summer scarf

I'll admit that the concept of a summer scarf is kind of ridiculous, but seeing as scarves are one of my very favorite accessories I still like to wear them even when it's 100 degrees out. There's something comforting about wearing one...they're sort of security blanket-like. Besides, my office is an icebox, so a scarf is definitely a better option than my old cardigan that lives on the back of my chair (& ruins my outfit every day when I'm forced to put it on).

This lovely scarf is by a talented Etsian that hails from Toronto, PrettyRaccoon. She does awesome screens (an anchor, owl, pistol, the Eiffel Tower, to name just a few) on the super long American Apparel jersey scarf. She also does amazing clothing & also has some vintage selections, too. I basically need to set aside my next paycheck for all the stuff I want from her shop.

necklace (that you can't really see):

burnout tee: Urban Outfitters, jeans: Madewell, shoes: Ciao Bella, bag: Rebecca Minkoff, scarf: PrettyRaccoon, cuff: street vendor, earrings: Eve M. Metalsmith, necklace: Erica Weiner

The Busiest Weekend Ever (thats its official name) starts tonight, so I probably won't post again until next week. Have a good one!

weekend, please get here faster

Hello folks. I don't have much to banter about today. I did get highlights since my last post, which you can *kind of* see in the pics. I really like them...subtle, yet something new to keep me from utter hair boredom. Here's what I've been wearing this week. Tuesday:

dress: Diane VonFurstenberg, shoes: Ciao Bella, bag: Miu Miu, cuff: Marc Jacobs, glasses: Laura Biagiotti

Wednesday:

tee: American Apparel, skirt: J. Lindberg, shoes: Loeffler Randall, cuff: Craisfrod Leather (Etsy), enamel bangle: JCrew, bag: Rebecca Minkoff, belt: vintage

My outfit today matches my blah mood, so I didn't photograph it. I will be more animated tomorrow, as both my parents and my BFF Gail are flying in for Rod's & my wedding shower. It will be a whirlwind weekend of food and booze and celebrating...I can't wait.

DIY & DSW

I never got around to posting my outfit last Friday, so today will be a 2 for 1 special.

Last week, thanks to a tip from someone on Makeupalley, I stumbled across a fantastic blog about fashion & DIY - a few of my favorite things - LoveMaegan. Maegan is one crafty broad, and she made her own version of one of the most stunning shoes I've ever beheld, the Louboutin Petal Sandal:

...and then was kind enough to share with the world how she did it: click here for her tutorial

Mine pale in comparison to both the CLs AND Maegan's version, but I'm still happy with them, and it was a nice way to spruce up my old strappy sandals for all of $3 in materials.

shoes: Donald Pliner + my own flair, jeans: Levis, top: GO Int'l, bag: Handmaid, belt: F21, earrings: Eve M. Metalsmith

Today is all about new accessories. The glasses were an eBay find - I was looking for a quirky-but-not-over-the-top pair of vintage frames, and found these Laura Biagiottis. The belt is vintage as well & came from Etsy. If you look closely at the buckle, it's four panthers, butting heads. It has kind of a Gucci feel to it. The bag, you may have noticed, is my second Rebecca Minkoff Morning After clutch. I've been carrying my green one like crazy, and it really is the perfect bag - it fits a ton of stuff for a clutch, yet it's not cumbersome like most of my huge bags. The shoulder strap makes it so functional, so really, I *needed* another one in red. Finally, the shoes (which are hidden in the full length pics...I really need to shorten these pants one day) are from the best DSW I've ever been to. It's across the street from where I work (dangerous), and I never went until Friday. It's gigantic & has the best selection...it took a lot of soul-searching to leave with only this one pair.

