Jun 7, 2010 | Fashion
For early Summer I’m loving a palette of neutrals, nudes, and earthy tones. Since the weather here in Portland doesn’t get really warm and fine until mid- to late- June, layering is key during the inevitably rainy and damp mornings. One truly versatile piece is this Plastic Island One-Button Linen Dress – worn done up and belted, it’s also appropo for the office or a business casual event; worn undone it serves as a light jacket. Pair it over something slinky like this Free People Easy Corset Slip for a night out, or for a summer soiree. As a contrast to the girliness and straight-laced look of the linen dress – I’m going to finish off my ensemble with a Two-finger Stud Ring for a little bit of edge.
Come really hot days a sweet, ruffled camisole like this 525 America Tie Dye Ruffle Cami
looks great with some white denim and a Satin-Trim Fedora to fend off the sun’s rays. (Perfect for tapas by the pool or a day out with the girls!) For evenings, a structured blazer like this Gibson Chambray Jacket adds a dose of downtown cool and is a must-have this summer. (Wear over a pair of faded denim shorts or capris – since the denim-on-denim look is what’s on-trend this season…and probably not for that much longer.;-)
For dates or when I’m feeling that urban military vibe, this Guess Camila Military Romper is both strong and sassy – and paired with an oxidized metal cuff or old gold chains and oversized aviators, could look straight out of the pages of a magazine. Add a pair of Suedette Strappy Platform Sandals to continue the theme of neutrals and pit delicacy against the rough-and-tumble look of the romper. (LOVE these sandals with a pair of loose paperbag-waist shorts and a vintage lacy blouse, too!)
I’m also going to be accessorizing all summer long with whites, bones, creams, eggshells, and ivories – light-colored jewelry looks fab against sun-kissed skin and sets off a tan to perfection. (And this White Cala Necklace, paired with a flowy maxi, is all I’ll need for a beach party anywhere!)
Hope that this offers some solutions to the question of “what do I wear for warm weather?” Have a wonderful start to Summer!
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 7, 2010 | Fashion
If you happen to live in (or are close to) the NY area next week, I am so jealous! Shoshanna and Anlo, two brands known for their feminine, breezy styling, are having a HUGE sample sale with up to 75% off their Spring collections, swimwear, and denim.
Prices for the sample sale are as follows:
Spring dresses (originally $350)….$150
Tops (orig. $250)….$100
Bikinis (orig. $165)….$65
Baby Girl Swim (orig. $75)….$35
Jeans (orig. $200)….$90
Wednesday June 16th
10 AM – 6:30 PM
Thursday June 17th
10 AM – 5:30 PM
Shoshanna Showroom 231 West 39th Street Suite 422
Cash and Credit Cards Accepted
Hope you guys are able to pick up something cute and fun for the coming warm weather!
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 5, 2010 | Blogging, From You
from my formspring.me inbox:
hi carly! what´s your opinion about this: http://www.leblogdebetty.com/2010/05/22/zara-we-have-a-problem/?? o this http://www.mediavida.com/foro/6/rocio-canero-vs-zara-324429 (sotty this one is in spanish)??
Ah yes. That’s ker-azy that Zara is using a blogger’s image without her permission. It’s legally actionable since she’s not a political figure, and her image is being appropriated in order to make money from it without her consent. Being “inspired by” and copying a photography exactly (even into a drawing) are 2 different things, especially when the copying is so exact that the original photo is instantly called to mind upon looking at the drawing. Zara knows better than using Kate Moss’ image without her consent on their t-shirts…the designer obviously felt okay using leblogdebetty’s image since she wasn’t as “big” a celebrity and therefore unlikely to retaliate – plus it was a photo out there on the internet, and the design team likely felt it was “fair game” (which it’s not!!).
xoxo
Carly
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Jun 5, 2010 | DIY, From You
From my formspring.me inbox:
Love your blog! Advice on how to DIY this elastic savant bralette? https://www.idontlikemondays.us/Merchant2/inventory/savant_bralette_am.jpg Can’t imagine paying almost $200 for this!
The basic idea is you just pin the elastic onto your dress form, keeping the elastic taut but not *too stretched.* If you don’t have a dress form, then enlisting the help of a friend would be great, and pinning it onto a tight-fitting tanktop that you are wearing. Then, pull off the piece, and stitch down the connections on your machine using a regular stitch (not a stretch stitch) in black thread. It doesn’t even need a closure since it is elastic!
Best of luck – and you’re definitely right – $200 is way, way too much for some elastic!
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 4, 2010 | Fashion
Straw Hat: Target
Mesh Wide Tee: Forever 21
Watch: Forever 21
Bracelets: handmade
Double-C logo Paper Bag: DIY…video tute coming soon!
