An Inspirational Blogger...With AMAZING Shoes!

Jane Aldridge's blog has become a huge success over the past few years, as well as her talent with fashion. She was featured in a Teen Vogue issue, travels the world, has a knack for finding incredible vintage pieces, and is now featured on style.com as one of spring's Front-Row-Faces. I envy her for her wardrobe of endless shoes, designer clothes, and impecable style, but she is also such an great inspiration for all of us fashion bloggers trying to make it big. Her blog has the right balance of simplicity, style, and is always posted with her beautiful pictures and outfits. Most of us may not be able to afford a whole bookcase filled to the brim with shoes, but Jane shows us that doing what we love is the best part of it all.

See her blog-http://www.seaofshoes.com/
Check out her shoes she designed for Urban Outfitters

Her gorgeous wall of shoes!

My Favorite Brands of The Moment

Tonight I've been doing some end of the week online shopping...well only the window shopping version of it. Just browsing around is such a pick-me-up after the first week of school. It's been both a depressing and tiring one at that! The first half of my day I have Food and Nutrition and Western Civ., which are actually interesting. Then the second half of my day I spend in a crowded Spanish class of thirty and a boring Algebra class I'm dying to get out of. So my therapy for today has been discovering a few new brands I love.

Catherine Malandrino

Blue Leather Jacket-$1,600
Gathered Silk Dress $249

Julie Haus

Rockstar Pant-$275
Decker Dress-$460

Ford Dress-$415
Gigi Dress-$355

Faryl Robin

Colette-$230
Pernilla-$250

Back-To-School Style

I went on a little shopping trip yesterday with my cousins to get some cute accessories for school. I ended up spending $65.50 at Claire's alone! I had two birthday gift cards to spend so I just went crazy. Today I wore a brooch, rings, earrings, and cuff I bought with my back-to-school outfit. Although, I hate going back to the ol' waking up early, waiting for the bus, eating gross lunch, sitting through boring lectures, and coming home with loads of homework, the one thing that I can look forward to is picking out cute outfits everyday!

brooch=$1.80

cuff=$6.50

I got a second hole pierced in my ears when we went shopping, so of course I just had to buy a couple sets of matching and coordinated earrings!

set of dangle earrings=$8.40

Another Age, Another Outfit!

Today's my birthday, and it's been a great one at that! I'm going to be writing an interview on my darling friend from Fab Blab for Style Sample Magazine, which I'm extremely excited about! I started celebrating a little early on yesterday by going out to brunch with my grandparents, then today my mom picked up some wraps and coffee from a local little coffee shop for a nice lunch together with my sister and brother (I got a raspberry truffle iced coffee...it tasted exactly like truffles!). The sunshine actually lasted until afternoon, I didn't cut myself shaving, I've gotten lots of birthday wishes (which I thank everyone for), and there's a possibility I could go to NYC for Fashion's Night Out as a birthday present! Needless to say, my birthday's been a very sweet sixteen!

I've had a fantasy lately of just waking up on my birthday and getting all dolled up in a puffy mini-dress, heels, lots of jewelery, and glamorous make-up and hair complete with a tiara just to sit around the house in...

...but seeing that I didn't have a proper dress, I improvised. It's no Gucci or Versace, but I had to wear something that made me feel like a princess today!

Tank top-Victoria's Secret

Skirt-a costume piece from my little sister's dance recital!
Shoes-Charlotte Russe

Tiara-borrowed from my sister's closet

Bracelets-an entanglement of a gold necklace, some silver bangles, a gold and silver chain from my Memere, and a sterling silver bangle I got as a birthday present from my grandparents yesterday.

Possibly The Biggest Night In Fashion History!

There is nothing that I want more for my birthday than to go to Fashion's Night Out in NYC! On September 10th, hundreds of stores are going to be open until the wee hours of the night with special promotions and sales going on. There will be refreshments and drinks everywhere, DJs spinning tunes, grab bags, complimentary makeovers, fashion designers to meet in stores, and stars like Nicole Kidman, Blake Lively, Jennifer Aniston, Cindy Crawford, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will be coming to meet shoppers. Kate Spade will hold Cha-cha lessons on the streets, Alice + Olivia will be holding a modeling competition at their Bryant Park boutique,
AVEDA will be serving $1 ice cream cones, C.O. Bigelow is offering complimentary sodas made from their vintage soda fountain, at Dior shoppers will be photographed by a leading photographer, ADAM Lippes will be customizing t-shirts and Havianas flip-flops, plus many other big names will be having fun festivities. The best part is that stores will be selling "Fashion's Night Out" t-shirts and giving proceeds to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, all while helping to boost the ecomomy! But recession or no recession, I think they should make this an annual event!

