Absolutely Bahhnanas

Last Wednesday, I was invited by Neiman Marcus to attend a private Rachel Zoe Fall 2011 Collection presentation, co-hosted by Ken Downings and the ever so fabulous Ms. Rachel Zoe. Upon seeing the collection in person, I fell in love with it all over again. Each piece encompassed the signature Rachel Zoe bohemian couture spirit. Well-tailored wide legged trousers, hippie-esque blouses and maxi dresses, and razzle bedazzled sequined dresses flooded the intimate and circular runway of Neiman's third floor.


While listening to Rachel Zoe's entertaining, down to earth and extremely conversational narration choked full of Rachel-isms, I realized that this woman's passion for fashion is undoubtedly genuine and utterly on another level. Everyone, she is the real deal. Once the presentation concluded, Rachel stayed for another hour-mingling with guests, sharing style tips and taking pictures with her fashion minions. I left Neiman's feeling inspired and on fashion cloud nine.

Here are some of my favorite looks from the Rachel Zoe Fall 2011 Collection

This is the perfect business suit. Seeing it actually made me wish I worked in a formal corporate environment.
The quintessential boho dress. I would wear it when feeling too lazy to accessorize but still want to look fabulous 
It doesn't get any more Hollywood than a structured cape complimented with a pair of fierce ankle boots and dark oversized shades
The Audrey Ankle Boots are TO DIE! I was so sad they were sold out of my size.
Baby Skyler makes an appearance! Daddy Rodger was also nearby.
The boots look painful but who wears over the knee boots for comfort anyway?
I'm obsessed with these wide leg trousers. "Legs for days" was what RZ said about them
A standout sequined jacket and dress combo

Very Chanel, don't you think?
This was one of the most popular pieces of the night. I love that it's a coat/entire outfit in one.
simple, elegant, and a versatile party dress.
My picture with the ultimate fashionista!


A Prelude to Magic

Even though I was in Vegas for a mere 48 hours, I made the most of it by packing my schedule with parties, tradeshows, and consuming an inhuman amount of food. I stayed at the fabulous MGM Signature Suites ,comprised of three individual towers located in the back of the MGM Hotel and Casino. The Signature Suites is one of my favorite hotels in Las Vegas, as the rooms are spacious and equipped with its own kitchen and whirlpool bath. Its close proximity to City Center, Vegas's newest hot spot, makes it a prime location for fun and play. And the best part is you don't have to traverse your way through a dark and smoky casino to get to the hotel elevators! Access to the towers is completely separate from the MGM.

Getting ready to head down to Wet Republic, the pool club at MGM.

Dr. Fisher's Continuous Transparent Sunscreen Spray saved my skin during this trip! The spray delivers high broad spectrum UVA & UVB sunscreen coverage that's invisible on the skin. It's waterproof and packed full of antioxidants, vitamin E and green tea. The coverage was quite amazing. I stayed out by the pool for at least an hour and did not tan or burn.

A potpourri of desserts at the Wicked Spool Buffet inside the Cosmopolitan Hotel
I wore this outfit to Wicked Spoon and to the W Magazine party as it's slinky and flowy enough to cover my post-buffet bulging belly!
Dress: Ebay
Belt: J.Crew
  One of the many beautiful chandelier collages at the Cosmpolitan Hotel. 
Another art nouveau art piece/chandelier. I would sum up The Cosmopolitan Hotel's interior decor as being Modern Decadence.
At the Cosmopolitan/W Magazine pool party celebrating the magazine's September 2011 issue and the La Jolla Fashion Film Festival 
 




The end of a fabulous first day in Vegas. I look super tired as I had been up until 4:00am the previous night celebrating a friend's birthday. Plus, the dry Vegas weather is definitely unforgiving on the skin.
Stay tuned for part 2 of my Vegas coverage!

Hairy Business-Viviscal Extra Strength Hair Supplement

When it comes to my health and taking care of my body, I can get pretty paranoid bordering on hypochondriatic. I take a daily array of horse pill size vitamins, eat as clean as I can, try to stay in shape with one hour workouts five days a week, and obsessively surf webmd.com upon the first sign of any kind of health abnormalities. Yeah, I''m one of those people. 


