Leanne Marshall Spring 2013 Bridal Collection

I have been a Leanne Marshall fan ever since she was on Project Runway. (She won Season 5- yea!) I love her architectural-yet-ethereal designs and am a big fan of her bridal collections. If my wonderfully talented mother was not going to make my wedding dress I would definitely want an LM creation. She just posted a few dresses from her Spring 2013 collection on her blog so I thought I would share:

I also love her ready-to-wear collection of pieces for daily use...

(well, daily use if your life is fancier than mine!):

Those pockets are awesome and the tailoring is exceptional! I could wear these to brunch or out on the town.

I would throw myself a party just to have an excuse to wear this if it was in my closet....

Lovely, right?! Check out her Etsy store for more of her dresses and ready-to-wear items. Are you a Leanne fan, too? And does anyone still watch Project Runway? Leanne's season was the last one that I watched religiously, but if there is another must-see season, let me know because I have not had a good Netflix marathon in months :)

Jekyll and Hyde?

I think I love fashion so much because trends are completely customizable. You can tailor current happenings to your tastes by picking small details to incorporate into your wardrobe or embrace everything with complete abandon. In either scenario, there is something for everyone in the upcoming fall season of color-blocking, preppy equestrian looks and retro, 70's boho chic. I love all of these, so you know I will soon be posting items I want to jazz up the ol' wardrobe (like how this blog is often my shopping wishlist?).

One trend that I still love is the maxi/midi length dresses and skirts. I have been wearing them at work and at play and want just a little more in my life, so I have been on the hunt for a new item. I fell in love with two dresses online and surprised myself with how different they are:

My dark side loves this Dark Side of Day black maxi dress. The cut-outs are just daring enough without setting off the skank-alarm and it would be perfect with sandals and a statement necklace for a night ambling about downtown.

But my softer, feminine side loves this Sunday Brunch polka-dot dress. I love the demure, neutral colors and the pleats take it to awesome status. I would add my white linen blazer for brunch (the dress is aptly named, yes?) or even to work.
Which one would you choose? And what trends are you excited for either now or for fall?

Oh, the Possiblities!

On my latest trip to Last Chance, I stumbled upon (what I thought was) a crazy blue/purple jacket. The sleeves are short and ruched, but the length is longer, to the knee, so I thought it would snazzy with a black shift dress and other fitted outfits. The tag was labeled "S" for Small, but it looked a little big, so I looked at the inside tag, which also said "S," so I thought maybe Ted Baker was making jackets with a boyfriend fit or something and, since it had no imperfections other than a missing belt, I gleefully pranced to the cash register. When I got home, I did a search to see what my jacket's original belt looked like and this is what I found:

Yeah......it's really a wrap dress. And I forgot that Ted Baker sizes are 0-5, so what I assumed was a S was really a 5, so that's why the jacket-now-dress is way too big... Rather than get discouraged over buying something (non-returnable) that is way too big, I thought, "if I initially thought it was a jacket, why can't it be a jacket?" Maybe it just needs a few changes and a little tailoring. Let me know if you have any ideas and stay tuned for the (hopefully) successful outcome!

Favorite New Thing!

My favorite new item of the week is the Erica dress from J.Crew-- I love the new "vintage Poppy" print!
This could easily go to work or to a wedding and with heels just as well as the flat sandals pictured. I like the brown belt pictured to make it more casual- try layering a cardigan over the dress before belting when the weather cools down. As always with J.Crew items, the pattern is bright and cheeky without being garish and will be a classic, rather than trend, item in your wardrobe.