Category Archives: SO INSPIRING

A collection of pretty things I’m admiring at the moment.

Fashion Quotes That Actually Make You Feel Good

Posted on by
10

I love fashion, but there comes a point when it goes and turns on you. Body image, income, judgment – it all takes a toll. I’ve collected a few quotes from people I admire who might just make you feel a little better about the world and how you choose to present yourself in it.

Adele

“I like having my hair and face done, but I’m not going to lose weight because someone tells me to. I make music to be a musician not to be on the cover of Playboy.”

I love that Adele is who she is. I’m bored of looking at tween pop stars in short dresses. Adele let’s her voice speak for itself – but inconsequentially she is really, really beautiful.

Tim Gunn

“Not to sound disparaging toward anyone, but when people cite J.Crew as budget shopping—it really isn’t.”

Amen, Tim. What is with the onslaught of magazines and fashion figures using J.Crew as their budget buy? Give me a break. Anyone who knows me knows I love Tim Gunn and this quote is from an interview with him (one of the most delightful experiences of my life). I won’t argue that many things in fashion are worth the investment, but there is no reason to make the people living in the real world feel like crap.


Nicole Chavez, Rachel Bilson’s Stylist

“I like to think about what would feel different, to the point where someone would stop me and say, ‘I wouldn’t have done that.’ Trying to push the envelope is fun, because you want people talking, and you want people to take notice. There are no rules. There are suggestions, but there are definitely no rules. So have fun with fashion.”

I became a Rachel Bilson fan in her O.C. days and the genius that was Season 1. The girl’s got great style and I like this quote from her stylist on Refinery29 because it’s a reminder that fashion should be fun. If you take it too seriously and are more concerned about being judged than expressing yourself, then it’s not.

Advanced Style
Lastly, I leave you with this video from Advanced Style. This incredible street style blog features older women who just plain rock. There are a millions great little lessons in here that lead to the conclusion that again, fashion should be fun.

TOMS Ballet Flats are Here

Posted on by
11

Finally!

The new (and highly anticipated) ballet flats went on sale today on TOMS.com and are available for presale on Nordstrom.com (which offers free shipping, but they won’t ship until March 1st).

Tip: Reviews of the ballet flats are good so far, but the consensus is to order 1/2 size down because they run a tad large.

Aren’t they cute?

In case you don’t know the history, TOMS was formed after it’s founder took a trip to South America. He saw children living in poor conditions without shoes to protect their feet and decided to do something about it. He reinvented the traditional Argentine alpargata shoe and for every pair someone buys, a pair is donated to a child in need.

The fact that this shoe gained so much popularity, not through trends and fashion magazines but through benevolence and  word of mouth, is so inspiring and uplifting. My sister might wear TOMS at her wedding, which is awesome. I actually do like the style of the classic TOMS for what they symbolize and think they make much more of a statement than the ballet flats ever will — but the ballet flats are just so feminine and wearable! It’s a win-win.

I’m going to wait until it’s actually spring to buy these. Until then, I’ll be debating which color to get. I’m currently feeling the rose linen:

Are you buying TOMS ballet flats? What color??

 

Lululemon Warehouse Sale

Posted on by
10

I just got back from the Lululemon Warehouse Sale in Chicago and I’M ALIVE! I have to say, it went better than I expected. I went with my friend Rachel – here’s our haul:

Some details for all of you going this weekend:

Outfit
First things first – you need the perfect sample sale outfit. I wore leggings, old sneakers that are easy to slip on and off, a cami and a long cardigan with zipped pockets for my phone, id and money. It made things super easy to try on.

Line
We got to the sale a little after 1pm and waited somewhere around 1-1.5 hours in line. It really wasn’t that bad after all the hype I’d heard – it felt like the line moved quickly. However, it seems people who got to the sale between 9am-11am got hit with the hardest lines and waited closer to 3 hours (yikes).

The line is a one in, one out situation, so once you’re inside the sale it never feels overcrowded. No need to throw ‘bows or anything. Although I did stalk a worker who was wheeling out a brand new rack of clothes in my size. A pack of us immediately swarmed her – so yeah, that got a little weird.

When we were leaving the sale around 4pm, there was barely a line – seriously, like a 10 minute wait. Very surprising, but going later in the day could be an interesting strategy to try.

Pants
All long pants are $55 and cropped pants are $45. Everything is organized by size, so it makes it easy. If you’re looking for Groove pants (like I was) they have tons of cropped styles but long Groove pants in black were harder to come by (I refuse to get grey as anything other than black emphasizes areas that do not need to be emphasized). I did find a pair in my size though with my hawk eyes. They have tons of Astro pants and other styles. No Wunder Unders, though.

