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Style Inspiration: For Summer 2014
09 Monday Jun 2014
Posted in Inspirations, Style
Category Archives: Inspirations
Style Inspiration: Kate from Fairly Legal
02 Wednesday Apr 2014
Posted in Inspirations, Style
Two seasons were not long enough for me to enjoy all that Fairly Legal was. The main character, Kate (Sarah Shahi) was a former lawyer turned mediator, and managed to make it look like the kind of job I want. The pilot episode revealed that, among other things, her father had just died, his young widow was in charge of his firm, and Kate herself was in the process of getting a divorce while still sleeping with her husband occasionally. Drama drama drama, sure, but also very interesting, funny, and compelling television.
But one thing I could never, ever get enough of was Kate’s wardrobe. She had the perfect blend of classic and eclectic, and used her clothes to reveal her personality while maintaining professionalism. The only problem that I have with trying to write this post is that there are so many perfect outfits that this character wears, and I want to include them all! But I won’t, because I have self control sometimes. I will try to break down what makes her style (from season 1, season 2 will have to wait) so memorable and fantastic.
She has a uniform BUT gives her self room to play: Most of the first season what we see Kate wearing is some mix of a blouse and pencil skirt or a dress with a cardigan or blazer, or a blouse and slacks. She always has a functional and super cute purse, as well as a trench coat of some kind, and usually a belt. Classic pieces, yes, that are easy to throw together and accentuate her hourglass figure without being to revealing or too stuffy.
She gives herself room to play with her separates, usually with the different colors and patterns she adds to different pieces. Generally one piece is black and the other is colorful, and her coat is always a different color… seriously, how many coats does this woman have? I’ll take one of each please. She finds interesting ways to stick to her uniform without repeating, like the sweater over blue shirt with a skirt on the left above, which looks similar to her shirt and blazer with pants on the right. Not the same though, but if you were to switch around any of these items her outfits would still work.
Another way that she gets to play around is by wearing fun jewelry. In the first episode they overdid her necklaces, but after they found her staples of thin chains with small pendants, chunky rings and thin bracelets that can stack right up.
This kind of style wouldn’t be difficult to put into practice in your own life, which I’m sure every fashion magazine in the world has told us all at least a bajillion times. I’ll reiterate though: figure out what shapes of separates look best on your figure. For Kate it’s pencil skirts and blouses that meet at the smallest part of her waist. Then figure out what dress shape works for your body. For Kate it’s a shift or an A-line (flaring out after the hips). Then find some good pieces in different colors and patterns and pick out some fun accessories to give it your own feel. Oh, and don’t forget a fantastic coat.
Throw-Back-Thursday: Painfully Fashionable
29 Thursday Aug 2013
Posted in Human Interest, Inspirations, Style
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During my senior year of high school I wrote for the school paper. I had some pretty interesting articles, including documenting the rising trend of shopping at the Salvation Army and a fairly controversial piece on homosexual students at the school. I also had my own column, which I won a New England Scholastic Press Association Special Achievement Journalism Award for. It’s one of the only pieces I have managed to save from all of the columns I wrote, and now you get to read it!
And now, Throw-back-Thursday presents: Painfully Fashionable.
Right now, as I write this, I am wearing 4 and ½ inch heels that are as thick as my thumb. It feels as though the balls of my feet have been thrust into a bucket of tacks, each one carefully plunging into my flesh, causing me great pain. And this is the most comfortable pair of heels I can find.
I am doing this so that by the time prom comes around I will not be able to feel my feet, and so will be able to wear a pair of heels for one single night. Not even an entire day, mind you. Just for one short night.
So as I have been walking, balancing, and falling in these stilts I have also been asking myself, why is this torture such a necessity?
Why do people have to do stupid things to look cool, like forcing their feet into painful shoes?
It’s not fair. My feet are in pain so that my legs can look like a dollar and a half, and I can reach my prom date if he’s tall.
That is it.
Actually, I’m a bit in awe of the girls who wear these twin ambassadors of pain to school. I also fear for their safety, seeing as so many girls have bad balance and fall down stairs.
