Iced Tea

Photo: Hena (my sis)

With record high temps in Boston, some times it's hard to put on clothes, let alone put effort into picking out a cute outfit. But, this amazing scarf that my sister picked up at a consignment store inspired me.

Photo: Hena (my sis)

The scarf, which I decided to wear on my head, is from Rescue (Newbury Street). I can't wait to wear it as a neck scarf on a cooler day!

Photo: Hena (my sis)

My top is from Free People (Prudential). Love the color.

Photo: Hena (my sis)

My skirt is from Rescue (Newbury St.), the watch is by Michael Kors, Bangle/bracelets from J.Crew, Memory bead bracelet from Mexico, ring is vintage.

Photo: Hena (my sis)

My shoes are from Zara. 

Photo: Hena (my sis)

Photo: Hena (my sis)

Photo: Hena (my sis)

Photo: Hena (my sis)

My "Crocodile Tears" necklace is by jewelry designers Jody Klann & Marya Chan. I bought it from Uncle Pete's (Boutique in the North End - interview coming up soon!!!). 

Photo: Hena (my sis)

Shade is absolutely necessary on a day like this...

Home sweet Home - Photo: Hena (my sis)

...but the air conditioning is delightful.

Conquer the sun with STYLE!!!

Hey You! Here's something to look out for:

*http://twitter.com/TakeItFromMeG: 

I'm finally on Twitter! I'll be tweeting about shopping trips, cool outfits, new shoes...old shoes...big shoes...small shoes...shoes with stripes...shoes with buckles...I think you catch my drift! Follow me!

*Plsknck.com: 

Leah, Marketing Manager of Boston Magazine, has started a new blog of her own and she's asked me to be apart of it. She came to my home where she got a closer look into my sense of style/taste. She took fabulous pictures of some of my favorite things. Take a look for yourself (and let me know what you think). Hope you enjoy!

*Sign Up To Follow This Site: 

Don't forget, if you like what you see, scroll down to the very bottom and sign up to follow!! All you need is a Gmail account! It's easy, you'll love it! ...Just set it, aand forget it! (Hurry before I come up with more lines from all those awesome infomercials)   

  

Take It From: Stephanie of LF, Newbury

353 Newbury Street

The clothes are awesome, the location is perfect and the staff is unbelievably friendly!! Really? On Newbury street you'd expect just a little snootiness. Nope, not at LF. (Don't believe me, check out what all the Yelpers have to say about them). When I walked in to snag an interview I expected a "Dawling, we're much too busy". I mean, they have celebrity clients for G's sake. But to my amazement the Store Manager was more like, "Where, when, why and a YES OF COURSE". And it's no wonder she has an amazing staff. She told me herself that she is super meticulous about selecting only those who are passionate about the industry and  absolutely adore fashion. Here's another secret: They don't work for commission so there's no pressure on the staff. Just real energy and sincerity.  Dare to be different and receive customized service!? Sounds like a shopaholic's dream come true.

"Don't pay attention to rules. You can mix metals and wear white before labor day" - Stephanie Macoul
Scroll down and check out what else Stephanie has to say about fashion and LF. She also put me in some edgy and out-of-the-box outfits that I think you'll find to be super unique. 

Stephanie and Caitlin create the initials for LF.  TEAM WORK!!!

Gilda: What does LF stand for? 

Stefanie: It is the owner's initials, Laurie Furst. He was in the manufacturing business for a long time. I'm not sure of all the details but he decided to go into the retail aspect of it and he's done a great job. He has a lot of great connections with up and coming designers in Europe and they're usually who we carry.

LF's Spring/Summer Lookbook

Gilda: Can you virtually walk us through LF (for those who've never had the pleasure of visiting). What do we see and what can we expect?

Stefanie: You walk into the store and it's very eclectic. An eclectic mix of things, eclectic merchandising. We have a lot, a lot of product. It's designed to give the customer every possible option. You come in and everyone on staff is trained as a stylist, so we're going to create a unique, head-to-toe look for you and to do that we need to have every option available to you. So, not only do we have pieces of an outfit but we have different cuts of the same color shorts and different fits of knits. You can find the perfect one for your lifestyle and your body...for your personal taste. Sometimes people who have never been here get a little overwhelmed but that's when we come in!

LF Store front display

Gilda: How exclusive are the brands here in LF?

Stefanie: All of the apparel shouldn't be found anywhere else in the United States. I'm not sure which brands are sold oversees but I know that none of our apparel is sold anywhere else in the states.

LF's Spring/Summer Lookbook

Gilda: Who is the LF girl? Where does she go? What does she wear? What's her lifestyle like?


