Dare to Design Part II

So they didn't put a limit on how many entries so I might as well throw this one in, right?

Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses

This dress is all about spring! And my scanner isn't that great, so bear with the picture and pay attention to the description!

This knee length dress with boat neck and tulip short sleeves will come in shades of purple.
Chiffon flowing in ruffled layers start from the left shoulder and cascade down.
Layers, adding height to any pair of legs, will repeat the cascading ruffle look at the bottom of the dress.

Inspiration for this dress? RUFFLES, of course!
And my LOVE for spring (why is already so cold?!?)!!!!

Dare to Design

Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses

Welcome to my entry for the Shabby Apple Dare to Design Contest! After much urging from several friends, I decided I should thrown in my ideas!

The inspiration for this idea came from layers and layers of clothing that I love - without the hassle. It has a two-piece look of gray skirt, gray sweater (attached to dress) with peach accents, and a peach chiffon shirt with a mock neck collar and ruffles coming out (I LOVE ruffles). Obviously, the color palette is gray and peach - perfect for spring! Skirt would be a nice lightweight silk. "Sweater" would have a textured gray fabric with peach silk for the accents, against a peach chiffon ruffled shirt.

Upcoming Trends

Trends for this fall!

Ruffles on shoes, shirts, and bags, galore!

Texture everywhere from suede shoes (my personal favorite) to velvet jacket.

Colored tights and leggings are still in, thanks to those short hemlines.

Leggings by ImageEnvy featuring Monsoon

What's your favorite trend this fall?

My New Favorite Book

I'm a strong believer in getting ready for the day (thanks to my mom) but sometimes find that I'm rushing with so many other things I don't have all the time I need to make myself look my best.

Carmindy (from TLC's What Not To Wear) wrote "5 Minute Face". I love it and highly recommend it to anyone. It teaches you all about the basics, that still highlight your best features, make you look beautiful, and can be done in under 5 minutes! Perfect!

 

Plus size

Forever 21 and Nordstroms have now launched plus sizes - and Nordstroms magazine's ads for it are incredible. The women are gorgeous and dressed perfectly for their figures.

The above is from Nordstroms for $189.00, also comes in black

Forever 21's line is called faith 21. It's in select stores and online. Great for your money!!

The above shirt is from Forever 21 for $19.80.

Foot Friction No More!

A friend recommended the Band Aid Friction Block Stick to me, saying it was like a deoderant stick for your feet....HUH? What she didn't tell me what that it's like putting an invisible band-aid on you foot. If you feel like your shoes are rubbing and you might be getting a blister, you simply swipe some where it rubs and VOILA! No more rubbing.

I had to try this out - I bought some at the local drugstore for $6.00. All of my summer shoes have already been broken in so I had nothing to try it on. And then the elevator broke at my job, and a co-worker was complaining of her feet hurting. So I whipped out my Friction Block Stick and asker her to try it. After thinking I'm completely nuts, she tried it. Worked so well, she bought herself some.



Still skeptical, I tried it on the hardest thing I could think of: my $5.00-half-size-too-small Michelle D shoes. Obviously the shoes were on a major sale and not in my size. Nevertheless - I wore these shoes for a solid 9 hours at work just to try it out. I had a back-up pair of heels in my car in case I needed to switch at lunch, but it wasn't needed. No blisters and no rubbing. I now never leave home without it!

Not Your Average Store, Not Your Average Sizes

Welcome to Gap's newest line: Athleta.

Athleta is designed not for the working woman, but for the work-out woman. You can shop by sport and intensity - from snowboarding to tennis and golf. They offer sizes in talls, petites and plus.

And my favorite part? The have swimsuits specially designed for C-DD cups!


They offer every item needed - swim, tops, shoes, sunglasses, jackets and so on... Check it out at athleta.gap.com.

Fashion Flashback - to the 80s?

I'm a huge fan of Ralph Lauren - and his is not the only runway I've seen this on, but what is WITH these pants?
Love the colors, love the safari look, but slouchy pants? Ick. Add this with fringed sandals and you have my two least favorite trends this season! Good news? Get the safari look for cheaper at Talbots!

Blog Problems

I don't know what is going on with my template, but bear with me as I try to fix it!

Mall Watchin'

I went to the mall a few days ago and this woman walked out wearing the most flattering outfit for her body. I felt too weird asking if I could take her picture, so I'll try to describe what she was wearing, and then I'll re-create the look.

She was wearing skinny jeans tucked into knee high boots (the only way to wear skinny jeans) that balanced out her hips. Then on top she paired a tank top with a long sweater past her hips, to give her body some length, instead of chopping it into little pieces with too many layers and looks. She was wearing natural color makeup and she just looked awesome. She was dressing for her figure type, most likely a triangle, and she pulled off looking like an hourglass. Congrats to the woman I saw!

Natural Style that Flatters by ImageEnvy

The Women's Jackets!

So I finally got around to watching The Women (and to updating this blog) and Meg Ryan's jackets in the end are so GORGEOUS!
There are three that I would love to hang in my closet - all structured, great detail, and perfect proportions! So as a tribute to Meg and The Women - welcome to some fun jackets to carry us through the rest of Winter!


Jackets Galore! by ImageEnvy