May 27, 2013 | Fashion
Welcome to the first installment of my brand-new series, called “One Piece, Three Girls!” and Happy Memorial Day!
In this series I feature a single article of clothing, jewelry, or an accessory, styled into 3 different looks for 3 different ladies.
For the first post in the series, I’ve partnered up with the amazing Portland boutique Mabel & Zora, to feature a dress from owner Tiffany Bean‘s Spring 2013 collection.
Mabel and Zora opened in June of 2006, headed by husband and wife team Corey and Tiffany Bean. 
The vision for the store was inspired by Doris Day movies and Tiffany’s grandmother’s boutique from the 1950’s. Known for amazing customer service and a personalized shopping experience, the boutique offers dressy lines such as Lilly Pulitzer, Michael Stars, Three Dots, V. Fish, and Butter by Nadia.
Tiffany started designing her own clothing line Tiffany Bean Designs in 2010, also inspired by 1960s movies and fashions. “I love mid-century styling; it is a perfect mix of functionality and design. I romanticize about the jet-set lifestyle of movie stars from Los Angeles to Palm Springs and have designed our home, the shop, and line around this love affair of mine!” The line features a number of easy-to-wear, flattering dresses and skirts that can be dressed up for the office or worn on one’s day off- including colorblocking, fun prints, and signature wrap-style dresses.
For this feature, we have chose the Tiffany Bean Frances dress, a gorgeous contrast black-and-white stripe tube top dress. It’s made of stretchy, medium-weight material so it smooths over the body, and is a flattering knee-length (which happens to be a great length on anyone, no matter their body type). Due to its inherent versatility, this dress is the perfect dress for One Piece, Three Girls – and an on-trend must-have for your Summer wardrobe.
First up, we have Brooke. You might know her as Brooke Morse, the wonderful photographer who takes my outfit photos from time to time. Besides being a photographer, she is also a talented makeup artist, currently expanding her online portfolio. For Brooke, we went with a bohemian casual look, covering up the skirt portion of the Frances dress with a sheer lace DIY maxi-skirt, and pairing it with earthy brown leather accessories and gold jewelry.
Brooke is wearing: Tiffany Bean Frances Dress, Target Merona straw fedora, her own gold hoop leaf earrings, Target Merona scarf, DIY Gold Double-Ended Spike-End Bangle, Gold-Dipped Quartz Ring (from HauteLook), DIY Pamela Love Arrowhead Ring, her own vintage bag, her own wedge-heel sandals.
Next we have Kristin. Kristin Rosario has been assisting part-time with the marketing of Chic Steals since the Fall, and is a marketing guru with a great eye for business opportunities and ideas. Given that she’s often in meetings or an office environment, she needs to look polished and professional every day – hence, a structured blazer grounding the jersey dress. To play up Kristin’s femininity, we layered a couple colorful necklaces and added a ladylike touch with a ruffled bag and a pretty polka dot scarf.
Kristin is wearing: Tiffany Bean Frances Dress, her own milky quartz stud earrings, her own leather-sleeve black blazer, Ann Taylor rose quartz pyramid necklace, Kendra Scott Rayne Long Necklace in Black, her own rings, Steve Madden Ruffle Bag, V. FRAAS Taupe Polka Dot Scarf, her own beige patent pumps.
Finally it’s my turn. For me, I decided to go with a vintage eclectic look, utilizing a thrifted vintage belt and a chiffon overlay for a softer feel. By belting the top it gives it a little more coverage and dresses it up for an evening out, or for a barbecue with friends from work.
Carly is wearing: Tiffany Bean Frances Dress, urban sweetpea Double Initial Necklace (c/o Max & Chloe), Feather-print Chiffon Top (Japan), vintage shell-detail belt, H&M rings, Wildfox bone ring (from HauteLook), gold crown rings (Japan), R&E Gold Square-Heel pumps (Japan), Lilly Pulitzer Spring Fling Clutch. 
