An ongoing love affaire with all things fashionable, tasty and fun

Posts tagged “Mini skirt

MCLV Style File: Flower Power

Welcome to another Style File post – Our last outfit breakdown was a killer patterned black & white dress that Poppy Delevingne wore to Berlin Fashion Week and this time we’re going to check out a bright, fun outfit that’s a great way to transition to colder weather now that Fall 2012 is upon us.

{Lovely Pepa}

Throwing a floral blazer over a skirt & top combo is a great idea, it takes this from a basic Summer look to an eye-catching, colder-weather appropriate outfit that can easily be adapted to suit your style and the pieces that you have available in your closet.

The extras for this look are especially great – The long, layered necklaces, chunky bracelets, and oversized gold mens watch are lovely but that handbag is what really stole my heart.

{Indulgence to Savvy Shopper – Left to Right: Lc Lauren Conrad Floral Blazer – $50 (sale) @ Kohl’s, ASOS Premium Floral Print Blazer – $55 @ Asos.comTall Co-ord Floral Blazer – $130 @ TopShop}

The key to this look is the floral blazer, finding one that suits your coloring and shape may take some time, but it’ll be worth it since this is such a great piece for Fall.

{Indulgence to Savvy Shopper – Left to Right: Rachel Roy Quilted Wrap Skirt – $175 @ Zappos.com, Vince Camuto V-Neck Wrap Dress – $100 @ Shop The Shoe Box & BCBGMAXAZRIA Silk Ruffle Flounce Draped Skirt – $60 @ 6pm}

You could try a sweet blue wrap skirt for this look or you could opt for a cobalt dress and achieve a similar silhouette. It’s the bright colors and eye-catching accessories that make this look work so you don’t need to stress about copying it piece-for-piece.

{Indulgence to Savvy Shopper – Marmen Cross Necklace – $250 @ Urban Outfitters, House of Harlow Diamond Cross Necklace – $60 @ Designs By Stephene & Multi Row Cross Necklace – $20 @ Asos.com}

Whether you’re a fan of delicate necklaces or chunky, gold jewelry or silver, wearing a single chain or layering multiple pieces – There’s something fun in this style to suit your personal taste!

{Indulgence to Savvy Shopper – Vince Camuto Gold Boyfriend Watch – $175 @ Dillard’s, Gold and White Links Boyfriend Watch – $55 @ Asos.com & Merona Silver Tone Extra Large Boyfriend Watch – $20 @ Target}

A boyfriend watch is a funky alternative to a cuff or bangle, it adds a masculine touch without taking your look straight to made-for-the-boys territory. Gold or silver, embellished or plain, there are tons of options out there.

Curious how I would interpret this look using pieces that I have in my wardrobe? Tuesday’s MCLV Style: Factory Girl post was actually inspired by this look from Lovely Pepa!

{You can shop similar pieces by clicking these hyperlinks: Floral Blazer – Pim + Larkin from Piperlime, Pleated Black Mini – Zara (one of my favorite pieces in my wardrobe, true story), Ankle Booties – Rebecca Minkoff from Shopbop.comFloral Top – Anthropologie, and Jewelry – All from Sasha Maks Vintage

As you can see, you can mix this look up, change colors, and adjust the jewelry to create something fresh and unique, a look that is all yours!

You can also check out past MCLV Style File looks below:


Links You’ll Love

Fashion:

Whether you’re watching the US Open or America’s Cup, a stylish spectator outfit is a must – US Open 2012 from Net-A-Porter.

Are you starting to prepare your wardrobe for Fall? A great skirt with tights & killer boots is always a fabulous option so check out WhoWhatWear’s suggestions for Fall 2012 – Market Watch: Fall Skirts.

One thing that I always look forward to when Fashion Month rolls around are the Garance Dore and Net-A-Porter Fashion Week video collaborations Pardon My French. She talks to fashion greats, reviews the collections, meets designers, interviews fashion insiders, and just generally gives you a great behind-the-scenes look at all of the Fashion Month madness.

