I'm pretty good with a bow...

Bows are great. They toe the line between sweet and cheeky. For the spring, tough military looks are in (cargo pants, etc.). A great way to soften up the look is with bow accessories. (Remember yin yang outfits?) There are lots of great bow accessories out right now. Here's a couple of my favorites:

Tote bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs Available in department stores like Nordstrom.


Necklace by Tiffany & Co.

Pattern

Patterns, both of the floral variety and ethnic inspired prints, are having a moment (Although, they are timeless. Some things are always fashionable, but it's like a bunch of people get excited about the same thing at once.). I'm really happy about this. But when you're used to wearing solids and very subtle patterning, it can be daunting. I loved watching The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency on HBO because it takes place in Botswana, Africa where patterns are layered and mixed with gorgeous results. It's inspiring.


A single patterned item is a great way to enliven an otherwise neutral outfit. I am in love with these shoes. I would wear them with cropped pants and a slouchy t-shirt.


You can get them from Osborn Shoes.

Clothes should be fun. If your closet is feeling a bit stagnant, inject some pattern which will change how you look at everything else.

Purse-onality

Last weekend while shopping at Filene's Basement, this bag caught my eye and I couldn't resist.

If you can't make it to the Basement, you can buy it here.

Usually, I like classic leather handbags, but there's something about Tokidoki that just strikes me in that fashion bliss part of my heart. Plus, if I drop it in the snow, I'll be able to find it. See, sensible.

Wishful thinking

This weather has me thinking about spring.
I liked the idea of lady-like ruffles with some fun details. The necklace has a little elephant charm and the tiny hoop earrings (on chest) are made of little hearts.



Oh, and obviously I have a new camera! Thanks, mom! Now I can post pictures again. Like this outfit with my framed portraits of MLK, JFK and RFK. As always, you can click on the pictures to make them larger.

New Year...

New Earrings.

I just picked up these beauties for 50% off at Swarovski.
Love them! They were featured in the January Lucky Magazine. The thing that makes them unusual is that they're clip ons!

Clip ons are coming back. The good thing about clip on earrings is that your ears can hold more weighty earrings without getting that saggy earlobe look.

Check out these beauties by Siman Tu:


You can buy similar ones at Vivre.

In addition to awesome clip on earrings, another trend I foresee for 2010 is:

Friendship bracelets!!!

You can buy them, like this gorgeous one from Etsy (here), but you should break out your stash of embroidery floss and make your own.

Trends should be fun and these two definitely are. Happy New Year!

Color Obsession

This is my blender. I love it.
Photo by Kitchenaid.

In addition to it's ability to make frosty margaritas, what I love about it is the color. In fact, I'm obsessed with it. I stayed in a hotel recently where the plastic room pen was sea foam green. Forget that we're in Miami, look at this pen! I also posted about the Chanel Jade nail polish.

I don't know what it is about that color, but lately it's been taking up at least 10% of my brain functioning. Mint green, jade, sea foam. Whatever you call it, I love it.

I want to have it in my wardrobe, but it's hard to find the right piece. The trouble is that the color can look a little "old lady" if not done right. For instance, if you wore a mint green trench coat, people would probably ask you if you needed help crossing the street or carrying your groceries. Trust me. Don't do it.

I think the color is best done in a way that would look sexy and lux. Picture a slinky jade party top, paired with long gold chain earrings and a large gold cuff bracelet. Le sigh.

Now I just need to find it.....

Need is a strong word...

But I need these.

Picture from Bloomingdales.com . Click here to buy them.

After the rain and slush on Wednesday, I realized I need boots that could stand up to Boston weather but still be cute/classic enough to wear in public. ( I love my bright blue and pink rain boots but sometimes I feel silly wearing them at 8:00 a.m. in December. I just do.)

The hard part is deciding which color. Black and green would both go with everything. But there's something fun about a yellow or red rain boot. I'm leaning toward green. Or black.

The list is up...

Again, I'm not on it (shakes fist at Linda Pizzuti Henry).

The Boston Globe's 25 Most Stylish Bostonians 2009 is out. Some I thought we dull, some expected, but some were inspirational. My favorite, far and away, was Marie-Claude Mendy. I just love fuchsia in the fall!

Another great one of the 25 was my favorite blogger, Martine Severin of Beyond Boston Chic.

Who was your favorite? Did you get any inspiration from the list? How the hell do I get on it? Discuss.

Yin and Yang and Outfits

The idea behind the Yin and Yang is that when things are bad, there is a little good in them, and when things are good, there's a little bad in them. It means that there are no real absolutes and that things that are opposite are truly part of one another. I like to think of this when I make outfits.

Really.

Take for instance a floral patterned dress. On its own it may look too sweet. Pair it with punk inspired stud earrings and the dress feels more hip.

If you wear a t-shirt and ripped jeans you may look sloppy. But add a crisp blazer and the sloppy pieces are transformed.

Pearls want leather.

Lace craves combat boots.

Yin needs Yang.

Confucius says: Pink satin peep toes look best with those black side zip jeans.

