Fashion DIY: Gray Suede Boots

I picked up these sassy gray boots from Steve Madden last year.  I like the unique triangular shape to the heels.  However, I'm not crazy about the foldover design.  Because the lining material on the inside of the fold is different,  it's not a matter of just unfolding it.  So I took these to my shoe doctor in Westwood, and he told me these are a total tear-apart project, as he would have to cut off the top part at the ankle, flip it and reverse it.

Yes, he inadvertantly quoted a Missy Elliot song.

I visualized the process as he explained it, and told him it's cool, I got it.  The boots used to look like this:

Here is what they look like now, after I did my cut-off, flip & reverse magic:

I cut the material off at the ankle, turned it inside out (so the lining would be on the inside), then used fabric glue to attach the top parts to the shoe part.  I'm stoked on this.  Will update with what I decide to pair these with!

Spice World

Working through my backlog of pics I've been meaning to write about.  Here's one taken earlier this year when I was narrowing down outfits to take on a Vegas trip.  I had actually picked up this dress on a previous Vegas trip, at the Express in Caesar's Palace, because this reminded me of the little Gucci dress worn by Posh in the Spice World movie.  Girl Power til the end!

[The dress didn't make the cut.  Maybe next time.]

Office Wear

Recently, a client (who is a music industry guy) from work gave my boss free tickets to Jason Mraz.  My boss tried to unload these on me, remarking, "You look like you listen to this stuff.  Take the tickets."  

If you know me, you can prob guess that acoustic guitar strumming, singer-songwriter types are not exactly my fave.  They are so interchangeable to me, I'm actually not 100% positive it wasn't Jack Johnson.  

Anyway, what's cool about that happening is, I feel assured that I do a pretty decent job of creating a separation of work self from real self.  Court days are suit days of course (there is an upcoming suit entry in the works).  So most days, I'm figuring out an appropriate balance of biz-cashe that screams young professional, yet doesn't put me to sleep looking at it.  I really like this look from Banana Republic, and am going to keep in mind that unexpected pops of color and subtle mixing of patterns really punch up boring office wear.

Glamour-maid

One of my fave things to do in this city is go to the Getty or LACMA, and have a drawing day.  I used to do this often when I first moved to LA years ago, back when I had no idea what the heck I was doing with my life.  And now I try to do this whenever I have the time, because in this career path, scheduling calming activities is a necessity.  

I picked up the ol' sketchbook today and saw that my most recent one was from a couple of months ago when inspiration struck while I was enjoying a chill Saturday at LACMA.  Who doesn't enjoy a good/bad pun?

Denim: Just Say No

An acquaintance of mine asked me recently what she should do to punch up her look a little bit. She seems bit bored with her wardrobe, and I think this is pretty common.  If you know what you like and tend to gravitate towards the same types of clothing or accessories, it is inevitable that a certain monotony will appear in your closet.  There was a time when I realized I had 4 indistinguishably similar lacy A-line dresses in my closet.  There was another time when I realized I inadvertently bought the exact same brushed cotton flannel shirt from Nordstrom TWICE.

Anyway, my advice to her was to do something that really helped jump start my wardrobe when I did it several years ago:  Try to eradicate jeans from your collection.  Specifically, get rid of every pair of flared jeans still hanging around your closet.  The last time flared jeans were trendy was 2004; gotta let those go. Same for ill-fitting skinny jeans.  Dependence on jeans as the staple item, or as the anchor for most outfits, was so limiting to my personal style growth.  I didn't even realize how limited my options had been until I threw out all that denim in that fateful closet clean-out so many years ago.

This is the glorious selection that slowly but surely replaced all that needless denim: Skirts (mini, midi, and maxi), leggings, jeggings, leather pants, skinny patterned pants.

Best of all, tights, in a myriad of colors and patterns.

[I love every single one of the looks on this page. Nordstrom Christmas catalog is my fave.]

I'm not saying this will work for everybody.  But when I made the jump and stopped building outfits around jeans, it really opened up a world of other options.  And let's be honest here.  In this city, when you spot a pair of flared jeans, it's usually a correct assumption that the wearer is a tourist from the Midwest.

Boots, My Fave Part of "Fall"

*The term "Fall" is being thrown around loosely here, as it's 85 degrees out and it's early November.  Go home LA weather, you're drunk.*

In preparation for "fall,"  I've started with my annual boot-shopping spree.  Here's my haul so far:

[Gray suede boots- Steve Madden.  Black low ankle boots- F21.  Black platform beauties- Zara.]

