- and yes, I did specify that I haven’t updated here in a while…The truth is that I’ve been pretty trader-iffic in migrating over to Tumblr.   For some reason, my work computer dislikes the WordPress system, thereby trying my patience more than I’m comfortable with.

Hopefully ChicCritique will be heading from the .net realm to .com soon though, which P has been using as a reason to get me up and running over here, although I am still awaiting my customized layout from him, husband/developer^max.

With that said, I thought I’d let you know how I’m blowing my time (besides on the iPhone Boggle app) while I’m decidedly *not* here.

If we’re being honest, I read many more times the “normal” amount of blogs, I’m pretty sure.  Here are the most delicious of my regulars:

• Each morning, I start out with a little bit of Young House Love.  The cuties over there put my home decor, imagination, and willingness to undergo manual labor in the name of the former to SHAME.  The nursery they’re working on currently (and the baby so inspiring them) are my latest items of jealousy-fotter.
• Next, I hop on over to Bryn Alexandra.  I won’t lie, there’s something in her…tone, maybe…that irks me sometimes…?  But, she has a decent eye, and I appreciate that she’s a real person, following her dreams (kind of corny, but par for the site?).
• Miss Ruby, a local boutique that I adore, and whose owner has been infinitely more successful than me in keeping her promise to blog more regularly for ’10, makes my next pick.  Although my wedding is long over with, I have a few more years of bridesmaid-duty left in me, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to dreaming of moonlighting as an event planner.  Miss Ruby is as on-trend with her editting as once could hope to find in the midwest.
• Ms. Lilien has got to be Kate Spade’s big sister, by the looks of her poppy blog.  I eat this up each day, along with the cheeky blurbs.
• I save Ms. Emily over at Cupcakes and Cashmere for near the end of my list, as it’s something to look forward to each day.  I’m pretty sure I dream of being her, complete with envy-inducing legs…and hair…and eyebrows…(this is turning creepy, I know) – and her edgy style.  I love that she doesn’t take herself too seriously, as many fashion bloggers do once they get a whiff of their own awesome.
• And finally, I go back to The Cut frequently throughout the day.  The best source of fashion news everyday (except during Fashion Week, during which WWD, is THE. Source for show coverage.) 

On that note, I *hope to* be back tomorrow, to relive a few of my personal best fashion days.

“Wearing black detracts from the healthy-looking golden hue by ‘flattening’ it and bringing out tired-looking darker patches on the face. The one in five Britons who suit black close to their faces have ‘winter’ complexions consisting of pale, cool and dramatic colouring.”

I love that they chose the lovely Ms. Nigella Lawson as the rep (although the pic pretty tragic), and that I, completely dependant on Mystic Tan in order to wear yellow…or coral…or ivory, am actually happy to be iridescent pigmentless pale.

Read more here, and although the article doesn’t address it, there are so many gorgeous neutral alternatives to black! I am constantly trying to get my dark and exotic-looking cousin to embrace rich browns, and my tan sister to don navy or even charcoal more frequently.

With that said, my someday-hopefully-if-slash-when-money-isn’t-a-concern-list-of-lifetime-must-haves is as follows:

• A Louis Vuitton Speedy 35 or 40 – so classic and always sharp looking; Paul would have let me get one on this trip, BUT it’s been my reward item for years for fitting into a very specific (and fabulous! and one-of-a-kind!) dress again…someday…so I’m withholding from myself until I earn it

• Missoni – I’ve been enamored with the signature zig-zaggy knit since my days of spacedyed sweaters from Kohls (sigh…middle school), and fell hard for a knit skirt while at Bloomingdale’s.  I’d be open to a dress of even a bathing suit in the print though.  SO HOT.

• Nude leather Jimmy Choo pointy-toed slingbacks – le sigh…the epitomy of class.  True story: I rewarded myself for my college graduation with a similar pair (pumps though, instead of slingbacks), in mint condition, via eBay when I was 21, only to find that I had no idea what European size I wear.  They were massive on me, and I ended up reselling them at a loss because I had no idea what I was doing on eBay!

