Fall Find

Fall Find! yes, I do plan on extending this "fall" alliteration trend (Autumn Alliteration!) as long as possible (hopefully you caught my previous post: Feelin' Fall)... ANYWAY: Recently, while indulging my online "window shopping" addiction I stumbled across a fairly new (2006), and local (to the SF Bay Area - Emeryville, CA) online boutique: Nasty Gal, which stocks new and vintage styles.  I've never ordered from them at this point, but I'm definitely a fan of the website, I certainly recommend it as a source for styling inspiration.

lace top, faux-fur jacket, trench, striped skirt, floral dress, romper

Of course any advocate of short skirts and knee-highs is a friend of mine... just not a look I ever get sick of.  Speaking of short skirts, how old is too old to pull one off?

A very yucky birthday is fast approaching (I've never been so old!) and it's had me wondering about dressing one's age, and when that becomes something one has to consider.  No, I am not an obese grandmother of ten running around in mini-rompers and knee-highs, but still, at what point should this sort of thing become a concern??
Tell me honestly, darling readers, I need your input!

Hope you enjoyed the looks above, and I hope I did not offend any obese grandmothers... any grandmother reading my blog is officially awesome and has my full support in mini-romper wear... You go Grandma! xo, Caitlin

Lingerie Lundi! Dans le Boudoir

This weekend while researching for my weekly Lingerie Lundi feature I came across a wonderful post at Frou Frou Fashionista, a luxury lingerie blog. The owner posted pictures of her personal "boudoir makeover", which I found totally inspiring, and wanted to share here with you:

Aren't these lovely?! Definitely click on the images above to view the high-res versions of these images, there is so much detail in each.  I have always always dreamed of a "boudoir"/dressing room/space entirely dedicated to all my pretty, girly things but so far have never really had the space.  This does inspire me, however, to clean things up a bit, and make use of what I've got.

All my love dearest readers.  And hey, don't risk missing out on my fabulous OUFI London, genuine leather clutch giveaway! You have until tonight at 8pm PST to enter. xo Caitlin

Lingerie Lundi! (almost)

Well I know you've all been waiting with baited breath... but sadly you're regularly scheduled Lingerie Lundi post must be postponed until tomorrow.  Scholarly expectations at my particularly demanding educational institution have meant little to no sleep (I'm going on 40+ hours), which leaves my brain fried and an inadequate allowance of time devoted to the bloggy.

In any case, the post I will publish tomorrow is going to be particularly awesome and involved.  It is inspired by a Reader Mail query regarding the application of the "Underwear as Outerwear" trend to the workplace.  I'm really excited to share to my ideas, the inspirational pieces I have found, and my opinions on styling and balance.

To tied you over...

Miraslava Duma, workin the look in Margiela and Chloe (via Jak&Jil)

Check back tomorrow for the full story. xo, Caitlin

THE Pre-Weekend Party Post!

Love this!  BFFs on the town featuring Poppy Delevingne and Isabelle McNally:

Outfits inspired by the video:


Are you a Poppy?
top, LNA; necklace, TOM BINNS; jacket, Theory; jeggings, Siwy; booties, Loeffler Randall; bag, Rebecca Minkoff.  Collage by PourLamourdeFashion.

Or Isabelle?
dress, Pencey; boots, Jeffrey Campbell; fedora, Goorin Bros; jacket, Ever; bracelet, Dogeared; bracelet, Lizzie Fortunato Jewels. Collage by PourLamourdeFashion.

Have a great weekend party-girls, hopefully with your BFFs. xo, Caitlin.

a Sunday Kind of Love...

Bed

by andreas von einsiedel

Breakfast (and blogging) in Bed

by Rita Konig

a Trip to the Sunday Market

(mine being, the Temescal Farmers' Market)

Cooking for a boy

Photo by Corrie Bond

BFFs

Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin

Hair, Eyelashes

Celia Hammond, 1962 by Terence Donovan

Familia

S/S '10 Missoni family ad campaign by Juergen Teller

Seamus the Wonder Pup

my parents home

Winning!

I just learned I am the winner of Simply Luxurious' oh so generous reader giveaway! Treats, eats, style... I'll be stalking the mailman until this arrives.

I want a Sunday kind of love
A love to last past Saturday night
And I'd like to know it's more than love at first sight
  I want a Sunday kind of love - Etta James

Happy Sunday my loves, happy Easter if you're celebrating, and happy day off if you're normally working. xoxo, Caitlin.

...also, a song that makes you cry a little:

She & Him, "You Really Got a Hold on Me" MTV Canada. July 23rd, 2008.

It's a school day... Style Profile (I just like to get a rhyme in)

Saw this video - She & Him (Zooey Deschanel, songwriter, and M. Ward, producer), In the Sun,  and was immediatly obsessed/watched it multiple times in a row/downloaded all their albums/watched all their videos:

(discovered via Haute Whimsy)

I feel like I was made for a choreographed high school hallway dance scene... I probably tried to initiate a few when I was that age that did't quite catch on as I had hoped.  Remember this gem?
Aw Brit, it's emblematic of my Freshman Year experience (doesn't need capitalization, it's a choice.. I think), also, preformed by myself and my freshmen peers during homecoming week to mixed reviews...


