White Summer Dress Round-up

White dresses have a matrimonial reputation, and I'd like to stomp that into the ground. A white dress is the coolest thing you can wear in the summer, and this summer is already off to a hot start, so we should get at it. True, there are times you shouldn't wear a white dress, exhibit A: when you're going to consume spaghetti and meatballs. Exhibit B: at someone else's wedding. But I swear, all other times are up for grabs. 

I don't know about you, but white dresses put me into two style moods. They're kinda polar opposites, but here they are.

1. Romantic

photo of  Alix of The Cherry Blossom Girl blog

Romantic as in, what I dream about wearing to visit Provence, France and having my ingenue moment walking through cobblestone alleys and lavender fields.You know what I'm saying... a feminine and casual (but not too casual) white dress that is so classic and feminine that it looks like it could've been plucked from a 70 year old photograph. 

The romantic white dress is best at the-slightly-above-the-knee to midi length. Anything shorter looks like a nightie and anything longer tends to get into wedding dress territory.

In the summer, these kind of dresses look great with nude sandals, espadrilles, and a French market bag. Extend the wear of this dress into the fall by adding black or red tights and oxfords, or throwing a biker jacket over your shoulders. Tres chic!







2. Urban Vampire

Photo of Mercury the most stylishVampire in the movie Blade

The movie Blade came out in 1998 and I've been obsessed with the Mercury, the lady vampire's wardrobe ever since. It blew my mind, a bad character wearing white??? It was so opposite of Vampira/Elvira/Morticia Adam's cliched black goth bad girl wardrobe that it seemed even more evil, albeit shockingly impractical for the urbane vampire. (Naturally I was intrigued as my personal style has bad gal tendencies, well, that and I have two white dogs that shed constantly). 

The urban vampire white dress tends to look like sleek, modern, minimalism. It looks best with gladiator style sandals in the summer and leather leggings and a matching fur topper in the winter.


So without further ado, let's get to the round-up. There are a ton of white dresses out there. I know, because I've looked at them all, and have nearly gone blind from looking at white dresses on white backgrounds. (why do retailers DO this? smh) I've found white dresses for practically every price point...even the day dream price point, because why not?

And if you shy away from white because you're stain prone, this shout spray is a laundry saver (I've been successfully using it and saving my clothes with it for over 20 years). 

$30 - $100

$100 - $200

$200 - $500

$500 - $1,000

$1,000+

As with most other blogs, I provide some links for your convenience. If you click on or buy something from the links, there's a small chance I might earn some money, but after four years in this racket, I haven't. It might take another 4+ years for that to happen, so feel free to click away! Lots of cool dresses to oggle and put in your shopping cart for reals and for pretendsies. Please tell me you do that too.

Your Bosom Friend in Pittsburgh,

Cheap Sunglasses

It's no secret that I love sunglasses. They're the quickest way to change up your style and cover up the dark circles under your eyes. I love good quality ones that last years and years, but I, like ZZ Top, also love a good pair of cheap sunglasses. Here are some of my favorite cheap sunglasses that I'm linking from Amazon.


Royal Girl Hater blockers- for blocking all the haters. They'll also work down in Boca Raton.

Royal Girl. My current favorite pair in the Pink and Red combo.

 Royal Girl Gucci knockoffs with lots of 70's fanfare. You can almost taste the Quaaludes.

WOWSUN  (wowsun is right) pearl studded and (let's be honest) my next pair.

Royal Girl Rhinestone-alicious - They're rose colored so you can actually wear them indoors (and at night) since they don't offer that much sun protection. Channel your inner Elton John.

If rhinestones aren't your thang, then how about some retro cat-eyes?

Or maybe you want something a little more futuristic?

Or maybe you're binging Mr. Robot and you can't stop thinking about Darlene's sunglasses. 

Your Bosom Friend in Pittsburgh, 

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Style Evolutions and Cool Girl Clothing Sources

Almost a year ago, I had a fashion breakdown here. Turns out I needed to give my personal style permission to be myself, but who or what was that? I set out to find out and I started in my closet. I spent some time purging sentimental articles that were holding me back. I purged other articles that I called "glue" pieces....you know, pieces that aren't really your style, and can only be worn with a handful of other disparate pieces which leads to the I-have-nothing-to-wear syndrome which then hastens more random purchases and attracts even more disparate things into your closet and further compounds your problems. Yeah, those glue pieces.

Glue pieces = exponential closet growth and personal style confusion.

