The Importance of Tailoring

I had this Zara dress tailored to fit my body better and I seriously think I get more compliments on it than other more pricey designer dresses. It just goes to show that when it comes to shopping at Zara you can find real gems if you're vigilant about purchasing quality fabrics (this dress is 100% cotton/linen) and being careful to fit your body right. In this case, the straps were a little too long for my height (being 5'3" is kind of a pain because almost everything is too long, AMIRITE) so I took them to The Best Tailors in SF, San Francisco Tailors. SF people! Go to Sally: She will treat you right and do even the impossible. For example, Sally is currently tailoring my Kiini swimsuit, which seemed like a silly request when I got there, but Sally was all business and so nice about fitting it to my body during my lunch hour. 

In short: tailoring makes clothes look expensive. So, like, do it!

The Three Year Old Zara Jeans

I bought these jeans at Zara about three years ago and they're still one of my all time favorite pairs of jeans in my closet. They're just so easy to throw on when I'm wanting to be comfortable, they are not so precious that I can't run to home depot and help Nick carry dry wall for the garage rennovation we're working on, and best of all, they were cheap. If we're applying the same mental math that we did for Aesop skin stuff, then I think these jeans technically owe me money. 

Wear this Now: The Good Kind of 90s

TIBI mules (on sale!)

ZARA denim

T BY ALEXANDER WANG knit

RAY BAN aviators

Yang Li

Yang Li is a pretty new designer, having less than a handful of runway collections to show for his lovely work so far, I'm enamored with the way he balances masculinity and femininity in an urban wearable way. So imagine my absolute excitement when I found this amazing Yang Li skirt at Barneys SF during their epic end of the season sale. I tried it on (the last one on the rack) and hoped the size it came in would fit my body — not to mention the length would flatter my less-than-supermodel-tall stature. To my surprise, it fit my waist perfectly and the length made the overall look reminiscent of 50s charm. I loved it immediately and took it home with me. I especially love how wearing it with flats completely dresses it down with immediate nonchalant coolness (at least that's how I feel with it on). The moral of this story is never underestimate browsing a sale section, even when it seems like it's been picked over a thousand times.

WEARING

YANG LI skirt (size 40)

ZARA top (Medium, super old)

TARGET patent leather bow belt (super old)

EVERLANE loafers (run super narrow, size up 1 whole size)

MADEWELL leather jacket (Medium)

Super Green

This is essentially a heartwarming #tbt for me because these photos were taken by my mama while we were running errands in Pasadena. My little brother was driving us and we were laughing about anything and everything until we saw this wonderful photo opportunity in which we parked the car by the side of the road and took some photos (both of us!) as we waved to the neighbors walking their dogs wondering who this happy little family was.

WEARING

ZARA sweater (runs enormous, XS)

ZARA denim (super old)

ZARA ballet flats (38)

Spoke & Weal

After spending an entire summer (and then some) with some impressively blonde ombré hair, I was feeling a little nostalgic for my natural brunette hair color. Problem was the last time I actually had my natural brown hair was about 2 years ago, after dying it myself, then trying to fix it myself, before ever going in for some professional help.  I've had some pretty horrific stories of salons I've gone to in the past that have promised me a delicious chocolate brown and delivered a crazy maroon luminescent nightmare. But this was all in the past because I have full faith in my pals at SPOKE & WEAL SF. They have proven over the past year that they are true listeners and have convinced me via cut and color treatments that they are worth every single penny. I even bring Nick there for his haircuts with Travis. Why? Because they are simply the best. Period.

I've talked about my hair problems before, and if you've ever had a bad haircut before you know that the trauma of having to live with a less-than-perfect hair cut or color is pretty difficult, and "It's only hair" is a damn lie you tell someone after they've made a huge mistake. Hair matters, people. Hair is as much to your personal style and identity as much as the clothes on your back. Take care of your hair by letting professionals handle it. 

Hair color by Travis Jay, cut by Christy Dylo at Spoke and Weal San Francisco.

Wearing:

ZARA dress (XS, runs huge)

KATHLEEN WHITAKER earrings

J. CREW shoes (similar)

MANSUR GAVRIEL mini bucket back

Last Look

LXLS coat (c/o), ZARA dress, MANSUR GAVRIEL mini bucket bag

Thigh High Boots, AKA Mount Everest

MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA boots (38), ZARA dress (M), EVERLANE silk top (S), ZARA bag

The nice thing about thigh-high boots is that they are a great solution to short shift dresses in the winter. They're more polished than stockings, and make an outfit instantly modern. The downside about thigh-high boots is that they are deeply associated with, you know, prostitutes, and if worn the wrong way you are definitely dismissed as that pretty quickly.  Even still, as a fashion fan, I think they're so cool.  Like they are an accessory you successfully style and master when you really nail your personal style. I think I can do that, I say to myself. After all, some women pull them off with such ease that it makes me enthusiastic and confident to try. Now, I'm not a stick-thin woman, especially when it comes to hips, so my constant worry is that thigh-high boots will just emphasize the curviness of my hips. That's cool and what not, it is what it is, but that would make me feel so uncomfortable, as if I was a walking sex person. So my goal was to find a pair of boots with more clunky proportions to help downplay the sleek silhouettes which seem to make me uncomfortable at this point. In other words, baby steps.

Enter these Margiela boots. I'd like to think the strange texture and casual boot shape of these Maison Martin Margiela boots — FYI, acquired at a crazy 70% discount on Matches Fashion's epic sale after months on my wish list — offset all that overly sexual innuendo stuff that is implied by their crazy lengths.  At least, I hope it does. I've really got nothing else to say about this outfit other than that. This is a work in progress after all.  What do you think? 