• Christian Louboutin Maezeps in Aqua – I’ve been e-stalking these lovelies for longer than I’m proud of, but they’re perfect and I don’t think my hunt will ever die down.  To me, deisgner shoes are the ultimate indulgence, so I love the idea of really indulging in something so fun NOT utilitarian.  If they were sparkly, they’d be the exact opposite of the Choos I crave above!

• A Diane vonFurstenberg Wrap Dress – I’ve owned a couple of DVF items, but with limited satisfaction; however, I can tear up a wrap dress like no other.  The only thing that’s kept me from achieving this bad boy is deciding which iconic print to go with!

My good friend, Kate, Me, and my DVF Naro

• THESE EARRINGS.  They match my wedding ring and are stunning.  Enough. Said.

And with that pipe dream, I leave 2009 behind and look forward to the new (and better!) year – Happy New Year!

My goals for the home this year are as follows (and yes, they include dreaded cleaning – blegh!):

• Do not let either laundry or dishes pile up to the point that addressing them is overwhelming and Paul ends up tending to them. 
• Do not allow the fresh produce I buy to go bad; to this end, I’ll try to go shopping weekly and buy fewer items to ensure usage.

Wow – those are terribly boring goals!  I’m actually much more interested in my decor goals!

• Unite the wall color with the rest of the living room, as it’s currently just a background color and a few tealy accessories would really brighten it up:

• After looking at that picture, my second task is blatantly obvious: finally commit to artwork/portraits  for our main walls.  While we’ve put up a few items, the absense of the ones we’re dragging our feet on is glaringly obvious.  For the space above the couch, we’re thinking we need a couple of wedding pics and a large print of Milwaukee’s lakefront?
• Do a better job of matching reality to inspiration (I think the carpeted floor instead of the hardwood I crave and the dark vs. light wall color is in part to blame here).  For example:

REALITY

INSPIRATION

REALITY

INSPIRATION

• Stop being a slave to geometric printed textiles; I’m thinking a mod floral for the living room drapes!  Notice a theme…?

• Scour antique stores and flea markets with more regularity for unique finds.  My favorite so far is this mid-century modern lovely, with Paul was adamant would be much more difficult to fix up and install than I insisted would be the case.  I was right, and I think the change infitely ups the chic factore when compared to the original vanilla fixture.

OLD FIXTURE

NEW FIXTURE!

And since I just spotted yet another spot where we’ve recently installed a geometric print curtain (the window above is now covered with the panel below…I just can’t help myself!), I’ll end now and get back to thinking about my lifetime fashion goals, the definitely more fun post I’ve got planned for tommorrow.

The guilty curtain

More menacing than it looks…

POO.

This time though, instead of dwelling on it, and feeling poorly about my lack of will/adult ADD/intimidation in the face of great challenge, I am starting today, i.e. NOT waiting until January 1, to begin making positive changes.  For instance, I’ve already taken two of my three daily baby-makin’ meds (seriously a coup on my normal scatterbrainedness; I just went the whole four-day holiday weekend forgetting to do so…)!

So there.

While my real-life goals are plentiful and lofty (have a baby, be more satified in my career, lose weight/be more HEALTHY for said baby, have more energy, clean up after myself, take meds/vitamins daily <– ALREADY DONE!,  etc…), my fashion/style goals are much more fun to think about!