Upon experimenting with hair color about a year ago, I started fixating a lot of attention on hair health. After all, every color treatment inflicts trauma on the scalp and hair. I began purchasing deep conditioning masques, specially formulated hair vitamins, and oil treatments. But none of those products really addressed the root of my fear-what if my hair is thinning? After all, I have noticed that the ponytail has reduced in size over the years. After searching for hair supplements with good reviews, I found Viviscal, a  supplement proven to reduce hair thinning. It works in four stages over the course of 6 months (although most users notice a difference after just 3 or 4 months).


STAGE 1 – Nourishes the hair follicles.
STAGE 2 – Strengthens and promotes the growth of existing hair.
STAGE 3 – Promotes the growth of existing hair where it has slowed down or temporarily stopped. These hairs are thin and wispy at first.
STAGE 4 – Hair becomes stronger, healthier and more vibrant.


Viviscal sent me two packets to try out and I started taking the supplements a few days ago and have noticed no side effects. I'm hopeful that with continued usage, I will see fuller and thicker hair which will in turn squash my paranoia. Well, perhaps not squash it but rather move it along to my next health "issue."


Dissecting the Red Carpet-City of Angels Celebrity Charity Event

I was bummed I couldn't make it to the City of Angels celebrity charity function held at the Voyeur nightclub last Thursday. The event raised money for Be An Angel, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with multiple disabilities or profound deafness by providing wheelchairs, hearing aids and other adaptive equipment and select services to individuals and institutions that require a supplement to alternative means of funding. 


While perusing through the pictures of the red carpet arrivals, I saw a couple of fun dresses that are very much appropriate for a Thursday night in the City of Angels. It's always refreshing to find party dresses that deviate from the typical LA party look otherwise known as girl in a tight black dress.


the asymmetrical hemline is so very much now while the floral print softens up the look. The spiral curls adds a nice feminine finishing touch and pulls the outfit together

The cut and style of Sophie Monk's shift dress isn't exactly eye-catching but the vibrant coral color takes it  to an "all eyes on me" level. The shoes are also pretty fierce and adds another layer of fun to the outfit.

This Playboy model and Brody Jenner's ex is rocking it in this bandage dress with a twist look.  The sexiness of the off-the-shoulders cut paired with the peek-a-boo stomach cutout sets a good balance against the dress's rather plain and neutral color tone. I also think she made the right decision in keeping the outfit free of accessories.

Easy Breezy-Personal Outfit Style Post

This summer, I've been wearing this type of outfit to run errands on the weekends. A loose patterned blouse cinched at the waist paired with a flowy maxi skirt or pajama pants make for an outfit that retains its fashion roots while minimizing the amount of effort needed to wear it. It's this season's THE fashion meets comfort pairing!





Blouse: vintage
Pants: H&M
Sandals: boutique in South Korea
Jewelry: vintage, various

Vegas, We Meet Again-Project Tradeshow

Coming to the desert that is Las Vegas in the month of August is no fun unless it involves convention centers accessorized with the hottest Spring 2011 brands and fashions. I'm live blogging from Project Show, the showcase for the most relevant contemporary brands. Basically, everything here looks like they belong on shopbop.com.

Although I've only walked a third of the show, I've spotted a few overwhelmingly popular trends: go bright for Spring 2011 or go home, accordian maxi skirts are here to stay for another year, drapey blouses are the new basics, and ombre hair color is the new IT accessory.

Come back soon for a full recap of the show highlighting my favorite brands and looks!



Getting Ombred at Piero Hair Salon

This past Saturday, I spent a relaxing afternoon getting a hair color transformation at the beautiful Piero Salon in Santa Monica. I had been admiring the ombre look for quite some time, but knew that it involves a complex coloring process best left to the hands of a talented and experienced colorist who can seamlessly weave the striking highlights into my already medium brown tresses. Piero is listed as one of LA's top salons on allure.com and are known for perfecting the ombre look. So, I gave them a call and Diane, the salon's friendly owner offered me a complementary ombre coloring session. I was beyond giddy.


