Check out my store for some extra good things this week . . . Plenty of fall staples like the perfect trench coat and grandpa cardigans, as well as pretty little things like cat bags and lace dresses. And lots of velvet, because I’m kind of obsessed with it at the moment.
1. Black Floral Grunge Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Black Lace Party Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. White Lace Flutter Dress . . . . . . . 4. Black Velvet Scoop-back Dress.
5. 1970s Floral Print Day Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. 1960s Peter Pan Smock Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Burgundy Print Maxi Dress . . . . . . . . 8. 1970s Grandpa Cardigan and Black Floral Flutter Dress.
9. Burgundy Velvet Mini Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. Cream Lace Blouse and Velvet Floral Mini Skirt . . . . . . . . . . 11. 1950s Pin-Striped Day Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. 1970s Autumn Trench and Cat Print Bag.
I’ve been more excited about New Zealand Fashion Week than any of the major four that get most of the press. NZFW may be smaller, but it seems like there’s always a bigger percentage of shows that I end up loving. Plus the fall clothes on their runways are good inspiration for the outfits I want to be wearing as soon as Atlanta finally realizes it’s fall. Twentysevennames is the collection I’ve been looking forward to most, and it definitely didn’t disappoint; it’s sort of a dream collection of amazing coats and those little ’90s-esque dresses I can never get enough of. And all those silk/chiffon dresses with heavy knit sweaters and letter jackets are just too good.
PS–Check out this post from the blog Issac Likes for a much better run-down on the collection and interview with the designers. Supposedly the collection was based on 1990s high school subcultures, which makes me like it even more!
Photos via fashioNZ.
Photos by Drew
’90s lace top: thrift store
Bag: thrift store
Shoes: Madewell
’90s skirt: (permanently stolen from my store because I loved it so much)
Last Thursday was my sister Lauren’s birthday, so she and her husband Neil came down to Atlanta to celebrate with us. We did lots of shopping (Madewell again! I didn’t buy anything but Lauren bought the most wonderful thing from the Alexa Chung collection), eating (pizza at Antico!), and we even had what’s been my biggest blogger meet-up yet. Vanessa and Abi were visiting from Savannah, so we all met up for coffee at Octane and a little bit of shopping. They both were absolutely nice and adorable.
When it came to photo-taking time Drew suggested a place the nearby old falling-apart brick factory where he and I’ve taken quite a few blog photos. Only this time we lucked out–the gate that’s always been shut was open, so we all got to walk in back and do bit of exploring. The painted letters on the building were fading and hard to read, but we could kind of make out the words “cotton” and “ginning.” I did a bit of research online and found out that the place was built in the 1880s as a cotton machine factory of sorts, and during WWII was used to make ammunition. Now it’s some kind of artist community, which explains the band practice we overheard (and maybe also the tattooed man with cigarette glaring at us). Someday I want to go back and do some more exploring and sneaky picture-taking. But I think I’ll bring bug spray, because when we were wandering around in one of the buildings we got attacked by mosquitos. Vanessa and I especially–I think she’s the only person I’ve met who mosquitos like as much as they like me.
PS, it’s the first day of fall!
This post is about as opposite as you can possibly get from yesterday’s, and we’re switching out the desert for snow and falling leaves, which here in Atlanta we definitely don’t have. At least not yet. It is 90 degrees every day still–I guess it just gives me extra time to plan out my fall wardrobe. Right now I’m stuck somewhere in the middle of tomboy and pretty; I’m excited about wearing velvet dresses and silk blouses, but at the same time I can’t wait to wear thick grandpa cardigans and wool plaid skirts . . . to maybe give pants another try (but probably not). These two collections pretty much sum up my schizoid dream fall wardrobe . . .
FAMILY AFFAIRS: I love pretty much all their collections, but Family Affairs‘ fall collection might be my favorite, if only for the sheer silk blouses and long skirts. The whole thing looks a little bit ’70s-romantic, but subdued for winter with short structured coats and velvet dresses that are more than a little bit gothic. And the collection’s being inspired by Roman Polanski’s Fearless Vampire Killers makes me like it all the more.
LE MONT ST MICHEL: I’ve seen a few things by the French brand Le Mont Saint Michel before, but this is the first time I’ve seen a real lookbook from them, and I think that the styling is making me like their clothes even more. These are exactly the sorts of outfits I want to wear on those days when I try to dress tomboy but fail at it; I like the cardigans over little dresses, the shorts and sweater outfits, the boots and scarves, though I can’t imagine wearing those yet . . .
Photos by Drew
1970s dress: Etsy
Shoes: Madewell
One day in Palm Springs was enough to make me fascinated by the desert. We’d wanted to go to Joshua Tree the day before, but I got sick, and so Drew did some exploring in the country and took some inspiration shots and videos for a project we’re working on with a friend. And the photos he came back with made me anxious to get up early the next morning and see what desert landscapes we could find just outside of town.
If I went to Palm Springs with images of ’50s Hollywood glamour in my mind I think I left it with mostly late ’60s/ early ’70s inspiration. Which could have have something to do with these photos I found online of Keith Richards, Gram Parsons, and Anita Pallenberg at nearby Joshua Tree. Or it could have been because of my extra ’70s dress and the ’70s macrame hanging up at the King’s Highway restaurant, where they played lots of ’60s/’70s county-rock (including Gram Parsons-era Byrds).
I was sad we couldn’t go to Joshua Tree, but maybe it would have been overwhelming, because all the land around Palm Springs blew me away–even the airport was different than any airport I’ve seen. Anyhow we’re determined to go back, because it was definitely one of our favorites of all the places we visited.
