Getting My Life Organized

School has proven to be a lot more work than I expected and unfortunately I haven't found anytime to post so I haven't abandoned it it's just hard to keep up at the moment

Stay Tuned... I'll start posting again as soon as possible

<3

Arielle

Eat Cake!

I'm 17 now! Yesterday was my birthday and since unfortunately everyone started school yesterday I treated myself to an 80 minute massage which I would highly recommend everyone doing at some point. They are amazing.
I will admit I also gave up veganism for an hour because I was dyingggg for a piece of chocolate cake which also inspired this polyvore




Bow Dress- spiegel.com
shoes- my-wardrobe.com
necklace- net-a-porter.com
bangles- net-a-porter.com
clutch-bluefly.com

Also, if anyone still hasn't gone school shopping I would say hit Target. I was able to throw a couple adorable shirts and a skirt in the cart between pencils notebooks etc

I did it

I was closing my eyes the whole time but I cut 8 inches off my hair!! It was a little too new at first if you know what I mean but I'm pretty happy with the finished product. I can still put it up which will be good for sports. Next hair cut I might even do more of a bob with bangs but we'll see. I have to get used to this first: :]Here are the promised pics


BEFORE

After!












Also, my plan for the school year

I will begin posting on Sundays and Wednesdays, probably taking Saturday off and commenting on your amazing blogs the rest of the week!

We're Jamming

Sorry I've been a little MIA it's been a crazy week. I just got my books for school so I've been working on those, babysitting a little, and trying to get in as much time with friends from my old school before I go back! I appreciate all of your comments and I will return them as soon as possible!

When I'm too busy to go for a walk I rely on music as my escape from the stresses and drama of the school year - and even summer for that matter.

These are outfits inspired by my 3 favorite artists right now


1. Bob Marley
Favorite Song- basically allll of them but if I had to chose it would be Jammin or Three Little Birds

Bob Marley is so relaxing that I stuck with simple looks and Jamaica colors




White T Shirt
Yellow Skirt - forever21.com
Green Sandals: lorisshoes.com
Green Bag - cafepress.com
Strapless white dress- topshop.com
Heels - rastaseed.com
Bracelet- rastafashions.com
Yellow Bag - fashionjunkee.com






2. Frank Sinatra
I've just recently come to love his music
Favorite - Come Fly with Me



I was my interpretation of a tux for a women without doing a pantsuit.

Dress: debenhams.com
Bolero: debenhams.com
Black Hat: forever21.com
White Hat: store.alloy.com
Shoes: Net-a-porter.com
Earrings: ross-simons.com
Clutch: net-a-porter.com




3. Tie between Radiohead and Jason Mraz
Radiohead Favorites - Lucky and How to Disappear Completely
Jason Mraz Favorite - I'm Yours




Radiohead is a little edgier than my other choices and the accessories are based after their song "Karma Police"


Radiohead:
Plain Black Tshirt with light wash skinny jeans
Belt: girlprops.com
Handcuff Bracelet: girlprops.com
Sandals: lorisshoes.com
Sunglasses: Ray Bans

Jason's look is pretty laid back so I tried to stick with that but dressed it up with the shoes. And instead of telling you to sling a guitar on your back as an accessory I went the necklace route

Jason:
White T with darker jeans and a men's shirt and either black flats or heels
Guitar Necklace: asos.com

Grin and Bear it

This morning I made some phone calls for the fashion magazine just getting back in the swing of things before school starts. I ended up having to go downtown to get some contracts signed and oh so practical me wore 3 inch espadrilles on the 7ish minute walk. Well by the time I got to the boutique I had managed to rip off the skin on enough places on my feet to make me cringe every time I took a step(sorry to be a little gross) . However, it countered by the fact that I sold my first ad for the Fall 2008 edition of Haute (the magazine) and 2 cars stopped me at different points on my walk to compliment me on how much they liked my outfit. It was really sweet and cheered me up a lot.

Also, I have a hair appointment coming up a week from today and seriously thinking of cutting it short. Maybe a little above the shoulders and side bangs. But I'm nervous because I've had long hair my whole life with the exception of one cut in 3rd grade that I think I've tried to burn the pictures of that year of my life-it was not pretty. I'm hoping that shorter hair will make me look a little older and sophisticated but as always I make up pros and cons list in my head and it always takes me a day or so to convince myself of the right choice.



Do you think shorter hair makes people look older and sophisticated?