Stefanie: I'll give you an age range, 16-24. She is definitely young, she's independent, fashion-forward...umm, she's kind of the free spirit. The one who lights up the room when she walks in. You've read a lot about Coachella (a funky and food-filled affair with an eclectic variety of artists and a cross-culture crowd) lately. That's our girl. The girl who is looking for the newest thing to put her own spin on.

Shoes by Jeffrey Campbell

Shoes by Jeffrey Campbell

Gilda: There are so many trends to look out for this season: Lace, quirky prints and patters, hyper color and style elements from the 70's. Can we expect to be able to shop for those trends here?

Stephanie: Absolutely! The 70's obviously have a huge influence right now. Quirky prints - we have the Aztec prints with the whole Navaho influence is continuing over from fall. Lots of bright colors. We always have lace because we're kind of known for our girly look. That's what I love. I love the schiffons and the lace. The juxtaposition works here. He have the masculine, ripped up shorts paired with a feminine lace top. As far as prints go, we have a ton! Polka-dots are kind of huge everywhere now but we look for ways to do it differently by mixing patterns. We carry every trend that's huge right now.

Mixing Prints by Stephanie Macoul

Gilda: How would you describe the overall style in Boston and what would you change?


Stephanie: There's a lot, a lot of people who are just way too conservative. STEP OUTSIDE YOUR BOX!! What do you have to loose? What's the worst that can happen? Is your life going to end if someone doesn't like the shirt you have on?! No. Wear the wide-leg floral pants and ROCK'EM! That's the number one thing but another thing is more events. We tried to do 'Fahion's Night Out' here for two years now and it just doesn't take off. No one even knows about it. We did an event here last year and the only people that came were our clients. So, there's a lack of public support for it. I think it's up to all of the retail people to keep talking to our customers about it and get them excited about fashion.

Gilda: I'm always looking forward to your end of the season sales because they're always over 50% - 60% off all merchandise. When exactly does this happen?

Stephanie: I can't tell you the exact dates but if you friend us on facebook (LF Boston) we can let you in on those exclusive details. How many people were paying you to get that answer?! We'd prefer you get the merchandise while it's HOTT!! (laughs)

Gilda: Are there any other exclusive events or sales coming up that you'd be interested in letting my readers in on?

Stephanie: We work with a lot of charities and we just wrapped up an event for Breast Cancer Research and that normally happens twice a year. It's something that everyone in the company feels really strongly about. Everyone knows someone who has been effected by it. We sell "Power of Now" T-shirts for about $30 and 100% of those proceeds go directly to BCRF. We also always take donations of which 100% go to BCRF and LF matches on top of that. So, if you're donating $5 we give them a total of $10. We also do trunk shows about twice a year with sororities and one sorority that we are heavily affiliated with is A-E PHI and 10% of anything sold the company donates to the philanthropy that the sorority is associated with.

Flower Child Festival Look by Stephanie Macoul

Gilda: So, I checked out your website and there's a really cool video on there entitled "Fearless Future", what's behind that name/title/theme? 

Stephanie: It's the recording of the making of this season's look book and it's an embodiment of our girl. She IS fearless, she IS independent, um... she just graduated high school and she's headed to college. She's taking it one day at a time and having fun with it.

Gilda: What would you say to those people who are afraid to come in here because they think LF is geared toward a particular style or age-group? I feel like you have such a friendly staff, you could convince anyone to shop here but why should they come in and try it out?

Stephanie: We have so much in here. I have lots of older clients who come in and love the product just as much as the 18 year olds. Every company has an identity or a target market and has to project that but even within that target age group, there's a conservative girl, a hippie girl and that's part of our training. We know the customer and we can mix and match all day long, we look at fashion blogs...etc. And, again, the selection; we have so much here so we can do something for anyone. I have mothers and daughters who come in and shop together. The mother will assume a piece is too young for her and I change her mind by showing her how to wear it. Instead of pairing the top with a bandeau and high wasted shorts, I'd have her pair it with a blazer or a wide-leg pant. You should never NOT shop somewhere because of your age.

Sunny Side Down

South End - Photo: Jesse Weiner

I got this cute dress from LIT - another one of my fav. boutiques in Boston (promise to get an interview from LIT soon!). I borrowed the belt from my photographer Jesse. Yes, it's a man's belt, haha.  I like the masculine edge it gives to this "baby-doll" dress. It's unexpected and fun!

South End - Photo: Jesse Weiner

I'm taking advantage of bright lips before the fall. This lipstick is called, Rouge Artist Intense by Make Up For Ever. Perfect for leaving your mark on a love letter, eh? 

South End - Photo: Jesse Weiner

This bracelet from J.Crew is one of my favorite pieces of jewelry. It has so much character and you can wear it with anything. What a great accent piece.