Cropped Sweatpants: Forever 21
Alright, so cold #5 feels to be on its way out. Kinda. I have now officially been sick for 3 months straight. After $400 worth of tests, my doctor’s official medical opinion is that I am “unlucky.” My white blood cell count is normal. I don’t have whooping cough, tuberculous, or pneumonia. She doesn’t even know how to test for Cryptococcus gatii and says I probably don’t have it. She said there’s no reason to test for a yeast intolerance (thank you for that suggestion, Dusk! I am still suspicious tho…). So after 5 colds, plus bronchitis, plus an eye infection, pytiriasis roasacea, and laryngitis twice, apparently I’m completely a completely healthy person who just keeps getting sick for no reason. What the heck’s wrong with me???!
I kind of want to start naming each bout of illness with cocky, blue-blooded names, like “Thurston Marshall Laryngitis II” or “James Preston Rhinovirus V” or something. Blech. I’m so OVER being sick!! (And to think I was over it at cold #3…..*sigh*)
Necklace: Claire’s
Rings, left hand: unknown rhinestone X ring, twisted to fit high on finger; handmade sideways cross ring, available here (or convo me if it sells out)
So I saw a similar paper bag on a streetstyle shot (probably on JakandJil) and decided to DIY it in a video tutorial. Yes, I wrote “video“!! Will be sharing soon once I edit it together.
Hmm…I wonder what’s in my lovely bag?
Haha – PSYCH! There’s nothing in it! A bag that defeats its purpose, perhaps.
I’m liking my DIY Ann Demeulewhatever boots very much…but the elastic shoelaces are very uncomfortable. I will have to change them out for regular shoelaces! And the last time I posted these, one helpful reader also known as Professor Shoelace (!) noted that I was tying them the wrong way…which I am…here’s the right way to tie them. I’ve checked out Ian’s Shoelace Site before, specifically for lacing shoes in multiple interesting ways….seriously, this site is the resource for shoelace-related-stuff on the web!
Hope you guys are having a great week…I got out of bed at 3:30 PM today, and now the day’s over. I have no idea what day it is anymore. I get the feeling there was something (some hundred things) that I was supposed to take care of today. Ugh.
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 3, 2010 | DIY
Pillowcases come in a variety of prints that work just as well for pieces clothing. Plus, they have just enough fabric (and are roughly the same shape) as a cute little A-line mini-skirt – and can be transformed easily, with just a couple seams. (You can of course also transform them into dresses and skirts for small children.) And now there’s no need to worry when you have a lone pillowcase and can’t find its mate.
Take Exhibit A, a dot-printed piece that I pulled out of my 48-lb. haul of clothing I sourced at my local Goodwill Outlet. I was drawn to it because of the fabulous print – and I could only find one of them, so I had no intention of using it as a pillowcase…thus I thought it would work great as a skirt! The whole process took me maybe 30 minutes – a quick-sew project to be sure!
How to Make an Elastic-Banded Mini-Skirt from a Pillowcase
You Need:
*a standard-size (or larger!) pillowcase
*2″ wide piece of black elastic
*tape measure
*marking chalk
*pins
*fabric scissors
*thread and machine needle for wovens
*iron & ironing board
How To:
1. Turn pillowcase inside out and cut off all the sewn seams, leaving two large rectangles.
2. Turn rectangles sideways and fold in half. Cut edge on a slight A-line angle to the top. (I know in the photo above the fabric isn’t folded in half – but you should probably do that to ensure the right and left sides of each piece are at exactly the same angle.)
3. Unfold your pieces. Measure 1/2″ in from the angled edges of one of the pieces, and cut. This piece will become the back of the skirt.
4. Pin back to front of the skirt at the angled sides, and sew together.
5. Wrap piece of elastic at your natural waist (or where you want to wear the skirt). Make sure it is taut on your waist – not so tight you can’t breathe – but fairly tight. Overlap ends by 1/2″ and cut.
6. Sew piece of elastic in a circle on your machine with a 1/2″ seam allowance. (I used a straight stitch, then flattened each end and zigzagged over it to further secure it.)
7. Place elastic band over pillowcase top, overlapping about 1/2″. Match pillowcase skirt center front to center of elastic band, and skirt center back to the seam you sewed in Step 6). Pin the two sides as well.
8. Sew pillowcase to elastic band using a stretch stitch on your machine, with the elastic on the top and the fabric below being thread through by the machine’s feed dogs. Stretch the elastic between the pins so the pillowcase “gathers” naturally to the elastic.
