Mar 4, 2010 | Fashion
(handmade acrylic bead necklace, handmade mesh top, Forever21 white long-sleeved top, handmade belt with removable chain, handmade skirt, Spanx reversible tights, Forever21 lace-up military boots)
It’s a handmade extravaganza!
What I wore Wednesday, Feb. 17 while in New York for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
On this day I headed to the Upper East Side (at least, I think that’s where I was) to go to The Daily Beauty Bar and got a free half-hour massage. The masseuse found a golf-ball sized knot in my shoulder where I had been carrying my laptop bg – and whenever she put pressure on it – it crunched. Ugh. I think the massage did me some good but then I still had to sling on my heavy bag of equipment after it was done. Oh well. I stopped in at Zara and lusted after a lot of things, even trying on a striped shirt that I’m going to totally DIY in a little while…and headed back to the Bryant Park area. Bought my White Hot Chocolate Cupcake at Crumbs, bought a few things at STEPS boutique (I had only snapped photos the other day there, not stopping to try anything on), and then back to my hotel room to enjoy my cupcake. Changed in a flash to this outfit for a meeting with the Bluefly America’s Most Stylish Blogger team. I showed them my mini-collection and got some very valuable feedback!
Necklace is oversized acrylic resin beads strung on delicate silver chain. Top is peach bubble organza mesh with grosgrain ribbon snap-front and covered shoulder pads. Belt is peach bubble organza mesh over clear vinyl backing, edged in khaki twill with removable gold chain. Skirt is wrap-style in nude chiffon over rose-print poly satin.
Then back to the hotel room and changed again for the evening to this outfit:
(handmade necklace of chain, pink chiffon, and pearls; Forever21 white long-sleeved shirt; knit navy blue jacket from STEPS boutique; vintage fanlacer corset; scrunch-leg leggings from Japan; GoJane scrunch suede boots)
I couldn’t wait to take my new jacket from STEPS for a spin. It’s the cutest thing ever-the front pieces can not only be removed, but also buttoned in different configurations. I’m going to add some buttons so they can be buttoned into a high collar configuration. The jacket had the most incredible detail – thick ribbing; belts on the wrists; and quilting – it was such a bargain at $36.99.
Vintage fanlacing corset bout on Ebay for about $34. The only way I’ll wear it is over my clothes! I can’t believe women of yesteryear actually wore this heavy, buckled, strapped thing under their garments. Insane.
I then stopped by M&J Trimming and picked up some studs (can’t WAIT to use them in a new project!), then checked out H&M, snapped some photos, and even picked myself up a damaged sweater for a small discount. (nice!) Then out to the Lower East side for the disappointing c. marchuska show, then back to the park to meet up with a friend from last Fashion Week briefly.
The jacket all buttoned up.
Almost done with all my New York Fashion Week postings, thank goodness!
Hope you’re all having a great week so far!
xoxox
Carly
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Mar 2, 2010 | Fashion, Life
I know, right? Again????
Full disclosure: I am in Hawaii now and desperately trying to catch up on posting all my New York Fashion Week coverage from my laptop that I was silly enough to bring with me.
Hub’s best friend had his wedding February 12. His brother has his wedding March 6. Both decided to have their weddings in Hawaii.
So what does one do? Decide to only go for one of the weddings? (You’d have to go to your brother’s, obviously.) Go for the first one, stay in Hawaii 4 weeks, go for the second one, then go home? Or go to Hawaii for the first wedding, fly back, the go back to Hawaii a few weeks later?
Well, that’s kind of how it worked out for us (except for me going to New York Fashion Week in-between). It turned out the roundtrip plane tickets for all of us were way cheaper than the cost of daily meals, hotel, pets’ boarding fees, missed school for Lil Tot, etc., so we decided to fly back to Portland in-between.
Basically we had a week in-between our flights. I’m a little tired of living out of a suitcase by now!
