Fashion Sisters: A BFF love story

MY BEAUTIFUL BFF and BIGGEST FASHION INSPIRATION:

When BFF Juliana visits, it gets pretty out of control.  Now that she lives in LA, we get to see each other a WHOLE lot more.  She is the Sofia Coppola to my Marc Jacobs, a.k.a. we are two peas in a chic little pod.  First thing she does is flip her overnight bag upside down and dump out all her juiciest purchases as of late.  Then, I get to go through them and steal what I want!

Here's what it looks like on the floor of my apartment:

With a keen eye, you catch her gorgeous plum colored Givenchy bag, as well as a little gold lame action!

Jules and I met on orientation day at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, San Francisco.  She was wearing vintage Ferragamo heels, black jeans, and a black open-knit cashmere shell.  Basically, our love story began immediately, and I moved into her gorgeous Nob Hill apartment she shared with the equally lovely and disgustingly chic friend from back home in Oregan, Hope :)  The three of us scoured all of the thrift stores and Buffalo Exchanges we could possibly get to on the Muni bus system.  A mound of clothing covered the entire floor of our walk-in closet, and what a wonder it was.  Fashion college in such a liberal and artistic city as San Francisco is really asking for it!  I do recall wearing a little boy's sweater covered in lions to adorn my vintage corderoy skirt and black and white spectator pumps, vintage Ferragano as well, which I scored at Goodwill.  It was a free-for-all and on most days, we resembeled a slightly more disheveled Betsy Johnson, minus the pink cornrows, carrying a 40lb bag of sewing materials.

Here's a cute pick from Jules:

Of course she's pairing it with a gorgeous beaded collar necklace, and added a vintage gold chain belt.

Here's an outfit of all her stuff we put together, perfect for San Diego nights:

A gorgeous sheer printed shawl, a white crop top with lace insert, high-waisted levi's, vintage belt with gold (of course) lions, and of course the platform boot-tays

MORE and more to come on Jules and my history and future adventures!!!

TARGET- My personal Heaven!! EXCITING NEWS!

Anyone that knows Tara Jones knows that Target is my personal sanctuary.  If I'm having a bad day, I'll go pick up some Hello Kitty slippers and a couple new crayon-colored dish towels.  If I'm having a great day, I'll load up on neon ribbed tanks and maybe a bikini or two.  And of course I'm usually only heading there for groceries! 

Target has done an amazing job making fashion accessible to us normal chicks.  Many designers, including Alice Temperley, Erin Fetherstone, and the beloved Alexander McQueen have created EXTREMELY collectible lines, and exposed these designers to the everyday woman.

NEW NEWS!  You may have already heard...BUT:  Target is going to be teaming up with Neiman Marcus to carry affordable lines from 24 of the CFDA's (Council of Fashion Designers of America) top designers!!  This means fashion lines from:

DIANE VON FURSTENBURG!  MARC JACOBS!!  TORY BURCH!!  MARCHESA!!  RAG & BONE!!

The lines will include more than 50 pieces ranging from Women's, Men's, and children's fashion, and home and pet products.  $1 million in sales will be donated to the CFDA to help foster young and upcoming designers.  The prices will range from $15.99-$499.99.  Can we say, "Target-please please please make sure your server doesn't crash when these go on sale!!!!"

That reminds me of the most notorious of Target collabs: the irresistible Missoni.

sighhhhhh....if only I had been in line at 6:30am with the rest of the ladies who rushed into my local Target, literally heaving entire racks of clothing, shoes, hats, bedding, kitchen accessories, pet accessories, cosmetic goodies and MORE into their carts, only to immediately (and brilliantly) place them on ebay for three times the price??

Target generated buzz for months, decorating New York City Fashion Week with bill boards, and placing 10 page spreads in every relevant magazine.  The collection was amaze.  I myself scored a gorgeous cardigan on eBay for $60, and it's worth every hot little penny!!!

Here's one of my fashion idols, Margherita Missoni, in the cardigan I scored!!!

Therapie!! Style on the Go- BRILLIANT!!

"San Diego's first fashion truck for stylish women on the go!"

As I was rushing to the nearest Subway during a lunch hour at work one day, I zoomed past a huge food truck-looking vehicle, that apparently served a more delectable and appetizing menu than the usual.  As my head spun around on it's swivel, I noticed racks and racks of candy-colored and prettily-printed.........clothing!  The entire back of truck was open, revealing a few mannequins donning trendy and lust-worthy pieces I had to have.  My first thought?  WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!!  Therapie was bestowed upon me in all it's glory, and I had to know all about it's creation.  I also needed those yellow crochet shorts.

Kelly Carney took a huge RV and gutted the smack out of it, creating space for displaying bags, hats, jewelry, and shoes, multiple dressing rooms, and the back end full of more crowded racks than a Kardashian closet.  On March 10, 2012, she took her maiden voyage.



