Blog Archives

Bunnies, kitties, candy

3/31/2013

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Easter pez

Easter bunnies spotted across the street!

Happy Easter, Everyone!! (")_(")
(•ㅅ•)

Fashion Feline's spring outfit

Fashion Feline is sporting a lovely floral dress with a red floral cape today. She adds a little edginess with a low-slung, black-crossed belt.

Peter Cottontail?

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Born in a village near Tokyo and educated in London, Masato Jones is a creative genius of great acclaim across the UK.

Masato began designing under his own label in 2011 and designed dresses for the English National Ballet. In 2012, he began designing exclusively for Ghost, a retail company and store in the UK; his designs for the store appeared in the Independent, This Morning, and Fashion Telegraph, and Geraldine James chose one of his designs to wear to the premiere of "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo."

It's fun to get swept up in the energy and glamour of this sexy new brand. Masato has put out four limited edition t-shirts, the three shown below and one created solely for charity commissioned by "The Mental Health Struggle."

Like fine art, only a limited number (typically 250) of each t-shirt is produced, and a new one is released every two months. I believe there is something très chic about owning a ltd. edition tee, don't you?

Masato ships worldwide. If you're in the U.S., your credit card company will convert the price from pounds to dollars at the exchange rate of the day (typically a £ is about a $ and a half).

Snap a photo of yourself in your Masato ltd. ed. tee, and Masato will also happily post it on their blog! I'll post it here too--please send it my way! :-)

"Excellence is greater than an achievement, excellence is standard in all my designs" - Masato Jones

Masato Jones

Dr. M. himself on the runway in the Hattie tee

Dr. M., £22.50. 250 limited edition printed on 100% organic cotton Earth Positive Tshirt.

Werebit Poppy Red/Black, £25. WEREBIT is a limited edition run of 100 pre-order and sent out on April 15, 2013.

Hattie Masato Ltd Edition Tshirt, £22.50. March 25th update: 172 out of 250 available.

Tim from Wandsworth

Scarlett Fraser rockin the XS Bunni

Many more real people wearing the Werebit tee here.

The first to tweet himself in the Dr. M. t-shirt: @Anasok70

Michael Barley who bought online and tweeted his picture March 16th 2013

memyworldmystyle.com

T-shirt Sunday Tees

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Not 16 and pregnant

3/27/2013

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...but often wearing teenibopper and maternity clothing :-)

Forever 21 skirt & GAP maternity kimono sweater

Forever 21 lace skirt, $15.80, available in store

GAP kimono sweater, $17.99-18.99

GAP Zigzag kimono sweater, $17.99-18.99

Mature women typically think clothing from teen stores like Forever 21, dELiA's and Alloy, American Eagle Outfitters, Urban Outfitters, Wet Seal, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Aeropostale will be too young looking or have only small sizes. But surprisingly, those stores often carry a broader range of sizes (from XXS to Plus sizes) than typical women's stores, and they have plenty of age-appropriate clothing, no matter what your age. Plus, everything is less expensive at teen stores.

Who wears maternity clothes when they're not pregnant? I do! I just size down. Maternity clothes are less expensive and often quite flattering since they're a little longer in length and made the highlight a woman's best assets.

More on the subject...

GAP maternity clothes:
not just for the pregnant

Top 10 Fashion Rules

Chambray shirts:
maybe a men's
shirt is the answer to save $?

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PoseManikin: An Artist's Life

3/26/2013

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It’s Thursday night at the home of Allie Oliver-Burns and her husband Josh Burns. Tonight they’re staying in for date night, making homemade pizza. But Allie and Josh—both artists with design degrees—are no ordinary couple, and nothing about the pizza is ordinary either—just look at it!

Allie is an artist in every sense of the word. She brings artistry to everything she does, be it photography, experimental music, graphic design, cooking, or jewelry-making. Her website, an artistic work in itself, is PoseManikin (www.posemanikin.com).

I first started following Allie about a year ago. I was drawn to her leather necklaces that conveyed for me a spirit both exotic and natural. I finally ordered one a few months ago, and everything from the personalized packaging to the unique design of the necklace made it special for me.

PoseManikin GEO Leather 10 necklace

You can win this GEO Leather 16 necklace, worth $26, by telling us your #1 must-have travel item in yesterday's post. Just click on the photo to get to the post.