I wanted my articles of clothing to work effortlessly with one another, but the reality of my closet was I had very specific uniforms for all of my compartmentalized roles. Writer, artist, art professional, wife, dog mom, day job, fashion blogger: There was a huge disconnect between them all. The most glaring example of disconnect was I felt like I'd rock and roll all weekend and then Clark Kent, my boring alter ego, would show up for work on Monday looking like Mr. Rogers. I was sick of leading a double life and the closet clutter, (the clutter! so much clutter! Quelle horreur!) so, yes, Last April, I embarked on finding a style that brings all these aspects of myself, our creative class lifestyle, and my life choices crashing together in a comfortable and presentable second skin.

Nothing good happens overnight, Rome wasn't built in a day after all, so I really took my time assessing myself and my closet goals. #amstillassessing Personal style is the combination of your experiences, your lifestyle, your personality, and a bit of your hopes and dreams. When you get dressed, it shouldn't feel like drag. It should feel like...I'm about to get a little metaphysical here, which is kind of out of character for me...but I honestly feel when you look at or pick up the right piece of clothing, it should vibrate at that same frequency you are. Your heart should beat a little faster and you should smile. If you feel anything else or dead inside, heave ho. Once I chucked all the superfluous clutter in my closet, I looked at what remained and what it told me. Here's what I learned:

I've always kind of known, deep down what my innate style was, graphic, dark, edgy, minimalist victorian/regency, cyber punk biker, architectural details femme fatale, high heel obsessed tom boy, washed up jedi, militant romantic, subversive prep, rock and roll gallerista. What I know I like: I like asymmetrical hems and layers. I like acres of rugged leather accessories. Patina and texture. Only a small handful of polish, maybe even just the nails on my fingers.What I know I want: I want to dry clean as little as possible. I want to iron as little as possible too. I want unfussy. I want things that dog hairs don't weave themselves into. 

My style  is slightly eccentric and hellbent on putting toes over the traditional tokens of femininity...there's a push and pull, and if one element is present, there is almost always an opposing force threatening to usurp it. Masculine-Feminine, Good-Evil, Antique-Modern, Can you relate? Something tells me I might be shouting into a giant void here. But if by chance, I've tapped a proverbial tuning fork and there is someone else out there, vibrating on my level, I just want you to know I've found a few retailers that I keep checking back with as I slowly add to my closet and carve out the personal style that can also accompany me to work, or where ever I go.

I've always adored the designs of Alexander McQueen, Ann Demeulemeester, Yohji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood,  Helmut Lang, and Rick Owens but there were never any affordable options that got even remotely close to my sartorial leanings, yearnings and salary earnings, until fairly recently. They are as follows:



ASOS White - ASOS's newish line of design forward clothing. Think drapey and architecurally cut pieces. I can't get enough of it, but you have to act fast, sizes sell out so quick on ASOS. Check out some of my latest favorites below. (also, size down. I find ASOS White runs big, unlike most other ASOS lines).

H&M Divided Gray - It's technically not called 'Divided Gray' on the website anymore, but I still see the design aesthetic I'm looking for mixed into the regular Divided line. i.e. biker jeans/leggings, biker jackets, asymetrical tops, dark and disturbing tie-dye patterns, drapey anorak hoodies, punk sweaters.... See below.

All Saints - They've changed up their line a bit, but it's less dark and drape-y than it was, but I still adore their skinny jeans above all other skinny jeans, and their jackets are what day dreams are made of.

Kit and Ace - Design-y professional clothing for athletes when they're away from the gym. The majority of the clothing is machine washable and iron-free! I own a 'technical cashmere' long sleeve t-shirt that is handsdown the warmest base layer I own. I also own a couple asymmetrical drape-y t-shirts by them. I love, love, love their grunge-y scarves. 

photo: Kit and Ace

Noctex - Louche, Drape-y, thumbhole-y, achingly cool designs with a limited color palette (blacks, grays, whites)...they also happen to be socially and environmentally responsible (which is something I'm becoming increasingly aware of). 

photo: Noctex

Shades of Silence - Small batch designs that have a witchy, 19th century appeal. Their accessories are the stuff of my nightmares, which interestingly enough also happens to be where I take my style cues. I'd love to try out their coats so I can perfect my Sirius Black asset rich/cash poor aristocracy look. 

photo: Shades of Silence

Lastly, a new place popped into my cone of attention. Simple Moderne They have a collection they call "boho punk" that I'm quite smitten with, but I'm nervous about their return policy, sizing, and being overseas....but I've been thinking about them non-stop for two weeks, so I may have to bite the bullet and try. 

photo: Simple Moderne

What about you? Do you have subversive leanings? Do you have some good and affordable sources for me to check out? Let me know in the comments below. 

