How about a little Americana inspiration from an Aussie today? :) I loved the super clean, minimalist vibe of this look from Emma when I saw it. While she took the white and blue combo into straight-up sporty territory with a cropped hoodie and sneakers, it immediately occurred to me that it would make a great base for a Fourth of July look. The sweatshirt might be a tad steamy for the Fourth -even with the included ventilation of the cropped silhouette :) - so I re-imagined the styling with less toasty pieces. The starting formula is about as classic as it gets: blue jeans, white shirt (are you humming a Lana del Rey song yet? Sorry ;)). Almost any iteration of blue denim will do nicely here: shorts, cropped, full-length, distressed, non-distressed. I would lean toward the classic summer-y vibe of medium-to-light blue washes, but darker ones will work in a pinch. It's a similar theme with the white top. Consider an au courant feminine blouse with a touch of ruffle, embroidery, lace, eyelet, etc. Go with an iconic white tee in any silhouette from slim to slouchy. Do a version of the scalding hot off-the-shoulder top. It's all a go, so pick your passion! With a classic combination like this, one way to spark it and make it feel fresh is to finish it off with unexpected accessories. (Doing said accessories in a scalding shade of red doesn't hurt either ;)).Whatever direction your top leans in, choose shoes and/or baubles that act as a foil. Contrast the formality of the femme blouse with easy and casual mules. Add polish and elevation to the tee with block-heeled pumps or strappy red heeled sandals. Tie a rolled, small square scarf at your neck and turn the ends to your back to approximate a choker. Use sneakers and a baseball cap as a sporty counterpoint to the flirty drama off the off-shoulder piece. I hope this inspires you to tweak a classic for your Fourth of July picnics, fetes and various whatnots. Happy fashioning!
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Charlotte went through a run of all-black outfits in March. Her first has a great vibe, including enough trend to be mod, enough classic to be chic. She paired a slightly cropped cutout-choker style top with leggings and topped it all with a classic biker jacket. I love how she went for knee-high leather boots here. They're less fierce than OTK's, but more classic. Because they're flats, the to-the-knee style feels like something less styled and more practical, which actually gives the look tougher, more streetwise vibe than the OTKs would, which I find kind of cool. One of the tremendous attributes of classic styles is that they can shift between looks and genres with ease, which is what keeps them chic for decades and makes them good investments.
She uses the boots again for her next look, this time matched with black denim and an interesting black top with a sheer shoulder detail. Ordinarily, I'm a huge fan of cap sleeves, even a micro-mini version, like these. One reason for that is that they accentuate the shoulders, which is fab when you're creating a visual hourglass. There's a caveat, though: if you have a broad-shouldered body type (by which I don't mean having large shoulders, but having shoulders which tend to be naturally wider than your hips), you want to avoid accentuating them still more, without balancing the ratio at your hip in some way. A peplum would achieve that balance, as would an A-line skirt, side ties on a bikini (if you have this body type and fall in love with a halter bikini top, keep this in mind :)). A high-waisted wide-leg pant could also do the trick if the cut was right. Or, you could use an oversize sweater that takes the whole hip-shoulder relationship right out of the equation by playing on proportion differently, as Char has with her last black look of this set. For this interview with the NY Daily News, she chose an off-the-shoulder sweater - another style which accentuates the shoulders - but done in a drape-y, boyfriend-esque silhouette, instead of a bodycon shape. With this kind of proportion on top, skinny jeans are the perfect accompaniment, creating a casually fierce vibe that's enhanced by suede OTK boots. This is how it's done, babes! Charlotte then does an about-face from all the black and gives is this sweet, spring-y floral maxi dress, with a flowy shape that has the effect of an A-line. While this piece could easily be dressed up with colored heels, I love how she keeps it a bit more relaxed with rose-gold thing sandals. As with many of her looks, a statement watch is the only jewellry and its boldness provides a nice counterpoint to the delicacy of her dress. You can see the makings of her glorious Wrestlemania gear in this ice-blue cape from Fastlane. Charlotte's color choices for her gear have been stellar and this one keeps the trend going. It's pristine and cool, with a hint of magic about it that's grounded by the black feather and clasp details. I'm so awed by her ability to reconcile all these dramatic, glamorous elements (sequins, crystals, feathers) into something that comes off intricate and beautiful, rather than gaudy! Props to her and Terry Andersen! Any time I get a chance to involve yellow in anything, I'm probably going to do so :). Therefore, it's no surprise that Emma's printed dress had me salivating over recreating some variations of it. It's my fashion philosophy that yellow goes with anything and everything, but if you're a bit more leery of the color (heeeyy..it's ok...you can come out of the farthest-possible-place-from-the-yellowness-in-the-closet now), blue is a great complementary shade to begin with for mixing. There's a subliminal sun-and-sky comfort level with the pairing that just makes it accessible and easy to play with. One option for doing this is the throw-and-go way by donning a printed dress a la Emma that contains said color combo. You don't have to do the yellow shoes (but you totally can if you want to :)). Go for full-on summer brightness