Coat | Rag & Bone Pants | Citizens of Humanity Shoes | Rachel Comey Mars Clutch (below) | Target
I hope you had a relaxing and merry holiday. My picture spot had some poinsettias added around Christmas, making all my photos a little more festive, and these are the last of those photos.
First up - a holiday-appropriate coat if I ever saw one. This one is XS in Rag & Bone and I got it on extra clearance on the RealReal. The best part is that what looks like black piping is actually zippers - the coat unzips around the waist, and becomes a moto jacket! I think it might be a little big, and the arms are a tad long, but the cocoon coat look is in so I just started wearing it - fit be damned.
A rare smile in these photos...
Second, a casual weekend look which features one of my favorite t-shirts. It is a satisfyingly thick cotton and a cool stained glass print. Since the top is various shades of grey, as is my jacket, I used the print in the shirt and quilted texture of the jacket to make the outfit more visually interesting. The jacket is still available at Alternative Apparel, and if you wait, they usually have pretty significant sales, should you have any interest in knowing that information.
Top | J. Crew Factory Jacket | Alternative Apparel (still available) Jeans | Paige Shoes | Frye Veronica Short Bag | Mansur Gavriel Mini Bucket (read my review here)
Did you know she was a princess?! I decided to start a series where I do a little background research on a designer I'm interested in and whose work I admire. It is sort of fun to dive into the history of fashion lines, and who better to start with than wrap-dress queen and CFDA president, Diane von Furstenberg.
Dress | DvF (obvi)
Bag | Mansur Gavriel (read a review here)
Sunglasses | Ray-Ban
To get the ball rolling, here is a great 10 minute interview between DvF and Leandra Medine, of Man Repeller, where she doles out such wisdom as "when you doubt your power, you give power to your doubts"
DvF on the cover of Newsweek in 1976
She was born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin, and later married Prince Egon of Furstenberg, a German prince. (Did you know Germany still had a royal family...I'm not going to lie, I did not). Although they later divorced, she started designing clothes when they married, and she kept his name on her brand as it grew.
Far more interesting than her royal past, DvF introduced the jersey wrap dress in 1974, which put her brand on the map, and launched a thousand imitators. Since that time her company has grown into an international business with, per Forbes, estimated sales of $500 million.
Oh, hello there.
The wrap dress is pretty universally flattering, nipping in at the waist and then flowing down across the hips. There is something about the cut which is so easy to wear, and yet comes across as very polished. I also appreciate that the prints DvF picks are always fun. This particular dress is from the RealReal, and instead of having a tie at the waist, it just has a wide elastic strap, which sort of acts like a belt, giving you a faux-wrap that can't accidentally come un-tied.
This particular dress also has pockets, which is always appreciated.
A print in two colors is twice as good!
No knots needed.
I've enjoyed reading more about DvF, and might check out her book, The Woman I Wanted to Be. Have you read it and would you recommend it? I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about this awesome entrepreneur and business-woman, and in the meantime I will have to think about who I want to learn more about next!
