Lock Down Your Fabric - Blahnik, Rousseau, Jcrew and Anthropologie

I haven't written on this blog in ages but I had to make this post because I was so appalled and amused by this fabric situation.

Designers! This is why you lock down exclusivity for your materials!

To start with - these are all current season and currently available for purchase shoes.

First up are the Manolo Blahnik BB's in this great embroidered floral fabric. $765 at Saks.

But I also found these JCrew Ankle-wrap slingback heels in the same fabric. $228

And then I found two shoes from Jerome Rousseau - Abelline Sandals for $595 and Booties in a black version of the floral for $895.

I also found the black version in an offering from Anthropologie - the Ouigal Pearl Block heels $228

Obviously, it's a popular fabric, but seeing it all over really dilutes the special-ness of it. It makes you remember the fact that these are produced versus crafted.  And that's not usually what I want in a shoe.

Archiving the Future

Yep!

Already sick of Summer and ready for it to be Fall.  I couldn't even resist buying a cute cardigan, namely the Canine Cardi from Anthropologie's Archival Collection.

How adorable is this cardigan?  It's going to be so sweet with dresses but I plan on wearing it with pencil skirts, tights and chunky wingtip heels.

Sigh... when will the leaves change color and it be cool enough to wander outside in snuggly clothes again???

Hurry up, Autumn!

Shoes for a Princess

Everyone went absolutely ga-ga for the Sophia-envisioned Marie Antoinette movie. And who could blame them given unbelieveable-although-it-was-probably-this-excessive style of the wardrobes. And then when our beloved Manolo did the shoes, well, that was the icing on the already big pink sugary cupcake.



Not ot be outdone (although a bit late, perhaps?) Mnsr. Louboutin has partnered with Jean-Francois Lesage of the famed French embroidery house Lesage to create a very limited shoe inspired by the queen.

Look at the front of the ankle strap - it is Marie with her hair styled with a ship at full sail.

These are striking shoes and they should be with two artists working to create them.

I love the yellow and blue but my heart is lost to the pink, of course.

There will only be 36 pairs of the shoes made, and each pair will come in a specially created box. They will only be made in pink, yellow and blue.

Oh, yes, and they are $6,295.

But is that too much to pay for true art? I think not!

You can see them in person to get the full effect: on February 23rd these little treasures and the maestro behind them will be at the Christian Louboutin South Coast Plaza boutique and on February 26th they'll land in New York City, at the Madison Avenue boutique.

- with Glamour

All over the Spectrum

Last weekend we went to the Diwali festival, which is the Indian Festival of Lights. It is always a great event, held outdoors in October, and is filled with amazing food, music and dancing performances. There are also tons of vendors there selling everything from clothing, movies, pictures and paintings (which would be great for adding color to your home) as well as amazing jewelry.



One of our favorite parts, besides the great food, is seeing the beautiful and colorful outfits a majority of people at the event are wearing. It is an amazing spectrum of colors and color combinations.













It just reminds me how safe we tend to play our color schemes in real life but really shouldn't. So many colors go beautifully together if we're brave enough to try them together.

In most stores and catalogs you really don't see these bright colors paired together from a merchandising standpoint. But I love when it is. I think JCrew does this the best. They are always mixing colors in such a way that I instantly want them.

One of my current favorite items are their Liza peep-toe heels (now on sale!) They're just so happy!





I took a TON of pictures during the festival, so if you want a little outfit color inspiration, check them out here.

Ottoman Empire Design

I'm not sure what I was looking for when I stumbled upon these amazing boots, but I think I was looking up information on fashion influenced by the Ottoman Empire.

Typically suzanis are used in large fabrics or rugs but I am quite entranced with these suzani boots.



The mid-calf ones are just gorgeous but I think I might prefer the drama of the knee-high versions. What's cool is that each pair of boots is patterned uniquely just like the rugs.




One of the main trips I'm hoping to do very soon is a trip to Turkey, especially Istanbul (not Constantinople). The cities are so filled with history and culture that I'm afraid I would want to bring back everything I see.

These boots are inexpensive for the amount of work that goes into them - $245 and $275 respectively. I'm keeping these on my list for future purchase.

First Signs of Spring

I hope everyone is having as beautiful weather today as we are having. It's cool but sunny and so gorgeous. I even had the top down on the car riding in to work!

Spring just amazes me. Growing up in Miami we never really had a Spring. When I moved to North Carolina it was in the summer. The next March all of the trees started flowering and blooms were everywhere. At first I didn't really know what the heck was going on. My husband, from the north, said "This is what Spring is like." It dawned on me that I'd never really experienced the change of seasons like that before.

These vintage shoes totally make me think of Spring.



I got these from eBay. I love the 50's/60's shape but the color is great too.

But the embroidery on the leather is what makes the connection for me. They look like the green sprigs on our maple trees.

I like to think these were worn to a luncheon or ladies' tea or some such event. They would be perfect with a shirtwaist patterned dress with green in the design. Maybe I need to find one that would go with them.

Spring Cleaning

I mentioned that I went to Target on Friday and went a bit out of control. There were tons of things that I liked and so I took several large bag-loads home. I think I scared the register girl a bit.

But mainly I just don't like to try things on in the store. That and I get stuff home and change my mind about them. That's why I never take the tags off right away. Sometimes I need to look at them for a while before I really commit to keeping them.

At the end of the day I'm taking back a dress, 8 shirts, a bunch of jewelry and two skirts. But what I ended up keeping were these lovely summery items.



I'm not a huge dress wearer so I'm trying to find more dresses that I feel comfortable in. I like these alot, especially the blue and off-white print dress. The 3/4-sleeve cardigans are right up my semi-preppy alley and the two light t-shirty tops will be good basics too. And I love the fun jewelry. I've already worn the pink bubble necklace. The elephant charm necklace has a retro/JCrew sense too it. And the green chain one is actually all made of beads, so that's pretty cool.

If you click on the image it will take you to Polyvore where you can link to each of the items.

You can kind of tell where my colors are going for Summer: white, black, grass green, teal/aqua over khaki, white and black. Accent colors of pink, yellow and orange/coral.

I got a few headbands and footless sheer tights which are both super cute. More pics to follow. Once this crazy weather warms up a bit.