H&M just announced that they will collaborate with Marni for spring 2012. Marni is one of my favorite brands, their color-blocking, prints, and patterns draw me in, so the opportunity to get the looks at H&M prices is extremely exciting! The H&M collection is described below:
"For women, the colors are vivid, and the prints are bold, be they
African-inspired or simpler color blocks. The silhouettes are all Marni
staples, with full pleated skirts, dresses, cropped pants and jacquard
knits; fabrics range from silk to crisp cotton poplin. To complete the
look, the collection also includes jewelry, shoes, bags and scarves.
For men, the colors and fabrics are softened for a relaxed take on
menswear staples that are truly Marni. The use of prints is subtle;
they often appear as a lining or as a contrast detail for shirts; the
silhouette is a modern, relaxed take on masculine classics."
I think this will be another huge hit for H&M! The collection will be availble from March 8, 2012 in over 250 stores worldwide and online.
Lisa Chaney's new biography, "Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life" offers a fresh look at the life of one of the most influential women of the twentieth century. I, like many of you, have long been fascinated by not only the brand Chanel, but the woman that created it all. Her story is one that has been told before, in various books and films, yet Lisa Chaney was able to dig up new documents, letters, and other verifiable evidence to reveal the truth behind the rumors and dispel the myths that have long surrounded Chanel. Many of us have Chanel coffee table books and have seen the films, but haven't bothered to really read or research her life. Her life is a captivating tale, one that I have thoroughly enjoyed and have happily immersed myself in. I think this book would be a fantastic gift for any Chanel fan, or biography lover. The book is available for purchase at Amazon
, Barnes & Noble and other book sellers.
Glitter embellished shoes, belts, and bags are widely popular and always seem to be incredibly overpriced. I once paid nearly $300 on a pair of glitter flats. They were beautiful, a tad uncomfortable, and hugely over-priced. Definitely not one of my best purchases. The thing is, it is so incredibly easy to revive any pair of shoes or old belt you have with glitter. I purchased a pair of black flats at Payless that were on sale for $7 that are far more comfortable than the $300 flats I mentioned earlier. I spruced them up using the following items:
painter's tape to tape off the soles and inner edge of the shoe
Step One: Prepare your work surface & tape off the sole and inner part of your shoe
NOTE: The next part is a choose your own adventure! (YAY!) Both options work well Option A helps avoid patchiness but creates a mess of excess glitter Option B is faster and is much easier to clean up after but you will likely have to do touch up work. Choose what you think will work best for you, or try them both out and see what you like best! :)
[OPTION A]
Step Two A) Dip your foam brush into the Mod Podge and paint a coat onto the shoe and sprinkle the glitter directly onto the shoe shaking off any excess until shoe is completely covered in glitter
Step Three A) Now that your shoe have been glitterfied take your foam brush into the Mod Podge once again and give your shoe a fresh coat of mod podge with out glitter. This will seal your glitter onto the shoe nicely. Don't freak out when it looks white and gross over the glitter, the Mod Podge dries clear and will look fantastic once dry!
The end result is a beautiful shoe with glitter that has been applied wonderfully even. The above process does create a mess, all that access glitter you shook off your shoe now has to be cleaned up. There is a reason why they say glitter is the herpes of the craft world, one wrong move and you have a mess! Those of you that want to avoid that all together enter Plan B:
[OPTION B]
Step Two B) Pour a sizeable amount of Mod-Podge into a bowl and pour a sizeable amount of glitter into the Mod-Podge and mix together. (1 part glitter 2 parts Mod-Podge is a good rule)
Step Three B) You will now paint your shoe using this mixture. Try to paint on as evenly as possible (this is the hard part). Touch up any patches as it dries. Once dry you can give it a clean coat (no glitter) of mod podge to seal it, although this isn't as necessary as it is in Option A
Step Three)
Step Four: Allow shoes to dry for a few hours (I leave mine overnight just to be safe). Before wearing it might also be a good idea to spray on a rain protectant, but that is completely up to you.
The Final Result will look like this!
Once you experience the wonders of Mod-Podge I have a feeling you will be doing this to all sorts of things and can spend your hard earned money on things other than these.
