The saga of the light

I promise that I'm going to get that stupid (but oh so pretty!) light up, but it still didn't happen today - more technical difficulties. I also know I won't be able to get to it this weekend because I'm taking the boyfriend home with me for the first time... yikes! This is the first guy that I've "taken home", so I'm really nervous but also really excited for him to get to see my funny little hometown!

On with the fashion...

If you aren't checking out The Sartorialist's website, then you're missing out. I have to admit that I didn't learn about his work until a few months ago, but since then I've become a huge fan of his photographs of street fashion. Being in Mississippi, I'm not exactly living in one of the fashion capitals of the world. Since I'm not going to move to NYC, Milan, Paris, or any of the other chic metropolitan cities of the world, I go to the Internet for my inspiration. There are about ten fashion sites that I check on a daily basis, but The Sartorialist (along with Susie Bubble's fantastic Style Bubble) have really expanded my ideas about fashion.

Currently, I have two favorite pictures from his photos. (Note: during international fashion weeks, he not only posts photos on his blog, but also outside/inside the tents for Style.com - these pictures are from that site). This one makes me wish I could pull this kind of fashion off:

This would be my style if I was Parisian. My name would be Amelie, and I would be studying art history at universitie. I would spend all of my free time at the Louvre or in the  St. Germain district ogling the fashion. I would be trying to sneak into the runway shows this week. I would be a huge fan of dry shampoo, and would wear no makeup other than concealer with a slash of red lipstick or kohl black eyeliner, although never at the same time, of course. I'm going to stop now before I start looking at plane fare and updating my passport.

This is my other favorite photo. When I have kids, can I have the kind who can sit through and appreciate a Viktor and Rolf show? 

If she is bilingual, I'm totally kidnapping her.

Fakeout!

Whoops... so I had planned on installing the light fixture today, but my drill wasn't plugged in, so it's got to charge overnight before I can do anything. Tomorrow there should be pictures (of something, at least).

In the meantime, I have a mission for you folks... I'm looking for something very simple, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. I want a very simple, loose-fitting V-neck t shirt dress. I can find either super grandma-esque dresses or designer versions that are waaay out of my price range. I promise that if you send me a link to the dress (and I'll know it when I see it), I'll send you something in return. I don't know what it is yet, but I'll think of something good.

In the meantime, here's a picture of my cutie-pie doggy:

She's so sweet when she's asleep.

I'm baaaaaaack!

Sorry for the long break... things got a little crazy around here. Anyway, I'll be back to my regularly scheduled posting tomorrow. In the meantime, here's some things to look forward to:

-I got a camera for my birthday! Now I can actually take pictures with a flash and stuff. I'm still working on learning Photoshop, but expect to see some good stuff soon.

-The wonderful, fantastic boyfriend bought the Tord Boontje light garland for me for my birthday- yes, he is awesome. I'm hoping to install it tomorrow, so look out for pictures of that ASAP.

-Puppy pictures! According to some, she looks like she has a drinking problem. Whatever, I'll let you be the judge.

Look forward to posting soon!

Hiatus

I'm still alive.

However, I plan on taking a break from posting until next week so that I can recover from near death-by-tornados and prepare from my birthday on Monday. In the meantime, go check out Oscar de la Renta's fall collection and try not to drool over how beautiful it is. 

Thought for the day

This dress makes me want to buy all of the sunscreen in CVS and go frolick on the beach. Who's with me?

Fall/Winter things I want: the black button-front dress from Alexander Wang, the Grecian draped dresses for Juan Carlos Obando, Sari Gueron's girly dresses, the chunky knit sweaters and grey striped coat from ADAM. Diane von Furstenburg's classic print dresses, belted layers, and blue silk plaid skirt, DKNY's fantasic coats, wide-leg trousers, red brocade dress, and ability to mix fabric prints and textures. Lela Rose's rich fabrics and jewel-toned ladylike looks, Tracy Reese's silk prints and grey oversized sweater with pockets.

