Happy Amazon Prime Day! Over the next couple days, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite finds from Amazon as well as some great deals. Follow me on Instagram @shessopoised to view and shop these prime day deals.
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Tag Archives: fashion
Valentine’s Day Style Inspo
Red is a bold powerful color that often symbolizes passion, love and energy. It’s one of my favorite colors to wear. Here are a couple red hot looks I created for Valentine’s Day. All of the items are available on Amazon and the links are highlighted.
The jumpsuit is by Black Halo and is very elegant. With three quarter length sleeves and cropped pant style, this jumpsuit can be worn year round for a variety of occasions. Accessorize with a double strand necklace such as the Swarovski Women’s Ginger Rose-gold finish Layered Pendant Necklace. The matching Swarovski bracelet complements the style of the look nicely.
The Black Halo Women’s Jackie O Belted Dress pictured above is one of Black Halo’s classic dresses and is always in style. The asymmetrical neckline makes the design both interesting and sophisticated. Rose gold accessories displayed are Kendra Scott. How cute are these Kendra Scott Sophee Heart Hoop Earrings! I love the look of a cuff bracelet, so I included the Kendra Scott Fallyn Cuff Bracelet.
The heart shaped purse is festive for Valentine’s Day. The bag can be worn two ways since the crossbody strap is removable. Classic glam make-up is always in style for Valentine’s Day. Here I showed a couple of my favorites: a retro red lipstick staple – Ruby Woo lipstick by MAC and classic black liquid eyeliner – Kat Von D tattoo liner in trooper.
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Cape Blazer Style
A cape jacket, also called a cape blazer or a blazer with long cap sleeves, is super chic and certainly more interesting visually than a basic blazer. I’ve worn the BCBGMAXAZRIA black cape blazer pictured above many times and have always received compliments on it. I like this style because it has some shoulder padding, closes at the waist and is very tailored.
Cape blazers look great worn over almost anything. Wear with skirts or pants for a professional look or dress up the styles for an evening out. They look elegant over an evening gown (instead of a traditional coat) if you’re attending a formal event. Try wearing a cape jacket with jeans and a cute top for a more casual style. Tops should either be long sleeve or sleeveless under cape blazers.
Another chic tailored cut cape blazer with shoulder pads is by Gamisote. The Gamisote Women’s Cape Blazer is available in a variety of colors and sizes.
A cape blazer is definitely a piece worth having in your closet!
Happy Holidays
Holiday dressing is about luxe fabrics, textures and of course sparkle! Velvet, a traditional holiday fabric, was prevalent in accessories and adornments during late summer/early fall. It continues to be fashionable for Holiday 2017; even more so than in previous years.
My new favorite holiday dress is the crushed velvet one below by Nanette Lepore. I love the bold color and the asymmetrical neckline. I styled the dress with statement earrings from Henri Bendel and L.K. Bennett brushed gold sandals.
Nanette Lepore crushed velvet dress
If you don’t feel like buying anything new this holiday season, take a look in your closet. You may be surprised what you find. I discovered this velvet shirt dress that I haven’t worn in years, but is so similar to a BCBG shirt dress that’s currently sold. It’s on trend, and now I have another dress option for this time of year.
A very Merry Christmas to you all and best wishes in 2018!
Luxury handbags made in Italy
Are you looking for a new handbag or a unique gift for someone? A good friend of mine, Marilyn Alioto Bloom, and Serajean Ferrara Alioto have been designing luxury handbags for numerous years. Their brand, Serajean Ferrara, is well known for their high quality elegant bags. The handbags and wallets are handmade by leather artisans near Florence, Italy. Each bag is specially designed with distinct features. The Serajean Ferrara woven collection is made up of a variety of styles from wallets to shoulder bags, to totes, to hobos made of the finest leather. The bags are designed with spacious compartments, zip pockets, leather lined interiors, and some handbags come with interchangeable straps making the purses very versatile.
