In Her Shoes

When you're in a shoe store trying on a pair of red flamboyant heels with feathers flying off the back, do you ever wish you could contribute to a good cause at the same time? Well, at In Her Shoes at the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto you can.

In Her Shoes is a cute little boutique that sells shoes, jewelery, and accessories, with a collection that ranges from cute and funky to everyday comfort. What makes this boutique unique is a commitment to giving all of its profits to the Global Fund for Women, the largest charity funding women's rights in the world. The Fund puts money directly in the hands of women who are making a difference all over the world, whether it's in the promotion of women's economic equality and health or fighting against oppression and human trafficking.

The women that greet you when you walk in are warm and welcoming, and how can you resist a cute pair of shoes when you know the money you're spending is going toward a good cause? And unlike Tom's which sells only one type of shoe, this boutique sells all different kinds! Stores like this deserve recognition for the good things they are doing!

The Right Stripes

For a long time now, I have been prone to buying striped apparel without even thinking about it. It's like I'm drawn to striped tanks, bags, shorts, shoes, you name it. There is a right way to wear stripes and there is a wrong way to wear stripes. If it's tight, it's probably not a good idea. Stripes can make you look larger, but only if you're not wearing them right. A tight striped tank is going to show off your flaws rather than hide them. For pants: vertical stripes only. Although shorts can have horizontal stripes and still be flattering. Striped bags and hats are always fun for the summer!

The Right Stripes by ESP3726 featuring high heels

Wedding Season

After a 2-month hiatus, I have come back to blog about the latest in fashion. And what better to start off with than weddings?

Although I am by no means getting married anytime soon, I, like many other girls, hold an obsession with weddings. Vogue.com just came out with its first ever "Wedding Guide" that advises a fashion-conscious bride from beginning to end, from the ring to the honeymoon. Vera Wang, Zac Posen, Rodarte, Harry Winston- they are all there. The guide is divided into 12 categories, each of which features photos from famous photographers, like Mario Testino, and courtesy photos from designers.

These are my favorites from each category:

Rings: The Buccellati 18K yellow-and-white gold 60 diamond ring.

Stationary: The Cartier Custom save-the-date card

Dress: Alexander McQueen strapless gown

Shoes: Rene Caovilla Swarovski crystal strap heels

Wedding Planner: Yifat Oren (he planned Reese Wetherspoon's wedding)

Flowers: The Victorian Rose Bouquet by Miho

Jewelry: Ben Almun small crystal earrings with pearl drop

Bridesmaids: J. Crew Arabelle long dress

Favorite Registry Idea: Art Gallery

Favorite Desserts: Individual petite wedding cakes designed by Hank Tomashevski

Favorite Lingerie: Kiki de Montparnasse Muse

Favorite Getaway: The Lanvin flower embellished washed canvas wrap jacket

The Royal Wedding Dress

They did it! Prince William and Kate Middleton have tied the knot, and in style too! Kate's dress by Alexander McQueen was beautiful, complete with a long, flowing train and lace sleeves. She looked radiant! This dress was definitely the right choice.

I tried to stay up last night to watch the wedding live, but I failed. However, it has been an exciting morning watching the rerun of it. I wish I was back in London! It must be one of the most exciting places to be right now!

The Ready-to-Wear Show at Eugene Fashion Week

The Ready-to-Wear show on Saturday night at Opus VII Art Gallery was definitely a pick-me-up from the eco-wear show. It featured 14 designers, each with an individual focus. Deluxe's black and white designs smoothly sauntered down the figure-eight runway, United Workers' overalls and jumpsuits inspired by the 1950s working class marched in with ease, and Jaunty's colorful spring dresses fluttered up the catwalk effortlessly. There were still some dreads, piercings, and tattoos, but the more sophisticated designs of the night made them much less noticeable.

My favorite designer of the night was Grace Persson of Bohemiska. Her designs flowed beautifully as the models walked, there was a clear connection between looks, and a vision for the whole line. She did a wonderful job of accessorizing her bohemian looks with feathers, an item that is quickly becoming a popular accessory. She clearly has an awareness of what is 'in' in fashion.

It seems that Eugene Fashion Week is looking up, and I look forward to seeing the Club Wear and Avant Garde shows next weekend.