 

                                            Bags and hats hang quite like do in my closet!



  Spacious dressing rooms to try on the goods...

Catching my eye on Oberlin Dr in the Sorrento Valley area of San Diego is just one of many stops for this boutique on wheels, but happens to be one of the most popular.  As a 9-5'er myself, the one hour lunch break is much too short for a quick trip to the nearest mall for a Forever 21 run-through or even a quick stop at Target when a hot new outfit is needed for an after work occasion.  Walking down the street to visit Therapie is a popular choice for busy professionals.  Many of these professional ladies also happen to be busy moms, and Therapie proves to be their quick solution to their limited personal time.  Did I mention that everything is affordable too?? 

Farmer's Markets, food truck extravaganza's, and chic private parties are other popular stops for Therapie.  As Kelly put it, "I would look at food trucks and think to myself, I can do that!"  As a fellow retail veteran, including a 15 year career at Nordstrom, Kelly decided she wanted to take her fashionable skills as well as outgoing personality on the road.

Here are some picks!




Who can't use a blazer?  They're going to be huge for Fall.  Wear it to work, wear it to brunch over a lacy dress, where it out to the bars with a tank and shorts.  Perfect for the sassy 9-5'er with a 9-2am social life!

Oh look, the perfect dress to slip on after you slip out of that blazer!  Cute little satin bustier dress that immediately was grabbed off the rack by yours truly.

Oh these little yellow shorts were immediately in my outfit fantasies: navy and white polka dot wedges, a tiny shrunken white cardigan?  Or a sleeveless sheer high-low blouse and some gold T-strap sandals?  A denim button up tied at the waist and some nude patent heels?  Mmmhmmm.....

One of Kelly's favorites with her customers, this top comes in endless patterns and prints.  As Kelly points out, it's flawless on virtually every body shape, can be dressed up for work with trousers or dressed for play with shorts, it's the perfect item for every girl's closet!

Visit Therapie at therapieboutique.com, follow them on Twitter and Facebook under TherapieSD to find out the next stop!!!!   

Carole Radziwill ROCK PRINCESS

My style icon right at the moment is Carole Radziwell from the Real Housewives of New York.  At 48, she is so incredibly SLAMMIN'.....all you have to start at is her hair!!  How oh how to get the perfect ombre/hipster/hippie/effortlessly-perfect looking HAIR!  Her ballerina-thin body doesn't hurt either....she is truely a Rock 'n Roll Princess, with the greatest style on tv at the moment!!

Style stapes of Carole are totally showcased here: LEATHER JACKET LEATHER JACKET LEATHER JACKET...looks like she stayed up all night partying with the band and stole one of their perfectly worn in jackets for the cab ride home...

worn in, faded denim

suede booties

ear-phones- GAWD she's so hip!!

Carole, you are so New York...somehow I don't think she curled her hair that way, I think it just magically appears on her head!

Love this...you can see the envy of the ladies as they were so prepped to tease her for putting on such a ghastly feather cape, until it rested upon Caroles model chic shoulders and look too cool for skool.  Her outfit on this day consisted of an orange knit skully (I think my dad had one?) a mini skirt, and THIGH HIGHS (Carole only you...) Not seen in this pic is her jacket, seen below:

Fingerless leather gloves? Love.  Look how 1990's corporate and old she makes Sonja look!!

Leopard of course....Carole probably has leopard water come out of her shower...sighhhhhhhhh

Supermodel? 20yr old? Ugh Carole where do I get those booties???

Letterman's jacket is such a lovely addition and I just saw a really cute one at http://www.forever21.com/Search/Search.aspx?br=f21&keyword=varsity

More Carole Style Stapes:

Aviators

Body Chains

Biker boots

Leather Leggings

Finely tailored dresses

Black lace

Slouchy Sweaters



I have recently become maje obsessed with Twitter and have been checking up on all my fave celebs to an obsessive extent on the daily.  Of course I'm following the greats, such as Rachel Zoe, who's constantly tweeting pics of whatever delicious new trend her and her fabulous team are obsessed with at the moment.  Here's a list of the interesting and informative people, besides Rach, related to fashion I've discovered:

The Cut @TheCut- New York Magazine's Fashion Blog.  Great twitpics and inside info on the designers, not just the celebs wearing them!

Kim Kardashian @kimkardashian- If you say you don't care about her or what she's wearing you are LYING.  Anything she wears, down to her eyelashes, turns to gold in my eyes.  I WANT!!  She constantly shows off her hot lil fits, make up, hairstyles...

Nordstrom Rack @nordstrom_rack- Great inside tips on trends and what's soon to hit stores!!

I heart SHOES!@ ILoveShoes- Breaking news on what shoes the Celebs are wearing to all the events, and first glimpses of the new collections of the season.