I swear I catch a whiff of pumpkin spice-flavored anything and it makes me gag.  I also hate the bulkiness created by layering winter clothes. Boots are the only redeeming thing about fall.   I am STOKED on my new Zara platform lug sole boots.  Leather pants + drapey fur.  Black tights + green plaid for a holiday look.  Silver glittery tights + black collared shirt dress for a (barely appropriate) work look.  So many fab possibilities!

Posh Spice

Dear God, Buddha, Darth Vader, or whatever is up above:

If I ever lose my mind and decide to have kids, please let me be half as glam as Posh Spice.

Seriously, this pic is from the late 90s and she still looks classic.

J. Crew Obsession

I have written in a previous post about my newfound affinity for the Jenna Lyons-helmed J. Crew.  Here's a toned-down version of an inspired look, that I rocked for a beautiful mimosa brunch with friends last weekend:

[Necklace, denim top, pleated skirt- J. Crew, Yellow silk clutch is vintage J. Crew.  Rose gold watch- Marc by Marc Jacobs.  Patent stiletto pumps- Nine West. Pointless story about these pumps:  These are a knock of the Manolo Blahnik model, which I actually own in black.  They look and feel exactly the same, despite a wide price disparity.  I was in Court the other morning for a hearing, and another attorney asked if they were Ferragamo.  These shoes are ubiquitous.  I should've just picked up a knock off version of the black pair as well.]

Here's my best impressions of Jenna Lyons, neither of which ever made it out the front door:

Vintage Dream

The other night, I had a vivid, crazy dream with this cool image that kept cropping up.  I'm pretty sure I saw an art piece like this in passing somewhere, and it just never left me.  I woke up in the middle of the night with the image still etched in my mind, so I busted out a pencil and bristol paper, got the initial sketch going, and went from there.  By about 4 am, this is what I had:

I wasn't going to add a backround, but lately it's been kind of my thing to fill in a weird, unexpected backround color on my paintings.  Gold felt right for this piece.  I have the sickest shimmery gold shade, but I tested it on this type of paper, and it was horrendous.  So I mixed a deep purple shade and threw some make up glitter on it.  Here's the end game:

This ended up reminding me of my friend Danette, because she loves vintage fashion from this time period.   Danette is my old college roomate.  She has become one of my BFFs, and is one of the kindest, most understanding and supportive people I know.  She's one of those people you can count on for anything.  Over the years, she has proven to be an especially thoughtful and creative gift-giver.  From a pile of amazing books carefully picked to fit my personality, to a Paris-themed gift basket, to a surprise housewarming care package.  I definitely dropped the ball when I got her and her husband a stupid  knife set for their wedding.  So I handed this off to Danette for her early BDay present this year.  It's more her vibe anyway.

Style Envy: Jenna Lyons

I have never been a huge fan of J. Crew.  My friend Michael used to be a walking J. Crew ad, and he had incredible style, so I can say I am a fan of the men's line.  For the women's side, I always just lumped Banana Republic and J. Crew in the same category.  It's all nice clothes, professional, inoffensive, maybe a place where I can pop in to grab a dress shirt or suit for work; really nothing special.

Jenna Lyons is the creative director at J. Crew.  She just finished up a guest spot on Girls, as Hannah's stylish and intimidating boss.  I instantly looked up her outfits from the show, and stumbled upon her entire catalog.  Holy. Crap.  This woman is so unbelievably chic!  After analyzing the looks she chooses for herself, I looked at the back catalogs for J. Crew, and these images really clicked with me.  She really incorporates herself into her work.  Everything she personally wears could easily show up, piece by piece, on paper in the lookbook.

The way she styles herself encompasses everything I love about fashion, and so much of what I have been writing about on this blog.

Here are two separate looks incorporating a lovely fur coat.  It works so well in a formal setting, and also in a more dressed-down setting.

The layering with this fur vest is so interesting.  The cross body bag in both looks is a perfect touch.

The contrast of this plain button up shirt with patterns that I would never think to pair it with.  Somehow, it works!  

