McQueen Infatuation

I found out about Mr. Alexander McQueen from my Young Life leader a month or so back and decided to look at his spring collection. That my friends, is when I feel deeply in love with it. I am so infatuated that he gets his own Spring 2011 post because the love was overflowing on my first Spring 2011 post. I would highly recomend watching a video of his show (click here to watch) because it is literally as if some of the garments have a life of their own. Here are a few favorites I picked out though I'm astounded with the entire collection.

 One of those dresses that simply moves as if it's alive. I actually thought the model was moving it with her hands but she wasn't. It was the closer to the shwo.

 I'm gonna be real honest and admit my first though when I saw this was, I would totally get married in that. That is not the intent with the dress, but I'm just saying if I had to work a dress down an aisle I'd be totally down to wear that one. Though in reality, I'll probably end up wearing a vintage lace gown because lets face it, weddings typically aren't high fashion. Anyways I loved this one with the white, the strong neckline and the unique skirt.

 Oh the shoes, the beautiful shoes. The heels are just incredible. There's also a butterfly one. I want them.

 Military style taken to a whole new level. I love the shoulders and the cutouts (he does cutouts like no other) an the femininity but also a sense of power and confidence about the outfit.

 He had several dresses with very eccentuated hips, which I thought was very intrigueing. I also like the strands skirt quite a lot. He quoted it was to "disentegrate to reveal the body beneath."

 Another dress that moved on its own. Insane. The movement in every single one of his pieces was unreal. And again he features a strong neckline as well as a drop waist sillhouette which I like rather a lot.

One of my absolute favorites. It has that disintegrating feel again and it's so flowy. It's just...ah gorgeous with the most interesting and unique look. It reminds me of the ethereal feel and almost a fairy.

Alexander McQueen is a genius.

Hope you all have had a good weekend!

-Leah

Spring Collections 2011

I am itching for the spring to come (though really, spring in colorado is only for bits and pieces of May with intermittent snow storms) and Friday was a nasty tease of a seventy degree day that I was too sick to properly enjoy. I want to wear dresses and skirts and short sleeves so terribly and so to curb my interest I took a look at a few designer's spring collections for 2011. Here are some of my favorites:

Alexander Wang

 

 Love the white, the cutouts (like the shoulder one in the first picture), the sheer piece of the neckline on the third pictuer and the movement and flow the garments posess.

Anna Sui

 I like the attention to detail and the country-ethereal feel. Again lots of movement and the color scheme is more neutral. It's also very sheer but with almost a quaint theme.

Badgley Mischka

 

These gowns continue the movement theme especially the second one, and they're simplistic with strong shoulders and necklines. The first one also has the shoulder cutouts that have been very common.

Betsey Johnson

 I'm very into fifties dresses that look fit for tea parties, so basically I adore this. It's so wonderfully girly.

Julia Clancey

 I love the strong puffy shoulder on the one sleeve and it again utilizes neutral colors and interesting details.

L.A.M.B.

 

These gowns use more colors, but have pleats that are showing up a lot in skirts. The first dress is again ethereal and flowy. I would personally wear it with a belt if I were of the correct height and budget to wear it.

Versace

Again, clean white colors, little details, strong shoulder. Love the skirt of dress 2 with all the strands of fabric hanging down. I also love the shoes (you can kind of see them on the first dress).

 



Incompetent Immune System

I really really hate being sick. I mean, everyone does, but I don't even really care about the actual sickness as much as the limitations that come with it. I am one of those kids who must be convinced by their mothers through several phonecalls, that missing half a day of school will not end their academic career and that taking a day off is acceptable. Nothing drives me crazier than feeling unproductive and not having something upcoming in my day. In fact, three years ago when I had pneumonia for a whole dreadful month, I was so bored to tears that I forced my mother to find me odd jobs to do that didn't require any movement or a great amount of analytical thinking, as I wasn't capable of either, but made me feel like I was doing something other than wasting away on the couch day after day. Today was not as drastic as pneumonia, but I am already itching to get back into motion, as my to do list is exceedingly lengthy and watching tv gets old after an hour. So rather than watch another rerun of Toddlers and Tiaras, I have put my restless personality into this new design for a friend. It's her ideal wedding dress that she requested with the requirements of a sweetheart neckline, mermaid or ballgown silhouette and simplistic style.