Chilly

It's September, time for more layers! One of my favorite looks is to take something masculine and give it a feminine twist. Like, wearing cargo pants with a lacy top. Here's a casual outfit I plan on living in this fall. It's a hooded sweatshirt (masculine) but in a blush pink and paired with a floral scarf.You could also play keep it going by adding a tweed blazer.

It's a nice girlie take on a look boys do. As always, click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Best find ever?

A few weeks ago I went to a flea market on Cape Cod with my girlfriends and found some great old costume jewelry. I also found this cute heart-shape watch pendant:


I thought it was a great find as they're coming back into style. Lucky Magazine did a whole page on them in their August issue. Plus it was $8.

It wasn't until yesterday, however, that I discovered just how great a find it truly was. I dropped it off at a watch store to get the battery replaced. When I picked it up I realized that on the back was a "made in China" sticker that I hadn't noticed. I peeled it off and.....


It's a unicorn! Yes, my very own heart-shaped time-telling unicorn pendant! Sometimes you just get lucky.

Who says you can't wear stripes with stripes?

Because you can!


Make it easy by going with just two tones (if you find yourself trying to figure out if a stripe is black or navy, don't worry, no one else will be able to tell either). Keep accessories romantic (pearls, flower earrings, etc.) and not sailing themed (anchors, ship wheels) when you're wearing this much striping. You don't want to go into nautical overload. Unless you do, in which case: Ahoy!

Summer into Fall

August is a great time to shop. Clothes that you loved for summer but were too pricey are now on sale. Stores are also now displaying their fall looks. It's a great time to create an idea of what kind of styles you want to wear for fall. Chances are you probably have many of the items to pull off a given look, and can just buy some key pieces here and there.

Another thing to think about when you're shopping now is how can an item be worn now and once it gets cooler.

Take this silky skirt which is on sale at the Gap from their summer collection:



Photo from www.gap.com

With sandals and a basic tank it's an easy summer look. But because it's a jewel tone, it will transition nicely into fall. Wear it with navy tights, brown shoes and something like a navy turtleneck sweater and you've got a great fall outfit.

Cole Haaaaaaan!

Went shopping with mom last night. We had drinks and went to the Cole Haan store. Yes, I did buy a purse, how did you guess? Anyway, it was over 50% off and I've loved it for over a year and before we went to the register I put on a super serious face and said, "It's not just the booze, right?" And my mom said, no, and giggled and said, "let's go to Bloomingdales next." Picture from www.colehaan.com

All is well.

What a great blog!

Heavy on the pics:

http://couturecarrie.blogspot.com/

I love it.

Too early for fall fashion?

Not when it's still cold and you can get some great layering ideas. I loved looking through the Dsquared Milan show on Style.com

The show was less about a new "it" item and more about looking differently at things you already have.
Picture: Toni Garrn

You can see slides of the whole show here. There are some great scarves and cargo pants.

I'm feeling......

Cargo pants.

Really.

image: www.gap.com

I'm going to wear these this spring/summer with heels and sandals. Since cargo pants have a masculine look, wear them with something girly like a ruffled tank or a pearl necklace and a cardigan.

Rose Bud

J. Crew has been having some adorable flower hair accessories and I thought it would be fun to make some. I used fabric and beads I already had.

I started with some airy pink silk, brown felt, and black beads. You also need a bobby pin or something that works for your hair.
Cut the silk into strips that are 1.5 inches wide and 18 to 24 inches long depending on how big you want your rose buds. Pull a needle and thread through one end of a strip. Begin to twist silk strip as you coil it around the end, securing it with the thread as you go. Keep one side neat while the other can be messy and have the thread showing. Don't worry about the frayed edge of the silk. It's pretty and gives the buds an antique quality.
Make the flower look more natural by loosening and tightening as you twist. Sew three beads into the center of the bigger flower.
Position flowers as you want them on felt and pin them in place. Cut around felt so that it mostly covers the back but can't be seen from the front.
Sew all around edge of felt to the back of the flowers. Tightly sew on bobby pin or other hair clip.
That's it! Have fun with other sizes and arrangements. You could also hot glue some to the side of a head band.

New Year, Old Scarf

January and February can be a tough time to try and pick outfits that make you happy. When I look outside and it's snowing and 20 degrees I mostly think, "what can I wear that would feel like a giant blanket?" Chic, not so much. It's times like these when I rely on the best style trick I know: Look for stylish people, and copy them.

One think I've seen on some stylish women is light, airy, colorful scarfs.

The same trend from last summer works just as well with a warm sweater as with a cotton tank. It's a great way to add some needed color and, even better, it's sort of like wearing a blanket.

And make it sparkly....

For the holidays I love the idea of pairing something simple (jeans and a white t-shirt) with something with sparkle. This gold jacket has a sequin and pearl trim.



Another easy and chic holiday look is parking a simple black turtleneck with big shiny earrings or a pretty headband.


Thank you, Mom, for the dress form. I love it! You can still see the bubble wrap in came in on the floor. I couldn't wait to use it!