Here's the outfit of the day and a heel protection kit so you won't have to put band aids all over your feet :/
























Foot Petals "Stiletto Survival Kit"


Amazon.com


39.99

















Outfit Details:

Dress- Nordstroms
Headband- Claire's
Shoes- Famous Footwear
Bag- Bahamas

Eco- Fashion

So, my news of the day - I've decided to try out veganism. I've been a vegetarian for a little over 5 years now and just decided to take it to the next level. I really didn't have specific reasons for becoming first a vegetarian and now a vegan but it's worked out for me so far.

Here are a couple of my favorite animal friendly fashion finds!





Vegan Queen, featured in Vogue















Urban Renewal

^This is a recycled line sold at urbanoutfitters.com













shopbop.com














papertopearls.org

^These are made from recycled paper from ladies in refugee camps in Northern Uganda














Prairie Underground, sold at tobi.com













Linda Loudermilk, sold at beklina.com












And don't forget Suede's dress from the eco friendly project runway episode will be sold at bluefly.com sometime in the future.

Bonjour

Hey! I hope you had an amazing weekend. I know I did. I went to a grad party for my friend Andrew's sister. He's been in Paris all summer so it was fun to hear all of his stories and he likes to shop just as much if not more than I do so he showed off all of his fun finds. His sister spent the summer in Morocco too and came back with some amazing pictures. She's a really talented photographer.


I can't wait to travel. My dad's promised me if I get on honor roll all of my senior year my gift at graduation will be travelling abroad over the summer. Places high on my list:


England, France, Spain, Italy, Thailand, Greece, Turkey, China, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, etc etc
If you've travelled at all, did any of these stand out to you?

Morocco




Anna Sui Paisley wrap dress - net-a-porter.com
Bangles - topshop.com
Gold Embroidered Bag - monsoon.co.uk
Ballerina flats - eluxury.com
Flower Dress - myvirtualcloset.com
Ring - bogborroworsteal.com
Heels - journeys.com
Gold Medallion necklace - bagborroworsteal.com
Printed Satin Dress - net-a-porter.com
Dress Sandals - zappos.com
Gold Bag - hotbrandclub.com

Paris



One Shouldered Dress- be-in.ru
White dress with bow sleeves- instyle.com
Blue Dress - formaldress4u.co.uk



Au Revoir

Un Meme

Aliena has nominated me for a Meme! Me gusta leer su blog para ayudarme con mi español (I like reading her blog to help me with my spainsh) ¡Muchísimas gracias Aliena!

The rules of a meme:


- To Copy the rules.
- To Write 14 "small things" that do me happy.
- To Select 6 blogs so that they continue with the meme and to notify them.

So 14 things that make me happy.

1. watching old movies
2. dancing in the rain
3. hanging out with friends
4. fresh flowers in my room
5. finding cool things at thrift stores
6. curling up in bed with a book during a thunderstorm
7. going on walks at night with my iPod
8. big football games
9. seeing people you haven't seen in ages
10. reading other people's blogs and reading all the thoughtful comments you leave on mine
11. having omelets and relaxing with my bf every sunday during the school year
12.having an excuse to get dressed up
13. taking photos to document my life
14. going to Disney world

And now the other people I nominated

Solo Lisa y Nada Mas
Vintage Vinyl
Just Kiss N Makeup
LCL Fashion
Couture Carrie
Fatal Attraction to Fashion

Pass it on! :]

The End is Near...

First off, thank you for all of your comments on my last post! I appreciate all of you taking time to write such thoughtful opinions!! :] And in response to those of you who talked about the included prices of gas, maintenence and insurance - I couldn't agree more with you! I know there are a lot of those "hidden" costs when it comes to purchasing a car which is why I'll need a lot of help in buying one. I'm hoping that these people who would be helping me will see the work I put into things like getting jobs to earn money, school and my extra curricular activities and will see this as a worthwhile investment and make a deal with me.


On a different topic - August 5th marked the 30 day mark until school starts. Ahhh! It's going to be one busy year and my feelings are definitely mixed. On the one hand, I'm now an upperclassman which will be nice. But then there is the fact that Upper (junior) year at my school is notorious for making people go insane with the workload, college planning, and SAT prep and I'm already starting to feel the stress a month away. So mentally, my summer has ended and I'm back in workmode.


But, I did allot some time to have a little fun and created these polyvores which sum up how I'd like to dress this fall.



My 5 essentials for Fall.

