Sorry for the delay, I was studying for the New York bar, and haven't had much time to devote to blogging. But it's over, and so I'll hopefully be back! I don't know how many of you watch House of Cards, but I do, and I love it. I've been on a kick lately where I've been wanting to buy work clothes that Claire Underwood would wear. If I had the income, I would splurge on a lot of Victoria Beckham clothes. Sadly I don't, but there's always Zara! I first tried on this structured piece in Chicago, and I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. I also knew, however, I could wait for it to go on sale. Once it did, I snapped it up after the first price cut because I did not think it would last long. It's structured and fits really well, instead of looking boxy, like some work clothing tends to look. I would wear this look to a networking event, it's not quite conservative enough for a law firm. I have it paired with a pair of red pumps I picked up last year (also from Zara). It's a black dress, so it can work with any color shoe, really.
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So as a new attorney whose closet basically consists of casual things, things to wear out, and some nicer things for special occasions, I found myself lacking in the business casual or professional department. To remedy that, I have been trying to find clothing that is both work appropriate (for when i find a job) and affordable. That leads me to this find, from Banana Republic! It comes in this vivid red color, black, and a fuchsia purplish color. I opted for red since I recently got a sort of networking work appropriate dress from Zara earlier this season in black (I'll blog about that eventually). This dress is appropriate for work, but still cute to wear, and not shapeless at all, like some work clothing can be. Now, I first saw this dress online for $140. Banana Republic is definitely on the pricey side, but I find that it is extremely good quality. I firmly believe that when you need to buy something you're going to use over and over, then you should definitely splurge on it and buy a higher quality product. However, I don't have $140 to spare, and I figured the dress would probably eventually go on sale. It eventually went down to $99.99, but the great thing about Banana Republic is they'll often have markdowns of 40-50% on clothing. So I waited, and was able to get it for half off of the sale price, and with free shipping! You can pull it off with a black belt too, if you'd like. The only skinny black belt I have happens to have gold skulls on it, so I probably will not be pairing the two together if I'm trying to look professional. These are my designated work heels. They're not too high, not too uncomfortable, and they're really cute. I got them from the Zara sale last year, when I saw them by chance in the store. A black pump will be better for such a bright dress, so this is the pair I wear with it.
I was lucky enough to make it to Chicago this past Thanksgiving to celebrate the holiday with my sister. While I was there, we went shopping after going to the treelighting ceremony for the annual German Kristkindl Market. We walked by Anthropolgie, and I happened to see this beautiful dress in the store window, and I felt compelled to try it on. You can get it here. I don't often shop at Anthropologie; it's just way too expensive for me. However, there was just something about this dress that I had to have. It has a wonderful holiday feel to it, it's got some sparkle to it, and it's a color other than black! I tried it on before looking at the price tag, but when I did, I was shocked. It retailed at $229! There was no way I could afford it! Sadly, I put it back on the rack. I immediately googled Anthropologie's Black Friday sale policy, hoping that by some miracle this dress would be placed on super sale so I could buy it. Sadly, I found out that Anthropologie's BF sale isn't that great, but I learned that all their expensive dresses usually go on sale sooner rather than later, and almost always just before Monday mornings. I decided I would wait for it to go on sale before picking it up. Lo and behold, it eventually did go on sale, and I was able to snag one! It was a little pricier than I am usually willing to pay for clothes right now, but since it was just after the holidays, and I had some Christmas money leftover, I went for it because I knew I would not be happy without it. You'll see me wearing this dress around NYC next winter during the holidays! I find that a simple pair of black pumps works best with this dress. These are the ones I wear with my dress. For some reason I prefer a patent leather over suede with them, but both would probably work equally well!
While the rest of the country is stuck in the polar vortex snow, Southern California has been nothing but sunshine. Sunshine in SoCal tends to mean one thing--shorts weather! You can't ever go wrong with a traditional basic color, like black or blue denim. Not only do both of these colors go with anything, but you don't generally have to worry about whether or not you spill something on them, since it usually won't be too noticeable. Whenever I go to a festival like Coachella, I always make sure to pack a pair of blue and black denims with me. Since I'm slowly starting to transition away from my standard palette--black, white, gray, and a pop of red--I've been branching out over the past year by buying shorts in brighter colors, like pink and red, or unusual but still popping colors like mint or green. Though my shirt options tend to be a little more limited when I'm wearing a brighter pair of shorts, I find I rather like the world of brightly colored shorts. These all came from various sources. The pink and maroon were from Brandy Melville, the red and green from LuLu*s, the mint from Zara, one blue was a gift from my sister, the other two blues are from the Guess outlet at Citadel in LA, and the black were from H&M. Cute colored shorts are everywhere! What color do you like to wear best?
Pirates of the Caribbean (the first one; the next 2 were okay, the 4th one kind of unnecessary, but I love Johnny Depp as a pirate, so I'll take it) is one of my favorite movies. Since high school, therefore, I've had a great fondness for pirate, and pirate themed things. So when the Zara sale first began this season, and I saw these pirate boots, I added them to my list of things to purchase by the end of the sale. Get them here. They originally retailed at $189.99, but by the first price cut, had been slashed down to $129.99. Badass as these shoes were, I unfortunately did not have a spare $130 lying around with which to purchase them. So I figured I'd wait, and maybe by the end of the sale, they'd be down to about $40 or $50, which is infinitely more affordable. By the third price cut, the boots were retailing at maybe $60-70, I can't recall. But they still had plenty in stock online and in store, so I wondered, if I didn't buy them now, and kept waiting, would they go down any further? To my surprise, they did! Zara started cutting them every few days or so, until I noticed them online at $30! Many sizes were starting to sell out, so I figured it would be a great time to get them. Now I can proudly say I am the owner of these fabulous pirate boots! And, as of yesterday, I managed to purchase all of the items I had set out to buy this time around during the sale, for way less than retail! So, I will certainly be wearing these boots out in Williamsburg or Downtown LA sometime after the Feb NY bar exam. I'll also definitely be wearing them on any pirate ships I'm fortunate to travel on! After all, it is a pirate's life for me!