Queen in Heels @queeninheels- A blog with inspiring messages for woman as well as humorous messages on a woman's love/hate relationship with heels

Hayden Williams @Hayden_Williams- 21 year old phenom when it comes to illustration, especially in fashion sketching.  His pictures are like candy for the eye and gets the creative juices juicin'

Celeb Boutique @celebboutique- OOOOOHHH Man.  Too much good stuff.  Hottest dresses and heels inspired by celeb looks...thank you Tamra Barney of RHOC for tweeting this site, as well as the hot pink suede booties she just purchased!

Betsey Johnson @xoBetseyJohnson- She.Is.Fabulous.

Forever 21 @Forever21- Duh, my obsession!  Info on buy one get ones, pics of new items, links to their own fashion blog

Business of Fashion @BoF- Info on the other side of fashion, tips on how to grow your own business, what's selling what's not, etc

Polyvore @polyvore- This site is almost too much for me...It's what I always dreamed of....the tweets consist of fun little sets with great outfits and pieces included to give you ideas of how to style your favorite items

FINALLY:

Sincerely Jules @SincerelyJules- THIS IS MY FAVORITE and it is the simplest concept-Jules shares a daily outfit on her blog and lists the brands, as well as links straight to the page you need to be on to get her stuff.  Brilliant!  Her twitter is much the same, trust me, you will be obsessed in no time..she's so cute, which doesn't hurt! The perfect long ombre hair, the perfect lavender shellac mani, the perfect long thin legs to show off all of the fab shoes, (including my fave, her leopard Madewell heels)

XOXO 

Opening Day Fashion Del Mar 2012

My first Opening Day at Del Mar was not centered around strategizing on who the winning horse would be, nor placing exciting bets and watching each heated race. Not so shockingly, my day revolved around a couple of faves of mine: fashion, socializing, and screwdrivers. The outfits and hats were extremely impressive, but I must say, the gentlemen BROUGHT IT. I was thrilled to see the guys come out in bright pastel ginghams, khaki and seersucker suits, and even bow ties! The guys looked great and for the most part the ladies did too. There were a few Stingaree-worthy barely-buns covering "dresses" sprinkled in, but San Diego was tan, classy, and CHIC! Check out my girls and I as well as the gorgeous peeps that attended, including the beautiful Gina was the Frankie and Gina morning show on 93.3!

SHOE SHOPPING AT URBAN OUTFITTERS

all found at urbanoutfitters.com

I love funky shoes.  You can wear the most boring, thoughtless outfit, but put on some sick kicks, and you're good to go.  Also, shoes always fit when you're bloated.  And no matter what, new shoes make you happy.  Urban has the coolest colors prints and styles that maybe JUST maybe, not everyone is rockin'.  These are my delicious picks:

CHICKS+SNEAKERS

Ok I've never had the guts but have been ab dying to rock the chick sneak look, and now it's finally mainstreamish.  They're coming in cute girl colors, and even with a built in wedge for us shorties so our legs don't look like stout little carrot sticks.

Wear With: 
High-low skirts
Mini skirts
Plain dresses
Skinny jeans

These wedge sneakers by Ash are the ones that inspired the new trend (Karolina Kurkova, Kate Bosworth, and Heidi Klum have these)

They make your legs look soooooooooo long and you'll get what up's wherever you roam.

Rihanna has these. Done.

Tame the sneaks down with solid off the shoulder tee shirts, nuscle tanks, denim shirts, baggy sweaters.

Classic. Cheap. Goes with everything. Just do it.

WHOHOHPOIHOIOPHHOIOIOSIJOOOOO

I got the shiver-me-Tebows when I saw these.  The color is GORRRRRRRGEOUS.  This is SUCH an undercover versatile color, goes great with white khaki black coral turquoise LAVENDER grey burgandy dark purple

low enough so that it doesn't cut off your legs too much so you can still wear with skirts and dresses and shorts but perfect with any color skinny jean.  GAHHHHHHHH MUST GET THESE

I've tried these on in the store three times and can't get them off my mind.  They are also undercover versatile.  A black dress with an army green blazer and hoops?  Gauzy cinnamon colored blouse, ripped up skinnys and a long gold chain? Mmmmmhmmmm.  How about a navy blazer, white tank, neon yellow pleated mini??  CANT HANDLE ANY MORE.

You can find me....not in St Louis rollin on dubs (Nelly) but wearing these with my high-waisted denim ruff-ups, a gauzy blouse, and as MANY BRACELETS as I can cram on my wrist.  Or any one of my beautiful breezy maxis, or with some white shorts and a bright printed blouse, or with a tight printed mini and a tank.  And girl, I'm gonna look T-A-L-L.

AND FINALLY THE MUSTISH HAVE OF THE MUST HAVES:

Isabel Marant made the first pair.  Steve Madden made them possible for us.  Now they're everywhere.  Please make sure you get real leather, (suede) I'm all about cheap shoes but only if you can't tell-felt does NOT pass for suede and is mucho uncomfortable. 

These go with everything and anything you can possibly think of.  Anything.