by finishing the look with cobalt heels, or go with a bright bag instead. For neutrals on your feet, consider trendy white, classic navy (pulls out the blue in the print in subtler way) or the ubiquitous but still scalding hot nude tones. Similar principles apply if you're working with a skirt. Don't forget about yellow stripes or dots - breaking up the hue with this kind of print is a nice way to break into using the shade. Hint: if yellow on top feels like too much, go with blue or a classic neutral from within the print and add a yellow belt or wide bangle. You still get the sunshine-y effect of the color, but it's subtler. You don't need a ton of yellow to spark a look - a little goes a long way :). You can achieve something similar by doing yellow on the bottom via a skirt or colored denim...or wide-leg pants. That gives you aaaaaaalllll the attention-getting brilliancy without any worries about it clashing with your coloring. Along those lines, I will note that I find clean yellows (i.e., those created through being mixed with white, ivory or orange) are much easier and more forgiving to wear than the generally more common dusty/vintage-looking shades with brown or green as an undertone. (Olive-y yellows I find to be especially troublesome). Tip: the "clean" shades are usually brights, but can include pastels , for example, the color of butter. One last combo I'm a huge fan of is yellow with blue denim of any variation. It feels like a neutral so it can simplify pairings and styling choices, but still has that bedrock blue-yellow synergy. I hope this inspires you to try mixing blue and yellow sometime soon :) Happy styling!
Emma explored some casual looks before returning to fierceness during her Emmalina era. She and Renee did a twinsies look, pairing distressed blue denim with an Elton John baseball tee. Both ladies completed the look with boots. While I love the classic color combo and the laidback vibe, both of these feel just a bit bland to me. I'd have loved to see a spicy detail - fiercer boots, a half-tucked shirt and a statement belt...just a touch of something. Emma does essentially that in her next outfit, pairing a "love" tee with distressed denim and lace-up booties. I love the extra punch the shoe choice adds! Peyton Royce (at right) stayed simple and minimal with a cropped white tank and skinny denim. Boots finish off her unexciting look. Billie Kay (at left) got more creative with a tied white shirt topping worn denim. She went for strappy sandals as an exclamation point, along with a slim metal collar. Her look is casual, but polished and interesting, primarily due to her unique choice of top and just-right combo of uncomplicated but trendy pieces.
Emma was back to the bikinis in this leaf-print halter two-piece from Show Me Your Mumu. The scale of this print is excellent for her - not too massive and overwhelming, but still bold. The peach-cobalt-mint-emerald color combo is super pretty and fun. The verdant setting really makes it pop, too! Among my favorite shots from the Emmalina era is this next one: a wedgewood blue v-neck bodysuit, paired with the same lace-up booties Emma rocked during her night out with Billie and Peyton. She gets huge props for her dark, smoldering make-up that makes this gorgeous, bright summer scene come alive with fierce, sensual energy. Denim shorts could be added to this look for casual styling, while a sheer maxi skirt would work as a fashion-forward alternative, depending on the event. If said event was such that a sheer-over-bodysuit approach would be frowned upon, a pleated mini skirt would be super cute and bring movement and volume to this sleek bodycon piece. OMG remember these? I'm so behind on Masterposts, I probably need to do another round of them by now. Le grand sigh. Back during her Emmalina tease, Emma was slaying us with scalding fashion. Among that panoply was this tie-dye dress in lovely shades of aqua, navy and golden yellow. You can probably guess which part of this look got my attention. The shoes!! lol Anything yellow is certain to catch my eye...and likely my love as well. While I'm not a huge fan of the scallop hem on the side of the dress, any look that uses this much color competently is a definite win to me. The pairing is sassy, joyous and super fun! There's some spring style inspiration in these for sure! Aqua-blue shades were on Emma's radar for sure - she showed off this strappy bikini in front of a surfboard earlier this spring. I love the delicate quality of this design - it's not often you get a bikini that will stay in place but also looks feminine and this one pulls that off. Her next one is a simple but sexy strappy iteration in a soft terra cotta color. The shade is quite unusual and it suits the earth-tone rocky backdrop of the shot perfectly. I wish Emma had explored the Emmalina character further - it really allowed her to show off a completely different side of herself, which was super fun to see. Maybe she'll go back and forth between the two periodically now - kind of like a Gollum-Smeagol thing...but without the whole live-fish-eating, ring-obsessed, murderous psychosis. We've seen Emma do prints quite often, but this bold floral is quite a change from her previous bright, graphic or tropical choices. Those were playful and lighthearted. This one is moodier and more sophisticated. The cutout fronts adds a coquettish touch and, although I could have done without the double side slits at the front, I really love how well Emma pulls this off. Sometimes more mature looks and come off awkward for people who are very comfortable with more whimsical styling, but Emma handles both with competence. Her next bikini is similar to the terra-cotta-on-the-rocks piece, but with a brighter, cleaner color palette and a bold, diamond print. I adore the melon-and-coral combination - they're exactly the kind of shades I think of (and reach for ;)) as quintessentially summer! And this uncomplicated print is tons of fun!
