Style Sunshine

Friday, June 17, 2011

Cover Up in Style - Runway to Pool

In land locked Hot-lanta (sorry Bert Show – the locals will know what I mean), neighborhood pools are the only sanctum from our drought ridden summers. Girls in the south are known for their style and I admit, the pool has been a weak spot for me.

If you’re like me, it takes me about 45 minutes to even get to the nearest pool and it happens to be about 10 houses down the street from me in our neighborhood. My husband is usually soaking up the rays, empty handed and un-sunscreened, WAY before I can get out the door.

I end up arriving in sunscreen streaked black shorts and a tank top I’ve slept in the night before. No more, I say! This year I’m arriving in style with my favorite picks for fun swimsuit cover ups.

By the way, I’m also over the terry cloth look. Everyone rushed to Target a couple of years ago to pick up the mock Juicy cover ups. My version ended up fading and pilling up, not the runway to pool look I was going for.

I’m venturing out into a couple of fun styles this year, caftans and crochet!

Here are some picks for runway to pool style, I think you will love:

Crochet Swimsuit Cover Ups:

Victoria's Secret Crochet Swim Cover Up

JCPenney Crochet Swim Cover Up

Tibi Swim Cover Up

Caftan Swimsuit Cover Ups:

Old Navy Swim Cover Up

Athleta Caftan Swim Cover Up

Anthropologie Caftan Swim Cover Up

Monday, April 18, 2011

Maxi-mize Skirts this Summer

I’ve become OB-sessed with maxi skirts after missing out on a Gilt sale on a gorgeous Missoni that will be mine someday!

Maxi skirts are the perfect boho chic item for summer, pair them with flats or thong sandals for a fun casual night out at a rooftop restaurant this summer.

They also help us pale leg girls compete with the bronzed beauties in the super short minis by helping us cover our Casper (yes, as in the friendly ghost) like legs in a fun and trendy manner.

Here are my picks for best maxi. These are super cute with a peasant blouse, tank top or my personal favorite – a strapless top for a casual night out. They can be dressed up or down for day to evening which is imperative for my multi tasking wardrobe.

Twisted Tube Top (also perfect with jeans or cargos)

I’m on a mission to make this first skirt my wardrobe staple this summer. It says casual and California to me and is neutral but with a punch of turquoise for summer.

This would be perfect with the tube top above or a white halter:

Love Tanjane maxi skirt in Island at Bohemian Rockstar

Perfect with a black or gray tank:

Coral Cynthia Vincent maxi at Piper Lime

For work or play in very comfy jersey material:

Convertible maxi by Target in charcoal

As Rachel Zoe so often blogs, here is a parallel universe (but the opposite of Rachel's way), this means for princess budgets and I’m so glad JCrew is throwing in free shipping on this one (whew!):

Sequin maxi by JCrew

Friday, April 1, 2011

Going to Extremes

After surviving the legging, jeggings trend from this winter, basically unscathed (we choose to categorize the once over “put some pants on sweetie” gazes from certain senior females riding our building elevator as just a generational misunderstanding – we’ve seen Mad Men we get it), we are on to bigger and better pants dilemmas for Spring.

Is it just me or are we in an all out war on traditional pants. . . It used to be so easy to throw on a cute pair of low rise designer jeans and hit the road without having to worry about. . .

Should I wear skinny jeans with a long flared top and ballet flats?

OR Should I wear jean leggings with a top long enough to cover the faux pockets and pair with booties?

OR Should I wear straight leg jeans that are just straight enough to wear with wedges but could be okay if you HAD to stuff them into boots?

AND now for the latest:

Wide leg bell bottom jeans. . .

Why do we have to go to extremes? And can one woman wear both styles?

Are you a skinny jean girl or a wide leg bell bottom woman?

Is there an age limit? I know twenty somethings in mu office who pull of the skinny jeans and ballet flats every day, but is this really okay for a 30 or 40 something?

It’s exhausting and in the words of Avril Lavigne, “Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?”

If you are going to attempt both trends this Spring, God love ya!!