This gown has all the required components as well as some unique qualities. On the front there is gold embroidery along the neckline and down the torso. The seam between the skirt and the torso of the dress has a large gold ribbon and bow tied over it, and overall it's simplistic. The back is where I was a little more creative, making the skirt fuller and with a train as well as having three large pieces of gold lace attached to the gold ribbon around the seam that constitute a longer train that is also light and unique. The back is a corset with the ribbon tie up and the emroidery continues around the neckline.

Hope you all are having more productive Fridays than me!

-Leah

Lace Love

This is another one of the cardigans I received for Christmas that I'm just getting around to posting. However, I've worn it a couple times and it's one of my favorite wardrobe amenities. I also got a chance to pull out my new booties featured here though I did not anticipate having to walk sixteen- no I am not exaggerating-blocks to get to the Pearl Street Mall as my friend and I boarded the wrong bus. I will be wearing my ugg slippers tomorrow. However, as I don't plan on walking an obscene amount in them again anytime soon, I really love them, and will wear them again once my feet have recovered.

Anthropologie Cardigan, Charlotte Rouse darkwash
skinny jeans, Nordstrom camisole, Franco Sarto booties

Favorite part of the cardigan: the lace shoulder accents that are strong but not over the top. 

Pier 1 Imports ring and earrings

  You'd be surprised at the places with fabulous jewelry at a bargain price. Pier 1 Imports has unique rings and earrings, a few of which were placed in my stocking and I love the gold accents with this cardigan.

Easy to dress up or down, and with a flexible color, this cardigan has a high likelihood of becoming a staple in my winter wardrobe, because its soft, comfy and very unique.

Hope you all had less exhausting (darn buses!) Thursdays than I did! And just remember: tomorrow is Friday!

-Leah

5 things (but really 6)

This week was another hectic one both in terms of school and after school activities, but it was filled with many wonderful things, people and events.
1. I finished my National History Day project! Those of you who have not been put through this torture mechanism, it is a gigantic essay about history. It took forever. Like three months forever. And is worth half my history grade. And I am done!

 2. Hours spent in the card store with my mom laughing at these hilarious little jokes. We bought in bulk...like somewhere around $30 worth of cards. They were just so hilarious we had to buy them!

 3. The tapestry my sister let me use, as it was originally hers but ended up in the basement. It's like my blue one (you can see it above my computer) and I like to drape it across my mirror to create a sort of sanctuary to study, design and be creative.

 4. My fashion binder. Originally bought for history-but quickly turned into something not at all academic, like most of my journals-it now holds my sketches, final drafts and other inspirational pieces. My mom has also now been supporting the fashion idea and looking into colleges with fashion majors.

 5. Walmart adventures and bracelets! Because studying for math tests is no fun, we took a detour to Walmart where we found bracelets with phrases including: Unfriended, Adored (the one I got), Put a ring on it (the one my friend got) and I <3 not you (the one my other friend got). Besides, who doesn't love running around Walmart?

6. I like people such as my dear friends who go on Walmart adventures with me.

Happy Wednesday again!

-Leah

Sunday Best

This dress was designed for my friend and for occasions such as Church or other less casual-but not overly formal-occasions, like afternoon tea. It's a turqoise color with certain parts of white lace overlay-the crocheted lace. Sorry, my printer has been acting funny which is why I haven't printed fabric samples lately. It prints the fabric perriwinkle blue regardless of what color I am asking it to print, such as turqoise. Stupid printer.

As noted, the sleeves would be all white lace-but not an itchy lace, a crocheted soft lace, but still thin-and the waistband would be lace overlaying the turqoise blue underneath, and then the two sections of lace on the skirt would do the same; have turqoise fabric underneath. The fabric would be double georgette. The dress cuts off right above or at the knee (depending on your height) and. There is also some lace peeking out from the neckline (scoop).
Styling recomendations: hair down and in loose curls with an optional headband. Ballet flats in white, and little makeup.

Happy Wednesday! The week is half over!

-Leah

Parisian Chic

I am one who loves having a theme to an outfit (as exemplified here) and when this lovely lady decided on a Parisian theme for her outfit I decided she simply had to be photographed.