Deluxe

Bohemiska

Bohemiska

Bohemiska

Eugene Fashion Week

Friday night marked the first show of the first annual Eugene Fashion Week. In honor of Earth Day, all the designers featured in the show make eco-friendly apparel. There were some innovative designs, and there were some, well, interesting ones. All the designers are locals of Eugene, meaning they tend to lean toward those interesting hippie styles you see walking around downtown. There were way to many dreads, piercings, and tattoos for my liking, but it fit in perfectly with Eugene. My favorite designer was Mira Fannin of Sweet Skins, a clothing line sold in boutiques across the country and overseas. Her designs were creative and looked flattering on her models. And although she used inexpensive recycled materials, her designs looked expensive, whereas most of the other lines did not.

Tonight is the ready-to-wear show, I'll let you know how it goes! 

I love the high-waist shorts!

This is from her show at Portland Fashion Week

Is it Pants? Is it a Dress? No, It's a Jumpsuit

I proudly wear my light blue American Apparel strapless jumpsuit around campus, and I often get odd looks from passers by that are either thinking, "Wow, I didn't think a jumpsuit could look that good," or "What the hell is she wearing?" I like to think the former, but I'm sure sometimes it's the latter. Jumpsuits are one of those items that people either love or hate. I am one of those people that love them, mostly because so few people wear them. I have always been one to wear things that stand out, those things that get those funny looks. And it always affirms my style choices when someone points out that it looks good.

The jumpsuit had long been out of fashion until sometime last year. I still think they are "in," but they have to look right. Because it's something that is covering your whole body, I think it's best to go with strapless. That way you're showing enough skin that it doesn't look like you're wearing footy pajamas.

And when it starts to get a little bit warmer, you can start wearing rompers (the shorts version of a jumpsuit). They are fun and flirty and one of my favorite summer outfits.

This is the jumpsuit I have, although I like to pair it with a belt of some kind to break it up a little

Romper!

The Cropped Top is Back

Remember back in the 90s when no one was afraid to show off their mid-drift? I sure do because I was always getting in trouble at school for violating the dress code. I had to show at least an inch of skin between my jeans and the bottom hem of my top like the pop queens Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. The mid-drift has been hidden for almost a decade, but now it's showing up again, not just with pop stars, but in high fashion.

Now, this doesn't mean that any cropped top is fashionable, and it definitely doesn't mean that anyone can wear one (sorry to be discriminatory). Showing too much skin isn't good; if the top is barely covering your boobs you're starting to get to the risque side. The looser the better! And you have to have the right body type, meaning you better be fit and comfortable with showing off your midsection.

This is bad! Please don't do this.

These are some great street fashion examples of cropped tops

It's always great to see old fashions making a comeback!

And Here They Are

I mentioned back in March that the CFDA Awards nominees were going to be announced, but I realize I forgot to follow up with who the nominees are for 2011. And so without further adieu, here are the nominees for:

Womenswear Designer of the Year: Alexander Wang, Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez, and Reed Krakoff

Reed Krakoff

Menswear Designer of the Year: Michael Bastian, Michael Ervell, and Simon Spurr

Accessory Designer of the Year: Alexander Wang, Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez, and Reed Krakoff

Swarovski Award for Womenswear: Mary-Kate and Ashly Olsen, Joseph Altuzarra, and Prabal Gurung

The Olsens with Diane von Furstenberg

Swarovski Award for Menswear: Alexander Wang, Phillip Lim, and Robert Geller

Swarovski Award for Accessory Design: Alejandro Ingelmo, Eddie Borgo, Jason Wu, and Pamela Love

Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Marc Jacobs.

Fashion Icon Award: Lady Gaga (of course)

The Media Award: Hilary Alexander of The Telegraph

Founders Award: Hal Rubenstein of In Style

International Award: Phoebe Philo for Celine

From left to right: Jack McCullough & Lazaro Hernandez, Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs, Lady Gaga, and Eddie Borgo

Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the air! The flowers are blooming, the sun is peaking out from behind the clouds, and it's time to take out those dresses that have been buried behind your coats and scarves all winter long. When the weather starts getting warm, there's nothing better than just slipping on a cute dress and strappy sandals and walking out the door without a care in the world! Here are some dresses to inspire your springtime wardrobe.

An Icon, a Hero, a Legend

On the morning of March 23, 2011, we lost an icon, a hero, and a legend. These are not three different people, but, in fact, just one encompasses those three words, Elizabeth Taylor. She has been a style icon since the 1940s, a hero in her work for AIDS funding, and a legend of our time. She was the woman whom diamonds were made for; the woman whose role as Cleopatra could never be rivaled; the woman who was admired by the world for her beauty and style. She will forever be missed and never be forgotten.

"I adore wearing gems, but not because they are mine. You can't possess radiance, you can only admire it." - Elizabeth Taylor

And the Nominees Are...