Zooey Deschanel is one of those people who is so lovable you sort of don't want to love her. Like it's just so obvious. Anyway, this post may be terribly redundant but, I love her! and hate her a little! and she is so so stylish. On stage, on screen, wherever.  Her style is very retro quirky, lots of tights and flats and almost always a headband or bow in her hair.  Also maybe a bumpit in her hair?  nooo, just great hair... and some backcombing.

Images of She & Him via Last.fm, cropped, edited, collaged by pourlamourdefashion 

She's pretty cute.  And dorky!  She's a winker, and plays the ukalele.  Here are my day and night interpretations inspired by her look:

Anthropologie shirt dress, belt, Seychelles heel, Frye flat, bow headband, rose headband, Nars Orgasm blush and lip gloss. Collage by pourlamourdefashion

Mod Cloth party dress, Kenneth Jay Lane earrings, Anthropologie headband, Commando tights, Kimchi Blue flats, T-strap heel, Dior liner and mascara. Collage by pourlamourdefashion

yayyy fashion!  and adorable songs!  and choreographed high school hallway dance sequences!

xoxo mes amours, Caitlin

Inspirations du Weekend (brunette babe edition)

Jane

Sophia

Penny

Diana

Raquel


That's all, not Fashion so much, but Style, and lots of Hair.
Have an amazing weekend belles filles (et peut-être garçons, pourquoi pas?), xoxo.

Dream Home du Jour/A little hoarding is A-Ok

ohhh, sitting here in my trashed apartment, where one must wade through piles of clothes ankle-deep just to cross the room/ in near darkness, no less, stubbing toes on the clunky shoes strewn everywhere, because my overhead light, too high up to tend to myself, is dead and I could never let my landlord, or anyone, see this disaster/ starving, because my kitchen is useless without a single clean dish (dinner was a lime popsicle)/ I wish for self-discipline, follow through (clean the apt has been on the to-do list for a week), a housekeeper, a simpler, cleaner, less colorful, cluttered, and hoarder-esque decorating sensibility (bff calls it "organized chaos", not sure where she is getting the organized), and (obv!), Niecy Nash (Linsay Lohan - secret celebrity hoarder??  checkitout)...

However, instead of cleaning, I find myself collecting inspiring images of my super clean, airy, not-cluttered, someday house, images I'll share here to give some relevance to my procrastination:

Elle Decoration Magazine December 2002 via moodboard

Elle Decoration Magazine December 2002 via dress design decor

homes and gardens magazine via dress, design and decor

above via sterling style

via moodboard

someday...

I mean, I don't want to become a celebrity hoarder like Lindsay, but it is really hard for me to get rid of things, and many times I end up grateful for that.  For instance, I just came across a pair of shoes buried in some box of shoes in my parents garage.  They are these awesome vintage, brown, 70's looking, wood-soled platform sandals.  And I love them now!  and have worn them twice in the past month.  Also, when going through my closet trying to get rid of things, I found this long-sleeved, black, off the shoulder, leotard-type top I bought from Forever 21 my senior year of high school.  I pretty much had only been keeping it in case I took a ballet class or something and wanted to be style-y (hey, I might take a ballet class, one never knows), but when deciding whether or not to keep it, I tried it on with a high-waisted skirt and a long necklace and now I am pretty much in love with it, after eight years (ahhh I'm old...).  Anyway, I'm not sure what the moral of that story is; a little hoarding is okay?  

I just want to get organized mostly, and actually figure out what I have.  Right now I have the biggest closet of my life and it still doesn't nearly fit everything all my clothes and shoes.  Still, when I do start to go through it all, as I have been these past couple days, I come across these great clothes that I've forgotten about and I actually feel guilty - like I've neglected all these perfectly good things while crying about having nothing to wear.  Anyway, I've said it before and probably will say it again, but I am going to get as clean and as organized as possible, then commit myself to keeping it up as best as I can (at least until I have a housekeeper... or Niecy Nash).

Sweet Dreams, Beauty Queens

xoxoxox

Les Looks du Printemps of which Je Meurs

image via lucky mag clog roundup

Swedish Hasbeens! I have coveted these shoes since I saw a different style on a favorite blog, bunnyshop.org, last year. Unfortunately these are $243, and I have committed myself to putting my tax return towards my (maxed-out) credit card, so I probably won't be getting a pair this year either.

Miu Miu S/S '10, Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere.

Shabd S/S '10.

Sadly these looks are not courtesy of H&M or F21... Miu Miu, Phillip Lim, and Shabd... sigh,  someday I will be such a famous fashion blogger designers will be sending me these things just for the shout out; til then... dare to dream?

Anway, this blog is all about fashion as inspiration, and I think all of these looks are beneficial in that regard; not as specific pieces we must have, but as greater wardrobe inspiration.  These beautiful Spring colors are going to be everywhere, and these shapes and styles aren't exclusive to Miu Miu or Phillip Lim either.  Luckily for those of us with slightly more meager budgets, more affordable lines look to the high fashion shows for inspiration, just as we do, and put out versions accessible to the rest of us (though believe me, I'm all about intellectual property/fashion as art, and would never ever ever buy an actual knock-off anything, totally against it).

