Neon clutch bags in stock now, as seen at London Fashion Week 2013! http://www.LaModaUK.com

Swooning over chiffon? We are… over this perfectly peach, hi-low dress by Costa Blanca. But until it’s time to wear it with bare arms and strappy sandals, polish it up with an edgy, printed blazer and vintage-inspired shoes. The Carson Oxfords by Frye are a great wear-now, wear-later option; in a spot-on shade of beige. Wear them with denim or tights now, and shorts or skirts later. You can’t go wrong with a few classic, versatile, layering pieces to round out your closet.

Parts of this outfit are available online and in our downtown boutique.

Peach Hi-Low Chiffon Dress, Costa Blanca – $75
Woodgrain Print Blazer, Ark & Co. – $96
Resin and Wood Statement Necklace, David Aubrey – $62
Taupe and mauve earrings, David Aubrey – $44
Semi precious stone ring, Gamine – $66
Neon Clutch, Minx Accessories – $46
Carson Oxford in Beige, Frye – $177

Thanks to Breanna, our guest model and Paola Nazati Photography.

Designs were done by the infamous Manolo Blahnik.  At fashion week even the tent walls are beautiful.

If you don’t have tickets to the shows or you don’t manage to scrape into any, fear not you can watch them surrounded by fellow fabulous fashionistas on this big screen at the entrance to Somerset House.  Alternatively, you can watch the shows live on the LFW website, without having to stray further from your bed enabling a better and comfier view than from the FROW.  However pyjamas are inexcusable, it’s Fashion Week darling.

Lizzy’s Outfit

Hat- H&M

Shirt- AA sample sale

Skirt- Topshop

Jacket- Vintage

Bag- Vintage

Shoes- H&M

Well hello there to you too.   I hope everyone’s well and HAPPY FASHION WEEK TO YOU ALL. As much as this sounds like a Christmas greeting, I think it’s more than appropriate as Fashion Week is the week long Christmas in the fashion calendar.  Fashion month is the time of the year designers, editors, photographers and bloggers anticipate and prepare for for months, and boy is it worth it.  Even though it may only last a few days, the effort and hard work from designer to PRs to those who do everything technical to make everything possible clearly shows as Somerset House becomes a buzzing, lively and obviously well heeled hub of creativity and enthusiasm, showing that even in hard(ish) economic times, the escapism and artiness of  fashion still thirves.  Firstly, everyone at Fashion Week looks like they’ve stepped off the Sartorialist or whose face’s you’ve sworn you’ve seen (or should see) on a billboard.  However staying to true London style, they are many fabulous individuals who take the ‘more is more’ approach and go to town with the experimental and wacky ensembles.  These people are always both the most interesting and inspiring in my opinion.  It’s as if all the stylish folk around England pop out of their designer furnished holes and suddenly you cannot go anywhere within a 10 miles radius of Somerset House without seeing a beanies worn in the fashionable ‘penis head’ style.  Comme ca:   Don’t get me wrong I ADORE Mirolslava Duma’s style but this is a prime example.  Oh I’m such a hypocrite, I do it too, I just cannot help but find it rather titillating (and NO it doesn’t mean what you think it does, you dirty bastard).

Our adventure began by approaching Somerset House, our bodies tingling with excitement and nerves.  I realized I was under dressed when I saw this lady with strikingly cool horn like hair and cursed myself for not wearing heels.  Just outside Somerset House many luxuriously dressed other worldy people milled around just exuding coolness, and that wasn’t all just simply the leather and chiffon coated wrapping to the exquisite ganache of colour, print, texture and structure that lay within the courtyard.  We then stood in front of the big screen, that showed footage of the shows and marveled at it with faces that were akin to those of children in Hamley’s.  Mouths agog and eyes sparkling with wonder.  We saw lots of footage from the fabulous Zoe Jordan show and after seeing her first name I remarked, ‘No wonder she’d amazing then’.  I’ve been one for modesty.  The collection was strong with clean and sharp lines, a solid yet relaxed structure and monochrome shades with dashes of red and orange.  Anyway, more on the collections later.

After walking around the perimeter, being street style papped and doing the very fashion eyeing up and down of everyone’s outfits while assuming the perfect bitchface, Lizzy, Celine, our friend Hannah and I met up with the lovely and beautiful Emily and Chloe, editors of RunAway magazine.  It was so nice to put a Twitter name to a face and meet them both in person.  They were ever so lovely and managed to get us all press passes which meant one thing, ACESS TO THE PRESS LOUNGE=FREEBIES.  So while we were desperately hiding our excitement at the prospect of free sweets so we didn’t look like completely foolish fashion week virgins, we strutted through the press lounge greeted by frosty glares from proffesh blogger who clear just thought we were over excited children.  To prove that we weren’t we armed ourselves with cameras and braved the street style battlefield that is the courtyard.   Here are the pictures we took:

Fred Butler looking fabulous in her own designs, adding a smattering of colour to the grey cobbles.   I feel in love with her geometrical printed hat.  If you want to buy some of her designs or if your feather weight purse won’t allow you to you can simply browse at her Pop Up Shop on Monmouth Street, which she assured me is also somewhat of an exhibition.

