Lookbook: Blazing White at Work

Out with the old and in with the new?  Being the spendthrift that I am (or in other words, "incredibly cheap"), that saying doesn't exactly sit well with me.  When you're a fresh college graduate with a wardrobe that can best be described as "blue, black, and gray," finding the right summer work outfit can be quite the challenge, especially when on a budget and with limited suitcase space.  The key characteristics to aim for when styling yourself for travel-related work is portable, reusable, and current.  As such, I tried to combine an old dress with some new pieces to create a whole new outfit.  Even not-trendy Vivian is a little surprised at how well this turned out.

Zara Navy Jersey Blazer (sold out; similar ); Club Monaco White Sheath Dress (old; similar); Plenty by Tracy Reese Black Suede Pumps(old); Madewell Gold Trapeze Necklace; Marc Jacobs Black Leather Cross Body (old)

I first got this dress on sale from Club Monaco two years ago.  It was hip hugging and had a little bit of a conservative sexiness to it, which in turn made it a great game day dress for football games.  Keep in mind, I was in a sorority in a public Southern school.  As such, football was king, and it was perfectly normal for us to wear our Sunday best on game day.  Case in point:  same dress, different occasion.  The dress by itself showed a little too much skin on top to be work appropriate and my office keeps the air conditioning on ridiculously cold.  As such, I added a navy jersey blazer that I had just purchased from Zara.  As my friend David the personal shopper says, every woman needs a good blazer in her wardrobe.

With one final touch, I also paired it with a gold geometric necklace from Madewell.  The necklace is great because it really goes with any occasion from work to casual to night life.  Not to mention, it's incredibly compact, making packing it as easy as stuffing it into my little Marc Jacobs purse.

Posing at Dekalb Market in Downtown Brooklyn.

Thanks to my friend Caitlin who indulged me when I asked her to take these pictures on our lunch break.  Clearly, she has a lot of patience for dealing with my inner Tyra Banks.  If you're wondering what's behind me, we had lunch over at Dekalb Market, a marketplace filled with restaurants and clothing stores within storage containers over in Downtown Brooklyn.  Unfortunately, Dekalb is closing this October to make way for a Century 21.  If you're in Brooklyn and looking for lunch you should check it out!  I recommend getting a salad at Next Door Organics, a grilled cheese sandwich at Mrs. Dorsey's, blueberry mint lemonade at Cheesesteak, and a cupcake at Robicelli's.

Give me a holler with what you think.  Have you ever reworked an outfit?  Share and leave a comment down below.

Weekend Deals & Steals 6/31 - 7/02

Online

• Bloomingdales - 4th of July Sale
• C-Wonder - Up to 50% off
• J. Crew Factory - 40% off selected styles
• Zara - Semi-annual sale

In-Store

• Aldo - Sandals 30%-50% off.
• Ann Taylor Loft - Extra 50% off in all stores from 12 PM to 7 PM
• Bloomingdales - 4th of July Sale
• C-Wonder -  Up to 50% off
• H&M - Up to 75% off

Sample Sales - Atlanta

• Lily Kai Vintage - Style Suite, RVSP here

Sample Sales - New York City

• Rachel Zoe - 250 Fifth Avenue, between 28th and 29th Sts.  Ends Saturday
• Matt Bernson - Kenmare St., between Bowery and Elizabeth Sts.  Ends Sunday

My friend Lu has requested me to say that he wanted to let you know that he's on sale this weekend too.  He says he will give you "best price!"

Lu.  On sale at a street corner near you.

Travelogue: Bright, Bold and Brilliantly NYC

Aside from the fact that it was more than 90 degrees outside on Saturday, last weekend in Manhattan proved to be bright, beautiful and unabashedly the most fabulous weekend ever.  Think of this blog as part three of the ongoing series, "Fun Adventures with Vivian and Salvador."  In this episode, Salvador and Vivian explore the rainbow-spattered world that is Soho, with the added bonus of the most colorful parade I've ever witnessed.  Spoiler Alert:  Vivian and Salvador see Cyndi Lauper, George Takei, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the Bitch from Apartment 23 herself, Krysten Ritter (.... yeah Salvador had no idea who that was either, but apparently I watched enough Gilmore Girls to recognize that one).

Left:  Suit Supply at Broome and Mercer in Soho; Top-Right:  Uniqlo at Broadway and Spring in Soho; Bottom-Right:  Bloomingdales' shoe department at Broadway and Broome in Soho

No surprise, I dragged Salvador to Soho to go shopping.  His only request was that I take him to shops that can't be found anywhere else in the East Coast.  With really two real hours to go shop and wander, we were limited to three stores that were both New York-specific and male friendly.  Boys need to have fun too sometimes.  The stops?