So Rihanna and MAC make a great team together. Rihanna previously teamed up with MAC to make two collaborations, and now she's back with a lipstick for their Viva Glam line, the proceeds of which are donated to MAC's AIDS Fund charity. You can buy one online here, or at your nearest MAC store, or MAC counter at Nordstrom, Macy's, Bloomingdales, wherever. I love love love lipstick, and I've liked the Rihanna collaborations, so when I found out a Viva Glam lipstick was coming out, I ordered one straight away! Here are the pictures, and a swatch! The box it came in, bearing her signature. I got one for my younger sister as well. These are all 3 of the Rihanna lipsticks I own. From left to right: Heaux, Pleasure Bomb, and Viva Glam. I love them all. This is what it looks like on me. It's not a matte like the other two Rihanna lipsticks I own are, which is nice. It rolls on smoothly, like MAC's Cockney or New York Apple, and has a blueish undertone to it, so it's more of a pinkish red (like a cherry color) than the bolder Ruby Woo. So then I swatched it alongside all my other MAC reds, and the one non-MAC lipstick I own. From left to right: Viva Glam Rihanna, MAC Red, Viva Glam Cyndi Lauper, Ruby Woo, Cockney, New York Apple, Relentlessly Red, Russian Red, and Julie Hewett's Rouge Noir.
As you see, it's not as bold nor does it have a matte finish; rather, it's frosted. It's more subtle, but I like it. Did you buy the Rihanna Viva Glam lipstick? If so, how do you like it? It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one is studying for the bar, one tends to be unemployed, and therefore poor. It is also a truth universally acknowledged that when one happens to be a girl, one happens to love shopping and cute things. Sadly, both of these truths apply to me. So what exactly does an unemployed recent graduate girl do about it? One finds ways to buy cute things for less than full price! Or at least buy cute things for an inexpensive full price! Zara's sale comes around twice a year, once around the holiday season, and once in the middle of the summer. I'm pretty sure it's my third favorite holiday, right after my birthday and Halloween, since you can usually snag super cute, trendy, well-made items for a lot less than they originally retailed for. Read as: I never pay full price for anything at Zara, because it will almost certainly go on sale if I hold out and wait for it. Furthermore, not only does Zara have this amazing sale, but it will cut the prices on most items up to 3 times, lessening its cost each time. Unfortunately, the cutest things tend to get sold out quickly, so those you have to grab during the first cut. But sometimes you get lucky, however, and can manage to find some cute things during the second and third cuts. For example, I managed to get the following two dresses, and pair of shoes just in the past two days alone, and for only $20 a piece! What a steal! This is the first of the pieces! It's a bright coral pinkish bodycon dress with opaqueish paneling on the top. I bought this because I'm a huge fan of bright colors that pop out at you. Also, my wardrobe tends to be black, more black, some gray and white, and even more black, so any color that I can find--great, I'm all for it. Coral is such a great color on any skin tone, so when I saw this dress online, I knew I had to have it. And this is what it looks like on! Note, the top picture is closer to the color in real life, but I think it photographs really well either way. As you can see, it's got a little bit more of a conservative top, but I find that since it is body conforming, it's classier without a lower cut. This dress is perfect for a fancy dinner, or night out! Unfortunately, it's now sold out online, but you can try checking your local Zara to see if they have it in stock! These are the shoes you see me wearing in the above photos. I picked these up from Zara at South Coast Plaza earlier this week, while I was running an errand there. You can never go wrong with a black heel, and I have plenty of black heels to prove that. I've been wanting black heels with a strap for awhile though, so I made sure to grab these when I saw them in stock! Plus, these are a little lower, so I could wear them to work (once I manage to find employment). They have size 11's still on sale on their website in the stock clearance, check them out here. Otherwise, try going into your local Zara to see if they have your size! ...Or try South Coast, they seemed to have several still in stock! This is the other dress I got this week from Zara (well actually, there was a third one I ordered, but it was hideous on me, so I plan on returning it posthaste). It's a dark navy color (I've been wanting a nice navy dress for awhile), and it's cut like a skater dress, with a bit of a deeper neckline. It's got beautiful embroidery on the top mesh/tulle type layer, and I love how it flows when I walk. This is the view from the front. The dress pairs nicely with a pair of nude heels (mine are Steve Maddens that I got years ago--side note: Steve Madden is another brand I would never pay full price for since they always tend to go on sale too), and also with gold jewelry (blue and gold--go bears!). You can't really see the embroidery from far away because the dress is so dark, but don't worry, it's there. And this is the view from the side. I like that the skirt is pretty full and flounces quite nicely. A lot of my dresses tend to be bodycon, so it was nice to pick up a different sort of dress. This dress I'll definitely be wearing out somewhere in the meatpacking district after I'm done with the NY bar! Again, Zara doesn't have this dress online, but I saw two at South Coast when I was there buying the shoes, so your local store might have it in your size!
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