We loved this girl’s printed jacket that was offset with an almost luminous pop of neon but kept paired down with jeans and neutral boots.

Funky silver chunky shoes, I think DMs?  Please excuse the terrible pictures, my camera, much like anyone over 50, is not a night animal and it likes clear and dazzling sunshine far more.

And it’s obvious who this is.  If you don’t know her then get I order you to type in ‘Susie Bubble’ into Google and educate yourself IMMEDIATELY.  THAT’S AN ORDER.  It was lovely to meet her as I’m a huge fan and find her colourful and daring ensembles hugely inspiring.  Read her blog, my bible, here.  She an absolute babe in person and was really, really sweet and nice.  HI THERE SUSIE WE LOVE YOU (like you’d ever be reading this and yes we’re aware we’re on psychotic stalking level, we have no shame).

We loved how this girl’s look was relatively simple and laidback yet still encapsulated some London quirkiness.  The unusual shape of the jumper over the long skirt kept it interesting, while she contrasted feminine florals with some chunk boots.

Ok, so lets take a moment to appreciate the mega babeness of these twos’ outfits.  Done that? Good,  Now onto my ramblings.  The girl on the left has a very cute and ‘school’ inspired look with the adorable tights and t-bar shoes, however to keep it very ‘fash’, they were suitably chunky.  The patterned tights also added a very creative and ‘homemade’ vibe, which I thought was perfect as people can begin to loose their style when dressing head to toe in designer/highstreet.  Her over sized acid wash jacket and studded beanie gave a perfect touch of cool and tough to the outfit.  The girl on the right nailed the all white trend perfectly with her beautiful embossed baroque jacket and white midi skirt.  She even kept with the cool toned palette with her AMAZING silver flatform trainers.  This, and the all white meant the look was very modern and fresh. AND HER BAG. OMG.  Simple, statement and very practical.  It reminds me of a mixture between the Jil Sander paper bag bag and the Celine colour blog bag.  Also her hairstyle is so cool and she totally pulls it off and doesn’t look anything like Wolowitz from the Big Bang Theory, which can be a grave consequence of those haircuts.

I hope you enjoyed our first chapter in our fashion week fairytale, and await with baited breath for more.

Worn with my favorite BCBG button up (from a couple years ago).

You know when you have something in your closet you love so much that you barely wear it for risk of staining, ripping, or any sort of tragic incident that could happen??  That’s how this top is for me.  Because, truth be told, this is my second one.  The first one, I (of course!) got an ink stain on it, so I  took this beautifully pleated lovely to the dry cleaner…and that’s when the real tragedy happened.  When I got it back, the pleated sleeves were alll washed out!!! I was heartbroken.  Luckily, the dry cleaner reimbursed me and I was able to buy myself another one.  Needless to say, I’ve been extremely careful at preserving this beloved number.

Clutch and belt : H&M, gem statement necklace : Anthropologie.

Whether casual or dressy, perfectly matched or contrasting, this Neon Hard Case Minaudiere Mini Evening Cocktail Prom Clutch Purse from Chicastic is PERFECT!!  For a night out or a casual afternoon, this versatile purse works for every occasion! Try it in Yellow, Orange, and Fuchsia Pink and Red Neon Color Clutches.

How to dress the Hard Shell Neon Minaudiere!

Clutch: J. Crew, Boots: J. Crew, Jeans: J. Crew, Shirt J. Crew

Then we listened to a band. Don’t you just love her shoes?

Last year, I drooled over Jimmy Choos; this year, I had my own pair. Of course I wore them to the event. We decided to head over to Jimmy Choo. On the way, I was distracted by the wonderful pattern- and texture-mixing in the window of Tory Burch.

We went in so I could drool over the gold cuffs and double-wrap bracelets.

I sipped on champagne…

And thought of all the ways I could wear these black riding boots: maxi skirts, tights and minis, over skinnies. Endless options and a classic boot.

The fall collection is fantastic and the store drew a crowd.

We dropped by Karen Millen too. I love the asymmetrical coats and shapely dresses. Everything has such structure, but was still feminine. A great combination of tough and soft.

Finally, we made it to Jimmy Choo. I chatted with the wonderful associates who work there.

The champagne was flowing here too. Then, the wonderful, always glamorous Sarah Hulbert and her husband arrived. She picked up an extra swag bag for me while she was at The Bellevue Collection’s VIP lounge. So sweet! You can see the bag–red with white text and pictures of models–in this picture.

We did the red carpet thing–a must at an event like this.

Here you can see my whole outfit. I wore an H&M dress, carried an oversized Asos clutch, and wore my Jimmy Choo shoes. My necklace is from Buffalo Exchange.

There was so much to see–we didn’t even get upstairs to David Laurence. I did pop into Anthropologie with Sarah. After we said our good-byes, I poked into Neiman Marcus and ogled the Stella McCartney bags. Amazing!

What a night! did you go out for Fashion’s Night Out?

I.II.III.IV.V.VI.VII.VIII.IX.X.XI

Come to Chicastic now and buy one for yourself now! Stocks are limited!

Neon Hard Box Cocktail Clutch Purse

Take the below outfit, for example. I paired my neon skinnies back a crisp white off-the-shoulder tee (perfect for an evening on the town), but layered it with a conservative white blazer to go about my day. Two looks, one day. Pretty easy, right?

White Blazer:  Forever21 (recent)

White Off-the-Shoulder Tee:  H&M (old)

Neon Coral Skinnies:  American Eagle (recent)

Neon Necklace:  Forever21 (recent)

Bracelets:  Tiffany, Macy’s, Forever21

Watch:  Michael Kors via Macy’s

Neon Pink Clutch:  Rebecca Minkoff Mini MAC

Nude Pumps:  Steve Madden via the Overstock.com

J and I still love to go on dates, and due to our opposite schedules, I often find myself going straight from work to dinner or drinks. I run into the same issue when traveling for work, heading directly from the office to dinner with friends in whatever city I happen to be  visiting.  And because of these frequent situations, I find myself constantly having to create these types of looks.  So with that said, the best words of wisdom I have to offer you when faced with creating a look you can take from day to night, is to really utilize those layering pieces in your closet.  A blazer can be your best wardrobe friend.  AND you can also bring a change of shoes and throw on some bright red lipstick to really up the ante for your evening look. 

Hope everyone has a fabulous 4th!!!

xx

Cool tones today in hopes of convincing mother nature to chill out.  It’s still insanely hot in Denver (though I feel like it’s hot all over the place) and the lack of air conditioning/inability to remain outside for more than five minutes has everyone at my house on edge, especially our lab, Louis.  He’s been spending all day lying on the floor, growling whenever he hears a noise.  I’m in a similar mood — it’s time to get both of us a kiddie pool and a margarita.

Well, maybe no margarita for Louis.

I was kindly welcomed from Claudia, the 2.0 master of FRS. This lovely girl with who I drink my morning tea, almost everyday . The brains of The Society are very cool, young and international guys. And the atmosphere in the showroom is really fresh and inspiring. And of course you see in real all these design scarfs and bags; art peaces hanging on the wall. I had for lunch a delicious salad, in this very hot day; and we discussed some new ideas, which soon I will let you know. Till then I leave you some pictures from this  great time I had. 

Now I am happy to be one of the owners of  Neon Clutch by Inês Ferreira. And everybody thinks that fits great with me. Here you can find your FRS design handbag.

Happy Friday para vocês!

Os produtinhos mais usados da semana!

Bronze Glow Body Lotion by Victoria’s Secrets. (Resenha em breve!)

Pulseirinha que eu fiz!

Combinação perfeita! Azul x Neon

Uma história de vida fascinante!

Xoxo

{some adorable Neon accessories, especially love the dress with the neon trim!}

{celebrity neon inspiration}

Style Notes:
Clutch: Kate Spade // Bangle: Kate Spade // Outfit: Tumblr //
Perfume: Prada // Nail Polish: Pantone

Solemates:
1. Striped Wedge: The Glitter Guide // 2. Neon Bootie: Sole Struck // 3. Glitter Toes: The Things I Want //
4. Orange Heel: Polyvore // 5. Buckle Wedge: Hot Pepper

you know that feeling when you just need to recreate something? well that happened with the color block clutch. and it was inevitable with so many of these in sight right now, i was just needing to create one myself.  some time ago i had bought this great men’s leather travel wallet from an asian antique shop in california, close by to where i used to work. and because i didn’t throw down a huge sum amount, i thought that i could get away with applying my color blocking hankerings to this very pouch.

image via decorpad

This is one bright ass room, but the white furniture and black accents tone the wall color down.

image via decorpad

Hot Pink is my neon color of choice. La la lovely.

image via decorpad

A whole lot of color going on, but notice how well it all works together.

image via

image via

image via

Again, the white accents ease the brightness of this space. The jute rug brings in a natural element, which also brings some calmness, allowing for some nap action.

image via

Try a more subtle approach and choose one piece to be your bright color focal point.

If neon in the home frightens you, try incorporating it into your wardrobe.

image via fashette

I’d pair this cute little necklace from shopbop with a crisp, white, v-neck t-shirt and vintage denim cutoffs.

I’m thinking a neon swimsuit is what I need this summer. This one from Victoria’s  Secret is on sale – always a good thing.