Meet Virginia

Wouldn't it be nice to have another pair of eyes looking in on your closet and making outfits out of your rarely touched items? Those clothes and accessories that you HAD to have but have since been lost in the jungle of your closet or you've lost your passion for. Well, I recently dove into my friend's (and new client's) closet and gave it the fine-toothed, comb-over!

Virginia's wonderful boyfriend gifted her with a shopping spree by a stylist (myself) and I went to town. (Men, take note...this is GRRRREAT gift!) Literally, I went to town...I headed to Atlanta to hit some shops that we don't have in Nashville...yet.

I gotta tell you a little bit about Virginia before I tell you about my mission. This girl already has style and great body to wear her clothes, but just like most people, she had clothes that she bought because they were 1.) on sale 2.) really unique or 3.) a trend of the season. What had happened is that she had a lot of clothes that she didn't neccessarily know how to put together with other things in her closet. She fell into the rut of pairing a nice top with jeans. Every cool shirt she pulled from her closet, I would ask, "What do you wear that with?" and with out fail, she quipped, "Jeans." So, my mission was to buy some new pieces but also create combos and give her new ideas around which she wear the rest of her OVER FLOWING closet!

We ransacked her closet and I made a list and checked it twice and here is what I came up with:

Chunky strappy black platforms
Nude strappy platforms
blazer that goes with everything
burnout tanks
basic A-line mini skirts in several colors
flea market jewelry gems and one-of-a-kind pieces

With my list in hand I hit the streets. Once, I drove into Atlanta I GPS'd my destinations and went full throttle. I hit up H&M first and found and structual white, summery blouse (that I later paired with a beautiful pencil skirt with a watercolor print from Zara) and a fun fringy scarf. I headed from there to a flea market and found an armful of bangles. I wanted every single one for myself...which is always a good sign that I'm on the right track!

Dillards was a one stop shop for shoes and they had a great selection. Usually, I'm a boutique shopper, but this department store is not bad for finding great styles for reasonable prices. I flipped out over this Gianni Bini shoe, and even though it wasn't on the list, I snapped it up for Virginia.

Urban Outfitters and Zara rounded out the rest of my shopping spree where I loaded up on skirts, belts and THE blazer. I love this blazer...and as you can tell, so does Virginia. Here she is trying her hand at a little golf, sporting a skinny pair of black pants and riding boots she already owned, with this gorgeous, drapy blazer from Zara. Since she's had this in her wardrobe, she's worn it consistently over dresses and jeans...I would wear it to bed, too, I love it so much!

So, here's a little insight into the shopping experience we deliver for our customers...who quickly become friends. We bring our haul of clothes to your home and play dress up and mix and match. And we're glad to come every season and sniff out the good for you, so that you can shop your own closet with confidence, knowing that you DO have something to wear and it WILL look fabulous!
P.S. The sexy new haircut was done by my friend and hair stylist extraordinaire, Brian Hickman, who works out of Fruition Salon, right here in Nashville! Check him out on the Fruition Fan page on Facebook!

For more information on how you can get "Styled" go to Panache!

Local Honey

Local Honey Boutique

Although our great little city has a plethora of amazing places to shop (and still growing), I seem to always end up in one spot when I am looking for the perfect thing to wear. 

Local Honey Boutique sells vintage and locally hand made clothing. No matter what, I always know I am going to find something intriguingly original. 

Three of my favorite designers in the store include: White Rabbit, Valentine Valentine and Shannon Lea Clothing. Not only are these women talented, they work hard to bring you something stylistically innovative and fresh. 

It is the number one place in Nashville to shop... hands down.

Check it out!   

White Rabbit

Shannon Lea

Valentine Valentine

Springtime Totes

I WANT THEM ALL...                                     

Tori Burch

Marc Jacobs

Tori Burch

Tori Burch

John Varvatos

I love the Fall collection for John Varvatos...in fact, I love mostly everything that John Varvatos designs. He captures just the right essence of manliness, style and cut with his clothing and accessories for men. Just look at him, he exudes confidence and style:

I want to enlighten men about this line if they have not yet heard of it, because you can't go wrong picking out clothes from this designer. And women, if you want to dress your significant other to the nines, this can be a one stop shop!

