In Heaven, Masculine Meets Feminine

I remember when I was in the third grade, a boy named Corey wore a purple corduroy skirt to school.  It completely baffled the entire class. The third grade world was all a'twitter before there even was Twitter. It was all anyone could talk about. When asked why he wore a skirt to school he simply said, "I wanted to.  Why can only girls wear skirts?"  Wow!  So simple. So true.  Out of the mouths of babes as they say.  Fashion has always reflected the climate of the world; politics, art, technology.  Coco Chanel is credited as making it acceptable for women to wear pants.  Now 80 years later Marc Jacobs, one of today's most recognized designers, can often be seen sporting a dress.  The times are a changin' and the hard and fast rules of what women and men can wear, from fabrics to colors, to shapes have gone out the window leaving a veritable fashion playground, and this season women are like kids at recess!   Mixing feminine and masculine can be a fun way to dabble with your personal style.  Combining looser fits with more figure hugging silhouettes can create a more interesting look than just the expected.  Big trends we are seeing this season are men's oxford style shoes and smoking slippers being paired with softer hues and feminine lines.  Put on an over-sized sweater with your skinny jeans.  Don a tough boot with a frilly flirty dress (Frye boots have been a long time "go to" for this look. (now available at Williams Shoes).  For some much celebrated inspiration in this vain check out Diane Keaton in Annie Hall.  One of the things I personally love about this style is it portrays a confident woman who isn't afraid to challenge the traditional idea of femininity or masculinity for that matter.  A woman who knows not everyone is going to approve of the look and doesn't care is a woman I care for. It can be comfortable and stylish and so easy to make personal.  This season in fashion heaven:  Masculine meets feminine!

Fall White

Making things work from one season to the next can reaaaally stretch your wardrobe and often times lead you to new and interesting outfits you may have not considered putting together before.  You may have heard of the classic summer nautical look (navy and white) and maybe you have heard the words "winter white" being tossed around here and there.  So ladies,  what's up with fall?  Can you wear white in fall?  I say, ABSOLUTELY!  Our off white ankle jean from Blank we had all summer (now 40% off)  can easily be turned into a classy fall look with a cotton knit sweater from Wooden Ships and Whiskey colored leather boots from Miz Mooz to warm things up :) The gold cutout necklace from Fair Earth really takes the outfit from good, to, great with a splash of sass. What things will you be taking from Summer into fall?  Come in and find new fabulous pieces to fallify your old ones! To see more pics of this look check out our facebook page and to buy click here!

P.O.V.

What is P.O.V you ask?  If you ever watch the Food Network, particularly "Next Food Network Star," you will see the panel of judges constantly talking about Point Of View or P.O.V. for short.  In almost every episode they stress how important it is to have a specific point of view that makes you unique, cohesive and stylized.  It doesn't mean for a second that a contestant who defines themselves as an Italian chef could not make an Indian dish.  They just need to find a way to make it reflect their own P.O.V.  An example of this would be to incorporate Indian spices into a classic Italian pasta.  I think this idea translates beyond just food network stars and is a worthwhile thing to think about not only in your fashion style but in life.  How do you present yourself?  What does your style say about you?  Diana Vreeland, former Vogue editor and one of the most influential fashion figures of the 20th century, said "what magazines gave us was a point of view, most people haven't got a point of view."  This of course can be debated but the fact remains:  Every woman should have a point of view.  What traits about your personality do you love that you want to accentuate through your wardrobe?  I consider myself to be a fun loving, adventurous person, feminine and as a classic Leo, I love a bit of luxury.  I find myself feeling best in and dressing to express these things.  Comfortable to be ready for adventure, a bit of drama with an interesting neckline or a leather skirt to express a bit of fun and always jewelry or a voluminous scarf to add a lux feel to my outfits. What is your P.O.V.?  Come in to the store and we will personally help you find the things that make you feel your best and present YOU to the world!

