A Duo of Farewells: LOST and Martin & Osa

Good Evening Readers!

As some of you may already know, I am a LOST fan. During the summer I spent interning in Honolulu, I would pass spots that seemed vaguely familiar and I even went on a LOST set tour at the Kualoa Ranch (Yeah, I'm a nerd, I know). On Sunday, I sat on my couch and intensely followed the final chapter of a story that will stay near and dear to my heart for a very long time.

Last week, I made a final visit to another "friend"- Martin & Osa. A venture of American Eagle Outfitters, this brand was created to compete with the likes of J. Crew, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and the (also ill-fated) Ruehl. A couple of weeks ago I received my weekly email from M&O with a 30%-off-all-merchandise-all-sales-final email and my heart sank. Emails with these deals are often a euphemism for brand discontinuation.

Early last Tuesday morning (well, not too early. . . 9:30 AM), I made the three-hour drive up to Woodfield Mall for one last visit to Martin & Osa for a proper goodbye. I purchased several items, some of which are featured in this post. In the picture above, I am wearing a navy-blue applique tee over a raspberry tank top, paired with a pair of slim-fit pants- all from Martin & Osa (these are still available on the site: www.martinandosa.com). My shoes are by Giselle Bundchen for Ipanema and my necklace is a find from an antique store.

Saying goodbye is difficult, whether we are saying goodbye to people, places, television series, or clothing stores. There is comfort, however, in knowing that these people and places will remain as a part of our memories and histories.

3 Parties, 2 Outfits

Last week was wonderful, really and truly wonderful. Why? Well- I finished my first year of graduate school AND since I was free of papers I was able to spend time with people from my grad program, friends from church, and family.

The first outfit featured in this post (on the left) was what I wore to an open house/reception for the graduating second years in my department. There was no dress code on the invitation, but it seemed like an appropriate occasion for a dress. Pictured above is me with one of my dear friends from grad school (Charlotte-in the brown and light blue dress) Speaking of dresses, I found this blue-speckled number at Anthropologie. This dress, by Plenty by Tracy Reese, comes in three different colors (speckled blue, grey, and lavender), and is a perfect summer wardrobe addition. What I love about this dress is that it is flattering, feminine, and extremely comfortable. I paired the dress with my favorite pumps from Victor Alfaro (featured in my last post), and a pair of cubic zirconia posts from Target.

The second outfit (on the right) was worn to two parties- another end of the year party for the department and then a cookout/potluck/kickball get-together with people from my small group. I wanted to wear a dress- but since I knew that I would be outside in a park at the end of the day, jeans were a clear solution for my duo of parties. I am wearing a purple silk-cashmere cardigan from Martin & Osa's Fall '09 collection (sale), a brown and white printed tunic tank from Banana Republic layered over a green tank from American Eagle. The jeans are a slim-fit, dark wash from Martin & Osa, my necklace is from Target, and my silver metallic sandals are by Victor Alfaro. I've never paired these pieces together, but I liked how the combination came together.

The season of graduation (ceremonies, open houses, etc.) is upon us, a time with many opportunities to offer congratulations, eat cake, and wear clothing. How many parties/outfitting opportunities await you in this season of celebration?

First Outfit

My first outfit of this blog, hooray! While this outfit is nothing that you would see on the red carpet, it is an accurate representation of my favorite things to wear: dark rinse jeans, a cardigan, a tank top, and a necklace. For those of you who know me, you know how much I love wearing these items- and have probably seen multiple versions of this outfit. I'm not sure how to phrase my outfit-adventures (I'm sure my formats will alter with time), but here is my first try:

From head to toe, I am wearing:

White, embellished hairband- J.Crew (sale!)

Silver, antiqued locket- American Eagle Outfitters

Indigo, fluttery scoop tank top- Banana Republic

Silvery-grey cardigan- Banana Republic

Skinny, charcoal belt- Ann Taylor (sale!)

Straight, dark-rinse jeans- American Eagle Outfitters (only available online or in AE stores in Canada)

Dove-Grey round-toe heels- Victor, by Victor Alfaro (available at Bergner's)

This outfit is great for many occasions, and while it could be worn at night, it is well suited for a spring day. Today, when I wore this outfit, I attended a breakfast/seminar event on campus. In attendance were faculty, staff, and grad students from across campus. I wasn't sure what to wear (especially since faculty were also guests at the breakfast), so I aired on the side of caution by combining business casual with "regular" casual.

I combined these styles by dressing up my cardigan and tank with a skinny belt and dressing down the outfit with a stylish yet comfortable pair of straight-cut jeans. I mention the cut of my jeans because they are on-trend, but they are modest enough to wear to casual work events. These jeans are also flattering to a broader spectrum of body types than your everyday-skinny-jean. I love these jeans and highly recommend them to all who love skinny jeans and all who want to wear skinny jeans but fear their "side-effects."

So, I've introduced you all to my everyday fashion staples- what are yours?

My Return to Blogging

Well, it's been since November that I've posted in this blog. . . I had great hopes of words that would woo readers and express my innermost thoughts- but alas that hope floundered about in a flood of papers, articles, conferences, and glimmers of a social life- all amidst the ocean of work that is Graduate School. (I tried to be artistic in that sentence, but as you can see I'm a bit out of practice.)

Anyways, after stumbling through this semester (writing a paper about narrative fashion design and upon a fashion show hosted by Tim Gunn last Saturday) this week I've decided to turn this blog into a diary of outfits. I've always enjoyed looking through magazines for inspiration and piecing together my own "stories" using the vocabulary of clothing from my wardrobe. Recently a friend asked me to "teach" her how to mix textures, fabrics, and colors. While I am by no means an expert in this skill, I thought it would be useful for others (and myself) to see my daily adventures in fashion.

So. . . for those of you reading this blog- welcome to this adventure! Feel free to post comments, questions, or suggestions- I would love to hear from you!