1. Dresses

Long Sleeved Dress with Cut Out - leblackbook.cart.net.au
Long Sleeved Gray Dress - brownsfashion.com
Mod Tank Dress- juliehaus.com
Vintage Green Dress - shop.cmadeleines.com
Pleat Front Tea Dress - topshop.com
Navy Wrap Dress - asos.com
Milly Floral Shift Dress - net-a-porter.com
Floral eyelet dress - net-a-porter.com
Miu Miu Bubble Dress - net-a-porter.com
Phillip Lim Dolman sleeve dress - net-a-porter.com

2. High Waisted Skirts

Green Blouse - charlotterusse.com
Tulip/High Waisted Tan skirt - teamsugar.com
Black Tote - net-a-porter.com
Ballet Flats - couture.zappos.com
Necktie cashmere top - stylefinder.com
Navy high-waisted skirt - net-a-porter.com
Ralph Lauren tote - amazoed Silk Blouse - fashmatch.com
Hted gray skirt - oldnavy.com
White Tights - wetseal.com
Leaf necklace - topshop.com
Black Clutch - myprestigium.com
Black Stilletos - missselfridge.com

3. Cute Coats

White Drop Waist Coat -debenhams.com
Brown bomber jacket - fashmatch.com
Skirted Trench coat- topshop.com
Selena Coat - delias.com
Leather Jacket - brandish.tv
Funnel neck cape - osoyou.com
Leather Jacket - brandish.tv

4. Tights

Ankle bow tights - asos.com
Lacy Twig Black Tights - missselfridge.com
Purple tights - shop.nordstrom.com
Stockings - about.com
Mystic Lace Tights - wolfordboutiquelondon.com
Black Stripe Tights - barneys.com
Gipsy lace tights - asos.com

5. Scarves (with a couple shoes thrown in)

Japenese Silk Floral Scarf - urbanoutiftter.com
Map Scarves - mapscarves.com
Pink Cashmere scarf - forzieri.com
Large Printed Scarf - topshop.com
Patterned Contrast Scarf - urbanoutfitters.com
Blue Paisley Scarf - dorothyperkins.com
Burburry scarf - shop.nordstrom.com
Riding Boot - urbanoutfitters.com
Belted Boot - urbanoutfitters.com
Saddle Shoes - forever21.com

To Ban or not to Ban?

As I've mentioned before, I go to high school at a boarding school in New England. I actually don't board there because I live pretty close and I've always felt a kind of longing to board. I love my school and want to be able to spend as much time as possible there. Since I've gotten my license it's made it a little easier but I don't have a car so I can't drive myself to school and my parents constantly sacrifice their cars for me but it just seems like such a waste of gas for them to have to drive the 25 minutes from my house with two cars to drop one off for me.

I have spent the whole summer saving money from my two jobs and as school shopping time comes closer and closer it has caused a dilemma for me.

  I've really wanted to be able to buy myself a car for awhile which I know is a nearly impossible thing for a 16 year old but with all the clubs and the work I'll have to do with the fashion magazine I'm involved with, school projects I'll have to stay later for, social activities, SAT prep and all the other school events  I feel like I could live in a much more stress free environment if I was able to go off my own schedule.

What do you think? 

Option #1 - I give up on that goal and use my money for school shopping 

Option #2 - I attempt to make a deal with my parents where I pay them in monthly installments from all of my summer money and get a job at school (it's the only job possible for me to get since we go 6 days a week from 8-6) and live vicariously through the rest of your shopping adventures :]

or

Branded

So I've spent the past 48 hours cleaning my disaster of a room, including my very overstuffed closet.

When I did a post asking about personal style many of you responded with things like "Just make sure you love what you're wearing" I used your advice while cleaning out my closet and ended up giving away 143 items of clothing.

As great as I felt after, there was something seriously disturbing to me about some of the items I had thrown away. More than half of them were clothes from nicer brands that I hadn't even considered throwing away in the past no matter how poorly they fit or how little I actually wore them just because of the name on the tag.

This got me thinking about how drastically my definition of fashion has changed over the past couple years.

In middle school there were 3 categories that you could have belonged to in terms of fashion.

Most Fashionable - wore Juicy Couture and Coach

Fashionable - wore Abercrombie and Hollister

Least Fashionable - wore clothes from Kohl's or Walmart

Being the naive girl I was I fell into the trap of belonging to one of these groups - the first one to be specific. Every time my uncle went to New York he would bring me back a knockoff bag from Coach, Versace etc which I would then proudly carry into school. The Juicy obsession was worse. I got a fully tracksuit from one of my relatives for Christmas a couple years ago and incorporated it into every dress down day at school (we had to wear uniforms so dress down days were a way of showing off "fashion"). All the money I earned went toward buying every color of their signature velour jacket.

I remember on one shopping trip in CT I bought 3 at once with my mom nearly having a heart attack at the register saying

"What is so special about these jackets that you feel the need to spend hundreds of dollars on them?"

