Use It or Lose It

My sister Olive has been in a fashion funk for quite awhile.   She’s been so busy with work and school that she spends all of her time in sweats.  Recently she’s seriously been putting in an effort to have more of a social life.  As she should because she’s only 26.  The problem is she as lost all confidence when it comes to putting together an outfit.  She’s been calling me almost every weekend for advice.  My latest advice was this:  Keep trying.  Keep putting outfits together.  Look good for no reason.  If you don’t use it you lose it.  Yea we all know the phrase and it can take on many meanings so get your head out of the gutter.  In this case I was simply referring to style.  Everyone has their own.  Everyone is capable of looking adorable when they want to. However if looking good only happens on a rare occasion it becomes increasingly difficult to just “throw together” an outfit.  It’s like learning a language.  Sure you can take spanish for five years (yes I’m referring to myself) after which you can understand the basics and even carry on a short conversation.  Not so long after you stop practicing though you start to lose your grasp on conjugating verbs, your vocabulary dwindles and it takes much longer to translate a sentence.  Fast forward a few years, I’m lucky I can say hola.  All I’m saying is you need to practice.  That holds true for your style too.  You may have been the shit in 2001 but if you’ve been living in a tee shirt and yoga pants for the last 10 years you may have a tough time when it comes to looking halfway decent.   

Now, I’m not saying you need to act like a Kardashian and put on a full face of make up and pair of Louboutins just to go grab milk and eggs at the grocery store.  Just put a little more effort in sometimes and for no reason. Find an activity.  Perhaps you want to go shopping and treat yourself to something nice.  Maybe you want to feel super independent so take yourself to lunch/ dinner and a movie.  Yes alone.  Trust me i know it’s slightly awkward and not the norm but there’s something so liberating about this.  

Anyway Olive took my advice.  We were running errands together yesterday and she came out in a pair of dark skinny jeans, a three quarter sleeve white shirt, a beige leather jacket and her new cognac colored boots.  Yes to some it’s a basic ensemble but to someone who a few months ago would have thrown on sneakers and a hooded sweatshirt, it’s a huge improvement.  I can see her confidence building.  She looked great, she felt great, and that’s really what it’s all about.

A Chic Bridal Shower

   I recently attended my friend, Kitty's, bridal shower.  I have to say, it really was beautiful.  That morning as I was putting on my fake lashes, trying not to glue my eye lids together, I received the inevitable text message: “Can I wear jeans to this thing?”  I sighed.  The text was from Lexie who has a quirky sense of style that i really admire.  She reminds me a lot of Zoe DeschaneI.  I know she meant nice jeans and a cute top not ripped jeans and flip flops.  I also know that jeans can be very dressy if done right and i’m in no way knocking those who can pull it off.  In my personal opinion it generally will not work for a shower.  You need to go with a dress or at least dressy pants.  

That day I decided on a brown above the knee dress with black polka dots.  The top had black lace and satin detail. I wore a thin black belt with it.  The shoes, black satin peep toe pumps.  Best part is those are my shoes for the wedding so I got to break them in even more.  Something about the outfit reminded me of the scene in Pretty Woman when she’s at the polo match.  

Back to Lexie.  I know deep down she just wanted me to say yes to the jeans because she had a long week prior and just didn’t feel like getting dressed up that day.   However, as a friend I couldn’t let her.  Had she shown up in jeans only to see that every other person was in a dress (and they were) she would have killed me.  After a brief FaceTime session, during which I saw Lexie’s bare ass more times than I care to remember, I helped her find an outfit.  She decided to go with a navy blue 3/4 sleeve v-neck dress.  It had little white doves in a pattern all over it (not cheesy).  She paired it with beige wedges that had a little flower on the toe and a long gold necklace.  

The shower took place at La Marmite in Williston Park, NY.  Everyone there looked beautiful.  All of these outfits (or something similar) would be perfect for a chic bridal shower at a lovely french restaurant. If you’re attending an event along those lines and need to know what to where here are some pictures from that day.  Hopefully these will inspire your outfit.

Lexie and Olive

Me and Kitty

(Most of) The Bridesmaids

To The Point

I have a pretty good idea of what I want this blog to be.  The problem I'm facing now is that I'm beginning to this I need an actual website rather than a blog.  My original vision was the following.  Say you have an event to go to. Perhaps a bridal shower, birthday party, a specific restaurant, staff meeting, ect.  Through my site you'll be able to click on an event and pictures will pop up of actual people at similar events and what they were wearing.  That way you can have an idea of what other people wear and hopefully it'll make finding an outfit easier.  My last few post were really just to get me started.  Funny thing even though pictures were the main focus of my original concept,  I've discovered that I really enjoy writing my stories.  Therefor the blog stays regardless.  I'm going to try and take this to the next level and ad some pics to my next post.  Like I've said before, this is a work in progress.  Even if I can't get the blog to do what I want at some point there WILL be a website linked.  Comments, advice and suggestions are welcome.

Open Toe Shoes and Pantyhose

No.  No it’s not ok. Ever. Under any circumstances.  I just came back from a beautiful trip to St Martin where I saw my inspiration for this particular blog.  I saw a man walking down the beach wearing white socks with black sandals.  This irritated me to my core.  First of all, you're on a beach, there is sand everywhere which is now IN your socks. That can’t be comfortable.  Secondly it’s 87 degrees out.  You’re obviously wearing sandals for a reason, so why the need to make your feet warmer?  Third and most importantly you look completely ridiculous.  I just don’t understand why anyone would leave the house like this.  

Which brings me to my main point.  Open toe shoes and pantyhose.  This is something that drives me crazy.  The two are not meant to be worn together.  As far as I’m concerned it’s exactly the same as the weirdo walking down the beach with socks and sandals.  To me it seems obvious but my friend, Pippa asks me if this is ok to do all the time.  She refuses to believe me and insists that I’m wrong. I am not and let me further explain why.

When I say open toe I mean ANY shoes that reveal your little piggies.  Could be peep toe, strappy sandal, anything.  Even if the tiniest tip of the toe is exposed this still applies.  In general most of us make sure out feet are presentable before putting them out there for all to see.  This usually means a pedicure or at least a quick nail trip and a coat of clear polish.  Now after going through all that trouble why would you want to cover it up with pantyhose?  It makes whatever polish you have on look dull.  However if you’re not going to make your toes look halfway decant and insist on going out with foot claws and chipped polish, then please just wear a closed pump.  Nobody wants to see that shit.

Now let’s talk about how this also gives the appearance of webbed toes.  Are we trying to evolve into ducks?  Do you have an important swim meet later where this extra webbing will give you an advantage?  When I see people doing this I have a sudden urge to walk up to them and quack.  I can’t say this enough, it looks ridiculous!  If you want to wear pantyhose because your legs are pale then go tanning.  If you don’t want go the cancer route or potentially look like a Jersey shore cast member then get a spray tan.  Want control top?  Get some spanx.  Feet sweat?  Throw some baby powder in the shoes first.  There is ALWAYS a way around this people!!.

I’m going to leave off by saying this:  Open toe shoes are meant to expose your toes.  Please please PLEASE do not cover them up and defeat the purpose of the shoe.  this includes pantyhose, stockings and the dreaded sock.