All the Summer Ladies, All the Summer Ladies

Summa, summa, summa time. Guys- Summer time dressing is MY JAM. You know what I like about Summer fashion? I just feel like there is less pressure to look “cool”. Know what I mean? Well lemme explain it anyways: during Fall and Winter everyone’s all like, “ZOMG gotta throw on my jet black skinnies and my black leather jacket layered over this sheer black top with these black boots and this black beanie and have this chronically bitchy look on my face allllll damn day and just be the coolest girl you ever did saw.” And I see them slinking around town. And they do look quite intimidating in their head to toe black. And sure, some people may mistakenly mis-label this as “fashionable”. But you just wait til Summer you blacked out fashion bitch. You are nothing without your precious leather jacket and black boots! NOTHING! 

 And Summer arrives. And it’s too damn hot to care about looking cool. And everyone just wants to have fun and wear wild colors and pretty sun dresses and frolick in the sun all day (which is exactly what I did while wearing this ensemble). Suddenly black is passe and it’s all about *CoLoRz*. I love that in the summer we can be a bit more whimsical and free spirited. I like to let my inner vintage sun goddess come out to play. I guess people just don’t take fashion quite as seriously in the warm-weathered months. Which is nice because trying to look “cool” all the time has truly, madly, deeply exhausted me. At least until Fall anyway. I mean shit dude, even I love dressing like a fashion bitch sometimes ;)

Vintage dress and hat. INC shoes.

Until next time,

Brittany

Company Style Blogger Awards 2013

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Dress: Virgos Lounge. Hat: Topshop. Boots: TK Maxx. 

Last night as I’m sure you’re aware, was the long awaited Company Magazine Style Blogger Awards. I was so nervous travelling down on my own but thankfully the beauties Katy (Little Winter) and Robyn (Robyn Mayday) were there to meet me at the station and we scurried around London for the best part of an hour trying to find the venue – which turned out to be the cutest little bar just off brick lane.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt so overwhelmed walking in to a room filled to the brim with amazing bloggers and fashion professionals - I was scared to say the least. Of course there was nothing to be worried about, every single person I spoke to was wonderful and so friendly. It's great to finally meet people in 'real' life!

Company had put on such a wonderful event with Paul Mitchell hairstyling, a D.I.Y sunglasses station and of course the trusty photo booth. Then it was time for the awards presented by the amazing Victoria White and Oonagh Brennan....

I only went and bloody won!!! I felt my face go as red as a tomato and my ears burn to about 500 degrees as I headed up on stage to collect my award, thankfully no-one booed! I actually can’t believe that Wonderful You was even considered for short-listing let alone winning, it’s honestly made me feel so happy and proud of this little blog and to be recognised by you guys is so amazing – really, thank you x100000000000. I quite hate being gushy but honestly I’m so grateful to anyone who voted. AND a huge congratulations to Katy for receiving highly commended in Best Duo, Victoria from In The Frow for winning Best Personal Style Blog – Newcomer and my fave Becky from milk bubble tea who won best use of Photography! You guys absolutely rock my socks!

I went on to drink probably far too many cocktails and danced the night away on our imaginary dance floor with some bloomin’ lovely ladies.

Thank you Company Magazine for hosting such a lovely evening and thank you again to YOU amazing people's for giving me the opportunity to even be there. 

LOVE YOU xxx

p.s. I totally got a fringe ;)

A Roc'n Birthday

Over the weekend, I turned [gasp] 31.  Cough. Cough.

I just kept telling people I was celebrating the tenth anniversary of my 21st birthday.  Ha!  There is something a little unsettling about officially being IN my thirties...but I have to say, 31 isn't looking so bad after all.  

I had the best day celebrating!

I spent the afternoon at Beau Monde Salon and Spa in Victor.  I got a massage with Sonia and then a blow out with Jordan.  Both of them are fantastic.  I'm a repeat customer.  Love, love, love!  They both come highly recommended. 

Here is what I wore for my birthday dinner at the Erie Grill with the hubs:

Get outfit details here.

Here is a close up of my fab 1940s-inspired 'do by Jordan.  He rocks.

Fast forward to dinner...

Here I am enjoying some complimentary bubbly at the Erie Grill.  See that smile?  That's the face of someone who was just given a pretty spectacular spa-day gift card for the Spa at the Delmonte by her fantastic husband.  Can't wait to use that baby!

It was our first time dining at the Erie Grill and we were really impressed with everything.  The atmosphere was great.  We enjoyed a drink at the bar as we watched the sun set over the canal.  The food was some of the best I've had in Rochester.  Everything I ate was delicious - the beet salad was spectacular, the cioppino to-die-for, and the flour-less chocolate cake was pure heaven.  The Erie Grill is definitely being added to our ever-growing list of favorite restaurants in Rochester.

