SHOES/ACCESSORIES

Please, please, please tell me that you’d never carry a picnic basket into work with you. You may be curious as to why I’d have to ask that. Well, last night my friend, Christian, was telling me about some of the different people he works with at his very respectable job. When he told me that there was a woman who uses a picnic basket instead of a purse ‘as her thing’ – a tiny part of me died. Who told her that was a good idea?!

Dear, poor, woman – it’s not a cute idea. It’s tacky, and even Martha Stewart is laughing at you. Since I don’t know of any kind of program for you, all I can do is offer you substitutes for a casual bag. Please pick one and put it to good use.

I love Dorothy Gale as much as the next gal, but carrying around a picnic basket with no plans of an actual picnic is really…bizarre. And not bizarre in a good way. Maybe if you were a really eccentric actress, with platinum hair, and a pet lizard that you wore on your shoulder you could get away with making a picnic basket-as-a-purse look fashionable. But, I really think probably not.

Much love,

Sofia

With one, bright, fall floral dress there are three accessories that can transform you into someone that people envy. Instead of them saying ‘oh yea, I saw that dress at Bergdorf’s, it’s cute’,  they will see a fashion statement, an ENSEMBLE! They will want to know (and not stop asking until you reveal) who your stylist is. Imagine how fun it will be when you reveal that your stylist is you.

The look is what I will call… Boho meets Cowgirl (or Cowgal) meets Little House on the Prairie (depending on the dress). Your style prescription is as follows:

1. A floral dress. Florals are more than okay for this fall – they’re practically expected. Don’t let us down, darlin’!

2. Slouchy, aged bag in an earthy tone like brown.

3. Waist-cinching belt, again – brown is best.

4. Boots. Look for details like slouchy suede or rustic buckles.

Yes, I have a yen for brown. Brown is a color that can pull this all together. The key is to make sure that your dress is NOT brown. It can have a touch of brown or tan within it, but you don’t want to look dowdy and frumpy in all brown.

Much love,

Sofia

First photo source: NYC Fall by daniellerose on Flickr

For fall 2008, platform pumps are major. As such, I’ve assembled some of my favorite platform pumps for this upcoming fall. Your feet may want a massage after wearing them (unless you buy some of those cute squishy shoe inserts!) but your legs will be thanking you endlessly, as that’s how platform pumps make them appear: endless.

Gwyneth Paltrow started sporting this style when she was promoting the movie Iron Man. If you check out the Gwyneth pictures on Style Dash, the fourth picture shows her in the coveted shoes. Stick around that site to read up on Gwyneth’s style.

Beware of the YSL version with the skinny heel that – who are you kidding? – you’ll trip in after one step! You can view that at Avant Garde Meets Anarchy. Just because a shoe is pretty doesn’t mean it’s always worth it.

Featuring: Steven Blazzin leopard platform pumps from Macy’s and Theory Betty platform pumps from Bloomingdale’s

Much love,

Sofia

I used to wear the color red all the time. I mean, you hear ‘that color looks good on you’ and you remember it! So, I had so much red that it was too much. I got so sick of the color that for a long time now I’ve not worn anything red. But I’m finally coming back to my love of the color. It’s a powerful color that commands attention.

So I come to you with some ideas. If you want store and pricing information about any of the items just click the picture, you’ll be taken to a new window – and from there you can click on each item. It’s as easy as accepting a cashmere sweater as a gift!

You could wear the little black dress, but think of how much more powerful the little red dress would be. With that said, big impact accessories are big for Fall ’08, and using our power color of red amplifies them. So, much like you’d dash some cinnamon into your hot chocolate – dash some red around your ensemble.

Insight from a male mind: Red shoes (specifically with a heel) turn them on in a big way. Well, I think I can manage that…Are you also up to the challenge?

Red accessories are what women over 20 want, as well as what women over 40 want. We all want it because it’s fabulous in the kind of way that works on pretty much everyone. Today I saw a woman with red streaks in her hair, and you know what…it was fabulous. So, from fashion tote bags, shoes, headbands, decorative scarves, or flower corsages – think red.
Much love,

Sofia

P.S. I’m wearing a red shirt right now! My friend, Mari, just told me how nice I look in it. I’m blushing a nice shade of red now, ha ha!