Blearning Blog! Letter eeeEEEEEE!!!

Posted on December 8, 2014 by cemnashville

It’s Monday, which means it is time to put new information in your head and live a fancier and more fashionable life!

BLEARNING BLOG brought to you by the letter E!

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E is for Elizabeth and James!

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You know Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen? They are the masterminds behind this hip label, which they started in 2007. Ashley and Mary Kate went from Full House to powerhouse with their fashion careers post sitcom stardom.

Elizabeth and James is the second of two lines. It is named after their siblings, and is the younger brand to their luxury line The Row. Here are a few of my favorite looks from the Resort 2015 collection. The good news is that the following eye candy is part of the less expensive label. The bad news: you still may have to “resort” to looking and not touching, because even the midi top is going to cost upwards of a couple hundred bucks.

If MK & A hired me to label these looks, it would go something like this:

The Short, Plump Cartoon Man that Never Was

The Playground Outfit Not Made for the Monkey Bars

The Powerpoint Presentation w/ Gun Show Encore

The Laundry Day Skirt Shirt

The DIY Sharpie Lab Coat … paired with the Rejected Color Jansport

Okay okay so maybe I was poking a little fun at these looks, but I think even though they appear to be somewhat mod and stark in the way they have been styled for the photos, there is still room to be playful in these looks because of their creative lines and unexpected pops of pattern and color. The aesthetic is supposed to be a relaxed urban with just enough of a blend of femme and structure that it looks powerful and stays relaxed. I’d wear it because it would make me feel edgy and because the shapes allow for all kinds of pizza to be consumed. I wouldn’t wear it if I wanted to feel like a polished professional or if I wanted to show off my silhouette. If I were styling someone who had a lax, urban dress code for work, I could definitely see pulling some of these pieces for their wardrobe, otherwise I see most of these pieces as meant for the everyday casual sophisticate.

Speaking of sophisticated, when I realized that today’s Blearning Blog was going to start with “E” I immediately thought of Mini Me from Austin Powers running and squealing, and thought “oh, I should definitely put a clip in my blog of that!” Here’s what search engines gave me:

Because I said sophisticated and I meant it…. 😉 Maybe a good look for my next post?

CheeeeEEEEEEEEEEEErs!

Beanies on and around my head…. (it’s Trendayyy Tuesday!)

Posted on November 18, 2014 by cemnashville

But first… let me take a selfie!

Okay so maybe that pop culture reference is getting stale, but for TRENDAYYY Tues I wanted to show you my new hat with which I am obsessed!

That pic was taken on a trip home to the great plains of Iowa! It was characteristically wintery out there, so naturally I needed to keep my noggin cozy and stylish. What better way than with a brightly colored beanie! The hat was made by Echo, bought at Nordstrom, and was $32. (I swear I have already worn it 32 times in less than 32 days. Totally justified. )

It is no secret that beanies are a mainstay for chilly weather; the only problem is there are too many to choose! There are red beanies, blue beanies, thick beanies, and slick beanies! Shiny beanies, line-y beanies, girly beanies, and swirly beanies! Beanies with poms, beanies for moms, and beanies that help do good deeds made by TOMS!

AHHHHH !!!! MAKE THE RHYMING STOP!! I’ve only got one little head!

I managed to narrow down the pack to some of my favorite looks to match some of my favorite moods. Check out these items I would pick for my dream closet!

Yes, I did put a $250 fur hat and a $10 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hat in the same style guide.

I call that being well rounded 😉

While shopping, I thought I wanted to add a “classy” hat to the line-up, so I did the most basic thing ever and typed “classy beanie” into a Polyvore image generator. This was the only search result:

BTCH PLZ.

lol…of course.

Cheers! To beanies, beanies, the magical fruit.

XOXO

Blearning Blog: d’Orky for d’Orsay

Posted on November 17, 2014 by cemnashville

Monday it is! Learn we will.

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Blearning Blogs, for those of you joining us, are where I pick a topic the fashion world assumes everybody knows about, but actually doesn’t, and I write about it for you to read. I like it because we all become savvier without buying a damn thing. Street cred for all!

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Oh, I should also mention that Blearning Blogs go in alphabetical order. If you want to catch A, B, or C, you can check them out here!

Letter A!

Letter B!

Letter C!

Letter D! …. Oh wait that’s today…. Check it out!

Today we are learning about d’Orsay style shoes! I have seen these all over, and have heard the word d’Orsay, but have I ever used it in a sentence? Not once. Let’s take a quick peek at a shoe that is not only everywhere, but it is also historical! Who knew?