You know how much I adore a versatile piece in my wardrobe – especially when it comes to packing for a trip. Refinery 29 clearly agrees – Oxford Shirt Styling Tips: 1 Oxford Shirt, 3 Easy Ways To Style It.

One of the fun Fall trends this year will be finding pieces that have your favorite artwork translated onto them – Whether you’re a fan of the Renaissance Masters or Graphic novels, there are pieces out there for everyone! This Time Tomorrow – Wearing Your Art On Your Sleeve.

Health/Fitness:

Don’t have time for a run? Not interested in the membership fees at your local gym? Why not head online to find the perfect workout for yourself – Fit Club: The Country’s Best Virtual Workouts.

Are you looking for some healthy meals to feed your family to ensure that they’re getting all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that they need? Here are some great recipes to try:

No matter how much time you spend in the kitchen familiarizing yourself with new tools – or re-familiarizing yourself with tools you haven’t used in a while – is an important part of staying on top of things so check out The Blissful Chef’s Cooking Tool of the Month Series.

Medicine and bosu balls are two of my favorite gym toys – If you use them right they can keep your workouts both challenging and fun. Don’t believe me? Check out FitSugar’s Don’t Let the Medicine Ball Intimidate You — 5 Easy Moves!


MCLV Style: IFBCON Day Two

So far I’ve gotten around to sharing with you my adventures at the IFB Conference in New York last week, as well as what I wore on the first day of the festivities, so today I’m here to share my outfit for the second day of the conference.

{You can shop similar pieces by clicking these hyperlinks: Leather Trimmed Skirt – See by Chloe, Leopard Print Collared Blouse – Zara, T-Strap Heels – Zara, Gold Spiked Bracelet – Asos.com & Gold Studded Bracelet – Forever 21}

 

{If you like this look you can HYPE it on Lookbook.nu}

Check out more outtakes from this shoot here – just log into Facebook to view

I actually flew home in this and was impressed by how comfortable the whole outfit was – That’s not an easy flight and an uncomfortable top or bottom can make it all the more miserable. I’ve definitely regretted more than one outfit over the years!

Do you dress up when you travel? It’s something that I’ve always done, because of my old-school love of formality and because I used to have to dress up to travel for sports. I like to be comfortable, but I definitely put in some effort, what about you?


Couture – Front Row Fashion & Street Style

For me, a big part of the fun of a week of runway shows – like the Fall 2012 Couture collections –  is seeing the street style looks that the lucky attendees put together for the shows, dinners, and parties. Seeing how the various designer collections translate to “real life” is inspiring, motivational, and downright fun.

Fabulous! I love the whole two-toned look and how she picked materials and silhouettes that keep it from being too casual. J’adore!

The volume of this mini takes it up a level so she’s right at home sitting front row at the Dior Couture show.

A pretty printed dress is the perfect look for a Dior show and I think that this beautiful flocked knee-length frock is ideal for Couture.

A lipstick red suit it cute enough but when you turn a suit top into a chic little tee with a contrasting black pocket I’m all yours!!!

Little Black Dress + Sequined Clutch + Saddle Shoes = the understated French je ne sais quoi.

Parisian street style chic at its finest – Whether they’re wearing ripped jeans, chic black & white, or a midi, these ladies know how to mix & match their separates for maximum impact.

Bright, flirty florals, a demure silhouette, and a too chic peplum. What a fabulous frock, I’m in awe.

The Russian fashion ladies are stylish and their looks vary dramatically between them. Such great contrasts!

I love a short-suit and this is a stylish example, I really like the chic cut of the jacket and the subtle ruffle along the hem of the shorts. And those shoes… Wow.

Elizabeth von Guttman, Alexia Niedzielski, Shala Monroque, Elena Perminova and Ulyana Sergeenko – All distinctly different looks for Giambattista Valli, but all very chic, well put together, and appropriate. From solid colored separates and midriff-baring tops, to printed suits and floor length florals, the front row is almost as fun as the runway!

The ladies spiced things up for the Versace show and chose edgier outfits, from lace cut outs, to leather, to dramatic stitching. Donatella would approve!

