Lets get back to it

I know, I know. It has been an unacceptable amount of time since I have written. Getting back to school has been great and this weekend I experienced my first taste of crispy weather in months. yum.

Before Style.com posted their Fall trend report, I had been crafting a list of my own essentials for the upcoming season (basically since fashion month ended....so since March...I know I'm insane). The items I decided were vital were not just trendy-one-season-forgettable, but pieces I felt could be worn until the seams start to fray or dye beings to fade.

I am going to do this sort of as an on going guide, mainly because there is just too much for me to cover in one post and I feel like I can break this up into styles versus specific pieces.

PART 1: BACK TO BASICS

1. Grey Denim- I am a firm believer that one can never own too many jeans, mainly because if I said everyone should just own one pair of really great jeans I would be a terrible liar considering my stash is creeping towards 25ish pairs. Non-blue denim is an awesome way to wear a classic and comfortable  staple while incorporating new hues into your wardrobe.

Grey is such a wonderfully safe and chic basic, plus you can get away with wearing your denim shirt from this season without pulling a farmers tuxedo. I'm a huge fan of MiH jeans, here is their awesome Breathless jean in grey:

 photo: shopbop.com

2. Camel- THE color for fall. It's just so yummy (I think more of eating caramel things than eating a camel when I say yummy, but when you see this color done right, you just want to eat it...well I do at least..but I'm crazy...so please ignore this.) I love the warmth of this color and it works for all pieces. Try to add one piece of the shade into your fall line-up. How about a great chunky knit like this one from Alexander Wang?

photo: shopbop.com

See what I mean by complete and utter yummy-ness?

3. Blouses- From my previous post, you can probably get the idea that a silk blouse was a chart topper for me, but I feared that the perfect one would be either nonexistent (picky doesn't begin to describe my shopping process and very often the items I crave simply do not exist for the season) or just completely insanely expensive (not even put $20 bucks away a week doable). Well of course the super duper amazing unaffordable one is out there by my favorite Stella McCartney, but I lucked out with a Rag & Bone tunic that I tailored into a shirt.

photo: style.com 

 mmmm...Stella perfection. 

A great place to find said shirt is your local Goodwill, SalvA, or consignment shop. There are so many left over from the last decade that have found their way into these stores. It is equally amazing and dangerous.

In Brief

Even to this day, my father asks me each week, with enthusiasm on par with a day camper hopped up on pixie sticks,  "DO YOU KNOW WHAT TUESDAY IS?!"
 I've learned to read this trick and know that this excitement is not only fabricated for the moment and to catch me off guard, but out of sheer stupidity. The answer is, "Its trash day." Yep.

I consider Monday and Wednesday with the same regard, except my enthusiasm is not geared to irk my child, rather to see the new arrivals on Net-A-Porter. See, it's a little dumb, but somewhat valid. ANYWAY, I came across the ultimate novelty.

I give you: Stella McCartney Knickers of the Week

Image: Net-A-Porter

For $195 you can have achingly adorable black cotton briefs delicately embroidered with each day of the week in every shade of Easter. God forbid you forget what day trash day falls on, just look at your crotch! I find these...actually cute. I never saw the point of referring to your nether regions for the date, but when Stella McCartney does it....how could I not love it? When you purchase this crotch-calender these briefs don't just come in a regular box...oh the horror...they come in a mini bureau.

Image: Net-A-Porter

It's the thoughtful packaging like this which almost has me at check out. I love when designers, or any product for that matter, take the extra step to make the consumer feel like they are buying something special.

Another example is shoe designer Charlotte Olympia.

Photos: Luisa Via Roma

First, her shoes are brilliant. Unlike anything on the market right now and she is a product design genius. Apparently, when you purchase a pair of her whimsical sky-high heels included in the box is a matching pair of  tights bearing her spiderweb signature. The moment I read that, I wanted her shoes. Not just because they are gorgeous, but I want them because you get free tights. Obviously they are not free, but its just something special, something that says "hey girlfriend! I know these shoes cost you half your paycheck, so here is something extra! You deserve it!"

In a consumer market where we so often buy for the sake of trends rather than quality, it's details like these that we are missing out on. When fashion moves so fast, it's impossible for brands to include details of craftsmanship or originality, but things are slowing down. I wrote about it months ago, and the print media is writing about it now. Slow fashion is happening. It's moments like these, when thoughtfulness occurs, that we can once again appreciate fashion for what it should be: a display of art, talent, and creativity.

Sprinklings of Summer

First, Happy Fathers Day!

Today is the first day where I have been home the entire day and it's quite glorious. I finally unpacked the last duffel of clothes that I packed in...May...and have begun to bring my closet to a semi-organized state.I've been working full-time along with attempting to maintain a semblance of a social life. I may be tired, but things have been going well.

There has been a bonus to my job, which I was unaware of upon interviewing. My boss has asked me to join her on many of her buying trips for Resort 2011. I've been lucky enough to see the clothes straight from Style.com days after their debut only to be in store this December.

Last week we went to Stella McCartney. I have never seen floral prints so beautifully executed in clothing in my life. Here is just a taste of what appeared on racks and racks of gorgeous apparel

Photo: Style.com

I was asked to assist her again with buying at....Chloe. (Breathe in, breathe out) Upon being asked my knees turned to a Jell-O like state and some saliva might have dribbled onto the floor. Excited doesn't begin to describe how I feel about this. aldfkj;ladfadf.

In other news, I finally snatched up not one, but two pairs of sandals that meet my requirements. After a failed net-a-porter attempt (too small, way too uncomfortable), I headed over to Cole Haan with little hope in my search for decent footwear. 

Well, I found 'em. The classic leather company has a new line called Cole, Rood & Haan which is based off of the original designs of the company. The leathers are more raw and apparently all the shoes are handmade.

I picked up the "Kisser" sandal in Fatigue. It's light-weight and keeps my feet super secure without any trendy embellishments.

 

Photo: Cole Haan

And then...I walked into Joan Shepp...where they were having a huge sale...on shoes. Great. Well, I ended up picking up another pair of sandals after realizing the deal was too good to pass up and the fact that a girl can never own too many shoes. It should be a rule that when one finds a pair of K. Jaques sandals on sale, they must buy them.

 Photo: Joan Shepp

I liked these because they have the double strap on the toe along with a tie around the ankle, basically ensuring that my foot wont be going anywhere. These are known to mold to your foot and last forever. I can deal with that.