Black Leather

Yesterday, I mentioned to be on the lookout for black lace as we transition into fall. Today, it's all about black leather or "leatha" as I like to say. Generally, leather is pretty pricey, hard to care for and I always feel a bit guilty since it comes from cows. So, I, personally, lean toward faux leather items when it comes to things other than shoes and handbags.

Tops, pants, shorts and jackets are all game this fall. Black is generally going to be the color that you'll see. It just has a harder, edgier look that is fashionable right now, especially when juxtaposed to feminine silhouettes.

I particularly love this quilted leather skirt from ZARA.

And, of course, if you find that pants, jackets and skirts are a bit too much for you, you can always play up the trend with accessories.

Are you excited about this fall trend?

What NOT to Wear - A Personal Example

Okay, so I'm about to completely make an arse of myself, but it's for YOUR benefit that I'm doing this! This is how much I love you! It was back in 2006 (six years ago mind you) when Ryan and I hired our wedding photographer, Melissa Jill. I'm so glad to say that we're all great friends to this day and I get to work with her all of the time. YAY!!! But back to the story...Our engagement shoot was approaching, and I was freaking at as to what to wear for our session. So, what did I do? I looked online to see what other people were doing.

Mistake #1 - I didn't stay true to myself. I copied other people - other people that had NO style, apparently.

I saw that most people were wearing black and white in the photos. BORING snooze fest colors that are the WORST colors for the camera by far. NEVER, ever wear black or white for a photo shoot. Promise?!

Mistake #2 - Thinking that the only color in the world that is slimming is black.

Both Ryan and I wanted to look our best, so of course, that meant looking our thinnest, right? Sure, black does make people look slimmer, but it's a terrible color for photographers to work with and doesn't pop in a photo. Other colors like red and purple look great with my skin, are dark, and complement the camera. Prints would have also been a fabulous choice because the right one will easily hide any love handles.

Mistake #3 - We MATCHED! M-A-T-C-H-E-D!!!

Why, oh why, did we think this was a good idea?! Just combine mistake 1 and 2, and you have your answer. Thankfully, the fact that I'm Greek and Italian and he's Norwegian kept us from looking like siblings. Praise the Lord!

So, now when I say don't wear black, white, match, etc., you know I'm not just saying that because I read it somewhere. I'm saying it because I made the mistake of doing it myself and confessed it on this blog for the whole world to see.

I seriously can only share this now after having a well established respect among the lifestyle, wedding and fashion photographers in my area and a portfolio to back my taste up! haha!

Gala

My work's annual gala is coming up next month. I always look forward to it because we get to dress up in cocktail attire. So, for fun I put together an outfit using Polyvore. I chose a black dress because I feel most comfortable in black, and since this is work related I'm going to be running around every where. To shy away from being a complete bore, I found these colorful shoes and bag to brighten things up a bit and some sparkles to add some funk. A smokey eye is always special for evening events with some pale gloss and fun nail polish.

Now, if only I had tons of money to go buy a great cocktail dress....hmmm.

Cocktail Dinner by Alexandra Evjen featuring Lanvin shoes

Black & Blue

Denim shirts and black jeans are making a HUGE come back in fashion right now for men and women, respectively. I can't believe it, but I'm really liking it! For men, denim shirts are going to be seen everywhere, but I think the styling and wash of the denim shirts are important to keep in mind. Double pockets, worn in, light-weight, denim with snaps are where it's at.

For the ladies, black denim, skinny jeans are taking over leggings. Note: this does not include faded, bleached black denim.

Weekend Deals

This weekend I had the best luck finding great, quality clothes for very low prices. J CREW  had additional 20% off the lowest price on their sale items. Pretty darn incredible when you see what I paid for certain items. I also found cute, yellow Steve Madden flats for a screaming deal and they were the last pair in the store. =) I couldn't find a picture of the exact white pants I bought, but they were tweed with gold buttons on top. They were originally over $100.00, but I got them for $31! I found a cute gold mini skirt that will be great for all seasons. I can definitely see it being paired with black leggings for winter. I got it for $15!!! I'm not sure how much the yellow Steve Madden shoes were originally, but when I went to find them online they were only marked down to $35, but i got the last pair for $19! Lastly, I found this gray pencil skirt on a second pass in J. Crew while shopping for Ryan, and it fits perfectly. Only $19! These are all items that I see being worn for a long time, and staples in my growing "professional" wardrobe.