This video of model,
Rasa Zukauskaite, & the Giffords Circus shot by Ellen von Unwerth for Lula Magazine's thirteenth issue put a smile on my face this morning. I mean, who wouldn't want to wear Rodarte to the Circus? Watch it below:
On Friday afternoon, I joined several other Lucky Magazine Style bloggers at Bloom Beauty Lounge to get our hair done before heading to the V.I.P. Lucky Shops event at Highline Stages. It has been a year or so since I've attended Lucky Shops, so I was excited to join in on the madness. Bloom did a fantastic job doing all of our hair. I liked how my hair turned out with a twisted braided up-do. It wasn't what I had pictured in my head going in, but the twist immediately reminded me a lot of how I did my hair on my wedding day (twisted into a side chignon), so without even knowing it my stylist brought back happy memories. I think my look is one you could try at home! I am certainly going to try my hand at recreating my version of this look soon! The funny thing was, there were a few hats I came across while shopping that I wanted to try on, but didn't for fear of messing up my hair. (All the more reason to go shopping without your hair being done, ladies!) It was fun chatting with a meeting the other bloggers, most of whom I'd never met before (They are all linked below).
Bloom samples of hair, body, and face products and I also picked up a sample of Got 2B's new Powder'Ful Volumizing Style Powder
at the the Got2B Lucky Shops booth.
Now to the shopping! The V.I.P. event is only slightly less crazy then the Saturday & Sunday shopping events. The line looked crazy, so THANK YOU LUCKY for letting us skip it! We walked in and so the Gorgeous Rachel Roy on the pink carpet giving an interview, checked our coats, and passed up Rebecca Minkoff and her cute little bundle of joy (tucked safely in a baby bjorn) as I headed to her booth to make my first and only purchase of the night. Two morning after clutches, one in black, and another in embossed teal. I now have quite the collection of Rebecca Minkoff bags, I need to be stopped! Is it bad I still want the Cheetah M.A.C. (Hello, Intervention!).
My Lucky Shops purchases: two Rebecca Minkoff M.A.C.s
Other booths that could have easily sentenced me to thousands of overtime hours at work included, Elizabeth & James, Autumn Cashmere, Twinkle by Wenlen,Rachel Roy, Pour La Victoire, and the Walter booths. I was also tempted by so many of the jewelry booths on hand. The only booth I was really disappointed by was the Claire Vivier booth, because even at the beginning of the night it seemed they had only a handful of bags available, and none of the sizeable envelope clutches I've been coveting. It was better that way, so I wasn't further tempted.
The night had several celebrity sightings most notably being Iman in an amazing purple jacket, Kaylee Defer (of Gossip Girl fame) who is stunningly gorgeous in person, Bridget Moynahan wearing some sick boots, and Abigail Breslin who was digging in at the Jeanius Bar. There were other people there as well, but even as I stood there watching them being photographed I couldn't place them even if they looked vaguely familiar. I feel like Siri, of iPhone fame, needs a celebrity upgrade with facial recognition technology that would allow me to snap a picture of someone with my iPhone and ask Siri something along the lines of, "who is this" and Siri could deliver their Imdb page or some applicable web source identifying why I should know them. (HAHA!!!)
After Lucky Shops there was a screening of a new ABC Family show Jane by Design. I wasn't able to make the screening, so I'll have to tune in with the rest of you to check it out. Watch a preview of the show below:
Overall it was a fun-filled event. Check out some of the other Lucky Style Blogger's pages that were in attendance for their take on the event:
Elbow patch sweaters have been springing up all over the place. This is an easy look to D.I.Y.even if you aren't one to sew! Just bring your elbow patches and sweater into your local dry cleaner/tailor who will stitch them up for you for a small fee. There are plenty of options for those of us who are a shop-a-holics from designer and mass market brands alike. Some of my faves are posted below:
Tiny Armour's shop is full of simple pieces that can be piled on or worn alone suiting both minimalists and more-is-more stylistas alike. The simple pyramid studded bangle, brass triangle necklace, and mix and match rings have inserted themselves onto my wish-list. See more from Tiny Armour here & here.
and other Chanel books in my collection
) 
at the the Got2B Lucky Shops booth.
for Hair & Body, 
, 
for Face, Hair, & Body, and 
for Face, Hair, & Body, 
even if you aren't one to sew! Just bring your 
