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.
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?
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? |