My sister-in-law and her new husband just got back from an 8 month trip to India.  From the few stories I have heard and the beautiful gifts they brought back, I can’t wait to hear every little detail of this unimaginable trip.  My gift??  A scarf!!   To me, a scarf is the perfect gift.  To me, a scarf transcends…every season and almost any outfit from effort to effortless.  Scarves not only make me cozy and happy, but this particular scarf seems to also have the power to put me in front of the camera…yikes!   Yes, I am the terribly-camera-shy-other-half of twentythirtyforty.net.  Hi!  I’m Arlene.  I’m also terribly short on words, so to describe it would not give it any justice..I have to show you.

Thanks Tessie & Johnathan, I looove it!!

For the last few days I have been in Northern Wisconsin sans internet, phone, email, text….just some good family fun  So needless to say, I couldn’t wait to lay my eyes on some fashion!  First day back and nothing could make me happier than a great new fashion blog and a good dose of inspiration.  Check out this FANTASTIC blog Brandon happened upon and a new favorite of mine….EXTRASKINNY.com

I love a woman that understands the power of some solid basics and rocking out those favorite pieces in more ways than one…. great ideas here.

Alexander McQueen in Oct 2008

Hi. I’m Brandon. I’m a girl, but I have a boy’s name. I am one half of TWENTYTHIRTYFORTY.net. I’ll let my partner introduce herself in her own time. Unfortunately, that will probably be never because she is insanely camera-shy. Like, she’s seriously terrified of attention. And the funny thing is that she — hands down — is the most stylish person I know. Anyone who knows her will tell you exactly the same thing. And amazing, effortless style does garner attention. We’ll see what happens.

Anyway, we launched this site back in October of 2008. Our idea took its initial breath a year before, in Paris. Which we love. Our goal is to be able to go to Paris in the fall and bring back some incredible Parisian designers for spring. Think Sonia Rykiel, Vanessa Bruno… 

Sonia Rykiel homepage

Sonia Rykiel’s home page has always been an inspiration to us. It always looks like the cover of a fashion magazine. We love fashion. Obviously. But we are not Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda or Samantha. We are midwestern, middle-aged, family women who work for a living (and live in a place where the ground is covered with dirt-laden icepiles 4-5 months out of the year). So what? Does that mean that we can’t wear a $600 dress with $450 shoes when we’re hanging out at Starbuck’s on a Saturday? I’m not talking about a silk dress with heels. I’m talking about a dress that you wore the night before to a black tie event but now have on over a t-shirt and jeans with riding boots. To us, that is what fashion is about. You always have an excuse to buy something new because you know that you are going to wear it. ALL. THE. TIME.

So, we decided to create a place where we could indulge our love for fashion and make it all accessible to the masses. Fashion just shouldn’t be that hard and it shouldn’t be intimidating and it shouldn’t be confusing. It should be fun. Long live fashion. Long live wearing it just because you love it. Long live the bunny suit.

 

girl crush, Giovanna Battaglia

This is the first time I came across Giovanna Battaglia, fashion editor of L’uomo Vogue.  To me, Giovanna Battaglia practically IS the definition of style.  Her look is a perfect combination of sophistication and wit, which is oh so sexy.  What she does so successfully is wear what she loves in creative different ways.  Hands down, I find her to be the most interesting to watch.

 

 

puffer & boots

with gloves & heels

the high waisted pant worn casual & chic

still chic worn monochromatically

prada shoe in the spring/summer

prada shoe into the fall

all photos are from fellow Giovanna fans - allure allure, why fashion? , jak & jil

Recently I’ve been feeling the pains of a serious style rut.  I’m bored with trend items, I’m bored with my own personal wardrobe, and I’ve been craving something that will jumpstart the sartorial (and perhaps, life?!) transition that I’m really wanting. 

I’ve been on shopping trip after shopping trip recently, my head filled with visions of grandeur as to the wonderful treasures that I would undoubtedly find.  The whole host of new items that I would acquire, providing me with a new wardrobe and a fabulous new sense of personal style.     NOTHING.  I have come home from all of these shopping trips with nothing!  And let me tell you, I love to shop.  I find few things more satisfying than that of a successful shopping spree.  So you can imagine my severe disappointment as I experienced this seemingly unrelenting succession of unresolved, unsuccessful shopping escapades. 

But as much as I love clothes, and find fashion to be the ultimate form of self-expression, I thought about the other things that I’d been wanting to do to kind of kick my personal style up a notch (aside from throwing out my entire closet and starting fresh).  So, I got a tattoo and chopped seven inches off my hair.  Now I’m not recommending that everyone do this.  Because certainly inking something permanently onto one’s skin and drastically changing one’s hairstyle is not for everyone.  But I happen to love dramatic changes and as a result of mine, have felt this resurgence in the ownership of my own personal style. 

My point is this: change.  We all crave it, and we all need it.  Fashion is the most rapidly changing industry in existence; as Heidi so eloquently puts it: “One day you’re in, the next you’re out.”  And obviously, if you’re craving something different, there’s a reason.  There are all sorts of ways to reenergize your style, to refresh your personal self-expression.  I like to go a little crazy, perhaps you’d be satisfied with something a bit more subtle.  Either way, change it up, sugar.  Keep yourself feeling fresh.