a material girl stuck in a not-so-material work world

8.29.2006

Exactly what I'm looking for?

I won't know until I try them on, but these $89 Jessica Simpsons look perfect.


Now, which color do I get? I wanted brown, but the green is kinda subtle and good too.

ETA: Found them at Nordstrom this weekend - the "snakeskin" looks super cheap, and the brown is very reddish. One thing I noticed about Jessica Simpson shoes - the sides "curve" in - so if you have a high arch (which I do), you don't have a huge GAP between your arch and the side of the shoe, as I often do - which is why I usually go for d'Orsay styles.

BOGO half off on Shoes at Macys.com

Pretty good deal.

I love these Michael Michael Kors platforms. Don't like the color selection. Ooh, but they do come in "Oxblood" at Nordstrom's!
I also saw some gorgeous Enzo bronze-y platform peep-toes last night at Macy's, but I can't find them online. Not sure I need any more metallic shoes.

Actually, I really want some chocolate brown peep-toes (but a big peep-toe area, I don't like the tiny ones) with a design. Maybe croc? Hmm..


I love finding this stuff: Target copying Franco Sarto.

8.28.2006

Shoes from WHBM

I've wondered for a few years now why no one has imitated the red soles on Christian Louboutin's shoes. I love it. But I could never pay that much for shoes.

Now, lo and behold, in the White House Black Market Fall Catalog, I saw these babies.

They were uncredited in the catalog, so I looked them up online. Not quite as beautiful as they looked in the catalog, but I still might have to go check them out in person. I'm all about hints of red for fall, and I love them with these gray shorts - I have similar ones from Express that I just got.

8.25.2006

Cute Top on a random website

I like Office Pirate's feature where they take pics of random everyday girls that they think are cute in NYC. Saw this one - and thought her outfit (the top especially) was very cute. I have 2 pairs of long black shorts and am forever looking for new looks for them. This would be a good one.

8.24.2006

Cute Coat

I love the shape of this coat from the Gap - it comes in this color and chocolate. I love the chocolate, but would be afraid of my new purse blending in with it. And I'm so loving dark colors this fall, I'm not sure if I would be happy with this color or not.

8.22.2006

The Payless "Fashion Lab"

In high school and college, I loved Payless. One of my absolutely favorite pairs of shoes ever was a pair of bronze-brown "snakeskin" platform heels that I got for $7 on clearance at Payless! Every once in a while, I still go into Payless, and am saddened to find that most of their shoes are now just copies of Nine West or Steve Madden shoes. They seem to be stuck in a rut. So, I am happy to hear that they are trying to revamp their image and shoes, starting by hiring designer Laura Poretzky.


CEO Matt Rubel expressed a desire to "democratize fashion" and Payless is doing so by opening six stores, (temporarily named "Fashion Lab") with a better, trendy atmosphere. In order to attract the trend-driven 20-30 year old, the new look of the stores will include better lighting, curving side-walls and replacing the tall wire racks with lower counter tops to give the store a more "expensive" feel . The new stores will also offer accessories, such as handbags and watches. Six stores will open this summer and 20 to 30 stores are planned to be open by 2007. [Source] [Pictures of the shoes]


The shoes will range from $25-$45, and will also be available online.

8.17.2006

My birthday present





I love this Michael Kors purse I just can't decide which color. Chocolate or Toffee?


I can also get 8% "off" by using Lucky Rewards. Yay!

Hilarious

"The only thing worse than having your makeup taken is having makeup smeared down your face because you can't touch up"

How about dying in a terrorist-hijacked plane?

Granted, when I saw the picture of the poor girl at the airport that had to throw away $60 worth of Lancome lip gloss, I was sad for her too, but I just thought that quote was ironic.

8.16.2006

More inspiration for fall...


I'm not wild about the sweater, but I love the rest of the outfit. I especially like that brown is now a "neutral" to be worn with charcoal (as pictured) or black.

8.15.2006

Polka Dotted


This would look super cute with red shoes. Looks flattering too. Only $30 at Forever 21!

