31 Bits

My friend shared this designer and collection with me and I just had to pass it on. She does really beautiful work!

www.31bits.com

My goal is to be able to do my hair like hers.

Tailor Made

Yesterday I did something I don't do very often. I went into a thrift store. Don't get me wrong, thrift stores can be awesome places to find really fun things, but they also smell like someone died in there. Therefore, I don't go in them very often. I decided to go check out one of the local thrift stores here and see what they had. Twenty minutes later I walked out with three dresses for under 20 bucks. Score! Now, if you're anything like me and your upper body is a different size than your lower body (and i'm talking like two sizes different at least) buying stuff without trying it on can be risky. So, when I brought home my three dresses (one of which is a 60 dollar Vera Wang dress), I tried them on and, as expected, they fit perfectly on top and a little snug on the bottom. Did this depress me? No! I've just decided to utilize this awesome place called a tailor. So, i'm turning at least one of them into a shirt (it was definitely on the short side anyway so it wasn't going to be a normal dress...), and letting out areas of the last one. Since I already had a dress that needed to go to the tailor after an unfortunate zipper incident at my cousin's wedding (final outcome: I got sewn into my dress), they'll be like a little family instead of all by their lonesome in a scary new place. Now, I just have to actually put myself in my car and do this...

Moral of the story: Don't take your clothes at face value. You can change them!

Southern Love

Along with my slight obsession with vintage (or vintage looking) clothing, I've developed this strange obsession with the South. I've only been there once in my life, but apart from my hair losing it's ever-lovin' mind, I absolutely loved it. I love how green it is, I love how clear my skin was thanks to the humidity, and I love that vegetables get soaked in bacon. Have I also mentioned that I love color? All kinds of color? So, when I happened upon this southern wedding on one of my favorite style blogs I was in love. Everything about this wedding is perfect. Enjoy :-)

Sorry the pictures aren't super clear, but I'm not smart enough to fix that. I want that chandelier just for normal life.

See, there it is again. 

Vintage teapots filled with multi-colored flowers as center pieces! Yes please.

The bride and groom were very nice looking as well, but their chandelier upstaged them. I love all the colors and how nothing really matches. It just feels comfortable and easy and personable, just like a sweet little wedding should. 

P.S. You can see the rest of this wedding at www.stylemepretty.com it's actually in my "Blogs I Love" section right now. 

What the What?

A couple years ago I wrote a blog post about people who wear ugly pants. Well, I guess it's time for part two. I had some time to kill yesterday so I decided to wander around Target and just see what was going on. Much to my horror, I saw these:

What?! Why?! WHO WOULD DO THIS TO US?!! In case you can't tell, those are short overalls in a train conductor stripey denim. Now, I was a HUGE fan of overalls when I was in Jr. High, but they're done. Let them rest.

This just makes me so so sad.

Secrets Can Make Friends

I have this problem. I like things I could never afford. Since this problem is not going away for the forseeable future, and I have this suspicion that I would have a very difficult time paying $400+ for a pair of shoes even if I could afford them, I am forced to find ways to imitate what I see and fall in love with.

It's actually a lot of fun believe it or not! I consider it a challenge to find items of clothing or accessories or shoes that look really expensive (or originally were very expensive) for as cheap as possible. I rarely buy anything that isn't on sale unless it was cheap to begin with (even then it feels better when it's on sale!) so it makes shopping a little more difficult, and it means that I can't just buy whatever I see, but it also means that I get to go shopping more often because I am "keeping an eye" on certain pieces of clothing to see when they go on sale and how cheap they can get. I once waited about two months for a shirt that I really liked and I ended up getting it for $4. This is risky, but fun nonetheless. My motto is, "if it's not still here in the right size and color when it goes down as low as I want it to, then it wasn't meant to be mine." Is that sad that I have a motto about bargain shopping?

I am going to reveal my secrets to you now so listen carefully.

1). TJ Maxx and Marshalls: I would cry if they ever took these stores away from me. I own a pair of $300 shoes because I found them at Marshalls for $20.

2). H&M: This is one of the few stores that I can buy things at regular price, and they are awesome. They tend to have a good selection of retro clothing which I love so I go into conniptions whenever I walk in there. P.S. They are opening one at the Temecula mall. I did a happy dance when I saw the sign.

3). Target: You know what I mean.

4). Forever 21: This store overwhelms me. However, if you can block out the horrible music, bright florescent lighting, and the hordes of Jr. High girls, you can find some really great deals. Especially on jewelry. I bought a necklace there for $3.50 and I love it.

5). Anthropologie sale section: Check it every few days at least and sometimes you can find some really great deals. I got a $120 sweatshirt for $10 about a year ago.

Alright, now you have them. My not so secret bargain shopping secrets.

Bringing Beautiful Back

I helped a bride last night who got me thinking. She tried on a few dresses that I would never have picked out for myself. However, helping her was a very unexpected breathe of fresh air. In the three short months that I have been a bridal consultant I have become very accustomed to hearing the words, "I want to look sexy" in response to my question about what kind of styles they had in mind for their big day. It is no surprise that a bride wants to feel and look her absolute best on what is Lord willing her only wedding day, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that desire. However, should our desire be to look sexy or beautiful? Should we save the sexy for the wedding night and focus on the beauty of the bride and the covenant that they are entering into that day? I say yes.

