Saturday, April 26, 2014

Midi Skirts: The 50s Silhouette

It seems that midi skirts are coming back this spring!

I've been seeing an increase of them on my Pinterest feed. Personally, I love this trend. I have always adored the fit and flare trend from the '50s. As someone who isn't in love with mini-skirts (worrying about them riding up) or maxi skirts (I look like I'm three feet tall!), I love that midis are now something you can wear without looking like an old lady. They're a sophisticated, fun skirt and dress length that I'm know I'll be wearing as the weather warms up. 

ASOS Midi Skirt In Scuba with Zips

Great outfit from Elle Apparel Blog

Green Full Midi Skirt

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Spring Time Happiness

Long time, no see! Sorry about the leave of absence. I came out of hibernation for the best (fashion) season of the year: SPRING!

Personally, I'm a sucker for spring clothes; the florals, the pastels, all of it. I feel like I can finally shed away the dark colors and heavy layers to keep warm in winter to final come out and see the sun.

Here in upstate New York, however, an April spring day can range anywhere from 80 degrees to the 40 degree weather we had today. With all that variation, it can be difficult to not go back into winter habits (heavy sweaters, thick scarfs). 

The best way to remedy this is to use bright colors and patterns, especially when it's colder. If you're in for a chilly spring day, go with a light washed jean and a light knit pullover. Better yet, ditch the sweater and pair a bright colored a spring cute top.

Cozy Cardigan from F21

Sheer Chiffon Paneled Tee from Charlotte Russe

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Entertainment Spotlight: Teen Wolf



I don't watch too many teen shows, but there's something about Teen Wolf that just makes it entrancing to watch. After re-watching the past few seasons to get prepared for the new season on MTV, I'm able to better understand how the cast's outfits fit into their own character's traits and development, especially looking at the implicit messaging with trend setting clothes.



Fashion may not be a focal point in the show, but Teen Wolf's costume designers and stylist do make the characters outfits reflect on the character. Queen Bee Lydia Martin, played by actress Holland Roden, is the only character who actively discusses fashion and uses it as a form of social status. There are scenes where she will go out of her way in the name of fashion, whether it is shopping for multiple party outfits, searching for the perfect winter formal dress, or giving her best friend a harsh critique of her date night outfit. Routinely decked out in trendy dresses and heels, Lydia comes across as someone who deliberately chooses her outfit every day in order to communicate to the world who she is. Or rather, what she wants to be.



With Lydia, there is more to learn about her character than what she presents to the world, even through her outfits. Although she pretends to be dumb to her friends and boyfriend -often covering up her seemingly random knowledge with "Um, I read it somewhere" - Lydia's teacher tell her parents that her advanced placement classes push her to a 5.0 GPA. Along with that, her character is often the one who helps out with research on unknown and supernatural subjects, such as translating Archaic Latin in order to stop a new bad guy. Instead of her clothes playing into who she truly is, her outfits instead show who she wants to be to make her life easier. She would rather be a dimwitted rich girl whose only concern is to wear the next trend in clothes than an intelligent woman with her own mysterious supernatural powers.



Costumers choosing for Lydia to wear purposefully trendy clothes make her outfit development interesting to see through the seasons. Whereas some characters will wear only certain colors to reflect their characters (Ex: Derek Hale only wearing dark colors, jeans, and leather jackets as a minimalist wardrobe and Allison Argent wearing functional clothes for her werewolf hunting), Lydia's closet reflects the real life fashion of the time. Her clothes move away from cleavage baring and ultra-short to looser fits and more delicate prints, just as it has on store racks of the juniors section over the past couple of years. This takes me back to Gossip Girl where Blair Waldrorf and Serena Van Der Woodsen purposefully wore the trendiest clothes, outfits designed more for the runway than a trip to a coffee house. For all three characters, fashion is important part of their lives and used for them to show their social status and popularity. The difference between the girls of GG and Lydia is that her fashion interest acts as a form of distraction from the harsh life and death realities she has to deal with on a regular basis. 


Catch Lydia Martin & Co. this January on Mondays on MTV.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Entertainment Spotlight: Scandal


 
Scandal has quickly become a media phenomenon. Created by Grey's Anatomy's Shonda Rhimes, the show originally was going to be cancelled after only one season. Fortunately, between large social media campaigns and addictive writing, the show was able to skyrocket its ratings and is now one of the most watched shows in its jaw dropping third season. Main character Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington, plays a proud and independent political fixer in Washington, D.C. 



One of the greatest parts of the television show is the way fashion plays as an important role to the characters in the story. Even when doing a Google Image search for "Olivia Pope", the first suggestion to come up are her outfits. Olivia Pope is decked out episode by episode in polished, sophisticated outfits that display how important it is for her clients to take her seriously. In an interview for Cosmopolitain, costume designer Lyn Paolo reveals just how important outfits play for the character, even down to the hues. 

When she doesn't know what she's doing, she wears grey. If she's in a lot of trouble, and she's conflicted, she's in black and white. At Saks this week, they were showing me all of these dresses and I was like, ‘Olivia doesn't wear dresses. She only wears dresses in the past. That was when she was happy and in love with Fitz [married POTUS]. Now she wears the pants because that's who she has to be now.’