9. Try on the skirt, mark where you want your hem to fall, and turn the hem (about 1″). Sew a 3/4″ hem on the bottom.
10. Iron to set the hem and remove any creases.
And that’s it! And the great thing is, the waist is elastic, so you can wear it belted higher up with a wide belt…or wear it lower near your hips for a different look. Hope you have as much fun making yours as I did mine!
Happy DIY’ing!
xoxo
Carly
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Jun 1, 2010 | DIY
You gals have dresses on the brain, as evidenced by my formspring.me inbox.
Okay, first to the reader who is looking for more men’s shirt dresses:
I’m sure you’ve already seen mine but in case you had missed any I’ve relinked them above. All were made by repurposing men’s shirts.
I’m also working on another tutorial for you guys for the dress above, made from a men’s long-sleeved shirt.
Here are a couple others I’ve noticed around the web:
midnightintern‘s FABULOUS Rockstar Sack Dress. Have I mentioned it’s fabulous?? (And I’m making a similar one in cobalt blue right now!)
Adventures in Dressmaking posted a tutorial about turning a blouse (men’s shirt will work just as well) into a dress by adding the bottom skirt. Also, read back through her archives to see other tutorials and transformations, as well as a great tute for turning a man’s shirt into a skirt.
Rachel at Transient Expression linked her Shirtdress tutorial in the comments – which I had seen awhile ago and forgot to add in! Thank goodness she caught it – because her chambray pinafore-style dress is just perfect for 2010!
Though it’s in French, km17 has posted the finished results of some men’s shirt refashioning that she did following the instructions from a Japanese pattern book. [I do think those Japanese refashioning books are really cute and innovative (and they can really makeover your man’s shirts!! But then again, I’m biased.;-)] She hasn’t posted the how-to, but you can probably figure out how she did it by looking closely at the finished pieces.
And Wardrobe Refashion, CraftStylish, Craftster.org, CutOutandKeep.net, and Threadbanger are all great resources for refashions!
Thanks for your questions, as always:-)
xoxox
Carly
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May 28, 2010 | DIY
These sunglasses (a dupe of the Alexander Wang for Linda Farrow zipper sunglasses) are a bit fiddly to make, but the results are totally impressive! My tutorial was featured in Free Magazine, the official magazine of Club 18-30.
Those of us stateside may not be familiar with Club 18-30, but for our friends across the pond it’s sort of known as Europe’s version of Club Med (except catering to a younger clientele, hence the name).
My DIY Alexander Wang Sunglasses have been featured in the Summer 2010 issue, which is available in all Club 18-30 destinations from May – October. (Available in 10 countries, including Bulgaria, Crete, Cyprus, Turkey, and Ibiza.)
Unfortunately they spelled my name wrong (there’s no U in it) – but ohwell! A feature’s a feature!
Since I submitted this in February, in the meantime Style Hurricane also DIY’ed her own version using a real zipper around the edge of the sunglasses.
My version is a lot more labor-intensive, but I was going for as exact a copy as possible.:-) Whichever way you go, now these fabulous designer-style sunnies can be yours at a fraction of the price!
Happy DIY’ing!
xoxox
Carly
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May 27, 2010 | Fashion, Score!
Many of you may have already heard of maurices, a low-priced chain of stores offering fashion-forward, on-trend clothing, accessories, and footwear. Founded in 1931, the chain has grown to an amazing 700 stores over 48 states, carrying everything from jewelry to denim, shapewear to sublimated tops, sweet little dresses to sandals (and plus sizes too!)
They are running a special promotion for Memorial Day Weekend starting today – for every $60 you spend you’ll receive your choice of either a cute tote bag or chic pair of sunglasses! (You get to choose from 9 different totes and 31 different shades – up to 10 free items if you spend $600!!) Here are a couple of stylish pairings I found:
Since I have nothing else to do this Memorial Day Weekend ( no barbecues planned, no hitting the beach etc.) – I’m going shopping and heading down to my local maurices to see what deals I can scoop up!
xoxox
Carly
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May 26, 2010 | Fashion
Whatever you do, there will always be detractors from it.
Whatever you say, there will always be disagreements with it.
More often than not, positive reinforcement comes less often than negativity.
Do not let that bring you down. (May times, you are your most vicious critic!)
Though you may not always hear it, there will be people who appreciate what you say.
Though you may not always know it, there will be someone who benefits from what you do.
Do not give up. Do not let self-doubt lead you to believe no one cares. Do not believe your writing, posting, sharing falls on deaf ears.
They do not. You are a contributor. You are valued. It is the journey that many share, each and every day.
To all those whose blogs I read but have never commented on, to all those whose thoughts I benefit from, whose words remain with me, whose art inspires me. To all those whom I have never expressed my gratitude.
Thank you.
xoxxo
Carly
all images via ffffound! except last img from here
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