You know what they say you learn something new everyday - well TODAY this wonderful Monday afternoon, while surfing around at lunch - found out that Vogue has several sites on its Italian location specific types of women...I fell in like with VBLACk and VCURVE.  Yes my friends, never would I have imagined that you would have these specific sites on VOGUE but I'm so pleased to have found them - I have favorited them for sure.

It has interesting reading like - Why Zara hasn't expanded in the US...they suspect because American women are to "big" for the brand.

Anyway, if you get a chance to get it out I suggest you do. 

Happy Reading!
'elle

I know I know – where did I go once again?  It's been far too long since I’ve written.  Last month, in Chicago we had the Art of Fashion 2012 Event (presented by StyleChicago.com) which hosted events on fashion for the entire week - there were lectures and symposiums and everything you could want to learn more about how to get into fashion or to build your brand in fashion. 

I  being the self-proclaimed fashionista made sure that I attended a few events.  I went to the Designers of the Chicago Fashion Incubator (presented by Macy’s) which is a fashion show for the 'up-and-coming' fashion designers.  I also treated myself to VIP tickets to the big fashion show on Friday hosting all the well-known Chicago designers.

The experience was both educational and inspiring!  I learned that I could  {should I choose} be a designer, I think partly – as I was recently told, I’m "critical".  In my meaning of that characteristic means I’m very much about the details of things – and I noticed in the Incubator show there were lots of details overlooked.  Now I know its easy for me to sit on the sidelines and critique – and perhaps that might be my calling…but I think it helps to make one betterby looking the opportunities to improve.  Fabric choices, fabric colors and sewing were my main hang-ups…aside from the model selections.  Overall it was great to see the show – see how things are produced and executed and I definitely will go again next year.

Standouts from the Incubator show: Elizabeth Smith Fashions (my favorite by far) (efashions.com)Lagi Nadeau (laginadeau.com) and Zamrie (zamrie.com) had some good outfits too

Moving on to the ‘REAL’ show – Friday was where it was at!  The models, the clothing, everything was all on point!  It was such fun seeing the clothing of these designers and it truly made me want to walk the runway.  Designers you may know are Borris Powell, Lara Miller, Michelle Tan and SWABY (Shernett Swaby) and many others.

If you love fashion like I do, and trust me living in Chicago you see it all the time on the streets...its nice sometimes to purposefully seek it out by those that do it very well.  Hooray for Chicago and their Fashion scene – not quite that of NYC and others, however we’re making progress Forward. 

Until next time…
‘elle

Pictures of the shows/designers & Me!

I haven't forgotten all of you by any means, I have lots to share for now I'll keep it short. 

I'm excited about going to the Chicago Incubator Fashion show tonight which showcases hopeful fashion stars from around the chicagoland area.  I'm interested to see what they put together and who will be there - I'll post pictures later.  I will say that I'm sporting my new B&M shoes tonight for the event...get a load of these babies!! 

Have a great night

I seem to primarily write in the Fall, as I'm generally more excited about the Fall/Winter fashion than anything else...not sure why but its the perfect weather - that cool crisp air, you can layer on pieces to that make the outfit or that will unveil the outfit.

I was looking through Fall 2012 Fashion pages and I found 'Global Aristocrat' I like the term and even more I like the style that went along with it - very 'michelle-esque'.  I just wanted to put pen to paper and let you know that I have Fall on the mind - I'm going to try to start capturing some of my daily styling - with work its sometimes hard, but the weekend styling has been pretty fun.  In addition, I'll continue to share my house adventures.

I just replaced the faucets in the bathroom - a mess, and long overdue but its a subtle difference that likely only I can tell but I'm just as happy.  Oh, and I got a new couch with means more living room redecorating since now I have to get rid of the love seat, which I'm planning on replacing with 2 wingback chairs. {wish me luck on that one - wingback chairs on a DIY budget aught to be interesting}

Have a great day and stay tuned for more...I have sewing projects in the wings too!

happy styling!
'elle

I generally like to think of myself as more of a fashionista, but as of late, I have been getting the interior design / crafty "bug" and have started to doing little things around the house.  Take for example my latest collage of DIY projects. 