I haven’t previously owned Lululemon pants because I couldn’t bring myself to shell out the cash for them. I was having a conversation with Rachel about what size I should get because I felt I could go either way, and multiple women in the dressing room overheard us (you get friendly pretty fast in this kind of situation). If you’re in between sizes, they said to always size down in Lululemon pants. If they’re even slightly too big, you’ll be pulling them up during your workout. Ugh.

Tops
Lots of cute tops. They get a little “samey” after awhile (they basically had 15 styles or so in different colors, so you see the same ones over and over) but I liked the selection, so I’m not complaining. All tops are $36.

Accessories
Rachel picked up a yoga towel ($9), a cute bag for her mom ($49) and a hooded scarf that I might be regretting not purchasing right now ($9). I didn’t see any headbands left, but those were supposedly $4. Sports bras are $22 and they have tons. They also have water bottles, socks and probably some other things, but I wasn’t that interested in the accessories, to be honest.

Scuba Sweatshirts
These are right up in front and $70. I wasn’t interested and didn’t even really look at these, but Rachel found a cute grey one with sparkles – very her.

Men’s
If you’re a guy, I wouldn’t bother with this sale. Granted, I didn’t really look, but it was definitely weak.

Tutus
Apparently Lululemon sells tutus in their stores, which must not have done well (um, for the obvious reason?) because they were giving them away for free in line. While standing in line, if a worker asks if you want to participate in a competition, say yes. You’ll get a free tutu for doing whatever it is. Rachel and I did a plank competition. It nearly killed me (while seemingly not phasing the crazy lady next to us who wanted to keep going) but hey, we got free tutus! It retails for $98 (that sh*t cray) and they were also selling them for $29 at the sale if you really want one.

And no, of course I have no idea what I’m going to do with this tutu now.

Dressing Room
It’s community. Same as any other sample sale. There were a decent amount of mirrors, but as usual there should have been twice as many. There is no limit to the amount you can bring in, so I say load up your arms so you only have to go in once. Note: You have to take the hangers off all of your items before you go in, which is annoying.

Pricing

So that’s it! I’m assuming Saturday and Sunday will be more crowded, but I think it’s worth it – within reason. Don’t go crazy, because even though prices were about 50% off, it all still adds up. Fast. I definitely held back and ended up with two pairs of pants and two tops, and I’m a happy lil clam right now.

Uh, I guess this means I have to work out now.

 

 

Fashionable Cupcakes

Posted on by
2

Last night, some of my friends and I went to a Cupcakes and Cocktails class at Give Me Some Sugar in Chicago. It was so much fun and a great way to let some creativity out – I highly recommend. Our cupcakes were so stylish, they transcend mere food and have made their way into cupcake fashion.

Chef Alekka taught us to steady our wrists.

Practicing our technique.

The best part was learning how to make a rose. It looked impossible, but it magically came together.

Todd and I immediately ate three cupcakes when I got home. Now I have four left to stare at.

I must have been channeling Kristen Wiig because I even wore a similar striped shirt!

In honor of my sister’s birthday today, Lauren, I am giving you my most fashionable cupcake.

Happy birthday, Lauren!

Lara Miller Blogger Party

Posted on by
2

This week has already been full of firsts for me. Not only did I join the Chicago Blogger Network, I attended my first blogger event. CBN was hosting a blogger party with Lara Miller, who is one of the few major fashion designers based in Chicago – her studio is right in Wrigleyville! She works out of her old apartment space, which she converted into a studio. She has racks upon racks of her clothing in the building’s massive basement, so it has this industrial-chic vibe to it. I absolutely love that she stuck to her roots and has a working studio in Chicago.

This is the first event for bloggers I’ve ever attended and I’m so glad I did. I heard about it at the last minute, so I signed up without having time to think about how I’m terrified to show up to anything that can be construed as “social” without the protection of a pack. Of course, it was fine and everyone was so nice!

For the event, we style looks from her new Spring 2012 collection along with any pieces from her past collections that we wanted. It was so much fun – we basically all just played dress up, had our hair and makeup done, and then a photographer snapped some shots!

Here’s me browsing. The new collection is really bright and colorful, while her past collections are filled with very wearable neutrals. The Lara Miller line is available at Macy’s on State St., Pivot Boutique, p.45 and a few others in Chicago.

We had our hair and makeup done for the photos, and Lara is going to use some of them for her lookbook – here’s me getting a big pouf!