If I were your best gal pal describing my new d’Orsay shoes on the phone, I would say something like this:

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“Yah, they’re like a kind of shoes that have, like, a cut out sort of on the middle sides so, like, you can see the arch of your foot, ya know? Like the toes and heels are still covered. Yah, and they’re like so in right now.”

If I were writing about them for fashion research project I might say this:

D’Orsay (pronounced door-say) is a style of shoe designed originally for men in the 1800’s by Count Alfred d’Orsay, who wanted a better fitting military shoe that would accommodate wider feet. Women loved the pointed toe, and incorporated it into ladies’ fashion shortly thereafter. The characteristics that make the d’Orsay shoe unique, are the point in the toe and the exposed arch, which comes from an absence of structured fabric between the heel and the toe box. In recent years, d’Orsay style shoes are experiencing a comeback to store shelves and sidewalks. They follow the “cut-out” trend and also offer versatility in that the exposed arch can be incorporated at any level of formality in both flats and heels.

If I had all the monies for all the shoes so I could buy them and show them to you, here are pictures of ones I would buy:

(Those Pierre hardy ones have blue mink fur around the top… wait, what!?? So drool.)

STOP! Put the credit card down. Here are three more that won’t break the bank:

My faves are the Ava & Aiden out of this bunch. These are perfect staples because they are sassy and yet still muted enough to wear with a lot of things.

D’Or I say we have learned something today??

Ba dum chhhhhh!

Cheers! Because d’Orsay shoes would look really terrible on men!

Happy Monday!

PREPARING TO BLOW YER MIND…with baby steps

Posted on November 14, 2014 by cemnashville

Hello you beautiful people!

After nearly 100 posts of experimental blogs and features, the time has come to narrow down the pack. Dorky Chick in Lipstick is finally going to be on a regular schedule! The random whimsy was great for a beginning project, but I am only a few short posts away from TRIPLE DIGITS on posts. This means there will obviously be a massively massive celebratory 100th post, but before I hit the big leagues, it is time to spruce up. So check it out! These are the features that made the cut!

Monday: Blearning Blogs! That’s right. These are coming back. Each Monday I will post about something in the fashion industry I just don’t know much about and we can learn together. Together we will just be better at life. How bout that?

Tuesday: TRENNNDAYYYYYY! Oh obvi Tues is getting hella trendacious. On Trreennnnndayyy Tuesday be ready for pics of things I’m willing to leave the house in, pics of stuff I would buy if I were swimming in bennies, and tidbits from around the internet I’m loving!

Wednesday: Dorky Chick Diaries! My chance to get real, Dorky Chick Diaries is exactly that– a diary entry. I’ll tell you what is on my mind. You no likey? You no clicky. Capish?

Thursday: Throwback Thursday! I’m so original. There are almost a hundred blog posts in my arsenal, and what better way than to promote sustainability than with resurrecting a post you missed!

Friday: Fearless Friday! What better way to celebrate past adventures and embrace future adventures than a whole day dedicated to getting out of the comfort zone! I love that classic quote “Do something every day that scares you” … Why not give it a shot myself?? This might mean jumping in to a design project, making art and putting my work up for judgment, making moves on the job front, or eating cockroaches Fear Factor style!!! Whoa, kidding. Not that.

Weekend: VLOGoManiA! Just when you thought I’d forgotten about the videos! My dear friends they are here to stay, and now I just have to figure out what the H-E-double-hockey-sticks I am going to talk about. Expect nothing, so I can impress you with sound effects.

BONUS** Once a month, I will be featuring a Dorky Chick as a “READER FEATURE“! I did this wayyy back when with my dear friend and fashionista, Laura, and would love to spotlight more incredible people that are out there walking around the world in heels! (Or whatever other tasteful shoes you choose ;))

Things to note:

I will not be posting on holidays. That is wrong, and I know you don’t love me that much.

If exciting things come up, I will post about those.

Don’t worry, I doubt any post will be as long as my NYC post. You should read that though, because it took an eternity. Scroll down, I say!

I would love some feedback. What’s working for you on Dorky Chick? Did I skip one of your favorite past features in the lineup?

Some jokes may get reused, and there will be grammatical errors. I feel like if I say it I’ve covered my tracks for the future….maybe?

Cheers! To taking our relationship to the next level 😉

XOXO

Trendayyy Vlog! I didn’t wear sweats to class and want to brag about it.

