Pink Rock Candy-Fashion

Dear Loves,

I’ll be back in a week. I might update a couple times if I get the chance. Until then, fawn over my favorite ad and maybe even collection of the season, Blumarine.

Grosse Bisse,
Chelsea Rae

p.s. T -18 days until fashion week. Get excited, or stressed, whichever comes first!

Click to Enlarge.

Model: Natasha Poly
Photographer: Craig McDean

Photo Credit: The Fashion Spot

Everyone, including myself has been counting the seconds until they can buy Comme des Garcons at H&M. The past week has been full of small, blurry, and/or pixelated ’sneak peeks’, but as per usual, the cool cats at Fashionista.com provide us with the first full sneak peek. After first being distracted by the annoying footwear the female model is wearing, and then swooning over the the cropped jacket and polka dots, I scrolled down even more and realized I love the men’s pieces better than the women’s.

When evaluating runway collections both ready-to-wear and couture, I have a tendency to appreciate the impractical collections more than those with and abundance of basics. However, when it comes to clothes I actually intend on purchasing, I do a appreciate a bit of practicality, and over-sized shorts, oddly cut jackets, and drop-crotch pants aren’t really what I call practical. The goth doll-inspired dress is gorgeous and might be perfect for Halloween, but there are only a few people I can think of that might actually wear it on a daily basis and considering those people, I wouldn’t say that is a good thing.

On the other hand, the male model looks like he’s just come from raving in a torrential rain storm, but I can actually imagine myself and others wearing most of those pieces. I’m obviously really feeling cardigans of late and imagine how cute would a t-shirt with giant polka dots be, but my favorite piece from the entire collection is the plaid(?) suit jacket with the single, white diagonal stitch. I think its safe to say, we all have realized the ingenious of a girl in a slightly over-sized suit jacket, and this one has the perfect balance of practicality and eccentricity.

Follow the jump to see the entire sneak peek. What do you think of the collection so far? Would you buy and actually wear any of the pieces? Oh, and thanks Fashionista.com! (more…)

Vintage. Vintage. Vintage. Everyone talks about how they love to vintage shop or about their favorite vintage finds. I, on the other hand suck at vintage shopping. I never know where to look, and even when I actually make it to a vintage shop my mom’s voice is in the back of my head, “Chelsea, this has been worn by someone else!” Sometimes, that doesn’t stop me but most of the time it does. Oddly enough, I have this innate ability to block out what anyone else thinks when shopping online, that’s why I’m seriously contemplating  buying this extra cute dress from 1918 Vintage.

It’s called the ‘Sex Appeal Dress’. It has 3/4 length sleeves which would be perfect for fall, and the diaphanous fabric really fits with the boudoir trend that has been popping up all over.

The only thing that’s actually keeping me from shelling out is that the dress is completely shear, and I don’t have anything to put under it. I don’t really have a problem with showing my bra, but I want a cute petticoat that I could wear so my undies aren’t so visible. Honestly, I’d even settle for a cute vintage slip to pair underneath it. The petticoat is something I’d wear by itself, and I know I could potentially wear the slip with a cute cardigan and some mary janes or oxfords, but I’m not sure if I would.

So I put it to you. Should I buy this dress, and if I do, should I get a petticoat or a slip and in which color? Whew! That’s a lot of questions!

To see more cute vintage finds visit the 1918 Vintage webstore, 1918vintage.bigcartel.com or get the vintage updates at 1918vintage.com.

It’s not secret— I love headbands! Most of the week my hair is spent tied under some sort of headband whether they’re to keep my hair out of my face or simply for decoration I have them on. Sometimes, I even wear more than one, and on the rare occasion when I’m not wearing a headband, one isn’t far from hand. I usually store at least one in my bag, but sometimes I’ve been known to tote around at least 4. In some people’s eyes this may be a problem for which I desperately need help, but Jen and Jamie the wunderkinds behind Ban.do, like me, understand, headbands are more than just accessories, they’re a lifestyle.