And note to self: get a better lint roller. 

A New Way

I've been a long time fan of Tictail as my favorite platform to sell my designer clothes, shoes, and accessories. I've been using them for over a year now to help clean out my closet, but it turns out there's a lot of other people selling designer items and even quality custom pieces that I've completely been missing out on, too. Shops like The LXLS stand out in particular because of its highly curated inventory. They seem to carry everything I love to wear: lots of different monochrome textures, minimal tailored pieces by Ann Demuelemeester, Alexander Wang, and even their own impressive in-house line. This recent discovery is really key to my shopping habits because I think fashion can get too spendy, with each new season encouraging everyone to buy fast and move on to new trends quickly. It all amounts to a closet full of clothes that don't fully speak to my personal style, and to make it worse, those pieces are usually crafted from cheap materials and often poorly constructed.

So my new approach this past year has been to put a hold on impulse spending, and research some new ways to find my closet staples. My goal is to search unexpected sites like The LXLS or other resale sites for something specific, like a black sleeveless shift dress, armed with an open mind, the flexibility to tailor a piece down to my size, and the discipline to stick to what works truly works for my body and overall style.

LXLS coat (c/o Tictail), ZARA dress, MANSUR GAVRIEL mini bucket bag, EVERLANE loafers

Wear This Now: Furry

ZARA coat, ZARA leather pants, ZARA denim top, NEED SUPPLY sandals

Déja vu

Is this a zoomed-out view of the other post about the Everlane Petra Portfolio? Yes. But I'm not feeling well right now so you'll have to bear with me because I like these photos and I'm questioning why I didn't include them in the initial post to begin with. I'm tired and sick because I just pulled a 74 hour week last week working on a pitch (we won!) and I'm now facing the consequences. This outfit is about the only creative thing I can muster lately, which is sad. But I'll be back on it the wagon soon.

EVERLANE tote, EQUIPMENT top, MADEWELL pants, ZARA mules

Wear This Now: Summer Friday at the Office

IN GOD WE TRUST earrings, THE ROW backpack (sidenote: in my dreams!), MADEWELL tank, ZARA mules, ADAM LIPPES skirt

Hello, Goodbye, Hello

Sometimes the decision to return an impulse is the right thing to do. This was the case with these budget Gianvito Rossi stain mules, because even though these beauties were a steal at $99, they were even better two days ago at $49. High five, self.

New product in, older products out. Have you checked out my shop yet? These Célines aren't getting use on my feet, maybe you'll like them! 

Nasty Gal / Palm Springs, CA

Nothing like 100+ degree heat to make you want to dress in the frumpiest, yet frilliest, of fabrics. NastyGal, why haven't I met your acquaintance before? This ruffly top is budget friendly and adorable. It works so well with my slouchy (read: lazy) two-sizes-too-large Zara jeans that please my eyes so, but offend Nick so actively. Also too, please note my newly blondish hair: the impossible achieved, courtesy of Travis from Spoke & Weal; A hair color genius that further cements that the entire Spoke & Weal team in San Francisco are not to be messed with. I loved my hair so much after my latest visit that I didn't even wash it for an entire 5 days —and 2 of those were pool days in Palm Springs with crazy ass heat and an enticing mid century modern scene that was my favorite David Hockney painting come to life. That's love. 

NASTY GAL top (medium), ZARA jeans (old, size 8), J. CREW sandals (size 8)

Reality Check

I'm going to be honest with you right now and agree that there is nothing particularly fascinating about this look. Why am I posting it then? Because I've been blogging for a long time (since 2006) and it's still so easy to get caught up into the faux-ideal nature of the entire blogging machine. You know the game, where you scroll across your favorite carefully curated blogs and begin to compare your basic unfiltered life to the shiny, highly edited blogger ones. Bad move.

What's worse, at your weakest points, you begin to feel downright awful about your current wardrobe/body/house/life. Yuck. It was this mentality that has kept me from posting this photo of me in what I consider a "safety outfit" — one of those failsafe combinations that you feel kind of great in, no matter what. More often than not, fashion for me isn't so much about impressing others but feeling good with myself. Well in the instance above not even this reliable outfit could make me feel great. Upon reviewing the photos my immediate thoughts were, OMG, my legs, so big! My hair, those roots, yuck! 

Weeks later, here I am, more even-keeled and looking at this photo with a more rested brain and thinking what the hell was my problem to begin with. I am a human person. I have lows and I recover just like everyone else. I'm not always at the top of my game, so why am I going to hide it from people? This blog has always been first and foremost for me, never about getting big or famous, and one of the most rewarding (sometimes hilariously awkward) things has been seeing my style and mentality towards fashion grow over time. So there you go. 

TMI? I hope not!

On + Off

Ph. Nick Smith

Working from home on the weekend looks like this. Not all the time, duh. Sometimes I work in my pajamas straight into the evening and wonder what I'm doing with my life as I stare at my unworn closet that day. Those days are learning lessons: get up, get dressed, make an effort and it makes a huge difference in my motivation. Even if it's just for me. (Note to self: while you're at it with all the effort and what not, just know that ironing clothes also makes a difference. Clearly I skipped that part, so apologies. Small steps.)

ZARA trench (medium), EVERLANE silk top (small), TIBI mules (sz 38, run small), EVERLANE tote, FREE PEOPLE skirt (medium), the cheapest aviators on the planet