Chanel's Fall Trends, DIY Style

Checking out the latest and greatest from the Fall runways show has been my favorite pastimes as of late. I am finding fashion inspiration in so many places and Chanel's Fall 2011 RTW is no exceptiong. The collection is mostly grays, blacks and whites in the form of textured jackets, blazers and sweaters. I am totally loving this part of the collection and decided to try and create something as a take on Chanel's fall line.

I picked up some blazers at a Goodwill while visiting my Mother. I thought this one had a little something although I knew it was a fixer upper, not a wear outta the store kind of look. It's most definitely 80's and the first thing I did was take out the shoulder pads (I don't need any more bulk on my shoulders than what is naturally there). There were a couple of stains and the colors were all wrong, for me anyways. It was too Miami Vice and not enough Lacy Chic.

Started with my ol' stand by RIT dye in Black. I knew that I planned to use lace in the reconstructing process, so I threw that in the dye bath as well. I wanted to go for a jet black but one never knows how a dye bath will turn out especially with a multi-colored garment to begin with.

Well, the end result? Eh, not exactly the BLACK that I wanted it to be. The blazer turned out to be a more purpley gray, which is of no surprise since it started with pinks and blues. The lace turned out to be a little darker gray... and together, I thought they looked pretty cool... although at this point, I am still thinking about doing another dye bath.

My plan was to adorn/garnish/embellish the blazer with the lace and maybe add a bit of black cording that I have had lying around. I did some major pinning so that everything was in it's place.  I knew that once I started sewing, I could pull things tight if need be.

After a couple of hours of hand sewing, I decided to take the Husqvarna out for a couple of reasons. #1 This was becoming majorly time consuming and #2 I knew I would get the accuracy I was looking for with the sewing machine. The edges were difficult but I knew that I was more than likey giving it another dye back, which would hopefully be forgiving of any tiny mistakes.

In the end, I did decide to give the old girl another dye bath. I really wanted to try and achieve as close as I could to the Chanel look I was going for... I did a decent job. The second dye bath really worked to get a dark black. While I thought about adding some sequins and extras, I decided to edit and move on with my life. I rolled up the sleeves (a tip of the hat to Miami Vice) and am ready to pahty.

I am totally wearing this to a show this weekend to see what some friends will think.... what do you think? Cool or Not worth the work?

Boyfriend, Buy Me One of these Coats

I am really feeling BB Dakota coats lately. The aren't the most extravagant coats but they have this southwestern feel that I am really into. This blog post is to show you some of my faves right now and also to tell my boyfriend blatantly to buy me one of these coats... soon.

 Tularosa Coat in Afternoon, Zeke Blanket Coat, Saddle Stripe Coat

 Fringe Coat, Bordeaux Southwestern Coat,  Navy Bostwick Coat

Alice + Olivia Spring Summer 2012 and South Pacific

So this post started as an ode to Alice + Olivia, which would have been nice on it's own... but this post will take an odd turn and you may be along for the ride/ tasty tidbits of information... or you may not. Whatevs. 

Alice + Olivia never disappoints me. Take for instance these here three looks from the Spring Summer 2012 collection. I am totally feeling the looks channeling Audrey Hepburn or bear with me, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific (no? yes?)... Yes, I do love musicals, so I will reference them from time to time.

What I found most interesting though? When I was looking for pictures to describe how Alice + Olivia made me feel South Pacific-y, I became aware that the original movie version was considered "Adult Entertainment" and was classified as such. Adult entertainment has changed, hasn't it? If we were to have a viewing of this movie, about love in a time of war, I doubt it would even get an R rating by today's standards/censors. There is no nudity, no swearing, and maybe only a smidge of violence due to the setting/time period.... and what? There is a song about washing a man out of your hair. "Adult" entertainment? I think not.

Isn't it kind of scary how far we have come/gone as far as what is socially acceptable to show children or adults for that matter? ... I suppose at the end of the day, I don't really care though. People will watch what they want regardless of how it is rated. I just found this to be interesting is all.

As I close this post, I have realized that there is no rhyme or reason to it really, but I rather that I did just want to post all these pictures, so deal with it. I love me some Alice + Olivia and I most certainly love South Pacific.

Project Accessory, Will it be Good?

Project Accessory, the newest installment in reality TV competitions, premieres this Thursday after the Project Runway finale. The ads have been enticing to say the least, because, well, I love Molly Sims (hey, I was couch ridden for a month and had nothing to watch but Las Vegas) an because they are making it look kind of bad ass (aka Depeche Modey music). If this show is anything like my very addictive Project Runway, then I may be in trouble... the man and I already fight over our space on the DVR.

"The multi-billion dollar accessories business is brought into the spotlight with Lifetime’s new competition series, "Project Accessory," hosted by actress and model Molly Sims. With the help of lifestyle expert Eva Lorenzotti as their mentor, 12 enterprising artists will be put to the test to create the newest and hottest trends in accessories as they compete to dazzle Sims and judges designer Kenneth Cole and InStyle Editor, Ariel Foxman. Emmy® Award-winning actress Debra Messing and fashion critic and television personality Kelly Osborne will appear as guest judges this season, among other fashion luminaries. "Project Accessory" will premiere October 27 at 10:30/9:30c."

Our contestants:

Cotrice (Milwaukee, WI/Atlanta, GA) – specializes in jewelry

Brian Burkhardt (Manchester, NH/Miami, FL) – specializes in jewelry

Christina Caruso (New York, NY) – specializes in jewelry

Nina Cortes (Miami, FL) – specializes in jewelry

Shea Curry (Hattiesburg, MS/Los Angeles, CA) – specializes in jewelry and hair accessories

Adrian Dana (Baltimore, MD/Lithonia, GA) – specializes in church hats

David Grieco (Watertown, NY/Los Angeles, CA) – specializes in belts

Kelly Horton (Philadelphia, PA/Edgewater, NJ) – specializes in handbags

Diego Rocha (Sao Paolo, Brazil/Chicago, IL) – specializes in handbags

Nicolina Royale (Minneapolis MN/Los Angeles, CA) – specializes in leather rock 'n' roll accessories

Rich Sandomeno – (Elmwood Park, NJ/Los Angeles, CA) – specializes in jewelry

James Sommerfeldt (Chicago, IL) – specializes in footwear

What do you think? Will you be watching along with me?

Need These Shoes

Can anyone tell me who designed these absolutely lovely shoes that Jessica Biel was recently sporting in Paris? I have been dreaming about these shoes before I even knew they existed.

Photos via Celebpress