So, yeah, I might be getting old, but at least I'm doing it with style and discovering all the best that Rochester has to offer!

xoxo

Jenny

PS- This is what my hair looked like the next day:

Not too shabby huh?  You seriously need to schedule a blowout with Jordan.  He's the best.  And his shampoos - well, you'll just have to experience one to know what I mean ;)

Life Lessons I Learned From Silk

Silk is having a major moment in my life (AKA closet) right now. Every time I hit up the thrift store all I can think is, “Give me all of the silks.” When I met Britt yesterday for bagels, I professed to her my love for silk: 

“Oh- silk is like, totally hot right now,” she told me, “I just read this article the other day about how the rise of silk for Fall 2013 is sort of like, a response to the fact that the world has lost it’s sense of intimacy. Ya know, cuz everyone like, lives their lives inside of their cell phone? And silk is the fabric of intimacy...” 

OMG…duh. YES! It all makes sense now! You see, I have also been suffering from a debilitating case of social media fatigue the past couple of days. Between texting, Facebooking, Instagramming, Tweeting, Pinning, Tumbling, and blogging; we all experience hundreds of micro-connections with people from all over the world every. single. day. But there is zero sense of intimacy or history or understanding with these people- and if you don’t have that it’s like, what’s the point? Small talk is boring. Even though I am connected to virtually everyone in the world, I can count on all my fingers the people with whom I have an “intimate” relationship with. Intimate ain’t just about sex- intimacy simply means that you have detailed knowledge and a deep understanding of each other- basically they’re your ride-or-die peeps. I looooove me some social media…but lately I’ve just been wanting to unplug a bit. 

I suppose my craving for real relationships, real conversations and real people (as opposed to the virtual) could also have something to do with the fact that I will soon be moving 500 miles north of my SoCal home and will officially be a NorCal girl- so I really gotta soak up my peeps while I can. For now, I will continue to wrap myself in all the silks I can get my hands on in an attempt to remind myself that the virtual world is fun and great- but the world outside of my cell phone is where the magic happens. Damn…who knew that textiles could communicate such life lessons?

Thrifted coat, skirt, boots, necklace. Foreign Exchange crop top.

Until next time, 

Chelsea

That Time We Discovered Government Secrets

We interrupt out regularly scheduled programming to bring you PMF: "Double the Trouble, Double the Fun" edition. We decided Saturday was the perfect day for sneaking around our fave local abandoned army base. Last time we hit up the medical building, so this time we mobbed over to the elementary school and barracks. The school was (interestingly enough...) wide open, so we took the liberty of letting ourselves in. We were poking around, peering inside classrooms, shrieking at every little noise, searching for a way to get inside; but to no avail. (We’re ladies so we ain’ts about to be breaking in any windows. We need a boy to do that stuff.) So we’re doin our thing, snapping pics, when suddenly we stumble upon something VERY interesting. While the rest of the school is abandoned, in ruins, and totally creepy, this particular wing is not. It would appear that there is a secret corporation being run out of here that goes by mysteriously ambiguous name “NATGEO”. When we peered inside we didn’t see clocks hanging off the wall, desks turned upside down, and chairs strewn across the floor; instead we saw your run-of-the-mill office space. As in like, it’s currently in operations! We dreamed up many a conspiracy theory as to WHY this corporation is currently operating out of an abandoned elementary school: Nuclear weapons? New world order? Area 51 alien-type-a shit? We were deep within our imaginary world when suddenly: po po. Don’t worry dudes- it’s just Irvine cops. And we’re white sooooo…

“Ladies. Watchu doin?” he pondered.

Britt held up the camera, “Sorry officer. We are taking our photography final like, waaaaay too seriously! (giggles) Just snappin some photos for our art class.” I swear there is no amount of trouble that a big-ass camera and a miniskirt can’t get you out of.

“Alright well wrap it up…this is private property ya know.”

In unison: “Thank you officer!”

 Dude, I swear we watched WAY too much Harriet the Spy growing up. PS- If we do not return to regularly scheduled posting on Wednesday then assume we’ve been taken into government custody.

Until next time,

Britt + Chels

Make It Work

It is common knowledge amongst us fashion-folk that the fit of a garment is of the utmost importance. I mean…duh. But for us thrift store shopping, fashion hackers- fit doesn’t always come so easy. I mean, it’s not like when I score something great I can just find the helpful sales girl and ask her to drop off a size small to my dressing room. UM…hell no. That shit is every woman for her damn self. Goodwill don’t work that way. So instead of over-analyzing the fit, I take a page from Tim Gunn’s book and simply “make it work”. Case in point: This bomb-ass tee I picked up at the pile sale last weekend. It was love at first sight- I can’t say no to freaky-deaky graphics and that super saturated green. (Especially after seeing this Jeremy Scott show…I’m a sucker for some JS.) But alas it is a Men’s size large…and I am not. NEVER would I EVER throw it back into the pile…I mean you don’t just ignore love at first sight!

