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Accidental NYC lights shot
I'm a kindergarten teacher who kinda loves clothes, so I also work at a boutique in Chicago.
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Fashion Magazines Going Digital?
As the tech scene continues to be on the rise, some of fashion’s top magazines respond. Thanks to Mashable’s article you can even position yourself to have a great chance at scoring some awesome free gifts at New York Fashion Week! Will you be getting your education on the latest trends via smartphone?
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Dressing From the Waist Up?
The other day I was working a private party at the store for a group of women who won, at a charity auction, the opportunity to eat, drink and shop with friends. I enjoy working at these parties because it gives me the opportunity to suggest new looks, and talk with women about their likes and dislikes when it comes to clothing in a more intimate setting. At this particular party, many of the women were out to find new jeans. This comes as the ultimate task for an employee of a clothing boutique because, in my opinion, there is no better feeling than the perfect pair of jeans. At this time in the fashion world there are about 100 different options for a great pair of jeans: boyfriend, flare, bootcut, skinny, distressed, embellished, ankle length, and yes, even jeggings.
For a woman who has never ventured out to finding the perfect pair of jeans, this can be overwhelming enough….but wait….what about the different designers? Seven, Citizens, Hudson, William Rast, Joes, Paige, Anlo, Genetic denim, Current Elliott, and this is just the tip of the iceberg! This is where a boutique employee happily steps in. Nothing is more fulfilling at the store than to help a customer brave into the land of designer denim and come out on top. Women come in all shapes and sizes which means that as a boutique employee, it is our duty to know what types of jeans fit different shapes of women best.
On this particular evening a small group of women were ready to find the perfect pair and I was prepared to help. While I picked out different jeans for the women to try on, their friends anxiously awaited a “fashion show” of my selections. I would like to think that after 3 years of fitting women into jeans that I am pretty good at what I do but part of it is convincing women that they cannot just try on one pair and expect it to be “the one.” For example, if I see that Citizens of Humanity Jeans fit you terribly then chances are you are more of a Sevens/Hudsons kind of girl. That night as the women showed their friends some “misses” with my jean selections one woman said, “You know I heard that you should really just focus on dressing from the waist up.” She proceeded to go on and say that when you are at dinner that is all someone sees or if you are sitting at your desk in the office no one can see your pants anyway. Since I was working that night I kept my mouth shut (which rarely happens) and my opinion saved for this post.
WHAT?!? This was of course the first thing that came into my head after hearing this comment. How can you possibly have a pulled together look without something that works for you on the bottom? Just because people see that the top part of you looks nice it does not change the fact that you know deep down that you are a total mess on the second half of your body. What about your self esteem? Before you leave your home do you find the nearest vanity mirror to make sure you look okay? Why do you think they have FULL LENGTH MIRRORS? I apologize for the verbal diarrhea of questions but these questions make valid points. The important part of an outfit is…….drum roll please……Everything! I am not sure that I have ever met someone that has said to me, “isn’t this top amazing? But seriously, don’t look down, my pants are too short.” The days you walk with your head held high feeling good about your outfit are the days that you look great from head to toe!
I am not here to tell you that you need to spend a fortune on designer jeans to have a completed outfit. In order to look good from head to toe you need to know how to dress your body. Maybe you hate jeans. Laura Bennett from season 3 of Project runway swore up and down that jeans and sweatpants were a slippery slope to hitting rock bottom in fashion. With that being said, she wore a dress or a nice pair of pants every single episode of that season and she looked great doing it. Diane Keaton is known for her taste in wearing mens pieces and has made her a style icon for designers that like to create menswear for women. To me, the impressive thing about Diane Keaton is not that she pulls off menswear, it is that she knows what she likes and she completes her look. Similarly and yet completely the opposite, Victoria Beckham dresses in five inch heels and a form fitting dress nearly everyday. These two examples of people who dress from head to toe are on completely opposite ends of the spectrum but somewhere in the middle is where you will find yourself.
Take a moment to put on some of your favorite outfits and judge them with a critical eye. Is this particular style of pant the best style for YOU? Do not settle because you think people only see you from the waist up. Find the pieces that will complete your look so that you can come out from behind your desk with confidence.
As for me, I ended the night by making it my personal mission to find these three women at the party the jeans that made them look their best. One ended up with a pair of James Jeans jeggings, the other the perfect pencil jean, and the last woman went with a pair of mid rise dark wash Sevens. I am happy that I was able to help those three women conquer the jeans world, but even happier that I may have changed my, “dress from the waist up” friend’s mind.
