August has launched

Stylists in the City took a brief hiatus, as did I, when my husband and I fulfilled a lifelong dream and traveled around the world for a year.  From our experience we have launched a travel accessories line named AUGUST, after the most traveled month of the year.

We are so proud to finally have gone live this month with our products via www.augustca.com. 

 The products are inspired by our journey around the world but handcrafted right here in California.

Each bag sold also gives a backpack to an underprivileged student at LAUSD via our "give back" partner Operation School Bell.

 Snapshots from our travels to exotic locations like Laos

 Our first product - the Marais Market Tote was inspired by our month living in Paris' Marais district.  I wanted a functional, lightweight and yet chic bag for hours spent perusing the Marais / Bastille Markets.  It's large enough to fit all your finds but has a few carefully crafted pockets to keep you organized.

 My hubbie, Charley, and me in Copenhagen.

 The Marais Market Tote in Navy

 In the Masai Mara in Kenya - photos by Charley

The Marais Market Tote in Grey and Olive.

Please check out our website for "How to Pack" features from celebs and to check out new products!

www.augustca.com

xx, SITC

Maternity Dresses

 A great way to get through the "dog days" of maternity clothing (i.e. last trimester when it's hard to fit into anything) is through dresses.  I'm a Rag & Bone jeans and edgy tops and boots kind of girl so this one was hard for me to swallow at first but my dear friend Jessica gave me her hand-me-downs post baby and I'm loving how easy they are to wear! 

 Jessica ordered dresses from Gilt Group to keep her costs down and got 2 really cute ones I stole from her from a company called NOM.  They are tight fitting and people just love when I wear them because then they actually see the baby bump!  She gave me a black and a navy / white stripe.

 The tightness of the dresses made me nervous so I've been wearing sleeves cardigans over the top to cover my backside :)  The one above is Rick Owens and I also have some from Joie and 360 Cashmere.  You can throw any longer cardi over the top.  The sleeveless is kind of nice as we move into warmer weather.

Dresses are great for showers too!  For mine I wore an old Lanvin dress (thanks to a Barney's sale circa 2008 and a generous xmas gift from my step-mother-in-law).  Anything with stretchy material and ruching down the sides should be able to work.  I like to add slightly "tougher" accessories to any of my feminine outfits.  These Siggerson Morrison booties have updated many a basic look through the years.  I like to buy expensive shoes and then re-sole, re-sole, re-sole!

xx, 

SITC

Maternity Wear Update

 I fit into absolutely none of my bottoms anymore and I'm too far along to be buying things for myself so I've been wearing my loose, elastic waist bottoms but in luxe fabrics like silk and leather from Joie and Georgie.  I also cheat all the time and wear my darkest, newest, cleanest LuLu Lemon Leggings in Navy and Black (shhhhhh).

The key to pulling off casual bottoms, especially something like your workout leggings, is mixing it with super luxurious tops, bags and shoes to polish the look.  

 I've been wearing a lot of my old Stella McCartney T-shirt dresses as tops over my bottoms.  They are long enough to cover the areas I really don't love right now and I get complimented on them all the time.  Because Stella makes them, they hang just right.

 Another absolute key is my cardigans.  I've been wearing the above two often (one I bought at Madison in Pacific Palisades on sale and it is Missoni and the other is Joie from Intermix).  They are beautiful and a nod to spring colors.  They keep me warm, comfortable and covered.  I wear long silk and super soft cotton shells under them to keep the look polished as you can be while being 9.5 months pregnant.

The final touch is to wear nice shoes.  I've been alternating between by Rag and Bone boots and a pair of Grey Nubuck Stella McCartney wedge booties I adore.  They give my look just enough edge and give me a little height to slim out my look.  If you absolutely can't bother with a heel right now (I completely understand) I wear Homer's brogues I bought in Spain or a pair of Lanvin flats.  Again, adding super nice accessories to your look of basics will help elevate it above the leggings, sweater and running shoes vibe so many Angelenos rock outside the home.  

Hope this helps you feel a little more beautiful!

xx, SITC