Suitable for Summer
Photos by Meredith Snider
A pink suit, a bolo tie, a camera. It's all I needed this weekend to truly make my styling cup runneth over. I have been so busy working that I've failed to keep up with my personal styling posts so here's an update: Sometimes I DO dress it up a notch. Enter this loud pink suit. I don't always wear funky prints and aloha shirts, I promise.
As you know by now I collect bolo ties from all parts of the US and beyond. Lucky for me my friends Katie & Jordan Stecks up in Seattle took the time amidst busy married life (and soon to be expecting baby number one) to source this vintage bolo tie and send it to me snail mail. Not only was it the sweetest most thoughtful act ever I seriously love getting old fashioned letters/packages in the mail. Especially packages with bolo ties! Did I mention bolo ties enough in this paragraph? :) I am so happy.
Western Beige
Photos by Shay McGinnis
I found another killer seventies dress shirt the other day so had to post about it. The long collar and the mural print had me drooling instantly. The shirt looks like a large Hokusai painting on canvas was cut perfectly into a tailored men's dress shirt. It seemed appropriate to throw on a classic brown leather bolo tie recently purchased at In Retrospect Vintage down in good old Long Beach on 4th Street. This shirt gave me western vibes so I styled it accordingly!
Cactus Cool
Cactus Cool | photography by Shay McGinnis
I found this long sleeve shirt/sweater situation last week and I felt that it was mandatory to photograph such a patterned piece among cactus and desert terrain. Something about this piece felt very New Mexico to me. It was also necessary to wear these beige trousers from Urban Outfitters and these fun vintage boots I found in Brooklyn on Bedford Ave. With the help of my lovely friend Shay we adventured into a mountainside in the Inland Empire and discovered lots of natural rock and cacti for days - a perfect back drop for this ensemble! Oh how I love Southern Cali... :)
Sweater Envy
Photography by Amber Sterling
Sweaters hold a soft spot in my heart (pun intended). Though this vintage wool sweater isn't technically soft, I fell in love with the geometric shapes instantly. As per usual I layered the sweater with an obnoxiously loud button down shirt underneath, perfect for a Fall/Winter look.
The Color Red
The Color Red | photography by Amber Sterling
This week I spent a lot of time thinking about vintage blazers. I often buy suit jackets and blazers with the best intentions of wearing them out and about but sadly many of them just sit in my closet collecting dust. I found this killer double breasted red suit jacket months ago here in LA and decided this week it was time I cement it into the archives here on my fashion diary.
The color red is often challenging to pull off. It can make your skin look orange and depending on the garment can come across like you're competing with a fire engine or Heinz tomato ketchup. You've got to style the color red selectively. I found that wearing black underneath a red jacket really offsets the brightness. In this instance I threw on a vintage shirt with an abstract pattern found in the OC and paired it with a bolo tie I discovered in Shelton, Wa at a tiny little thrift shop. The culmination of all these pieces may just make me look like a circus conductor from the 1950's set somewhere in Texas or Arizona - but I am okay with that! I embrace the eccentricity of mixing and matching these colors and styles. I hope it inspires you to try something new with your wardrobe!