Two New Projects

My closet's getting cleaner but my jewelry and shoes are still TOTALLY out of control. In both situation's I'm probably only wearing about 20% of what I own and that's partly because I can't find anything with it all unorganized and piled up. I even have MORE shoes under my bed that I never wear because I forget about them. These things will get tackled soon!!!

April's Castoffs

Even though I did a huge purge in April when I flipped to my spring and summer wardrobe, I still pushed myself to get rid of at least 5 things at the end of the month. I still have so much more than I'll ever wear so I need to keep paring down.

Tossed:
A black Old Navy dress that I wore to death last summer. It's worn out and not as flattering as my new one.
A Wine colored halter dress from Target that could not be less my style - I never wore this once.
A Michael Stars T and a James Perse T, both for the same reason: Too tight on my stomach and I don't have a six-pack.
And a wonderful gold sequin tank that I LOVE but can't wear because it scratches up my arms too much. From The Limited I think.

Except the gold tank, I didn't love any of this stuff and the Tee's weren't even flattering. Wouldn't it be awesome to open your closet every day and LOVE everything in it? That's what I'm aiming for!

Now the shoes, these were a last minute toss. I wear none of these pairs due to heel hight. The Cole Haan's have never been worn, so I'm taking them to consignment, and the other two are going to a resale store and will hopefully sell for a few bucks.

April's Purchases

Here are my April Purchases and they make me a little sad. Lemme tell you why.

Tory Burch Cherry Dress - I LOVE this dress and wore it twice in April and think it will stay in style for years. $395

Ok - the other dress...I love, but I don't LOVE, and it was an impulse purchase, and it was (GULP) $545 from Anya Ponorovskaya.

So my monthly budget was blown. I spent $940, basically $200 more than I should, and I do regret it a little. I wore the dress once, and it's super flattering. I also think the cut is retro enough to stay in style. But again, I don't LOVE it. And of course - small designer = no return policy.

I've worn it once to a wedding, and it's pretty, but have really preferred to spend it on something else.

Sparkle for Day and Night

I'm going from work to see Ricky Gervais at Madison Square Garden tonight so I needed an outfit that would work in both settings. So here I am - I like this outfit.

Muse High Waisted Flares (Joe's Jeans, $167)
Brown stretch cami (The Limited, $30)
Nude Booties (Nine West, $99)
Sparkly Sweater - bought this at Arden B probably 8 or 9 years ago - no idea how much but over $100

Maybe Ricky will see me sparkling in the stands and call me up on stage and we'll dance and then I'll get a hit sitcom set in New York....oh wait, wrong guy.

This is easy after the muffin top!

Posting a picture of yourself online in a bathing suit is not fun, but it was easier than I thought. And hey, that's what I'm here for. This is my favorite new bathing suit and it was (GULP) $345 at Diane Von Furstenburg. I have been wanting a retro styled suit for a while, and when I say this one it just made me smile from ear to ear. Could have been the bottle of champagne I drank at the Standard Hotel just before buying it, but we'll never really know. Today was my first wear and it still makes me smile. It's a special suit and I'll take VERY good care of it and hand wash it, etc.
Second shot is my full "head to the pool" ensemble complete with hat ($78) and a black cover up from Old Navy($20). I think I got the white sunglasses from a street vendor in New York. Tres Florida indeed!

Beach Blog

I may be the whitest girl on the planet, but I still love a good beach vacation. I'm in sunny Sarasota, FL until Monday so I'm going to try and pull off that "effortless beach vibe" and be beachy without being sloppy. While I am learning to go for the better quality clothes that look better, Summer is one time I plan to make an exception. This dress I'm wearing, for example, was $15 at Old Navy and LOVE it. Super comfy and cute. The hat was a "big" ish purchase in my opinion. It was $78 at Paragon Sports, which seems like a lot for something made of frickin' straw. (What is that, like a nickel a bushel? It's dead grass.) . They also had one for $38 that had some gold beading that I 85% liked and I almost bought it. But then I remembered the whole point of the blog.

I loved the $78 hat (from Hat Attack, you can buy here). It flopped perfectly and was the right stiffness and looked cute. I've probably purchased eight ok over the years, now that I have the perfect one, I can cut that out.

Flip flops are cute Calvin Klein's with a Tortoise shell detail which always brings in the compliments! It think I paid about $128 three years ago for them. Well worth the price.

PS - Old Navy is also great for mix and match swim. If you like wearing a different bikini each day of your vacation like I do, you can't beat the price and selection at Old Navy. So many choices all at $15 per piece. Will they last forever, no, but you don't really need them too. By next summer you'll want new ones anyway.

Fakey Fakerton.

You may recall a post a while back about a dreamy pair of Louboutin's that I could not afford at Barney's. (Read original post here.) Well, yesterday I was doing a search for them to see if they were, perchance, on sale. The short answer is NO.

The long answer is that I stumbled upon this site where they were $159. What? $585 at Barney's and only $159 here, plus free shipping and no sales tax?? Too good to be true? TOTALLY. Kim and I took a good look and feel fairly certain that this site sells nothing but fakes.

Now, here's my quandary: Do I buy the fakes or not??

There are some pretty solid arguments against it. It's totally unfair to the designer, it's stealing really and hurts the industry as a whole. On the other hand, maybe if Mr. Louboutin didn't charge $585 for shoes, people wouldn't be knocking them off.

Readers - What do you think??

Yummy Neutral

Gorgeous top in a trendy neutral. Satin can go day-to-night as well. DVF on sale - this is a steal that you can wear a million ways! Snap it up!

Four years old and a FIRST TIME WEAR!

Wow - I cannot believe I'm finally wearing this dress. I bought this dress about 4 years ago. it was one of the earlier Target Designer collaborations - with Proenza Schuler. It was priced at $39, I think, but I remember paying close to $100 on Ebay because I really wanted it. Then it sat in my closet for 4 years. super smart huh? The colors are a little wild but I like the navy piping - it seems to anchor it a bit. Paired it with my Tory Burch Wedges ($288 ) and called it a day.

What do you think?? Should it go in the donation pile, or become a summer staple??

PS - headed to Florida for a beachy weekend on Thursday - this may be a must pack.

Rainy Monday

Getting hot and humid here in NYC so this was probably not the best outfit, but I was (say it with me) RUNNING LATE! It was along weekend and there was not much time for prep the night before but I feel like I did ok. At least looks somewhat put together!

Theory BF Blazer ($398)
BR Skinny Jeans ($89)
DKNY Twist Tee ($69 - major sale at 6pm.com)
Cole Haan Bacara Flats ($138)