Fall 2014 Trend - White

Another Fall 2014 color trend (see previous here and here).  Pretty basic, but winter white head to toe is the way to go!

Images via Style.com

Fall 2014 Trend - Rich Greens

Another Fall 2014 trend!  Green!  Rich, luxurious, vibrant greens.

All images via Style.com

Fall 2014 Trend - Grey

I know, I know, Spring has barely sprung and here I am with the Fall 2014 trends.  Over the next few days I'm going to recap what trends I think are important for Fall.  Let's start with grey, it was everywhere!

All images via Style.com

Spring 2014 Trends - Red

Another Spring 2014 color trend, red! It always makes a statement!  Here are my picks:

1. Boden Sweater / 2. Echo scarf / 3. Coldwater Creek dress

4. Boden tunic / 5. Steve Madden shoes / 6. Halogen clutch

7. Puma watch / 8. Kate Spade necklace / 9. Ann Taylor shorts

10. Topshop clutch / 11. Splendid sandals / 12. Boden dress

13. Boden skirt / 14. Nike sneakers / 15. Ann Taylor belt

16. A.J. Morgan sunglasses / 17. Baggu backpack

18. Banana Republic skirt / 19. Toms shoes

Check out the previous color trends - Black and White, Orange, Green and Purple!

Linking up with Lena and Rachel for Passion For Fashion! 

Spring 2014 Trends - Purple

Another Spring 2014 color trend here, this time it's purple - all the purples from lavender to eggplant.  Here are my picks:

1. Boden skirt / 2. Topshop top / 3. Coldwater Creek dress 

4. Anthropologie watch / 5. Steve Madden sandals / 6. Topshop sunglasses

7. Pim + Larkin top / 8. Ivanka Trump tote / 9. Kate Spade earrings

10. J.Crew Factory shorts / 11. Target top / 12. J.Crew skirt / 13. Hunter wellies

14. Lands' End dress / 15. Topshop dress / 16. Ivanka Trump satchel

17. J.Crew necklace / 18. Lands' End shirt / 19. Coldwater Creek bracelet

20. Neiman Marcus wallet

Check out the previous color trends - Black and White, Orange and Green!

Spring 2014 Trends - Green

Another Spring 2014 color trend here.  This time it's green (perfect for St. Patrick's Day too)!  Green always feels "right" in Spring, especially the hues that mimic the new growth on the trees and flowers.  Here are my picks to add a little green to your closet.

1. J.Crew skirt / 2. Herschel backpack / 3. Coldwater Creek necklace

4. Nina Luanda clutch / 5. Kenneth Cole crossbody / 6. Gap scarf

7. Jack Rogers sandals / 8. dimmi flats / 9. Foley + Corinna bag

10. Coldwater Creek necklace / 11. Coldwater Creek tee

12. J.Crew pants / 13. ASOS skort / 14. Banana Republic belt

15. New Balance sneakers / 16. New Balance sneakers

Check out the previous color trends - Black and White and Orange

Have a great Monday!

Spring 2014 Trends - Black and White

Let's go back in time, way back to September of last year, when I did my week long roundup of the trends for Spring 2014 fresh off the runway at NYFW.  Remember?  Well, the first post was about the color trends.  Now that it's (almost) Spring, let's revisit those color trend picks with some of my favorite finds available right now. Starting out with Black and White.

This is such a great trend because you most likely have black and white pieces in your wardrobe you can put on and roll.  Hello white jeans and a black tee!  But you can also pick up a great accessory to add a little oomph.  Here are some things that caught my eye (each under $100):

1. H&M Top / 2. Aldo bag  / 3. Kate Spade Saturday necklace / 4. J.Crew shorts 
5. J.Crew silk tee / 6. Old Navy flip flops / 7. Lodis Los Feliz iPhone case
8. A. J. Morgan sunglasses / 9. adidas sneakers (I have these and love them)
10. C. Wonder necklace / 11. Emperia tote / 12. J.Crew Factory owl tee
13. Sole Society hat / 14. Tommy Bahama cover up
15. Kate Spade umbrella 16. Jessica McClintock clutch

Another color trend tomorrow...

Monochromatic Monday - Winter Whites

Getting back in the groove today - back to school for the little one, back to a more regular work schedule for me.  Let's dive into the first full work week of 2014 with some Winter whites. First up, is a proper Winter white, which is really an off-white, which is warmer and less stark.  I love pairing it with camel/tan colored accessories to play up the warmth of the color.