Tomorrow, Diane von Furstenberg, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, will be announcing the nominees for this year's CFDA awards at her studio in New York. Style.com will be streaming the announcement live on its website.

Awards are given for design excellence in womenswear, menswear, and accessories, as well as accomplishments in journalism, creative vision, and lifetime achievement. It is the Academy Awards of the fashion world. There are 12 awards given out, and last year's Lifetime Achievement Award went to one of my favorite designers, Michael Kors. He started his career at the age of 19, and has since created a global brand of womenswear, menswear, and accessories, both in couture and ready-to-wear. The Womenswear Designer of the Year went to Marc Jacobs, and the International Award went to Christopher Bailey for Burberry.

It is going to be an exciting night! I can't wait to see who is nominated!

Diane von Furstenberg, president of CFDA

Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors with their 2010 CFDA Awards

The Guardians of Our Feet

Some people give me funny looks when I tell them how many pairs of shoes I own. When I went to study abroad in London for a semester, I brought one pair of every type of shoe I owned, a total of eleven pairs. My flatmate looked at me like I was crazy. She only brought two pairs of shoes. And she thought I was crazy? A girl needs ballet flats, tall boots, short boots, tall boots with heels, short boots with heels, Oxfords, pumps, moccasins, kitten heels, tennis shoes, and the list goes on. I had to weed out shoes in order to get it down to those eleven pairs. And I came back from London with fourteen pairs.

Shoes are the guardians of our feet. They keep us warm, they keep us cool, they keep us protected, so why shouldn't they keep us stylish as well? I don't like to wear the same jacket every day, or the same shirt every day, so it's only natural that I wouldn't want to wear the same shoes every day. I need a variety of shoes to go with my variety of outfits. A smart woman said to me once, "I'm not just wearing clothes, I'm wearing an outfit, a head-to-toe outfit." So for those of you who own many, many pairs of shoes, don't be ashamed, be proud, and rock your head-to-toe outfits!

Shoes, Oh Shoes by ESP3726 on Polyvore.com

The Eighties

Neon green tights, a washed out jean jacket, permed hair, and a scrunchy. What am I talking about? That's right, the 1980s. The 1960s is my favorite era of fashion, but I have to give a shout out to the crazy styles of the eighties. Who is the one person you should think of when thinking about the decade? Why Madonna, of course. Her dark makeup, curly blond hair, black leather gloves and jacket, and patterned leggings were what girls wanted to look like. And let us not forget the styles worn by Molly Ringwald in movies like Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club. The pink neck-high prom dress was something to be remembered. One can already see how the interesting styles of the time have crept their way back into current fashion in the form of patterned tights and leggings, jean jackets, Ray Ban sunglasses, and, yes, even shoulder pads.

Best Dressed at the Oscars

The Academy Awards Red Carpet last night was filled with beautifully dressed stars, from archival Valentino to fresh Armani. Let's start with the beautiful co-host, Anne Hathaway, who wore a red floor-length archival Valentino dress from 1981. She paired it with bright red lipstick, a loose chignon, and a diamond necklace from Tiffany & Co. Then there was Cate Blanchett, a beautiful and talented woman with taste as well. She wore a pale pink Givenchy gown that looked like it could have come straight off the runway. It was original and different from anything else on the red carpet, and still very classy.

Academy Award Winner for Best Actress and Mommy-to-be, Natalie Portman, looked radiant in her deep purple Rodarte gown paired with Tiffany jewels. And her supporting actress in Black Swan, Mila Kunis, wore an elegant light purple gown with delicate lace detail and a plunging neckline by Elie Saab.

And last, but certainly not least, Reese Witherspoon wearing a simple, yet classy black and white dress by Armani Prive. Long and elegant, it reminds me of the simplicity of fashion in the 1960s, which, as you know, is my favorite era of fashion.

My Favorite Era of Fashion

Everyone has a favorite fashion era.  Some may like the flapper styles of the 1920s, others the neon colors of the 1980s, but, personally, I like the color blocks of the 1960s.  Think Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's, standing in front of the store window wearing a simple black dress, a pearl necklace, black elbow-length gloves, large black sunglasses, a high bun in her hair, and a coffee and pastry in her hands.  Think Twiggy, with her short blond hair and big eyelashes, wearing a white babydoll dress and knee-high socks.  Or think Jackie Kennedy, First Lady to the United States of America, style icon to the women of America, and the epitome of what we now think of as American Sportswear.  And let us not forget about the fringe-bearing, tye-dye clad, and peace oriented hippies.  They were the inspiration for the hippie fashion that recently rose up yet again, complete with headbands and peace signs galore.
 
