All Good Things Must Come to an End

With summer coming so fast, the school year is coming to an end. And unfortunately, my Design and Merchandising II class is as well. I’ve learned a great deal about the world of fashion, and I am enthusiastic to pursue my dreams at FIDM sometime in the near future. Thank you Mrs. Woolsey for being such an amazing teacher!

With that said, I need to create my final post. Some of the latest and greatest in high fashion, The Met Gala.

Angelina Jolie in Atelier Versace

Kristen Bell in Monique Lhuillier

Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murad

Brooke Shields in Michael Kors

This particular event was a great chance for celebs to truly out do themselves. The flashy, the fabulous, the fantastic style.

Killer Wedding Dresses

Every girl dreams of the perfect wedding dress for their special day. I’ve recently found some lovely dresses for the new designer collections any girl would be lucky to own. Here are my personal favorites.

Amsale Daliah Dress- Blue Lable Collection $3000- $4700

Monique Lhuillier Spring 2012 Collection

Vera Wang- Spring 2011 Collection

Recycled Dress

Designing a dress made of paper, scotch tape, Hollister bags and grocery bags has proven to be its fair share of challenges. Many, many hours invested making those paper flowers, over 550 portions of paper were applied to the skirt. The top ripped multiple times, having to be reconstructed and the grocery bags ofter burned through from the heat of the glue gun. Nevertheless, the experience of creating this garment was one that was unforgettable! I’m anxious for begin my design for next years competition.

What I Live By

That Extra Half an Inch by the glamorous Victoria Beckham is a must for every girl to own. This book literally changed my life and the way I look at buying clothes. Her insightful advice helps every shape and size find the perfect pieces, even offering affordable alternatives for those of us who don’t have unlimited expenses for clothing. One of the most fashionable women in the world giving advice on how she rocks everything she wears… it’s a must for every girl even remotely interested in fashion!

Lauren Conrad’s Style Guide is one of the fantastic novels for teens and young women to carry themselves well in a classic and specific pieces to fit their personality. The former Laguna Beach and The Hills starlet has awed us with her dedication to fashion. Being a young women of LA it’s a challenge to stand out from the casual beachy look that most go for.

Both style guides can be purchased at Barns and Noble!

A Confident Celeb to Look Up To

One of my new favorite actresses is Ginnifer Goodwin, with her role in He’s Just Not That Into You and her role as the third wife on Big Love. Not only that but she portrayed Rachael, the loveable protagonist, of the book turned movie Something Borrowed. Her style is impeccable, fitting her short frame very well, and flattering her body type. Every look I’ve seen her in recently has been nothing short of stunning. She even is sporting a shorter pixie cut these days, getting rid of the long locks. Nevertheless, this starlet knows how to dress for any occasion.

Dressing a Friend for Less

Considering I aspire to be a Stylist sometime in my life, one of my good friends gave me the challenge of finding her a day and night look for less than a hundred dollars for an occasion swiftly coming up. Of course I was excited for the challenge, and the fact that I could have my very first client! So here is the look I came up with:

The dress is from Charolette Russe for $24.99, as are the shoes sold for $32.50 and the cardigan can be found at Forever 21 for$19.80. These pieces together will create the day look.

The same dress can be worn for a night out with friends with the bright orange shoe to add a bit of color. The shoes can be purchased at Charolette Russe for $15 with the purchase for the other pair.

For Those Who Love Books…

One of my favorite book series is Confessions of a Shopaholic, which is a great mix of humor, drama and (of course) lable dropping by the amazing main character Rebecca Blumewood. The writer of these fantastic books, Sophie Kinsella, has just written her sixth and final installment of the Shopaholic series. If you are into reader and/or fashion you must read this book!

And in 2009 the New York Times best seller became a Major Motion Picture, where Isla Fischer plaid the cunning shopaholic.

Who Wore it Better? Part 2

Again, celebs wearing the same garment! When will they ever learn!? Here are just a few of my favorites in the last month I found of E! Online.

Cameron Diaz and Taylor Swift

Personally, I think Taylor sported this lace much nicer than Cameron. First, the posture. Swift holds herself with grace, with Diaz looks slightly disoriented with her twisting fingers and stance. Second, the dress is a bit more youthful, therefore Taylor takes the cake.

Carey Mulligan and Amanda Peet

I think they both this great in this look, but Carey fits the style a bit better. I feel like Amanda is doing the opposite of dressing up in Mommy’s closet.

Chloe Sevigny and Liv Tyler

This sleek suit looks much better in black, but I wish Tyler chose better shoes.

Rosario Dawson Naomi Watts

I’m not a big fan of this dress. But I guess if anyone wore it even the slightest bit better it would be Dawson. Naomi’s skin tone is much too light, contrasting harshly with the color of the dress and the dark lip.

Trouble for the Sartorialist…

These are the photographs causing immense controversy for the beloved fashion blogger, Scott Schuman of The Sartoerialist, posting photographs of fellow blogger Angelica Ardasheva, saying she’s “curvier” and “sturdier”. Many fans of the site have been outraged, or even confused by these remarks, writing “I would weep if I heard your assessment of 90% of women’s bodies (or mine for that matter)…” Even New York Magazine stated, “So he wanted to discuss ‘the size of her legs relative to her shoes.’ What? Do we even discuss the size of a runway model’s legs in relation to her shoes?”

These harsh comments and negative feedback received from this controversial post have been taken way to far in my opinion. What happened to the outfit? Is it not enough that he photographed a stunning photograph of a women who is dressed extremely well? So what if he said she’s a bit curvier than the average women he photographs. Do they wish he would simply post the photographs without commentary? It is apparent Schuman has admiration for Ardasheva, and readers are simply hung up on the fact that he has said a few words that were taken out of context.

Curvy isn’t limited to simply overweight or out of shape, it can mean not having a board of a body. And Schuman is a very popular blogger, of course he is going to write something people don’t find appropriate of may get offended by. So where is the line drawn?

Who knows. Schuman is entitled to his opinion, considering it is his blog, and in my opinion (because this is my blog) is he wasn’t out of line. He is allowed to call a women “curvy” or “sturdy” is he desires. What perception of normal may be different to many different individuals, making it distorted and strange. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, just write what you wish, say what you wish. And who cares about the rest, because if they don’t like it, then they shouldn’t read it.

Fashion Gone Insanely Green

So for a school project, my Design and Merchandising class are designing outfits. Some opted out of using actual fabric and opted for the recycled materials. Let me tell you, I have done my fair share of work on this project, although I thought the recycled would be the easier alternative. Being hopeless at sewing and any construction of two pieced of fabric, period, it sounded better at the time.

I’ve come to find that getting these recycled fabrics to cooperate, and look appealing can be a challenge. Many hot glue gun burns, and paper cuts later, I am nearly halfway done with my design. However, although my concepts seem more of an challenge, I did find some amazing projects created out of all recycled material, and was quite impressed! Websites like Fabulously Green and Thread Banger have featured multiple pieces make entirely of recycled materials, that are quite impressive. Enjoy!