Your Bosom Friend in Pittsburgh,

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So You're Getting a Puppy

So you're getting a puppy. Congratulations and deepest sympathies, your life and lifestyle will never be the same. But if you've made this big decision thoughtfully and deliberately your life will also have even more joy than you ever imagined.

When Josh married me, he also adopted Lando, my rescued Jack Russell Terrier/ Toy Fox Terrier mix too. While we absolutely condone adopting dogs from shelters, sometimes and through much experience, you may just find that you and your lifestyle really gel with a certain breed. We found that with Lando.

Jack Russell Terriers are equal parts intense, sprint energy dogs and lazy couch potatoes. (they have energy sure, but it's super easy to burn it off by getting them to sprint circles around the living room. In fact, when the whole family gets in on the living room interval training, they might even love it more than a long walk. They're VERY family centric). Jacks are sharp as a tacks, athletic, and hilarious big dogs in a little bodies. Unlike other dogs that have broken our hearts, we've found that Jacks want to be with us as much as we want to be with them. They always come when called and are basically little shadows. For example, when we go to dog parks where we can take him off his leash and let him run and play with other dogs, Lando just sits down and stares at us. When I take a shower, he waits outside by the door. He's also my number one, weekend sleep-in buddy, and my number two writing cheerleader (he snoozes on my lap while I write), and he is always super eager to learn whatever we want to teach him. In short, Lando the Jack Russell really stole our hearts.

So we're getting another one.

And in preparation for this blessed event, we've been training Lando so he doesn't teach the new puppy some of his bad habits-i.e. picking fights with the biggest 230lb dog on the block. I'm also cleaning and puppy streamlining the house, essentially, I'm in heavy "nesting mode." Do you doubt the heaviness of my nesting?? Let's just say it's so heavy, that we now have new sheets, weekender bags, and dinner plates that actually match. I mean, what would the puppy think if he saw that we didn't have matching dinner plates? 

The puppy doesn't care. 

Orrr....DOES he?

 (he doesn't).

Josh is totally rolling with my nesting insanity like a champ. But I don't think he fully remembers. 

PUPPIES. 


via GIPHY

I adopted Lando as an itty bitty puppy (in a different relationship) and I'm still a little shell-shocked from puppyhood 8 1/2 years later. Puppies are cute for a reason: so you don't murder them. They're destructive little shits that test every ounce of your patience. 
So. it. is. good. to. be. as. prepared. as. possible. 
Get all that stuff you've been meaning to do, done (match those plates, tile that backsplash, take that one last vacation, buy the puppy stuff before the puppy comes), 
because
game over man.  


via GIPHY

Your life is going to revolve around house training and obedience training for a LOOONG time. There will be poops. There will be pees. There will be damage to things that you love and cost a lot of money if you don't prepare.

So for the preparation, you're going to need stuff to protect your pup and your home.
You're going to make it rain cash money.  



via GIPHY

To help with that, I HIGHLY recommend spending $19.99 on the PetSmart Puppy Guide. 
(This is NOT a sponsored post by the way). This PetSmart puppy guide is full of savings and coupons for stuff you will need. up to $250 in savings on collars, food, food dishes, leashes, crates, treats, toys, gates, play pens, obedience classes, microchipping etc. But, it also entitles your puppy to that initial health and wellness vet exam for FREE (that's usually more than than double $19.99 right there). Your new puppy will also get a free bath. Look, I'm terrible, just terrible with coupons (I don't do 'em) but this coupon and savings book is absolutely worth it and I'm so glad I got it because here's what I needed to buy. 

My New Puppy Shopping List

• quick release collar (Hipster puppy gets a buffalo plaid fabric collar by Elmo's Closet)
• 6' leash
• foldable crate with plastic tray
• puppy play pen fence
• Snuggle Puppy to ease those first nights away from Mom and litter mates
• teething toys
• balls (Jacks love balls)
• 2 training clickers
• 51 Tricks Puppy Book by Kyra Sundance 
•  multiple fleece crate mats that can go in the washer
•  dog poo bags
• dog poo bag dispenser
• small, training treats
• dorky treat training bag with pocket holster
• water and food dishes
• puppy shampoo
• puppy training pads
• puppy gate
• stain & odor remover spray
• paper towels
• puppy nail clippers
• puppy toothbrush and toothpaste
• puppy quick wipes  
• NEW TOYS FOR LANDO  (don't forget your first dog!)    

So yeah. We're walking into this pet project with our eyes wide open and we're becoming a two dog family. It's going to be hairy for a bit, but it's also going to be really great. I can't wait to introduce you to our newest family member.

 
                                              Your Bosom Friend in Pittsburgh,

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