Recently Purchased...

sunnies/UO  suedefringejacket/vintage 

pumps/stevenbystevemadden  belt+bracelets+rings/UO

Not sure of the reason behind the animal print excitement all of a sudden. But, you know.....I don't hate it one bit. 

Love in the Afternoon...

"I suppose most women are sentimental about the first men they love. I suppose, that is, unless they own high heel shoes." 

I was flipping through the channels this week, in what's been a very tough week. It sort of seems like the punches just keep coming from work and personal life situations. (Insert lame excuse for blog absenteeism. Now enough of being maudlin.) I was flipping through the TV channels and stopped on a local broadcast station because this 1957 Hepburn classic was on. Love in the Afternoon is probably one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn films and it made me long for romance past. Even the way Gary Cooper speaks to Hepburn in this film is so lovely. Why don't we use words anymore? Where have all the wonderful words gone? 

I was also really surprised by how progressive the film was for its time. If you've seen it, you know that the film centers itself around the idea that women and men can happily embrace a lifestyle of anti-monogamous affairs. Gary Cooper's character, Mr. Flannigan, is a man about town whose sordid affairs are countless. In order to avoid feeling inept at the age of about 19, Hepburn (Ariana) amusingly creates some odd 19 or 20 men that she has been with in her life and manages to make Flannigan very jealous and fall in love with her. Of course, the entire thing is a comedy of errors with Cooper's character becoming somehow linked to Ariana's father from the very beginning. But, I was truly surprised at how very modern and relevant the love story is still today. From covering up instances which you'd rather not reveal to potential partners, to creating false war stories to boost self esteem like Ariana's character, it feels like not a lot has changed in the 50 years since the story was written. 

But, what excited me most of all about this movie was the never to oft' spoke about distinguished charm of Audrey Hepburn. I know she has become one of the most celebrated classic beauties of our time and because of that most of us tire of seeing Breakfast at Tiffany's wall posters and other cheesy Hollywood memorabilia. If you can look past all that, though, you can see why she was such a superstar. With that tiny waist and delicate face in a time where women were expected to be curvy like budding superstar Marilyn Monroe, Hepburn was a fresh faced beauty with an atypical attraction. By the look of her, it's not hard to believe that Hepburn was actually a ballet dancer before becoming a world renowned movie star. She also embraced a personal career as humanitarian in countries where people were in need and later became a UNICEF ambassador. What a wonderful inspiration. It's not difficult to see how the star's popularity rose to near legend over the past half century. 

Standing on One Leg

It has been pouring buckets in town! We haven't had a break from the rain here in a solid week. I have to admit, I'm quite a fan of the rain and would prefer this type of weather over the scorching sun any day of the week. But, it's proven very difficult to get around in! I went to dinner in this dress Friday night and got soaked on the way out of the restaurant. The under layer of this beauty is sheer so......there was almost a wardrobe mishap going on. Luckily, I was with my BFF and we just hopped right in the car and made the trip home so i could change into some sweats and make some hot tea! 

dress/Billabong  bag+shoes/UrbanOutfitters  bracelet+earrings/vintage

I picked up this lovely dress at a shop out at the beaches when I was there for lunch with a friend from college last week. We decided to do some perusing at the local surf shops and I fell in love with this frock. Like love at first sight..pick me up..check out now kind of a relationship. Feel me? I'm sooo glad I got it. It's part of the new Billabong line for summer. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I LOVE HI-LO skirts. I have a strange affinity for anything whimsical or old world and when this skirt ripples behind me as I walk, I feel like a princess! It creates such a dramatic effect and who couldn't use a little more drama in their wardrobe? :) 

I think the print is really clever as well. This flamingo print is perfectly summer and yet its a great moody black and white, and thus perfectly suited for my wardrobe. In case you haven't noticed, I steer clear of too much color. A pop here and there is usually all you'll get from me. I'm pretty much obsessed with black. It's so classic and therefore enables me to accurately represent who I am, even if I'm taking a small sartorial risk or trying a new trend. Black always saves the day. Some of the most iconic fashion heroines (Audrey and Coco and Marilyn..anyone?) were most often seen in darker hues or simple crispy white. Always a good idea to take a nod from those who've already done it best. 

Americana

I did this shoot a few weeks ago with my friend Brian of BGPhoto. We were doing a piece about colored denim and since the pants were red and the shirt was faded blue we thought, why not the flag? I really like the feel of the photos and the wind caught us in just the right places. As you know if you've read my blog, this chambray shirt is a big part of my everyday wardrobe. What can I say? A chambray shirt makes almost any outfit better.

jeans+t-shirt/UrbanOutfitters  chambrayshirt/LarkeandWolfe  heels/target

It's funny because as much as I loved this outfit, I haven't worn the jeans since! It's just so hot down here in Florida that I haven't thought about putting on pants in weeks! Skirts and shorts, folks. That's how you beat the humidity.

However, I think I may be able to incorporate these babies into my summer travel wardrobe, if plans to head north allow. They could perhaps even be worn out at night this summer with a black and white polka dot cropped top and some cone shaped heels. I can see it now!

In the midst...

It's one of those weeks, folks. I've been feeling unfortunately uninspired, due to my lack of blogging. I find that this style blog is quite cyclical in that way. If I happen to be in the midst of a bummer day or week what have you, I'll forgo writing the blog for a bit. The problem is, when I neglect the blog (which is one of a handful of things that brings me a feeling of accomplishment or fulfillment) it just worsens my attitude! Okay, enough of Debbie Downer for the day....

One thing I'm very happy about are these Dolce Vita flatform sandals. :) In love. I usually skip anything straw or rope for summer because to be quite honest, I just want summer to be over as fast as it started. I know that's like blasphemy to some people. But, if you had lived in the stifling Florida heat your entire life and were used to daily 50% humidity, you might feel the same. HOWEVER, these sandals are a bit of summer that make me smile. They're also extremely comfortable which makes them suitable for everyday work wear! Nice.

 denimskirt/UrbanOutfitters  shirt/H&M  sandals/DolceVita  bag/vintage(my Nina's)  glasses+watch/MichaelKors