PoseManikin Triple Green Gold Crystal Bead Hoop Necklace, $22, available through Etsy.com

"[Jewelry making] is a process I compare to painting on canvas.
The materials, like paint, merge together to complete an exquisite picture."
--Allie Oliver-Burns of PoseManikin

You can see more of Allie's designs at the PoseManikin Etsy store, on her PoseManikin website, or on her Facebook page.

Now Allie has a new line of jewelry out—the Mod Candy Collection. The geometric shapes conjure up the beehive hairstyles of the 50s. The playful, colorful baubles are perfect for spring.

As I've followed Allie on Facebook and Twitter over the course of the year, I've seen her post amazing photographs and recipes. She has designed cd covers and shot portraits for the indy musicians Lee Hester, Damon Jones, Set on 7, and Jennings Music. Her portraits and self-portraits each convey to me the haunting, timeless quality of two of Allie's musical influences: Depeche Mode and David Bowie.

Singer, songwriter, guitarist Damon Jones © PoseManikin

Jennings Music © PoseManikin

Lee Hester © PoseManikin

CD design for Jennings Music © PoseManikin

Photo by PoseManikin

Allie is also culinary artist with a new cookbook just released this week! The cookbook features such fabulous recipes as black tea chocolate almond cranberry scones! Because it honors her mom's memory, Allie is giving away the downloadable cookbook for free--just click on the photo of the cookbook to the right =>

PoseManikin's Black Tea Chocolate Almond Cranberry Scone recipe

Allie and her husband Josh, a digital painter, eat, drink, and breath art. I am so glad to support an independent artist of Allie's talents!

Artists Allie Oliver-Burns and her husband Josh Burns

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One trip: One necklace

3/25/2013

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Beaches, best friends, and bars. I recently took a vacation with my dear friend Tami to Miami! Before I left, I ordered the GEO Leather 10 necklace from the hip, creative genius of Allie Oliver-Burns, the founder and jewelry designer of PoseManikin (www.posemanikin.com). Within a couple days, a beautifully decorated envelope arrived containing my new leather and metal necklace along with a handmade card made just for me.

PoseManikin's GEO designs of leather and metals feel both natural and edgy and move easily from sea to sand, from neutrals to tribal prints, from day to night. As I packed, I realized the GEO Leather 10 was the only necklace I'd need for this trip.

Posemanikin's GEO Leather Collection combines Beads, crystals, metal, stone, leather, pearls, wood, and chain.

Win this beautiful GEO Leather 16 necklace & a mystery piece of jewelry!

Just post a comment below or on our
OMF Facebook page in answer to this question:
What's your #1 must-have travel fashion item?

PoseManikin GEO Leather 16 necklace

We'll send this necklace, worth $26, to the person who writes our favorite comment in response to the question above. Whoever wins will also receive a mystery piece of jewelry to share with a friend or to keep. Contest closes in 3 days: Wednesday night, March 27, 2013, at midnight.

My vacation started as I put on the GEO Leather 10 with my neutral travel outfit:

On the plane to Miami!

Four hours later, it was wonderful to run out onto the beach!

I wore my Body Central kimono dress for cocktails and dinner. I flipped the GEO Leather 10 necklace over to create a solid color to go with my patterned dress.

GEO10 necklace with Body Central dress. It was a bit chilly, so I wrapped up in a scarf.

The next day Tami and I went out to lunch on the Lincoln Road Mall. The GEO Leather 10 necklace went perfectly with my tribal-print dress from Fossil. Tami tried on the necklace too with her white Victoria's Secret sundress.

GEO10 necklace paired with Fossil dress.

GEO 10 necklace paired with VS convertible dress.

Our last night I pulled out my favorite Urban Outfitters Staring at the Stars Ever After dress. I love fringe! So I loved how the fringe on the hem of my dress and my scarf is picked up by the fringe on my GEO Leather 10 necklace.

Fringe carries through from my Posemanikin GEO10 necklace to the hem of my UO dress

The nights are bright on South Beach in Miami, Florida

Since I've been home, I wear my GEO Leather 10 necklace all the time--today with a black crewneck sweater and white skinnies, last weekend with a t-shirt, a long wrap cardigan, and jeans. It really does seem to go with everything and adds a bit of edge and interest to my outfits. I'm in love with all PoseManikin's GEO leather collection and want more!

I told Allie, creator of PoseManikin, about my love of this collection and about this article, and she offered us the exclusive contest opportunity. Just tell us your #1 fashion travel item--either below in a comment or on the OMF Facebook page, and you could win the amazing GEO16 Leather necklace and a mystery piece of jewelry to share with a friend or to keep. Do it now because we're closing the contest in 3 days, Wednesday night, March 27, 2013, at midnight. I wish I could enter! At the moment, I have my eye on the GEO12 necklace...