1.  Calvin Klein pants - $60

2.  Lands' End cotton sweater - $35

3.  House of Harlow cuff - $85

4.  Jessica Simpson pumps - $79

5.  Urban Outfitters vegan leather tote - $59

Now this is more of a bright, optical white, which would be great in the latter part of Winter (when there's not so much snow to blend in with and more light in the day) or for parts of the country that don't see much snow.  I would wear this right now in my snow-challenged part of Georgia!

1.  Glamorous leopard knit sweater - $70 (I love this fluffy sweater!)

2.  Brooks Brothers stretch pants - $79.50

3.  Free People vegan leather tote - $68  

4.  Steve Madden sneakers - $99.95

5.  Nike Free 5.0 running shoes - $100 (for a more sporty option - how fun are these leopard kicks?)

Hope 2014 is off to a great start for you!  I have a feeling it's going to be a fabulous year!!

Linking up with BonBon Rose Girls, Momtrends and Glamamom for Monday Mingle!

Spring 2014 NYFW Trend - Color

Here are the trends that everyone gets jazzed about - the color trends!  I'm going to say (again) that cobalt is sticking around (yay)!  Some other familiar colors from seasons past make an appearance too (orange, the dash of lime/neon green/yellow, green).  The biggest emerging color trend I see is purple, which is represented in all of it's incarnations from almost-blue to almost-burgundy.  Purple is tricky.  In my experience, people have very strong reactions to it.  They either love or hate it, rarely is a person indifferent.  Without further ado, here are the Spring 2014 NYFW color trends:

Are you excited about these? How do you feel about the purple trend?  Make sure you keep checking out my Spring 2014 Pinterest board for my latest picks (London is off to a fabulous start)!  Tomorrow we tackle another trend.

Don't forget to enter the $100 Paypal cash giveaway over at Lena B Actually!

Linking up with Lena B and Rachel for Passion for Fashion!

Resort 2014 Trends - Color

This week I'm going to cover the trends from the Resort 2014 collections (check out my Resort 2014 Pinterest board).  Why did I sort of skip over Fall? Honestly, resort is more wearable, it covers warm and cool weather items and (my favorite reason) it gives a good idea about what next Spring will hold - meaning you can buy stuff on sale now that will be on trend for next Spring/Summer!  Today we are starting with colors.  First up, blue.  Seriously, blue has been dominating the collections for the past few seasons.  It's sticking around!

Next up, green.  Not really one specific shade of green (please Pantone stop trying to make Emerald Green happen - that was a bad call).  It's not a dominating color across all collections, but it was one that caught my attention.

And last up is one of those colors that isn't obvious, but when it shows up it makes a statement. A splash of neon green/yellow.  Whether it be an accent color in a print or an accessory, it adds interest. 

What do you all think? Are you excited about these colors?

Tomorrow we tackle another trend.

Linking up with  Lena and Rachel for Passion for Fashion!

NYFW Fall 2013 Trends - Color

As I finished looking at the images from NY Fashion week a couple of color trends popped out at me.  These aren't new or groundbreaking, but I made note of them because they have been around and will continue to be around.  First up, cobalt blue!

 

Love that this color is sticking around! It's just so happy and sophisticated.

 

Next up, vivid pinks!

 

Every pink from pastel to neon, they all are represented.

 

This by no means are all the color trends, just ones that jumped out at me (and certainly these are ones that you can find now and wear this Spring and Summer with no problem at all).  I'll be back with more as London, Milan and Paris wrap up.  I'm pinning away every day on my Fall 2013 Pinterest board - check it out for more great picks!

 

Images in collage via Style.com

Pantone's Spring 2013 Fashion Color Report

 

Pantone has released it's Spring 2013 Fashion color report and it features a palette of colors that is dubbed "The Balancing Act".  Anchored by Monaco Blue, the colors featured are a mix of brights and more subtle neutrals.  As I've mentioned before, I'm considered a "color expert" (though I have a hard time considering anyone an expert on something so subjective, although you can be an expert on the science behind color theory), but I do have thoughts about what this palette means.  I honestly expected a yellow to be the next "color of the year" - sort of like the "lemon zest" color above, but maybe leaning more towards egg yolk.  Though the blue has much merit, I want it to be a bit more of a cobalt and not so much a navy.  I want the purple to be a bit richer (more red) too and I would have liked to see a grey represented.  These palettes/forecasts are fun and certainly designers in every industry love to look at them, but they are by no means a "bible".  So take it in and then move on with your day. 

 

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely weekend (we have a Fall Festival at my daughter's school to attend and of course I have all the fun household chores to catch up with).  Have a great weekend!

