Mad Hatter

While I was home over Thanksgiving I decided to embrace the true Fall Foliage color palette and try out this Rust Colored Wool Panama from Free People. Although I sell hats as part of my job and I love them, I hesitate and chicken out wearing them ALL THE TIME! Given that this is the most hypocritical thing, I have decided that I am going to start wearing them more. For the rest of the outfit, I had to rep my BCBGeneration "Girly Girl" Cold Weather Loop in Rosewood. The knit is super cozy and I own it in two colors. My jeans are AG which is my go-to brand for denim. I never buy them at regular retail thanks to flashsale sites but I do think they are totally worth the retail price. My leather jacket is BB Dakota. I think Forest Green is my favorite color of the season (for the moment). The best accessory of this whole outfit however, has to be my sister's puppy Milo :)

Denim Bib Tuxedo Top

I've been MIA and a little off the map because I've been traveling so much and this past week I went to Vegas to attend the MAGIC Tradeshow with the BCBGeneration team. As per Creative Director Joyce Azria's request, we were supposed to wear Denim, White, and Black - preferably leather. She gifted all of us that attended this adorable Denim Bib Tuxedo Top from the BCBGeneration line. Here's how I styled it  and topped it off with my custom GLAM affirmation bracelet that I made at the show. Check out their site for this top in other patterns as well.

Details: Top BCBGeneration - Shorts BB Dakota - Shoes Zara (similar)-
Clutch Rebecca Minkoff Similar

 

 

 

 

Flower Child

A little late to the party with Coachella bringing out the Halo Craze but I've had a couple of them for a while now and finally mustered up the courage to finally sport one. I went to brunch with a girlfriend in Hells Kitchen and we stopped by this adorable flower mart so I could fully embrace my inner flower child. Then I decided to really become one with nature and climb around a tree - the looks I got were as if I was from Mars but it was nothing I couldn't laugh off.

I actually found the halo through Instagram - I've found so many great new shopping sites through Instagram and GlamGirlyGirl is one of them. The shirt is Sugar Lips, the cross-body is Rebecca Minkoff, and the flower printed denim shorts are from Lord & Taylor. Lord & Taylor has the absolute best denim prices and I recently fell in love with the brand Tinsel when I was there. The sunglasses were a giveaway from the BCBG press event and I love how they are tinted blue. Here they are in purple. After this outfit, I have decided that Coachella is on my bucket list for next year :)
 

 

 
 




 

ABC's

I love looking at fashion spreads, campaigns, and blogs and seeing the way someone wears something in a way I would have never thought to. When you look at a brand and see the attitude and lifestyle that they portray, it is only natural to mimic them and wear it in the same way. Something as simple as reversing a dress so the zipper in the front can totally change up a look and bring a little more interest.

The last time I went to LA, the Generation girls were sweet enough to gift me the pictured affirmation (letter) denim cropped jacket. I absolutely loved it and wanted to wear it to work but when I first saw it I figured it would only be able to work for a casual Friday outfit or a relaxed weekend outfit, instead of what I have to wear on a typical work day. But I decided to force it and wear it with a high waisted black pencil skirt and Brian Atwood metallic python heels (similar) - Both of which don't exactly scream Generation girl but it ended up looking cute and a great bonus that I could wear Generation during market appointments when I was showing their accessory lines to customers.

 

 

 

Snapbacks and Plaids Too

This grunge look might horrify some of you but I like to call this my Britney Tribute/Redneck/White Trash Bash Look. I mentioned this a few times but Sportswear is really big right now and continuing through Fall 2013. My company is selling baseball hats like crazy! This is one of our baseballs that I'm obsessed with because it's actually metallic straw which I have never seen before! It's a great quick fix to a bad hair day and I'm loving looking at the fashion blogs and seeing how different people are styling Baseball Hats in unexpected ways. The way below is a little more predictable but I'll get there eventually and take some risks with it. Here's the same hat at Free People in Pearl. The bronze is sold out.

