wall art

July 27, 2012

A key part of having a fabulous dorm is having fabulous walls! I found some great prints and posters that would look great in my dorm room!

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: "Miu Miu Limited Edition" by Kris Atomic; "CSERA Surfaces for Society6 Horticulture 1 Print" at Urban Outfitters; "Carousel" by Irene Suchoki at Urban Outfitters; 4x6 Baltic Ribbon Triple Frame at Urban Outfitters; Vintage "Parfums Djemil" print; LP Album Clock at Urban Outfitters

the tide is high; aka summer inspiration

July 26, 2012

Jealous of this girl's homemade swimsuit & vintage camera (source)

Farmer's Markets! Best thing ever! (source)

I love aerial images of beaches like this (source)

This still from Lana Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness" video is so beautiful

Nothing like cloud watching on a warm summer day (source)

nothing quite like tanning on a boat in the middle of the water (source)

mouthwatering summer popsicles in tropical hues (source)

If you can't take the top down, improvise! (source)

Daphne for Dior Addict 2012

living a teenage dream

July 23, 2012

The Teen Choice Awards were held yesterday and because I myself am a teenager and frankly because some of these outfits are downright hilarious, I am going to do the rundown of the best -and worst- of the night. My advice to most of these girls: if I were a teen starlet with dozens of designer frocks to choose from, well, I'd be picking better looks. Just sayin'


Nina Dobrev is perhaps the best-dressed of the teen set. She wowed in this ocean-hued asymmetrical dress and kept the hair and makeup simple. The dress speaks for itself and she looks positively glowing. Nina, you should hold a seminar on how to dress when you are young and famous.


Lea Michele looks great in this Versace dress. While it is maybe a bit too clubby for the venue, I think it beats some of her more dramatic get-ups. More than anything she looks like she's having fun, and I am a sucker for that metallic brocade. Lea also chose to keep the makeup to a minimum, which gives her a sun-kissed look that I love.


I don't know who Holland Roden is, but her Alice + Olivia dress is to-die-for! I love her hair, too.


On anyone else this look could have gone drastically wrong, but on Kat Graham it works. The vibrant print is awesome on her and she has the attitude to wear such a bold dress. I only wish she had worn sandals instead of pumps. I'm just not a fan of sky-high pumps.


I get it, Vanessa Marano, you're trying to be edgy. Unfortunately, those shoes are atrocious, and they are not doing anything for your legs. Calf-length boots are seldom flattering when your legs are more than an inch in diameter. Even ankle boots would have worked better, or maybe if she had worn a fit-and-flare dress. I do like the dress, though, and the eye-catching gold zipper. 


My fellow Trojan Miranda Cosgrove looked great in a shimmering metallic dress (though again the shoes are just not cutting it for me). And is it just the lighting or is she trying out the ombre hair? Haven't we seen enough of that from celebrities?


Oh god, Demi Lovato, what are we going to do with you? I hate how musicians (if we can call Demi that) are all trying to out-crazy one another with the awful outfits, like they need to cover up for the fact that their music stinks. This dress is awful. It would look awful even on a model because it is ugly. I don't care if it is daring or wild, it is hideous and you should burn it. Your hair is stupid and my god, STOP BEING BLONDE! Does anyone remember how adorable Demi Lovato was when she first started out on Camp Rock? Go back to that, Demi. Go back to looking sweet and cute and normal because these awful outfits have me worrying for your sartorial health. 


I love, love, LOVE this look! Chelsea Kane wore those fabulous Alice + Olivia shorts that I've been keeping tabs on and wore a simple ivory and cake batter top. She made the look pop with cobalt Louboutins (okay, the pumps work here) and kept her makeup natural. This is how people should dress.


Selena Gomez, another repeat offender of the ombre hair movement. Hair issues aside I love this look. The dress is so positively Barbie that I wish it was in my closet, and I love the white sandals. Selena may be short but she knows how to make her legs look miles long.


Victoria Justice rocked the mullet dress and I think it is perfect for her. My only advice would be drop the weird-looking belt. Is it bedazzled?


