NYFW: fashion week look

{dress} DVF {long trench coat} Manrepeller x VEDA {clutch} Tenoversix {heels} Zara {photographed by} Jovana Obradovic

My fave look from NYFW was this mixed print DVF Diane Von Furstenberg dress paired with a long green duster from Manrepeller's collab with VEDA.  It was perfect for dramatically crossing the street and letting it gallantly billow in the wind just-so.  But that is the beauty of fashion week, you get to be extra extra- hence my fave weeks.  Every week is fashion week in my book, if only because I believe in dressing however you feel the most empowered.  For me it's in dramatic outfits that wave in the wind. Proud of myself for not tripping over any of those cobblestones, haha.

Fall is one of my fave seasons in NYC.  The vibe of the city really changes with the weather shift, there's something so charming about hot coffee and pumpkins and the return of coats and cozy things.  As always, I'm so in love with that SoHo architecture.  Don't forget to look up when you're walking South of Houston, so many beautiful details to take in.

days are getting shorter

{embellished sweater & skirt} Altuzarra {camo jacket} Zara {handbag} Zac by Zac Posen {sunnies} ACNE Studios {photographed by} Jovana Obradovic

The end of summer transitioning into fall always feels like a mad rush to wear skirts and dresses sans tights, all of your fave booties, and anything in remotely fall colors but in fabrics too flimsy for the chill of impending winter.  Particularly true on the East Coast.  In Los Angeles, this would be my winter wear, or rather year-round wear.

One of my favorite things about NYC is wandering aimlessly.  The streets are all on a grid, so it's near impossible to get lost.  I try to take a different route each time to the same places.  Taking in new architecture, street art, shops and cafes I hadn't known existed.  Every block is packed to the brim with something new to discover.  I remember when I first stumbled upon this park on Elizabeth Street.  It was a magical space to happen upon.  Green and lush, filled with time-worn statues and concrete.  A small respite from towering skyscrapers and the hustle and bustle of the city.  This is where you catch your breath.     

NYC: summer trench coat in the city

{short sleeve trench coat} NSF from The Real Real {top} Marco de Vincenzo {fur clutch} Shrimps {sunnies} Karen Walker Number One {pink suede bow mules} Zara {boyfriend jeans} ACNE Studios {photographed by} James Emmerman

Late spring transitioning into early summer is the perfect time for pieces like this NSF short sleeve trench.  I'm a huge trench-a-holic, always on the lookout for an updated detail.  So finding this jacket with unexpected short sleeves that can be worn rolled up for warmer temps or elbow length was such a score in my book.  Breaking out some bold colors, textures, and details, as well as my favorite happy fur clutch from Shrimps, updates the classic denim and trench look.  An easy way to have fun with basics!

baja + bcbg

{baja sweater} BCBG Max Azria {pleated leather skirt} Le Fou by Wilfred, Aritzia {pvc clutch} Peter Pilotto for Target from Netaporter {sunnies} Karen Walker Number One in Crazy Tortoise {photographed at} Laguna Beach, Orange County

Few articles of clothing are as synonymous with the bohemian beach lifestyle, or California surf culture as the baja sweater or jacket.  Also known as a Mexican Threads Hoodie, sudadera de jerga, or in the cannabis sub-culture- a drug rug.  The sweater garnered it's name since it was popularized in 70's era California, by surfers returning from wave-riding excursions to Baja California, Mexico.  Today, the style has remained classic, still retaining it's associations with laid-back beach life, and well granola hippies living in VW vans along the coast of Santa Cruz (hey, there's nothing wrong with that, Santa Cruz is beautiful this time of year).  I love the reimagined fashion version by BCBG Max Azria.  In a super soft knit, with a more tailored shape this sweater is my new go-to.  Excuse me while I get sentimental, I'll be wearing my hoodie and listening to Brian Wilson's "Surfer Girl" while I chill on Laguna Beach.  

