{ reliably styleable }

today, i present (a bit bittersweetly) my fourth and final costume, as inspired by my partnership with ralph lauren and the big pony collection scents. over the course of this collaboration, i've channeled sporty, seductive, adventurous ~ and today's motivation is stylishness!

now, labeling one's own outfit as being stylish can feel unnervingly presumptuous, so i decided to stick simply with those things i consider to be stalwarts of my own personal style. i always feel at ease in: bow-tie blouses, subtly textured layers, slim-fit, collarless jackets, slouchily tailored trousers, and classic gold pumps:

this collaboration's finishing scent-spiration, as i mentioned in THIS POST, is the collection's most abstracted. it mixes energizing hits of kyarawood and mandarin ~ essences i attempted to recall in the colors of this ensemble (ie: woody taupes met with saffron pops)!



while the ensemble itself felt inherently my style, i loved stumbling across this flag-mural garage art ~ as it seemed so rightly ralph lauren! it felt like an appropriate location from which to conclude the collision of our visions.

{ vintage yves saint laurent sunnies, gifted hare+hart leather trench (also seen HERE), borrowed ralph lauren cashmere cardigan and printed pussy-bow blouse, michael kors watch, prada pants, vintage clutch, miu miu bird brooch, manolo blahnik pumps }

if you'd like to win your own bottle of this stylish scent, please leave a comment below, letting me know what you consider to be your own style standbys. and please give a congratulatory clap to hilaryinspired*, who is the lucky winner** of scent number three!

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by the by, if you haven't already, please be sure to check out my GIFT GUIDE FOR GUYS, which was inspired by this and the other three big pony collection colognes!

*hilary, please email me your shipping information so i can send you your prize!!
** once again, i use random.org to pick contest winners ~ i can't bear to choose myself! xoK

{ glamourai gift guide } love for the lads

i have absolutely no problem buying gifts for the ladies in my life ~ it's like shopping for myself! however, the men i love are much more challenging; they just don't need all the stuff that we (read: i) do.

however, they do seem to appreciate the occasional, thoughtfully selected accessory, album, or experience. in case you also have trouble deciding what to buy for the fellows you're fond of, here are a few ideas inspired by the big pony collection colognes (and the men who wear them well):

{ the sportsman in your life might like / clockwise from above left: apc checkered scarf, super sunglasses ($175), tickets to watch a favorite sports team (plus an assurance that he doesn't have to take you with him!), lark+wolff by steven alan striped pullover ($48), queens of the stone age's rated r ($10), digby & iona hunter + hunted cufflinks ($120), ralph lauren tartan belt ($75), ralph lauren big pony collection cologne ($50), west elm ipod speakers ($45) }


{ sexy is the man who has the perfect music for every moment, can rock horn-rims and a bowtie, and knows his way around the kitchen / clockwise from above left: matthew dear's black city ($12), jenson wood turntable ($88), chronicles of never glasses ($277), banana republic bowtie ($60), ralph lauren big pony collection cologne ($50), private collection photography book ($70), what to cook and how to cook it by jane hornby ($26), ralph lauren slippers ($75), leg lamp ($40) }


{ for the rugged and roguish / clockwise from above left: plaid sweatshirt, antler bottle opener, pendleton picnic blanket ($78), amphigorey also by edward gorey ($15), dude no.1 beard oil ($65), stanley flask ($18), urban outfitters boots ($78), ralph lauren big pony collection cologne ($50) }


{ inspired especially by my own special someone / clockwise from above left: ralph lauren big pony collection cologne ($50), in between by guy bourdin ($50), nixon watch ($60), eskuche headphones ($58), omega shaving brush ($12), chronicles of never boots ($400), anthropologie haberdasher's candle, the horrors' primary colors ($13), ralph lauren tartan wallet ($375), banana republic collar stays ($12.50) }

{ scout's honor }

you may recall that, this holiday season, i'm periodically coordinating my costumery with each of the four big pony collection scents, as part of a collaboration with ralph lauren. you've already seen sporty and seductive, and today is all about adventure ~ glamorous girl scout style!!

in support of that theme, i accessorized this trench-coat/cape/caftan hybrid with a "bird-watching merit badge" and canvas camp-style belt.

as we started shooting these photos, snow flurries began to fall. against the bright white backdrop, i felt as if i were foraging through an urban tundra.

with that cold air all around me, the woody cologne felt enveloping and warm ~ like the after-glow of an evening fire.

{ lanvin for h+m sunnies, rachel rachel roy ear cuff, borrowed ralph lauren dress, lanvin brooch, f21 belt, gifted coach bag, no-name boots from 14th street }

if you'd like to win this sizzling scent for yourself, leave a comment below letting me know what adventure means to you ~ in style or otherwise (incidentally, i'm pleased to announce that sauvage* is the winner** of scent number two)! bonne chance to everyone on this current go-round!!

