Fall 2008: Long Blazers

I'm embracing the trend of long blazers. Marc Jacobs introduced long blazers into his Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall 2008 collection and I like the way he did it. The belt with the blazer I think works best. This makes it so I still look tall even with a longer blazer because the waist is accented. I can't wait to try this look out! I have a black long satin blazer now all I need is a belt to go with it.

Celebrity Inspiration

These are black skinny jeans that I love and with the brown bag it looks so good.

Need Right Now

I want these T-strap sandals or any sandal that looks like this. As much as I love the gladiator sandal trend I feel like it will go out of style soon...very soon. So I want a safer option for sandals that will still look cute next season. These sandals I am loving at the moment from Victoria's Secret for $45. I'm going shopping to hopefully find something just like these and if not I'll order these online.

Celebrity Inspiration

I love this outfit and I have shoes exactly like Penelope's. Now all I need is a dress like hers possibly the same color, however, I was thinking about a teal dress. Would that still look great with the same shoes? I think so...

I've Been Dreaming of a Great Jacket...

This Summer I've been watching lots of HGTV and TLC's What Not To Wear. It's what I do when I'm bored. Add some Discovery Channel Man Vs. Wild and The Soup and that's my main TV schedule. Well back to the point, I love Stacy and Clinton On What Not To Wear. The clothes they choose are great, they work well with every body type, and they really do look put together. What I've realized is that with every episode they stress the importance of a great fitting jacket. I listened to that information totally agreeing then slowly noticing that I don't own a great fitting jacket!! Well now I'm on the hunt for a great jacket and here are my ideas for what I want (I'm still unsure but here are my options):

From Top to Bottom:

1. Cotton Blazer-Pic from American Eagle


2. Corduroy Jacket-Pic from Victoria's Secret


3. Leather Jacket-Pic of Rachel Bilson in Rome (This option is my ideal choice. If I can find a jacket like this one I will buy it)

I really want a jacket especially the one like Rachel Bilson is wearing and I feel like I need one soon, seeing as what Clinton Kelly and Stacy London always say:

"A structured jacket is the best way to camouflage a tummy. It has a built-in hourglass shape," Kelly says. "If you don't necessarily have an hourglass shape, then it makes people think you do. The jacket does the work for you."

I'm going to continue this What Not To Wear themed post in the future and mention the other necessities Stacy and Clinton talk about: The structured jacket, the straight-leg trouser, the pointy-toed shoe and the A-line skirt.

More Rachel Bilson Inspiration

SO cute.

Haute Couture: Lacroix

Here is my Haute Couture inspiration done more mainstream. Dress is from Victoria's Secret, Scarf is just a black scarf with ruffles (I don't know exactly where you'd find one, but a black scarf works well too.) Then there is black opaque tights with Jessica Simpson shoes to look like the ones from the runway. Here's the look for less! Just add gothic make-up.

Covet of the Week

These Nine West Gaulla sandals are exactly what I' looking for: a chunky heel and gladiator style, but unfortunately they don't come in my size. :(

Rachel Bilson-Style Muse

I thought I'd post these pics because I love Rachel Bilson's style and these are some of my favorite looks from her. The first outfit is so casual and chic I think it looks amazing.
I love the vibe from the second outfit. Wearing this while walking down the street looks great and it serves as inspiration for me to choose an outfit.

WANT/NEED

This Jonathan Saunders dress I think looks amazing! I would love to wear it with black tights and pumps. The red and gradient color works really well with this dress. Please may I have it!!!!

Celebrity Style

Blake Lively & Miranda Kerr:

Here's a double look at celebrity fashion. Both Blake Lively and Miranda Kerr were seen out in New York wearing two inspiring looks. Blake Lively is seen here in a light khaki jacket, jeans, and black boots. A great winter outfit that looks classy and very fashionable. Mirand Kerr is in another similar outfit. Miranda is wearing a black blazer, white sweater, grey jeans, and black ankle boots. Easy to recreate and super cute, here are two wonderful looks for winter.

Grey's Anatomy Fashion

While the TV show Grey's Anatomy is nowhere near the style icon as Sex and the City or Gossip Girl, I still love the show and the fashions of the characters on the show. It's hard to find the characters in anything other than scrubs (trust me it was quite a challenge finding pictures), however their is a distinct fashion for Grey's Anatomy. Set in Seattle, the fashion is typical of the city. Lots of sweaters and coats in nuetral colors. Not what you'd see on the streets of L.A.

Meredith's style is my favorite. It's very classic and sophisticated. She likes to wear dark wash jeans and cute sweaters. The fashion is what you would expect from an intelligent women in the medical field. That's why I like the fashion on Grey's Anatomy. This is what incredibly smart people wear when they aren't adorned in their scrubs saving lives in the hospital. The style can be seen as conservative, but there is a fair amount of variation.

Callie's style varies from Meredith's style. Callie wears leather coats and a sexy tops. When the gang goes to the bar, you see a different side of their clothing personalities. This is where they have more fun with their style and "let their hair down" so to speak.

