Tag Archives: Fashion

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Werk

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Hands down, Simon Doonan is my favorite cultural personality.

Ever.

And not just because he is married to one of my favorite interior decor designers, Jonathan Adler. (That’s just icing on the cake!)

Serving as Barney’s Creative Director, glamorous eccentric and prolific writer, Simon Doonan positively exudes creative spirit. In addition to his regular Slate column, he has penned four wonderful books. A unique but winning combination of dry humor and snarky social commentary (which is somehow best voiced from the LGBT perspective) is spot-on when it comes to tuning into the female zeitgeist.

One part fashion self-help, one part Gloria Steinem/Andy Cohen-esque empowerment and 20,240 parts ridiculous- Wacky Chicks: Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women is definitely my favorite.

 Doonan encourages his audience to throw caution to the wind when assembling an outfit. He termed adventurous fashionistas “life enhancers” because they dared to test the boundaries of conventional norms and socially accepted rules.

I’ve been avoiding white accessories, pants and dresses from September 4th to May 24th every year but apparently, I should have been sporting blue fishnets, a leather skirt, loud printed blouse, snakeskin heels and a top hat to pick up my dry-cleaning.

Doonan’s rationale is completely true. Over the top garments add zest to the drab world of work outfits and uninspired clothing choices.

And what else could serve as entertainment during those painfully long stretches in the subway with no cell service?

Doonan’s writing tempts even the most timid J.Crew-aholics to take a walk on the wild (and fully leopard printed) side. Polishing off Simon’s novels will force you to reconsider how you present yourself to the world and how a seemingly immaterial facade can/do/will correlate strongly with your personality/moods/confidence.

Post-Wacky Chicks (and Eccentric Glamour. AND Beautiful People.), I attempted to strut my stuff to class and events in “life enhancing” getups. Agonizing over what components of my wardrobe went together and just coordinated enough to make a tasteful statement was way too exhausting.

After approximately 3 days as a self-proclaimed Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women I gave up trying to be Kate Moss’s chic and alternatively dressed sister.

Far better at creating spellbounding interior spaces than intricate and trendy outfits, the “Wacky Chick” phase was over before Amazon processed the shipping on my Simon Doonan books.

These days I slap on my four year old Tory Burch jeans, focus on patterned duvet covers and leave the life enhancing to the pros.

Except for Halloween.

2007 – coke bottle

2008-ipod-trick or treat hear my beats

one of my favorite songs

headphone halter detail

2009- cupcake/indistinguishable frothy dessert

doesn’t get better than ombre tulle frosting

cherry on top headband

2010- the fish to jackson’s fisherman. those heels were a bad idea

bobber earrings and sparkly lures on my dress

Creating fresh and fun Halloween costumes is one of my favorite October projects.  It’s a simple way to save money and ensure that you have a one of a kind outfit that stands out from fellow revelers.

Though not exactly so easy, as I am sewing-illiterate. If only Project Runway included a hot glue division…

I’m almost done with this year’s Halloween costume and will post pictures once it’s been completed next week!

Stay tuned!

PS.

Please don’t judge the content of this post too harshly.

Admittedly an attention-phobic person, I struggled with this topic for the same reason I failed to emulate the Wacky Chick mantra.

11 cropped pictures of myself? Talk about narcissistic.

However, I have a feeling that my girlfriends just might decide to run for public office in the next 50 years…

They’ll thank me later.

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A Little Too Curious

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Hello.

My name is Allie and I am a proud survivor of Danielle‘s bachelorette party.

I am so glad I was able to help celebrate my dear friend’s journey from single lady to married woman this weekend in Washington DC.

One lingerie shower at a time. 

  Shopping for frilly underthings for yourself is always fun.

However, I experienced my normal gift giving anxiety an unexpected emotional platitude when it came time to find an appropriate gift for the sexy-underwear themed shower.

What if i show up with an S&M leather corset and the other girls bought her footie pajamas?! Or if I pick out a pretty, granny-chic nightgown and the rest of the bridal party channeled Agent Provocateur naughtiness?!

So I decided to personalize my own set of underwear.

I picked out a coordinating colorway of pretty little panties that matched Danielle’s aesthetic, wedding colors and motifs. Gap Body provided a nice variety of styles and cuts at a great price. I love their lingerie because it is simple but has great little details- perfect for monogramming! I even found a pair featuring tiny birds – a prominent aspect of her wedding theme.

It would have been a magical experience had the shop assistant not asked me why I was picking out so many pairs of XS underwear and directed me to my ol’ trusty size Medium bucket. Rude.