Serajean Ferrara handbag – can be worn a variety of ways
I really love the Serajean Ferrara handbag pictured above because it can be worn so many ways. It’s great for travel because it can be used as a handbag or a wallet. The interior features three sections, a sewn in zip coin purse, and sewn in credit card holders. The bag comes with two straps: a metal chain strap – perfect for evening; and a leather strap – for a daytime crossbody look. I also like that it can be used as a clutch purse.
As you can see in the photo below, Serajean Ferrara handbags are available in many colors and textures. Marilyn and Serajean design and create new bags each season. One of their new collections is embossed leather bags.
Serajean Ferrara handbags
Check out Serajean Ferrara handbags at Alioto’s, a gift boutique in Oak Park. (Alioto’s 1118 Chicago Ave., Oak Park, IL)
High-end retailers, unique boutiques and great deals at Chicagoland’s newest mall
Fashion Outlets of Chicago - A new mall filled with high-end retailers selling designer clothing at discounted prices
Chicagoland suburban malls like Oakbrook Center and Woodfield Mall will need to step it up this holiday season by offering deals and incentives for shoppers in order to compete with the new Fashion Outlets of Chicago. Located in Rosemont, Illinois, this giant two-level outlet mall is filled with about 150 stores/boutiques. Many of these stores are high-end retailers selling designer labels at significant discounts. My mother and I checked out the Fashion Outlets last Thursday – opening day!
With the exception of Saks Fifth Avenue’s Off 5th store, most of the high-end retailers are located on the second level. The first level houses popular stores such as Forever 21 and Gap Outlet. Sports stores like Nike Factory Store and Under Armour are also on the first level as well as many children’s stores.
As my mother and I rode the escalator to the second level, we noticed numerous people standing in a line. Actually, there were series of lines and security guys at the head of each line. We couldn’t figure out what was going on – was the Starbucks kiosk in the middle of the crowd giving away free coffee? Was there some meet & greet with a celebrity? Oh no…these lines were to get into Gucci, Tory Burch, and Coach. According to mall employees we spoke to, the average wait for each line was over an hour. We chose not to waste our time waiting in lines and ventured to other stores. Prada was selling purses for 40% off, Herve Leger had a fabulous selection of dresses that were marked down, and Neiman Marcus Last Call offered racks and racks of clothing by a variety of luxury designers. Stores like Cole Haan had purses and shoes for up to 60% off.
Another high-end designer store where we shopped was Giorgio Armani. It was very exciting to see all these beautiful clothes marked 60% off. Like many of the other stores in this mall, the selection of discounted clothing and purses was vast. The store sells clothing for men, women and children. There were also cases of unique jewelry (shown in the photo below) marked 80% off.
Unique clothing & accessories at the Armani outlet store
We discovered a couple new retailers (at least we had never been to these stores). One was called PORTS 1961. It is a Canadian retailer that is new to the Chicago market. The designs and clothing fabrics were stunning; most of which are made in Italy. The other retailer is London based L.K. Bennett. The brand is not new to the market, but the outlet location is a first for the area. The clothing is very elegant and I love the patent leather shoes and purses.
I really liked the BCBG Max Azira store, and the prices were amazing! It was impressive as far as the amount of merchandise that was available in the store. There were all styles of dresses, skirts, tops, pants, blazers, and accessories. BCBG jewelry rarely goes on sale at the regular store, but this outlet store had tons of necklaces, bracelets and earrings marked down.
You can find great deals at the Banana Republic Factory Outlet. Most items for men and women were an extra percentage off the sale price. It’s a good place to stock up on basics like a pair jeans that cost $20, sundresses that were under $30, and tops that retailed for $10-$20.
I advise making a plan before you go to this mall as it is so massive. Print out a map of stores from the mall’s website www.fashionoutletsofchicago.com to get familiar with the space and where you want to shop so you can make the most of your time there. We spent over 4 hours at the mall and did not get to all the stores we wanted to visit – just have to go back soon!