Best Dressed - VMA's 2013

I’m not gonna say anything about the worst-dressed, because those people are already getting plenty of publicity. Instead, I want to venture into territory unknown and talk about the positive fashions (go figure).

First off, this isn’t a usual kind of style for me to pick as ‘Best-dressed’ because I’m a more glamorous kind of girl, but Ariana Grande killed it on the red carpet with her high-waisted, floral, short, twirly dress and white pumps. She looked so innocent and so damn cute, you wouldn’t think she has pipes like Mariah (I thought the song she has out WAS Mariah). She has a very petite frame so the long hair added even more length to her look, although her legs go on for days in that dress.

My runner up for Best-dressed is Selena Gomez (whose style usually is pretty understated) who had the glamour-punk rock look that made all eyes pop. To some, she was the worst-dressed, but I think it takes major cajones to pull off a dress that revealing and cutting-edge. The green drop earrings also added the right pop of color to the royal blue and black accents of the dress. Work it gurl!!!!

Modified Claw Nails

So, we’ve all seen the vampire-pointy-claw-nails that have become a big fashion statement over the past months. If I were a rock star I think I could rock them, but maybe for like, an hour. They just aren’t my thing. But I’ve tried my own version and called them the ‘modified-nail-claw’ where they are more rounded and not as severe a point. What do you think? Have you worn or would you wear your nails either way?  Check out the difference below:

Shoes - Is It Worth It To Go Designer or Deal?

So from time to time (ok, more often than not) I look around online to see what the latest trends in shoes are (more admittedly for my own personal obsession). I found a really sexy pair at DSW that just struck a cord with me because of the contrasting vibrant colors. Then I realized I had very similar shoes. The only real difference to me was the price. Can you tell which is the designer brand ($999 to be exact) and which is the deal ($60)?

Take a look and leave a comment:

It’s An Epidemic! Women Wearing Athletic Clothes to Brunch

Ok, let’s be honest, we’ve all done it. Well, at least I’ll admit to it. I’ve been lazy enough that once I work out, I do my grocery shopping afterward without showering or changing. Actually, I’ve gotten into my workout clothes, intended to workout, but just ended up wearing my workout clothes to run errands the rest of the day (I got my workout in running around town eventually, right?) However, I’ve also been that person that doesn’t feel like dressing up (here you go peeps, confessions of a fashion stylist!) and I will be that girl that wears my workout gear (yoga pants most often) to brunch on a lazy Sunday morning. You know, I’ve often wondered, “what’s really wrong with that?” and here in LA, I think it’s become more of a fashion trend than a laziness factor. But, if a company like Oakley (sunglasses, that is) is noticing this and moving into the women’s athletic wear space, maybe it’s more of an epidemic than we all thought. Here’s the link to the article that discusses this…

http://www.businessinsider.com/oakley-workout-clothes-for-women-2013-4

What are your thoughts on this new trend?

Newest Fashion Trend – Natural Shoes

When I say ‘natural’ I’m really talking about the color. The newest trend in shoes lately has been the natural browns and golds, which compliment a person’s skin tone, especially during the summer months when we all are getting our tan on. The best part about it? You can wear them with just about any outfit. Here are a few that I’ve recently picked up, all at three different price points:

High heels, Aldo, $79 - These are very comfortable (for heels) and are pure soft leather so they don’t cut into your skin like a lot of the more cheap heels do. Also, as you wear them, they get even softer. Score!

Mix No. 6 Gold and brown gladiator sandals, DSW, $34.95 – Super comfy and super cute. These are perfect for the summer, especially for an outdoor concert event, an evening walking along the pier, or even a day at Disneyland.

Brown and Teal sandals, Payless Shoes, $14.99 – Ok, so they’re not as soft as the leather heels or as comfy as the gladiator sandals, but that’s because I’m a sandal snob and I’m all about comfort. Honestly, it’s more about the fact that it has the long divider between the toes, but that’s a personal preference. You get what you pay for and these are more about aesthetics than anything.

My Breakup with Zara

I usually don’t do this, but in this case, I had to say something publicly because I am so disappointed in a company that I’ve had a long, seemingly happy relationship with for years.

