June 2009

This woman does no wrong!  She always looks so good no matter what she wears, but she’s really looking adorable at her Walk of Fame ceremony in LA last week.

I love how she paired a sweet white lace dress with sexy red patent accessories and it’s the contrast in these two categories that make this look one of a kind!

You could choose any primary color to accent a basic white dress like this one, but I think the bolder the better so go big or go home!

What’s also great about this look, is that you can get a very similar version for less than $100 if you find just the right items!  Check out these great options below to get Cami’s look for much less…

I saw these resin bangles when they first hit the scene a few years back in ivory and black…and while I thought they were cute, they definitely weren’t worth the $100 price tag!

Well now Jessica Kagan has come out with a new version for the summer in an assortment of starburst colors like Cobalt, Fucshia, Yellow and Green and with some cute-sy sayings like…

“Toto I feel like we’re not in Kansas anymore”…”We’ll always have Paris…and “All this and brains too!”

I found these on sale at Singer 22 for $66.50, but that’s still way too expensive for a bracelet so I’ll just keep them on my wish list for now!!

I’m absolutely in love with two-finger, or double, rings. I saw it first on Lauren Conrad, although she has a name plate double ring and I am more interested on the more simple, elegant kind. I have been looking everywhere for them! Do you have any clue on where the cheap versions of this fab ring are hiding? Any insight would be much appreciated!!

Paula

Hey Paula,

I myself am a HUGE fan of the double finger ring…it adds just the right amount of edge to my otherwise girl jewelry collection!  Lauren’s custom ring can run  you up to $200 and that’s way too much to spend on something you’ll likely be “over” by the end of the summer!  So here are a few options that won’t break the bank…

This one is from Max and Chloe and while it’s isn’t super-simple, I think the stars are super cute so I had to share it!  It retails for $63 but use discount code Jessica20 to save 20% off your total!  You could also try this plain gold version too!

But if you really want something minimal, check out this great sterling one from CollenBaran’s ETSY shop.  It’s made to order so you can bet you’ll get a perfect fit and for $49 it’ll make a very nice treat for yourself!!

Hope this helps and enjoy your new rings!!!

but in a totally good way!  I’m not sad or melancholy by any means, and if anything, I’m feeling the exact opposite…I got to wear some of my Top Shop purchases to work yesterday and it totally made my day!  I wore a yellow and white striped “Missoni-esque” top with my favorite new cobalt blue skirt and I can honestly say the color completely lifted my mood!

It’s been sooooooo rainy and grey in Philly and it always amazes me how dressing in a certain color or wearing something you’re really excited about can totally affect how you feel and what you project to others around you!

So in honor of my adorable skirt, I found some fun items all priced under $50 that will hopefully do the same for you!!  And all of the clearance items from Express are now an additional 20% off so enjoy…

I have the pleasure of doing Lake Bell’s makeup regularly for her NYC appearances and promos and love her! Lake Bell is one of the most naturally beautiful women I’ve had the pleasure of applying makeup to as her features are already enhanced and her skin is mere perfection. With all this said, yes, applying makeup on celebrities never feels like work rather a special perk of my job as the makeup application is often accompanied by an insane getup (in this case Louis Vuitton head to toe) and a hair style we could only dream of sporting at least once in our lives. I got to do Lake’s makeup with renown celebrity hairstylist (Angelina’s hair god) Ted Gibson. All of this preparation done in the comfort of your own apartment, might I add- does it get any better than this?

Lake wanted a little more drama than she normally requests, because as you can see, the dress is black, but not simple. I used Lancôme Le Crayon Khol in Black to apply what I call a ‘reversed catliner’ on her bottom lash line with lots of mascara and individual lashes.  I wing the liner out from the bottom which accentuated her almond eyes.  I used a fantastic Makeup Forever Black Shadow #4 over the pencil to set and kept the skin, cheeks and lips very nude-y pink and fresh.  Visit www.daramascara.blogspot.com for a complete list of the products I used!

You’ll never look as good as you do today…

Dara

I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve kind of been on a retail tear recently…I felt like I didn’t have enough work-appropriate clothes for my gig at NBC so I started buying really cute dresses, skirts, tops, and everything else under the sun that could assist in making me look stylish, yet professional.

And while all the new stuff is great, now I feel like my wardrobe is totally unbalanced because it’s so heavily skewed towards office attire and I’m left with nothing but leggings and white V-necks for my off days…sooooo frustrated…

that is until I found this adorable dress from Alloy for only $19.99!!  It’s that perfect, effortlessly chic Summer look that I”m always trying to achieve all rolled up into one piece!!