No, no, no, no, no! From the thumbnails I thought this was Jil Zarin! But no, it's Debby Ryan, who is probably only a year or two older than me, wearing a really unfortunate dress. Again, I get that these girls are attracted by something wild and eye-catching, but if it doesn't look good it ain't worth it! I hate the fit of it and the length. I just, ugh...


Aria on Pretty Little Liars is one of my favorite TV fashionistas, so thank goodness Lucy Hale is too! I love this sunburst dress with the cool but sleek neckline and her side braid! The gold accessories really work for me, too. Overall, a winning look, which is good, because Hale took home a coveted surfboard for Best Drama TV Actress!


Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Ashley Benson, also a Pretty Little Liar. The hair is okay but the outfit is, oh dear. It doesn't fit and it isn't flattering! Had the bustier gone into a twirl skirt it would have been alright, but she chose to pair it with horrible pants that make her look heavier than she really is! Once again a daring option, but girls, if it doesn't look good, it doesn't work! It's THAT SIMPLE.


I'd say Nina Dobrev took the title of best dressed, and Ashley Benson and Demi Lovato tied for worst dressed. Thank you, Niki Minaj, for pressuring celebrities into wearing tacky outfits for the hell of it. I blame you for Demi's disaster of a dress! Who did you think deserved the title of best dressed and who should have stayed home?

Dorm Style

July 21, 2012

I just got back from orientation (which was fabulous, by the way!) and am so inspired to make my dorm look wonderful! I recently ordered my bedding (multicolor polka-dot sheets with a turquoise comforter) and am looking to the internet for decoration inspiration. Here are some great ideas:

What a great use of storage! I'm going to need to find a place like that for my sewing machine
Unfortunately my dorms don't allow Christmas lights, but if they did I would go all out
Love the vintage posters and the creative way to hang necklaces. Accessories become art!
Wish I had brick walls in my dorm! Overhead shelves add extra storage space.
Love this! Super colorful and DIY everywhere!

Who Wore It Better: Marc by Marc Jacobs

July 18, 2012

Filming for the final season of Gossip Girl has started in New York and while scrolling through pictures of the shooting I came across something quite peculiar: Blake Lively as Serena wearing a Marc by Marc Jacobs dress. But not just any Marc by Marc Jacobs dress, the dress that I wore for prom back in April. Now, I love Blake and all that she does and I must admit she looks pretty amazing in the dress, but I did wear it three months before her, sooo...

Who worked this Marc by Marc Jacobs dress better? Me or Blake Lively?

burgundy & leather

Looking for an investment piece this fall? Take a fall staple (leather) and dye it a deep wine red. Dresses, jackets, bags -anything is fair game for this dynamic duo!


all items available on net-a-porter.com

Style Crush: Emma Stone

July 13, 2012

Hot off freaking about Stone's latest silver-screen persona, I have turned to the woman behind Gwen Stacy and her exquisite red carpet style. The Amazing Spiderman tour has been long (they've been promoting this thing since April, it feels like!) but that has given dear Emma plenty of opportunities to knock our Wolford socks off with her red carpet choices! From sweet Chanel frocks to vampy Gucci goddess gowns, Emma Stone has proven that she is as sartorially inspirational as she is personality-wise. Honestly, the girl has got it all! Who knows, maybe she may win the title of It Girl for the second year in a row!



(images from zimbio.com)

The Amazing Gwen Stacy!

If you've already seen The Amazing Spiderman (which I have -twice) then your girl crush on leading lady Emma Stone has probably grown exponentially to a size you couldn't have even believed to have been possible (same with your crush on Andrew Garfield, whose adorable awkwardness as the "dorky" Peter Parker made me question why in the world anyone would have picked Tobey McGuire -sorry, buddy, but Andrew Garfield looks way better in that Spidey suit, if ya know what I'm sayin'). Back to my point: Stone stars alongside Garfield as Gwen Stacy, the top student in their class, head intern to Dr. Curt Connors at Oscorp, and daughter to New York's Chief of Police. Unlike Mary Jane, Gwen is much more Peter's equal. She makes life-saving antidotes and protects the employees of Oscorp when Dr. Connors has a bit of a melt down. She even goes after the bad guy before Peter can show up and sometimes she saves Spiderman! Hooray for not being a damsel in distress!