top: Martin + Osa, cardi: JCrew, trousers: Alice + Olivia, shoes: Ciao Bella, bag: Rebecca Minkoff, glasses: Laura Biagiotti, belt: vintage

before & after

Another thrift store find today, although this one needed a bit of help. Actually a lot. I found these crazy 90s (I think?) wide leg pants & fell in love with the print. They were four sizes too big for me (not exaggerating), but I still saw potential in them & scarfed them up for all of $5. My first idea was to turn them into a harem'ish pant, and I tried doing so by pleating the bottoms into a peg. I also added a belt since again, they were huge. This was the result:
I'll admit that looking at them now, they're not as bad as I'd originally thought. But nor are they anything I would probably ever wear out of the house, so I went to plan B - making them into a skirt. Behold:
I know it's my own handiwork, but I am patting myself on the back for this one. I truly love this skirt! And the best part is that I didn't have to change on the top part - I liked the pleating & *really* liked the pockets, so I just took out the inseams, did some trimming & then sewed it up & hemmed. It was a 30-minute sewing project, tops, and I'm so pleased with it.

Just for fun, another shades pic. I love these shades, even though they look like I stole them from a 14-year-old outside of a Forever21. This style has been heavily replicated recently, but these are the real deal by Laura Biagiotti. I got them from an eBay seller who had a bunch of 80s vintage deadstock sunglasses. Score.


Close-up of my bracelets today, the print, and my latest favorite polish, Orly Chica-Boom:

skirt: thrifted & modified by moi, top: no-name, shoes: Bally, bag: Rebecca Minkoff, belt: Linea Pelle, knot cuff: street vendor/Miami, leather cuff: Craisfrod Leather on Etsy, shades: Laura Biagiotti, earrings: Eve M. Metalsmith on Etsy

hippie chic

My outfit reads a bit hippie'ish today, which I guess is okay. Once in awhile. I did wear deodorant today, I swear.

tunic: Hayden Harnett, jeans: Gap, shoes: Miz Mooz, bag: Elliot Lucca, earrings: Haute Hardware, shades: Ray Ban

It's quite appropriate that I've been watching a few episodes from Playing for Change throughout the day today, a site my friend Bill referred me to a couple weeks ago when he sent me the link to One Love, which by the way reduced me to a teary mess by the end of it. But in a good way. Anyway, I revisited today & read up a little more on the project & watched more episodes. I know this is a fashion/crafty blog, but this stuff is too good not to want to share. A little blurb on the inspiration behind the project:

"Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world."

So watch some of these songs already, if you like feeling good and maybe crying a bit (not mutually exclusive).

Peace & love,

Erin

thrifty

I've been pretty lazy/casual thus far this week - nothing worth photographing - but here are a couple outfits from the weekend: I dragged Rod out thrifting on Saturday morning & found a few gems, one of which was this tunic/caftan thingy. The side slits go all the way to the hip, so I figured it was the perfect thing to pair with my American Apparel faux eel leggings. They're one of my favorite things that I almost never wear. I guess I don't have too many occasions that call for faux eel leggings, but the Bishop Arts gallery gig we went to on Saturday seemed to be the right venue. These shots are taken in a big empty space at Bubble gallery, next door to where the fabulous & incredibly talented Nathan Ezra Trimm was showing.

tunic: thrifted, leggings: American Apparel, shoes: Worishofer, bag: Hayden Harnett, necklace: Haute Hardware

I also wore this last Friday. Nothing spectacular, but it always feels like summer when I bust out one of my many Mexican embroidered pieces.

Close-up of this fantastic carved bracelet that was my grandma's (and also a good shot of my e-ring!):

top: Mexico, jeans: Martin+Osa, bag: Lauren Merkin, shades (hanging off my bag) Ray Ban, shoes: Aerosoles, bracelet: vintage, engagement bling: Van Peterson

funny face

More JCrew Outlet love today by way of this fantastic bow skirt:

I really hemmed & hawed over buying it, but seeing these pics & considering how sass-tastic I feel in it, IDK why I ever hesitated. I'm also trying to jazz up my pics a little bit, including actually cropping them (!) and trying some new poses. I like the way this next shot turned out, but it kind of looks like I'm fixin' to smell my own pit. Which I've been known to do from time to time, so I guess it's an accurate depiction.

