Hazy Shade of Winter

I love a fabulous print, and the green and navy tartan pattern on today's dress is no exception. I bought the Nanette Lepore Pretty Plaid Dress back in 2009, so it's no longer available for purchase, but you can find other fabulous plaid prints from the designer online, including the Nanette Lepore On the Beat Plaid Dress.

There are a myriad of reasons why this dress is both flattering and chic:

- The cap sleeves are endearing and help slim the arm. If you're self conscious about your arms, a cap or puff sleeve is always going to be your best bet. It cuts off to help make the arms look thinner.

- The silhouette defines the waist, yet doesn't hug the hips to make you look bulky.

- It's made with 100% wool, so it's quite warm for a cold day like today, but it's lined inside so the wool doesn't touch the skin directly. (I have very sensitive skin, so this feature is a major plus!)

As for accessories, I went pretty light today, since the decorative buttons on the dress are enough to grab the eye (so no necklace needed). I am wearing my sapphire and diamond earrings and using my Michele black purse. The shoes are the Black Suede Braid Elisha T-Strap Pumps from Modern Vintage. I could only find them on eBay; I bought these shoes over a year ago.

I also thought today's picture looks pretty cool. We own a loft, so from first glance it looks like the wall above me just kind of ends... but we painted part of the upper wall and ceiling dark green to get that cool visual effect. I think the photo captures it just right.

Aug 27, 2010

It's Friday and Day 10 of the Fashion Challenge. Today I'm wearing a more casual dress, since I have no client meetings - just a bunch of conference calls. I am meeting a friend for lunch, so I wanted to be casual, chic and comfortable at the same time. Hopefully this outfit achieves all that!

I am wearing:

-Theory navy striped dress

-Charles David Forward navy shoes with red accents

*I could not find them online in this color, but here is a pair on eBay.

-Red Nine West patent leather purse


Chapin is coaching me on these poses, so hopefully I don't look too cheesy. Apparently all the celebrity pictures you see feature about 4-5 standard poses, including: both arms on hips, one arm on the hip, one leg crossed, etc. It's been very interesting learning all these techniques, although Chapin may be enjoying the research a little too much. :)

Aug 25, 2010

Today is Day 8 of the Fashion Challenge. Even though the temperature in Atlanta is not supposed to reach the 90s today, in my office, the air conditioning is not working, so we are all hot, irritable and sweaty. What a day! A few weeks ago the air conditioning wasn't working at home, and now it's not working at my office. Hopefully things will be back to normal tomorrow.

Today I am wearing a white Cynthia Steffe dress that features a zipper running up the side, as well as L.A.M.B Veena Sandals.

If you like the L.A.M.B. brand, it is featured today on IDEELI, a discount site. You have to have an invite to join: www.ideeli.com/invite/mseashellf. This type of discount site, along with GILT, Rue La La, Haute Look and others, is becoming more and more popular. IDEELI has limited inventory, so the faster you act, the better.

Here is a picture we took tonight after Chapin gave me lessons on how to stand correctly for these types of photos.
I look quite tan in the picture, but I don't think I am this dark in real life. I think it's the poor lighting in the loft combined with the stark white of the dress.

I have never worn these shoes with this dress before, so let me know what you think.

Aug 24, 2010

Today is Day 7 in the Fashion Challenge, and here's what I'm wearing today:

-Juicy Couture grey belted embroidered dress
*I could not find a picture of the exact dress online, but here is the dress in black

-Stuart Weitzman Lowkey cherry red patent open toe flats (picture on the right)

Many people have been asking some questions about the challenge, so I wanted to lay down some "rules":

-The clothing must all be "never worn" during the challenge to count as a different outfit. That means I can't wear the same pants with five different shirts and have that count as five different outfits.

-Shoes don't count as part of the challenge. I know I only have about 50 or 60 pairs of shoes. I think I have a lot more dresses and outfits than that.

-No shopping during the challenge. I will not add any work clothes to my wardrobe during the challenge time frame. However, I can still buy cocktail dresses and shoes and purses... oh my!

I'm going to get a small tripod so I can take a photo each morning to document each outfit. I would have Chapin take the photo before we leave for work, but he leaves about an hour before me, so that's not really an option.

Since skin care and beauty are also part of my blog name, I thought I would mention the eye shadow I'm wearing: NARS. I am a new follower of NARS beauty products. I love their blush in Orgasm and their eye shadows.

-NARS Orgasm Blush

-NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Brumes


One last thing: Today is the 24th, which means my little Izzie passed away exactly seven months ago today. I loved Izzie so much, and I miss her everyday. Here is our family in 2007: