March 16, 2012

From The Runway To Your Nails: It’s Miss Ladyfinger

I think I’ve made it pretty obvious I’m beyond obsessed with nailpolish. When my friends in college thought I was crazy to even own glitter nail polish past the age of 9, I pursued my love of manis and even dedicated a #ManiMonday hashtag to them. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out about Miss Ladyfinger–the best runway mani blog…ever.

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I met Taryn, the editor, at an event during fashion week in New York and the second I found out about this blog I was addicted. I don’t know how she does it but she’s definitely talented. It’s really incredible look at these beautiful runway shows then see how Taryn interprets them to nail art for her blog. So because I’m curious/mani-obsessed, I decided to ask Taryn a few questions about how this all began…

Jena: How did you get into nail art?
Taryn:  I have always been obsessed with painting my nails (the last time I actually got my nails done in a salon was probably freshman year of high school). Over the years my collection of polish has grown to well over 200 colors. I work in the fashion industry and my day job requires that I attend New York Fashion Week. In September, I was so inspired by all the print and pattern coming off the Spring runways that I started to recreate the looks into nail art. I bought my first nail art brush and taught myself. 

Jena: Do you have a specific manicure you’re especially proud of?
Taryn: I’m most proud of the Marni-inspired manicure. It was my first translation of runway fashion into nail art and put Miss Ladyfinger on the map. My runner up is the Gucci. It’s pretty fierce.  

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Jena: I have to ask…favorite 3 designers?
Taryn: Prabal Gurung. Rodarte. Celine.

Jena: What runway show are you dying to turn into a mani but haven’t done for the blog yet?
Taryn: I can’t wait to turn Celine’s Fall collection into nail art. The graphic color-blocking is so eye-catching would translate really well.  

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Be sure to check out www.missladyfinger.com and don’t miss out on the Prabal Spring ’12 mani…it’s my favorite 🙂

March 15, 2012

Pretty Peplums for Spring

With the temperatures seeming to be consistently in our favor (in Chicago that means not freezing), I think it’s about time to start sporting those Spring trends! Seen on the Spring ’12 runways of Jason Wu, Cushnie et Ochs, Thakoon and more, peplum is in this season.

This trend is especially great for those that are “straight down” because it helps give the illusion of curves. And if you’re one that tends to be drawn to more feminine styles, it doesn’t get more feminine than a peplum! I personally like to play with feminine and edgy styles (along with a few others thrown in there) so pairing a peplum dress or skirt with a cropped leather jacket and/or some studded boots is my ideal way of sporting this trend.

Here are some of my favorite peplum pieces available right now.

PhotobucketPrabal Gurung Ruffled Silk Chiffon Blouse

PhotobucketMarc by Marc Jacobs ‘Ellsworth’ Striped Peplum Dress

PhotobucketJason Wu Feather-trimmed cotton and silk-blend gazar Dress

PhotobucketGivenchy Sleeveless Peplum Top

PhotobucketGiambattista Valli Leopard Print Top

PhotobucketASOS Peplum Top

PhotobucketAlice + Olivia Carly Short Peplum Skirt

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What do you think of this trend? Will you be sporting pretty peplums this spring?

March 14, 2012

Chi City Closet: Prabal Gurung T-Shirt

As you can tell from my tweets and posts, I absolutely love Prabal Gurung. His Spring 2012 collection was my absolute favorite but a lot of the pieces are a little out of my price range. Which is why I was so excited to find out he was designing a t-shirt based on the print from that collection. The minute I saw it was available, I knew it had to be mine.

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This is one of the best quality t-shirts I’ve ever owned…it’s super soft and beyond comfortable. I even wore it the day I got it to the Ann Taylor grand re-opening event!

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What do you think of the Prabal tee?

March 13, 2012

Creatures of the Wind on Net-a-Porter

As someone who obsessively checks “what’s new” on Net-a-Porter just about everyday (even though I know new items are only posted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) I was beyond excited to see they recently picked up Creatures of the Wind. COTW Designers Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters graduated from SAIC in Chicago and it’s amazing to see their growing success in the fashion scene. Although I don’t know them personally, I’m so proud to see such success coming from Chicago-native designers. Always love a good boost to our fashion reputation in this city 🙂

Big things to come from this design duo in the future! Check it out…

PhotobucketLace-trimmed silk-chiffon midi skirt

PhotobucketSilk-chiffon and lace shirt

PhotobucketFloral jacquard and lace jacket
(my personal favorite!)

PhotobucketSilk-charmeuse and chiffon dress

PhotobucketCropped silk-satin top