Posts tagged ‘dress’
It’s Better to Help People than Garden Gnomes
For about nine years of my life I wanted to be an actress. I performed in a number of plays and short films, studied under incredible teachers in New York, and almost dropped out of college to pursue what I thought was my dream. While there are times when I still wonder what I would be like had I continued on the acting train — hot shot in Hollywood or some struggling actress serving corn dogs at the mall? — I still like to think that plays and movies perform an integral role in my life (and I mean this outside the world of my unwavering love for Derek Shepherd on Grey’s Anatomy).
Often times when I see a movie that I love, its mood, costumes, music, and characters stay with me for a number of days. For example, it should come as no surprise that when I saw Almost Famous I spent the next week tracking down a Penny Lane inspired coat and never took my aviators off.
I recently re-watched the movie Amelie — a personal favorite of mine — and was yet again drawn to her quirky sense of loneliness. But while sometimes her character translates into me wanting to travel around with a garden gnome, this time I reacted to her whimsical sensibilities as seen through her clothes. Sweet, feminine dresses, conservative sweaters, and collared shirts, only made her innocence all the more present and real.
It was within this naïve, daydreaming mindset that I got dressed yesterday; skipping over my go-to pieces for something a bit more innocent and coquettish that retained my own quirky personality (see last photo). And so, within my Amelie-inspired costume, I went about my day as myself, only paying just a little more attention to the shapes in the clouds above.
Maje jacket | Missoni dress | Citrine by the Stones cuff | Catbird rings
Route Button-Down
I have an obsession with button-down shirts. Leave a few buttons unbuttoned and you’re one sexy mama, button them to the top and you’re lady prim-and-proper! And the best part is that you can essentially have an entire costume change without ever having to actually change your clothes.
Many years ago, I was hanging out with an ex-boyfriend while wearing a silky white button-down unbuttoned just enough to reveal my bra. We had plans to meet his mom for dinner that night and he took one look at the bra poking out of my shirt and said “you’re not going to go meet my mom like that are you?” I laughed the mighty laugh of confidence (actually I’m pretty sure I wiped away a tear, but that’s neither here nor there) and buttoned up my blouse to it’s tippidy top revealing a whole new, mother-friendly Sonia!
So for those of you meeting your significant other’s parents this holiday season, I highly recommend going the button-down route. Just don’t wear white cause you’re probably going to be at a dinner and risk the potential of a cocktail sauce stain.
BDG shirt | Cynthia Steffe dress (also seen here) | Zara boots (similar here) | Melania Trump watch | Ralph Lauren bag | Noir Jewelry necklace | Celine sunglasses
// photos by Emily Malan
A Week in Review
{ More biking with Topshop – detailed post coming soon! }
I can’t believe that the end of summer is so near. Doesn’t it feel like it was just May? Blah.
To grab hold of all that summer has left to offer, I’ve made out of the city plans for every single weekend up until New York Fashion Week — which is so freakishly close it’s, well, freaky! This weekend I’m going back to Connecticut as it’s my Mom’s last weekend before heading back to San Francisco.
And now I have to throw some stuff in my weekend bag before hopping on the train to work! Until Monday…
{ Bringing some California palm to my daily life visa vie my keys }
{ Woowoo! Antibiotics! …. }
{ Skull tequila bottles that need to come home with me }
{ Summer’s still going strong! A new floral dress from Dolce Vita }
Potted Plant
Even though my room growing up was bright pink with a floral canopy and bedding, I hated floral prints. I remember my Mom bought me a down jacket that was orange with big flowers on it and I threw a huge hissy fit about how much I hated it. Brat attack. Sorry Mom.
In the last few years however, I’ve really grown to embrace the whole flower thing; though it still doesn’t hang on my bedroom walls. Since I’m all about doubling up on prints these days — gingham, stripes, polka dots, etc — I thought I’d test my pattern mixing luck with a floral blazer and dress. I’m quite pleased with the results, though a friend of mine told me I look like one of those potted plants on a window sill. Whatever…those are pretty.
LC by Lauren Conrad blazer (I’m baffled as well) | Free People Dress
Peek-a-Boo
Cut out dresses are kind of like crop tops — one inch too much or one burrito too many and you look like you’ve never owned a mirror and are just a slave to the trends (major nono!).
I was drawn to the cut out of this Topshop dress because though it’s front and center, there’s still something a bit modest about it thanks to the shape of the dress (love a good shifty A-line). It fits like a gah-luv — read: glove — which is probably for the better since it doesn’t allow that second burrito to wiggle it’s way down my esophagus. Plus, that oversize pizza slice cut out allows for that extra bit of coolness — as in temperature, not a level of popularity — that everyone wants when it’s scorching hot and humid outside.
Had I been wearing this dress in the city, I would have opted for a pair of colorful wedges, but rocks/beach/bike rides call for comfy sandals, which gave my tootsies a rest from their toe squishing, pavement stomping weekly routine. And speaking of weekly routine, I’d better get to work!
Topshop Cut Out Dress // Ralph Lauren Sandals // DIY Necklace
//photos by Claire Meyers (@cmey)