It started when one Friday I decided to go to a few Estate sales.  I found one that had a bolt of fabric.  I didn't need the fabric but none the less for $5 and a WHOLE LOT OF FABRIC later I decided I should figure something out. 


It started with the "closet".  I needed to hide the large trash can of dog food, mop, swiffer and broom/dust pan that were nestled in the corner by the refrigerator.  Project 1: I can make a curtain closet! - and so it begins.


Then it progressed to - what else can I do?  Mother's day was around the corner...what started out as a joke (since my mom and I bought almost the same fabric when we live 1,000 miles away from each other has to tell you something about how close we are) I thought I'd make a tote for her so she can see up close what my fabric looked like.  Project 2: I can made a tote bag, with blue crochet flowers.


Still having tons of fabric left...and my kitchen is now going with a black & taupe theme, I decided to spruce up the area by Beau.  I made him a little name tag - to show how special he is to me.  Project 3: The B was born, with grommet embellishment.  {I think Beau is pleased.}


I had a canvas board that was covered with a fabric that I no longer liked and the little pin-up board on the wall above Beau's feeding area just needed something more ( it was really too small for the space) Project 4: I recovered the canvas board, mounted the pin-board to it and now it all coordinates and fills the space much better.


4 projects - 1 fabric.  And I still have plenty left...I wonder what I'll do next!???

Recently I was featured in the Apartment Therapy website-- how excited was I to have this rare opportunity to share myself and my home with tons of strangers.  Here is the link and a little sample of what was shared...I hope you like it.

MICHELLE’S TRADITIONAL + FASHION FORWARD



While it's not universal, it is often true that folks gifted with the "good-fashion" gene are gifted with similarly good taste in home design. In the case of Michelle, a radiant seamstress/fashionista, one can certainly see this aesthetic cross-pollination. Her personal style and that of her home generally tend toward the classic, but she manages to keep it updated, fresh and interesting with a bit of glitz and whimsy.

michelles-traditional-glam-house-tour

The comments that I got on the house and my shoes were well worth the effort/stress to do this - may have a new calling for interior design??

Color, Color and more Color

I was reading recently an interview of an aspiring designer. The interviewer asked her what advice that she'd been given that she actually follows.  She said Chanel's - not to wear more than 3 colors.  While many of us probably think that’s a feat in itself (winter its usually black on black with a side of black), I thought that was limiting – especially now when Spring is apon us.  How can you color block with only 3 colors I ask?

Think about it.


My shirt – 1 color
My skirt – 1 color
My shoes – 1 color
My nail polish – 1 color or 2 depending if match my fingers…(yes sometimes I get lazy!)
My accessories – 1 color
My purse – I color
Total colors = 7

How do you only get to 3 colors? Even if I wore a dress I’d have more than 3 colors. So my advice to you – wear what makes you happy and trust me; you’ll know when you have too many colors on!  My latest color obsession...…Revlon Fashionista nail polish (how can you not love it based on the name alone!) – it makes me so happy.  With my skin tone it’s the perfect blue; bright without being adolescent - $5 at Walgreens.

Get your COLOR ON LADIES (you guys too!)
Elle

Revlon Fashionista

Professional vs Passion kinda of day

There are those days when you are just not feeling inspired…I think that might be me today; but more so in my “professional” job than in my “passion” (not quite a job just yet - someday!!). I’m sitting here, trying to figure out how to best attack my list of clients – which I think right now is so daunting that I can’t even get my head around it; so I’m abstaining from moving forward.


However, some how, I am full of ideas/thoughts in my “passion” world…I don’t for some reach get overwhelmed …I feel like there is so much to learn, to see and to try, but yet I never feel like ‘oh man I’ll never do X or Y’ – and trust me as I read the magazines and I watch the online fashion shows and visit websites there is A LOT to take in, but it all makes sense it all works.

The Fashion World is getting ready for SPRING…which is by far my favorite, but I think I say that about every seasonal change…simply i like the change, I like the new choices of fabrics, layering, colors, accessories - you name it I love it. Guess that’s why I was a ‘change agent’ – (professional) for a time.