• Suit Supply (Broome St. and Mercer St.):  Alright, I lied a little bit.  Salvador was the one who took me here.  One of our good friends David is a personal shopper over at the men's suiting store, which has a huge number of gorgeous suits and ties for good prices.  Word on the street is they're adding another U.S. store in Atlanta.
• Bloomingdales (Broadway Ave. and Broome St.):  Salvador shopped for t-shirts in the men's section, while I wandered around.  Surprisingly, I'm a much larger fan of the Soho Bloomingdales than the flagship over in Midtown.  This is mostly because I hate the idea of competing with people who can clearly afford these clothes more than I can.  The key takeaway?  Bloomingdales has a huge and fabulous sale on summer shoes right now.  Selected styles are an additional 40% off.  Go wild.
• Uniqlo (Broadway Ave. and Spring St.):  For New Yorkers, Uniqlo is as standard as H&M and Forever 21.  However, the Japanese basics brand's only North American locations are in the city.  With jeans, t-shirts, polos, and dress shirts from $5 to $35 and of pretty good quality, it's no wonder that Salvador absolutely flipped when he walked in.  It took a good hour to get him out of there.

Next stop?  The noted parade!  If you still haven't guessed what parade we went to this weekend by the description above, you best click the next page.  If you have guessed what parade it was, but just like to look at pretty colors, you should still click the next page.  Just click the next page.

Makin' Music: Asherel & The Kingston Springs

Clearly, Salvador and I had a productive weekend, because I feel like it's going to take me 3 separate blog posts to encapsulate everything of interest that has occurred.  Salvador, also goes by the title "forced-photographer", is in New York visiting before he's off to the big, scary world that is adulthood.  Since writing 3 posts in one night isn't incredibly appealing to me as I have a real job to do in the morning, I figured I'd go from most recent and work my way backwards.  Apologies to you, dear reader, you're going to have to put up with me blogging back in time for the next week.

Tonight dressed in my best at-work-til-8:30-today attire of a black J. Crew pencil skirt and a silk rayon tangerine top, I met up with Salvador, who was having an absolute ball of a day without me, at a friend's New York City concert debut.  While I like to pretend I hang out with rock stars all day, it was one of Salvador's fraternity brothers from Georgia Tech playing with his band Asherel (who just got signed last year with Columbia Records) at Piano's in the Lower East Side.  

Asherel

Walking in, Sal and I looked like part of a "one of these things is not like the other" game.  Luckily, we ran into another friend Charles who helped minimize how completely yuppie we looked.  Clearly, Piano's (a great venue for cheap, great rock and indie folk bands) attracted crowds of a "hipper" variety, and less so of the finance consultant variety.  In any case, the bands playing highlight one of the things that I love most about New York -- loud, amazing rock music at low, low prices ($8 tickets to see 4 bands?  Yes please!).  Rushing over from my office in Brooklyn, I made it for the last two songs of their set and they KILLED it.  If the Foo Fighters and Bob Dylan had a baby, that would be Asherel.  According to Graham, one of the guitarists, the band will be releasing their debut album later this year.

The Kingston Springs

Despite heckling me for the secret hipster that I am, Salvador was kind enough to let me stay a little longer and catch the next act, the Nashville-based band The Kingston Springs, who had a very Alabama Shakes vibe about them.  You could clearly tell by the dress and the music, these guys were from the South, but their sound was an mixture of old school folk mixed in with some blue grass and indie rock.  Eclectic is a good word for them.  Unfortunately, we got pretty hungry, so we missed out on the very last band, The Weeks.  All three of the bands are probably going to make it into my work-music rotation some time this week.  Check them out, and let me know what you think.

Also, if you're into loud, crazy amazing indie rock music and are in the Lower East Side, check out Piano's   and its next door neighbor, the Living Room.  It'll make for an interesting weeknight.

Lookbook: Color Pops and the Plain White Tee

Before I start posting pictures of myself in what I would deem as a "lookbook", let me be completely frank in saying that I am not a stylish person.  While I do have brief and rare epiphanies , my actual ability to style myself is quite lacking, if else, non-existent all together.  Case in point, I present terrible moments in Vivian fashion history (so much wrong, so little right).  Hence, when I graduated from college, I challenged myself to rebuild my wardrobe.  Specifically, I wanted to find ways to integrate what I already had and combine them with new, quality, and timeless pieces for work, play, and everything in between.  Not to mention, whatever I these "new, quality, and timeless pieces" were, my "rebuilt wardrobe" had to pass the ultimate test -- fitting into my suitcase.  (Darn you, limited suitcase space!)

After quite a bit of hesitation and some urging from a friend, I decided to go through with this "lookbook" of mine.  I'm sorry, but I am awkward in front of a camera.  Do you need me to pull out a "terrible moments in Vivian photographic history collage?"  In any case, my friend Salvador played forced-photographer to my freaked out fashionista.  Since it was summer in the city, less meant more in 90+ degree weather.  While the plain white v-neck could play host to a number of different options, I paired it with some color-pop shorts from J. Crew.  The scarf added a nice touch of pattern and textural contrast against the solid colors... not to mention it made a super fun turban later in the day when I got bored.

Madewell V-Neck Pocket Tee, J. Crew 5" Chino Shorts, Madewell Scarf (similar),  Silver Coach watch (old), Marc Jacobs black leather cross body bag (old), Katie & Kelly sandals from DSW (old)

Paired with some nude sandals and gold accessories, I was ready to explore SoHo and the East Side.  Let's save that story for another time.  A girl's got to get her beauty rest.

In any case, what do you think?  What basic thing do you think is necessary in a wardrobe?  If you're brave enough, what are some of your own terrible moments?  Holla at yo girl.