(H&M DIY’ed destroyed sweater, Old Navy lame-knit tanktop, unknown brand bag from Pineapple County, Forever21 rhinestone bracelets and double-wrap belt, Norma Kamali for Spiegel convertible minidress worn as a skirt, Wet Seal gold chain flats)
Bought the H&M sweater while in New York and because it had a small hole in it I was able to get it at a whole 10% off discount the original $26 price. [wooo. Not.] So I unraveled ladders in it a bit more, ended up with it looking really cool and Raquel Allegra‘d…and then snagged it moments after this photo was taken on my bracelets, thus altering it from an intentionally-destroyed sweater…to a sweater that just looked like I’d pulled it out of the trash. Not good.
I finally figured out what these skull studs are a knockoff of – Thomas Wylde‘s designs! It was bugging the hell out of me. I found this bag for $40 at Pineapple County last…last week when I was in Honolulu, and today when I was browsing in the store the salesgirl asked me if she could start wrapping up my bag for purchase. Problem with stores that sell affordable, cute merchandise: sales staff is usually clueless LOL.
I’ll be leaving…on a jet plane soon. Again. Arrrgh!
Day after the “tsunami” and everything is fine here – just a little windy.
xoxox
Carly
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Feb 26, 2010 | Fashion
(handmade snap tape bauble necklace, Forever21 long-sleeved top, handmade chiffon mini-bustier, Forever21 rhinestone knuckle ring, Icing by Claires silver rhinestone tendril ring, handmade studded fabric ring, Jeans Warehouse wool mini-shorts, Spanx reversible tights, Mossimo tricolor over-the-knee socks, GoJane slouch suede flat boots)
I wore this last Tuesday while in New York at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
The night before I had noticed a few tiny flakes swirling down as I made my way back to my hotel. When I woke up Tuesday morning, outside it looked like this:
I began to be very sorry I had not brought my travel umbrella as the falling snow got heavier – and wetter- as the day went on. I spent 30 minutes curling my hair into a big Dallas-esque poof in the morning – and it went completely flat within an hour of being outside.
My feet were also soaked in their GoJane suede boots. (The only water-resistant shoes I had had a 4″ heel and my feet were aching so badly from the previous day’s city-trekking that I nixxed them in favor of flats.)
That day I took some photos of fashionable people in the tents, watched the
Pamella Roland show (I was third row – almost directly behind Brooke Shields!), shopped at
STEPS boutique, met a friend for a late lunch at Chef Yu, headed out to the Lower East side, poked in some boutiques (including Cloak & Dagger and
AlphabetsNYC), went to the Samantha Pleet show and interviewed the designer, then back to the tents at Bryant Park for the
Toni Francesc show.
Sorry for the bad pictured – camera troubles abounded, and eventually I was just using my Blackberry to snap photos.
I had a big piece of hair sticking out the left side of my head – why doesn’t anyone tell me these things before we take a photo????
I’m also experimenting with a matte nude lip – M.A.C. makes the best nude lipstick ever (exactly the same shade as my skin!!) called
Myth.
Well- at least I was warm (except for my feet) & comfortable! I barely took off my coat the entire day.
xoxo
Carly
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Feb 23, 2010 | Fashion
Day 2 (Monday, a week ago) of my trip to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. I attended the
IFB Evolving Influence Conference and met a whole lot of cool bloggers (some whose blogs I’ve been reading for awhile, so I went totally fangirl on them!), and met a really cool girl who used to live in Portland! Due to time running over with the conference I missed the Jill Stuart show (total bummer, but since they never confirmed my RSVP, I’m not sure I would have been able to go anyway:-(. Then I managed to go to the Robert Verdi Retreat event [coverage coming soon – Lil Tot is hitting me in the head with a plastic cup so I can barely get through this post] and
scored TONS of swag which I still have to go through and decide what to give away on my little blog in the near future.:-) Then back to the tents for the Ecco Domani show (still gotta do a write-up ugh but SIKI IM was the awesomest thing I’ve seen in a looooong time there!) I missed the Thieves show, which I was also bummed about…but all in all it was a pretty full day.
Since New York was bitterly cold – I layered a pair of Insight Beanpole Ripped Jeans (similar here
) over a pair of tights for warmth – they’re ombre colored, going from light gray at the top to charcoal at the bottom, so the color just barely peeks through the rips in the jeans. I was going to layer over turquoise tights, but it really didn’t go with the top.
The top I made out of charcoal gray lightweight suiting fabric. I know it’s hard to see – but it has a center front pleat, and then a double-layered ruffle at the bottom, with grey chiffon sandwiched in between. You can wear it with a plain skirt to look business-like or over jeans (like here) to be more casual.
I’m thinking it would be better without the front pleat and with a rounded neckline instead of the semi-V neck it has now. What do you guys think?
This is a fabulous tissue-weight tee from Mossimo (Target) that I wore TONS as a layering piece in New York. It’s so soft and surprisingly warm – best $9.99 I ever spent!!
The silver stretch pyramid bracelet is no longer available from Forever21 but the Lacquered Pyramid Bangle (in Black/Gold or Black/Silver) is here for $4.80.
Handmade studded fabric ring. I wear this all the time.
I got so many compliments on this ring it was ridiculous! I was like – “no, pay attention to the ring and shirt I MADE, please!!” It’s disheartening when, as a designer, the stuff you are wearing that you bought in a store is garnering more attention than the stuff you made. Obviously I need to learn to wear my things to an advantage.;-) But it’s a cool ring and a great conversation-started! ($5.80 at Forever21, people!!)
I am growing more and more in love with this color of Chanel nail polish
. (Saw it on WhoWhatWear, to be honest, and though I was originally looking for O.P.I. Over the Taupe, this is pretty lovely.) It’s a deep mushroom color that in some lights looks like a dark cafe latte color, and in some a light gray with the slightest hint of brown. Plus, it lasts a really long time since it’s Chanel and great quality.
I also added my clip-on Priscilla hair extensions…I so miss my long hair!! (Can’t wait til this current cut grows out…*sigh*) I
love that the extensions are already curly and heat-resistant so I can style them how I want to. Wilshire Wigs has a great selection of clip-in extensions…HairDo hair extensions (from Ken Paves and Jessica Simpson) are super-realistic and great quality!
xoxox
Carly
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Feb 18, 2010 | Fashion
(handmade cropped topper with cutout, flap shoulders, and snap tape detailing; handmade drapey viscose tank; Forever21 2-finger ring; handmade bead ring; studded leather wrap bracelet; Forever21 shorts; Spanx tights; GoJane slouchy boots)
I have to apologize for the bad photos; we didn’t have a lot of time to take shots; had to take the photos inside, hence the bad lighting; and the camera I brought with me is just awful.
On this day (Sunday, Feb. 14), I went backstage at Luca Luca and interviewed the designers of Dannijo Jewelry (who provided the jewelry for the show), and Luca Luca designer Raul Melgoza [so behind on my write-ups and transcriptions! ugh.]…went to the show…met some friends (from Hawaii no less!) at Le Pain Quotidian for lunch…headed out to Brooklyn to spend the afternoon with one of my best friends from high school…(it’s his room that we shot the above photos in)…visited the
Century 21 department store in the Financial District where I tried on that ruined Vivienne Westwood blouse…and had a Valentine’s Day dinner at some random Italian place near Times Square.
The topper and drapey tank are part of the mini-collection I’ve been working on the past few weeks and brought with me to show around at Fashion Week. I will definitely take some better photos of them once I’m back and with my nice Nikon 40D!
The ring on the right I made – it’s a huge acrylic bead with rhinestone trim running through the center of it.
Another photo of the outfit from my seat at the Luca Luca show.
I’m at Fashion Week!!! So thrilled! (I look more scary than thrilled; I know:-)
xoxox
Carly
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