Velvet, Peplum, Jewel Tones, Stripes, Booties, Rose Gold, Great Coats & Scarves, A Pinch of Leopard <3 That's the most inspiring of Fall 2012.
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With every back to school year for your kids, there is a list. The list. You know the drill. Every year I love love love to get something special for my kiddo. This is her second back to school year and I plan on making it a tradition to add a few special ‘just because’ pieces.
This year she is getting a Tucker & Tate vest and some rockin’ hot pink Minnetonka ankle boots. I used to wear Minnetonka’s back in early 2000 before they became ubiquitous. I love passing along style pieces to my kiddo and this is one that I think will look ridiculously cute on her. Also, what little girl wouldn’t love a fur vest? It might seem a little too pop culture or a little to trendy, but I assure you it will be a well loved and worn piece. Isla just outgrew her last one- a little brown cropped vest from Hanna Andersson. She wore it for play and to school. She was Little Bear in it, a squirrel, a pirate, and oh man did it ever look cool over a maxi dress. I am so happy to have found another perfect one for the next couple years.
Whatever is on your list for the kids this year, I encourage you to throw in a couple ‘just because’ pieces to add a little bit of special to the back to school ritual.
It’s no joke how much I love butter London nail polish. Non-toxic and a slew of great colors- trendy and classic? Yes please! Not to mention, it’s on sale for the weekend at Nordstrom. Buy 2 get 1 free! Here are the 3 that I picked up today for fall. Yum!
Printed jeans can be daunting, but here’s my advice if you want to go for it. Keep your outfit neutral. Make the print your focal point. Pull in one low key color and neutral from the print, like this green silk topper, green stone in a necklace, and rosey tank tops. However, if you’re jeans are hot pink, don’t repeat that in your lipstick, pretty please! Keep it cool, mix neutrals like the taupe, grey, and cognac brown here. Add a few fun pieces of jewelry (mix metals too) and you’re all set! I love pulling pieces across a theme, like the rose ring with the rose print jeans…. these touches can be subtle, but tie your outfit together and pull people’s eyes from one great touch to another. Make an outfit like a piece of fine art.
I’ve just seen the Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective at the Denver Museum of Art and I must say my first reaction was What?!? Why here? Why isn’t this amazing exhibit in New York City, the haute couture capital of the US? Well, I think this is a chance for Denver and the surrounding area to give ourselves a hand. YSL’s partner and business co-founder Pierre Bergé said himself at the opening in Denver, “Je t’aime Denver!” It’s safe to say that Denver can add oodles of fashion savvy points to its repertoire. So what if GQ thinks our area looks better naked. Denver has some real style cred after hosting this exhibition.
Yves Saint Laurent works at his desk.
Aside from my shock at being the only city to host YSL besides Paris and Madrid, I must say this exhibit was pure inspiration and awe. My brain and eyes were popping with insight, beauty, and pure creative genius. You know when you see something, and it is just timeless? It’s like a direct divine download? Well, YSL’s life and work is just that. It’s no wonder he drew so much influence from philosophers like Nietzsche. YSL was not just a fashion designer, and there are some more like him, for whom fashion design is akin to making art. Art is in many respects the channeling of otherworldly beauty and ideas into the human realm. Along with his great talent, came great torment for Laurent. He suffered from addiction and depression like many great creatives and is quoted saying, “…every man needs aesthetic ghosts in order to live. I have pursued them, sought them, hunted them down. I have experienced many forms of anxiety, many forms of hell. I have known fear and terrible solitude, the false friendship of tranquilizers and drugs, the prison of depression and mental homes. I emerged from all that one day, dazzled but sober. … I did not choose this fatal lineage, yet it is what allowed me to rise up in the heaven of artistic creation, frequent what Rimbaud called “the makers of fire,” find myself, and understand that the most important encounter in life is the encounter with one’s self.” Facing into his torment and making the choice to use that fuel to fire his fashion legacy is what makes him a legend. His daily courage to draw, to create, to put out new ideas and collections in spite of the traditional opposition to his musings shows his unrelenting commitment to his genius. His is a life well lived, and to him, I am grateful for the chance to view and savor part of his great legacy.
