Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Clogs?

I am extremely torn. On the one hand, I wore clogs everyday as a child. I had red, purple, flowered... I had a lot of clogs. On the other hand, I think they're kind of ugly. But now I'm seeing them everywhere (thanks a lot Chanel) and I'm starting to remember how comfy they are...

If I was to get clogs I think I would get any of these from Swedish Hasbeens:

Braided Sky High, $240


Wedge Heel, $218.95


Peep Toe Super High, $238.95

Daily Ensemble: liberty prints

Between passover, tech week for a new show, and school I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, but I'm sorry for the lack of posts! It's been raining in New Haven for three days, but they're saying it will be 80 on Sunday so I'm keeping my figures crossed. I'm wearing my new liberty for target skirt today (it's for little girls, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do).



Wearing: jcrew cardigan, old navy tank, liberty of london for target skirt, ? grey tights, marais oxfords

Friday, March 26, 2010

Daily Ensemble: french pumpkin

M, R and I are heading to the big Goodwill in a little while. I'm so excited, the last time M and I went it was out of control. I got a fur fest for $10. Today I have to get costumes for a show, but I'm sure I'll have a little time to look around for myself.


Wearing: diy heaband, vintage coat, gap scarf, bdg jeans, sea of shoes for uo booties

I love this coat so much. And I always get lots of compliments, but the funny thing is they are always from girls. Boys think this coat is weird, and more than one guy friend (or boyfriend) has told me I look like a pumpkin.


Wearing: diy heaband, uo striped shirt, bdg jeans, sea of shoes for uo booties

I love these shoes. They are designed by Jane Aldridge, the author of the wonderful blog, Sea of Shoes.


Thursday, March 25, 2010

Daily Ensemble: how to fail a test

Big test today. Ah well, I guess I wasn't meant to be a scientist. Failing tests sucks. My three tips for working through the pain:

1. Wear pearls. At least you'll look good while failing.

2. Bring a used pencil. There is nothing worse than starting to answer the first question on a test and realizing that your pencil squeaks. And then everyone stares daggers at you.

3. Have a plan. R. makes fun of me for this but I have very rigid test rules. Two nights before I go to sleep early after studying throughout the day. The night before I study, relax and then do a final look over my notes before going to bed. (Insert snack breaks whenever needed, last night I had an egg cream procured by the aforementioned R.) The morning of the test I get up early, have breakfast and then I read something other than my notes before going to the test. This helps, I swear. It's like you're giving your brain a rest.


pearls from an antique store in Michigan



Wearing: anglo-american optical glasses, vintage pearls, UO shirt, wilfred belt, jbrand jeggings, repetto ballet flats

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

André Leon Talley comes to visit

Today Ezra Stile college hosted a master's tea with Vogue's editor-at-large, André Leon Talley. It was pretty incredible to hear his thoughts on everything from America's Next Top Model to Marie Antoinette.



The moderator seemed to want to talk only about his autobiography, which was definitely interesting but not exactly what I was expecting. Talley talked about his childhood, time at Brown, and his relationships with his grandmother, Andy Warhol, and Karl Lagerfeld to name a few.

He also talked a lot about his fashion influences, citing Marie Antoinette and Saint-Simon several times.


That is an embarrassingly huge grin, but I was pretty excited!


Talley was wearing one of the custom capes that Chado Ralph Rucci made for him to wear on ANTM. I was wearing a jcrew sweater, ba&sh sequin shorts, assets tights, and opening ceremony boots

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Currently Loving: polka dots

Inspired by my new computer case:


from cath kidston

I have fallen in love with all things polka dotted.

Polka dot hair bow ($2.50)

From another's treasure

A polka dot bag and computer case might be a little much...oh well, I still want this vintage Gitano bag ($22)

From some girl's vintage

Peter pan collar + polka dots = the best ($70)

From tiny vintage wardrobe

The perfect shoes for a full polka dot outfit ($17)


Forever 21 is also rocking the polka dots ($17.80)


An extremely cute take on the classic denim mini ($19.90)

Look for Less: Chloe pumps

These shoes are amazing.


Image via the cherry blossom girl
And considering what Chloe shoes cost I assume they're way out of my price range.

Thank goodness for Pour La Victoire. They just launched their new wedding line and the Antoinette pair is a dead ringer for these Chloe's. (All they're missing are the diamond embellishments on the strap, I feel a DIY coming on...)


Available exclusively at zappos, $202

DIY: pom pom headband


I am obsessed with these headbands from Sonia Rykiel.

I'm thinking of using this DIY from once wed to make a slightly pared down version.



There is also a great yarn pom pom DIY here. Decisions, decisions...

P.S. I also have a test on thursday which is going to require a great deal of studying so posting might be light for the next few days.

Research Find of the Day: Foxe's Book of Martyrs Frontispiece


Click on the picture for a larger image

I'm in a truly amazing class this semester, The Historical Imagination in Early Modern England. Most of our classes are spent in the Beinecke Rare Book Library, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Sterling Memorial Library Map Collection. All three of these are incredible resources which are under utilized by Yale students. But I digress.

A few classes ago I became completely enamored with the frontispiece of the 1632 edition of John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Briefly, the book of martyrs is a history of Christian martyrs from the 1st century through the early 16th century, with an emphasis on the martyrdom of English protestant martyrs. Cheery right?

What is so interesting to me is that this frontispiece IS cheery. It has wings with a love poem, animals, birds and bees. It reminds me of a Valentine. I especially love all the baby animals.

My delightful professor Mia Genoni asked Beinecke to make a digital image for me, so now I can share it with you. And eventually I will use this in some paper or another. Because it is amazing. Did I mention the bees?