I knew I was in good hands the moment I stepped inside the salon. Piero is located in the hustle and bustle of Santa Monica's Main Street, inhibiting an open and airy space paired with a clean and modern decor. Diane introduced me to Lecie, the salon's ombre specialist. She's a super sweet girl with tons of coloring experience as she had worked at some of the most elite salons in the city. There was no need for me to describe what I wanted to achieve, as she knew exactly what would work on me. Lecie used the balayage highlighting technique, which is performed by literately hand painting highlights in a specific pattern formation to achieve the desired free-flowing effect. The word balayage is actually French-meaning "sweeping", which basically describes the sweeping motion used in applying (painting on) the highlights. It's a modern technique of hair highlighting that can give you a more softer natural sun-kissed look, as opposed to the stripy contrasting highlights of traditional foiling methods. My hair became a canvas displaying Lecie's talented artistry! 


The entire process took a little less than four hours as she also touched up my roots. When I saw the final reveal, I was happily surprised by how natural the highlights looked! They truly blend seamlessly with my hair color, projecting a chic but laid-back LA summer look.


Thank you Diane and Lecie for satisfying my ombre desires!


The salon is located in the middle of an open courtyard






Mellow Yellow-Personal Style Outfit Post

I wore this outfit to dinner last Sunday with my parents. They were quite amused by the height of the platforms. When I was young, I bought a dress similar to this for one of my Barbies. Growing up as an only child (my brother is ten years younger than me), I would get lost in my make belief world, quietly and contently playing for hours on end with my dolls, Legos and a vivid imagination. Nowadays, there's so much noise in my world that sometimes I long for the simplicity and quietness of my childhood years...





Dress: vintage from Shareen's Vintage
Knee High Socks: Urban Outfitters
Shoes: Jessica Simpson Dany
Jewelry: vintage

Road to Fall 2011

This unusually cool (as in 66 degrees nights) LA summer has got me planning and thinking about my fall wardrobe. Although the bulk of my purchases will be made in the next few months, I have already picked out a couple of highly coveted key pieces that will undoubtedly sell out if I wait another week, much less another month to take the plunge!

House of Harlow 1960 Haircalf Natalia Platform Booties

I just cannot see myself without these shoes this fall. I've been looking for the perfect leopard booties for the past year and this pair fits the bill...to the T. There's a thin line between tacky v. high fashion when it comes to leopard prints. Covering the shoe in luxurious haircalf definitely boosts the high fashion factor. The style is sleek and classic, keeping the trendy and busy leopard pattern grounded and approachable. 

Rag & Bone Elephant Bell Bottoms in Salmon

Although these pants are part of the SS 2011 collection and have been on my radar since late June, I just couldn't really bring myself to buy jeans in the middle of summer. My brain just isn't programmed that way. However, they are the perfect pants for the summer/fall transition season and I can see myself wearing these in LA through the fall and perhaps even winter seasons. In person, the color is much lighter than that shown in the picture and will virtually complement any and every color palette. The wide leg flares will be a trend heavyweight this fall and personally, I've always loved the jeans covering shoes aka the "Victoria Beckham" look.

Chloe June Bow-Embellished Leather Shoulder Bag

This is the perfect Chloe bag/clutch. It encapsulates the femininity and charm of Chloe, reminding us why we've been in an enamored relationship with the brand for so long. The colors are fall perfect and the design will seamlessly take me from work to dinner to play and even more play.

Leighton's Lovely Style

When it comes to GG fashion, my radar has always been on Blake Lively. After all, she's the bohemian wild child with the statuesque figure who makes headlines with her bare all red carpet gowns, stolen nude pics, and clandestine relationship with A-listers like my celeb love, Leo Dicaprio. Hence, I've never really given much notice to Leighton Meester's fashion choices and had dismissively and automatically assumed that her personal style mirrors that of her on-screen persona, the preppy and conservative Blair Waldorf.

So, when I saw the following sets on Polyvore, I immediately realized I'd been so very wrong about Leighton. She definitely stays ahead of the fashion curve by capturing a style that is all her own-edgy and a bit grungey but in a very classic way. She loves to play with colors and silhouettes and is not the least bit scared to dress outside the box and play up her outfits with "it" accessories. Move over B, there's a new fashion queen bee in town.

Leighton Meester style



Leighton Meester.


Leighton Meester Style



Get the look: Leighton Meester.