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!