Too which I responded by pointing at the J on the zipper and saying " See, the J. The other jackets don't have these because they're not Juicy Couture."

She stared in disbelief and said, " I could make a velour jacket and sew every letter of the alphabet in diamonds on it for the price of that jacket."

Even though I have long since grown from the obsession I was surprised at how young I had been sucked in to believing that the more expensive your clothing was the more fashionable you became.

It also seems that when we are younger and have been exposed to all of these expensive brand names that it makes us more vulnerable to acquiring a false sense of entitlement - a "I'm better than you because I can wear more expensive things" type attitude. It really butchers the word "fashion" when people use it this way. Fashion (to me) is supposed to be a way to express yourself not a contest to see who can squeeze the the most designer brands into one outfit.

It's nice to have purged any remains of that from my wardrobe.

Before

After

Feathers, Ruffles and Studs Oh My!

I've found myself in a love hate relationship with the trends this fall.
I haven't warmed up to the feathers, ruffles, or studs. I can take them in small doses but I look at some of the runway designs and think " how could you possible translate that to real life fashion?" Particularly for back to school outfits. 

Are any of you incorporating lots of feathers or huge ruffles into your first day ensemble? (with the exception of maybe a headband)

On a happier note, I love love loveee the plaid and lace trends. I picked up my plaid shirt from American Eagle last spring and have been making a lot of use out of it and I also use it in menswear too.
And lace is so elegant I would love to get a lace dress for the semi formal our school has in late fall and for some reason I've really started craving a pair of antique lace gloves (for what I haven't decided yet)



This is a dress I just bought on Ebay

and the plaid shirt I was going for kinda a lumberjack thing..

Shirt - American Eagle

Shorts - Urban Behavior

Sneakers - Nike

Sunglasses - Canal St

Belt - Banana Republic

Also, to be fair since I know that there are a lot of stud, ruffle, and feather fans here are some things that caught my eye (for good reasons)

Burburry Boot nordstrom.com

Studded belt, asos.com

Lacoste Gingham Check Ruffle Shirt

Hope by Kristian Alfonso Short Sleeve

Peacock Headband, etsy.com

Have an amazing weekend! I've promised myself I'm going to finish the first dress (out of hopefully many) I'll be making for the school year and the even bigger task of cleaning my closet. Hopefully I'll have amazingly organized pictures to present by monday

Relax, Take it Easy

One of my favorite things to do (aside from shopping and blogging :] ) is taking long walks by myself. Most days after I come home from school, I grab my iPod change into a little more comfortable clothing and just walk up and down the street just thinking. It's so nice to give yourself at least 20 minutes of alone time each day to reflect and relax. It helps me focus for the rest of the night on the work I have to accomplish. And if I'm just walking for the fun of it I always seem to see things that jog the creative part of my mind that I miss while I'm driving. If I'm really ambitious I'll even get up early before school to go for a walk. I love it when I'm the only person on the sidewalk for miles. There is this cool park near my house that is filled with flowers and if you go farther there's this little path that winds upward and eventually stops to overlook this river and at daybreak you can see the whole sky. It's just really serene.

I tried Yoga once as my sport last winter as another way of helping me unwind during the day but I didn't really get much out of it which was disappointing because I always hear people say Yoga is amazing. Maybe I just cant clear my mind that much.  How do you guys relax? 

The essential


never leave home without it!

Two kinds of outfits for the fall. For summer, I usually go with a simple summer dress.

Jacket, Sweater and Jeans




Fitted Plaid Jacket - fashionaddicts.com

Green v neck sweater - dorothyperkins.com

Knitwear Elgar Cowl Neck - allsaintsshop.co.uk

Purple bib polo top - dorothyperkings.com

grey scarf - dorothyperkins.com

Bomber Jacket - net-a-porter.com

Selena Coat (plaid) - delias.com

Flats - target.com

Sneakers - oli.co.uk (limited supply) 

necklace - coach.com

acorn and sheep hat - scandinavianweaveandknit.com

off white knit hat - instyle.com

purple beret - villagehatshop.com

chunky beret - missselfridge.com

Second Type of Outfit - Sweater dress with leggings. (I know leggings are "out" but they're still really comfortable for walking which is what this is all about) 

Light Blue Ribbed Sweater Dress- brownsfashion.com
Grey scarf - allsaintsshop.co.uk
Cashmere square neck sweater - net-a-porter.com
Baby Blue Scarf - anedoti.com
Surplice Dress - wetseal.com
Purple scarf- forever21.com
Mod Tunic Sweater - wetseal.com
Violet Scarf - dorothyperkins.com
Flats (black) - target.com
leather ballet flats - gap.com

One With Nature