Lots o' Dots

Everyone who knows me well knows that I am absolutely positively the worst liar ever.  In high school my parents were going to let me have a sleep over with all my friends (sans parental supervision).  When they asked me if we were planning on having alcohol, my giggle fit had the sleep over immediately canceled and me realizing that if I had to lie to save my life I would probably end up dead.  The point is, I'm gonna be honest, this seasons trend of polka dots is not my favorite.  I find polka dots almost annoying, busy, perhaps even a bit childish.  However it's a big one for fall so I started to look into it more.  There are some extremely interesting, out of the box ways to carry this out which end up being more textural, more sophisticated and more interesting than perhaps the polka dot headbands you remember your kindergarten cohorts wearing. If you click here you can see different ways designers have put together looks for fall using dots.  I particularly like the looks that have a plain dress with a sheer black tight with small black dots peeking from under with a sassy pair of boots.  It's just a dash so to speak.  Another look I found very original is where the dots were created out of texture as opposed to the actual pattern on the tight.  Finally, where dots were taken in a more literal sense I found myself being most drawn to a dark dot against a dark background.  It's a little more unexpected and a little less..dotsy.  Our dot pattern from Sweet Pea shown above is one of the dark on dark dots and would look great with a dark jean or black dress pants and a blazer for a more corporate look.  What do you think about the lots o' dots trend we are seeing for fall?

Fall Trends: Episode 3: Skin Is In

Skin bags when under your eyes are the devil's work and definitely not a fashion look to covet.  However when skin bags have a strap/s and you carry your stuff in it, it's totally fierce.  This season we are seeing bags made from skins real or fake everywhere.  Think python, ostrich, crocodile (preferably faux for the sake of the critters) to add depth and texture to any outfit.  Our crossbody bag from Latico available in black and brown is rich looking and, made from recycled materials, comes without the hefty price tag of a real animal skin bag.  We particularly love this because it's practical and classy. The cross-body feature allows you to have fun and book it while maintaining your "look."  What do you think?  Will you be rocking the skin bags this season?

Fall Trends: Episode 2: The Bootie Factor

Shake your booties tra la la la.  Shake your booties.  This season booties are in every company's collection, every store and on every celebrity and I am ready to join the movement...are you?  I first started noticing these on Sienna Miller.  She was photographed multiple times wearing a pair from rag and bone.  As of late I have seen even more celebrities rocking this trend like Gwyneth Paltrow and Misha Barton.  Some of us don't have legs that go on for days and may feel hesitant that these won't be the most flattering.  I say throw on a pair of tights the same color as the booties to continue the line and make your legs look longer.  Another option is to wear them with pants that flair a bit (another big trend this season which I will get to soon).  The pair we've got that just arrived today from EVERYBODY featured above is perfect for pairing with dresses or pants and a black and brown combo always feels so European to me (almost always a good thing when it comes to fashion).  Stay tuned for the arrival of more booties and more Fall 2012 trends to come and check us out on www.williamsshoesonline.com to make them yours!

Silver on Silver

Yesterday as I sat outside at a cafe on my day off reading the worst book ever written (50 Shades of Grey) I became rather bored and started to people watch, day dream, sip my iced chai and wonder how many times an author can say murmur and why she didn't use a thesaurus.  Anyways, out of nowhere I see a gorgeous silver Cadillac with silver detailing.  I have loved Cadillacs since as long as I can remember coveting a Gold Cadillac Coup Deville in my younger years and now admiring the more modern sleek designs which, while not as "vintage cool" would make a sassy ride for a city girl.  So why am I talking about Cadillacs when I am supposed to be writing about fashion and my boutique, Next Door?  Well seeing this gorgeous thing drive by in its subtle metallic silver with silver metal detailing made me think just how good a silver dress/top or even grey with bold silver jewelry (enough to really stand out and pop) is undeniably chic and rich looking.  They don't call them luxury cars for nothin' right?  This look can also be carried off with gold on gold or some variation of gold ie: mustard or camel and will perhaps be a bit more on trend since gold is everywhere this season.  What do you think?  Would you rock the silver on silver or gold on gold look?