Capture The Color!

I was so excited when Melinda over at C'est ma vie! nominated me to participate in Travel Supermarket's Capture the Color contest.  The challenge is to post five photos, each featuring one of the following colors: blue, green, yellow, white, red.  Each photo should include a caption featuring sensory memories.  Unfortunately, I'm a little late with my post (shocker) and the contest is over now, but I still wanted to share my pictures.  Color is one of my passions, I love studying it, how colors interact and what feelings certain colors can bring.  Here are my pictures!

 

Green!  This is a Ginkgo tree at Augusta State University.  We were out for a family walk on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.  The campus was quiet and my girl was having a great time!

Yellow!  (and orange) This is one of my girl's infamous self portraits via the iPad or iPod Touch.  She loves doing these and they are always hilarious - basically I find these when I pick up the device later and find all these pictures of her that she's snapped.  I love how her red hair really does look like fire in this shot.

Red!  This is from the Ralph Rucci exhibit I visited  over the Summer.  I love this dress, it's so structured and not the least bit stuffy or stiff.  The gallery was so quiet and peaceful.

White!  This is the stunning view from my best friend's back deck in the mountains of NC.  I love how the clouds were  just rolling across the sky.  Fluffy and flat all at the same time!

 

 

Blue!  Though it looks more blue/green here.  This was the pool at the condo we were staying at on our vacation to Hilton Head, SC.  It was so hot the afternoon I took this picture.

 

Thanks again to Melinda for the nomination!   Head over and check out her post with her stunning photos!

 

 

 

My Five - Christian Dior Fall 2012

I'm not going to lie, I've been hard on the house of Dior since the departure of Galliano (after his boneheaded meltdown - jerk).  I was a huge fan of Galliano's way of fusing the past with the future while always keeping the essence of what the Dior brand is.  After he was shown the door things went way downhill.  But the tides have turned with this collection, at least in my mind.  Bill Gaytten and his team seem to have found their footing.  The ballet inspired collection was very "Dior" and that made my heart sing.  The color palette was so lux. You know how some colors come off as garish and cheap, but with a tweak suddenly turn into something that seems so posh that you want to run out and get everything you can in those colors?  Well this collection did that for me.  I love the dove greys, the soft peaches (not 1980's peach!), that muted purple that is so elegant.  I want to wear nothing but these colors this fall.  Here are my many picks, enjoy!

This picture really embodies the color mix in this collection that rocked my world.

This fabric is fab-u-lous, it appears to be some sort of mohair damask deal.  I wish I could see it up close.  The fuzzy, matte with the shine is fabulous.  And I'm not even going to address that necklace that I want NOW!

I need this dress.  Just to wear.

 The ballet slipper inspired shoes.  LOVE!

Another great example of color mix.

Subtle large-scale houndstooth created with textures.  Amazing!

Images via Vogue.com

My Five - Bottega Veneta Resort 2013

A very nice, sleek collection with an almost muted color palette.  What I mean by "muted" is that the colors are strong, but they aren't in-your-face.  Lots of yellow, mint green, peach and a hit of purple along with the usual black.  What I find very interesting (from a design point of view) is that Tomas Maier begins his design process with color.  Interesting, because while I usually start with pattern and/or texture, a color palette really does set a "mood".  It creates a feeling and thus ideas about how things should look.  I love learning about other designers and their creative processes.  Anyway, here are my picks:

 Point to ponder - how do you feel about a tracksuit?  Are we ready for tracksuits again?

Images via Style.com

Pantone's Color of the Year - Tangerine Tango

I'm sure everyone has heard the news about Pantone's declaration of Tangerine Tango as 2012's color of the year.  I for one am very happy since I adore orange.  But orange can be a bit scary to wear (it's a color that seems to be easier to work with in decor than in apparel, no?), I mean you don't want to look like a traffic cone or like you are celebrating Halloween.

One of my favorite colors to pair with orange right now is navy.  There are multiple examples of this pairing in the Spring 2012 collections (I first called this color combo as a trend back in September and still think it's the way to go).  A great way to incorporate the orange/navy combo is to pair an orange top with navy pants or dark denim.  In fact dark denim is a great way to ease into it.  Here are some looks I put together to show how wearable this pairing can be:

Button Front Tops by Topshop
Sandals by Steve Madden

Cardigans by Mossimo
Flats by Minnetonka

Longsleeve Tops by Mango
Totes by Brooks Brothers

Shortsleeve Tops by Bebe
Pumps by Sam Edelman

What do you think?  Is this a color combo you can get into?