Next on my list: PoseManikin
GEO Leather 12 necklace, $20

Win this PoseManikin
GEO Leather 16 necklace =>
& a mystery piece of jewelry by answering this question:
What is your #1 must-have travel fashion item?

Loving my GEO Leather necklace but missing
South Beach and my best friend Tami so much!!

All about the artist:
PoseManikin: An Artist's Life

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Layered up this T-shirt Sunday

3/24/2013

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Do you layer long-sleeve tees under your tees, shirts, and dresses in the spring? I love the look. Here are a bunch of examples.

For kids...

Super cute layered look for boys from Kmart

Kmart layered Hanes Boys' ComfortSoft Tagless T-shirts, 4 pack, $9.99

For men...

From Overstock.com's guide on How to Layer Graphic T-shirts

Great look for men too.

Best places to buy women's
long-sleeved layering tees...

I think the trick is all in the underlayer: it needs to be tissue-thin. Forever21 has great thin long-sleeved tees at next-to-nothing prices.
I've also found some amazing buys on them at WetSeal. Below is one for $2!!

Super thin, two colors, ivory and navy (shown):

Forever 21 Essential Sheer Longline Top, $12.80

$2!

Wet Seal Lurex Stripe Tee, $2.00

(I posted the tee above yesterday as a #dealoftheday. Many sizes available then, but now it's sold out online. Try stores.)

Trendy Tops, $10.99

What do you think of
Trendy Top (avail. at
Bed, Bath, and Beyond)
which makes it look like
you're wearing layers
when you're not?

4 colors. This color is a very light oatmeal--nice!

Forever 21 Basic Scoop Neck T-Shirt, $6.80

8 colors:

Forever 21 Boat Neck Striped Top, 8 colors, $9.80

From Boden:

Mini Boden Pointelle T-shirt, $14.40, layered under Embroidered Gypsy Top, $22.10-$27.20

Layering stripes--looks just as cute on grown-ups as it does on little girls.

For women...

Another image from Boden--
I love layering like this!

Or like this...

Under dresses and tunics...

Tea collection outfit

Ann Taylor tee; J. Crew dress

One of my attempts at layering stripes under a dress

One of my favorite layered images, from Boden

Every Sunday we feature favorite tees. Send yours to openmindfashion@gmail.com, and we'll post it to the blog on an upcoming Sunday and include it on our T-shirt Sunday page under "Permanent Fixtures."

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With buttons down her back

3/22/2013

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Picked up this button-back lace-paneled blouse at H&M for $29.99 yesterday. Don't forget that H&M will give you a voucher for 15% off the item of your choice if you bring them a bag of used clothing (anything except shoes).

back detail

On a related note:

Miss Mary Mack:
dresses and cardigans
that button down the back

A little bit retro,
very feminine:
H&M lingerie

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Revenge of the nerds

3/21/2013

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I've been trolling stylish websites, something I never do--lol--and I've discovered that nerdy (or shall I say "bookish") glasses are not just for nerds anymore. In fact, they're everywhere! Not only that, stores from Urban Outfitters to Anthropologie to the boys' department at Macy's are all selling nerdy reading glasses--dare I say for those who may not need them???

Nerdy glasses, image from GAP

Nerdy glasses (Dual-Bright Readers) from Anthropologie, $39.95

Nerdy glasses, Garnet Hill image

Nerdy glasses, J. Crew Factory image

Urban Outfitters Oversized Round Readers, $16

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Would you like a robe to go with your slippers?

3/18/2013

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Whether you're staying in a youth hostel or visiting relatives, it's always nice to have a robe when you travel. Lightweight waffle cotton packs well, looks fresh, and feels like the spa. Makes a great gift too--for moms or bridesmaids.

Amazon Lightweight Waffle Spa Robe Waffle Weave Wrap Robe, White, $33.99

A super low-cost unisex alternative:

Cottonage.com Waffle Kimono Square Lightweight Bathrobe, $14.99

Packable $6 slippers

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Would you like slippers with that?

3/15/2013

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Who doesn't love the white robe & slippers at luxury hotels, b&b's, and spas? Once a year I stop into the J.W. Marriott and buy a bunch of their slippers, only $6 a pair! Lightweight and slim, they're great for travel. I also regularly give them as gifts when I visit friends and family. Not available online--just stop into a Marriott to purchase some. Or invite me to come visit and you may get a pair! :-)