Celebrity Style

Rachel Bilson:

This is the outfit that made me finally decide Rachel Bilson was going to be one of my style icons. The outfit is edgy, but cute something that I think Rachel does really well. The shoes (which are awesome) subtly compliment her bag, the jacket and pants are the basics to the look while also being interesting to look at, and then the scarf brings a pop of color to the outfit. Rachel's style is one that I adore and I definitely look to her for inspiration.

Another Fashion Inspiration

From the Erdem Fashion Show, this dress interested me because of its color combination (I know I get a lot of inspiration from color choices). The pink, red, and grey all look so great together and then the black from the model's hair looks amazing with the other colors. So here's my casual clothes attempt at imitating the color choices from the Erdem Fashion Show. I have a red tank from Victoria's Secret, grey jeans and black boots from Victoria's Secret, a pink scarf from GAP, and a black jacket from Kenneth Cole Reaction. It's definitely not the same look, but the colors are there and that's what inspired me. I don't have black hair so I chose a black jacket and black boots, the red and pink on top are the focal points for this outfit, and then the jeans represent the grey element. I'll wear this look in the Fall sometime when I want a colorful outfit.

Fashion Inspiration

Since we're on the topic of dresses here is an outfit worn by Cameron Diaz that I fell in love with. I know this is from a long time ago, but I'm just really inspired by the color combination here. The turquoise jewelry with the fuchsia is atypical, but it works wonderfully. My way of incorporating her look is this way:

• Bustier Halter Dress from Victoria's Secret $65


• Turquoise Necklace (this is one I found from Google shopping for $19) however, my mom owns a lot of turquoise jewelry and I would just borrow a necklace from her to complete the look.


• Shoes-A nude pair of strappy high heels

I guess that means I need a red plaid dress and a fuchsia dress!

WANT/NEED

Isn't this dress amazing? I love it! It's from http://www.bluefly.com/ and it's by Vivienne Tam. Something about this dress makes me want to charge the $169.99 to my credit card without even thinking, but I can't quite afford that, even if the dress is fantastic. I mean can you imagine black tights and black pumps worn with this dress? It would look soooo good. I love that it looks a little rocker-chick, punky hot, but it's still sophisticated. I think my next dress will be red plaid, but I looked around online for other red plaid dresses and none of them looked as chic as this one, but I'll keep my eyes open for a look-alike of this dress.

7. Handbag

And lastly, the perfect handbag. Here I show my Lust (Chloe) and my more realistic choice (Diesel). I NEED a bag for school. And while I would love to carry around a Chloe bag like Mischa, realistically I can't afford it alas I still really like this bag from Diesel but it's $74 which is still a little expensive. Honestly though, the Diesel bag is much much more affordable than the hefty Chloe price tag....but I'm still unsure. I'll debate it some more until school starts.

From Top: Mischa with Chloe, Diesel

6. Little Black Dress and Little White Dress

I LOVE both of these dresses and it's easy to change their looks. For my LBD I can wear tights and interesting jewelry to vary its appearance. With my LWD I add a nude colored belt and nude shoes for a Spring look or I add black tights and a pink scarf for Winter.

From Top: Alexia Admor bluefly.com, Victoria's Secret

5. Work Sweaters

I know they're useful, but generally I think they're a little boring, but for work they are great and kind of like a blank canvas in my mind. They're also great for when you wake up super early in the morning and can't really think properly enough to create an outfit, just grab one of these and go.

From Top: GAP, Hayden bluefly.com

4. Colorful Tops

My uniform that I sometimes feel like I follow is: jeans-hoodie-neutral color coat-and splash of color in top. I pick colors that I like on my skin tone (reds, pinks, blues/turquoises, purples). These shirts add interest that I need to my outfits.

From Top: Victoria's Secret, Hollister, PacSun, Hollister, Victoria's Secret

3. Brown Clothes (My Neutral)

One day I fell in love with the idea of wearing brown for my winter coat. I thought "OMG! My hair is brown-thus a brown coat would look fantastic with my hair!" So I bought a brown coat (which I do love) and some more brown pieces and now I think it's out of my system...for now.

From Top: Overstock.com Boston Harbour, Hollister, Tommy Hilfiger

2. Hoodies (with zipper)*

I LOVE layering with hoodies. I have a navy one, 2 grey ones, and a black one. I think I skipped cardians and chose hoodies in their place. What can I say? I like the option of covering my head :) I know Hollister isn't the most highly looked upon brand in the fashion world, but I wear them because they are comfortable. EXTREMELY comfortable and for me I don't particularly like HOLLISTER written over the front, but I deal because they truly are very comfortable. One day I might be able to afford 100% cashmere hoodies, until then I'll wear these.

*The zipper thing: I always pick hoodies with zippers so I can easily take them off without messing up my hair. Simple vanity.

From Top: Hollister, Hollister

My Wardrobe Basics

1. Jeans (skinny, straight leg, bootcut)

I typically buy jeans from http://www.victoriassecret.com/ because for some reason they fit me the best, while I know there are some other brands that I look terrible in. Jeans are essential for my wardrobe. In terms of washes, I have lighter washes, mostly darker washes, and an adored grey pair. I've considered black, but I haven't found the perfect skinny pair with nice stitching.

From Top: Just Jeans, Victoria's Secret, Victoria's Secret