Daily Ensemble: fresh start

It's rainy and dreary here in New Haven, but my new floral skirt from Zara is helping to keep my spirits up. Also helping: the giant brownie I am eating as I type this.




Wearing: UO tshirt, jcrew elephant necklace, zara skirt, jcrew tights, opening ceremony boots

Monday, March 22, 2010

Look for Less: Wedges

Wedges like this:


Christian Louboutin, $535 at barneys

have me foaming at the mouth (definitely not attractive) and searching for a reasonably priced alternative.

Both of these are under $100.


Banana Republic, $98


Vince Camuto, $97.95

Congratulations are in order

I'm sure Leah is going to kill me after I post this, but I know a lot of you enjoyed her guest posts and I just wanted to let you know that she has been accepted at the USC Theatre School.


I also don't know how she thought she could leave this on my computer without me posting it

I'm so proud of her, she's an amazing actress and a great sister. Yay Leah!

Daily Ensemble: Joan of Arc

That's who R. thinks I look like today. Joan of Arc. Boys are weird.


forever 21 hairpin, forever 21 dress, assets tights, stuart weitzman boots

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Currently Loving: green nail polish

My friend L says that green is her her nail polish color. And I will admit that she wore green nail polish long before anyone else I know.

Light green nail polish seems to be showing up everywhere, especially after Chanel's Jade polish was so incredibly popular.



I don't really follow nail polish trends but when I saw this color I was intrigued. When I was getting my nails done this week I decided to venture away from my usual spring color (OPI Fiji) and try something new, OPI's Gargantuan Green Grape.



I have gotten so many compliments! What do you think?


Thursday, March 18, 2010

Wardrobe Redux Part Deux

Leah and I are continuing our wardrobe update and today we hit up Jcrew, Banana Republic and Old Navy.

We found great work pants at Banana Republic and moved onto Jcrew in search of some cardigans. Even with my student discount of 15% those things are so expensive! We especially liked the ones with applique flowers but a simple merino cardigan like the one below was $98. We moved onto Old Navy slightly discouraged. (Though I found a very cute pink and white striped shirt.)



We weren't really finding anything at Old Navy until we came to a table with cardigans, when we realized that they were almost exactly like ones from Jcrew, except $26. These were cotton rather than wool (which is a plus for Leah because she hates itchy things) and they came in several colors.


You could buy three of these sweaters for the price of one from Jcrew

Score Old Navy: 1 Jcrew: 0

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Currently Loving: heart sunglasses

I know I just talked about the importance of classic sunglasses and I stand by that. But sometimes you just want to have fun, especially when there are so many cheap options out there which are perfect for a season or two, not forever.

When we were in the airport in Cancun we were wandering through duty free when my friend Louisa pointed out the most adorable heart shaped sunglasses by Juicy Couture. (Disclaimer: I hate Juicy. It is a prejudice passed on from my mother and I will never ever get over it. No one should walk around with the word Juicy on their butt. No one.) The sunglasses were $100 which sent me on a hunt for a cheaper option.

These started the hunt


A cute option from fred flare ($11)


From Kohls ($12)


I think these look almost exactly like the Juicy pair, from Urban ($10)


There are several options on ebay, like these pink ones for $10 (click here to buy)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

10 essentials

I've been seeing a lot of people talking about their ten essential wardrobe items. This exercise only works for me if I do warm weather and cold separately, and since spring is upon us I thought I'd do warm weather essentials. Here they are!

1. Repetto ballet flats
I hate sandals. My favorite footwear for warm weather are soft leather flats in an unexpected color. I have these in bright yellow, cobalt blue, and black with stars on the toe. I'm loving this soft pastel green for spring.

From Mytheresa

2. Full skirt
When it's warm I love to have my legs bare. My favorite skirts are high waisted and full. I wear them with tap shorts underneath just in case of a strong wind!

From Jcrew (and on sale!)

3. Soft shirt
My favorite super soft shirts are from Gap or Madewell. The Madewell shirts are pretty see-through so I usually layer a tank underneath.

From Gap

4. Cashmere cardigan
I can't go anywhere without a cardigan, I get cold easily!

From Jcrew

5. Classic sunglasses
I am not a huge sunglass person. Which is why I was so thrilled to find these super simple Tory Burch sunglasses on a recent trip. I have a small face so I have to pick carefully, I don't want to look like an insect!

From Bloomindales

6. Hair bow
I like bows. I can't help it, they're sweet and they keep my hair out of my face which is especially nice when it gets hot out. I usually make my own, but sometimes I can't resist buying them from Forever 21 and Urban.

From Forever21

7. Floral sundress
I like for my dresses to have a defined waist and to be on the shorter side. Both of these help short people (me! me!) to look taller.

From Topshop

8. Jean jacket
I was ambivalent about denim jackets until I found the perfect one. Mine is a fitted motorcycle jacket from Erin Brinie. I can't find a picture of it online but I'm loving this darker wash by Cheap Monday.

From Shopbop

9. Across body bag
One of my favorite things I have ever bought is my Chanel bag. I saved and saved and scoured the internet and I finally found one on ebay. I messaged the seller and she agreed to sell it to me for much lower than her buy-it-now price because she was moving and wanted to get rid of things. I love my bag so much, and the search made it all the more special.*


10. Comfy heels
I love dressing up when it's warm out. You don't have to worry about coats and scarfs and you get to wear cute open toed shoes. I am on a hunt for the perfect pair of spring heels. I'm loving the wooden wedges I'm seeing everywhere.


*I buy a lot of bags online but I always make sure to get them authenticated by the amazing ladies over on the purse forum. I highly recommend doing this. They are very nice and incredibly knowledgeable.