*sauvage, please email me your shipping information so i can send you your prize!!
** i use random.org to pick contest winners ~ i can't bear to choose myself! xoK

{ seduced by sparkle }

over the course of this holiday season, i'm intermittently channeling the auras of each of the four big pony collection scents, as part of a collaboration with ralph lauren. for the first round, i was challenged to style myself sporty ~ and empowered to gift the coordinating cologne to one glamourai reader! as such, i'm pleased to announce that valerie friedrich* has won** round one ~ but it's not too late for the rest of you to get in on the action!

speaking of getting action: this week my scent's instruction was to summon seduction, to which i naturally responded with sparkle! truly, i've never met a sequin that didn't turn my head ~ now, if that's not the definition of seductive, what is?!




{ kelly framel earrings and ring, vintage + coach bracelets, vintage boy's blazer, gifted aryn k. sequin tank, borrowed ralph lauren sequin pants, lanvin for h+m shoes (a total surprise from my sweet boyfriend!!) }

it just so happens that i feel most alluring all covered up, with a generous splash of shimmer and a musky cloud of cologne about me. and you? let me know what you think in the comments, and you'll be entered to win scent number two ~ the duskiest, sultriest of the bunch!
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*valerie, please email me your shipping information so i can send you your prize!!
** i use random.org to pick contest winners ~ i can't bear to choose myself! xoK

{ costume of the day } sporty spice

as part of the collaboration with ralph lauren that i mentioned yesterday, i'll occasionally be posting outfits inspired by each of the big pony collection fragrances over the next couple months ~ then gifting that scent to one lucky reader! my first outfit assignment is to interpret scent #1, the sportiest of the bunch. methinks this one will be the hardest of the four, but i'm always game for a fashion challenge!

before my real-life friends start chortling about my limited (mental or physical) knowledge of anything sports-related, let me assure you i immediately eschewed all notions of making a mockery or a martyr of myself by shooting pictures in the gym. nobody wants to see that horror! instead, i imagined channeling angela lindvall in 'sporty chic', an april 2004 editorial for harper's bazaar:

unfortunately, it turns out i don't look nearly as fierce with an anorak round my waist as she.

instead, i did a little digging through the ralph lauren sample closet (what a dreamy place that is!), and found this much-more-my-speed czech-glass beaded sweater...

...to pair with my favorite pants:

i reconciled myself to the fact that my preferred version of 'sporty chic' looks a lot like what one would wear while lounging in a slickly-modern ski lodge, sipping hot toddies by the fire. which may actually be my favorite sport this time of year?

{ tom ford sunnies, self designed necklace, borrowed ralph lauren sweater, miu miu pants }

anyway, clearly i'm no expert on the genre! so tell me, what's your favorite way to release your inner athlete? do you gear up and get physical, or work the references more liberally, like me? let me know in the comments (sometime between now & november 23rd) and you'll be entered to win this wonderfully citrusy scent!!

{ inside my studio } scents + spaces

to follow up on yesterday's perfect place post, i thought it would be fun to share a teeny peek into my own perfect-for-me place: my studio! specifically, the wall in that room where i store my favorite art books and other assorted necessities. like my closet, it's not nearly as big as i'd like it to be (oh, the things one gives up to live in new york!!), but it has lots of happy little corners:

as a workroom (where anything from sewing to soldering to computing occurs), my studio is a lot more casually adorned than my living/entertaining space. because i've got to be able to stash some not-so-lovely stuff in there, i need lots of nooks for books & odd objects (gadget cords, things i use for jewelry still lifes, file storage, etc). of course, it's also a room where i need to be inspired, so i try to keep things well-organized and pleasant to look at!

right now, its shelves are strewn with fun, numbered bottles from ralph lauren's big pony collection of colognes ~ i love the way they complement my color-coordinated book collection:

in the coming weeks, i'll be regularly partnering with ralph lauren to debut (and host giveaways of!) these fragrances. i was attracted to the project for two reasons:

1. i almost exclusively wear men's scents (which these ostensibly are, though i think they would appeal to almost anyone!)
2. i love spritzing scents to subliminally enrich a room's decor ~ and thus like keeping a melange of bottles around different parts of the house, to complement the mood & use of disparate spaces.

during the years that i worked as a clothing designer, we would pick a scent every season to spritz the tent with ~ so when guests began to arrive for a show, they would subconsciously start to settle into the spirit of the collection that was about to debut. that's one runway trick i love to apply to my everyday life!

every one of them instills a new mood. the first fragrance (which i'll be giving away tomorrow!) is sporty and dynamic, with fresh hits of lime and oak; the second is more seductive and musky (the sort of scent i like wearing best), with dark chocolate undertones. these two bottles flank a flea-market-found plastic giraffe ~ my absolute favorite animal:

number three is geared for adventure, a woody aroma enriched with ginger and mint. it sits above a beloved box of andy warhol's 'red books' ~ a collection of polaroid flipbooks from his factory days:

number four is the collection's most stylized: a mix of kyara wood and grapefruit. it sits just above a 'glamour monster' doll i made several years ago from a no-longer-worn toile de jouy skirt:


scattered about the surrounding shelves, prada, miu miu and alaia shoes boxes are used to store old documents/receipts, and my twitter followers may recognize a certain ebay-binge-begotten porcelain unicorn:


as always, my trusty sidekick/mascot/assistant/troublemaker is never far from the action: