Mirror, mirror on the wall

{pic sources: Glen Proebstel, Ditte Isager, cupcakes and cashmere, Apartment therapy, Pottery Barn, Catherine Gratwicke}

In a place as small as mine, mirrors are essential to making all 280 sq ft look as big as possible. I love the look of a bunch of vintage mirrors clustered together. The only bad part, I've found, is it takes a while to build your collection unless you have the financial wherewithal to cut a big check to Pottery Barn and get them all in one fell swoop (a la pic #4). In the mean time I will keep my eye out at flea markets, Craigslist and the like.

xx,

Shanelé

Easter Brunch

Top and belt - Zara
Skirt - Beacon's Closet
Earrings, necklace, purse - Vintage
Bracelets - H&M
Shoes - Marc Fisher

Another Beacon's Closet treasure, I wore this skirt to brunch on Easter Sunday at Elephant Castle. I learned the hard way that this floral number is not the best pick for a windy day...as evidenced above. Although I didn't get to spend the holiday with my family, they are en route TODAY so that will all change straight away.

xx.

Shanelé

Weekend Update - 4/24/2011

The majority of the weekend was spent fixing up my apartment for a couple guests I will be hosting this week. There were so many little projects I've been meaning to complete but with the bf working every weekend, these have been continually pushed off for the last five months.  Luckily his brother doubles as one of the handiest men I've met to date, so he took care of all of these and then some in a couple hours. Unfortunately all of this home improvement left little time for shopping so I snapped a couple pics of Pinky Otto and Anthropologie's window displays as I passed by. I resisted the temptation to go in because I'm sure I will be doing pllleenntttyy of purchasing with mother and sister's arrival on Tuesday, marking their first trip to the Big Apple.  Can hardly contain my excitement. Hope you all had a great weekend and a Happy Easter. 

xx,

Shanelé

Back in Black

Leather jacket & necklace worn as bracelet - Urban Outfitters
Maxi dress, wooden heels & ring - Forever 21
Sunglasses & bag - H&M
Necklace & watch - Vintage
Nails & Toes - American Apparel 'Poppy'

Very rarely would I have two back to back outfit posts wearing all black...but it was pretty representative of the weekend. I wore this Sunday to run some errands, finish my taxes [if you wait till the last minute, it only takes a minute, right?] and out to dinner. I bought this long black maxi dress at Forever21 a while back because it was $9.80 and with the intention of finding a sheer pleated black maxi to layer it under. Still no maxi but it's pretty comfy by itself. I jumped at the opportunity to break out these wooden heels and look forward to wearing them with my high-waisted flared jeans whenever Spring decides it's here to stay.

xx,

Shanelé

Looks for Less - Summer Steals

A couple 'Looks for Less' to make your Wednesday more enjoyable. We're halfway there, folks.

Emerson Made Seersucker Dress: $218 vs. Forever 21 Striped Chambray Dress: $19.80

Topshop Leather A-Line Skirt: $125 vs. Urban Outfitters Faux Leather Pull-On Skirt: $39.99

Karen Walker Number One Sunglasses: $180 vs. Urban Outfitters Zigzag Sunglasses: $6.99

xx,

Shanelé

Coachella Fashion Faves

Deemed the 'most stylish music festival in the world' for a reason, the Coachella fashion did not disappoint again this year.

My favorites included the following {and associated 'Looks for Less'}:

Kate Bosworth's all-american get-up {similar top for $13.90 here}

 Crocheted tops {white one from Forever 21 here and red crochet vest here)

 Lace maxi {similar here} & minis {similar here}

 Stylish basics {similar here and here} & floppy hats {similar here and here}

Deep v-necks {similar here} & backs {similar here}

{Similar here and here}

pic sources: because i'm addicted, TFS, because i'm addicted, Harpers Bazaar x 8

I watched the live streaming on youtube as much as possible but really hope I can be there in the flesh next year. Fingers crossed.

xx,

Shanelé

Happy Friday

pic via Fuji Files

Happy Friday. Happy weekend. Have a good one. 

xx,

Shanelé

Poppy Dots

Polka dot top, belt & booties - Zara
Skirt & watch - Vintage
Bracelet - H&M

Nails - American Apparel 'Butter'
Toes - American Apparel 'Poppy'

I was a very happy person wearing this outfit to work on Monday as the temperature approached 80 degrees. I look forward to getting a lot more use out of this skirt, a $5 vintage find at the Hester Street Fair, as / if the weather ever heats up.

xx,

Shanelé

Pretty in Pleats

As evidenced in last week's outfit post here, I've taken a liking to the mid-length pleated skirts of the season. Here are couple more pleats that are hard to beat:

Pics: Lucy Laucht, Cupcakes and Cashmere, Mango Spring 2011 Collection, Atlantic Pacific, Late Afternoon x 2

xx,

Shanelé

Sunday Best

Shirt- Polo
Dress (worn as skirt) and bracelet - H&M
Oxfords, purse, Chief Illini ring - Forever 21
Headband worn as bracelet - Xmas gift
Nails - American Apparel 'Butter'
Watch - Burberry
Jacket - ExpressBelt - Zara

I wore this outfit to brunch with a friend in town on Sunday. I purchased this lace dress on clearance after Thanksgiving with the intention of 'losing five pounds' because it was a bit too snug up top. While I wait for those 5 lbs to magically fall off, I improvised by turning the dress around and wearing it as a skirt. This striped Polo shirt and my favorite oxfords offset the lace to complete this day look. I alternated between jacket on, jacket off throughout the day as Mr. Sunshine came and went.

xx,

Shanelé

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Weekend Update - 4/10/2011

A beautiful weekend consumed with doing a multitude of things, other than my taxes, including:

A walk down to the Brooklyn Bridge where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and stumbling across two American icons, Audrey Hepburn in a vintage 'My Fair Lady' poster and the new Andy Warhol monument, on the way back...

 ...A Barnes & Noble trip complete with an autographed copy of Tina Fey's new book, Bossypants, [which is hilarious -- highly recommend] and trashy mags, a stylish shopper on my weekly Zara trip and fun new nail polish in 'Poppy', 'Butter' {yum}, and 'Malibu Green' from American Apparel.

Hope you had a great weekend and an even better week.

xx,

Shanelé

Weekend at the cottage

I'm signing off for a weekend at my cottage Upstate...

In the words of David Spade in Tommy Boy: "Hi, I'm earth. Have we met?" Instead sipping tea and eat crumpets in a lovely little Victorian cottage like this one in Delhi, New York, I will be doing my taxes in my < 300 sq. ft. studio apartment...but it never hurts to dream. Have a great, (hopefully) tax-free weekend.

xx,

Shanelé