(I also brought macarons from Pearl Bakery to nosh on while we shot photos – they were enormous and oh-so-tasty:-)
And as an added bonus, Tiffany is offering the Frances dress featured above for an exclusive STEAL – at an amazing 30% off for my readers!
(Enter code CHICSTEALS at checkout in the Mabel & Zora online shop to take advantage of this offer – expires 6/21/13.)
Plus, right now Mabel & Zora is having an enormous Memorial Day Sale in-store, with sale pieces marked down from 30-75% off (including Yosi Samra ballet flats, pieces from the Tiffany Bean Spring Line, Ms. Wood) 
If you are local to Portland, definitely drop by the shop today take advantage!
Thank you so much to Tiffany and the Mabel & Zora team for their hospitality, and to Brooke and Kristin for being my willing models!;-)
Let me know what you think – whose look do you like the best? And how would YOU style the Frances dress?
xo
Carly
P.S. If any of my readers are local to Portland, OR, and between the ages of 25-40, I’d love to feature you in the
“One Piece, Three Girls” series.
Drop me a line and let’s collaborate!
May 26, 2013 | Fashion
To celebrate your stylish new grad, it’s a wonderful idea to gift something useful, commemorating the occasion marking this life event. Personally, I’m a big fan of either a piece of must-have jewelry or a special watch for the occasion: an adult item that will accompany her on her journey from school and beyond. (more…)
May 24, 2013 | Fashion
photo by Eric Standley
Welcome to my 3rd installment of F.I.L.L.! It’s been a crazy-busy week, and I have even more ahead. 3 weeks until I head to Tokyo for a month, 3 weeks to get tons and tons of DIY’s done and posted! Yikes. But I’ll rally and get it done. For some reason, there’s always like 1-2 weeks in a year I feel everything hinges upon, and I’m heading into them. So, while I buckle down to get some major work accomplished, here are some links that have caught my eye this past week:
Dream It: Inspiration & Creativity
Every wanted to manifest what you see in your dreams? Computers can now detect what subjects are dreaming…at least 70% of the time. Now all they need is some method to record it.
Life Hacks: How to Jumpstart Your Career gives some great advice on how to jumpstart anything. Just implementing a few of the productivity hacks in the list will double or even triple what you get done in the day.
See Eric Standley’s Stained Glass Art made from paper, and prepare to have your breath taken away. Seriously amazing handiwork.
Buy It: Shopping Picks
Totally amazed at this: Reet Aus, the world’s first mass-produced, upcycled clothing line. You can order Reet Aus, or other upcycled, sustainably-manufactured clothing lines (there are a few) at the TrashtoTrend website.
Is it wrong to want this chic monochromatic bikini so much? I figure it would be pretty DIY’able if one were so inclined, but I kind of want to buy when it comes to swimwear.
This is the chic-est dress imaginable, perfect for a night on the town. It is a night on the town, really. Point-blank.
Make It: DIY
I adore this DIY Lighted Constellation Canvas! It’s so dreamy and romantic – and perfect for any room.
How To Make Clothes Look Vintage and Worn is a great collection of tutorials for faux-ageing your stuff.
Simone Heng of CheapnChic.net is a DIY blogger based in Dubai, with a ton of awesome DIY tutorials on her blog. Check them out!
Live It: Lifestyle
In the wake of the clothing manufacturing factory collapse in Bangladesh, news outlets are beginning to examine the consumption of low-cost clothing and the social and economic ramifications. Watch NBC Nightly News’ The Cost of Cheap Clothes for some insight.
NastyGal is a Fast-Growing Retailer says the New York Times. I’ve been following them for awhile, and have been amazed at the company’s growth and success.
Get your FILL every Friday!
xo
Carly
May 20, 2013 | Fashion
Formerly known as Jelly Garcia Premium Wear, The Dress & Co Hideaki Sakaguchi was launched in 2002 by Japanese designer Hideaki Sakaguchi. In 2009 he re-launched the label internationally, showing the collection at Tokyo Fashion Week. Taking the concept of classical bourgeois and producing clothing that speaks to both culture and passion, Sakaguchi is known for mixing tough textiles like canvas and tweed with softer linens and crushed cottons, incorporating masculine accents and closures to his pieces. Many pieces are gather-able or able to be worn in different configurations. I’ve featured one of my favorite dresses EVER from the brand (from when it was Jelly Garcia Premium Wear) on my blog here.