Super awesome girl power aside, Gwen has a fantastic wardrobe, which I love because yay for being smart, stylish, and BLONDE! Like, she is breakin' all the stereotypes! Gwen really likes knit dresses and tall boots when she's at school or interning at Oscorp (a lab coat never worked so well with an outfit) and when she's at home she loves cozy sweaters and flouncy plaid skirts. Everything is very neat, very clean, and very chic.

Want to look school-girl smart and comic-book perfect? Try these to get the Gwen Stacy vibe.


Throwbacks and Comebacks

July 11, 2012

All the best from the fall 2012 couture shows

Couture is always exciting. Couture challenges designers to push the artistic boundaries of fashion to the edge. Everything is fantastical, dreamlike, surreal. Couture focuses on ancient techniques and futuristic technologies alike. Couture is magical.

You've already heard my thoughts on the Christian Dior show, but here are my opinions on the rest of Fall 2012 Couture.

Alexis Mabille

Alexis Mabille is always good for a fantasy-inspired show, full of glimmering gowns and dramatic capes and cuts. The designer used jewels as his inspiration, allowing him to take full advantage of emerald greens, ruby reds, and sapphire blues. Maybe I've just been looking at this Game of Thrones "What Would They Wear?" Blog too much, but I wonder if Mr. Mabille has the HBO masterpiece on his TiVo. Daenerys Targaryen would totally work that shimmering blue dress; Cersei would be sassy as usual in that ruffled cream cape confection; Sansa would look princess-like and innocent in the midnight-blue dress with the bow on the shoulder.

Chanel

For Karl Lagerfeld, fashion can be quite the conundrum. Fashion is all about giving people something new, something fresh, but it is all rooted in the past. For the Chanel Fall 2012 Couture Presentation, the theme was "New Vintage" or a blending of future and past. In true Lagerfeld fashion, the clothes were only part of the presentation: the invite was a pink and grey sketch of Mademoiselle Coco done by Lagerfeld; the space was designed to look like Chanel's original salon de couture (source); the guests sat at white wicker chairs and tables with macarons and other vintage delights. But the clothes were the true stunners. Pink was the color of the night, and girls walked out in sequined skirts and glittering grey tights (and the sure-to-be most-wanted-accesory, sequined knit hats slung back on the models' heads. "New Vintage" indeed. 1930's silhouettes abounded, and yet, as usual, Lagerfeld made everything appear to be almost futuristic! My personal favorite? The dust pink sequin dress with fuzzy pom-poms protruding; I hope the right person wears that dress and kills it!

Elie Saab

Titled In Constantinople's Wake, the Elie Saab show was the usual tour de force that I always look forward to. Sure, perhaps Saab's love of sequins and sparkle can grow to be predictable, but he knows how to create something beautiful each and every time. I enjoy the designer's use of color stories as he transitions from one hue to the next and thus allows the show to evolve with each passing frock: first black gowns in lace, then contrasting ivory and peaches, then soft blues, and finally to golden-tinted neutrals. There are so many red-carpet looks here, as usual, and I cannot wait to see these gowns in action, but perhaps my favorite is the blue with gold brocade, vaguely miltary-esque dress (second from left). There is something so strong about it, and yet the glimmering details soften it, making in a dress of perfect balance.

Ulyana Sergeenko
Ulyana Sergeenko is Russian. If you didn't know that already, you would have figured it out by the time you looked at her debut couture show. Long winter military coats, fur hats and gloves, babushkas: Miss Sergeenko is very interested in her homeland. The street-style star turned designer has proven herself, for her way of dressing certainly carries over to her way of designing. She shows strong silhouettes and makes her style be known, but there is a whimsicality of the collection that makes it lighthearted and, to be honest, fun! Details are exaggerated and proportions are played with (she pairs a fur cap and gloves with a military-inspired bodysuit). Many fear that the theatricality of couture has been lost, now that Galliano is out of the game (for now, at least) but perhaps Sergeenko is the new torch-bearer of fun fashion.