2010 ChicGoals

• Get items repaired straight away, instead of waiting to build up and immense mountain of them “to do at once”
• Repair items in said mountail, which have built up over past several years (zipper on coach bag; fendi bag as a whole must be reconditioned; reheal black CK and RL boots; have Frye boots (vintage!  Paul’s mom’s from the 70′s!) altered to fit)
• Dry clean clothes regularly instead of letting them sit around, and mostly instead of wearing them when I know better…
• Keep closet in a state at least resembling orderly
• Get real with self and put away clothes that no longer fit (TEAR!)
• Identify wardrobe gaps and fill them – I realized this morning that I honestly don’t have a single pair of black dress pants…although I do have 109 dresses (yes, I keep a spreadsheet to catalog them. and my shoes)
• Get back to my thrifting roots for some unique finds instead of being so designer-conscious
• Sew myself some goodies with my favorite Christmas gift of the year!

Up next: Goals for my chicLIFE!

In the last two months, I’ve:

• been dealing with the tail end of a family crisis
• been trying to have a (super adorable, I’m sure) BABY!
• been trying to get my foot in the door with styling professionally

As far as the latter goes, I truly dropped the blog-ball on it.  For four weeks, from September to October, I participated in the First Annual (hopefully!) Milwaukee Style Trial!  I initally thought I’d be blogging my way through the competition, in which aspiring fashion stylists worked to coordinate a photo shoot and a runway show each week, culminating in a 15-look final show during “Milwaukee Fashion Weekend.”  The prizes included three additional styling oportunities (with M Magazine! and the Aveda Institute! and Flaire boutique!), along with cash and a few other perks.  I was thrilled at having been invited to participate, and looking forward to building my own portfolio in such a fun way; I knew I’d be stressed, but thought the blog would be the perfect outlet to hash out my thoughts,

In reality…the FUN was more theoretic though.  Working full time , putting a look (or three!) together between receiving the assignment late Saturday and doing the photoshoot Wednesday, and being present for hair and makeup made for an extremely packed week.  A couple of the stores were not located near the others, and since all were smaller boutiques, some had funky hours – eek!

Having not ever been deemed “Guilty” of a Fashion Sin, here are my looks for each week’s themes (all photos by Dan Zaitz Photography, courtesy of Flaire):

Week 1:  SUDDEN IMPACT!

I approached the challenge initially by knowing I wanted to play with prints ‘a la Prada Resort ’09 – YUM!

- But since I was limited in my pickings from the participating stores, from whence we were allowed to pull two pieces from each, for each look, I really had to be innovative in my pairings.  Although the theme was SUDDEN IMPACT!, I thought about things that would impact a fashion-forward girl upon first glance, rather than playing it safe and doing something totally overt.  More Sudden Impact than SUDDEN IMPACT!   The breakdown of my look:

• Mixed prints – add a textural element to the look that deepens it rather than depending on solids to pull everything together.  By using a mostly neutral palette, we’re making a bold statement with depending on color (SILVER!) to make the statement for us.
• Leather jacket – shrunken and on-trend.  I loved that such a tough piece was the grounding element of the look.
• Accessories – embellished hoops and a delicate bracelet helped keep it from looking costumey (BIKER!).  I adored this purse and still may buy it for myself; it’s on-trend (metalic! quilting!), designer-esque, and ultimately did it job, by making the look more high-end.  My own shoes finished off the look, but I would really have prefered something a little more avant garde in shape, or really ramped it up with a contrasting color
• Hair/Makeup – SO UNSATISFIED!  My inspiration for the makeup was really clean, glowy skin, doe eyes, and exagerated bubble gum pink lips (glossier and a little more pink than Drew’s here).  Here’s the shiny hair inspiration as well:

At any rate, I squeaked by after being torn apart for being too safe, and being advised to really go editorial henceforth!  On a positive note, the judges loved how flawless the proportions were (thankyouverymuch!).

Week 2:  Earth, Wind, and Fire – and male models!