Divas and former divas were pulling out all the stops for WrestleMania Day. Not only did we see some great gear, we saw some great looks from participants and lookers-on alike as they arrived for the big day.
Barbie slayed a coord set comprised of a bandeau top and high-waisted pencil skirt. Snaps (which appear to be functional as well as decorative) on the latter allow the wearer to control the height of the side slit - which is a fabulous design idea. Barbie left hers high enough for drama, but without getting into questionable territory, which I approve of highly :). She finished the look with simple yet sexy black ankle strap sandals. I love the way these work here - there's some space between the hem of her skirt and the top of the ankle strap that keeps the proportion of the look just right, which is an important consideration for wearing strappy heels with midi hemlines. Her smooth, straight hair looks polished and refined. I'm a little less enthralled with her next piece, an ivory mini dress from Windsor Store. The super-high side slit takes a bit too much risk for my liking, even with the lace-up details. Her pairing of light neutrals, though, via her nude sandals, is a solid combination. Lana's glittering, poof-shouldered a-line mini is by Sherri Hill and Lana clearly had fun twirling about in it! The strong-shoulder is spot on-trend and, along with the multi-patterned sequins, makes this one BOLD dress - not that that's surprising from Lana. I like her choice to offset the formality with boots...just maybe not glistening silver boots :). It seems like an over-the-top choice that puts this look into space alien territory for me. I'd have grounded it more with black boots, or gray suede as a second choice, and a simpler bag as well. That being said, this is Lana and she loves to be brave with her fashion, which sometimes means we get results like this. If I had to choose, I'd rather her take risks that ocassionally don't pan out than be staid...so, carry on Lana Queen! Mandy surprised me by really dressing up for Wrestlemania Day. I'm not sure whether she had an additional event to attend, just felt like being fancy or felt that Wrestlemania was worthy of this level of formality..or all three. Either, I don't care - my surprise is a pleasant one. I love the minimalism and soft drape of this black gown. The cutouts and unusual neckline create an appealing geometry on her body, highlighting her curves without looking overblown. I would have preferred a sandal or lace-up bootie to these round toe pumps for a little extra va-voom, but I love her choice of a massive watch as her main accessory - it adds a contrasting dose of informality to her dress. Her long and loose hair is the perfect accompaniment. I can't help but love Alexa's sheer-striped dress (from Aqua x Bloomingdales. ID by fashionofthedivas.tumblr.com). It's a perfect blend of cute and couture that completely suits her. She has an incredible knack for choosing clothes that really fit and express her personality! She sparkles it up (of course!) with a pretty crystal statement necklace that adds just the right dose of shine to the texture of her dress. Gah...so much fashion, fashion everywhere! It's prom season ...ok, late prom season...but I really wanted to get some inspiration up for any and all of you who are stuck...or those of you like me who just love seeing fancy looks and dreaming about when you can wear things like this :). So if this inspires you for today, tomorrow, next weekend or light years into the future, it's all good with me :) . Enjoy!
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AuthorBrie: shoe-lover :) fashion-lover and generally glamorous semi-dork Archives
July 2019
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