I’m wearing what I believe is the Callie cardigan from Lara’s Spring 2012 collection here. It can be worn like, 18 different ways, I kid you not. I can’t stop thinking about this piece and how much I loved it. I believe it’s made out of bamboo, which is so incredibly soft. Lara, you should really consider developing a home line with blankets and throws made out of this stuff! The necklace is also a Lara Miller creation, which can be worn as a shown, as a bracelet, in your hair or as a belt. I’m also wearing Lara Miller black shorts, opaque black tights and black ankle boots. I thought it was a cute look to transition into spring!

Lara and I (and my hair, which needs it’s own photo credit!)

I have to mention another thing I know from meeting Lara previously, which is that all of her pieces are eco-friendly. Lara is really leading the charge in eco-fashion and I really respect that. The way most clothing is manufactured is harmful to the earth and the fashion industry as a whole is incredibly wasteful. I bet you would have realized that on your own if you thought about it, but it’s people like Lara who get us thinking.

Here’s a quote from my past interview with Lara that I’ll leave you with:

“I really think there is something to be said about investing in pieces you feel really strongly about versus buying 20 throwaway garments from Target—and then literally throwing them away into a landfill.”

It’s so true, and I’m constantly struggling to find the balance between spending money on pieces that last and my constant need for new, new, new, which can only be satisfied by the cheap stuff. It’s a huge basis for this blog!

What do you guys think?

Our Wedding on SMP

Posted on by
2

When I was wedding planning, StyleMePretty.com was my crack. I went to this website obsessively. So you can imagine that I’m pretty psyched that SMP featured our wedding under “Illinois Weddings” this week!

See the feature here.

They even sent a badge in case I have a blog, which now I do, so yay! Badge it up:

This comes at a good time because I can finally stand to relive the wedding again. That sounds horrible, as if I hated my wedding, and it’s exactly the opposite. My wedding was the best day of my life and every cliche that goes with it. It’s just that after the wedding, after I excitedly watched our wedding video over and over and looked through our pictures a million times, I got burnt out. I had spent so much energy on all of this and truthfully, I just really didn’t feel like looking at myself anymore. Does every past bride go through this?

Anyway, I’m over it. Look at me! Since this is a style blog, I’ll take a minute to talk about the fashion.

The dress. The top was lace and transitioned into a tulle-type fabric.People have strong opinions about lace — I love it.  I twirled, a lot.

One alteration we made to the dress was the flower belt. My favorite part of the dress, courtesy of my mother.

The girls looking good in J.Crew. My sister and I picked out multiple styles in the same fabric and color. The best part was that the dresses were on sale because the color was being phased out (to be replaced by basically the exact same color with a different name. J.Crew is sneaky like that). This caused some stress because there were limited sizes available, but it was worth it for the price. In the end it worked out and Andrea, my consultant, was awesome and made sure everything came together. Great customer service.

The boys, so dapper. We had them wear black suits, which they already owned. If you’re looking for a suit tailor, I got another Gus for ya. Todd took his suit to Gus’ Tailor Shop – not the shoe guy, he’s yet another talented Gus. My solution to everything now is “take it to Gus!”

Star Wars cufflinks for the boys, from Crimson King on Etsy.

I don’t really know all that much about men’s fashion (snooze) but I do have something to say about ties. We bought grey ties for the boys that were 3 inches wide because Glenn O’Brien of GQ says that’s the perfect tie width. “As a partisan not of fashion but of style, I firmly believe that approximately three inches is the perfect tie and single-breasted-lapel width—permanently,” he says.

Speaking of ties, width-debate aside, my dad wins the most stylish award for his sushi tie.

I love this purse (from Nordstrom) and want to attempt to dye it a different color (unless someone wants to borrow it first.) The potential for this to go very wrong is very high, so that adventure will probably be a future blog post.

Bridesmaid jewelry was purchased from the strip of jewelry stores on Clark in Uptown. A woman at one of my dress fittings told my mom and I about these shops, which are jam-packed jewelry stores filled with cheap knock-offs you have to pay in cash for. Basically, my idea of a great Saturday. I went with my sister, not sure if we’d find anything worthwhile, and we immediately spotted these awesome bauble-y necklaces and bracelets.

Girls wore nude heels, which looked great. As fashion expert Carson Kressley says, “They lengthen the leg and make everyone look tall and glamorous.” Sparkly leather J.Crew flip flops were given to the girls to change into once they were tired of the heels.

I wore flats (from Top Shop). Best wedding decision I made.

Not fashion-related, but my sister did an awesome job on our invitations, save the dates and other paper materials. Lauren did the design and my mom painstakingly put them together by hand because she is the best mom ever.

My dad made our cake toppers to look like our entire bridal party for our cake buffet!

I’m going to end this by listing all of my vendors, because I really, really loved them all. Now, when people ask for recommendations I can just direct them here!:

Photography: Angela Renee Photography (Angela is amazing, I’m SO grateful we found her when we did because she is blowing up now).
Venue: Salvage One (coolest event space ever).
Officiant: Rev. Tom Perrucci (perfect if you want a personal ceremony – he’s funny, too)
Print Design: Lauren Okura, Graphic Designer (The Best)
Floral Design: Gratitude-Heart-Garden
DJ: Ralph Darden, a.k.a. Major Taylor of Style Matters (If you want a dance party, you want Ralph).
Hair & Makeup: Krystyn Johnson and Samara Toby from Bridal Beauty Chicago (The very first vendor I booked, loooove them).
Caterer: Maison Cuisine (Danielle from Maison is a great person and honestly the only reason we could afford to have this wedding).
Cakes: Sweet Mandy B’s (So yummy. They do “real” wedding cakes, too).
Cake toppers: My awesome dad
Dress: Pronovias via Dimitras (Make your appointment with Marcia, you’ll love her).
Belt, card box, candles, basically everything: My amazing mom
Earrings: Nadri via Nordstrom
Hair Comb:ChantalEveleen
Cufflinks: Crimsonking
Shoes: Top Shop
Bridesmaid Dresses: J.Crew
Striped Orange and Gray Straws: HeyYoYo
Flower Hairpins in Bridesmaids’ Hair: ProjectU
Videographer: JR Bangit (my sister’s friend – I’m not sure he wants to film any more weddings, but I’m so glad he did ours and Todd and I will honestly cherish it forever.)

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqAC2nOwFWM

Since this is the end of the road for my wedding, I’ll take this opportunity to say this again: Todd and I are extremely grateful to both of our amazing families and blessed to have such great friends!

I Wasn’t Planning on Posting About Last Night’s Golden Globes

Posted on by
Reply

But then I saw Emma Stone.

Dress by Lanvin.

The perfect combo of young, edgy and stylish. I love everything. There were other pretty dresses on the red carpet, but Emma definitely wins the Style Alter Best Dressed Award.

The Literary Look

Posted on by
2

As I mentioned before, my friend Rachel recently had her first book published. It’s very exciting times–she’s traveling the country doing book readings, she landed several TV appearances and she’s in the most recent issue of People! (Muuuurder at the Palace edition).

We decided it would be fun if I played stylist and helped Rachel figure out what to wear for some of these appearances. This is when I discovered something: Looking through other people’s closets is fascinating. I assumed I’d seen Rachel’s entire wardrobe by now, considering I saw her every day for the nearly four years we worked together. Not even. I’m still thinking about Rachel’s shoe collection.

Some looks we styled (dressy for TV, casual for readings):

So literary-chic. Some tips that came up:

1. Go for a good fit and structure above all else. I love the look of loose, flowy tops (as does Rachel) but that just doesn’t translate well on TV. (Or pictures, for that matter).

2. Find something you love and build off it. Rachel had a new blazer and necklace she wanted to incorporate into some of her looks, so that gave us a good starting point.

3. Be fancy. TV is like another world. High heels are a must. Bold colors and patterns look interesting, not out of place. It’s obviously not evening wear, it’s just dressing like you care.

A few more TV and reading options:

Last night, Rachel did a reading at The Book Cellar in Chicago, so I got to see one of the outfits we put together in action:

Yesterday was the first big snow in Chicago, so Rachel wisely ditched the heels for adorable snow boots (from Target! They’ve really upped their shoe game recently). Love it.

I’m really into this leather Kenneth Cole leather jacket Rachel has, which she said she hadn’t worn in ages. Her dress had a great draping detail though, so there had to be a big reveal:

It was a fun night and Rachel read a couple parts of her book, including a story involving yours truly. She said my name like eight times, so I’m pretty much famous now. She left out the part where I rejected her Mean Girls-style (which is redic now that we’re friends and I’ve decided didn’t actually happen), but you guys will have to read that part yourselves!

The Boot Investment

Posted on by
9

“I like my money right where I can see it—hanging in my closet.” – Carrie Bradshaw

What kind of fashion blog would this be without a Sex and the City quote? We’ve all heard about “investment pieces” and the idea that classics are worth splurging on. My number one investment piece? Boots! This may be because I live in Chicago, where we can’t expose our skin from October to April, but leather boots are one of my most worn, most loved fashion accessories.