Jen Gotch, stylist/photographer/lover of pretty things, and her friend Jamie , who’s last name is yet to be known, recently started this new company called Ban.do, and everyone on this little thing I love to call the interweb have fallen head over heels (no pun intended) over their headgear.

Using new and vintage pieces including flowers, feathers, brooches, ribbon, and tulle, the girls create the most darling headbands I’ve ever seen.  I know a lot of blogs have been featuring these headbands as great finds for your wedding, but personally I  wouldn’t think twice about wearing any of them on a regular basis. If the adorable headbands don’t make you smitten in the least, then maybe the cute haiku poems will endear this indie duo’s headbands to you:

As you scroll through the pieces ranging from Cleopatra revived to Grecian goddess to Pocahontas’ little sister, you can’t help falling for every hair adornment, and you might even find yourself sending Santa frantic letters telling him how much you really need a Ban.do headband, and that stop making all the boys cry when you beat them at soccer on the school yard, or at the very least bookmarking your favorite headbands on your boyfriends computer under ’she’ll love you forever’ so he knows what you want for your upcoming birthday!

For more information on Ban.do visit their website: shopbando.com. For more information on Jen Gotch visit jengotch.com.

All summer, I’ve successfully fulfilled my pledge to wear skirts/dresses. I could probably count the number of times I’ve worn pants on both hands, and I have a feeling my love for the swishy, breezy, girlie bottoms will continue throughout the fall. However, one of my favorite things about fall is the ability to layer clothes without feeling like a sweaty, over stuffed Michelin Man, but “how am I supposed to layer skirts without wearing leggings/anything with a leg hole,” I thought? Luckily, in our day and age, everything can be layered!

Sure, Miu Miu started the trend with their layered tutu-esque circus skirts, but the awesome merchandising director at Forever 21 did it cheaper. Every time I go into Forevs, a handful of mannequins are dressed in crazy combinations of layered skirts or a fluttery liberty print skirt under one of there basic dresses. Miu Miu’s layering was more of the voluminous skirt over a bodycon skirt. Since I’m still not quite sure of my feelings about bodycon, I’ve fallen for the look of layered voluminous skirts.

I tried the layered skirt look a couple weeks ago when I got my new oxfords, but yesterday, I went shopping and bought a few things to add to my fall wardrobe including two skirts for Forever 21. The ‘Dotted Circle Skirt’ is so cute and the colors are muted enough for fall, and could be matched perfectly with a great bright top. The ‘Academy Weave Skirt’ is a bit preppy, but can be dressed up or down for school. On their own each skirt has great qualities, but together, the skirt they create is simple with a touch of wow!

I sort of wish I could layer the gray skirt under the polka dot one, but it’s shorter than the polka dot skirt so it wouldn’t be seen. Oh well! At least I’ve readied my skirt-filled wardrobe for fall!

p.s. I it’s so hard to have a jumping picture when the camera is set on a timer. Secretista, queen of the jumping pictures, I bow down!

With every hour passed, the anticipation of New York Fashion Week increases. Tentative schedules are posted, money is collected for press passes, excuses are concocted to skip class, and designers are frenzied trying to finish their collections. New York City, London, Milan, and Paris are considered the big guns in the fashion week circle, but those in the know realize that there is rarely a week that passes when there isn’t a fashion week going on somewhere. There are two smaller fashion weeks I’m excited about this season, the first is Fashion Indie Week: Brooklyn and the other is Chicago Fashion Week.

Fashion Indie Week starts on September 3rd and goes until September 10th, meaning those in town for NYFW will be able to catch some awesome indie fashion shows and parties in between the regular fashion week drama. Quite a few awesome designers are gearing up for runway shows, parties, and presentations, including: Love Brigade, New York Couture, Alisha Trimble, Sheila Frank, and Brooklyn Royalty, just to name a few.

If you’re interested in being a part of the first ever Fashion Indie Week: Brooklyn visit them at fashionindie.com/brooklyn. I’m going to try to make it to as many events as possible, but the first week of the semester all seems to coincide with fashion week— total style cramper!

Chicago Fashion Week may not be as accessible to me, being 15 hours away, but I’m still excited for it. However this excitement is less about the awesome local designers who I know are beyond deserving of getting the chance to show their collections, but more about me being a bit of a reluctant fangirl. So kill me, I like Fall Out Boy, and don’t completely hate Pete Wentz. The opening ceremony for Chicago Fashion Week will be combined with a Clandestine Industries (Pete’s clothing line) sponsored GenART fashion show. This again is helping local designers, but they’re local to the Chicago area and I probably know very little about them.

If you do happen to be in the Chicago area from October 1st to October 8th, make sure to hit up their fashion week and then tell me all about it, because there will no doubt be lots of great unknowns that will eventually be knowns and you can brag that you knew about them when…

For all the info on Chicago Fashion Week visit their website at chicagofashionresource.com

The interweb is chock full of pictures featuring, the perfectly coiffed uber-stylish guys fashion fairy tales are made of. Some of them may be businessmen in the perfectly tailored Tom Ford suit, and others are those ultra-hip indie hotties who can make the neon, acid washed skinny jeans look good (*cough* Gabe Saporta *cough*). Unfortunately, its a rarity to actually meet one of these amazingly dressed men, but as a big sister I know its my job to help my younger brother find his inner fashion whore.

My little brother’s been my little pet project for the last few months. I like to take him shopping, and then make him wear things he would never think of wearing. Sometimes he puts on the clothes I picked, and he looks at me like I’m crazy— but, most of the time he’s surprised by the things that actually look awesome on him. He isn’t quite Kanye or Pharrell, but maybe one day he’ll be that oddly cool guy found in NYC by The Sartorialist.

Yesterday, we went to the mall, and while in Charlotte Russe (why aren’t there any good clothes at that store), he saw some fakey shutter shades. We both thought they were beyond hilarious and since they were only $5 with the purchase of another pair, I decided to buy them for him and some over-sized wayfarers for me. Jokingly, he decided to wear his new shades as we walked around the mall, and almost everyone looked at him like he was crazy. As the older sister, I diligently informed him that the whole point of crazy trends is to make people notice you, so just have fun with it!

When we got home, he wanted facebook pictures so we had a sibling photoshoot in our backyard. It was really hot, and I almost stepped in poison ivy, but overall, it was so much fun!

What are your favorite styles for guys, and do you help guide your younger siblings on the path of stylishness?

Rumors, rumors everywhere. Is Marc married? No one cares! For the past week-ish all I’ve been hearing on the fashion gossip side is Marc Jacobs is getting married to new beau Lorenzo Martone. Everyone’s surprised because they’ve only been together for a few months and were supposed to have been getting “hitched” in Paris last weekend, but no one really knows if they did or didn’t— and, now there’s some sort of giant, mysterious scandal that can only be solved by Nancy Drew or a well dressed Sherlock Holmes.

But in all honesty, I could care less who Marc marries, and if he ever marries. He could be in love with a different guy ever 3 months, stay with the same game for the rest of his life, swear off love, swear off men and go straight, the list could go on, but none of it matters, as long as he:

• Keeps pissing off the fashion elite with his extreme tardiness, because their front-row complaints are very amusing to us little people who get to see the photos the next morning on Style.com no matter what time the show starts.
• Keeps making those same spurned fashion elite bite their tongues after seeing his collections.
• Stops making fuzzy halos that Mary-Kate will consistently wear around her bobble-sized head— she doesn’t need an excuse to look even more extraterrestrial.
• Keeps throwing crazy costume parties and dressing up as things like Pigeons and Camel Toes.
• Keeps shocking people with kooky ad campaigns.
• Stops making t-shirts with Hillary Clinton’s ugly mug on it, she’s not worthy— I promise!
• Hires me in some position other than store clerk sometime in the future, hopefully near future. (Just thought I’d throw this on in there for good measure. I have to look out for number 1!)

At the end of July, I always start to get a bit antsy. I know my summer is coming to an end, and it makes me really sad, but at the same time, I get beyond excited for what new styles I will see at Fashion Week in September. I also start dreaming of layering. What newly purchased articles of clothing can I still wear in the fall? What should I be buying for the fall? What will be my layering staple this year? Luckily, I’ve already figured out the answer to the last question. Cardigans!