Details: Bag Rebecca Minkoff. Shorts Urban Outfitters. Shoes Amazon. Shirt Kettle Black

 

 

 

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

White Leather to Denim for Spring

This past weekend I visited my family in Northern VA/DC and had a jam packed- planned to the minute weekend. I always giggle to myself when I pack to go home because my style is so frightening to people in DC. I feel like when I'm there people look at me like I'm Lady Gaga. I normally pack and then go back and edit so I can be a little more focused in my choices and less *out there*. I kinda do enjoy the shock value (a little)- hence wearing a My Little Ponies T-shirt with Leather pants to the gun range this weekend with my Dad and sister- but that's a different story.

Here's an outfit that I wore this weekend when I was pal-ing around/ recovering from a late night of dancing to a live band with Currently Coveting

 

Yep- I'm wearing the Spring update to my denim to leather Post. I have a huge crush on these BCBGeneration WHITE leather to denim pants. The concept is unheard of and I realllllly don't care about that stupid-ass rule about white pants before Memorial Day. It's dumb. If the sun is shining and you're feeling it~ wear it.

My sunglasses believe it or not are Juicy Couture. I think every girl looks awesome in white aviators because they brighten up your face. They are from years ago but here is a page of affordable white aviator options. However my favorite ones will always be these Gucci ones

 

On top I'm wearing a BCBGeneration light chambray shirt (also referred to as jirt) with an Urban Outfitters Floral Graphic cut-off tank. The slits on the side go pretty low so I wore a white tank underneath as well.

 

For the accessories I might have gone slightly overboard - but I'm okay with it. The bag is a Rebecca Minkoff studded crossbody. I got this years ago and I wear it a lot more than I ever would've imagined for the fact that I'm a oversized-bag girl. No big shocker here I sported a BCBGeneration arm party with Affirmation Bracelets - I told you I wear these almost everyday. The ones for this outfit say FREE and BLESSED :) And then my ring is from Max and Chloe. Here's another fun bright pink option from that site

 

Denim to Leather Sportswear

I'm obsessed with leather and leather details right now and although this might be overkill, here's a casual Friday outfit that I wore to work. Leather normally comes across very sexy but done this way, it's definitely more on the sporty side. BCBGeneration has these awesome jeans that are mixed denim to leather and here is the Spring Version. I felt really gratified when I saw these R13 Jeans on Shopbop for $795.

 

The leather jacket is lined with great sweatshirt so that the sleeves and are attached making the jacket looked layered. I found it at karmaloop a couple of years ago but here are some other variations from tobi: option option

 

The shoes that were featured in my Wedge Sneaker Post are from Amazon

The stud earrings are my pop of color and they are from South Moon Under. Here's an Evil Eye option from Baublebar. I found the necklace at a boutique in Long Island but here is another option from Baublebar

 

Polka Dotty

 

I know I look like an overgrown child but this outfit definitely shows one side of my personality. Keep in mind this is my first photo session and by no means would I ever claim to be a model HA... I'm really going to have to learn my angles better so I don't look so awkward. The best part about this look is that it is totally affordable, however all the items are also old so they are no longer available :(

 

These pants are from NastyGal.com and originally they were stark black but after 1 wash they became this gradient gray. At first I hated them and asked for a return label but now I've grown to love them and every time I wear them at work, I always get a million compliments from the girls in design so that has to mean something.

 

This sweater has a gray lace bow with pearls outlining the bow from H&M years ago. I love baby pink paired with gray

 

The gray suede pumps are Boutique9 and there is actually a good story behind them. They were purchased with an $100 Bloomingdales gift card I won for dancing with an old man wearing a fanny pack and a muscle T at noon down the Nautical Mile. My friends were trying to bribe me to dance with the laughing stock of the bar and as soon as they pulled out the giftcard and I saw a trip to Bloomies in my future with a rent payment around the corner, I was up and dancing. For a 2 minute dance and an embarrassing iPhone video, I think I faired pretty well because I wear these shoes all the time! P.S. I swear I'm not as serious as this picture looks