Category Archives: lace

Layered Plaid

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Some of you instagrammers saw a peek at my outfit yesterday (and my gush over my new Forever 21 over the knee socks), but I wanted to share some pictures of my fall outfit from yesterday.

American Rag Lace Dress, Plaid shirt, Spotted Belt: Thrifted|Two Tone Boots: Ebay|Colorblock over the knee socks: Forever21

Mixed textures are all the rage for fall. Leather and tweed, sequins and velvet, lace and plaid – all examples of great ways to get into this trend. The sun was in my eyes and rain on my head so that explains my silly faces in some. And some of you have asked if I use the sock bun technique for my bun – I don’t. That is all my wild hair tucked in with some bobby pins.

I didn’t get to putting new vintage on the store but I’m still working on it today. But still have great vintage available, shop around!

Happy Wednesday,

Shayna

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Dainty Damsel

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Personal style is all about a feeling. Each outfit has an intention and putting pieces together gives you a chance to let your outsides match your insides. My outfit today made me feel just like the dainty damsel in distress from old cartoons like Dudley Do Right. Those of you who follow me on twitter know that I was very excited to wear my new to me Anne Taylor light peach lacy top today. Lace is such a perfect emotion fabric – always makes me feel very lady like, with a little sexy thrown in for fun. When deciding to wear my latest thrift store find, I originally thought to pair it was a solid brown 80s Liz Claiborne pencil skirt. I figured it would be a nice structured compliment to the soft lace. But that seemed too expected to me, and I always like to push myself out of a fashion comfort zone. So I instead chose to pair it with something a bit more busy. This is an early 80s Evelyn de Jonge floral skirt that I found at my favorite neighborhood thrift store for $5.00 (same place that I found the top last weekend for $3.00). I felt instant girly when I put these two pieces together. The first word that popped into my head was “lovely”. I almost didn’t get this skirt. To be honest, it’s like a size too small for where it falls on my waist – but you should know by now that I will usually find a way to make a vintage piece work. Fortunately, leaving the top button open and folding it over the belt worked just fine to give me some breathing room and give the skirt a more casual feel, as well as give the lace some space to shine. As you can see, I was super happy with how this ensemble came together. And as you can also see, I am a native Pittsburgher and the Steelers game was religiously blaring in the background of my parent’s apartment-but clearly I had other things on my mind. I am very glad that I decided to skip the safe outfit and try something a little risky with these mixed prints and textures. My intention was classic feminine, and I think that’s exactly what I got. So that’s my style advice for you – think about what makes sense and then do one step past that. Think a black and white patterns looks best with black pants? Go that extra step and put on a pair of colored cords on instead. Or go an extra step and put on something brown. Fashion is so fun and style really is all about choices. So don’t stay stuck in what you’ve always done, try something new. In the words of the great (and often cooky) Coco Chanel, “Fashion fades, only style remains the same”. At the end of the day, it really has zero to do with the pieces of clothing you have on, mannequins wear clothes too. It has everything to do with how you wear it, the confidence you give and how you allow each piece to tell a story about who you are.

Do you usually have a feeling or intention connected to your outfits? Style strategies that you use to keep your wardrobe double the freshness, double the fun?

Enjoy your weekend! And see you back on Monday (hopefully with some more headway made on this e-store. I’m trying, I’m trying).

Time to bust on out of that fashion box,

Fashionably Tardy

Looking good in all the right laces

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As you may have noticed, I can pull a fashion icon out of almost anything. Jesus, Waldo, Pee Wee Herman. And don’t even get me started on the various fruits and vegetables that we can all take style tips from (watermelon has color blocking down cold, peaches know the importance of breaking up a monochromatic ensemble with a brown accessory…I could really go on forever). And this dear old granny is no exception. Lace has really been in, on and around everything lately. It’s like the Lil Wayne of the fashion world.  I’ve seen it on dresses, tops, skirts, accessories, bags, shoes. And when it’s not worn too tight, you won’t look like a lady of the night – and when it’s not too loose you won’t look like you’re wearing Aunt Ethel’s table-cloth. As with everything, fit is super important. But I think that every lady should slip in to something a little lacy and keep it sexy from cuddling to the cubicle.

When most people think of lace in clothing, they think of sexy black or pure white. And while I do love both of these extremes, they don’t have to be your only options for lace. It is in all colors and textures with the new stuff that’s out for summer and coming out for fall. I saw a girl this past weekend in an adorable cropped yellow lace shirt and dark skinny jeans, it was just so simple and perfect. There really are just endless options for what you can wear lace in and what you can pair it with. Simple top with jeans, or dress pants and a cardigan for work, or even as a sassy cover up with a bathing suit. Lots and lots of choices. Now this isn’t straight see-through lace that I’m talking about (although you can find that and stick a cotton or silk cami underneath to hide the goodies). But many lace items have a built-in thin fabric underneath to keep you covered but still give you that breezy, airy feel that makes lace so sexy. I think that my favorite right now is the lace back dresses and tops that I have fallen in love with. I think this is more eye drooling than a full lace top. It gives just enough to spark the imagination in the back while keeping the shirt wearable and tasteful. Forever 21 has a lot of super cute printed tanks with lace backs for $14.99 and less right now. And Macys.com is having a 50%-75% off fashion clearance so I would browse there too. It’s best to try on some of the many lace options and figure out what you feel most comfortable wearing. It doesn’t have to make you look like you’re rocking lingerie to work. It’s very possible to either find a thicker lace, or to sport a matching tank underneath the tops that may be a little too see-through. You can even carry your summer lace pieces over in to the fall by pairing them with cardigans, or going bold and adding a little leather to the dainty lace pieces. Lace dresses look great with a brown leather belt to break up the head to toe pattern. I’ve even seen some pair a lace dress with less soft motorcycle, cowboy or other leather boots when the temperatures start to drop a bit. The juxtaposed textures and themes for these fabrics make for a very bold fashion statement. So start mixing and matching – if it looks bad, believe me I’ll let you know.

Now the only lace that I personally say to stay away from is red lace. And it hurts my sensibilities to say that but I have just rarely seen red lace look good. Even when done in small amounts, all I can see is Lady Gaga covered in it from literal head to toe…or a pirate wench. I just think the girl wearing it always look a little too club hoochie in it. But I could be wrong. And I have seen a cute red lace dress with a nude fabric underneath that didn’t make me cringe. So maybe it’s all about the cut and the color and the girl wearing it. I’ll stick to my other lace colors, but don’t let me tell you what to do – I’m not yo mama!

What do you think? Is lace always trashy and never classy? Should we leave the bedroom attire in the bedroom?

Well adorables, we made it through another week. And the weekend is just a few more meetings and emails away. Hope you all have something great planned, and I’ll see you back on Monday with some new style talk.

In the right lace, at the right time

FashionablyTardy