AND here are my picks:

Wide Leg:

J Brand - Kiki in Lotus

Discount wide leg:

The Gap - Wide Leg Trouser

Skinny:

7 for All Mankind - Roxanne

Discount Skinny:

Old Navy - The Diva

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Nate the Great Conclusion

All good things must come to an end!

Here's my conclusion to Nate's design picks for 2011 from my three part series :)

Item #4: Lighting from the Mid Century

Concern: What is mid century? Is this 1950s? He showed what looked like a garage sale basement black lamp.

Love: Katt Table Lamp by Bungalow Classic in Atlanta, feels retro funky yet not moldy

Click here to view Katt Table lamp from Bungalow Classic.

Item #5: Rust/Orange – Home Accents

Concern: I wanted to adjust my TV set, rust??? Nothing good ever comes from rust. This supposedly a hot new color on the runways this Spring, god help us.

Love: Here’s the best I could do and I’m leaning toward coral on this one.

Festival Rug by Anthropologie – Orange without the crush. . .

Click here to view Festival rug by Anthropologie.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Nate the Great 2011 Picks - continued. . .

Here is Item #2 and #3 from Nate the Great's list:

Nate's Pick #2: Modern art paired with antiques or old photography
Concern: Expense meets Concrete, cold edges and Andy Warhol

Love: The Print Shop from UrbanOutfitters. Prints start at just $25.00 Society6 is an International artist community representing more than 70 countries worldwide. We will continuously comb through their enormous archives to bring you this curated collection of our favorites. Any items ordered from the PRINT SHOP will be processed and shipped by Society6. Check out this funky city scape by Teodoru Badiu. Wouldn't this be perfect next to grandma's antique side table?

Click here to go to Urban Outfitters Society 6.

Nate's Pick #3 - Storage art

Concern: Clutter fest disguised as design or as Nate says “Living really beautifully with what you own”....

Love: Beachcomber baskets from Pottery Barn. Beachy yet still cozy enough for a winter day by the fire

Click here for Pottery Barn Beachcomber baskets.

Stay tuned for my wrap up - Items #4 and #5 coming soon!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Nate the Great - Design Picks for 2011

Nate Berkus Show with Michelle Adams – Picks for Best Design Accessories of 2011

Nate launched his new show this past fall much to my extreme delight! Despite my disappointment for him that it was not picked up by one of the major networks as Oprah’s other less appealing progeny had been, I remain optimistic that he can pull off a successful series (okay on his looks alone, he will!) He just makes me happy with his swoosh of a McDreamy hairdo, JCrew meets UrbanOutfitters style and his absolutely drop dead gorgeous dimples. He smiles, I smile.

I digress, his latest show has inspired me to look for my very own BEST of 2011. I’m only one month behind on my New Years Resolution, so I say better late than never.

I vow to implement these 5 Must Have Design Accessories of 2011 despite some of my cynicism below! If Nate okays it, I’m in. I'm going to post one a day for the next 5 days so as to not overwhelm you!

# 1 - Mirrored Accessories

Concern: Disco ball in the living room, channeling Donna Summer anyone?

Love: Jules Accent Table by Crate and Barrel. Classic and grown up with a little taste of 70s gold.

Jules Accent Table

Stay tuned for my next pick tomorrow!

Get Your Groove on the 70s are Back!

The Peasant Blouse – a Must Have for Spring!

The 70s are back and as a child of this era, I’m a ready to get the skinny on this fab new trend!

To start with, peasant blouses. I have experience with a brief foray into this trend in the late 90s with what we called “the poet blouse”. The only problem with the poet blouse is it had to be white and that one Jerry Seinfeld incident put a bad taste in my mouth on the trend and it seemed to die off shortly after. I believe it was called the “puffy blouse” episode.

The peasant blouse is more fun because it can be any color and channels a sweet, feminine spring day style. You could pair with a flowy skirt or a cute pair of your favorite jeans. I recommend wearing the style with a snug fitting bottom so you don’t feel too puffy or sloppy.

It reminds me of two of my favorite shows from the 70s! The girls from Charlie’s Angels and Three’s Company new exactly how to flaunt this trend.