When you do not have the luxury of a perfectly fitted garment, you gotta get creative with the shape. And when we’re dealing with shape, it’s all about draping. (Heavier the fabric, the better.) So, I placed the neckline high around my neck and let the front of the tee just hang- which ended up giving the sleeves an interesting shape- don’t you think? This ended up creating some volume at the back, which I strategically tucked into my underwear so it would stay put all day. Now, whether that’s completely trashy or kiiiiiiinda genius is for you to decide…but only god can judge me, bitch. That shit is ELASTIC...it will put that in it's PLACE and keep it there. Also it needs to be said that I am the luckiest girl in the world because I wore this to, of all places, the office. True story, bro. NO clue as to how I get away with these style shenanigans, but we will attribute this to the fact that a) I work in fashion and b) have awesome co-workers who let me indulge my wildest fashion fantasies on a daily basis. If I had to abide by some “professional” or “corporate” dress code (code=rules=I hate them) that would only leave me 2 measly days per week to wear whatever the hell I wanted, which would really suck all the fun outta the day, ya know? I mean getting dressed is like, the best part of the day. Besides, I do my best work when I’m lookin’ and feelin’ fly ;)

Vintage coat. Thrift tee. F21 skirt. Vintage pumps. F21 jewels.

Until next time,

Brittany

Ombrelicious

Jumper: c/o The Hut. Boots: Urban Outfitters. Hat: Topshop.

I’m not the girl who has embraced the ombre hairstyle – I think it looks great on other people but for me I think I’d just look a bit stupid really. However the ombre theme in every other sense of the word interests me immensely – oh how I wish I was talented enough to put together an ombre lip...alas I cannot so of course when it comes to clothes I’m all over it. 

When the Hut got in contact letting me know they’re re-launching their women’s wear section ofthe website, I picked this lovely jumper out of their samples and it is literally the comfiest ever, ever. The material is so soft and well made and from the looks of the website it’s hugely affordable too. Unfortunately this jumper isn't yet available to buy but they’ve got a cheeky 20% off to celebrate the launch when you enter TREAT at checkout, so go have a gander – I’ve personally got my eye on the daisy print crop, it’s so pretty!

This weekend I'm going to Oxford to spend time with my nan :) I can't wait - I've missed her loads! What's everyone else up to?

The Arbitrary Status-Quo of Beauty

I am a woman who whole-heartedly embraces my voluptuous shape- my tits, my ass, my thighs, and the curve of my hips are all something I rather enjoy. I do not have the body of a supermodel. Luckily, becoming a super model was never an aspiration of mine, so I don’t really give a fuck whether I look like one or not. BUT- I am only human. And we alllllll have our days. And this particular day was my day. “Do I look fat in this outfit?” I asked Britt, examining my shape in the mirror. 

She looked at me. “Ummm…no,” she answered. 

“Ok…” I wasn’t convinced. “But you would like, tell me if I did, right?” 

“I mean, I guess I would. But that would never happen.” 

Right answer, sis. Britt and I aren’t the kind of girls who toil or bother with body snarking to each other, the way some BFF’s do. This is something I feel has isolated me from girlfriends in the past. Inevitably, the conversation of “I hate my fat thighs and OMG my stomach is like getting huge” always comes up, and when it was my turn to hate on myself, I just never had anything to say regarding the matter. It seems that certain groups of girls do not appreciate this sort of confidence, and would rather widdle away their precious time on earth trying to conform to some arbitrary status quo of beauty that has been created by corporations and the advertising industry for the sole reason that we will purchase their products to aid us in our lifelong quest for perfection. We are the consumers and we are the majority. Why do we have to fit into their whack-ass mold and not the other way around? And now, a quote: “It is in our biology to trust what we see with our eyes. This makes living in a carefully edited, overproduced, and photoshopped world very dangerous.” - Brene Brown. End of rant/PSA. *Takes a bow*

Thrifted top and hat. Urban Outfitters jeans. Charlotte Russe booties.

Until next time,

Chelsea

Lollipop Dreams

T-Shirt c/o: Brakeburn. Belt: ASOS. Leggings: Topshop. Boots: Hudson. Hat: Topshop

Firstly can I apologise for how hideously over exposed my photo's are, I took the snaps and then realised when I came to edit that the settings were definitely wrong! 
Even though the weather has been a bit crappy it's still been warm enough to not always wear a jumper and when purchasing a t-shirt it obviously needs to have lollies on it. Brakeburn embraces the comfort in their street-wear clothing, which you know I'm a huge fan of. I'll put my hands up and admit that I'm not the 'sporty' type. I used to study dance at College but when I graduated it got left on the back-burner and Daniel will occasionally persuade me to the gym but I'm definitely not an active being! However I definitely have time for comfy clothes and fun prints which this company provide a-plenty.
It's not quite warm enough at the moment for me to whack out my pasty pins with this tee, but I'd definitely sport it with a cheeky maxi skirt when the sun decides to make an appearance.

This week feels like it's dragging hugely already - is it honestly on Tuesday?