(more…)
May 17, 2013 | Fashion
photo by Beth Mitchell
Welcome to my 2nd installment of F.I.L.L.! Last week should have been my second, but alas, the day got away from me with a dr.’s appointment that ran over-time, an ill-timed meltdown from the Lil one, and other obligations that took over my day, so I never got around to posting it. It was beautiful in Portland here last week (like Summer!), though this week has defaulted back to chilly, drizzly May days. I’ve been inspired by all the Springtime greenery about – the garden Lil Tot and I planted is beginning to sprout, I’m working on a number of DIYs I can’t wait to share with all of you soon, and I have a couple collaborations in the works that I’ll be rolling out in the next couple weeks! Exciting things are on the horizon…
So here are some links that have caught my eye this past week:
Dream It: Inspiration & Creativity
Wintergarden is a beautiful photoshoot done underwater with the talents of photographer Beth Mitchell and designer Begitta. Check it out!
Happiness graffiti and 8 ways to brighten your day from Oprah will have you smiling in an instant, no joke.
Feeling like you’ve lost that mojo? Check out 5 Ways to Stay Creative and be re-inspired!
Buy It: Shopping Picks
Is Brika.com the new curated alternative to Etsy? Their aesthetic is beautiful, and I’m loving every piece of jewelry made by this artist. Anything triangular is in my wheelhouse! (though that sounds like a contradiction in terms…)
I’m coveting these to add to my pants collection. The perfect blend of print and greenery – beachy and chic!
On first glance I thought this was a golden thong! Not quite as racy…or painful, guaranteed.;-)
On a totally different note, these shoes may just be the next generation of hologram. Dark and lovely indeed.
Make It: DIY
Prom is in the air, and these DIY Prom Ideas from Threadbanger should help you with putting those final touches on the perfect outfit.
DIY duo Limberlina are really cool. Check out their blog for some must-do projects!
This is an adorable McQueen Feather Peplum Tutorial from Youtube user Lookunderhere (skip to the 3:26 mark for the tute). I love it…even more with cruelty-free ostrich and turkey feathers from Etsy and Ebay.
Live It: Lifestyle
I’m obsessing over coconut oil lately, and this DIY Hair Conditioning Spray with Coconut Oil looks super-easy and so good for your hair.
I’d love to install a Mini-PC Floating Desk in my redone office. (Even though I’m on a Mac.) Super-chic.
This is so helpful: 4 Easy Ways to Tell if Clothing is Made Well from 24Savvy.
Get your FILL every Friday!
xo
Carly
May 16, 2013 | Fashion
I’m quite obviously having a huge neon moment. Neon and brights seem to evoke the best of warm weather: sunny Summer days, lazy vacations, and fun. Neon looks especially fresh this 2013 by pairing it with white: a bright neutral to offset the eye-searing color pop. Here are a couple of my favorite pieces going into this season:
1. Flowing Sarong Trousers, $79.90 and Studded Clear Tote, $19.80 / 2. Power Play Blazer, $78 and Triangle Collar Necklace
, $25.46 / 3. Jack by BB Dakota Intern of Honor Skirt, $40.99 and Santiago Neon Watch, $75
4. Chinese Laundry Joyride Ankle Cuff Heels, $93 and What a Sight Mini Skirt, $10.95 / 5. Caroline Baggi Neon Green Punky Bracelet, $85 6. Release Sunglasses in Wizard White Jade
, $25 7. Aldo Bergeron Clutch, $40 and Factory Neon Stud Earrings, $16.50
How do you feel about neon? Too youthful, too crazy, too 80’s? Or can’t get enough? Let me know in the comments section!
xo
Carly