I know, the word cardigan just screams prep school, know-it-all, bitch who doesn’t truly wear the sweater but merely ties it around her shoulders, but when I say cardigans, I’m sheerly using it as a technical term. I’m all for people wearing what they want, so if you like your cardies fitted and demure, then go for it, but I’m planning on going the way of the grandpa/boyfriend cardigan— over-sized, slouchy, and maybe even with leather patches on the elbows!

Just the word slouchy would make my mom cringe, I don’t plan on my entire outfit to be ill-fitting. That’s the beauty of it all. The grandpa cardigan is like a hoodie (which was my layering staple last fall), except without the hood, by layering it on top of most outfits, you’re able to look casual without wearing the unofficial school uniform of jeans/pajama pants and a t-shirt/sweatshirt.

Tips on Acquiring and Wearing the Grandpa Cardigan:

• Be economical - “borrow” your boyfriend’s/male friend’s cardigans.
• Shop in the men’s section - the cardigans are usually thicker and the cut isn’t as form-fitting as the grandpa sweaters that are made for women.
• Visit You Local Hipster Hangout - I hate to say it, but the hipster somehow find all the coolest cardigans—maybe one day we’ll learn their cardigan shopping secrets…
• Don’t wear this over-sized cardie with wide-leg pants - you know when they say don’t show too much skin at the same time, well don’t cover too much either!
• Do pair the cardigan with your favorite dress or skirt - the masculine/feminine mix is very ‘in’.
• Sex it up a bit - pick a grandpa cardigan with a shallow V-neck and wear it with nothing under it, pair with skinny jeans and go.

Though I’m really obsessing over the grandpa cardigan, I fear if I try wearing them now I might risk getting a heat stroke, so in the interest of my health I’ll wait until the temperatures drop just a little bit.

What will be you ‘Layering Staple’ this fall?

Get the cardigans:

• Triple Five Soul T.A. Cardigan - $105.00
• Sullivan Sweater Cardigan- $22.80
• BDG Variegated Stripe Cardigan - $54.00
• 3.1 Phillip Lim, Merino wool cardigan- $450.00

Its a commonly know fact that without inspiration its hard to even string a couple words together to make a sentence, much less an entire post. This is usually referred to as writer’s block and the cure is unknown. I guess I could have caught a case of what the guys from Gym Class Heroes call “biter’s block,” but that’s just no fun, so I waited and waited and shopped— then, suddenly, I knew what I had to write about. I bought a pair of new shoes that my mom and apparently, everyone in the New Haven area, hate.

They’re cute, in my opinion, gray, crinkled leather oxfords from Michael by Michael Kors called the ‘Panama’ Oxfords. I saw them at DSW a couple weeks ago, but decided if I still wanted them in a few weeks, which I did, I’d by them— so, now they’re mine! I wasn’t sure they’d still have the shoes in my size, but I think I’m the only person around me that bought these oxfords, leading me to believe that A) I’m completely crazy for liking these shoes, or B) everyone in the New Haven, CT area have a boring taste in shoes.

Even though answer ‘A’ isn’t really my favorite answer, my entire family seems to think it’s the correct one. My mom thinks they’re ugly and too butch. After showing my dad, he raises his eyebrows and says, “You like these… OOKKAAYY!” and my sister has decided they may “have to grow on her.” Thanks for the love and support family!

I get it! The shoes are super chunky, and really hard to pull off with a bare leg, but let’s think to the future. I only paid $48 for the shoes, though I could have paid only $37 at Nordstrom.com (though I guess shipping would have evened the tally. They’re super comfortable, even though they’re a bit high. Not to mention, I could wear these all fall with pants, tights, the black thigh high socks I plan to buy from American Apparel, the options are limitless, and I personally think they don’t look terrible with this outfit (notice the bare legs), though I’m slightly biased.

So I’m going to throw it to you dear readers, am I crazy for liking these oxfords? Should I take them back ASAP? Or, am I just a misunderstood shoe fanatic in a little, suburban Connecticut town?