag editorial / via fashion copious }

{ polkadotorama } costume II

today, i began to understand the 'challenge' part of my little wardrobe endeavor. i slipped on my spotted skirt easily enough, and began layering and accessorizing as usual. i was really liking the look, until i realized that one simple skirt did not my double-dot minimum meet. what to do?!

most days, i might have cinched the waist of this sporty chambray shirt with a basic black belt and been done with it. but not today. today, i have a code to follow. so i grabbed yesterday's blouse off the back of my dressing chair and tied it around my waist instead. i've got to give credit to streetstyle snaps of the sisters olsen for inspiring this finishing twist ~ they've been bringing the 90's-style knotted shirtwaist back in a big way!

in the end, i loved the ethereal element it lent to an otherwise upright outfit ~ which i wouldn't have worn in this way, if not for my several-spot rule du jour! i also enjoy the fact that, on paper, this ensemble has the exact same elements as yesterday's (spotted shirt + skirt), yet in actuality, it exudes a very different vibe. two dotty days down, three more to go!

{ the true texan in me can't ever resist a pearl-snap shirt ~ but this is by far the prettiest i've found! yet another sure-to-be summer staple from modcloth! }


{ d&g sunnies, vintage earrings & bracelets, the glamourai necklace, freebird chambray shirt (courtesy of modcloth), natori lace bandeau, elizabeth & james blouse (worn at waist / last seen HERE), vintage skirt, dries van noten shoes }

what i really really want...

... is to look like i walked off a dries van noten runway, everyday (this fact has been mentioned a time or two ~ or three ~ on this blog!).

elegantly tailored (with a twist) mixed with wildly patterned (with restraint) ~ finished with offbeat sunnies, handmade jewels and classically chic shoes.

luckily, it's a look that's easily attained with a bit of clever shopping! here are a few pieces that i've already ordered or otherwise am seriously stalking this season:

{ clockwise from top left: pringle 1815 blouse: $250, rachel rachel roy clutch: $60, diane von furstenberg dress: $385, giambattista valli tank: $695, carven skirt: $210, max studio pump: $90, anthropologie skirt: $60, tracy feith dress: $250 }

{ costume of the day } yellow brick wall

rarely does a day go by in which i wear but one outfit. most days include two, if not three costume changes, as events and situations evolve. oftentimes i'll only switch out auxiliary accessories, but some days call for several radical transformations.



{ fred flare sunnies, the glamourai necklace and pearl poppy ring, l'école des femmes trench, rachel rachel roy top, hyde belt, vintage skirt, dries van noten shoes }

for instance, this is the second of three ensembles i donned over the course of yesterday ~ the first being this one. and the third? well, when it finally came time to prep for an evening cocktail party, i'd cut off almost all my hair (!!!) and thus needed an entirely new vibe... stay tuned!

{ costume of the day } concrete spring

{ from left to right, i'm wearing my: steampunk cibo, knuckle hugger, and doublewide desperado rings }

today is one of those dreamy spring days when shorts and sandals make perfect sense with a sweatshirt-y blazer. this one was sent over from modcloth; i love that it has a high-design cut, but is made in an everyday material. for much the same reason, i'm excited by these waxed parachute fabric shorts, which i found last week at by george in austin ~ one of the most excellently edited stores in the country. i imagine i could get my entire wardrobe there (plus a little vintage, of course) and be perfectly happy. by the by, i just realized i'm accidentally continuing on this week's avian theme with my feather-print tank. it must be something in the air!

{ d+g sunnies, gentle fawn blazer (courtesy of modcloth), the glamourai rings + cabochon crucifix necklace, F21 top, unconditional shorts, dries van noten shoes, vintage clutch }


these shoes came from last springs's dries van noten collection ~ one of my favorites (though i love whatever he does). i chanced upon them on sale in the middle of winter and have been so excited to break them out; finally it's warm enough! try not to mock me, but i'm tempted to wear them with tons of toe rings this summer ~ crazy, i know.

{ a lesson in dress } via dries

as far as i'm concerned, paris fashion week might as well begin & end with the dries van noten show. it's not one for grand, cerebral, theological clothes ~ just a delightful and straightforward master's lesson in the art of daily dress.

van noten is unrivaled in his control over prints and proportion. individual looks incorporate a minimum of 3 disparate patterns, but manage to remain immediately wear-ready ~ straight off the catwalk. boxy jackets are finished just at the waist, allowing room for an equally boxy bottom without losing sight of the woman's figure below:



people often ask me how i am able to look at a piece of vintage and visualize the ways it could be updated. i say: see dries! watch how one polka-dot print can be lovely as a long coat, but younger when shortened into a jaunty jacket, and fresher still when the extra yardage is refashioned as shorts or a skirt:



similarly, i am asked how i learned to mix prints. again, see dries!



this is a collection that, every season, manages to look completely relevant but never terribly trendy. the older i get, the more i realize how valuable this quality is in one's wardrobe. once we get past puberty, and our bodies have more or less settled into their adult shape, it's natural to begin thinking a bit more seriously about building a base camp of beautiful clothes that can evolve with you (and with fashion) over the years.

thankfully, van noten seems to understand that timeless mustn't ever mean tedious:



still, sometimes it's fun to flirt with a few fads. thanks to the house of chanel, shades of malachite and jade are having a major moment. ever on-point, dries delivered this trend his way: quirky, classic, and completely covetable!



i want every single piece.

prints charming

every year, come spring / summer, i choose to challenge myself with color and print.

you see, when in the midst of midsummer sweat, i'm not able to layer the way i love, so i wick with swaggering swatches of jubilee - to the nth degree! for this sort of fancery, dries van noten is always my expert reference...

...his clothes factually float off the body; meanwhile, in many colors, they translate texture into transcendence...

(all amazingry, dries van noten, spring 2008)

...i plan to reenact accordingly.

best in show

a few looks from my favorite collection of all time,
dries van noten, spring 2006:

the details and styling in this show continue to have an enormous influence on my personal style ~ i consider every look to be absolute perfection! though several seasons old, to me it still looks very 'now' ~ the ribbon-wrapped obi belts, painterly mixed prints, and faintly earthy, vaguely asian glamour work as well today as
they did 3 years ago.

like marc jacobs' spring 2009 collection, this is a look that can be easily approximated using elements from your existing wardrobe ~ you just have to look at old things in a new light. have a red plaid shirt and a red floral skirt? it's a match! cinch it with a chartreuse, charmuese ribbon and you're on your way!