The Best and Worst Ads in the Vogue September Issue; As Decided By Me

I shall be the judge and jury! The September issue of Vogue is out and it is always one of my favorites. This year's issue is huge, and packed full of ads. Since the September issue is always a big deal, brands pull out all the stops, so I thought it'd be fun to see how they did and analyze whose ad jumped out at me. FYI, I excluded all perfume ads from my deliberation because otherwise all the worst ones would be perfume ads. Perfume ads are seriously the strangest things!

What Is Happening With Your Face?
Best:
I don't know if this ad necessarily makes me want to buy Secret, but the image grabbed my attention, and the text made me smile.

 Worst:
This ad is otherwise perfectly fine, and I like the texture of the dress and bag. However, the red lines on her face look like a child was playing on the magazine with lipstick. I feel like they distract me rather than add to the look, and some awesome hair accessory or hairstyle would have been better to punch up the look.

Sullen Models
Best:
To me, these two ladies look cool - I like the outfits, shoes and accessories. I was surprised to see this was Coach, to be honest. Good on you Coach.

Musing on Quality + Saturday Reading

     I consider myself to be part of the generation for whom fast fashion, for better or worse, has had a huge impact on my expectations and relationship with clothes and shopping, and I'm sure the impact will only be greater for those younger than myself. I sometimes hear, from older adults, that our generation doesn't know how to recognize quality and I wonder if that is correct. Do we rely almost exclusively on other things, like name brand, or advertisements, or even fabric content ("well it is 100% silk...")  as a barometer of quality?
    I was thinking about this recently because I dusted off the bag pictured above, to take to a wedding. This evening bag belonged to my grandmother, and was purchased in the 1930's. It is over 80 years old, and has held up like a champ - not a single bead has come loose or fallen off. The few contemporary beaded pieces that I have barely last a few years, much less a few decades. To be fair, it isn't like I use this bag everyday, I save it for special events, but even still, the quality of it impresses me. 
     What do I have, if anything, that will still be in mint condition 100 years from now? Is it unrealistic to expect anything I have still will be? I'd love to hear your thoughts and how you judge the quality of your pieces.

And now, in other news, some articles for your perusal for the long weekend:

 New York City Waitresses Model Fall Clothes

1. I adore Stacy London, and I recommend her recent article on fashion, personal style, and aging. (Refinery 29)

2. The striking images above are from a great fall fashion photo shoot New York Magazine did last month. (The Cut)

3. The article titles Racked uses are sometime's so spot on: We Can't Figure Out Amazon's Weird Pricing System. I always check Amazon if there is a specific thing I am trying to find, because I've found that certain sizes are sometimes heavily discounted. However, just browsing that site for clothes/accessories, if you don't know what you want, is terrible. 

4. Last up, an article on the journey of Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, from Oscar de la Renta, to opening their own label, Monse, and now back to Oscar de la Renta to serve as the creative directors. Turnover at fashion houses has been high, but I'm excited to see what they do. (NYT)

Tweed-y Bird

I have really been branching out lately. I bought my first item of animal print, and now, I have my first piece of tweed!

Recently, I've tried to make a conscious effort to only shop in person, rather than online, and I wonder if that has something to do with it. If I saw this on the J. Crew website, there is no way I'd ever add it to my cart. When I saw it on the final sale rack in the store, however, I was drawn to the color and texture of the dress, as well as the fun fringed sleeve. 

I am wearing a P0, and I think this dress runs a little small. It could be because the fabric has no stretch, but it is fully lined and has pockets.

Dress | J. Crew (on sale) 

This dress has every single color in it!

A summer of firsts - maybe I'll have to give kombucha another try...

Linen + Stripes

Top | T by Alexander Wang
Jeans | Paige Jimmy Jimmy Skinny Boyfriend (on sale)
Bralette | Aerie

      Just a lazy weekend outfit. I found this linen top for $20 at Nordstrom Rack, and was quite surprised to see it's full price. I paired it with some boyfriend jeans, even though it meant I would have "oversized" pieces on the top and bottom. Normally I wear this tank with skinny jeans, but since it shows my shoulders and back, I was less worried about the combo overwhelming my frame. The jeans are secondhand from Crossroads Trading Co., so this outfit was rather cheap and is incredibly comfortable to boot.

 My only complaint about these jeans, is that the front pockets are comically small and about 2/3 of my phone sticks out when I put it in the pocket. These are "boyfriend" so would it have killed them to include pockets as practical as they include on men's jeans?

How old is too old to still be shopping at American Eagle?

Won't someone please think of the pockets??

Review: Tabula Rasa Akoto Dress

Dress | Tabula Rasa Akoto (sold out in coral but available in white)

I am a totally tactile shopper. When I am shopping, I basically touch every piece before I decide if I want to try it on or not, and the texture of a garment is usually enough to sway my decision one way or another. This knit dress is from Tabula Rasa, and it wasn't their clothing I saw first but their pillows...

Once I saw those, I knew I'd eventually own something they created. (I also spent about half an hour googling DIY projects that would allow me to make those pillows). Cut forward about 6 months and some well-timed end of summer sales, and this dress was mine. 

It is fun, fringed, and rather soft - I did an embarassing amount of spinning while wearing this. I must warn you, though, that this baby is short. I am about 5'2'', wearing an XS, and I felt most comfortable wearing this over a swimsuit. I think otherwise, I would feel most comfortable with something tied around my waist (maybe a chambray button-up would be cute...) to guard against wardrobe malfunctions if I had to do any bending over, or stair climbing. It is also lined with a little attached slip dress, to keep the knit body of the dress from being see-through. 

Letting the fringe fly.

What are some brands whose texture of textiles never let's you down?

Be There With Bell (Sleeve)s On

In what I consider to be part two of "outfits that don't wear well under a jacket" (part one here), may I present for your consideration, the bell sleeve. I love the volume, but in order to wear this under a blazer or jacket, you have to neatly tuck the sleeve in around your arm, and then no one can see the best part of the top. Layering aside, I think this is an ideal "pumped-up" basic: it is black and white so it is easy to pair with almost anything (pants and shorts of all colors, denim, probably even a pencil skirt) and the bold stripe and sleeve detail add some visual interest to keep the outfit from looking too basic. 

Top | J. Crew (similar)
Pants | DL1961
Shoes | Paul Green

This top is from J. Crew, and it might have been last season, as I found it in-store on clearance, and it doesn't appear to be still on the website. However, they have an almost identical one, with smaller bell sleeves here. I am wearing an xxs. 

Do you have a layering trick for voluminous pieces? If so, I am all ears.