Who says oppulence is dead?

Certainly not Louis Mariette, who's couture headpieces have left me in awe. Simply amazing! (Photos from dazeddigital.com)

The Last Emperor and Lemonade

First of all: Valentino the Last Emperor. I am dying to see it! Just this photo has me nearly drooling. Plus these ladies at the New York premiere look nearly as stunning! (Photos from nytimes.com and style.com).






























Second, I've been given another beautiful award by janeterria. Thanks so much! I want to give this to everyone who reads my blog (I know, I'm breaking the rules), so if that's you, congratulations!

emerging thoughts

I apoligize for my absence, but I'm super excited about todays post. Through the wonder of MySpace, I found out about a great little independent boutique selling pieces by independent designers. Along with my picks from the website, I also conducted a mini interview with the lovely owner, Lauren.

1. First of all, let's hear a little bit about yourself.
I grew up in Miami, Florida and currently live in Chicago, IL. I used to
be bored with going to malls and finding the same outfits and brands.
Everyone looked like carbon copies of each other. I started looking
online for independent designers and more original clothing. I created
www.emergingthoughts.com because I wanted to offer an online boutique
that gave people the chance to support these designers.

2. Please tell me a little about your shop.

Every item was created by an independent designer. Most of the stuff is
one of a kind. It's pretty cool to buy a one of a kind outfit, knowing
you'll never walk into the room and find someone else wearing the same
thing.

We recently added a vintage section. I travel a lot and am always looking
for great finds. All of the pieces were handpicked by me.

3. Why should I shop at www.emergingthoughts.com?
I think that many people shop at chain and department stores because
they're easily available. Most cities don't have boutiques or vintage
shops. People don't realize they can have one of a
kind clothing. If you had to chose between a $60 mass produced dress or
a $60 one of a kind, handmade dress, wouldn't you chose the latter? Most
people don't realize that the option is available.
www.emergingthoughts.com is a good site to find original clothing.

We also think it's important that we're in tune with our customers. 60
year old out of touch businessmen aren't running the company. Everyone
associated with the site is similar to our shopper.

6. Tell me a little about the DIY tutorials on your site.

We want to teach people how to create one of a kind designs on a budget.
We know that not everyone has $60 to spend on a dress. Our tutorials
feature very cheap ways to reconstruct or design something and usually
only require old items from a closet, scissors, and a creative mind.
We hope the tutorials promote creativity.

Any final advise for our readers?
Support independent businesses!

Also, Lauren has kindly offered 10% off to you! Just enter the code EMERGING2009! (photos from emergingthoughts.com).

Alpine Stars

I recently discovered the brand AlpineStars (let me know if this is new to you or if I am just way behind on the times). I really love the biker-chic attitude this line has, while still being appealing to me (a long way from a biker-chic. I'd much rather be riding a horse than a motorcycle). The love the pants with lots of zippers at the top. So interesting (photos from alpinestars.com).


As well, I've been given an award by the lovely janettaylor. She's so sweet!

Rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which you think are UNIQUE and CHIC.
3. Pass it on let them know.

Ten blogs I think are unique and chic are (in no particular order):
Kira Fashion
Daisy Chain Dreams
Couture Carrie
Strawberry Kitten
The House of Style
The Stiletto Effect
Qin at the Disco
Fashion Daydreams
Allure-Allure
What Happens in Vegas

Spring, is that you?

It's starting to get warmer, which, being that I live in Alberta Canada, means I'm in for at least one more good blizzard. Regardless, I enjoyed the warmer weather we've been having the past couple days by wearing open-top flats yeserday. It was extremely wet with all the snow melting (a number of houses a few neighbourhoods over flooded) so rubber boots may have been a better choice, but I couldn't resist.

Also, these photos show the last of my new purchases (except the adorable suede grey fringe boots i bought and discovered made my feet bleed from blisters and then gave to my mom. If I ever get a photo of her wearing them, I'll post it up). The top (which I love the pieces) is from Kensie (the picture is not great, but I was having issues) and the green bag I bought at a purse party, which means a lady came to my sister-in-law's house with boxes of purses and a few of my sister-in-law's friends came over and bought some. She had well over a hundred. A lot of fakes (eww), but some really cute ones. Like this one, which is my favourite colour.

New skirt and new project

So, today is the Pudding and Pie debut of another of my purchases: a brown plaid United Colours of Bennetton skirt. My boyfriend has already started to jokingly refer to it as a kilt (which is pretty close I guess). Regardless, I really like it and I got a good deal on it (major sale, plus everything on sale was an additional 25% off the day I went there). There were also adorable purple boots (also in red and yellow), but they only had tiny feet sizes left.

Also, most people who know me know about my not so secret dream of being a fashion designer. Since I don't want to quit my (non-fashion) degree and am not able to go to fashion school right now, I decided the best thing to do would be to just start sewing. My newest project (started yesterday) is a white print tank. I've finnished the top and now just have the bottom half to complete. However, the fabric I bought was a remenant (50% AND buy 1 get 3 free) so I'm a little limited but I think I can make it work. Here's my progress so far (and you get to meet Matilda, the dressform my auntie is lending me. I think she's an antique (Matilda, not my auntie)).

First Outfit Post in a While

So I know it's been too long since my last outfit post, but here it is. The purple coat was one of the recent purchases I mentioned in my last post. It was a great find at an extreme end-of-season sale. What do you think? I apologize for the gross bathroom shots, but I didn't have much of a choice. Oh, and I also got bangs on my holiday! I haven't had any since I was 9, so they're taking some getting up to.

Coat - Vero Mode, Jacket - Tatullah, T-shirt - Jacob Connection, Jeans - Bluenotes, Belt - Banana Republic, Shoes - Adias, Headband (can't really see) - Ardene