Are you there Fall? It's me, Chiara...

Today finally felt like Fall! Even though I love summer,  I hate heat and humidity- especially when it's raining.  I loved being able to walk out of my house this morning in jeans and a sweater and not sweat bullets!

Shirt: Delia's ~ Sweater: H&M ~ Jeans: Forever 21

I paired a summery tank top with a slightly oversized sweater, which is so comfy!  I also like that I can easily transition some of my summer clothes into fall by adding another layer.

Earrings: American Eagle Outfitter

Nail Polish: "Turquoise and Caicos" by Essie

I wore these earrings because I liked the delicate pattern, and their size.  Since they are so big, I didn't wear any other accessories so that the earrings would be the only "sparkle" in the outfit.  I painted my nails on Friday, but I liked the turquoise color with the reds and the purples in my shirt.  Even though it was a little bit chilly outside, I still wore flip flops because they're so comfortable, but also because I don't have fall boots yet! Thankfully, I have ordered two pairs of brown leather riding boots from Nordstrom, so I'll be able to choose which pair I like best.  I will definitely be taking pictures of the boots once they are delivered, but until then, here are the links:

Choice #1

Choice #2

If anyone reading is looking for a great pair of riding boots (or any style of boot), I would definitely suggest checking out the Nordstrom website and Zappos because both sites offer a great selection, as well as free shipping and free returns.  

Style on! <3

"Red letter day, I'm in a blue mood..."

When I'm in a crappy mood, I will do one of two things when choosing my outfit; not care what I put on and pick something that looks frumpy, or pick out an outfit that will help put me in a better mood.  Today I picked the second option because I wanted to make the effort to look good, and also because the weather today is better than it will be for the rest of the week, so I took the opportunity to wear a pair of the dressy shorts that I bought over the weekend!

~Shirt: Gap ~ Scarf: Old Navy ~
~Shorts: Delia's ~ Shoes: Charlotte Russe~

                                                                                 

I love these shorts because they are different from the shorts that I usually wear.  I'm used to wearing khaki or jean shorts, but this summer I began my goal of buying things that I normally wouldn't wear (things that are still my style, but just different).  I really like the dressy shorts trend, so when I found these I was obsessed! They're brown shorts with light brown, tan and blue herringbone.  Since they're made from a suiting material they are perfect for a casual outfit during the day, or a more dressy outfit for going out at night.

I have so many scarves because they are a great accessory, and this is definitely one of my favorites because of the color (teal is one of my favorite colors, along with purple) and because the print is really interesting without being overpowering since the two colors in the scarf are close in shade.

Besides the scarf, I wore some other accessories to complement the outfit;  a charm bracelet that used to be my grandmothers and some simple sparkly earrings.
I like my shoes because of the braiding detail running down the front of the shoe, and all of the straps.  I also think that the brown of the sandals works well with the color of the pants and the scarf.

I definitely accomplished the goal of this outfit, because I'm in a much better mood than I was last night and this morning-never underestimate the power of cute clothes!

A few of my favorite things...

This post obviously involves shopping! Saturday I went to Providence with my suite mate from last year, and I got lots of cute stuff at the amazing mall there.  We also went to the Cheesecake Factory and had cheesecake for dinner (another favorite of mine).  Anyways, back to the cute clothes; throughout the summer I had wanted to try out the dressy shorts trend, but I could never find a pair that I liked enough to buy.  So I am so happy because I found TWO pairs of shorts that I can dress down during the day, and dress up at night (and maybe even wear with tights when it gets colder).  I also bought some nice tops, a small black cross body bag, and a couple of ridiculously comfy sweaters.  I'll definitely be posting more outfit pictures soon, but lately I've been wearing shirts telling freshmen to "Feel the Rush!" (I'm in a sorority and Recruitment starts on Saturday, which means i'll be spending my weekend chanting and interviewing freshmen girls- i'm both excited and super nervous).
More soon!

TGIF!