Innnnn conclusion, I know I'll be watching for dresses in these shades of blush, and something the shape of the second amazing Shabd dress (check out the link above to see all of her hand-dyed pieces, they are so so so gorgeous).  The Hasbeens are somewhat more affordable (well, a million times more affordable than the other looks), and they seem like the sort of shoe that will last forever, and never really go out of style. 

Man, now who wants to go shopping?! Fo real. 

xoxo mes poupées.

Top 5: Inspirations du Jour

Emmanuelle, image via dress, design, decor


Pandora, image via Stockholm StreetStyle


also Pandora, image via Haute Design


Miroslava Duma, image via Haute Design

and finally...

Chloe staffer leaving Paris Spring/Summer 2010 show, layered with Chloe bags, mon dieu! image via JAK & JIL blog

well... now I'm inspired! I also want to shop. and be French. and work for Chloe. I'm also strangely craving a crab/romaine salad and chardonnay, not sure if there's a connection...

Foundations

I am a full-blown, full-time car singer.  When I'm alone in the Camry you can bet I'm belting whatever I've got on with all the volume and emotion I can muster.

via alice rosenbaum

A few days ago I was heading home from a long day of work and class.  My battery had died and I'd spent 20 minutes in a dark, abandoned parking lot at the top of campus waiting for my heroic little brother to come give the old Toyota a jump.  Since I had to drive around for about 30 minutes to ensure the battery was charged I found myself in the midst of a major car kareoke party.  I was listening to 'Foundations' by Kate Nash (which is especially fun to sing because you get to mimic her awesome British accent), when I remembered how much I like the song's video, and I thought how I'd like post it on the blog.

But a music video on a supposed fashion blog?  I am trying to keep this project somewhat on topic you know - this blog's no free-for-all!  And then I remembered Kate's amazing personal style, and so, the video is totally, justifiably, post-worthy (video + how to get the look after the jump):

A Blog is Born

It's true there's no shortage of fashion blogs spanning the web, and, while the addition of another may seem unnecessary, I aspire for mine to make a unique contribution, and to convey the inspiration I find through my own constant fashion scavenger hunts to my readers.

Obviously I still have a lot of work ahead of me before this endeavor is fully up-and-running. Still, this is my first post and should convey my objective. I’ll conclude with the stunning and always inspiring Kate Moss: my absolute favorite contemporary fashion model, and maven in her own right.

Fashionable
in the tub

Fashionable
in the car
(and only a beret!)

Stunning in the mid-nineties when she emerged in these
provocative and controversial Calvin Klein
ads (I definitely had this picture, an ad for CK Obsession, torn out of a magazine and up on my bedroom wall for most of my middle school years).

Stunning, and just as relevant, now 15 years later. Here, Kate is featured in the latest issue of Harper's Bazaar, marking her 8th cover for the publication spanning her iconic career. (Harper's Bazaar, March 2010)

_____________________________________

In my mind, what really sets Kate apart, and cements her style-icon status, is her own exciting, innovative, always ahead of the trends, inspiring personal style. Looking at the way Kate styles herself, and puts certain pieces together inspires me, personally, to experiment, to take more risks when putting together my own outfits, and to be more creative with what is already in my closet.

In jeans: Making skinny and wide-leg look good

Running around London: I love this mini-dress, opaque tights, leather jacket look. The patent leather shoes are glam and girly, the shape of the dress keeps the outfit playful, and the jacket gives it an edge, the juxtaposition making the outfit all the more interesting and personal. One wouldn't need Kate's body type or financial freedom to mimic the ensemble either.

At the Glastonbury Musical Festival: This short-shorts, Hunter boots, low-slung belt are combination classic Kate. So effortless! So cool!

"Model is not really enough of a word to describe Kate Moss. Even supermodel is similarly wrong, in spite of the fact that she is one of the few with legitimate claim to the title. When it comes to cool, Kate Moss is simply on a different plane than everyone else."
-New York Magazine

___________________________________________

Anyway, that concludes blog entry #1, which seems to have turned into less of an introduction, and more of a tribute to Ms. Moss, which, in a way is fitting: Seeing the outfits and style choices of someone like her can make fashion so exciting, and even though she's a supermodel there are ways to interpret and then translate and the concepts and ideas of the outfit as a whole, really making the look more accessible than it might seem.

It's also a great way to discover individual pieces that can refresh your whole wardrobe, and deal with those dreadful 'ihavenothingtowear', 'ihateallmyclothes' feelings. Seriously, I know. I often decide that I hate all my clothes, but then I'll start putting things together differently and buy a new belt or something, and suddenly I feel amazing and stylish and proud... See, studying supermodels can actually do wonders for ones self-esteem!

Anyway, it seems blog entry #1 is in fact a novel.

à la prochaine fois mes bébés! xoxoxo