These “shoes” are almost status symbols as well. I’m never scared of a girl in flats, unless she is on the football team. But if some little freshman with 5 and ½ inch stilettos comes over, especially if I’m in a corner, I’m going to be a bit frightened.
Maybe it’s the height. Maybe it’s the fact that they can, in fact, wear these things that they call shoes on slippery linoleum.
Nevertheless, fear strikes my heart when they come clomping down the hall (yes, clomping) and I am comforted when they walk by, and don’t chose to challenge me to a brawl after school outside the Steve White gym (which would be a bad choice anyway, seeing how it’s so close to guidance).
Then there is the fact that some boys (Yes, boys. We’re still in high school here.) Find girls in heels more “assertive”. Translated, “assertive” equals “hot”.
So are these girls at the advantage? Not necessarily. Star of the hit show The OC, Mischa Barton, has become infamous for wearing ballet flats out and about, and many a boy find her quite the ticket.
More and more magazines, including In Style and Glamour, have been featuring flats in their “what to wear” sections.
And why not? They can be dressed up with sequins and fancy patterns, or dressed down using shiny material and ballet inspired bows.
Now that the public can see that there are more options than the twin ambassadors of pain, why not wear flats to the prom?
Maybe I should start a revolution. Maybe I should wear the cutest flats ever created and be the bell of the ball. Maybe I should get a shorter prom date.
Style Inspiration: Milly in Because I Said So
24 Saturday Aug 2013
Posted in Inspirations, Style
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Obviously I’m a big fan of movies. Bad ones, at that! I love finding a favorite and having it on in the background while I’m doing chores or projects, which is probably why I have pretty much memorized Sherlock Holmes, Fired Up! and Baby Mama. Another one of these “go to” movies has just recently been added to my library: Because I Said So.
It’s a ridiculous little Rom-Com, and I think I like it because A. I relate to the mother/daughter dynamic, B. Gabriel Macht is just the absolute dreamiest, and C. I am a big fan of Milly’s (Mandy Moore’s character) wardrobe.
The elements that stand out to me about her clothes are threefold, and they are simple enough to be able to be reproduced in my own wardrobe at times.
1. Silhouette: All of the outfits have a very purposeful silhouette to them, even when she is dressed really casually. She wears a fair amount of tops that have a V-neck and are cinched in at an empire or natural waist, flaring out into an A-line shape from there. The same is seen in her dresses, and the shape it creates draws the eye up to her shoulders and away from her hips.
2. Hemline: Milly wears some really cute dresses and skirts, which all hit right around her knees. It gives her dresses enough room to flow out into an A-line shape, but doesn’t make her look shorter.
3. Neckline Details: Thank God for Mandy Moore being shaped like a normal human being. She has a great shape but looks like she eats actual meals, and she doesn’t have the kind of cleavage that needs to be wrangled like a wild horse. One of the blessings of lacking the Kardashian Kurves is being able to wear things that show off the collar bone and shoulders a little more without worrying about popping out of your top. Milly does that, and brings the eye up to that area by making sure that the tops she wears have sweet little details, like buttons, lace peeking out, or Henley-esque ties.
This style may not be everyone’s piece of cake, but I do find myself thinking about these elements at times when I’m dressing for work. I find myself looking for things with a more accentuated waist and detailed necklines.
Last but not at all least…
Style Inspiration – Kiki’s Hair
22 Saturday Jun 2013
Posted in Inspirations, Style
It’s the hair. It’s really all about the hair.
I have always had so much envy for KiKi’s hair. It is never too done, the color is always in the blond family (except when it’s red), and she parts her hair in a side part on the same side of her head as I do! We are obviously going to be hair twins forever!
I think that the intense hair envy really got started when I saw her in Wimbledon. Her hair in that movie is so naturally textured, which is exactly what I wish my hair was. Her character puts it up simply to get it out of her face because she is an athlete, so it’s carefree in that her do’s are about function, not really how it looks. Her character is an american tennis player, and you would think that she were going to become a version of Anna Kournikova, because of the blond hair and tennis skirts, but because her hair texture is allowed to be a bit roughed up, wavy, loose, her character can’t be confined to the typical blond athlete that our media knows so well. Instead her hair adds to the carefree and adventurous aura of her character’s personality.
Basically, I want it.