The key is to buy well-constructed boots made of good leather that ages well. My boots are now toddler age. I have three-year-old grey and black Fryes and four-year-old brown leather J.Crew boots. They’ve been holding up nicely until just this year, when they started looking rough. Real rough. The heels were totally worn out and the salt stains that used to wipe away easily wouldn’t go away. Since I plan to keep these kids around for many more years, I required some TLC from a man named Gus. I started taking my shoes to Gus New Quality Shoe Repair (click that link for my friend Karen’s review. She’s Yelp elite, you know) in Lincoln Park.

My beloved boots, before:


I clean and weather-proof my boots multiple times throughout the winter, but there is just no getting around the layer of salt that’s spread over the city come January. It absolutely destroys everything it touches.


I’m sorry, boots.

After: 


Discoloration removed.

New heels.

Scratches gone.

New soles.

They look practically brand new! Now if that’s not a great ROI, I don’t know what is. I did the calculations and it holds. Gus cleaned these guys up, fixed the discoloration, got the scratches out, weather-proofed them, put new heels on every pair and new soles on the brown and black ones (the grey will need them by next year, I’m sure).

I’m going back to Gus in March (that may be wishful thinking, probably April) to do a thorough cleanup on my boots again so that any trace of salt is removed and they’re ready to go come fall. In the mean time, I’ll religiously clean and water-proof spray them. By the way, saddle soap is cheap and great for cleaning and conditioning leather. You can really see a difference when you use it, plus it reminds me of my horseback riding days.


Ride on!

Let’s All Go Shopping Online!

Posted on by
4

Ooh how I love online shopping. Sometimes I add things to my cart, more with wishful thinking than real intention. The “add to cart” click is just so satisfying. I’ll go about my life and you know, sometimes the items will be removed or go out of stock. But sometimes! Sometimes, just when I wasn’t looking, the thing in my cart magically went on sale, and that thing that was expensive is now not-so expensive, and it’s definitely meant to be and that cannot be ignored and it’s MINE!

If you haven’t experienced this kind of joy, try that out. But do it at Nordstrom or something, because you won’t want to go saving items in your cart here over here:

CamdenBoutique.com

I am so excited to announce that Camden Boutique is now online! My friend Dee, owner of Camden Boutique in downtown Elmhurst, just launched her new site. Right now, you can use code FREESHIP for complimentary shipping on your order! Someone buy these things so I can look at you:

Camden is the source of my best outfits. You’ve seen a couple things from this store in my Fashion Show at Lunch post, but that’s nothin’. I do a lot of shopping (pretend shopping counts) and Camden’s selection is perfection. Dee does a great job hand-picking all of the brands (Dolce Vita, Prairie, Gypsy 05) for unique yet very wearable pieces, resulting in a store full of cool stuff no one else has. The site looks awesome and it was definitely a labor of love for Dee and Liz and my amazing sister, Lauren, her fiance, Matt, and Dee’s brother, John, who designed and built the site!

While we’re on the subject of super-talented friends, another item you can cross off your shopping list today is my friend Rachel Bertsche’s book, MWF Seeking BFF. It comes out December 20, but you can pre-order your copy right now. Pre-sale numbers are a big deal in the publishing world. And if you do pre-order, Rachel announced on her blog that you are now her friend, so she will give you a friendship bracelet! Friendship bracelets are Style Alter-approved fashion accessories.

MWF Seeking BFF is a memoir about Rachel’s move from NYC to Chicago and her experience trying to make new friends in a new city. At this age. Which is basically the worst. Rachel went on a year of girl-dates to document how hard, scary and definitely entertaining it is to make new friends. I can’t tell you how many times I cringed while she was telling me her stories. Like the time she took improv classes to make new friends. I can’t think of anything more I’d rather not do, but the girl was committed and she has really inspired me. And if this entices you to buy her book, I’m in it! (Well, mentioned. Counts.)

Rachel is an incredibly talented writer and everybody knows it. O, The Oprah Magazine named her book one of “10 Titles to Pick Up Now.” Chicago Magazine called it a “humbling, hilarious memoir” and said you should “put MWF on your book club list now.”

And, Rachel? Your readers are clearly the best kind of readers there are:

I’m also going to be styling Rachel for her book tour stop in Chicago on Jan. 12, so look forward to more on that!

Shop at Camden. Buy the book. Have a great Friday!