In addition to seeing the looks that celebrities, editors, and other fashion insiders put together for their front row appearances, I love to take a look at the (often heavily made-up) models as they run between runways shows or head out to parties. Model street style is always a great combination of pieces & styles, since they have the opportunity to see so many collections and have exposure to so many designers. Jealous!

I love a colorful maxi skirt and this combination – the basic white tee paired with the metallic pink oversized clutch – is flirty, fun, and perfect for Summer.

Only Hanneli could make a couture Valentino gown look so low-key and street-appropriate.

AMAZING coat + killer heels, what more does a girl need?

I adore the layering here! Cut-off white shorts, a blue & white button-up PJ top, a tan leather motorcycle jacket, ankle booties, retro round sunglasses & a killer two-toned clutch. Such an unexpected combination of pieces, but it works!

And finally, a fashion favorite of mine, hit it girl!

She’s going to couture shows in Paris. French designers. In Paris. I mean, could she have picked a more adorably over-the-top French look?

Sources: Harper’s Bazaar, Tom & Lorenzo, Cristina’s Blog & Mr. Blasberg

 

What’s your favorite look here?


MCLV Style: Workin’ That Tee

Last year I published a post called What NOT To Wear To Work where I discussed, among other things, whether or not a T-shirt could be considered appropriate office attire. Ultimately my conclusion was that while casual graphic and burn-out tees were out of the question unless you work in fashion-forward industries like fashion, music, or film, there were appropriate possibilities out there if you looked hard enough and styled them properly.

 

To make this type of look work you just need to keep the pieces clean and simple, and go for a thick, well-made shirt in an appropriate cut, color, and silhouette for the occasion.

In this case I went with a royal purple Zara Basics t-shirt with cap-sleeves paired with a basic black pencil skirt, round-toed pumps, and a vintage-inspired gold belt.

Tee – Zara Basics, Pencil Skirt – Zara, Pumps – Franco Sarto, Bracelets – JewelMint, Vintage, & Forever 21, Rings – Vintage, Multi-Strand Gold Necklace – Express, and Retro Gold Belt – BCBG

You can HYPE this look on Lookbook.nu, shop similar pieces on ASOS Style Finder, or click the hyperlinks above for some comparable pieces that you can buy.

And believe me, I’m not the only one who enjoys a good tee. Mixing high and low, like adding a basic shirt into a work or night out look, is an art form practiced by many.

A loosely fitted highlighter colored t-shirt can keep a slouchy black suit from being boring or too business-like.

Old-school denim overalls are perfect for a hot summer day and a little white tee is the perfect finishing touch.

If you’re going to work a layering look nothing beats a basic t-shirt. It’s the perfect building block!

You can even roll up the sleeves of your basic t-shirt to give it a more unique and one-of-a-kind feeling.

What better than a basic white tee to pair with denim cut-offs and a vintage style leopard print coat for a walk on the streets of New York City.

Even high-end designers like Oscar de la Renta can’t help but enjoy a good striped tee.

Source

Are you creative when it comes to building new and fun looks using your favorite tees? What do you think about wearing a T-shirt to work – ya or nay?


Summary Saturday

I’m going to take a page out of the fabulous Fashion On Top‘s book blog and make today’s post a summary of what’s happened over the last week on the blog and the other various social media outlets that I post on.

New Blog Posts:

Are you subscribed to the blog and receiving an email when a new post is published? If not, click the SUBSCRIBE ME button on the right hand side of the screen.

Instagram:

Food – While I don’t photograph all of my food or even all of the new recipes that I try, sometimes a meal is just too tasty or too fun to pass up a photo-op. Here are a couple shots that passed the test this week.

SERIOUS munching over here! #Shakti #indianfood #vegan #glutenfree

Snacking. #rawrevolution #synergy #healthysnacks

#cantstopeating #vegan #glutenfree

Fashion – When I can remember I’ll snap a picture of my accessories, handbag, or even my outfit for the day. Most of my Instagram updates are my jewelry though, since its the easiest to capture solo.