Besides center lady Olivia, there are also other characters whose outfits are important to their character. Viewers share a "love to hate" attitude towards First Lady "Mellie" Grant, who stops at nothing to make sure that her husband (and world leader) doesn't go back into the arms of Olivia. Even with this, watchers can agree that her outfits are always on point. She has a polished look that is the epitome of a politician's wife: quaffed hair, classic silhouettes, a toothy smile. All of it is used to put on a mask to the world that her life is perfect, when in reality it's anything but.


 

The show's deliberate intent on making fashion an internal part of the show is something I enjoy seeing unfold every week. Not only am I excited to see what crazy drama Olivia has to clean up or what desperate schemes Mellie has planned, but I am also excited to see what subliminal messages Lyn Paolo tries to display with the characters.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Entertainment Spotlight: The Mindy Project


I decided that if this is a fashion blog, it's not only important to post about new and emerging trends, but also seeing how those trends are seen through media like film and television. Since the ever fashionable teen show Gossip Girl has gone off air, I've been more apt at finding shows where fashion takes a central role in understanding the characters and setting. 


An unexpected contender: The Mindy Project. Going on it's second season this year on Fox, character Dr. Mindy Lahari (played by The Office star, writer, producer, and all-around girl genius Mindy Kaling) is constantly decked out in quirky clothes that show off her young, vibrant personality. Her outfits are always in good taste, showing that she's serious at her job as an OB/GYN, but still manages to find time to gossip about her celeb crush on her breaks. Kaling, who takes many roles behind the scenes of her show, has influence on her character's wardrobe. In an interview with Huffington Post and The Mindy Project costume designer Salvador Perez, Jr., it's revealed that Perez and Kaling work together on creating the great ensembles that are featured on the show, through  emailed ideas and sharing prospective materials. Whether it be a cardigan/printed blouse combo, or a simple, well-tailored dress with striking colors, the collaboration is definitely working. 

The show has been looked upon so much for its fashion that websites have even worked to find out where exactly the outfit pieces come from Worn On TV has an entire section devoted to the show and finding pieces that are exact or near matches to what's worn on the show. 


Personally, I like the fact that most all of these  outfits are seemingly daring and go against the usual fashion rules, but most always work. Mixed prints, clashing colors, and even 80s waist belts can all be seen in one outfit, which would typically make it look like an outfit is just doing too much. But when watching the show, it seems that Kaling is able to pull these looks off for her character. It reminds me that taking risks in fashion that go against the grain can payoff. 

 
You can catch the great outfits on The Mindy Project on Fox Tuesday nights at 9:30 EST and catch up to the season on Hulu.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Trend Spotter: Utility Jackets

Since I've been in France, I've noticed a lot of girls wearing these light fall jackets. They usually are a bit long, and usually in khaki or olive tones. I had no idea what to call the jacket, but I knew I wanted one. By the looks of them, they're lightweight and a little lose, making them the perfect jacket here in the every changing weather climate of Rennes, France (one morning, it's about 45 degrees F and pouring; by the afternoon, it's sunny and close to the 70s). 

Preparing to put something on The Hunt (if you haven't hear of this website and love fashion, where have you been?!), but I decided to check on F21 first. Now, I may have not been on the site in a while. but I certainly do not remember them having a section under "coats" specifically for utility jackets. That's a sure sign that what I've been seeing over here is a growing trend.

Utility jackets from F21, ASOS, and Missguided

I went through a bunch over on Polyvore, and most seem about the same; lightweight, loose, a little boyish in fit, but very functional. According to research (thanks, Google), the trend has at least been around since the late spring. Obviously, I must have been working to many hours in my uniform to notice. 

List:
  • Leopard Utility Jacket in Olive/Black from Forever 21
  • Four Pocket Utility Jacket in Denim from ASOS
  • Klara Aztec Utility Jacket in Khaki from Missguided

 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Braided Bun























This is one of my week two outfits. I paired my cut out Drake concert tee with some jeans and my pink boyfriend blazer. I thought the light shades in my flats and jacket went well with the darker tone of the shirt, making it an ideal summer to fall transition outfit.

I couldn't decide what to do with my hair since I didn't have the time to straighten it out, so I decided to do a bun that I saw on Pinterest awhile back. Of course, I can't find it anywhere right now, but if I do, I'll be sure to update the post!

All you do for the bun is 
  1. Put your hair up in a high ponytail
  2. Separate your hair into three sections
  3. Braid each section to the end of the hair
  4. Take one braid and wrap it loosely clockwise around the base of the ponytail, securing it with either a bobby pin or by putting the end of the braid into the elastic
  5. Take one braid and wrap it counter-clockwise around the base of the ponytail, securing it in the same fashion
  6. Take the last braid and wrap it so it goes on top of the other secured braids.
  7. Finally, take sections of hair in the bun and make the braid looser, making the bun have more volume

Voila! Braided bun! Hopefully the picture along with the description will be enough until I find that darn pin!