Art to Art

When I was in kindergarten, we had a class play where I played an artist. I don't remember much else about the play, but I distinctly remember my costume: an oversized men's button down shirt that was splattered with paint.  I thought that it was quite possibly the coolest shirt ever. I remember even after the play, I wanted to wear that shirt everywhere. My mother was opposed to this idea, for obvious reasons, but I still remember that shirt today.

That shirt seems to be still influencing my fashion tastes today: I love the classic tailoring of a white button-down and menswear-influenced style. I hadn't given much thought to the paint splatters until recently though. Lots of designers sent paint-inspired looks down the runway for their spring and resort lines. Dolce and Gabbana showed a number of dresses with bunches of tulle and what appeared to be layers upon layers of paint around the waist and bodice. While this may sound more like the insanity you'd be used to seeing at a Heatherette show, the results were surprisingly feminine and wearable, if a bit daring.

These dresses remind me of what would happen if  Betsey Johnson got to play in Marie Antoinette's wardrobe and then decided to repaint Versaille.

Yves Saint Laurent decided to continue with this theme of artsy fashion for his resort collection.

This collection seemed to be more influenced by Jackson Pollock. Stefano Pilati took his collection one step further by integrating the brush strokes into his accessories:

My personal favorite art-inspired collection was by Rachel Roy. Rachel hasn't been designing for very long, but so far her collections have been spot-on (I even raved about her fall 08 collection earlier this week).  Her spring collection seemed to have been influenced by the artist's smock and watercolors, and was so light and beautiful, but also incredibly versatile. 

While this might not work for the office in a conservative law office, this could work as a shift dress (with more sensible shoes) in an artistic field, and would work for anyone as a night-out dress.

This dress is perfect on so many levels, but let me just say this: pockets make my world go round. 

Oh, and while I still may love that paint-covered shirt from my childhood, I wouldn't recommend making this a DIY fashion project. Leave this one to the pros.

Fall/Winter things I want: BCBG's structured jersey dresses and fantastic belts, Erin Featherston's ability to mix florals with heavy winter fabrics, the burgundy silk formal dress from Nicole Miller, the menswear-inspired double-breasted cardigan from Rag & Bone, and the green party dress from Sue Stemp.

My Fair Lady

Sorry for the sporadic posting lately. We're having really nasty weather down here, and I've been without internet because of it.

I'll also be adding a new feature starting today. In honor of fashion week, I'm going to add a list of things that I'm coveting from the new collections at the bottom of the page. I'm not going to link specific pictures, but head over to Style.com to check out the new collections.

Enough with that. On to today's blog:

I mentioned this in the previous post, but I'm incredibly fair skinned. And not what makeup companies call fair either. This, my friends, is what Cover Girl calls fair:

Not even close. I wish that I could be that tan. Instead, I'm closer to this:

very obviously not me

This means that certain clothes make me look like the living dead. These include all clothes that are stark white. Which makes me very sad, because I'm obsessed with this dress:

Absolutely gorgeous, understated dress by Pringle of Scotland, who sent an incredible collection down the runway for spring. Check out this detailing at the shoulder:

Such a tiny little bit of tailoring, but the asymmetry along with the fold are enough to make a difference. Plus, they expose the nape of the neck and shoulder, which I think is a subtly sexy body part on every woman. No woman has ever said, "I have fat shoulders." Or at least no sane woman.

Neiman's is trying to tell me that this dress is "oyster grey", but it's close enough to white that I know that it wouldn't work. Which is a damn shame. If you're not like me, then skip yourself over there to pick up this dress. Just be sure to send me a picture of yourself having a grand old time in it so that I can live vicariously through you.

Fall/Winter things I want: Rachel Roy's Native-American inspired collection (especially the pumpkin silk sheath), big cuddly sweaters coats from Elie Tahari, grey tone-on-tone plaid pants and shrunken vests from Boy.