My second favorite era would have to be the 1980s, but I'll save that for another time...

Love?

With Valentine's Day a week behind us, you would think that love would be far behind us as well. But I still find it lurking in the corners, jumping out in Vogue and my weekly horoscope telling me to either commit or run for the hills of independence. But why do I have to choose between one or the other?

It's like a clothing item, let's say a jacket. Most of us have many different kinds of jackets, a trench coat, a blazer, a pea coat, a hoodie. I like all of them, so why would I choose to commit to just one? I'm not going to wear a trench coat in the summer or a blazer with my sweatpants. And if I "run for the hills of independence," does that mean I swear off jackets completely? It's February, it's cold, and there's no way I'm walking around without a jacket. There has got to be some kind of in between where you can wear whatever jacket you like whenever you want to wear it. But then the question is: can I treat love this way?

Maybe you don't have to either commit or run for the hills; love isn't that easy. Make too rash of a decision and you could end up with the wrong jacket or no jacket at all.

An Ode to the Blazer

I sadly lost my Michael Kors blazer this weekend.  Tears filled my eyes as I realized it must have slipped off my bag on my walk home Friday night.  It was black, it had three-quarter length sleeves, and it was absolutely gorgeous.  My favorite clothing item is gone and I don't know how I will go on.  I searched the streets but had no luck.  Now some fortunate other person is enjoying my beauteous blazer.  To all of you that still have your blazers, hold on to them tightly.  Cherish them.  Love them.

Oh sweet blazer I loved you deeply, and I hope your new owner will care more for your safety than I.

Oh the memories....

My blazer and I at the Thames River Festival in London

There we are with friends in Canterbury

And there we are with Italian Elle and a bottle of wine in Milan

Vivienne

Vivienne Westwood.  A name that every girl should know.  She and Malcolm McLaren began their career in the '70s by opening their shop, Let It Rock, at 430 Kings Road in London in 1971.  Back then, Westwood and McLaren were the epitome of Punk Rock, literally.  They designed the leather- and zipper-clad outfits for the Sex Pistols in 1976, which the media named Punk Rock.  Once the style became mainstream, Westwood was out.  In 1981, she and McLaren debuted the Pirate Collection at their first catwalk.  For this collection Westwood researched into the historical dress of pirates, and based her designs off of this.  She developed ethnic cutting techniques based on rectangles that was different from anything anyone had seen before.

The image quality isn't great, but it gives you an idea

In 1987, her Harris Tweed collection was inspired by a little girl she saw on the Tube, wearing a bun in her hair, a Harris Tweed jacket, and a bag with ballet shoes in it.  This collection was Westwood's break from punks and into designing clothes that parodied the upper class.  She began to pick models who had hips and boobs, unlike the stick-thin models we see today.

This is from another collection, Voyage to Cythera, in 1989

From there she continued to design with an historical inspiration, combining the fine tailoring of the English and the design and proportions of the French.  She continued to embellish the models' figures, making the ultimate hourglass figure by padding busts and bustles and even using wire cages underneath the clothes.

More recently, Westwood has put historicism aside and focused on a more asexual cut, exploring the dynamics of the fabric.  She designed the wedding dress that Sarah Jessica Parker wore in the Sex and the City movie.

So Vogue

Lauren Santo Domingo, the woman who writes "APT with LSD" for Vogue.com, has given readers a look into her own APT with LSD.  She says, "If there's one thing you can say about my apartment it's that it's constantly evolving, constantly changing."

Her apartment, which she lives in with her husband and soon a new baby, is definitely something to see.  The coffee table in the living room is adorned with odd, decorative things, including a giraffe skull and a strange glass beaker.  The living room is also graced with a Lalanne hippo that magically transforms into a bar, and a bronze statue of her dog, Georgie sits near the coffee table.  Her shelves are filled with books, little statues, and candles.  She has a large drawer just for her jewelry and an entire closet just for her shoes!  On the walls hang artworks by Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, and Max Ernst.  Santo Domingo has to be the queen of interior design.  This rivals the one I wrote about a couple months ago, "A Stylish Place to Live."  I love all the fun and strange decorations she has!

The coffee table with all its odd decorations

The hippo slash bar, along with artworks by Salvador Dali and Max Ernst

The fun shelves

Her jewelry drawer

The Andy Warhol images of General Mao and Santo Domingo herself