Cute sneakers!

Since I can pretty much wear flip-flops year round, I rarely wear anything else to run errands/walk a lot/whatever unless it's really freezing outside (i.e. below 50). A good pair of cute low-heeled "shopping boots" usually does the trick, but I haven't been able to find any low-heeled boots I like the past few seasons.

So, it's on to other options. I seriously can't wear flats. I think they sometimes look cute, but honestly, down here in the south, no one really wears them except old people and teenagers. All the 20-and-30-something girls love their heels and flip flops and rarely anything in between.

But I do like the occasional trendy sneaker. I bought some cute Diesel ones last year, and this year I think these Adidas are super cute... For $150 though, I probably won't get them.

What is the deal?

Why is it when cashmere is blended with cotton that it comes off in furry clumps and gets all over everything?

I bought a sweater at Club Monaco last year that did that, it's dark pink - hot pink clumps look FAB all over my jeans.

Then I bought this one. Tried it on at home for 2 seconds with a white tank under it, and the tank got navy clumps all over it. Like I'd been rolling around with a navy puppy or something. I love the deep V, but it's going back.

8.09.2006

You have the right to remain fabulous!


My friend gave this to me... not sure where she got it.

How cute is that?

Jessica's dress


I love it! She looks awesome - what a great winter dress and gorgeous shoes! [Source]

The reason I love Old Navy...

Banana Republic basic T's colors:
Gap basic T's colors: Old Navy basic T's colors: ...and almost every "basic" they have is like that. I swear I own their long tank tops in almost every color. When I get tired of a color, it gets downgraded to workout / sleep tank, and I don't feel bad because they are so cheap!

8.08.2006

Trends for fall: The Day Dress


I do love that bebe dress, and want to go try it on soon, but this one is cute too (and only $78!), and looks slightly more flattering. I think I'm liking the reddish-purply colors this fall. It would look great with brown boots, I think.

I also got this dress at Forever 21. It looks much better in person, and even better on (I also wrapped the sash so that it ties in the middle of the back, not in the front). Forever 21 had a ton of cute (and cheap!) dresses, but limited sizes.

8.04.2006

No more Foley's

The Houston Foley's stores will officially become Macy's on September 9.

What is this?



Customers will at least be curious enough to give Macy's a try, he said, and it will come down to whether they see it as "the right product at the right price at the right place at the right time." Besides, he said, "customer loyalty is down to almost zero in America. It's almost a thing of the past."



No way!

I love Foley's, and while I will check out Macy's (I don't shop at the one at the Galleria now...), I will only shop there if I like what I see. I just think it is so weird they would say that.

Also, there will now be two Macy's stores at the Galleria. Greeeaaat. How about a Bergdorf's? Bloomingdale's? Barney's? A giant H&M??

Initially, Federated planned to close its Macy's store in the Galleria and
put it in the existing Galleria Foley's, but it has since decided to operate two
Macy's there.
Each store will carry a similar mix of men's, women's and
children's merchandise, Smith said. The Foley's location will continue to carry
furniture, while the existing Macy's location will not.

8.02.2006

You've got to be kidding

These Marc Jacobs boots are on75% off at $250 (not that I would pay that much for silver boots)... but they only size they have left is equivalent to a US size 4?!?! Who wears that size?

8.01.2006

Kimono Style Dress

It's trendy, and will probably look awful on me (since all the billowly sleeve kimono tops do), but I saw this $158 dress in the window of bebe, and thought it was really cute. It doesn't look this wrinkled in real life.

No H&M?

The Houston Chronicle has an article today listing some of the new tennants in the new part of the Houston Galleria. No mention of H&M. :(

The former Lord & Taylor space will be divided into "12 new businesses." There is going be a huge J. Crew (even though Dallas has like 8 J. Crew stores, Houston just keeps moving their one store around), some new restaurants, a Borders, Chico's, and "TANE, a Mexican jewelry store that specializes in silver." Great.
"All should be open by summer 2007."