MCLV Style: Tiger Tiger Burning Bright
Okay fine, this top is actually adorned with leopard heads not tigers, but once I got that William Blake poem in my head I was determined to use the line as a post title. My deepest apologies for the fuzzy animal inaccuracy. 🙂
{You can shop similar pieces by clicking these hyperlinks: Leopard Head Top – Asos.com, Slim Corduroy Pants – Paige Denim via Bloomingdale’s, Tan Peep-Toe Sandals – Madden-Girl via Nordstrom, Zippered Satchel – OASAP, Large Le Pliage Bag – Longchamp via Saks Fifth Avenue, Retro Gold Watch – Vintage, Geometric Gold Bracelet – BCBG Max Azria, Swarovski Crystal Ring – Gift, Spiked Necklace – H&M & Sunglasses – Oscar de la Renta}
{You can view this outfit on both Lookbook.nu and Pose}
{Check out outtakes from this shoot here – Just log into Facebook to view}
I put this look together for last Saturday’s walk down to SOMA for a photo shoot for an upcoming holiday collaboration with Sasha Maks Vintage and Mystery Mister, and that Longchamp bag I’m carrying was completely filled with shoes, handbags, and other accessories for the shoot. Stay tuned for pictures!
Are you a fan of of the animal print & animal head pieces that are all over the streets and in magazines for the Fall 2012/Winter 2013 seasons?
MCLV Style: Pleats & Peplums
Happy – it’s almost the end of the week – Thursday! To celebrate I’d like to share some of my recent looks so that I can show how hard I’m working to meet my June fashion goals.
I have to confess, one of my favorite parts about having a stand-up desk at work is that I can wear pleated skirts to the office without having to worry about the pleats getting squished by sitting on them all day!
It’s the little things in life. 🙂
Skirt – Vince Camuto from Bloomingdale’s, Wide-strap tank – Zara, Cardigan – H&M, Mary Jane’s – Merona from Target, Rings – JewelMint, Vintage & Juicy Couture, and Watch – Vintage
You can HYPE this look on Lookbook.nu or shop similar pieces on ASOS Style Finder or by clicking the hyperlinks in the outfit breakdown above.
When I saw this skirt I knew that it was going to be mine, I loved both the stripes and the pleats. It’s also a fun length, almost like a cheerleader skirt (which I’ve never worn.,I swear). This whole look was inspired by the brightly colored, stripe-filled Jason Wu for Target Collection. And my love of stripes, of course.
I also recently made my first peplum attempt of the season. I’ve seen so many cute variations of this trend lately – from simple peplum tops to fun & wild peplum dresses – and I wanted to give it a try as well.
Liz from Late Afternoon has a fabulous and one-of-a-kind style, she frequently appears in my Looks of the Week posts, and I took her peplum outfit above as the inspiration for the look that I put together below.
Floral Dress – Vintage from Belle Cose, Peplum top – Zara, Patent (faux) Leather Oxford Booties – Wild Diva, Necklace – Express, Rings – JewelMint, Vintage & Juicy Couture, and Bracelets – JewelMint & Forever 21
In these photos is doesn’t appear that my body type is ideal for the peplum trend, but I decided that it was just the silhouette of the dress I’d chosen to wear under the peplum top. Besides, as far as I’m concerned the highlight of this look is the jewelry anyway. The finger-length floral ring is a recent acquisition from JewelMint and I’m madly madly in love.
Peplum Attempt Take II
Peplum Top – Zara, Pencil Skirt – Zara, Black & White Jacket – Zara, Round Toe Pumps – Very Volatile, Tweed Handbag – Kate Spade, Necklace – Asos, and Rings & Bracelets – JewelMint, Vintage, Forever 21 & BCBG
You can HYPE these looks on Lookbook.nu or shop similar pieces on ASOS Style Finder or by clicking the hyperlinks in the outfit breakdown above.
“I’m a Zara girl, in a Zara world…” I was definitely singing Barbie Girl in my head all morning. 🙂 The pencil skirt did a much better job of complementing the volume of the peplum top than the floral dress that I chose the first day. I’m glad that I gave this another try and didn’t give up after the first attempt was a disappointment!