What a DOOZY!  The week started with only three stores even offering guys’ clothes, but luckily one more was added – whew!  That means a total of eight pieces could be pulled, but luckily, the models could wear their own shoes.  Opting not to get pulled in too many different directions trying to fit earth, wind and fire together (and end up looking homeless and mismatched), I took my inspiration from my model.  Tommy was totally Abercromie-esque, with great blue eyes-I knew I’d have to dirty up his preppy baby-facedness, so we took the wind and made it mean, tornado-force wind, stirring up the earth and even including some lightening (fire! – also, will I ever grow out of hearing that word in Beavis’s voice??).  My look:

• Scarves – used to create a rotational sensation; I’d envisioned a light, shear one trailing behind him as he walked, but couldn’t find anything that worked.  They photographed more tightly packed (they weren’t!) than as editorial as I would have prefered.
• Outfit – the tee was great – fun, young, hip and I was pretty happy with the casual, wearable fit on the jeans (they were the smallest size I could find, so I didn’t have many options).  The jacket wasn’t a perfect fit, but the model didn’t know his size and I didn’t egt to fit him until the day of the shoot, so I had to guess on it.
• Hair/Makeup –  Another dissatifying one The makeup was meant to darken his eyes in a stark manner and his baby cheeks were supposed to have been contoured for a stronger chin/jaw, but it ended up photographing almost as blush and “done” eyes, which counteracted the harsh masculinity I was going for.

Overall, I liked it.  It looked pretty great on the runway, I thought, but I got thrashed on fit, which honestly I wasn’t able to address.  I was deemed NOT GUILTY and invited to stay another week!

Whew – I’ll be back tomorrow – PROMISE – with the conclusion of the Style Trial.  To view my competition, hop on over to Flaire’s Blog!

FASHION’S NIGHT OUT

I’ll be out and about from at least 6 to 9 p.m., and am thinking of heading out afterward to celebrate the greatest excuse to shop this year – be sure to say HI if you see me!  (I’m thinking that Kenadee’s, Water Street Brewery, or even somewhere on North Ave would be fun…?)

Stay tuned, and we’ll play show and tell with our FNO finds next week!

Happy shopping!!!!!!

You might not know (yet), but I sure do – and I even know what I’ll be wearing:

After searching everywhere for one of these bad boys, Gilt has finally come to my rescue – again!  Anna and I will be twins!

Although I’m crying inside at being scheduled to head to NYC in OCTOBER instead of September (hopefully The September Issue will still be in theatres?  -If it hasn’t been released locally, at least?), I’m psyched to see what the metro Milwaukee area can come up with!  I asked my *very* favorite boutique, Faye’s, if they’re going to be doing anything special for the event and was disappointed to hear that they’re not currently planning anything.  Still go there though – they’ve got the best designer goodies in the city!

Luckily, it seems that lots of other Milwaukee hot spots ARE taking the FNO challenge!  While I was calling around to shops this afternoon, I discovered that a blog devoted solely to FNO in Mke has popped up – thanks, FNO!

To summarize, the following boutiques ARE participating – I’ve even tagged my favs for your reference (and maybe also to schedule my night – hehe!):

third ward

• * freckle face – we may stop in to see if we can get a deal on our dream stroller(!)
• juju gifts
• * stephanie horne – best spot for DVF in the city!
• shoo
• flaire
• lela
• * home market
• grotta & co
• club charlies
• neroli
• * blush beauty – I love these chicks!  The lash bar is fab, and they’ve got Laura Mercier’s full line, including body!
• a woman’s touch
• * broadway paper – I’m partial to their Snow & Graham products
• * metropawlis – while there are way too many dog strollers (?) here, they have the best toys and treats for our chew-happy puppy!  Here’s a gratuitous puppy pic while I’m thinking about him – AWWWW…

• fratello’s – a restaurant, but they’re hosting a trunk show for Metro Eye
• buddy squirrel
• * re:tique – I try to stop in to this “upscale GoodWill” when I’m in the Third Ward – and have even come away with some goodies.  Their FNO lineup includes items from the “vintage vault,” so I’ll definitely make an appearance.

