The Perfect Peplum

I have fought the peplum trend because for a girl who has a shape and hips, I don't always think this is always the most flattering trend. It sounds silly but it has to be the perfect peplum. It has to still show my waist or else it just makes me look bigger than I am. When I saw this dress on NastyGal, I had to take a chance because I was obsessed with the print and knew it would be perfect for my Palm Beach trip that was on the horizon. Sure enough, it was the perfect peplum. Now that I look at the pictures, it's probably because it's so small and the print is so prominent that you can barely see it, but in person, it's much more visible. I paired the dress with Brian Atwood heels (I have an unhealthy obsession with his shoes) and a Tory Burch Clutch (similar here).

 

My sister and I at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach

Neoprene Prints

I've been a little bit of a gypsy lately- living out of my suitcase and spending more time chasing planes, trains, and automobiles than anything else. This past Friday I made my way down to DC to celebrate one of my best friend's engagement. Although I could've used the rest, I wouldn't have missed it for the world and it actually gave me some additional energy by being able to catch up with friends and witness a couple that when you watch them from across the room, you know they are meant to be and will be together forever. It's truly refreshing.

Sorry for the brief sappy moment... Haha

For the engagement party I wore this neoprene Clover Canyon Printed Dress that I found on sale at Revolve Clothing. I love neoprene, which is essentially wet suit material. My sister makes fun of me when I wear neoprene and calls me Scuba Stephie (if you aren't catching the Big Daddy reference, please gain some culture and go watch it!) Since the print has a lot going on, I kept the jewelry simple and carried my go-to Tory Burch envelope clutch in orange and then for shoes I wore these amazing gold metal plated Steve Madden wedges that I got on sale at Lord & Taylor.
 

 

 

 

Keepsake Hawaiian Prints

Florals always tend to be a trend when it comes to the Spring and Summer seasons but they can quickly become redundant and seem "been there, done that." Lately I have been drawn to palm prints and Hawaiian florals that are way less traditional and ironically enough - when I looked at our design boards for Summer 2014 that is exactly the direction we are headed. Mixing in bamboo, tropical wildlife, and ocean scenes with Hawaiian florals to bring new meaning and life to what we think of when you say "floral print". Here is a Hawaiian floral print by Keepsake (same print, different style here) that I wore last weekend in Palm Beach. I love that there is so much going on with the print that there wasn't too much accessorizing that was needed. Pair of Brian Atwood heels and a C Wonder bracelet Clutch and I was good to go. What do you think? Out with the old in with the new? Or stick with the traditional because it is timeless?

 

Citrus Lime

This last week I was in Northern VA/DC to celebrate the 4th and my sister's birthday. Typically when I'm home I go out with my girlfriends at least one night. As I've said before, my style definitely pushes DC boundaries so I try to tone it down a little bit when I'm there. Here's an outfit I wore for girl's night this past weekend. I wore a bodycon printed skirt from one of my new favorite brands Clover Canyon. I have been stalking this brand online in awe trying to narrow down my favorite print and also to find something on sale. I found this amazing multi-colored print skirt on Shopbop.com 20% off and girl's night was the perfect occasion to wear it (here it is on sale at CUSP). As per usual I paired it with a SugarLips ribbed tank, this time in citrus lime and a gold plated statement necklace from JewelMint with lime and yellow stone accents. The clutch is an old time Rebecca Minkoff staple. Initially when I put this outfit together, I topped it off with these amazing BCBG Pocahontas open toed fringe booties (most similar bcbg online pair but try the store!). I scored these last weekend at the shoe sale but decided against them at the last minute to be worn out in Arlingon/DC… they will definitely be worn this summer in the city many times!
 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday Brunching

If you follow me on Instagram or twitter (@stepheintz for both) you've probably begun to realize that my friends love to celebrate birthdays in a big way. It seems even when we try to be "low key" it seems to take a sharp left turn and never fails to be story worthy. For my friend Monica's bday, we decided to just do brunch at il Bastardo in Chelsea. Sounds innocent enough right? well it's actually the furthest thing from that ha. Il Bastardo has become known to be one of the city's most hyped bottomless brunch hotspots. Absolutely no one goes there for the food (I've never really loved anything I've ordered there food-wise) but your glass is guaranteed to never be less than halfway full which can get deadly. House music is blaring so you can barely hear one another and in the back rooms there are even strobe lights. My friends and I started at il Bastardo and didn't make it far afterwards, at which point we ended up with sparklers and bottles at Bounce Downtown by the sharp hour of 3pm. This is not normal nor is it typical protocol. However, it made for an early night and way more sleep than I typically get :)  Here's the outfit that I wore for the occasion:

I've always put "Boyfriend" jeans on my bucket list for something I would eventually buy but I'm a skinny jegging fan and wasn't sure what I was willing to spend on a trend that is supposed to make me look like a boy and not necessarily so flattering. I found these boyfriend jeans for only $59 from Zara and they are great to wear when you want to highlight a killer pair of heels - one way to offset the Boyfriend-ness of the jeans ha.

These Lamb heels were ones I got off of Shopbop and were on my wishlist for what seemed like eternity before I finally took the plunge. Of course they are now on sale.

 

  I also got this amazing army green jacket from Zara at the same time I found the jeans. I'm obsessed with the cut and love that the hardware is gold

For my accessories - my sunglasses are Tory Burch from a few seasons ago. Here is a similar pair with orange T logo sides on sale from CUSP 

My clutch is also Tory Burch. I got this during her infamous Xmas sale a couple years ago and I love the shape so much that I wish I got more! Here it is in black at CUSP

  Lastly, my embroidered tank is also from Zara. Here is another embroidered option here. My necklace is from Forever21 from years ago.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend :)

All Photos were taken by Searching4Orchids