Remember that time I went to Newport Beach, I was heading back to my car and the sun was setting.  The only other vehicle in the lot was a beat-up old RV.  A dude appeared on one of the beach trails and approached me.  He asked if I had a light, explaining he was eager to "light one up".  I shrugged apologetically.  He headed over to the RV and knocked on the door several times.  Suddenly the door creaked open and a voice bellowed, yelling furiously "why would you knock on my door!!!"  The dude scurried away confused by the angry man in the RV.  This folks, is how episodes of CSI start.  And there is your random story of the day.    

silverlake + sandro

{dress} Sandro Remini mesh yoke tunic dress {sandals} Loeffler Randall {sunnies} Karen Walker Number One in Crazy Tortoise

Silverlake is one of my favorite 'hoods in LA.  It might be the closest doppelgänger you'll find out west to my New York neighborhood, the L.E.S and East Village.  Both have that hip, artsy vibe with vintage shops, tons of artisan organic cafes, and coffee spots lining the street.  Granted it's easy to poke fun at these "hipster" standards, but when you're just out here livin' life there's something to be said about a nice cup of coffee, and a corner succulent shop.  Not only did Forbes name this THE coolest neighborhood in the U.S. (I'm still unsure of the criteria used to determine such things..."cool" is subjective, no?) but all of my NYC Lower East Side friends who have moved out to LA have settled right here.  Maybe it's the urban legend surrounding nearby Echo Park Lake, supposedly once a favored dumping ground for...well, severed heads.  That sort of gritty edge is untouched by any level of gentrification, or sump pump.  "What a lovely park!"  "Remember when people used to dump heads in the water?"  "Oh."  To set the record straight, I'm pretty sure that was all urban myth.  Pretty sure.  The public restrooms in that park are still worthy of a fright though.  Speaking of the dirty "g" word, gentrification- the area was also once subjected to real estate developers who wanted to turn the reservoir into a hipster resort.  Yeah, that happened.  They wanted to call it "Hipster Beach".  Sooo glad that never saw fruition.  We're in LA folks, there's a real beach just due west.  You will have to cross the 405* to get to it thought, which I know for many is a deal breaker.  (*Inside LA joke, the 405 divides the east and west side fairly far to the west, westsiders often refuse to go east of the freeway divide and well eastsiders loathe going too far west.  What?!  We're ridiculous in this city, that's already been established.) 

Here I am going off on my Silverlake tangent and forgetting to even talk about this look.  Here's a wrap tunic dress from Sandro.  It has a perfect black and white pattern reminiscent of those composition notebooks we all had in school that we scribbled bored musings and doodled little hearts into.  Yeah, those books we were supposed to be taking chemistry notes in but instead divulged our deepest darkest secrets and sketches into- that composition book.  These cut out bootie style sandals from Loeffler Randall give the elusion of a more substantial shoe, since it is fall, but in LA it's still summer.  Sometimes you have to just pretend to be seasonally appropriate.  

a blazer for every season

{silk battle blazer} Rag & Bone in black and white floral print {jade blouse} Babaton from Aritzia {black shorts} Zara {double date bag} KARA from Opening Ceremony

Summer slowly beginning to fade from long humid nights, to shorter days with a hint of chill gently grasping at our sun bronzed skin (or in my case still pasty skin).  Transitional dressing starts invading our thoughts when school supplies start appearing on the shelves at CVS and August seems like it just won't last.  Granted in Los Angeles, transitional dressing means throwing a light jacket in the car just in case.  I'm a big fan of blazers.  Linen blazers in summer, wool blazers in winter- there's a blazer for every season.  This silk number from Rag & Bone proves my point.  Casually unstructured, a bit oversized and made from a lightweight silk, it's the perfect transitional piece. In summer thrown over an origami folded blouse from Babaton, with shorts, and later in the fall over a thin sweater with a pair of denim.  The abstract line drawn floral print and classic black and white makes it season neutral.  Important in LA where there are technically no seasons.  Walking around my old neighborhood in New York's East Village, this blazer fits right in with it's slightly tailored slightly insouciant vibe.  It's also coast neutral. I mean, it is black after all.  When in NYC embrace the black wardrobe even in summer!  

beach lace

 

{crochet lace tunic dress} Etoile Isabel Marant {white pumps} Zara {sunglasses} Karen Walker Number One in Crazy Tortoise

Nothing like a black crochet lace number from Etoile Isabel Marant to give you that swimsuit cover-up, California surfer girl goes Upper East Side vibe.  It's laid-back but not without attitude and a touch of elegance.  I'll just stand here on this life guard shack in Marina Del Rey and day dream of wearing this tunic over a neoprene bikini post surfing in Panama.  Granted I'll have to brush up on those surfing skills if that will ever happen, and well, learn more about Panama...