You can't see it as well as I'd hoped in the pics, but I'm attempting a bright-ass lip today. I keep seeing girls in magazines & blogs wearing the most stunning bright red & pink shades that it made me haul out an oldie but goodie last night - NARS Funny Face. It's pretty much the brightest pink that ever lived, and it scares me and intrigues me at the same time. Bright lipstick is such a pain in the ass compared to my normal lip balm that I slap on 52x/day, but it's such an instant "look" if you wear it (and subsequently touch it up every 5 mins. so it doesn't migrate to the edge of your lips or onto your teeth).

skirt: JCrew, shirt: American Apparel, shoes: Bakers, necklaces: Haute Hardware, bag: Olivia Harris, lipstick: NARS Funny Face

Lipstick close-up (I told you, scary.):

Finally, no Funny Face reference would be complete without...

haute grandma

This dress used to belong to my Grandma Karnas. I have a handful of her old dresses, and I love them all. Not only does she have great style & taste, but it's just more fun to wear something that carries sentimental value & just happens to look stylish & current at the same time. Also, this dress is a little bit western with the bib front and patchwork print, with a touch of Asian inspiration in the mandarin collar, bamboo buttons and floral/bird print. Bizarre, but it works.

Dress: vintage, shoes: Frye, bag: Marc Jacobs, earrings: Eve M. Metalsmith

peonies

This weekend we went to Bread Winners for brunch (yum), and on the way there we saw on the marquee at Dr. Delphinium (basically the most gorgeous floral shop, ever) that peonies were on sale. So we took a spin back there after stuffing ourselves & got these:

**SWOONAGE**

I love my outfit today, but wasn't much in the mood for picture-taking. My cardi today matches the peonies, so that kind of ties this whole random post together. I had a moment of weakness at the JCrew outfit yesterday, so I'm pretty much head-to-toe JCrew, apart from the shoes & bag.

outfit: JCrew, shoes: Hype, bag: Rebecca Minkoff

I also bought new running shoes at the outlet mall. I needed them in a bad way since Rod & I are training for a 20K in September (that's over 12 miles...zoinks), but I really dislike dropping serious cash on practical shoes. I don't bat an eye buying impractical shoes, but those are much more fun. But I digress. I got Nike Shox that I will eventually install that nifty device that communicates how far & fast I'm running to my iPhone, and the insoles and arch support pretty much feel like I'm running on pillows. They put my old, cheap New Balance pair to shame!

Now I HAVE to run this 20K. Damnit, that purchase backfired, didn't it?

yay, summer

This is one of my favorite summer dresses, and even though I don't subscribe to the 'no white after Labor Day/before Memorial Day' rule, this one really is limited to the hotter months due to the style & fabric. It's so pretty & floaty, and I feel almost Greek goddess-like in it. The designer is Austin gal Katherine Reeves of King William Clothing.

dress: King William, shoes: Frye, bag: Rebecca Minkoff, cardi wrap: Alternative Apparel, necklace: my grandma's, earrings: Eve M Metalsmith

el oh el

Yes people, I've purchased a jumpsuit. I'm already thinking ahead to my Puerto Rico wardrobe for October, and when I saw this in the Newport News catalog (yes, I ordered AGAIN) & had a 30% off code that made this baby $14, I decided I needed it for PR. And then it seemed perfect for going out to dinner last night as well:

Close-up of HH necklace & my Eve earrings that I can't stop wearing!
I'm sorry, but you simply cannot wear a garment like this without doing a 1985 Spiegel catalog-esque pose (note the popped collar):

jumpsuit: Newport News, shoes: Loeffler Randall for Target, necklace: Haute Hardware, earrings: Eve M

I do have a penchant for the ridiculous, and this piece definitely falls into that category. But it's also ridiculously comfortable & easy to wear (trips to the restroom are a different story :/). Also, unstyled (i.e. with legs & sleeves unrolled) it kind of resembles a Meineke uniform, so that's good to have on hand in the event of a career change.