To find out more about this event and see the full list of stores and local shops that are participating, go to fashionsnightout.com

If you're thinking of buying a "Fashion's Night Out" t-shirt ahead of time, give it your own flair and enter Teen Vogue's contest! Rock The Tee!

Just A Few Little Things

Ben Sherman Roche Dress $39 on ideeli

Michael Kors dress $449 on hautelook
I've never been one for seventies style, but this dress is just the right amount of glitz and glamour.

Miss Sixty denim jumper $100

Teen Vogue photo from the September 2009 issue
I love how they dress up jeans with sweaters, tweed, bright colors, and lots of belts, brooches, and bows. Super cute!

The Look For Less: Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba was spotted pulling off a hip mommy look with casual jeans and a tank while walking around town with her daughter. What made this look work for her was the feather adorned headband atop her head. It added a unique touch and brought the outfit together. Jessica made a good point that even if you're on the go and don't have much time for a carefully planned outfit, you can still look stylin' by just adding a statement headband. The nice thing about a feather headband is that it goes well with almost anything, and it's an easy way to add some vintage to your look. You can get Jessica's headband from Stella Accessories for $42 or go the cheaper route...

feather headband-Girl Props-$8.99

side feather headband-Wet Seal-$5.50

skinny feather headband-Urban Outfitters-$14.99

feather headband-My Diva's Closet-$15

turquoise feather headband-Glitz and Glamour Boutique-$10

Trend On a Budget: Florals and Wayfarers

One really cute trend I want to try before the summer's over is a floral dress with bright wayfarers. It's a great way to add color to your outfit, and you can do it with full on color like Demi Lavato or subtly with just a splash of color like Ashley Tisdale. The best way to wear this trend is to toughen it up with a leather jacket or bag and black boots. There are some beautiful designer dresses out there, but I looked for the cheaper finds. Here are a few looks that won't break the bank.

belted floral dress-Charlotte Russe-$26

neon wayfarer sunglasses-Wet Seal-$7.50

teal wayfarer sunglasses-Oak-$18

floral pocket tank dress-Urban Outfitters-$29.99

painted floral strapless dress-Forever 21-$19.80

wayfarer sunglasses-Target-$12.99

I've Got Shoes on My Mind!

The Out Net-Charlotte Olympia-Ophelia pumps $825

The Out Net-Marc Jacobs-jelly mouse flats $160

Coach-brandie heel $218

Mochino-ruffle peep-toe bootie $725

Zac Posen Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear

Hermes Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear

Rue La La-Giuseppe Zanotti-leather peep-toe Shootie $399

Gilt Fuse-Kelso Dagger-Catarina gladiators $49

Just A Little Photoshoot In The Grass

Today I took some pictures to submit to Seventeen's Back-to-School Style Wars. My little sister was my amazing photographer. For the contest you have to put together a first day of school worthy outfit. You then compete with all the other entries and the winner gets a $1,000 shopping spree. Look at my entry here http://photovote.seventeen.com/photos/view/46677

How To: Jazz Up Your Boring Lunchbox

I've come to the conclusion that you don't need to buy an actual lunchbox to carry your lunch in. It takes forever to find cute lunchboxes, and I've tried everything. My freshman year, I used a Victoria's Secret metallic gift bag I'd gotten a present in. It looked cute, but it was a little too small and the fabric inside didn't clean up well when I spilled gunk in it. Sophomore year, I went back to using a boring old lunchbox that was the ugliest color blue. This year I've found a new discovery that just might work. Train cases! They come in all kinds of different shapes, colors, and patterns, to fit anyone's style, and a lot of them come with plastic lining that's easy to clean. I found a couple on giltgroupe from Stephanie Johnson. I am just dying to get a cute train case to carry my lunch in this school year...and if you're one of those that get hot lunch, you might find that just carrying an empty train case will be the next "it" thing!

JENNY train case $38

ERELA train case $26

Oh, Darling Little Trench!

I've been looking for the perfect trench for a while now. Ever since I first watched Breakfast at Tiffany's, I've felt the need to achieve Audrey Hepburn's sophisticated trench coat look. The only thing separating me and a darling little trench...money! So I'm hoping to save up any extra cash in combination with some possible birthday money coming my way soon, and maybe I'll be able to buy one before New England's full on winter rolls around! Until then, I can dream, can't I?

Here are a couple coats that are a bit on the expensive side, but compared to the original prices are great deals. Online sample sale sites are really earning their popularity. They are the best way to buy designer because really, who wants to pay full price?

Gilt Groupe

ideeli

And here are some normally priced trenches. Although they lack in major designer labels, they are a lot more sensible for the kind of money I have!

Old Navy-$49.50

Banana Republic-$180 I fell in love with this coat when I saw it in the store, but I'm waiting for it to go on sale.

Forever 21-$24.80