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

 

Maternity Style

So believe it or not... One of our lovely bloggers here at SITC is PREGNANT, posing a whole new set of challenges for our style blog!  We'll be posting some personal pics as well as ones to clothes we suggest where you can try and pull together a look that feels very you without breaking the bank.  We advocate using your old clothes and mixing in some key new pieces as well!

Here we go... until April 2013!

At this point I'm 18 weeks with my first pregnancy so just growing out of my clothes.  It's a little tough as everything just fits wrong and so far I haven't found maternity wear I love so I'm still messing with my old clothes and I got a few things for my birthday I'm mixing in.

Here's a photo of me taken the other day after running errands, taking a meeting, having lunch with a friend and heading to an ultrasound.  

My first attempt (post morning sickness) of an outing:

(sorry for the double photo, I just had to include the one where my puppy photobombed me!)

I have a very casual retail consulting job so I'm able to wear practically anything but I like to look stylish and put together as I'm advising clients on fashion and business.  

I'm finding I'm loving any pants with an elastic waist (I owned a few!) but I've been finding ones in silk and faux leather so I'm not in anything that looks like Juicy sweatpants. 

You can also layer tons of jewelry and a cardigan (or better yet a great blazer) over this outfit as it's super simple and black and white to make it your own.  Personally, I added a Stella McCartney tuxedo jacket in blush and black and this Banana Republic chain necklace I have to toughen it up a bit. 

Here are the basic pieces and where I bought them:

 Gap Body

 Elyse Walker

 Barneys

 Stella McCartney

 Banana Republic

This is the basic make up of my outfit:  Gap Body drop waist pants, mine are old and silk but something like these pictured can be dressed up.  I bought this Vince silk blouse in black and white and have been wearing them under and over everything.  They drape nicely, will grow as I bought a size bigger and they cover my butt, a must as I get bigger and bigger...

I added a pair of Lanvin flats that I've owned for years.  I'm a huge proponent of nice, expensive shoes (I've sold so many happy clients on this as well as my mother-in-law).  Buy them at the twice annual Barneys wharehouse sale and you can get a deal on a pair you will own forever.  

I'm a heels girl but great flats seem to be easier these days... 

 

 Next week I'll post some great birthday gifts I received that I'm working into the wardrobe!

xx,

SITC

always the bridesmaid, never the...

It's that dreaded time of year for so many of us...WEDDING SEASON...Here at Stylists in the City we thought we would add to our recent styling of a girlfriend as a guest of a wedding and help those of us who are...BRIDESMAIDS.

Ahhhh... the tradition, the tears, the... uh... dress?

Many a bridezilla has lost her head and put her friends in horrible dresses, matching shoes and made them all look alike and... terrible. So... here's how to make the day have a look all your own without going off the reservation and disappointing the bride.

#1 - stear her towards JCrew's bridesmaid styles - they are easy and something you may even wear again, plsu they're pretty easy on the budget - the one above is $215 - and as a bonus POCKETS!

#2 - ACCESSORIZE - try this season's hot necklace - the bib (as featured in a previous SITC post), it makes a statement but it still pretty so as to not distract from the bride! Where it alone with no other jewelry or add a large cocktail ring if you just must gob on accessories...

#3 - ask to wear your own shoes - it saves money, you'll be more comfortable and it's a way to add your personal style to a bridesmaid dress without being too noticeable (in case your bride is the "matchy, matchy" sort)

Packing in Layers

As many people start to get packing for a cozy holiday at home I have a few tips for you to hopefully help you keep yourself in the overhead as checking at the holidays can lead to fashion disasters with lost luggage. With tens of thousands of miles under my belt in just the last 6 months I have learned a few things along the way.

The true key to packing is layers. It always feels disjointed to me when I'm putting it in the bag and a little like you're simultaneously packing too much and absolutely nothing but with the right layers it can turn a small bag into tons of outfits that feel different and cool enough for you.

This photo is taken in Scotland where it actually stays a bit cool in the summer. This is my basic color palette all year round mixed with some black and so I have developed a wardrobe of interchangeable neutral items that are drapey, just the way I like it, but also made of great materials from great brands. I then layer them in interesting ways for casual to elegant occasions (a good swipe of Tom Ford's red lipstick does wonders for a neutral outfit to take it fro day to night).

This is a sweater from 360 cashmere, a T-shirt from T by Alexander Wang and a tank by James Perse, all staple brands for me. I wore these Rick Owens leggings, that I bought in an amazing boutique sale in Amsterdam, to death on our Northern Europe Tour because they go with everything and / or under everything.

Vince makes great lightweight sweaters that are another packing staple of mine. They roll up into nothing but have just a hint of style to a basic sweater to make them cool but wearable over and over. Accessories are another way to mix up your outfits when you are packing for several weeks into a small carry on. A few colored scarves, a couple interesting pieces of statement jewelry can make a big difference. Again, this is where I advocate neutral colors and items that can be worn different ways via accessories and people don't really notice you're wearing the same sweater (well, besides your hubbie).

Another Vince sweater in Copenhagen. It gets a little chilly there even in the dead of summer but these ligtweight sweaters are nice to layer over skirts, shorts and jeans at night because of their shape and weight.

I have these exact same sweaters here with me in Paris and I'm layering them over and under a whole winter wardrobe as well. They are a bit expensive but my mileage out of them is great!

Happy Packing!
xx, SITC

Bloomers

All the cool girls in Europe were rocking these oversized denim cut-offs.

This girl went walking by in Barcelona. As with the girls in Amsterdam gladiator sandals were everywhere as were crossbody bags and effortless, light hair and make-up to beat the heat.

Sorry for the Hiatus folks!

Sorry for the hiatus dear readers! LQ and I took a little break while I travel around the world and she started a new job. But SITC is back! I am going to update with some fashion and travel tips from around the world and LQ can update you on all the fabulous finds from wantful.com!

This post isn't exactly seasonally relevant unless you're headed down-under for the holidays but I wanted to show some of the styles I saw from the globe and a few outfits I've put together. With limited space in bags and heading to the most fashionable cities on earth it has been tough to try and keep up. These are my attempts :)

The women in Amsterdam are GORGEOUS and so fashionable. They are effortless and all outfits must be bike ready. I love this girl's easy topknot, sideslung bag and sandals while her bright stripes make her ready for anything.

As I've traveled I've been much more inspired to try out colors and patterns. Not easy for a girl with a wardrobe of 99% neutrals... I'm not sure how the results worked out :)
(this top is Equipment - very light, airy and can pack into nothing)

This is in Barcelona. Keeping cool and stylish is tough for an SF girl but this lace skirt again folds to nothing and can easily go from day to night. The rest is my signature grey. The good thing about neutrals is the ability to mix and match easily using little space in a bag AND if you wear the same top twice in different ways no one really remembers.

How do you pack for a year around the world? With Seattle based Filson Luggage! American made, World traveled.

Gerona, our home away from home. A printed skirt helps add color and print to the mix while keeping it away from the face, an advantage for the print and color phobic like me. These JCrew sandals got me through my endless summer (june to november)

MUCH more to come!
xx, SITC

Sienna Miller...

We LOVE Sienna Miller's style! She always seems to look chic & cool yet effortless from day to night. From the hair to the clothes to the accessories, Sienna has got a style to steal!

XO,

SITC