His fall line incorporates a black and graphite color palate and has the feeling of deconstructed English gentleman:

The loose scarf and tie shown here with beautifully tailored suit is perfect for work or take off the jacket and hit happy hour.

Many of his looks included adding a chunkier, more sculptural tie clip. It's a small detail that shows you put some thought into your look and the chunky, graphic look is very masculine. This piece is a great gift for your man's birthday!


This look is similar with the oversized saftey pins that are linking the vest together. Adding an urban twist to a very sleek suit.


Their campaign for fall reminds me of a "mad men" era with modern shades. All around, a big hit in my book and men looking to make an good impression should take note of this designer!

Flatter Your Assets

When you are dressing your unique body, take into consideration the aspects of your body that you want to flaunt. Here are a few tips on choosing a dress that will do just that!

Don a halter or a one-shoulder dress to show off your sculpted shoulders and arms:

Milla Jovovich

If you have gorgeous gams than play them up with a mini skirt:

Christian Dior Spring '09 RTW


Ann Demeulemeester Spring '09 RTW

A low back dress will show off the time you've spent on p90x:

Hilary Swank doing the backless red-carpet gown just right....Oscars 2005

For a tiny waist, snap up a high-waisted a-line skirt:

Christian Dior Spring '09 RTW

Happy hunting for these flattering shapes...

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Costume Design

The wardrobe for this movie is absolutely insane. The costume designer Jacqueline West has been nominated for two Oscars for costume design; One for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in 2009 and the other for the movie "Quills" in 2001. The photos above are three of my favorites.

In the first photo, Cate Blanchett is dressed in the infamous red dress constructed by Jacqueline West herself. She says it was greatly influenced by the designs of Claire McCardell, one of the top costume designers in the 1940's and 1950's.

I love, love this dress!

As for Brad Pitt, dressed only in the chicest attire haute couture has to offer, he was a little more than easy on the eyes.

Oh how we love the 1940's...

Gather your Pennies

  Loafers Are Back

Inspiration

I'm so taken with this look...I'm thinking about drawing on these photos for inspiration in styling a new artist that I'm working with. These pictures were taken for Vogue Italia by Richard Burbridge. I love the mix of moulin rouge/rocker/soft/tough combo that is communicated by these clothes. This look really has all the perfect ingredients!

The Perfect Pair

So, I was picking out some wine for a dinner party and I picked up a brilliant tip from my guy at Midtown Wine and Spirits. His money saving tip will allow me to save some cash (in this lousy ecomony) and free up some more cash for my clothing budget! So what's the scoop? He always makes a point to look up the menu of a restaurant he is planning to go to and see what they offer on the wine list. He then picks a wine that will pair well with the food and brings his own bottle...or two! By going this route, he saves a significant amount on his bill and enjoys gorgeous bottle of wine while paying a nominal 10-20 dollar corkage fee. Most restaurants are very open to this and the corkage fee is minimal. In the end, he pays a lot less and gets to drink a better bottle of wine!

You may wonder what wine and fashion have anything to do with each other, but besides implementing this tip to free up more cash in the budget for fabulous clothes, wine and fashion have always been a perfect pair. Over the years wine, champagne and fashion have made a decadent trio.

Karl Lagerfeld made a match with Dom Perignon in 2006 and 2007 shooting a campaign with first Eva Herizgova and then Claudia Schiffer in 2007. The fashion and the staging is sexy and edgy (if not a little chauvinistic) but the pairing made a beautiful collaboration.


So, next time you are hitting a new hot spot in town, bring a bottle of your favorite bubbly or rich red and save a few bucks. Spend that extra cash on a great clutch....or your mortgage (reality may kick in)!

COVER GIRLS

A couple blogs back I let you all know that we were going to be in the March issue of W 25 Magazine and I just wanted to give you an update...out of all the wonderful fashion photo shoots in that issue, our team pulled the cover. I'm proud to work with such a stellar, professional team. Check it out!