Capes. Yea or Nay?

Now that winter is winding down, it's time (for me at least!) to think about cheap, now-on-sale outerwear that's thrown into the clearance section to make room for the new spring clothes. (As a poor college student I need to keep track of these things.) I already found my boyfriend a fantastic $20 black double-breasted peacoat at Old Navy (full price = almost $80!!) And now I'm moving on to myself. 

I trend that I've been seeing lately is the cape. When I first saw them on the runways I was pretty indifferent towards them, didn't love it, didn't hate it, but now I'm putting a lot more thought into this possibility. There is something positively whimsical, mysterious, but also vintage and adorable about them. There are many things I think about when I see a cape being used for outerwear...

19 Years Now...

Hello everyone, today is March 26th and also my birthday! (as well as Keira Knightley's and Tennessee Williams, I'm proud to say.. not that it really means anything!) I'm 19 years old now, which isn't a particularly "important" birthday, but still... I have many blog posts coming up, but I thought I would leave today's post fairly short and show you all what I'm looking forward too for this next week. (Since I am now on spring break... today is the first day of relaxation!)

1. Watching Wes Anderson Films.

Why London Is Important In Fashion.

Friday, in my Textile and Apparel Management class (TAM), I was highly disturbed by my professor's lecture on the fashion cities of the world. Oh, she mentioned all of them: Paris, Milan, New York City, etc. But what really bothered me was this. She said something along these lines, "London is one of the lesser fashion cities. There is Fashion Week, but not much happens there. They are mainly known for men's fashion." And then *click* on to the next slide. And that was only slightly paraphrased. 

Girl Crush: Emma Watson

I think it is officially time to do this blog post that I've wanted to do for a while. I have many girl crushes: fabulous women with great style whom I humbly admire. Emma Watson is my favorite. As most of you probably already know, she has become the breakout star of fashion this year (especially after cutting her hair off and having the most adorable, and I think, successful pixie cut I've seen so far.) But even before the fateful cut, she was the face of Burberry, designed and modeled a line for People Tree, and recently (as in yesterday!) announced via Twitter that she is going to be the new face of Lancôme! And due to this announcement, I think it's time to do a post dedicated to Emma's amazing style. 

It's Saturday Night!

A Saturday Night Live rainbow!

I admit, I am a huge fan and avid watcher of Saturday Night Live. (For those of you who may not live in the US, SNL is basically a comedy show full of sketches involving a main cast and celebrity host, who joins in on the skits.) Besides the show usually being extremely hilarious, my favorite part of the live broadcast are the celebrity portraits, or "bumpers." They are just beautifully shot and look sharp, dynamic and have amazing color contrasts. Some are gorgeous, some are simple, some edgy, or graphic, some involve fantastic props, then some are simply hilarious. 

What's sad is that the show only reveals perhaps 3 or 4 bumpers an episode, for maybe 7 seconds each before a commercial break. However, SNL usually creates around 7-10 bumper photo per host, as you can check out in SNL's photos.  These are amazing portraits, and the celebs love them: Tom Hank's & Joseph Gordon-Levitt's twitter profile pictures are one of their SNL bumpers. 

The Classic Ten: Pearls (#7)

"Pearls give a gloss, a certain refinement, even if you're just a trashy girl."

-Manolo Blahnik

Pearls make me think of many things: grandmothers, Audrey Hepburn, Chanel, southern debutantes... but no matter what they are always classy & ladylike. Throughout history they were highly valued and are now seen as a symbol of grace, femininity and purity. Coco Chanel in particular loved pearls, as one can see if you just google "Chanel", photos of her appear with strands and more strands of pearls. Christian Dior once said, "With a black pullover and 10 rows of pearls she revolutionized fashion."

I am not a huge jewelry person-- I pretty much wear the same earrings everyday, I almost never wear necklaces or bracelets, even when I'm dressing up for an event. (I was always quite the tomboy which explains why I love menswear so much.) But I honestly do love a long strand of pearls. When I'm feeling lovely in an outfit, pearls are what I choose to wear with it. Wrapped around twice, knotted at the end; it makes me feel very 1920s. I have 3 pearl necklaces, all unique, and I'm dying to find a fantastic pearl ring. I wouldn't even mind a pearl wedding ring!

US versus UK: Magazine Covers, March 2011

It's the first week of the month, and you know what that means! It's time to look at the March magazine covers in the US and across the pond. If there are readers here who didn't see my February Magazine Match-Up, what I do is compare the US cover to the UK cover of a magazine, then pick my favorite between the two based completely on just the cover- not content. Design, captivation, typography, colors, etc. Then pick a winner overall! I'm not claiming I have any real important insight or expertise on magazine design, (though someday hopefully I will!), since I am but a humble student, but it's just fun to see them together. And it keeps me true to my blogs purpose-- fashion & design ABROAD... and as always I would love to hear all of your opinions and favorites!

1. VOGUE

Vogue US: Woah Lady Gaga! You are fabulous. Though I'm not a fan of her new song/video (if you haven't seen the video, prepared to be more than a little grossed out.) Vogue did a wonderful job making Gaga look classy & high fashion, but still her eclectic self. The pink wig is pulled off flawlessly with her bleached eyebrows & interesting purple lipstick. The text is thin and light, which is great, because I can see Lady Gaga first and foremost and then move on to the magazine highlights.


Vogue UK: These two covers are actually both really amazing and captivating. There is no clear-cut winner here! But who is Rosie Huntington-Whiteley? Well, I don't know, so I looked it up. She is British model, known for her work with Victoria's Secret, and is actually replacing Megan Fox in Transformer's 3. She looks pretty much fantastic on this cover, and the red on red, with the background and blazer, really works. Then with the orange font and shimmer to her skin, this cover is pretty hot. 


WINNER: This is really hard! They are complete polar opposites-- I mean, Lady Gaga is this strange, badass music artist, and Rosie a British supermodel/actress... then the US cover is light & cool, and UK is hot & steamy. However, I'll have to go with Vogue US. Just because it is so original and.. weird. But still chic. Some might say that's only because Lady Gaga is on the cover, but isn't that what makes a cover what it is? The cover star.