This will be added into the latest category of Fashion of the People, along with this post

Personally my favorite picture. I've been infatuated with topographical photos lately.

Love: the color combination. The white stripes correlate with the white hat without being too matchy and the gold of the necklace adds a more sophisticated feel while the pink tank top adds femininity. The necklace is also great because it has a vertical look, taking away from the horizontal lines of the sweater and helping narrow the look. I also like the loose curls because they're casual but oh so chic. Finally, I adore the inside print of the coat, that was a special surprise while photographing.

Hope you all had tolerable Tuesdays and that you're Wednesdays are wonderful!

-Leah

Gossip Girlscout

This outfit is where Girlscout meets Gossip Girl. I have never actually watched Gossip Girl but I've seen some pictures of the girls and also my friends repeatedly told me I looked like I walked out of the show today. I took my adorable little girlscout cardigan from anthro (xmas present) and paired it with some knee high socks, high heeled black booties and a sophisticated skirt. I hope you are as infatuated with it as I am!

This, my dearest loves, is my brand new Betsey Johnson ring that I got on sale and in my size!  Love: metallic gold that looks antique, rhinestones that aren't over the top and the bows. I love bows: see more bow love here

It only took me forever to find knee high socks, but they were so worth it. In my opinion they completed the outfit. In the skirt I loved the contrast of the light grey to the dark shoes and top and the ruffles that added texture. The cardigan-oh the cardigan-my mom initially refused to let me even take it off the rack but I swore to her that it would not make me look like I was five and it worked out.  It's super comfy and I've lately loved 3/4 sleeves (see this post for another example), and I also love the cute detailing with the lace collar and red accents to spruce it up without a fourth of july feel. Bonus: It has snaps instead of buttons so its much faster to get on and off.

Happy Monday too all!

-Leah

Dripping with Lace



This design was inspired by a cardigan I own (and plan on posting Thursday) with some lace on the shoulders. I took that small detail and exaggerated it into a dress. The color didn't scan very well, but it's an off white, almost beige-y color. The skirt alternates between two different lace styles and a layer of thin silk. The sleeves are 8 layers of lace alternating between the two patterns, and aren't as structured as in the drawing. They're more like waterfalls and cascade down your arm. For styling I would probably put this on like Carrie Underwood at the CMA's with a swarovski crystal belt around the waist and an updo with a headband and some cute wedges or tan booties. When I post the cardigan you can get a better feel for the color!

Happy Sunday! I hope you aren't procrastinating on Monday necessities like I am.

-Leah

Brown Booties

I am completely in love with my black Gianni Bini Booties featured here and here. I really like ankle boots in general because they allow you to wear more styles of pants and skirts and such, but I also like the high heels. They are more flattering and also as I am not of extreme height, (5'2"), they give me a boost without looking too tall. I've always loved heels, something about the glamour and elegance. I have found many times wishing I had brown booties so I began searching. Here is what I liked:

Gianni Bini 'Rocker' Ankle Boots
$80

L.A.M.B. 'Hunter' Booties
$380

 

Naya 'Fennel' Booties
$195



Vince Camuto 'Avo'

$60

Here is what I bought:

Franco Sarto Artist Collection
'Mega' Sandal
$100

They are very comfortable in part because of the platform on the toe, making the heel less extreme but not the height. I can also wear them in winter (weather permitting or with tights) or in summer, unlike my Gianni Bini's which are reserved solely for winter. Planning on featuring them very soon.

Hope your weekend has been joyous and restful!

-Leah

Forever Vintage

While I do absolutely adore dressing up each morning, take time and care to piece together each outfit and shopping to find that one perfect item, I often find many of my inspirations in other people's wardrobes. I was inspired to post about it yesterday when while taking photos for my stripes and chains post and my lovely photographer who so kindly takes the majority of my pictures for me, was wearing the most adorable cardigan. So we switched roles, as I insisted on documenting this beautiful vintage-feel piece from Forever XXI.

 It gives a very vintage feel with the off white and lace on the front. Very sweet and perfect for her elegant, tasteful, classic look.

I love the lace detail

More inspiring people with inspiring style to come. Hope all of you have lovely weekends and keep warm!
-Leah