Home Improvement

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Wow, you guys! We haven't had our regular Thursday 'Home Improvement sessions in quite a while. Inspiring and comfortable home decors are something that I have grown quite interested in over the years, and finding them for these weekly posts is something that I very much enjoy. So, we'll be getting back to those for all of you reading. Aside from my clear recent obsession with all things black and white, yellow is a color that is finding its way into my obsession category, as well.

While yellow is a color that so many people, including me,  shy away from (similar to orange), I began to shift my thoughts towards it with a recent trip for a pedicure. It sounds silly, but yellow is a color that is known to make people happier, and with bright yellow toes, it certainly has done a little bit of joy every time I go to change my footwear for the day. I began thinking that if yellow toes can instantly add that bit of happiness, what would happen if there was yellow accents in our home decor? While too much of it may be a bit bright, depending on your feelings towards the color, a little accent here and there definitely adds that punchy brightness that easily finishes a room and fills it in with the way that a lot of colors just aren't able to. In the room above, I love how the room is mostly black and white with pastel accents and sort of faded pieces and then the small yellow pillow and blanket on the couch make it warmer than if they had not been there at all.

What do you guys think? Adding any yellow into your lives in the future?

If not in your decor or your wardrobe, I suggest at least starting with your toes :)

Splurge VS Steal

I had been needing a new purse for the longest time. Most of my purses, while great in design and style, weren't so great in the structure and maintenance department. While my dad was visiting over fourth of July weekend almost a month ago, he picked out the Zara bag on the right. And, as you can tell from the style posts since then, I'm completely obsessed. I had wondered where I had seen a similar style before and I realized standing next to a woman on the subway with the purse on the left, that it was inspired by the Givenchy 'Lucrezia'. I'm extremely picky when it comes to handbags, and the Zara version fit nearly all of them: structured, sophisticated, appealing to look at and wear, functional, and fabulous. Thanks, dad!

What do you think? Would you splurge on the Givenchy 'Lucrezia' or save with the Zara version?

Tuesday Shoesday

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When i saw these Chloe "Susan" studded ankle boots, it is pretty obvious why I was obsessed. With their gold triple buckled hardware and studded design, as well as the perfect red coloring, and feeling of a slight rock and roll vibe to them, I instantly began pairing outfits in my head of how fabulous they would may anything I put with them look. Not so fabulous, though was their $1, 345 price tag. Quickly, like most fabulous fashions, knockoffs appeared quickly, first at Zara and later, where I scooped them up--Forever 21. For basically $1,300 less than the originals, I purchased a pair inspired by the great originators, and wear them with all of the same outfits that I had planned to when I first saw them.

A to Z: Oxfords

If you have been following 85Dresses for a while now, you've realized that we're kind of obsessed over here about the oxford loafer. Everything from traditional brown menswear style to glitter and candy colored, we've covered just about every style--don't think we're done, though--. However, this Monday's A to Z post on oxfords isn't about these greatly adored shoes, but their under appreciated same-named relative, the classic oxford button-down. 

When word associating with an oxford button down, a first word may near towards either uniform or conservative. While oxfords are a main make-up of private school uniforms, we wore them at my high school, as well, in wearing them sleeves rolled up, disheveled with a fur vest, pattern pants, and the right accessories, this classic oxford instantly goes from a conservative piece, to the perfect base of a pairing to the rest of the outfit. 

To add to the school-girl look if you please, by layering a sweater over your oxford with simply the collar and cuffs peeking out from underneath, your already instant polish is polished even more. Here, in pairing her more traditional sweater and oxford pairing with a leather mini skirt, burgundy blazer, and menswear oxfords--the shoe kind--, she compliments the appropriateness of the oxford with a little bit of edge. 

And, for those who need a basic to work with their most extravagant piece in the hopes of making it "day-time appropriate", The oxford in this image above brings an almost boyish approach to a skirt that is about as feminine and sequined as you can get. In choosing a light blue instead of a crisp white, the contrast between the brightness of the skirt and the solid of the oxford work together better than a stark white might have. 

Although oxfords and button-downs are probably the most common article of clothing for working women (and men) to have in their wardrobes, they can also easily be styled stylishly for work, or quickly and easily changed and altered around for another occasion.

What is your favorite way to wear the classic oxford?

Home Improvement

{Pick of the Week}

When I was younger, stuffy floral wallpaper lined my closet walls. Since then, I equated wallpaper to being something that old ladies were fond of to decorate as an alternative to paint. However, recently I have become a woman obsessed. As an obvious lover of patterns and prints, wallpaper is just another way to add them into my life. With so many variations from simple and demure, to more funky and playful, wallpaper is a great way to add personality to wall in a way that paint cannot. Anthropologie sells some of my favorite options for interesting and ornate wallpapers. Here are two of my favorites: 1 and 2. Pricey? Yes. But, hey, a girl can dream...right?

What are your thoughts towards wallpaper? Would you ever use it?

Pinterest

Pretty much if you are a blogger, read blogs, or enjoy crafts you are aware of Pinterest. While I have known about it for a while, I had not actually started my own account until this past week, and let me tell you, I'm hooked. For those of you who are not aware of this latest craze, Pinterest is basically like your own "virtual pin-board." You can search through various categories such as "Hair and Beauty" to "Print and Posters" and "re-pin" things that you find inspiring, delicious (to the eye or the belly), or anything. 

You create your own page that you can organize all of your boards by. Within each board, you can arrange your patterns, party ideas, and fashion inspiration in a much better way than on a file on your desktop. The great part also about Pinterest is that a lot of bloggers take part in it as well. This way, followers are able to see what is inspiring them in other things than just what they show on their actual blogs. 

One of my favorite of my boards is my "Pattern Play" board (seen above). I am a huge fan of patterns, and this is a way that I can see and organize the ones I love. Isn't the one with the ballerinas and mustache tutu's amazing? 

Pinterest is a way that not only makes you feel creative (sometimes more creative than you actually are...), but it's a great way to view everything that inspires others as well and see what great ideas are out there in our blogging, baking, fashion, type obsessed community. So get out there, get an actual account, and start organizing all of your inspirational everything.

Enjoy!