Ode to Summer

As we wave good bye to summer and the onslaught of catchy, vapid tunes that summers always provide (California Girls, anyone?), I just thought I should show some of my favorite and hopefully lasting summer wears. 

I was in an "All American" fashion mood this  summer so I lived in basics such as Levi cut offs and anything from American Apparel.  True to point, shirt is from American Apparel.  Shoes are by Balenciaga.   

Pardon my surroundings, just wanted you to see what the outfit looked like on a human:)

My "big pimping" or for that matter any rap video that comes out in the summer attire.  If you have not caught on,  this is my yacht outfit-if I ever get on one that is.  Shirt from H&M, shorts from Zara.

Vintage finds: Jumpsuit and gold snake belt.  Hat from Nordies 

I dressed up for below shoot to show the use of accessories, I hope you enjoy.

My top is an American Apparel body suit and the shorts, which embodies Prozac cheeriness, is by Erdem. 

I paired the outfit with tear drop pearl earrings, a gold strand necklace, and bangles.   I wanted to keep it light; but, alas, I am a whore for anything gaudy-I added the necklace and bangles.

Necklace is from ALDO and middle finger ring is vintage Chanel I got from an estate sale in Seattle.

Prada wedges.  I have always been of the belief that women should wear skinny sexy heels  and try not to buy into the clunky heel trend.  A woman's ankles are suppose to be dainty and not used as an anchor for one's footwear.  Now with that said, there are instances where chunky heels can be excused.    I purchased these because I had to go to a BBQ and  did not want to plow my friend's grass with my stilettos.  I enjoyed them and now have a modicum amount of respect for wedges.  

More views of the Prada Wedges.  I really love them and have replaced my flip flops with them-if you were not already aware, flip flops is not a viable option for any event that drinks, food, and titillating company is provided .  It is disrespectful to the host-one of my "isms" :) 

One of my own designs.  I prefer dresses in the summer to anything in the jean family.  Performing squats after every wash and secretly unbuttoning your jeans after a good meal is an "all American" notion I can do without in the summers.   

Close up of the material used in making this dress.  Bangle is from Mishu Boutique in Seattle.

The September Issue!

It arrived! Weighing as much as the five pound weights I have yet to incorporate in my workout sessions, the sight of Vogue's September issue in my mail box made my stomach skip.  To be fair, all Vogue issues have the same effect on me due to my humdrum life in the corporate world.  Unfortunately, I was greatly disappointed in Halle's cover picture-there should have been a march on Times Square, reminiscent of MLK's march on Washington when this issue hit the stands; but alas, only I am expressing outrage- see reasons below.  Fortunately, I  quickly got over it as I perused the shiny pages of a well composed magazine.   Here are my thoughts: 

I always thought it was impossible for Halle to look ordinarily human.  She usually embodies the look that screams "gorgeous cyborg from Planet Hot People".  Lo and behold, Vogue aka self confident diffuser, accomplished this impossible feat.  Paging Wendy Williams-please send over your used wig collection to the  Conde Nast building in order to avoid this travesty happening again.   

I did put on my artistic glasses and tried really hard to see these pics in a different light.  All I could come up with was that Halle looked better playing a crackhead in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever than she does in this pic.   This is why the fashion world needs a larger multicultural array of staffs  and models.  They need people that can communicate to them that a look like that on a black woman is not coquettish but outdated; ala, a female 90s R&B group.  To think the poor woman came out of  self imposed silence for this cover...

La bella donna! I love the D&G ads with Madonna .  It evokes sensuality, womanhood,  and all things fab.  I wanted cleavage, family, and a way younger man just by looking at these pics.

I am a slave to Chanel; however, I have to point out that they could use help in their ad department.   Nothing on this model made me want to go into bankruptcy.   In fact, I was rather curious about the flat in the ad.

Ridiculous fashion item of the season goes to the fur vest.  I just cannot get on that bandwagon.

Best high street fashion item goes to this necklace from Express.  Yes, I said Express.

I do not know if any of you have "must follow practices" before opening up your favorite fashion magazine, unfortunately, I do.  Before any of my Vogue sessions, I always make sure I am somewhat hungry and not overly emotional.  Reading a fashion magazine after one has stuffed their face is never a good idea.  My self confidence cannot handle it.  So, seeing this Mulberry ad with the models pretending to eat was not only annoying but very distracting.  I am currently researching recipes for red velvet cakes.

I just loved this wedding dress by Oscar De La Renta for Huma Abedin, Hilary Clinton's  aide- de-camp.

Earlier in the summer, I purchased a pair of shorts on Sak's website just because the material had an outburst of florals that screamed spring eternal.  Fast forward a week later, and there, in the September issue, was a spot light on its designer, Erdem.  I was contemplating returning the shorts (it does nothing for my shape as seen in my latest post) but kept them after seeing the article-I felt I was in good company-umm FLOTUS is wearing it.  I know seeing the designer in a magazine is a stupid reason to hold on to the shorts... I am working on fixing this flaw in my disposition. 

I have a friend that gets annoyed when she sees something she owns in a magazine or on others.    I have the opposite reaction-I get excited for some reason.  As mentioned previously, I plan to see someone about this.  I purchased my Phillip Lim dress about a year and a half ago in a consignment store in NYC-SOHO district.  I still love.

Me in my Phillip Lim.  It is so beautiful in person and the bead work is to die for.