I have been at school for exactly a week now! Even though I've only had three days of classes so far, Friday still couldn't come soon enough.  I think that all of my fashion classes are going to be really interesting, I just hope that I can't stay awake through two of them; having monotone professors can make any class difficult, no matter how interesting the material is!  The most interesting class today was definitely History of Contemporary Fashion because we talked about the Victorian Era, named after Queen Victoria of England.  Style in the 1800's in England was based mostly on modesty; women couldn't show their arms, ankles, or chest during the day, and they always had to wear a bonnet when they went outdoors.  Imagine walking to class in hot weather wearing a floor length dress, hoop skirt, corset, and all of the undergarments that went with it-so crazy! Something really interesting that I learned about Queen Victoria herself was that she changed the way that people dressed during mourning.  She was in mourning from the time that her husband Albert died, until her death-40 years!!!!  It's interesting to think that one person can effect fashion that much, especially when it involves death (creepy, but still interesting).
That's all for now, more to come soon!

And so it begins again...

First, let me just say sorry for not posting in FOREVER! I spent the rest of my summer wearing my ridiculously unfashionable work uniform, so outfit pictures weren't really possible.  Thankfully, I moved into my sorority house on Friday, and so far I am loving it! Only one roommate, free laundry, a chef and pretty bathrooms are infinitely better than dorm life! I spent the first few days at school doing sorority events, which included moving in the freshmen.  It feels weird to have a whole grade of people who are younger than me again, and I forgot how much stuff you need to bring to college! (moving other people's stuff was even less fun than moving myself into school, but thankfully it's done!)  Today was my first day of classes and I think that it went pretty well! There are girls from my sorority in two of my classes, which will come in handy if I'm ever sick, and when midterms and finals roll around.  I have three classes that meet on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and they are all fashion classes, so I'm really excited!  My first class of the day is Fashion Retailing, followed by History of Contemporary Fashion, and finally Introduction to Design.  Since I envisioned this blog as more Fashion related, I will definitely be posting things about those classes here, hopefully they will be interesting! It rained all day, so dressing cute was a little bit more difficult, but I think that I managed to look cute while also being dressed appropriately for the weather (always a great accomplishment)!

~Sweater: TJ Maxx ~ Tank: Target ~ Jeans: Forever 21 ~
~Boots: Capelli NY ~ Necklace & Earrings: Charlotte Russe ~

It was a bit chilly this morning, so I wore a sweater over a tank top and jeans.  I really like these rain boots because they look like riding boots with quilting on the top, but they're rubber! Plus they're not as bulky and more fashionable than the typical style of rain boot.  I also wore a black rain jacket, but it wasn't very cute and it would have covered the rest of the outfit, so I didn't wear it in the picture.
I'll probably take some pictures of my room soon because it's cute (if I do say so myself).  Since I'm back at school I will definitely be posting more outfit pictures-I love being able to dress cute again!
More to come! <3

Sunsets and Swingsets

Tonight, Carolyn and I got together for some ice cream and a mini photo shoot at a playground! There were so many great pictures, especially because the sun was setting, and there were a lot of great spots to take pictures.  I decided to wear a dress because I wanted to feel more girly.

Dress: Forever 21 ~ Belt: Vintage ~ Sandals: Forever 21

I can't get over the lighting in this picture, it's so pretty and goes so well with the feeling of this outfit! This is an off-white lace flowered dress, and I loved it because of how romantic it looked, and how inexpensive it was.  Almost all of my dresses come from Forever 21 because their prices are so low, but the quality of their clothing is pretty great if you take care of it correctly.  This dress didn't come with a belt, so I made one by folding a silk scarf that was passed down from my grandmother-I love vintage hand-me-downs!

These two pictures were taken up against an old barn near the playground, and I liked the differences in color and texture of my dress and the barn.  Another reason why I like this dress so much is because of how interesting the back of it is.  Since the front is so simple, I like the surprise of the straps when I turn around.  