So today, I felt inspired to be a little bold… and I’m always inspired by what I see, I hope that I can also inspire someone else to be you – be fresh – be beautiful.

…Perhaps I need to turn my client list into some pretty visual pictures!

Next week is Spring (March 20th) and I cannot wait, I hope you’re looking forward to it as well!

Happy Spring Shopping!

Spring is around the Corner....Are you getting ready??

I think I'm like many of you; you don't have enough closet space to contain all the wonderful clothes, shoes, purses etc.  What do we do? We use the garage, basement or storage unit to contain the overflow.  Not the best solution but it's an option until we get that perfect Sex in the City walk-in closet.  Recently (actually just this past weekend) I decided to go through the mass of "stuff" in the basement that I hadn't thought about in many many months.  It was a great experience.  I literally felt like I was shopping in my own little resale shop.

What did I find you might ask?

1. There were lots of things that needed to go to Goodwill and I was pleased to be able to do that!
2. There were some items that I can take to consignment and actually make a few dollars!
3. There were items that I found that I can still wear in the Winter - I actually found my ski pants that had gone missing!!
4. And there were items that I found for the Spring/Summer that I had packed away and didn't realize I had plus they are actually in style...like these awesome JCrew white shorts - didn't know I had them but I think I'll be rockin' them with summer wedge sandals.

So I urge you to go through your items, determine what to donate, what you keep for current season and what you can leverage for the upcoming season.  I had some good surprises and at the end of the day I was able to donate 3 large bags of clothes, shoes etc. - allowing me to pass the style on to someone else.

And I cannot tell a lie...this now frees me up to possible get a few more things!

Good luck with your own closet, basement, storage clean out.

Its a Family Affair...

Some of you may know that over the Christmas break, I had my parents in town spending the holidays, as well as becoming my support for an upcoming Full Hip Replacement surgery just before the new year.  In anticipation of their arrival, I created a wonderful Family-Do list.  This list was to ensure that the little things and big things I could get my dad to fix/do around the house were itemized; as well as the fun things we should do to keep us busy and having fun were well documented.  Over the course of 2 1/2 weeks we worked against our list of items and we were able to re-purpose and create new craft projects for ourselves.

The craft project below is by far my favorite (and it wasn't on the list).  I already had a little stand that held a few pairs of shoes, but it was fun to take my old wall art project and "amp" it up to another level.  It really was as family project...taking all 3 of us to work through the conception, execution and evaluation. 

Thanks Mom and Dad.

Party Planning 101

Happy to report that I might have a new calling in life - Party Planner!!  Last weekend, Rainbow and I hosted a baby shower for our friend Kristen.  The theme (cause you have to have a theme) was High Tea.  We didn't know the baby's gender so we went with a baby green color on the invites and the decor and things turned out beautiful.  We had baby 'onesys' as decoration, we had a baby shower banner that looked liked it came from etsy.com.  Everyone received a tea cup in which to enjoy their tea, as it also served as their party favor - genius right!?

Rainbow made great finger sandwiches and I did the desserts.  The baby diaper cake after a little negotiation turned out beautiful...we garnished with fresh flowers and it was the the star of the show.

Shall I say that its in the details my friends when planning a party and being a great hostess - well it is.  And its hard work, but its more gratifying than I thought possible.  I cannot wait to host again! - Anyone having a party??!! 

Happy event planning, even if its a weekday dinner 2 at home.

I've missed you!

Happy New Year, albeit its February already...but I'm going to re-engage with my blog! {even if it goes into a black hole!}.  I've already started thinking of topics and ideas to share -  from a personal style & fashion to interior design. 

I shall start with my current shoe obsession of Jeffery Campbell.  Don't get me wrong this would not be my first pair either - found another pair to love last summer at Chicago- Laura's Shoe store.  In my effort to overshare, I posted this same photo on Facebook for all to see.  This is a reward myself for my good "hip" behavior i.e. I haven't done anything too crazy since my new hip replacement, therefore these will be my naughty new pleasure.  These have come with ohhs and ahhs and some Oh-Nos, but I don't care...I love them therfore I shall have them.

Jeffery Campbell - Lift

Its nice to be back.