And in an effort to curb my spending I’m challenging myself to create at least 3 outfits from each piece I have bought over the last few weeks and that alone should get me through the rest of the Summer.  So before you buy anything else (w/the exception of this dress!) try to do the same…you might be surprised at how many great outfits you can make from stuff you already own!!!

From the day this collection debuted, I’ve been kind of obsessed…I love the vintage quality about these keys and I love the idea of layering several of them together!

Unfortunately, the most affordable key from Tiffany is $125 and that only gets you a simple sterling one.  And while that’s a nice start, you really need the combination of a gold one and the bling-y ones to complete you collection.

So if you’ve got a CheapChica budget, I would ask for the sterling Tiffany one next time you have a birthday/anniversary/special occasion and then layer it with this less expensive gold one from Fred Flare or this CZ version from Overstock to help add some glamour to any look!!!

it’s Norma Kamali, it’s $8 and it’s Neon…need I say more???

As you all know, I love nothing more than a great buy, but what makes a great buy even better is when I can pair it with multiple things in my closest to create even more looks…it works something like that exponent thing they taught you in High School but applied to something much more fun that Math…CLOTHES!!

I just picked up this adorable yellow skirt at F21 for only $13.80 because I know I can pair it with several tops I already own!  It’s bright color makes it the perfect foundation from which to build the rest of your outfit from and it’s simple enough to let you have some fun with the rest of your ensemble!

Outfit 1: Leaf Print Top $19.99, Black Caged Heels $48

Outfit 2: Ruffle V Neck Top $16.99, Maison Sandal $59.99

Outfit 3: Ruffle Cami $17.80, Lela Rose Flat $36

Rachel and all her TV goodness (including Taylor and Brad) will be returning for a 2nd season on Bravo starrting August 25th!!

I’ll be tuning in for every episode to get my fill of her amazing clothes, awe-inspriing jewelry collection and countless Rachel-isms!!

I’ll also be keeping a very close eye on her new “collection” for QVC…my ex-employer is handling all of the production for her handbags so she should be in really good hands.

But I have to say that I’m scared to death about what the powers that be at QVC might do to her vision and ideas.  They have a tendency to butcher anything that has real fashion relevance in exchange for higher profit margins so here’s a warning to all of you brilliant QVC execs…

LET RACHEL BE RACHEL! She’s one-of-a-kind so don’t try to mold her into one of your vendor clones or you’ll miss out on one of the only opportunities you’ll ever have to make shopping on QVC acceptable to a consumer who actually knows and appreciates true fashion.

It’s good to have you back Rachel!!

UPDATE:  Use code SPIN30 to save 30% on these + FREE shipping!!!

I clearly have hot pink and shoes on the brain so I’m sorry for the back to back posts, but I tried these on last week and like Kylie sings…”I just can’t get you out of my head”!!

These Makel shoes by Steve Madden are exactly what I need to add new life to everything in my closet, but they cost $109.90 which is outrageous for a pair of SM shoes!  I used my 20% off coupon code (CJDAD20) but that barely brought the price down to under $100 w/shipping…

so for now I’ll just have to wait and hope that they go on sale before the end of the Summer!!

FYI: The color on the Steve Madden website is totally off…this pic is from Zappos and it’s a much truer representation of what they look like in person.

I  love amazing looking shoes and when I happen to find these metallic pearl flats, I fell in love with them immediately.

The only thing holding me back from purchasing these one of a kind Lulu flats is that they retail for $96…which is completely out of my budget these days. So instead I decided that this was a project I could definitely take on! Here’s how…

After searching high and low I came across these ruffled flats from Go Jane that retailed for only $17.50 and figured that the only other things I needed to DIY these babies was a hot glue gun and a pack of pearl beads that I found at Joann’s Fabric on sale for $1.39!

After glueing on the pearls and letting them dry I managed to save over $70 by doing these myself and they look GREAT!  I couldn’t believe that I got this look for so much less! And what better way to end my project by going out and showing them off! Don’t you agree?

I think Blake Lively looked just lovely at the CFDA awards this week!  She can oftentimes be a red carpet don’t, but she looks absolutely stunning in this ultra-hot pink number by Michael Kors!

I saw this color all over the Fall runways back in February and I’m so excited to see the color transition to the red carpet…and based on some of the fun finds I found below, it’s also made it’s way to your local retailers!

While you might find this color a little intense, you can still make it work for you by keeping everything else really neutral and minimal…including the accessories.  I would also follow Blake’s example and stick with a silhouette that’s sleek and modern to make this shade a little easier to wear.

And if you’re looking for a similar look to Blake’s dress, check out the asymmetrical number below for less than $20…it’s a must-buy!!