Alright, back to my bride. She never once mentioned the word "sexy" nor did she say anything about wanting her chest to be pushed up to Canada (neither did her mother for that matter!). She simply said that she wanted to feel beautiful and timeless. She tried on a couple dresses that on the hanger I would have rolled my eyes at and said "oh Lord no". However, on her they were beautiful. She wanted to be covered up and she wanted to look like royalty. So, I brought her the dress that is quite literally the Kate Middleton wannabe dress. This dress is almost exactly like Kate's except for the fact that it has long lace sleeves instead of 3/4 sleeves like Kate's. She agreed to try it on and when she came out of the dressing room and I put a Vera Wang Cathedral veil with a lace edging on her, the group went silent. The simple response was "That's it." I could not believe how classic and elegant she looked. Probably the farthest thing from our modern definition of "sexy", but it was perfect that way. She looked like Grace Kelly.

There was one thing that her mom said when they were comparing which dress they liked better that really hit me. She said, "This dress allows her beauty to shine through, it doesn't distract from it." This wasn't just about how she looked. It was about who she was and how her wedding and her dress reflected that. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Are we afraid of beauty? Do we even know what true beauty is? I would say that at best we are very fuzzy on the definition. We have "sexy" thrown in our faces everywhere we go and I think we've mistaken it for beauty. "Beautiful" isn't the goal anymore, and that makes me sad.

Ladies, let's do our best to bring beautiful back to the wedding day and save sexy for the wedding night. Men, your job is to encourage it. Can we do that? I think we can.

*disclaimer* this is not a campaign for only wearing long sleeve dresses on your wedding day or any other day. It's just about being classy and appreciating true beauty over showing off everything you've got.

The Help

Monday night I got to go see "The Help" with some dear friends to celebrate my friend's birthday. I loved it. It's an incredible and beautiful story of courage, conviction, and love. I was moved not only by the story and the characters, but also by their clothes. I know, it's weird. Who is moved by clothing? I am. That's who! My poor friend Lisa sat next to me and had to listen to me gasp and sigh my way through the movie as each new and incredibly beautiful outfit graced the screen. She laughed at me.

They just don't make clothes the way they used to...

When you see the movie, you're going to want to smack that red-head in the floral dress... However, Bryce Dallas Howard did a fantastic job with that character. She has some of the greatest clothes though!

 I loved their little hats. Don't you wish we wore little hats like that?

This woman was one of my favorite characters. She has absolutely fantastic clothes too. She was warm and sweet, and got to wear awesome clothes like that little skirt/blouse/belt combo. She also has this other outfit which made me actually exclaim "I want that!" pretty loudly in the movie theater. That's when Lisa rolled her eyes at me and laughed. I am absolutely positive that this is the style era that I was meant to live in. I could have done without all the political and social crazy at the time though.

This is on sale at Anthropologie if you are like me and can't get over the clothes in this movie.

It's Time to Get Classy

I think it's fair to say that we as a nation have for the most part moved away from dressing well. Far far away. We have a tendency to think that we need to choose comfort or class and style. Guess what! That could not be further from the truth. It is absolutely possible to dress as well as our Grandparents did and still be comfortable. Sweatpants and t-shirts have become our staple outfits for running errands, people actually wear jeans to weddings and funerals (it's true. I've seen it.), and most men that do not work in an office where a suit is required don't even own one. In fact, we're lucky if they even have a blazer that isn't from their Jr. High dance. Friends, this does not have to be. We can dress well and still be comfortable, we do not have to look like swamp people. I'm not saying that we all need to look perfect at all times, never wear jeans and a t-shirt, or get comfy and cozy in our favorite yoga pants at the end of a long day. However, I do think we could (and should) put more work into dressing like we new we were leaving the house.

I love dressing up. Maybe it's because I don't get to do it that often, or maybe it's because it generally means that I get to wear a fabulous pair of heels. Either way, nothing feels better than putting on a great dress, beautiful heels, the perfect accessories, and doing your make up and hair.

 Men, you never look better than when you've got a great fitting suit on. I promise. Just take a look...

Right ladies?

Ladies, it's your turn. It's time to think about kicking up your wardrobe choices. You can still wear your favorite pair of jeans, but add some heels and some accessories and ta-dah! You've fancied yourself up a bit! Or even better, get a really awesome vintage dress and learn first hand why everyone in the 1950's to early 1960's looked so awesome. Think about saving the yoga pants for those awesome nights when you do nothing but eat ice cream and watch crazy amounts of reality T.V. shows. It's amazing how much better you can feel about yourself by just spending 10-15 minutes longer getting ready than you normally would. Whether they are willing to admit it or not, I think the guys appreciate it too. Once again, this isn't about becoming high maintenance. It's about having fun with your clothes and enjoying how great you look. Just look how pretty!

By the way, this is from Banana Republic's "Mad Men" collection. I want the whole thing.

So, what do you say? Are you with me on this whole classing it up thing?

Suit up!

Welcome to my new blog! I have been thinking about starting a new blog for some time, but I just didn't have any clue what to write about. Then it came to me. After a few brief conversations with a good friend about his love of  a good suit, watching "The Help" last night and seeing their incredibly beautiful clothes, and taking into account my life-long and ever-increasing love of beautiful clothes and accessories, I decided I would write about that. This blog will be about fashion mostly, but occasionally about food and entertaining. After all, great clothes are no fun if you have no reason to wear them... hello dinner party!

I hope you enjoy reading this and looking at the pictures, and I hope that I inspire you to search for truly beautiful and unique items for your wardrobe. Hopefully I can help you learn how to branch out of your normal clothing routine and learn how to pair accessories and colors as well.

Stay tuned for a post about how we should all dress up more, especially men. Guys, it's time to suit up!

P.S. If you want to read all about how to clean out your closet so you are ready to fill it with only beautiful and unique pieces (yes Cate, I know that isn't quite the purpose of your project), check out this awesome blog written by my sister Cate and her friend Julie.

www.twentypieces.org