What do you guys think? Are you willing to try interesting new trends each season? Or do you prefer to stick to your tried-and-true personal style?
A special thank you to my friend Liz for her help with these pictures, I’m an awful subject because I’m so uncomfortable in front of the camera, and I appreciate her never-ending patience with me!
Roadtrippin’
Happy Monday, I hope that everyone had a great weekend!
I was lucky enough to get out of the city for a few days and drove three hours North of San Francisco to stay on the coast in a place called Sea Ranch. A long, long drive with a couple of stops, lots of snacking, and some killer views.
It was the first time that I’ve pulled my boxes of bathing suits and sumer clothes out of the closet this year. Other than vacations, I rarely wear beach gear so I really only keep a limited supply on hand and if specific events come up I tend to head to Union Square… For me warm weather means patterned maxi dresses, sandals, sundresses, and sarongs.
The drive up Highway 1 was curvy and nausea-inducing, but the highlight – aside from the views – was a quick stop at the Candy & Kites shop. Barrels upon barrels of delicious salt water taffy flavors, tons of old-school candy that you haven’t seen in years, and all the kites you could possibly imagine.
Once we arrived at the gorgeous house the fun really began – great wine, lovely company, quality hot tub time, walks along the bluff, games of corn hole, climbing down to the tide pools, tons of food, sitting on the deck getting sunburned…
But what weekend would be complete without a trip into the tiny local hamlet for a taste of the real Sonoma coast?
One of only a couple restaurants nearby is Bones Roadhouse – a fun and eclectic bar & restaurant with views of crashing waves and an interior that’s guaranteed to keep you entertained for as long as you hang out.
Fried oysters and chicken fried steak for the boys, strawberries for me, and Bloody Mary’s all-around!
But as far as I’m concerned, it’s not a vacation until you’ve had a Mai Tai. Family tradition.
Mission completed.
The trip home was foggy so the views weren’t as spectacular, but we did stop at Whole Foods for road trip snacks. Salad bar, rice chips, and mini vegan chocolate chip cookies.
YUM
It was definitely a weekend to remeber, and one I hope to be able to repeat again in the future. Have to say a quick thank you Danny & Kelsey for sharing their family house – the weekend couldn’t have been more enjoyable!
10 Day Style Challenge – Part IV
This is the 4th of the five posts that I’m going to publish relating to the Freckles in April Winter Style Challenge. By way of background, the purpose of this little exercise is to challenge myself to try new styles, put together interesting clothing combinations that I haven’t tried before and learn to look outside the box when it comes to my personal approach to fashion.
If you’d like to catch up on what you missed so far, here are the previous installments: Part I, Part II & Part III.
Day 7: Bright Colors
Winter tends to be a time of blacks, grays and browns. My trips into public places have been awash in people clad in dark neutrals. It fits the weather and, sometimes, our moods, but bright colors have their place in winter too! For tomorrow I want you to add bright color to your winter wardrobe. It can be all over color or a small splash- whatever works for you.
Rather than do an all-over color or even a single neon piece, I wanted to simply do a splash of color to brighten up an otherwise traditional look. Luckily I found some great inspiration on three fashion blogs that I like to frequent on occasion.
What I liked about each of these looks – and what I hoped to achieve with the outfit that I was putting together for myself – was to use the color as a way to highlight and emphasize. A way to draw the eye to certain pieces that I wanted to show off. In this case my accessories – gloves, scarf and gorgeous faux leather planner.
Bags - Vintage & Longchamp, Coat - bought in Rome yeeears ago, Scarf - from Manila market, Dress - Max Studio, Ballet Flats - Lucky, Jewelry - Vintage & Gloves - A gift from my mother
I absolutely love this coat and I was thrilled to be able to make it part of my look after rescuing it from the depths of my closet. Which I have to admit was half the reason that I wanted to do this challenge in the first place, rediscovering buried treasure!
