Clutch Time

March Madness means clutch time and not just for basketball -  in a wardrobe clutch, these beauties can pull you together and add a little pizzazz in one small pouch.  Happy Monday!

Clockwise from lower left: Anthro's Caning Clutch; Rebecca Minkoff's Navajo Studded Clutch;

Cleobella's Mexican Clutch from Gypsy Wagon; Zimmermann Straw Clutch on ShopBop; and finally Anthro's Candy Buckle Clutch. 

My Heart Belongs to Sally Jane Vintage

Die. Die. Die over that floral skirt.

I'm obsessed with Sally Jane Vintage , and the store's blog - which is where I came across the fantastic lookbook images from her current collection.  I'm not always great at integrating vintage items into my wardrobe - they inevitably get shredded into pieces for the Smmidge Studio baby blankets - but in my head, I'm a total vintage-fashionphile - it's inherent in my approach to other parts of my life, so why not style?  Sally Jane Vintage makes it much easier to see how you would wear the groovy pieces she finds from the past.  She is so chic in her approach to looks that its hard to believe some of them are vintage at all. And her art direction and styling is perfection. For info on these looks at more go to her blog posts: Spring is in the Air Pt 1 and Spring is in the Air Pt 2  XO Sally Jane Vintage - We heart you!

Hello Chevron Dress.  Be mine.  And love the pleated skirt on the right, too.

Green machine.  I love you.

Smmidge Style: Workin Girl's Spring Transition

So I have this dream for my blog: it is a beautiful, well produced, engaging expression of all these things that matter to me and to my readers (whose numbers would rise exponentially with every post): clothes, art, music, crafts, design, food, kids, goings-on. . . yadda yadda yadda.  Kind of like all the lovely blogs on my Dailies list to the left (and by left I mean right, of course). . . So, uh. . . not there yet.  In my dream, this post about everyday fashion for resourceful yet stylish women, has beautiful inspiring outfits that you give you a little inspiration for putting things together as you approach your day. . .and [in said dream] there is a cute, graphic overlay with a fabulous font and witty quips about the details of the looks and that the photos themselves are sun-drenched and I am cute and skinny and well-rested and effervescent.  So, uh. . . not there yet.  Not even close.

Instead there is this: crazy-haired, tired mom of a 2yr old who would much rather me be giving him play time than me selfishly having my own (dark, because it's night because they day is over by the time we do any of this!) picture of my outfits that consist of me shopping my closet for anything that works in this strange time of year when it's cold in the morning, warm in the afternoon and coldish again at night.  And I'm ill-prepared to show any part of my body below my neck, on top of the crazy weather.  Hello, pilates and self-tanner.  Please help me.

So, well. . . I'm sharing this anyway, because maybe some of you are looking in your closet thinking you have nothing to wear, and who has time to shop anyway?  And what do you even want or need. . . my must-haves list is coming!  And for now, maybe you (like me) have a couple of pieces from last spring and some layers from this winter that you might not have thought of that just might make an outfit.  

And anytime I'm thinking,"what in the world am I doing?"  I just remember: no rules, just have fun.  Do something you love (for me this blog and my design) in the moments you can seize and include your family every step of the way.

Last years JCP dress, this winter's JCP cardi, tights and black riding boots.  I mean seriously.  The whole thing might have cost $50. . . last year!

I'm super excited about this BCBG dress - it's so light and will be great through summer, but for now with tights and jacket and boots it's great. Longevity is important.

hello, Guthrie.  My necklace is Anthro from last fall and I still love it.

"See Doss!"  His favorite thing about picture time.

I'm happy about this new tee-shirt, and to wear it now, I put it over a button down, and some cute cropped pants from Anthropologie 2009 (yikes!) and clogs.

When in doubt - jump!

Project Sparkle Horns

Meet sparkle horns. Yep.  These antlers are all glittered up.  I have been thinking about this for awhile, and finally decided to try it - just to see if it would work - and I am kinda pleased with the result.  I know, mixed feelings about glittering the remains of a once living thing. . . perhaps a little strange.  Ah well, remove that inkling, and think of it purely as a way to do something unexpected inside your house, and voila!  Nothin' but fun with ol' sparkle horns.  Simple process - just water down some good old Elmers and brush on one section at a time - make sure you lay down some paper to catch the excess glitter (and there will be alot of it).   And go to sparkle town!  I think it would be great in one single color, but being who I am - I had to have one antler stand out from the rest.  Right?  Gotta quirk it up (because otherwise glittery antlers are way too normal, right?). I used the terrific Martha Stewart glitter (rememeber my Christmas glitter balls?!) which I acquired at Michaels.  But I think any old glitter will work fine.  Here's to sparkles!
 

Original Street Style Anthropologist

Mark your calendars: on April 8th Dallas' Angelika theatre (and many other cities across the country), will premiere Bill Cunningham New York, a film by Richard Press.  I'm beyond excited - I mean, hello, unassuming 80+ yr old cat in a blue work jacket, Schwinning it around Manhattan capturing moments in time, and true style.  A cultural anthropologist with an eye for beautiful clothes - sounds like heaven, eh?  Cunningham, the curator of a decades long body of work chronicling New York's street fashion from the quirky to the divine, from uptown soirees to downtown eccentrics, and the man behind the Times columns "On the Street" and "Evening Hours", and their first venture in publishing unauthorized photographs of celebrities such as Greta Garbo and Brooke Astor.  It's because of his grace and style that everyone wanted to be included - this wasn't about catching a fashion disaster, no. . . for Bill, it seemed to always be about the beauty and flair of the true personal style.  No rules, except a gentlemanly approach. How refreshing. For a lovely New Yorker profile of this man-about-town go here. See you on the 8th!

one of Bill's favorite subjects, Anna Wintour

 

Bill Cunningham at his desk.