downtown

• * miss ruby – the best spot for bridesmaids’ dresses (if money isn’t an issue)
• fred boutique
• rohr jewelers
• laacke & joys
• luci

bayview

• chartreuse

brady street

• * aala reed
• sweet kicks
• vieux et nouveau
• * miss groove
• * detour
• hamms universal fashions

north shore

• shop
• goldi
• b’tween friends
• harleys the store for men
• fred boutique
• luscious boutique
• patricia shoppe
• * stephanie horne bayshore
• lise and katos
• luci
• olive organic
• * valentina – hopefully I’ll shop here when I’m in my 40′s – hot, but older
• * gigi of mequon – “                                                                                                         “

west side

• fair trade 4 all
• urban laundry
• juxt

Get out, have fun, and be fabulous!

First First Day of School ‘Fit:  It was *HOT* and another testament to how I rocked the 80′s like no other!  A dress: white top with sweetheart neckline and super fresh puffy short sleeves; the skirt is black and white, some kind of print, with red rickrack trim.  I wore RED TIGHTS and black patent shoes.  My mom had french braided my long hair the night before and brushed it out in the morning, then it was in a half-ponytail adorned with a red, white, and black shoelace hair clip.

Don’t hate.

First Wardrobe Malfunction:  On my first first day of school, I tripped on my way into school after my mom dropped me off, and tore a wicked hole in my amazing red tights.  I spent the entire (half) day hiking up my tights and pulling down my dress in attempt to cover the offending rip.  I had fun and made friends, and officially cemented myself as “the pretty girl” but that didn’t stop me from bawling when my mom picked me up because apparently I thought she’d kill me for tearing the majestic tights.

First Time Considering a Career in Fashion:  I was 7-ish years old at Christmas time.  The only things I asked Santa for were Fashion Plates – and the real designer ones (NOT the barbie ones that my sister got, or the sports? ones my brother got – yuck!).  I played with them INCESSANTLY while wearing my mom’s Pick N Save cashier smock, belted with a woven hedband/belt I made in arts and crafts class, because apparently designers dress like they’re blind – and homeless?  I *just* decided to stalk ebay in search of these bad boys!

Pure early 90′s freshness. 

First Designer Moment:  It was the early 90′s and I was OBSESSED.  With LA Gear.  I had the sweetest shoes, just like the ones below, but in pale pink and white.  Lots of kids had these, sure, but did they have matching jeans?!  I think not.  These jeans were awesome beyond their time, and on the sexy side for my child self – pale blue denim with the side seam panels CUT OUT (!) and pink and white twisted fabric/shoelaces? to mirror the twists on my kicks holding the jeans together.  I DIE.  You could see skin – so scandalous!

You’re jealous; I know.

First Fashion Risk:  Picture 1996.  I’m 13 and superbly awkward.  I’ve got a variation of “The Rachel” atop my grape and since I’m not allowed to use a blowdryer or hairspray, it’s doing nothing for me.  Picking out and outfit for my cousin’s outdoor wedding in July, I select a black dress with brightly colored flowers on it.  Typical, I know.  But the shoes!  I surprised EVERYONE (in my head) by selecting black, low and chunky-heeled slides with panels of CLEAR plastic across the front!  Crazy, I know!  I am feeling sophistocated, stylish, and confident.  I get up the nerve to ask my aunt’s boyfriend’s son, who I’ve been in love with for a solid year, if I can cut in while he’s dancing with another cousin.  He says sure and she says, “Wait.  Who were you dancing with?  Usually we trade partners when you ‘cut in…’”  I am mortified.  I spend the duration of the song realizing that my outfit is not all that great, my skin is bad (I’m not allowed to wear makeup), and the humidity is at war with “The Rachel.”  It’s a low day in my adolescence.

Don’t fret; I’m searching for the incriminating pics!

My work computer is not compatible with WordPress’s photo upload system, but I will try to go in after each post once I get home, and add them in.  It’s a lame compromise, I know, but will allow me to write when I can, and still get the photos in so you don’t have to hunt around for them.

Thank You!