Earrings: Vintage ~ Headband: Urban Outfitters

Here is a closeup shot just to show my earrings and headband. The earrings are gold with small Swarovski  crystals in the center, and were also passed down from my grandmother.  The headband is made of a leather-type material in a bow shape, and I liked it because it added another girly touch to the outfit.

A Night at the Movies

Two of my friends and I went to go see "Friends with Benefits" and I decided to dress up a little bit for the occasion.  Lately, the only clothing that I've been wearing in public is my work uniform which consists of a dark green polo shirt, black dress pants, and sneakers (not exactly the most fashionable thing in the world). Since I don't get many opportunities to look cute, I jumped at the chance!

I really wanted to make my accessories the star of this outfit, so I went with a basic white tee (The Gap)  and jeans (Forever 21). Since the movie theater is always extra chilly because of the air conditioning, I brought an oversized blazer (Target) which looked much nicer with the outfit than a sweatshirt.  

The reason why I wanted to keep the clothes so basic is because of this fabulous necklace from Charlotte Russe!  It has faux pearls, round gold and black beads, and small gold flowers.  I originally bought it to wear to a formal event, but I realized how great it could look with a simple outfit like this one.  Since the necklace was so large, I wore small gold studs that were passed down from my grandmother.  To complete the outfit, I wore braided black flip flops from Charlotte Russe to make it more casual and summery.  

Born and raised in a summer haze...

Here are my first outfit photos!

I went to Carolyn's house last night and we took a mini photo shoot!  Out of all of my friends from my hometown, Carolyn is the one who loves fashion just as much as I do. We love getting dressed up to go to dinner, putting together outfits for our own photo shoots, and it's nice to have someone who understands how excited I get about clothes and the fashion industry as a whole.  

Shirt: Old Navy ~ Shorts: Charlotte Russe 

I like this outfit because it's summery without being the standard t-shirt and jean shorts combo.  The shorts are a different color for me, which is why I liked them so much (one of my fashion resolutions is to wear things that are outside of my comfort zone) and they look slightly dressier because they're made to look like linen and have cute pocket details with buttons covered in the same fabric (sorry that I don't have close-up pictures, I'll remember that for next time!).  The stripes on this shirt alternate between solid white and a sheer material, so I'm wearing a white camisole underneath.  I like it because it's a different style, and even though it has longer sleeves it is still light and airy.

Necklace: American Eagle Outfitters ~ Earrings: Boutique

Here is my favorite picture of me and Carolyn from our mini shoot.  It's also easier to see the shorts material and the sheer material of the shirt.  The necklace has small silver medallions on it, and I liked it because it was simple, but gave the outfit a little something extra.  My earrings are clusters of small dark teal beads, and gives the outfit more color.

Stay tuned for more posts!
<3

"A girl should be two things, classy and fabulous"~Coco Chanel

I thought that it would be best to begin my introduction to the blogging world by explaining the name of my blog, because those things always intrigue me, so maybe other people wonder about it too! The title of this post is what initially made think of Two Things. It is one of my favorite quotes because it can mean something different to everyone who reads it. Whenever I hear people say "stay classy" all I can think is "don't do anything you wouldn't want your mother to see you doing" (Since I tell my mom pretty much everything, I get a pretty good gut feeling when I'm doing something I shouldn't). Being classy is something that I aspire to be because I want to be proud of the way I act, not ashamed of it later. Being fabulous is more difficult for me to describe, because it changes all the time! One day being fabulous may mean putting on a dressy outfit and going to dinner, and the next day I might consider it a victory when I don't stay in pajamas all day (lazy summer days are just so nice, you know?) At the moment, being fabulous means trying to put together an outfit I'm proud of whenever possible (which isn't as often as I would like since I'm in a work uniform for most of the summer). I can't wait to start posting, and maybe someone besides my best friend Carolyn will read them! Carolyn is the one who convinced me to start this blog, and I saw how much fun she was having with her own blog http://airycastles.blogspot.com/ so I figured I might as well give it a try! Thanks for reading, stay fabulous!