Valentino

Finally, a Valentino collection that doesn't look like the costumes for the movie adaptation of a Jane Austen book! While we are talking about past Valentino collections, I don't think people were this up in arms about the new designers after Mr. Valentino himself left, and today's Valentino collection is far removed from the foundations, unlike Raf's Dior Debut. But I digress... This show was darker than past collections, but there was something very regal about the cut-out velvet gowns and brocade coats in lemons and sorbets. (Oddly enough, Tim Blanks referenced Game of Thrones in his review of the show for style.com; perhaps the show is on every top designer's TiVo these days!) This was perhaps the most ornate Valentino collection created by duo Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli to date, and yet nothing is overdone. Everything is still very aesthetically pleasing and poised, which I'm sure is the point.

Giambattista Valli

If Christian Dior's main inspiration was flowers, then butterflies are that for Giambattista Valli. Valli has been a favorite of mine and I think his is absolutely perfect for couture, and although his couture label is young, it is one of the strongest around. Butterflies were everywhere -hair, belts, even lips- and nature reigned today. Valli is not afraid to be bold, as evidenced by the strong pallet and structure of the clothes presented. The standouts? That forest fairy queen cape and gown (can't you just see Titania of A Midsummer Night's Dream wearing that?) and the sculpted asymmetrical peplums that bring new life to the season's biggest hit. Like his inspirational insect, Giambattista Valli is soaring.

What were your thoughts on all the couture shows?

(images from style.com)

A New Hope

July 3, 2012

*but seriously this is Star Wars epic status

Raf Simons channels Christian Dior's iconic NEW LOOK for his Dior debut

The drama concludes (or has it just begun?) today, as the highly-anticipated Christian Dior couture debut of Raf Simons is revealed. The bloggers are already going absolutely insane with either high praise or high disapproval, but this review is solely my two cents on Mr. Simons' new collection.

Set in an abandoned mansion with five salons walled with reportedly a million flowers, a tailored black tuxedo suit appears on the curving marble runway. From the first look it is apparent that this is not a Galliano show - but that's okay! Because isn't the point of getting a new designer to go in a new direction? Or maybe that's just me.

Peplums and pants are my favorite silhouettes from the show

The channeling of New Look silhouettes is obvious, but Simons does it in a fresh way. Perhaps my favorite looks were the peplum tops, the nipped waists with these exaggerated skirts, all over straight-leg pants. I think those did the best job of utilizing New Look styles while going in a modern direction. This makes me eager to try my own oversized peplum/pants combo.

Now, a common complaint among bloggers is that Raf Simons doesn't "get" couture, or that this show lacked the theatricality of Galliano's couture shows. These complaints are silly for several reasons.

Red Carpet Ready
On the first point, about Simons not understanding the idea of couture (and by that they mean the clothes aren't over-the-top enough) nowhere in the Couture Regulations does it state that couture clothes require a certain amount of beads per square inch or a minimum of 20 yards of fabric per dress. People should also know that most other couturiers aren't nearly as flamboyant as Galliano or Lagerfeld. Look at Bouchra Jarrar who, as told by Nicole Phelps of style.com, "has yet to put a single beaded ball gown on her runway". Couture is about something more than elaborate sets and theatrics - it's about telling a story through beautiful clothing, about showcasing old-style sewing and designing.

On the second point, the whacky sets and over-the-top productions are fun and amusing but can be distracting, and the setting of this show was frankly stunning - beautiful but not so overwhelming that the staging overshadows the clothes.

I think Simons did an excellent job with this first couture collection (and his first ever collection for Dior, which is even more pressure!) and yes, he played it a bit safe with his heritage-based looks, but they were exquisite and flawless in their constructions. People miss Galliano and the excitement, but frankly, the hype that surrounded this presentation made it the most anticipated Dior show in a long while. Raf Simons is not John Galliano, and I am so totally fine with that.

Be sure to check back for more Fall 2012 Couture reviews and let me know what you thought about Raf Simons' debut at Christian Dior!