Posted on October 21, 2014 by cemnashville

I am convinced that wearing anything other than sweats to class falls somewhere on the scale of heroism. Or maybe I just felt like a hero because I basically was wearing a superhero cape/sweater/magic carpet/wing thing…

Here’s a new vlog where I try and fly and also dance and also be mildly fashion forward in class. Still working out the kinks of this method of diary, but will try anything that lets me shake my groove thing thrice.

Weeeee!

U is for Uncool, V is for Vlog (!!!)

Posted on October 7, 2014 by cemnashville

I did it. I made a vlog. That is trendspeak for “video blog”… kind of like “Brangelina” or “Bennifer” or “Cronut”

Because two words takes, like, time.

(^^bonus points if you can name that comedy sketch ^^)

I am going to share my vlog with you, but before I do that, please remember this: I am uncool. I know this, I’ve accepted this, and I ask that you prepare yourself to be underwhelmed. Even uncool people can play cool kid games, okay?! Okay, moving on.

So, yeah! I made my very first “dorky chick” vlog! I’m actually kind of excited about it because 1) it was fun! and 2) I have a lot of ideas for ways I can make better ones! I wanted to try out a new fun way to show off clothes I love, and I thought how about bringing “trenndayyy pics” to life! This is a vlog for anyone who has lost track of time before they need to be somewhere where they need to look like a civilized human. I’ll show you how I get from Bedhead Betty to a casual gal-pal lunch date!

FYI:

– Yes, I do shower. I did the night before.

– Some footage with better pics of the whole outfit were deleted. Rookie mistake.

– I arrived on time. BOO YAH.

– Next time I’ll kick it up a notch with the brand shout outs for those of you who are interested. 🙂

Lemme know what you think! Would you want to see more of these vlogs? Or maybe you think I should stick to pics? I’m just a tweet away. ( @pdxcaroline )

Cheers! To being uncool on camera,

recently I’ve been wearing clothes (trendy pics!)

Posted on September 11, 2014 by cemnashville

Fummer? Sall? It is too chilly for shorty shorts and too warm for sweaters, but even with these imposing circumstances, I’ve decided to continue to wear clothes.

In fact, I wore some out the other night to my friend Katie’s birthday party.

AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS TIME FOR??! That’s right, kids. This is the part of the show where I put on clothes that I thought were cute enough to spend money on and do as the fashion bloggers do by taking trendy pics.

Except I do it my way.

Here’s what I wore: a B&W patterned blouse from Collective Concepts with my favorite loose-fitting polyester pants from J. Crew and heels from Isola. Right now my nails are a deep raspberry shellac, and for makeup I went with an lined pink lip and neutral smokey because birthday!

Here’s me being casual with my September Harper’s Bazaar.

And still trying to make this outfit look cool from afar.

But then I found an apple core. Uh…. oops.

And then decided I should just cut to the chase and contort my self so you could see the whole outfit.

Oh, and here is a peek at the nails + makeup:

If a burglar stole this exact outfit I would try to replicate the style with these items! From right to left: Everlane Silk Round Collar- $78, H&M loose teal pants- $24.95, Metika Wedge Sandal- $79 @ shopbop.com, and I’d hunt down nail polish like this one from OPI if I wanted to recreate without shellac.

TGIAF, y’all.

delusions, resolutions, and now i want ice cream.

Posted on September 7, 2014 by cemnashville

Some breeds of dog are known to have their eyes literally pop out of their faces. Literally one minute they will have an eyeball inside their head, and then said eyeball will be on the floor. Typically it is the ones with the ones with smooshed noses, like pugs, who suffer from this dilemma of runaway eyeballs, but if I don’t put my September Harper’s Bazaar away for the night I might just learn what that feels like. I’ve been exhausting my eyes and noggin, stuffing my brain with images of assembled fabrics on airbrushed models, and I’m running out of room between my ears to hold it all. And of course that leads to Pinterest, which leads to self-hypnosis, which leads to the calendar telling you it is Thursday when last you checked it was Monday and now I can’t see anything and it might be almost the weekend again! *breath*

Uh… oops?

There is nothing like the September issue of a fashion magazine to reinvigorate my temporary enthusiasm for the idea of cold weather. The images of jackets and wool fabrics set to flashy graphics on shiny pages somehow erases all memories of cold associated with misery and instead replaces them with elaborate fantasies of crunching leaves under Manolo Blahniks and exchanging alluring glances with fancy men in Burberry trenchcoats. I don’t own Manolo Blahniks, and I don’t think many fancy men live in Portland. That being said, all this eye popping isn’t for nothing. I love the coming of Fall Fashion because it is like New Year’s all over again, except exclusive to style.