Day 8: Dress Up A Coat
Coats in and of themselves tend to be icing. I think just about everyone who lives in a cooler climate has a decent, good-looking coat that adds instant polish or style to their outfit. The idea of dressing up a coat hadn’t really occurred to me (possibly just because I live in AZ which doesn’t have a real winter) until I saw this post from Elsie at A Beautiful Mess.
Want to know what went through my head when I read this prompt?
THIS IS MINE!!! MIIINE!!! (Insert evil laugh here)
And why, you ask? Because right behind ‘purse addiction’ on the list of reasons why my friends and family will one day send me to rehab is ‘coat fetish.’ I kid. You. Not.
Clearly my issue was going to be narrowing it down. Then I had a moment of blind panic when I realized that I had already worn my two favorite coats. OH. MY. G*D.
P.S. I refuse to apologize for the fact that clothes, my closets and getting dressed make me so emotional – it’s just who I am. 🙂
The next step was to find some direction and then pick which coat would become the foundation of my look. Similar to the great post that Kayla found on A Beautiful Mess, I found a fab Do It Yourself style post that included one of my favorite things in the world – PEARLS. The Beaded Collar Blouse post that Moda, Moda published was a simple-to-follow How To on spicing up a standard blouse with extras like studs, beads or pearls.
Perfect! And while I’m determined to try this out on one of my blouses in the very near future, I didn’t want to do anything quite this drastic to my chosen coat yet so I used this as inspiration and went a slightly different route…
Rather than glue individual pearls to my coat lapels, I deconstructed a couple of costume jewelry pearl necklaces and sewed the strands on either side, under the adorable Peter Pan collar of my cropped coat. As a finishing touch I pinned some cute vintage heart charms to one of the strands of pearls, to give it a retro-feel.
Stay tuned for the final Challenge post next week!
MCLV’s Style File – Miranda Kerr
Welcome back to MCLV’s Style File for a breakdown on this great low-key outfit spotted on Victoria’s Secret model and busy mom Miranda Kerr in Australia a few weeks ago.
What I like most about this look is the high-low combination. The striped dress is stylish but casual and comfortable, the blazer is well-tailored and adds a bit of structure, and the red bag is an eye-catching splash of color that completes the look.
See below for some affordable picks for these pieces:
{Left to Right: G-Star – $78 @ Asos, French Connection – $78 @ Bloomingdale‘s & Swell Paula Dress – $55 @ Swell}
Depending on your mood you could rock a casual black and white striped mini like Mrs. Orlando Bloom, go for nautical-inspired navy & white stripes, or even pair a striped maxi dress with the rest of these pieces.
{Left to Right: Classic Blazer – $98 @ GAP, Boyfriend Blazer w/ Striped Cuff – $98 @ Asos & Cuffed Blazer – $80 @ Victoria’s Secret} A cropped or fitted blazer, boyfriend blazer, or even a casual rolled sleeve blazer would all work well in this outfit. You can follow Miranda’s lead and go for a classic black or navy blazer, but I think that a neutral tan or grey would look lovely as well.
{Left to Right: ADELAIDE Leather Chelsea Ankle Boots – $80 @ Asos, Sofft Cadence – $110 @ Shoebuy.com & Nina Bold – $50 @ Shoebuy.com}
You can give your look a sassy twist with a pair of flat ankle boots or lace-up heeled Oxfords, or you could even try a simple pair of black ballet flats depending on your personal style and – of course – how far you’re planning on walking.
{Left to Right: Longchamp ‘Le Pliage’ Medium Shoulder Tote – $100 @ Nordstrom, Contrast Colored Quilted Handbag – $65 @ Oasap & Kate Spade New York Tote – $175 @ Piperlime}
I know that these bags are a little pricier than the other pieces that I picked out above, but they’re all quality pieces that you’ll really be able to hang on to. I’m a huge fan of Longchamp’s Le Pliage line as well as simple Kate Spade totes, there’s really something for everyone in this eye-catching hue!
You can also check out past MCLV Style File looks below:
Moi Contre La Vie 