It’s no secret to those who know me well that I’m a big, big fan of Queen Michelle from Kingdom of Style (not to overlook the fabulous Queen Marie, of whom I am also a very big fan). Queen Michelle is a crazy risk-taker. As she puts it, “ I like the challenge of pushing a piece of clothing to its limits, particularly for someone my age.” And pushing limits she does indeed.

One of today’s posts (It takes a lot of visits to keep up with those crazy blogging Queens!) was all about her new kitty mask. That’s right, you heard me — kitty mask. She talks about her love of playing dress-up and all it takes is one look at these images to know she’s having the time of her life. Thank you, Queen Michelle, for starting my week with a smile. 

To see Queen Michelle’s post in its entirety, click here.

We recently decided to add a new section to our website where we have a fabulous friend from the blogosphere style something from our shop. We are thrilled to unveil this little project with our first guest stylist, Sarah of Public Personae! We just adore Sarah. We discovered her a number of months ago when she was in the midst of her 30-day challenge. We were so impressed not only by her fantastic sense of style, but also by her sheer courage. She is a force to be reckoned with. She consistently brings new things - designers, trends, bloggers, artists, stores, and even cat photographers - to our attention. We love her smart, unique, yet practical take on fashion and are always interested to see what she’s into next. 

Here’s Sarah…

And here’s the item she styled for us…

One of Sarah’s takes…

See the rest of Sarah’s styles here. And don’t forget to check out her blog, Public Personae. She’s always up to something good! Thanks, Sarah!

So, i just read on Sea of Shoes that Jane Aldridge has a capsule shoe collection coming out with Urban Outfitters. A number of the comments on her post were rather negative — calling her an “advertising opportunity” and her designs “knock-offs”. I am not going to deny that she is indeed a great marketing opportunity for a conglomerate like UO, nor am I going to deny the obvious influences of Margiela and Ann Demeuelemeester in her designs, but can we just step aside for a second and look at things the way they are? First of all, the girl is a mere 17 years old. Yes, she comes from an affluent family. Yes, her mother is an experienced style maven (with a closet laden with treasures). And yes, she has access to items that most of us can only dream about. However, the girl really knows her fashion and she’s smart enough to grab an opportunity when it comes her way. Even the wealthiest and most pampered of teenagers don’t even know how to pronounce Demeulemeester, let alone know who she is. Be jealous if you will, be critical if you will, but you have to admit that Jane has a taste level more sophisticated than many who call themselves fashion industry professionals. 

Let us not forget — fashion is a business. We recently posted about working a Hugo Boss sample sale and trust me, there was nothing glamorous about it. Were the suits expensive and fabulous? Yes. Was the event surrounded by paparazzi? No. There is definitely a blurry line between fashion and retail and, for some reason, that line seems blurriest in the US. The people that seem to be dressed the worst are the first ones to go after someone exhibiting a sense of personal style. Great style always seems to be equivalent to snobbishness in our society — and it definitely creates a frenzy of envy. Even if the aforementioned is wearing H & M. 

So what do I think about Jane’s collection for Urban Outfitters? I think it’s bloody fantastic! It’s hard to make affordable shoes look good and I think these look damn good. Hats off to Urban Outfitters and to Jane. They may be knock-offs, but I’d rather wear Jane Aldridge Ann D knock-offs than Nine West Marc Jacobs knock-offs any day.

There’s one in every city.  You know, those great quirky second-hand shops with racks and racks of “OMG!!  I had a pair of those!” to tables of knick knacks that keep you entertained for longer than the 15min left on your meter.  Yea, those.

We think Chicago has one of the best of those second-hand shops, Hollywood Mirror on Belmont bt Halsted and Clark.  In a styling pinch, Hollywood Mirror can solve anything….

Hats?  Check.  Sunglasses in every color for every occasion?  Check.

belts in every pattern and style imaginable?  Check.

all this stuff in a perfectly merchandised store….hard to believe, but CHECK!

While you’re there, run to Ragstock upstairs (around the corner & down the alley) for the cutest $20 plaid shirtdresses you will ever come across!  $20!

Huge thanks to our friend and amazing stylist, Bernstein!!, for the stylist tip 

Hollywood Mirror is located at 812 W Belmont Ave Chicago, IL 60657

Arlene and I are suckers for a great street style blog, so imagine my pleasant surprise when I stumbled upon copenhagenstreetstyle. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, please do check it out. There’s a giant Acne logo on their page, for crying out loud, so they’ve definitely got some street cred. They’ve also got a whole lot o’ wacky going on, but these Scandinavians definitely know a thing or two about cold-weather style.

There’s way more to see… check it out here.

We have become so enamored with all of the amazing stylists out there in the blogosphere. There are women all over the world sharing their love of fashion and their talent for style with all of us. We’ve been lucky enough to get to know some of these lovely ladies and have even asked a few of them to “guest style” for us. We’re SO excited about this new addition to the site. We’ll keep you posted as things develop, but in the meantime here’s a little taste of what’s coming your way…

The adorable “xs” fromextraskinny.com styled this lovely Opening Ceremony bustier and then had her fab photog boyfriend, Moostache Man, take these incredible shots. Man, don’t you just love the world wide web??