R.I.P. Vogue

It is not realistic to expect someone I really like on every cover of Vogue.  I don't think Rhianna or Jennifer Lopez are ever good choices for high fashion.  Kate Upton is pretty low-rent as well.  But Kim Kardashian?  I think Buffy said it best:

Vogue is an institution.  Anna Wintour is the IRL Devil who wears Prada.  When I think of Vogue, I think of old school Sex and the City, I think of the era of the classic supermodel, I think of Chanel suits, I think of McQueen ball gowns, I think of the ideal of cutting edge splendor and luxury.  Here are things that will be forever associated with Kim Kardashian: a sex tape, BeBe, and Sears.

Anna Wintour has stated on record that she regrets putting the Spice Girls on the cover in the late 90s.  I understand that a lot of people hated that cover, and argued that the Spices were not representative of the Vogue ideal.  I loved that cover, but then again I was 12 when that cover came out and my bedroom was plastered in Spice memorabilia.  I am trying to be understanding here, but let's be honest, Victoria Beckham would rather gnaw off a foot than collaborate with Sears.

I'll be surprised if the Kardashian taint ever leaves.  Here are some classic covers to mourn what used to be the authority on high-end fashion and luxury. #RIP

[I know it's a Paris cover, but I've seen this image before and I adore it.]

[I remember seeing this issue on the newstand and thinking Madonna as Evita was so glam.]

[Of course I have to include this one.]

Style Envy: Diane Kruger

Diane Kruger was Frau Hammersmark in Inglourious Basterds.  I have no idea what else she has been in, but every time I see pics of her at events, her look is impeccable.

Even for her casual looks, she injects a certain European element.  The best I can describe this, is the ability to mix severely contrasting pieces and making the outfit as a whole look wearable.  This is something I have been trying to master with my own look over the past few years.  I love what she did with the prom skirt here, you barely even notice that the skirt is such a formal piece:

[Cropped T-shirt/ Prom skirt combo.  Stripes/ Patterned bag/ Python sandals combo.  Perfection.]

[Vintage-y dress/ sneakers combo is so offbeat and chic.  How is it possible to be so cute???]

This evening look.  OMG, I die.

[Every element of this look is flawless.  The red lip and nails are the perfect finishing touches.]

SATC and Feathers

In an effort to make use of our usually dormant HBOgo account, I'm re-watching Sex and the City.  I'm in the middle of Season 3, and getting a huge kick out of the outdated tech, fashion, and pop culture references.  In one episode, Samantha was telling Carrie about a cutting-edge new service that guarantees a delivery person bring a DVD movie of your choice to your doorstep "in one hour or less."  I had to laugh out loud, because I was watching this episode from said HBO account on our Roku, which also contains our Netflix and Hulu.  It's hard enough to get us to wait for anything for one minute, let alone one hour.

Anyway, in typing up this blog entry, I can't help but feel a bit like Carrie Bradshaw  After all, isn't a blog in 2014 equivalent to a newspaper column in 2004?  There's a few key differences between Carrie and me: I prefer Brian Atwood to Manolo, I gave up smoking, and Steve is way cooler than Mr. Big.  However, we are both city girls to the core (albeit she the East Coast, and me the Best Coast).  And we both share the same affinity for off-the-wall fashion. Check out this killer feather dress, I knew I had to have this the second I saw it on Jessa:

[I've been trying to hunt this creation down to no avail.  I'm beginning to fear it was custom made.]

And a similar one I also love from the pages of my Teen Vogue from this month:

Wide Leg Pants

No, I'm not referring to the atrocious 90s era Kikgirl or JNCO pants we all wore as kids, but won't admit we wore.  I'm talking about the dressy, classic look of high-waisted pants with impossibly wide leg openings.  Case in point:

I'm a firm believer in dressing to flatter one's body shape, and I used to think that I lacked the right body shape to pull off this look.  Annalynne McCord, the chick from The Hills, and Bar Rafaeli above all are rail thin and have long legs.  If women with this body shape wear wide leg pants, the extra draping fabric of the pants will not make them look like elephants. My concern was that the extra fabric would widen my less-than-rail-thin frame, rather than flatter it.

Then I thought, eff it, I'll try it out anyway.  Here are two attempts:

[Top- Express.  Pants- Nordstrom.  Shoes- Asos.com.  Watch- La Mer Collection.  Belt- Took this off a coat dress I already had.]

[Jumpsuit and Belt- Love Culture.  Platform shoes- Steve Madden.  Watch- La Mer Collection.]

In both attempts, I wore high shoes.  I thought that this created the effect of elongating my frame.  I'm so pleased with the look, that I am on the hunt for the perfect camel-colored wide leg pants.  Future post!