South End - Photo: Jesse Weiner

My shoes are from a couple of years back. I haven't worn them in a while. Sometimes it's nice to be able to wipe the dust off a cute pair of shoes you forgot you had and throw them on. The memory beads are authentic from Mexico. My nails are "Fifth Avenue" by... you guessed it, Essie!

South End - Photo: Jesse Weiner

 I'm loving the high updo bun. It's been my go-to hairstyle this summer. I added a little bang this time.

South End - Photo: Jesse Weiner

Photo: Jesse Weiner

Picked up these clutches on my recent trip to Mexico. A cute accent piece and a tribute to the hyper-color trend (while it lasts).

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather!

TakeN From GQ: Boston voted worst dressed!!

Not only were we a part of this survey, among 40 others, we come in at....#1! Yes, Boston was voted worst dressed city in America by a prestigious men's fashion magazine and posted online, smack-dab on their style section, for every one of their avid readers to scrutinize. I received so many texts and FB messages about this I couldn't help but to post. Here's a snippet:
Boston is like America's Bad-Taste Storm Sewer: all the worst fashion ideas from across the country flow there, stagnate, and putrefy...when they graduate, they can wear their Uggs and still fit in at the country's largest frat party on Lansdowne behind Fenway, where they can take breaks between body shots to admire just how long boot-cut jeans can stay in style in one place. 
 Read More

GQ even goes as far as to suggest that we pack up and leave our style-deprived cities. I have a better solution...Let's start a fashion revolution where everyone dumps their bootcut jeans in the river a la Boston Tea Party! Who's with me?

Take It From: Frances Biver of Pinkyotto

 

I walked into the Pinkyotto store on a mission to find the perfect sales associate to interview for my first blog post. There were three girls working that day but Frances grabbed my attention from a distance. Her fire-red hair, freckled face and comfortable-but-cool outfit sealed the deal for me. I later learned that she was visiting from one of the four New York locations, and I remember thinking to myself, "of course". *Boston is one of the only cities outside of New York to have a Pinkyotto - Lucky us!!

I set up an interview with Frances the following week and she gave me the inside scoop behind this unique boutique. We chatted, I snapped a few photos, we played dress-up and she even let me in on what she thinks the big difference is between her new Boston clients and her New York clients. Hmm, I think she's on to something.

Check out what else Frances had to say during our one on one interview as you browse through pics of the fabulous store and of myself in the outfits she chose for me.

Store front display window - Photo: Me

Gilda: Can you virtually walk us through Pinkyotto Boston. What do we see? What should we expect?

Frances:  You see very girly things. A lot of color. We don't like black as much. We have a little section of black but we tend to like more color , prints and different fabrics that you wouldn't find in other places. Our main thing is girliness. We're very, very girly.

Frances sprucing up the store for a few snapshots - Photo: Me

Gilda: The Newbury Street store is the only shop outside of New York where you currently have four locations. Why Boston?

Frances: We thought it was a good place because of the students. You also have a lot of international people in Boston as well because of that so it just seemed like the right place and Newbury Street seems like it's just the perfect spot for it.

The girly prints and fabrics that Frances keeps referring to - Photo: Me

Gilda: How are the brands picked to be in Pinkyotto? How exclusive should we expect them the brands in the boutique to be?

Frances: We actually have our own brand. Ryo is the Creative Director and she has a design team and with that team they pick different fabrics and different materials and she (Ryo) has them manufactured in Asia. So, it is pretty exclusive. I mean, there might be one or two things that you might find something similar to somewhere else but not exactly the same cut.

Fabulous prints in all colors - Photo: Me

Gilda: Is it true that some items are made in one or two sizes or even one size fits all?

Frances: Yes. The way we work is we do everything in one size but the items that are very popular we'll remake according to the sizes that we need. So, let's say we get a blouse that is great and we decide we need 2 sizes of it, we'll remake it. But, mostly one size because we get new merchandise every week and we don't want to have small, medium and large in all this merchandise. We also don't want people to get discouraged by just looking at the size. Just try it...that's our thing.

Manequins dressed to girly perfection! - Photo: Me

Gilda: Describe the Pinkyotto women.

Frances: Someone that dares to try different things, definitely. But, still with a feminine touch. Someone who never narrows her look down to one thing. She is able to mix fabric and prints. We have people that come in here that are in high school to women who are in their 50's, you know, so it's very diverse.

Gilda: Are there any distinct differences in your Boston clients? Do they favor a certain style or look?

Frances: Boston clients prefer things a little more conservative (giggles) so we tend to have to pair things differently. We try to compensate for a skirt being too short by adding a bigger blouse so she's more covered up on top. Definitely, more conservative than New York.

Frances chooses a few outfits for me try on for you!