The Embroidery Place really saved the day when it came to customizing my gift for the lingerie shower. Not only did the gentleman on West 30th Street spend over an hour helping me decide on the monograms and personalizations but he finished my embroidery job within 24 hours, a day earlier than expected!

It all could have gotten a bit too curious there (Umm, do you mind embroidering this wedding date on the crotch of these sheer panties?!) but in the end, it turned out lovely!

And now that I’ve finally found a reliable embroidery shop in NYC, the world should probably prepare itself.

“What Jackson? You didn’t want all of your earthly possessions monogrammed?”

Forget the Red Carpet

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“But Mom, It’s an investment piece!”

For some reason, my mother did not agree that dorm room decor necessitated the purchase of an 8 x 10 foot version of Pottery Barn’s Tracy Kilim rug. A mere $698.

Go figure.

I’ve always been fascinated by kilim rugs. More specifically, updated versions of the traditional geometric patterned textile masterpieces. While I can appreciate the quality of a button-ed up dark-red and amber hued oriental or persian rug, I really prefer the bright versions. Switching up the color palette infuses the carpet’s stuffy predilection with a playful essence.

I fell in love with this particular rug because it makes an old medium new again. Not in the way fashion tastemakers keep rotating clothing trends every 10 years (90′s crop tops are back, what!?) It’s Venturi-esque approach actually revitalizes and negates staid cultural norms.

It was with that optimistic mentality that I “discovered” carpet bags. Or rather decided to launch an obsessive quest on Etsy, Ebay, Kaboodle and the Brooklyn Flea to find my own slice of wool-worked heaven. But not just any carpeted handbag, one that would transcend the granny stigma for good.

Hold the Mary Poppins, please.

And I finally found it!

My Bag:

I’ve had to part ways with my dreams of owning the Tracy Kilim rug. Now out of production, and virtually impossible to track down (though I have tried! and actually found one on Craigslist that turned out to be filthy) it probably won’t be gracing the floor of my home. But you never know, maybe I’ll find it someday.

Until then, I’ll just focus on collecting kilims that can hold my blackberry and wallet. (And if you know me, 82,952 other things.)

That’s actually one Mary Poppins quality I’d like to keep.

Covetable Carpet Bags:

I Give Up

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Judging from the vast number of issues plaguing the American public on TLC specials, I’m certain there are individuals living with reverse problems. Oprah should come back from retirement to host an event that reunites The Woman Addicted To Eating Her Couch Cushions with The Lady Afraid To Go Near Her Couch. Now that would be great television.

I would definitely try to be cast on that extravaganza. I’m sure they would leave a spot for The Girl Who Is Deathly Afraid Of Body Piercing And Refuses To Step Foot In A Claire’s Accessories Store In Fear She Will Accidentally Get Pierced Due To Excessive Number of Store Fixtures And A Characteristic Lack Of Browsing Space. I’d volunteer to be paired up with The Girl Who Can’t Stop Getting Random Piercings and gain valuable life lessons.

I’d be a shoe-in for the lamest reality tv persona (a la eHarmony Cat Girl) except I finally DID get my ears pierced.

That’s right. One day in 2009, I decided I needed to just bite the bullet, marched down to mall and got it done. I brought my mom for moral support but the sales associate thought she was there to legalize the procedure.

“You can rent a car but you don’t have your ears pierced?!”

We waited behind a mother getting her 3 month old infant’s ears done, then a 1 year old getting her second hole. Before another mom could get her fetus’s ears bejeweled I hopped up onto that lovely domino square cushion and prepared for the worst.

Mall patrons passed by the glass window as the bumbling sales associate brought the gun to my ear. And before I knew it, I had earrings. The 30 days passed and I could finally switch to larger drop studs, then chandelier options. After a while, it felt like I had always had them.

When I’m getting ready for a night out and sifting through my ever-expanding collection of earrings for a complimentary pair my boyfriend likes to hustle me along to get out of the door on time.  I proclaim “I need them, I’ll feel naked without something in my ears!” He retorts

“How is that possible, you never had them for 21 years and you were just fine!”

And I do feel fine. Everything was going just great….

THEN, SOMEONE BROUGHT CLIP EARRINGS BACK INTO STYLE.

Just when I think I’m getting a handle on things. I officially give up. Can’t even fathom going back to clip ons after I actually did the deed. So here’s my coping method: Rock these fab studs from Furbish Studio and fake it ’til I make it.

Summer Statements

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“Knowing who you really are and dressing the part — with an air of amused recklessness — is life affirming for you and life enhancing for other people.”

-Simon Doonan, Eccentric Glamour

via Piperlime, Maven, What YaYa Likes, GreenwithGlamour, Etsy, Anthropologie