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First Ever Ralph Lauren Fashion Show Online! →
In conjunction with Marie Claire Magazine and Nina Garcia, Ralph Lauren hosts its first ever online fashion show. It is truly incredible how technology has changed even the fashion industry. Although the link of the show is just under 2 minutes long, you are able to get a sense of how Ralph Lauren is taking the spring trends by storm. My personal favorite piece of the show…the earthy motorcycle jacket :) (click the title above to see the show for yourself!)
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Dear helmut Lang, Can you make this in a skirt please?
(inspiring prints at the San Fran museum of modern art)
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I Heart Shopbop
I have a confession to make… I don’t shop online…. I facebook, I tweet, I watch Youtube videos, I sneek a little Perezhilton (guilty pleasure) but I don’t shop online. I truly, honestly swear to you, I have bought a total of three things. Let me tell you a little bit about them. Online purchase #1 - in college I had this idea to get my Mom some unique beads for her birthday (at the time she was into jewelry making) I made a ebay username and bid the hell out of those beads. I won. Although the feeling of winning these beads was great, the stress of buying them was nearly unbearable for me. I am not a good bargainer especially if it is something that I want. I do better when you just tell me the price and I will decide whether or not it is worth it. I thought that ebay and I would never meet again until…
Online purchase #2 - Once again this has to do with my Mom and ebay. My Mom desperately wanted these three wise men for a manger scene but had to leave the house so she put me on bidding for the three wise men. Do not ask me how this is possible but I managed to outbid myself and then win them…against myself….As you can tell I am still completely perplexed as to how this happened. After my second experience I have made a private vow to never go on again.
I am sure you are surprised to hear that both of those purchases were not clothes. I am too. But here is my theory. Even when the internet wasn’t what it is today, I never ordered things from catalogs either. I am a complete texture person. I will walk through stores with my hands out like a child and if I feel something I like it will undeniably give it a second look for the shear fact that it felt nice to the touch. You cannot do that through a catalog or online. I also don’t like to pay to return things. I know, I know the argument that you will have to pay to get to the clothes and park is a great argument but I will counter argue that with: Where is the inspiration? And what about the human interaction? I need be inspired by the latest trends and I need to hear why the person at the store thinks it is a good idea to by this $200 shirt that I am desperately trying to justify as I pace back and forth from the fitting room.
Which brings me to online purchase #3 - Crisscross strap sandals - Belle by Sigerson Morrison. I know I know, you are thinking what about this lack of inspiration and human interaction that you talk about?! Well there is an exception to every rule right? Here is mine. Shopbop.com Even though I do not (usually) buy clothes online I absolutely have looked at every reputable online clothing site. For about the past three months I have been getting email updates from a few of them just to see if my thoughts and feelings of online shopping would change. I absolutely despise putting my name on email lists. Half of the time I am not even quite sure how my email address managed to get on some of the stores’ lists. Nothing is worse than going to your personal email and seeing that all that is in your inbox is a bunch of impersonal email from no one you know. I like to log in and see things that I am excited about.
Over the past three months I have come to get excited to see that I have a shopbop update. No one online can possibly match their look books. Truly unbeatable. Any way you want to see the items they have, you can. By designer, by trend, newest, oldest, sale… the list goes on and on… And just when you think, they have outdone themselves, they do something better. Just the other week they did a “What style are you?” look book and once you decided what style you were, they showed you every item that you might also like. Priceless. I had a hard enough time deciding who I was so I just looked at them all and found pieces that I would like to get or emulate at a cheaper price.
This week, for me, the best email ever came from shopbop. I had just gotten over feeling bad for myself about not having any sort of connection to go to fashion week in New York when my best (online) friends (that I’ve never met) Morgan Wendelborn and Kate Ciepluch emailed me to tell me all about it with pictures and input describing everything I missed out on. How thoughtful right?! During my lunch break from Kindergarten I perused the online store of what is to come in the fall, fell in love with some pieces that I imagined felt really nice, and even had two fabulously opinionated girls tell me why I cannot miss out on having them. I really think that I am about to turn over a new online leaf. Shopbop just might have made me an online shopper (not to mention that all returns within the US are free.) I always leave the site wanting something.
If you are not already, sign up to get the updates on shopbop. Enough said.
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