Wearing a new dress always makes my day! #sanfrancisco @Zara

Hello lover! @ninewest #fashion #sanfrancisco

Time to switch wallets! @CHANEL @Longchamp_US @HenriBendel #Fendi #Goyard @veneta_bottega

Misc – What I’m best at capturing are all of the random things that happen throughout the day. The frustrations that everyone can relate to as well as the little “I love my life” moments. From outing in San Francisco & weekends away to shopping adventures & meals out on the town to my crazy cats & amazing friends, family, and boyfriend.

“@project_zen SO glad that I moved a block from this spa!!! #massage #spoilingmyself

I ❤ crazy busy days & To Do lists! #stayorganized #busyday #ilovemylife

Sooo helpful!

You can follow me on instagram @moicontrelavie.

Twitter:
 
Here are some of the quotes, articles, pictures, and other fun things that I shared during the past week via Twitter
 
 
You can follow me on Twitter @moicontrelavie.
 
Pinterest:
 
I have 10 boards on Pinterest, each with a different title and theme, here are a few of the pins that made the cut this week.
 
* New Pinterest board created 6/12/2012 – MCLV Style
 
Models Being Models:
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Reading Materials:
 
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Inspiration!!!
 
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La Mode:
 
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Belle Maison:
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Yummy:
 
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Moi:
 
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J’Adore:
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I Use Therefore I Am:
 
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You can follow my Pinterest boards here.
 
FacebookYou can LIKE my Facebook page here.

Lookbook You can see my Lookbook looks here, you can FAN me to get an email update when I post a new look, or you can HYPE my looks if you like them!

I really like the idea of this kind of post since I know a number of my blog readers don’t use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest regularly, so this gives them a chance to take a look at those outlets. What do you think? Do you like having a weekly summary? Should this be a recurring series?

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. 🙂

SkirtVince 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.

Source

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.

Source

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!


Sasha Maks Vintage Jewelry Trunk Show

You had me at vintage jewelry…

Amirite?

I’ve mentioned The Factory in the past, I attended an opening last spring where I purchased one of my all time favorite coats, and I also joined them to celebrated the April Howard Capsule Collection this past December.

The setting is great – an airy, brick-walled loft space in SOMA, and this past Thursday it was once again crammed to the rafters with beautiful clothes. And swoon worthy jewelry.

{Oh, there were people there too. I think. I was busy.}

A special trunk show featuring Sasha Maks Vintage jewelry and all designs featured June 24th in Dior: A Life in Pictures. Shop the unique vintage costume jewelry collection that includes the best of 20th century designs by Dior, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Lanvin and a myriad of unsigned statement pieces.

Unfortunately I had been unable to attend the June 24th Christian Dior exhibit so this was a great chance to catch up on a few of the designs that I missed out on earlier. Beautiful clothing, vintage magazines and photographs, and a phenomenal layout.

I walked down to SOMA to photograph the event and browse the trunk show. And what does a girl wear to a trunk show?

{You can shop similar pieces by clicking these hyperlinks: Striped Pocket Sweater – Everyly via the seriously adorable North Beach boutique Annabella’s, Pleated Black Mini – Zara & Studded Peep-Toe BootiesVince Camuto}

{Black & white + vintage jewelry, of course!}

After admiring the eye-candy and taking pictures, I dove head-first into the gorgeous collection of jewelry. I tried on Chanel charm bracelets, costume jewelry earrings, animal cuffs, giant enamel pendants… And then I was lucky enough to stumble upon a phenomenal tassel adorned lariat necklace designed by Jean Vendome.

It was love at first sight!

I couldn’t wait to take it for a spin so I threw together an outfit on Friday so that I would have an excuse to wear it immediately. I wanted something simple so that the drama of the necklace would be the central part of the look.

{You can shop similar pieces by clicking these hyperlinks: Maxi Dress – BCBGeneration, Nude Sandals – Vintage, Wrap Ring – JewelMint, Gold Wrap Bracelet – Forever 21 & Necklace – Vendome}

You can even check out my new necklace in this Elle Girl Japan editorial below.

Do you like to wear vintage jewelry? What’s your favorite vintage piece that you’ve collected over the years?