Walking down this aisle was like being on the runway, and the mannequins are the museum goer’s audience.
This entire hallway was composed of 6 chiffon evening gowns in different colors and thousands of color fabric swatches meticulously organized by hue.
Some of the pieces I saw were jaw dropping. My first favorite was a black silk evening gown with a flowing cape. It looked like a oridinary gown save for three details… the quality of the fabric, the drape of the silk design most perfectly done, and the final orgasmic touch? A gold-plated bust on the stomach of the gown, depicting a goddess belly. Next to it was a blue version with a gold-plated breast piece. What a matching pair… what a divine dress. I imaging wearing the black version to an evening event and feeling like Cleopatra entering her queendom with total ownership and confidence. Wow. This leads to another comment of Laurent about what clothes should do for women. “I have always believed that fashion was not only to make women more beautiful, but also to reassure them, give them confidence.” The second most amazing piece was in the tuxedo room, where over thirty black mannequins spanned the floor to ceiling wearing a host of the famous ‘le smoking’ designs. It stood out to me immediately, a black strapless sequin minidress with a satin top and tuxedo lapel skirt. I can’t even describe the perfection of the tuxedo lapels flirting from the sides of the mannequin’s hips completely out of place, yet finding their new perfect resting spot. They taunted me with their sassy composure. Unfortunately, these pieces are so rare I searched and searched, but alas, could not find their photos. Here is the blue bust gown and the right side of the tuxedo wall instead.
The last and final piece of the exhibit is the jeweled heart, le coeur, that Laurent pinned twice yearly to his favorite design in each fashion show. I love the symbolism, that each design was created from, and so wore his heart, for YSL created with great passion. It just goes to show that true creativity does in fact endure, and that the driving force of genius cannot happen without heart and daily work. During Bergé’s eulogy of Saint Laurent, he reflected on their lifetime of memories,
“I remember your first collection under your name and the tears at the end. Then the years passed. Oh, how they passed quickly. The divorce was inevitable but the love never stopped.” The truth about this exhibit is that it’s an immersion experience. Words and photos don’t do the thoughtful flow and details of these pieces justice. You really must go see it in person.
“What is your motto?” “The important thing, is to endure.”- YSL answering an interviewer’s question.
Photo credit: The Denver Museum of Art
I scored this Ella Moss maxi at Common Threads, our local consignment shop today! The fabric is SO soft and sumptuous and I even talked the price down for a missing belt and small spot. Don’t be afraid to bargain prices when it makes sense. You can score some amazing finds at a fraction of the retail price. Just wait for the pieces that scream at you to buy them and don’t settle for anything less than true style love. <3
Interviewing a recent client about her closet organization session.
Watch for a few pointers to feel harmony and ease in your closet daily!
If you could be anyone today, who would you be? What kind of house would you live in? What kind of car would you drive (or would you walk/bus/bike)? Where in the world do you live? What are you wearing?
Take that image and write it down.
If you want to attract your highest goals, purpose, and desires…
The first step is to know what they are and take time to visualize yourself living out your most brilliant life. Believe that it can become reality and draw out what you want.
Same goes for your desired relationship. What kind of partner do you want?
Write that down.
At least 3 Yes’s and 3 No’s. Believe me… it works. How do I know?
I did it myself.
I went from being unhappy in relationships to being happily married to the man of my dreams (all dreams I wrote down) and the difference is *astronomical*.
So give it a try… write your dreams down today, anything from where you want to live to what kind of partner you wish to have by your side. Add that extra energy to your dreams and start attracting what you most want by giving your dreams and *yourself* the attention that will make you flourish!