Here’s the situation: last week, I bought a pair of $80 shoes that were as kick ass as could be. I didn’t think about how close it was to “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday”. In any case, I bought those bad boys and wore them a day later, of course getting compliments on them everywhere I went (even if just to CVS). I just so happened to look online for any upcoming Cyber Monday deals and I thought, well let’s see what Zara has to offer; low and behold, I found those same shoes on sale for $50! “Ok, customer service isn’t open this late, so I’ll call in the morning”, I thought. That’s important because later they will say that since it’s ‘sold out’ online and in the stores that they can’t do anything about it. How the hell was I supposed to get this resolved in the middle of the night?

Well, when it came time to call Zara, not only was I transferred 5 times between customer service, corporate and the Santa Monica store (because apparently one doesn’t have control over the other and vice versa – I call bullshit), but they told me that their systems were not set up for a price adjustment. Now, I could have been a complete bitch and just cleaned the bottoms off of the shoes (because they had been worn), put them back in their box with their tags (because I do save tags for a few weeks in case of something like this) and marched right into the store, taken them back then rebought them. But it just wasn’t worth my time. Instead, I thought being the ‘great’ company I thought they were, they would make an exception for this loyal customer and credit me back the measly $30. You know what they told me? After ‘reviewing the situation’, they called me back and said ‘The only thing we can do to resolve this situation is have you send the shoes back to the online store for a full refund’. Umm, how is that resolving the situation in the slightest? You want me to TAKE BACK an item I wanted? THAT’S your solution? Of course I asked for a manager multiple times; and guess what…none available…shock.  That’s when I took to writing about it, because I’m tired of big companies treating us little people like shit. $30 bucks to Zara isn’t shit compared to what that $30 means to me. But even that’s beside the point.

As women, we develop relationships with our favorite brands. Hell, I just endorsed Zara after someone asked me on my blog about where to get a particular kind of pant. But when something as small as a $30 credit could have resolved this situation, it’s also $30 that causes a situation as big as this that could make me as a loyal customer feel betrayed, just like in a relationship. And that’s what it is (well, was)…a relationship between loyal customer and company brand. However, as in any relationship, sometimes there is a situation where the other party shows you their true colors.

Now, this is going to be a bad breakup, because like most of those, you usually go back for a late-night booty call hoping they will prove you wrong. So I may have the urge to shop there again, but I will try hard as hell not to go back to a place that has wronged me, not over something so small.

You know what, maybe this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have been as thoughtless as to buy ANYTHING right before Black Friday. But I did, and for that I take responsibility. But I also know, after having worked in retail for 5 years, that a company can do MANY things to ‘makeup’ to a customer how they ‘wronged’ him/her. But Zara didn’t even try with me. They basically gave me a “fuck off” response. What about a ‘20% coupon off your next purchase’ or a ‘$10 off coupon’ – shit, I would have been happy with that and that wasn’t even half of what I was asking for back. But you live and you learn. Thanks Zara for proving to me how wrong I was about you. 

Flash Back Fridays: Jean Jackets

Everyone from Rihanna to Kanye West to Nicole Richie have been spotted in recent months sporting the 80's fashion, jean jackets. So how do we make it look up-to-date on ourselves? Check out my video!

Bohemian Chic…In Jeans?

Damn right it can be done! I found two girls that happened to have the same idea on the same day (the fact that they’re cousins had nothing to do with it J). So even though summer is over, the weather is still warm enough (at least here in LA) to wear something like this throughout the year. These girls hit the nail on the head when it comes to 1. Color and 2. Style.

Let me start with Color. Ok, so I know what you’re thinking….”these girls are gorgeous; they can pull off these light, skinny jeans, but if I wear those, I’ll look like I have mom jeans on!” Not necessarily. Light-colored jeans right now are very in and you don’t have to wear the skinny kind – you can find the type that works best for your body type (body type and jean fit is a whole other blog post that I will for sure get to). But I’m sure you also noticed that the color scheme is very similar; this is also very ‘in’ right now – wearing the same color all in one outfit, but in differing degrees of that same color. Looking at this example, the top and pants look good together because they’re both very light colors that are part of the same color family; varying degress of white could also work well with these jeans.

Next, is Style. Although this is what I call ‘Bohemian Chic”, you can change the accessories (shoes are considered accessories to me) and get a whole different ‘feel’ (or style) with just a few simple changes.  For instance, you can change the style altogether to “Rocker Chic” and wear this in the winter by adding a leather jacket and some high-heeled booties, or rock it out like the girls are doing here, with simple accessories and add some knee-high boots and a scarf. Either way, you rock it the way you want to and at the same time keeping up with what’s hot now without having to break the bank.