Outfit #1 by Frances Biver - Photo: Me

Gilda: Have you worked in Boston long enough to decide what sets you apart from the other boutiques in the surrounding area?

Frances: I have not (giggle)...I haven't even shopped around here yet, but I still think, like everywhere else, it's the variety of things that sets you apart. The prints here are so pretty! They're just...pretty. You walk in here and you think, "wow this is so beautiful". A lot of shops you walk into you might think is cool and edgy but here it's all about pretty-ness.

Outfit #1 by Frances Biver - Photo: Me

Gilda: There are so many trends to look out for this season (Spring/Summer). Lace, quirky prints and patterns, hyper color and style elements from the 70's (to name a few). Can we expect to find these trends here?

Frances: Of course. We have a lot of lace, obviously prints, beautiful maxi skirts that are very 70's inspired. We have a lot of shirts made with these great collars. They're very 'school girl'. They're so pretty. (Gets up to show me some beautiful examples which I loved)

Outfit #2 by Frances Biver - Photo: Me

Gilda: I checked out your website and I love that you give your customers the option to remain in the comfort of their own home and shop Pinkyotto at any time. So far, you have a great selection. Is this an area in which Pinkyotto is looking to expand?

Frances: Definitely! Unfortunately, it's not updated at all right now but I just tell people to come into the store (laughs). The website is something we definitely want to work on. We're actually working on creating video look books so, slowly but surely.

Outfit #2 by Frances Biver - Photo:Me

Gilda: How often can we find a great sale at Pinkyotto?

Frances: We have really great sales in the end of the summer and toward the end of winter. So it's usually when the season ends. We have this huge sale, it's buy one and get one free but that only happens one weekend a year and you have to know when. You can do that by adding us to your mailing list or adding us on facebook.

Outfit #3 by Frances Biver - Photo: Me

Gilda: Okay, and lastly, give us your personal fashion advise.

Frances: I would say, get out of your comfort zone because we get a lot of people that come in and they like a specific thing and ALWAYS buy the same things but you should try different things. When I can get a customer to buy something different, they actually come back and are like, 'Oh my God, thanks. Now I have something different in my closet'. So, yeah, I think people should take more risks. At least ONE THING in your closet should be something you wouldn't typically wear!

Outfit #3 by Frances Biver -  Photo: Me

I'm in love with the diamond pattern on this bag. Very chic. Did you notice the cute bunny rabbit print on these shorts (can pass as skirt)?  Details, details, details.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! More pics of Me by Jesse coming up soon...

Take it from: Moi

Photo: Jesse Weiner

It's ALIVE!!! I have finally decided that I am ready to pour my thoughts about MY world, of  all things fashion, into this lil' blog. It's Boston based (as am I) because, well, besides the fact that I don't think I can compete with the big leagues (NY, LA, Tokyo, London...etc.), I have noticed the recent influx of young designers and stores here and I'm super excited! I've grown tired of the drab, "conservative" approach to fashion in Boston; move over Ann Taylor! I am ready to welcome each and every one of these fabulous, new boutiques. The plan is to  draw attention to unique people, places, and things. I'm not saying Boston is turning into the fashion capital of the world (New York just simply wouldn't allow it) but I do think it's growing to reach its full fashion potential and I want every part of it! Follow me and hopefully I can introduce you to something new.
You Can Take It From Me!!

Photo: Jesse Weiner

Casual stroll through the Back Bay on a cool day. 

 I am wearing a simple white T from Madewell (it's under there somewhere), a sheer sleeveless fishnet overlay that comes bedazzled with encrusted dark jewels from LF (Gives off the illusion that I'm wearing a necklace), My favorite jean collar shirt in a dirty wash from LF (I wear it with EVERYTHING...even skirts), A cropped tan vest from LF (the texture is so cool), 501 Levi jean cut-offs from Urban Outfitters, black tights and leather over-the-knee boots in black from Free People. I layered and layered with this outfit! haha Is there a rule about that?...Who cares! I'm throwing rules out of the window. If you like it, do it.

Photo: Jesse Weiner

This is just some of Jesse's amazing photography! Love you Jesse.

Check him out: www.jessewphoto.com

The outfit is simply something I would throw on to run errands or just to hang out. It's  definitely an outfit I feel comfortable in. Not sure I can describe my style since I dress based on how I feel that day. Sometimes I feel girly and sometimes I feel like being a little tom-boyish (in an Alexa Chung way). It all depends on whether I've read Nylon or Vogue! haha 

Love my Free People boots!! They're like wearing a corset on my leg. Hugs every curve. I wear them with cut-offs (as shown),  mini skirts or floral, flowy hippie dresses. I hope the over-the-Knee boots stick around for a while!