Sure, I’ve graduated from the whole back-to-school shopping, but I will never graduate from finding new ways to make the sidewalk my catwalk! So in honor of Fashion New Years, I am making a FNY resolution….. DRUMROLL PLEASE……

MY FNY resolution is to make 2015 the year of the upgrade.

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^^move it kid, that’s mine!

Maybe I can’t swing Manolo Blahniks on a food service budget, but there are still some fab shoes I can crunch some leaves in, and I am going to wear them instead of those rubber things that were 6 bucks on my family beach vacation! I’m going to wear that shirt I love even though it needs ironing! Forget being cold this year– I’m going to actually have fun with layers! I’m going to put on some of that jewelry I thought I deserved to buy buy really didn’t! Yoga pants to the grocery store? NAY!

Okay that’s too far…but they at least better be recently laundered.

On a serious note, I’d like to try to find a couple garments that I have outworn and give them an update as well. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

In the mean time, if you were looking for an excuse to drink tequila and kiss a stranger at midnight, you have my blessing. How my blessing will hold up against the law when said stranger calls the cops is probably not very reliable. So, uh, be careful….

p.s. If you have a FNY Resolution, tweet me @PDXcaroline or if you have an #upgrade, I’m on instagram @PDXcaroline … no pictures of eyes popping out of sockets, please…

Joan Rivers: a short tribute to an icon.

Posted on September 7, 2014 by cemnashville

“I don’t exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.” – Joan

In honor of Joan River’s passing, I would like to wear a feather boa to work. I don’t have a feather boa, so I feel I at least feel I owe a post to a woman who has been such an icon of shameless fabulosity.

Thank you, Joan, for the inspiration and the laughs. Rest in peace.

Pics of my TRENNNDAY outfit- feat. the dress I made!!

Posted on October 13, 2013 by cemnashville

*bvv ts bvv ts bvv ts bvv ts*

That, friends is the sound of me having a small celebratory beatboxing session.

FashioNXT week followed through with everything I could have hoped for and then some. I made some new friends in the industry, got to see the work of fashion rockstars four nights in a row, and feel like I overall have a much better idea of what the fashion world in Portland has to offer and how I want to be a part of it! Some of you may know that a while back, I set a deadline for myself to engage the skills I’ve been boasting and I could prove myself by completing a design and wearing it at FashioNXT. I have been doing a lot of sewing over the past months, but mostly for class projects. That means pajama pants, tailored shirts, and sample stitches. All of these skills are important, but if I don’t start churning out more of my own looks I’ll be burning daylight!

In the words of Elvis,

“A little less conversation, a little more action please”

Look at that face..the man has a point.

So when I zipped up my creation and took off for the venue, it felt like an official stepping out. This was 100% mine and what I have been working hard to feel confident enough to do for years.

What I wasn’t expecting was that I was going to feel super nervous. I got in the car to drive to the event in my dress and thought, what if it looks homemade? What if a seam pops? What if I tell someone I made it and they get that glazed/raised eyebrow look on their face that says “yeah ya did….” while their voice says “oh that’s cool…”

Irrational fears, maybe, but I had put a lot of thought and love into making something that I knew epitomizes where I feel my style is right now and exercises my growth in my sewing skills. I splurged on the fabric months ago in NYC, I drew it and redrew it, and I did a lot of seam ripping right up to the hours before I left the house. So it is with grand excitement that I debut to you, loving readers, just another baby step in the “Dorky Chick in Lipstick” story.

OBVIOUSLY this calls for some “trennndayyyyy” pictures from my high class studio!

TA DAAA

Day 4 of heels… ay yi yi….

See through back….scandiiiii

I tried to recreate the pose from the drawing….. lol

At the event, my friend Erika, who I met working VIP, and I got to get our pics taken at the Intel Photobooth! It was a real mini runway you can walk down– we felt pretty cool.

For the record, nothing ripped, popped, or snagged. I just wore a dress and the world kept spinning. It isn’t a big deal, but someday in the future when I have made fourtyhundredthousandmillion dresses, I’ll know that this is one that helped me get there– and that is a great feeling.

The highlight, though, was after I took some designers from NYC to after party, they asked me if I was wearing one of Michael Costello’s pieces (a headlining designer for the week and Project Runway star). After hours of work, pin-pricked fingers, and a few F-bombs I got to respond

“No, actually, this is one of mine.”

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Dorky Chick in Lipstick

a word sandbox of GIFS and glitter

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