summer colors...

happy summer solstice! longest day of the year & official first day of summer!

intense sunlight + saturated color = summer

think of sherbet, mangoes, and the candy-colored houses of the tropics...the vibrant tones of summer sparkle in sunlight...they make us smile...whether we wear hot pink as an accessory to show off a tan...or a pool-blue suit to cool us off in the heat of july...

we can wear summer colors as an accent or the main event...but they are...like the season that inspires them...bright...relaxed...and above all...fun...

the lilly pulitzer designs to me...scream summer...vibrant colors with unique combination...it started in 1959...at a family fruit stand in florida...lilly pulitzer was a society wife with too much time on her hands...she took to designing simple sleeveless shifts...with her dressmaker...from colorful flowered material and selling them alongside the grapefruits and oranges...a rage was born...lilly pulitzer's wild floral prints defined the palm beach look of the 1960's and have been collected for years by women all over...including the young jackie kennedy...after a hiatus during the 1980's...lilly pulitzer dresses returned to the racks in the mid-nineties...in time to cash in on the latest celebration of fifties and sixties nostalgia...

lilly pulitzer blair dress

you can't beat a white classic shirt...

think of marlene dietrich, katharine hepburn, marilyn monroe, jackie o, and audrey hepburn...all embraced the cool, crisp elegance of the classic white shirt and made it their own...today, fashion icons like sharon stone, uma thurman, gwyneth paltrow and angelina jolie continue to honor the timeless chic of the classic white shirt...

some favorite ways to wear a classic white shirt...

*with a pencil skirt and a pair of statement heels...

*with a pair of tailored pants, a wide belt, stilettos and an animal print scarf...

*under a navy blazer, dark jeans, a belt and fun loafers...

*loosely over a pair of capri pants and ballet flats...

*tucked into a pair of wide legged pants, skinny belt and brightly colored scarf...

*tucked into a pair of tuxedo pants, collar up, and black satin stilettos...

remember...if you don't like white against your face, make sure the jewelry or scarf you add at the neck is in your color...you can opt for a "white" shirt in "your white" to achieve the same classic look...

are you a fan of the classic white shirt?

personal style...

we have all seen her and gawked with admiration - and not a little envy...she needn't be beautiful, nor dressed in anything we couldn't imagine for ourselves...but her clothes are a brilliant orchestration of color and texture...fabric and fit...sensibility and style...and she wears them like a badge...they don't wear her...

maybe it's a color she's claimed as her signature...perhaps it's her panache at mixing the unexpected...she may even buy certain basics over and over...in varying textures, fabrics, and cuts...just different enough to keep things new...

chances are...her look is consistent: every time you see her...her style is unmistakably her own...her personal style is her personal uniform...

grace kelly
a symbol of femininity and taste...this elegant handbag gave form and function to the image of the perfect princess...in fact, hermes, its maker, named it the kelly bag in her honor...
also known for sweater sets & hermes scarf as arm sling


audrey hepburn
in the 1950's, she made the little black dress sophisticated and playful - the essence of her charm...


jackie o
her dark glasses symbolized her sense of fashion, her private nature, and the star status we inflicted on her...
also known for pillbox hats...


barbara bush
the essence of patrician style, her four strands of pearls stood for good breeding and a traditional, understated sense of fashion...


james dean
ever the rebel uniform, the leather jacket underscored his image as a misunderstood loner, a romantic antihero...

diana vreeland - red lipstick
dorothy - ruby slippers
fran lebowitz - men's clothing
harry truman - bow tie
katherine hepburn - menswear-inspired clothes
madonna - undergarments as outergarments
marlene dietrich - tuxedo
michael jackson - single sequined glove
nancy reagan - red
twiggy - fake lashes & micro-miniskirt

can you think of others? what is "your" personal style?

who is your style icon?

in my previous post...i blogged about the beautiful audrey hepburn...
love her style...so simple, so elegant, so lady like...

but there are others that i follow as well...a close second...if not tie in first with gorgeous audrey...would be jackie o...i once had someone tell me that i look like her...well...believe me...i smiled the whole day! she was also a classy lady who always looked so beautiful and well put together...but simple, elegant...and lady like...

seriously...what is there not to love?



i guess now that i think of it...i have a number of my self-indulgent idols when it comes to a clothing style...here is the lovely wallis duchess of windsor...so beautiful & elegant...



and...one cannot talk of style and not mention diana vreeland...



and of course...coco chanel...



there are moments in my life when i stop and think, "how would coco handle this?" or what would jackie do?" to heck with who i think is worth modeling...why not choose a style icon of your own? it might be a glamourous figure from the past, or perhaps your style icon won't be a name others would recognize...it could be a real live person that you know and admire for the certain something she possesses...

could it be a stylish and learned woman in your own community? one of my dear customers, a stylish woman herself...has told me stories of the two big icons in her life...her mom & aunt...born at the turn of the last century, these incredible women did loom large in my customer's life...and in mine as i heard the stories...how amazing it was to see the verve and beauty they brought to their daily lives...

is there someone like that you've overlooked in your life? seek her out and sit at her feet to learn...a style icon worth considering is letitia baldrige...the author of the book a lady, first...she writes of her life in the american embassy in paris, the kennedy white house, and the headquarters of tiffany & company...how could you not learn from her?