Bright Star

Follow my blog with bloglovin
Bright star, would I were as stedfast as thou art...
Finally, I caught up with my Netflix queue and watched Bright Star last night. I know I'm very behind, as this film came out last summer, but my excuse is that I couldn't find a local screening then. Wah, I know. Whine, whine. I could have just gone to Boston. Ah, well. Those of you who have already seen it know that it is exquisite; the costumes and cinematography are pure eye candy (Indeed, Abbie Cornish's Franny Brawne was a blossoming fashion designer!). The actors were so beautiful, so enamored and charming, I swooned over every minute. Bliss. To those of you who have not seen it... you must! Commercial over.
Lately I've been in quite the romantic mood myself. This was my Valentine's Day ensemble:I must admit, I love how these photos turned out. The dressing screen looks so tiny behind me, it almost makes me feel like Alice in Wonderland, after she drank that elixir and grew, and grew, and grew... oops!

Hey, I'm only 5'5"-- not exactly a liliputian, but I'm no giant! And my elixir is coffee, which isn't exactly known for making one grow...Dress: Loft (on clearance last summer, $3.88, baby! That's less than my latte!)

Headband: also Loft (holiday, not on clearance)
Locket: Target
Purse: Pink by Victoria's Secret (cheapie, wannabe Chanel! Love that!)
Tights: Target (I think...)
Heels: Payless

If you're curious, you can look back and see how I styled this same dress back in November.

The below photo is there simply to illustrate the magic that is photo editing. Behold the same image, above, cropped, with adjusted brightness and saturation. Photoshop can do wonders! (Or, in my case, The Gimp. Download it free! That was not a plug for Linux. They don't pay me. They just rock.) Anyway, I like the slightly adjusted version better. But for the sake of keepin' it real, here's the unedited one:

Next on my Netflix queue: Coco Avant Chanel! Can't wait! Have you seen these (or other) fashion-savvy films? What's the last movie you watched?

P.S. Added the widget from Bloglovin'. I read lots of blogs but never actually clicked to "follow" most of them. Whoopsies! Faux-pas amended. Please take a second to follow me back! Thanks. :)

L'enfant terrible

Alexander McQueen, ever the rebel, sent shockwaves through Fashion Week every season. Today he gave us the biggest shock of all. Perhaps he has made the ultimate statement. Regardless, he has left behind a truly enduring legend. His collections, his master tailoring, his showmanship was unparelled. Fashion lovers everywhere are grieving, and for good reason. McQueen can shock us no more.

I wrote my very first runway review about McQueen's fall 2008 collection. His inspiration was an ancient tree, and from there he imagined an entire fairytale about a woodland sprite turning into a queen before our very eyes. Look after look echoed his fascination with Russian czarinas and a recent trip to India, all fused with otherwordly elegance. This is what McQueen did best. Fashion editors and fans everywhere are still talking about his spring 2010 "alien" shoes. Lady Gaga wore head-to-toe McQueen in "Bad Romance." His work is just so fresh, so utterly relevant, and sadly today his "McQ" runway show was understandably cancelled. We've lost the chance to see his imagination and craftsmanship at work. It goes without saying, but he will truly be missed.For a retrospective of some of McQueen's best work, click here.

For just a few of my favorites, see below: