Shopping Spree

Yesterday my friend Regina and I went to the DFS Closet Treasure Sale at the YWCA downtown and we both only found a scarve each. It was pretty busy and we just weren't in the mood to skower the racks... I had found a cute Banana Republic coat but a button was broken and a seam was coming out and it was listed for $30 - that was more than I wanted to spend for a coat I'd have to perform surgery on. Shoe wise I didn't see anything I needed but there were tons of women with arm loads of clothing and shoes. A definite success for some! I did enjoy the little breakfast of croissants, fruit and OJ. (There was more but those were my highlights)

After the sale we headed down to Nordstrom to try on designer jeans in preperation for the Jean Warehouse Sale that is coming at the end of the month... Our plan backfired as we both walked away with a brand new pair of fancy jeans. I can't say I am sad about it though because I'm excited about my new pair of Hudsons. Regina was thrilled with her new Citizens of Humanity.

After lunch we both went on our seperate ways yet my shopping trip continued... I headed to Northgate planning to just go "look" and kill some time before my movie date with myself. I had seen this pair of boots at Target of all places that were pretty cute and just $34.99. I headed over to Macy's to see what they had and honestly the Target ones were equally as cute and more than half the price. My oddest find was a maternity shirt I bought to wear as a dress - that may sound weird but it really is cute as a dress, I tried it on, I swear. One good thing about buying it was I was able to buy a small since I am in no way preggers. :) I do love Target as you can find some great pieces to mix in to your everyday attire and you'd never know they were from Target!

I headed back to the Northgate Mall and decided to wander a bit more. I found some cute leggings and tights and even bought a Christmas present for my sister-in-law. At about 7:50 I darted out (literally) and headed to the movies - saw "Whip It" - great movie!!

It was a good day!

Leggings!

Leggings and tights have been on my mind a lot lately, what can I say, Japan sparked quite a fun idea of outfits I could put together. As soon as I got home I took a fresh new look at my closet and I hope to pair some of my "old" items together and even try to be a bit more adventurous. Sometimes I am a bit self conscience about fashion choices but not really sure why that is... I am hoping Japan awoke a new fashion spirit inside me, I feel like it did!

So anyways, leggings were a hot item there. If women weren't wearing leggings it was tights. After the vogue fashion show at BFW I was excited to see an array of leggings and tights that I can purchase in my own town. I aso plan to look online for some unique finds. Speaking of online, as I opened my email this afternoon I saw a glorious email from Bluefly with the subject line "LEGGINGS - Our love affair continues..." (I've attached the email image for you as well). PERFECT, I can start there!

Do you have a favorite place to buy leggings or tights? A saleswoman at Nordstrom the other day admitted to me she buys her tights at Forever 21 for $4.99. I must go and check them out as they are a great place for cheap staple items like belts, tops, bags, etc.

I would love to hear from you all on this one, help a girl out!!

Here are a few other finds for leggings: NY & Co., American Apparel, Victoria's Secret, Newport News, Home Shopping Network, Shop Style, Shop Bop, Target, Nordstrom and Macy's. (I could have gone on for awhile here...)

Project Red Dress 2009

I am thrilled to announce that tickets for the Second Annual Project Red Dress event are now on sale for the February 13th, 2009 event held at The Fairmount Olympic Hotel. Regional Director, Monir Zandghoreishi's annual event is again partnering with FGI Seattle to offer FGI Seattle Scholarships to winning students in this design competition. Some proceeds of the event will also be donated to our charity partner, American Heart Association's Go Red Campaign.

To purchase tickets, sign up to volunteer (send an email from the Contact page), or to get more details on this year's event, please go to projectreddress.com.

Please note, only 100 VIP seats for the event are available and tickets are already going fast!

Project Red Dress would like to thank our sponsors - Seatle Metropolitan Magazine, The Fairmount Olympic Hotel, Macy's, Pacific Fabrics and Crafts, Half Past Lavish Event Production, Renton Sewing Company, and IADT Seattle.

Macy's Fall Fashion

Dawn and I just got back from the Macy's Fall fashion show sponsored by the Junior League of Seattle*. Once we arrived we checked in and got our drink tickets we headed inside to get situated. By that, I mean we headed to the bar for a glass of bubbly! Which was yuuuuummy!

The runway was settup as a square so that the models actually came out into the audience. We had great seats along the runway so we could get pictures and the square setup made that really easy. Honestly, I don't think there was a bad seat in the house.

There was a very nice spread of food setup for the guests which everyone seemed to enjoy. It was actually quite substantial which was nice. I sure didn't leave hungry. ;)

The show started at about 6:45pm with an introduction from Joanne Petitto, the Junior League of Seattle President. The music flowed well and the models were on their marks. There were several items that were must-have's in the show; a hot pink blouse, this blue/black/silver skirt, and a snazzy dress for holiday parties.

Macy's did a great job on this show - it was very well organized, quick and to the point. I like that! (Thanks Katie for having us.)

Check out the pictures!

Make sure to check out Dawn's blog for the breakdown on the actual show and clothing...

*The Junior League of Seattle is an organization of women
committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.

What's-a-Happenin'-Hot-Stuff?

Tonight is a great night to get out and soak up the Seattle fashion scene. There are so many fun events going on!!

It was a tough one for us at UFN as Bellevue Fashion Week is going on, Girl Power Hour is turning 1, Macy's is having a Fall fashion show, H&M is officially opened and Local Bounce in Queen Anne is going on tonight... So many options and not enough time.

Dawn and I decided on Macy's Fall fashion show as we haven't really done a lot with them in the past. We felt it was a good opportunity to mingle with the Macy's crowd and meet some new peeps. I'm really looking forward to it as I love a good runway show! (I'll be taking photos!)

If there is time I may try and swing by the GPH Birthday Party to show my support for them and Darnell. It may be cutting it close so we'll see how the night goes. Either way, Happy Birthday Girl Power Hour!!!

What a Weekend!

This weekend for me was jam packed full of fun and exciting things.

Friday evening included a SIFF film, 'Cherry Blossoms - Hanami', which was EXCELLENT! I loved ever second of it. It's a beautifully made movie (scenery, acting, story, etc...) and it just makes me want to go to Japan EVEN MORE!

By the way, it won the Best Film Golden Space Needle Award for the festival!

Saturday morning was boot camp with Regina and Melissa. Then that afternoon was more SIFF movies: 'Jolene' and then 'Frozen River'. I really enjoyed Jolene. It was an intriguing story about an orphaned girl's journey through life - her journey was very rocky at times. The actress's Jessica Chastain (Jolene) and Frances Fisher (Cindy) were at the screening. Director Dan Ireland was also in attendance and introduced the film (reason why it started late). I wish we could have stayed for the Q&A but with the movie starting late we had to book it to the next theater to see 'Frozen River'. We were about 10 min late to it but thankfully they let us in anyways. Regina loved that movie but I was kinda "Ehhh" about it. I didn't hate it by any means, but I can't say it was my favorite of the festival.

Sunday, Regina and I went for breakfast at Cyclops and then she had to head over to the Cinerama to see Cherry Blossom - Hanami. I wandered around downtown for 2 hours before my haircut at Seven. While wandering, I ended up finding a cute pair of Gladiator sandals at Nordstrom. Then at Macy's I found a dress for me to wear this weekend to my friend Jen's wedding and some cute patent leather sandals/heals to wear with it. I headed over to Seven Salon and had may hair done - just cut this time as there was no time for color, sadly. I had to schedule another appointment to get that taken care of. (I am an impatient person, it killed me to leave w/o it being done, but what can ya do...)

If you haven't ever been to Seven it's quite an experience. They have a DJ spinning and they give you free latte's if you so choose (or water or tea). A haircut is about $75 but they are known for looking at your features and knowing what style of cut and color will work best on you. We didn't actually do this as she didn't really change my hair all that drastically, versus just thinning it out a bit and giving me more layers and thicker bangs. I like it but want to get the color all done before I'll say I love it!

After my haircut, I wandered around some more and called an old friend to catch up. I had a movie to attend at 6pm and didn't see the point in going all the way home via bus to then just turn back around... By 5pm I just couldn't stand being downtown anymore. I hoped on the monorail and headed home. I skipped 'The Whackness' - I'll just see it when it comes out.

Oh, did I mention it was sunny all weekend and beautiful here? We needed that!!

The Gladiator Sandal is IN!

I was inspired by another blog I was reading on Gladiator Sandals, Rebecca Luke's Style Blog, so I decided to do a little searching for this sandal of the season.

The picture on your left is the one she just fell in love with. You can buy it at Urban Outfitters, see purchasing information below...

I do believe you can thank Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mary-Kate Olsen, etc. for the big buzz surrounding this shoe!

It took a little while, but they're growing on me. I think my favorite so far has been the one in the Sex & The City movie worn by SJP; The Extreme Dior Gladiator Sandal, it's only $770 (Did you like how I said "only"? HA!). But then again, she wore them really well in the movie! It may look like a crazy mess on me, who knows...

Anyways, I decided to a little budget shopping of my own to see what I could find for under $50... I believe I was successful!

Here are a few of my favorites:
1. Urban Outfitters Infinity Sandal - $38
2. Macy's On Your Feet "Leoal" Gladiator Sandal - $49
3. Bakers Candice - Knock-off Dior's version - $69.95 (more than $50, I get that)
4. Zappo's Madden Girl - $46

Or you can go here and see tons of options at various prices!

Project Red Dress

The Macy's and Seattle Metropolitan Magazines Project Red Dress event was amazing. It was really well organized and I loved watching the Project Runway-esque show. I took several pictures and Dawn will be doing a write up shortly. Stay tuned!!

For now check out the pictures!!

New boots - yay! yay!

I am a shoe-aholic and recently realized I own no tall brown boots. With it being Fall/Winter I felt I needed to get some. I checked all the usual online shops; Nordstrom's, Endless, Zappos, Macy's, etc... I found several I liked but none in my budget... Ok, so I didn't really have a budget I am just cheap and like to buy lots for little...

It's been awhile since I've visited my old pal ebay... so it seemed it was about time to head on over there. After looking around I found a plethora of cute boots all for less than $80 - me likey!

Here were the boots I narrowed it down to:





I ended up picking the first one but trust me when I say it was a hard choice! I liked all 4 but since I was looking for tall boots #1 was the best choice. They arrived a few days ago and I LOVE them! They retail for $179 and I got them for.... drum roll please.... $39.99!!!

So, the moral of the story here is that you can find great items on ebay within your "budget".

I got my "Shop It To Me" email today!!

I signed up yesterday for the free alerts on sale items, I love a good sale!! I just got an email this morning and there were a few cute items in there:

From Bloomingdales
Cole Haan "Air Tatum" Thong
Reg $145.00
Now $101.50

Nanette Lepore for Keds "Nanette Sneaker"
Reg $60.00
Now $42.00

From Macy's
MICHAEL Michael Kors Printed Blouson Top
Reg $59.50
Now $44.63

Ok, so enought about that. The whole point of this blog is to talk about fashion but to put an emphasis on up and coming designers/handmade designers. On that note, I recently purchased t his adorable t-shirt from a designer out of Texas. I LOVE my shirt!! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! The company is called Harrilu, check out her shop!

This is the shirt I bought!!