Due to the amount of bling already on the dress, I make myself follow Coco Chanel's credo of always taking something off before leaving the house.  I minimized the amount of jewelry I usually pile on by just pairing the dress with gold earrings from a flea market.   Jewelry from estate sales and flea markets are always the best.  It is affordable and the gold/silver platings usually do not rust-after all, they have already stood the test of time.

Vintage Chanel ring

Ahh, beauty.  Some people do clean up nice.  I would love to see a spread with Marc Jacob and Tom Ford. ..

Vogue's Design for Living section had this pic of a fabulous person's ridiculously expensive home.  I noted that the blanket on the couch greatly resembled my reasonably priced one from Z Gallerie.  See below

My Parting words are from an article written by Sally Singer, pg 486, "Before I actually break down and buy something, I analyze it with an intensity others reserve for decisions about career paths and potential spouses."

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Opinion of the day or week; depends on how lazy I get

A friend sent me the following link with her sentiments, and I quote, " WTF BITCH!!! read the interview snippet...she is so full of herself..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/15/leann-rimes-in-a-bikini-w_n_718142.html  

Of course, I had to read what Leann could possible say that will make someone think she was full of herself; Lord knows she is not the shiniest gal on the block.  Before you write back with indignant remarks about how beautiful she is and start insulting my looks; may I say that Leann'e  block and world is not filled with "ordinary people" but instead with her caucasian, blonde celebrity counterparts.  She faces fiercer competition than you or I.

After skimming through the article, I concluded the article did not scream blatant self unawareness of one's looks. It was far worse.  After cheating on her husband and breaking up another marriage with kids involved, all she learned from that experience was boiled down to this quote,

"...I truly believe there are lessons in it for me to learn. Cultivating strength from rough situations is the most important thing. After going through this, I know I can face anything."

How the hell was this rough for her and how did she cultivate strength?  She also mentioned being so depressed she could not get out of bed.  Was this before or after there were photos of her leaving Cibrian's hotel room?  I wish we were in the era of the scarlet letter, so statements like these could have held some merit.  

I am not one to judge and cannot be bothered to cast a stone when it comes to 99.99% of moral debates.  Also, having done my share of DSB (dishonest sexy behavior) certainly requires I hide under a rock instead of yapping about this.  However, I feel I must state this in support of the wounded parties and also to alleviate a modicum amount of my past guilt-when it comes to cheating just shut up about it.  If you are selfish enough and you must speak, recognize what you did and do not make it about you and your pain.  I can assure you whatever pain you are feeling is not near as much as that of the hurt party. 

Also in Leann's case, she is still with her partner in crime and owe it to all involved parties to take a page from Angelina's book and not discuss it.  The appropriate and "grown up" thing to have done here was not to justify her transgressions but to take fulll responsibility for her actions and risk not being "America's Sweet heart".   

For her sake, I hope she meant I am cultivating strength for whenever my new hot man leaves me for a better looking person with more money and a better Public Relations team.  

On a less bitchy note, she looks fab!

Gift Wrapping

My family, especially moi, has always followed the mantra, "gift wrapping is for silly Martha's".   To us, the original store bag is a perfectly acceptable way of delivering a present.  So, you can imagine my surprise when I fell in love with below gift wrap.  It was sooo thoughtful, original, and absolutely amazing.  It made me realize it was not the idea of gift wrapping I detested;  I detested shiny, useless, approximately fifteen dollar paper that, at best, went into the attic for next year's big occasion.  So next time you have to give a gift, please utilize your old magazines and cater the wrapping to the recipient.

Chanel!

Cartier!

Decor!

Vacation!

Oh my! Thank you baby!!!!!

Random fashion pics

Skirt was borrowed from a friend by way of Buffalo Exchange, Giuseppi Zanotti booties.  I will actually pair this with tights and a white chiffon button down this season. 

Dinner with Sis and hubby-Milly jumpsuit and Manolo sandals 

I love wearing jumpsuits but there is one caveat-only wear one if you intend on being home in a couple of hours.  Getting naked just to pee is not Kosher!

Last official summer weekend-on way to BBQ.  Rebecca Taylor dress (Last call Neiman Marcus) 

Vintage dress from the 80s with Louboutin tan pumps

Totally 80s.  I removed the shoulder pads that came with the dress since I already have a foot-baller's shoulders 

Woodinville, Washington (wine country).  On moi: French connection sweater, Long Jersey dress from Bergdorf's 5f and toasty Uggs.

Dark Skinned Girls

For the past couple of months-oh, who am I kidding- for the past year, I have been plagued with acne and blemishes that reminds me of a tortoise shell.  I have tried numerous products to cleanse my face, which I will discuss in another segment.  In the mean time, I changed my make up from Bobby Brown (left my face red after my natural oils came into play) to Bare Minerals from Bare Escentuals.  Here are the results:

Before make up, face freshly washed. 

Here I am again...

Check out my polka dot epidermis; I miss my early twenties when I never put make up on. 

The Doc 

10 minutes later, the after!!! Thoughts?

More "Afters".  Yes, I am getting too full of myself now...

Working on different products for fly-aways.  At the moment, I recommend Kemet Gold: 20 karat  shinning gel.  Me likey!!!!

PS: I have also tried Iman.  Love the bronzer, but I do feel like it leaves my skin unhealthy so I cannot use it daily.  Clinique and Fashion Fair makes my skin ashy.
In conclusion, what I have learned is that due to the gold undertones in my skin only certain brands work  (Mac, Bare Escentuals, and Iman).  I will suggest Bobby Brown if you have red undertones, it never irritated my skin or gave me pimples just left me looking like Bozo the Clown:(