Splurge VS Steal - Céline Horizontal Cabas Zip Tote

I'm sure you guys have seen the Celine zipper tote all over the blog world by now. If you haven't, this is the one I'm talking about below. I know there was a frenzy to get the look-a-like one from Forever21 that was around $24 and a lot of people said they were sold out. I actually got the one from F21 and ended up returning it. I thought it was too big for my frame (I'm a size 0 for reference)

I believe the Celine tote retails for around $2,000 if i'm not mistaken.  While it is a gorgeous bag, I think that price tag is a bit outrageous for a simple leather tote with side zippers. 

You can get this dupe here for much less!

This one is $63 on chicwish.com while it's not leather, it still looks like pretty good quality and the overall rating was 4.5 out of 5 stars. 

If you would prefer leather you can get the one below from Etsy

This one is $95 and is handmade with Genuine leather.  It appears a bit smaller than the Celine, but for me that's a good thing.

Were you guys able to get the F21 dupe? Do any of you have the real deal?

not a sponsored post

Affordable Fashion

If you’ve been following my blog for a while you know that I’m all about affordable fashion; especially when it comes to trendy pieces. Invest in that classic piece you’ve had your eye on that you’ll get years of use out of, but definitely don’t spend a fortune on something that’s in just for right now. That’s where Rue21 comes in! They have a great section of super trendy items, such as high low skirts and high waisted denim shorts at really great prices so you can afford to follow the trends on almost any budget.

This season I’m all about printed leggings and maxi dresses.

How fun are these? I love the super on trend Aztec print leggings. I would pair these with a simple black or white tank top and probably go more casual on the footwear and do either flip flops or a cute pair of simple black flats. If you wanted to add some jewelry you can pair it with a simple dainty necklace and just let the leggings be the focal point of the outfit. It’s important to keep in mind that when choosing a busy pattern or print, always keep the rest of the outfit simple.

Here's how I wore a pair of my printed leggings. Simple black tank, leather sandals,  and a mini cross body bag. 

When it comes to maxi dresses, I love solid prints or geo patterns. This one above would be a great pick because of its fringe details. Fringe is so popular right now and I’m sure you’ve seen in done on handbags and swimwear. I also love this bright coral color, its fun and summery and the bonus is that this color makes you look tanned lol. I’m kind of short so maxi dresses don’t usually work for me when paired with flip flops, instead, I wear mine with wedges. The one above would look great paired with nude, tan or brown wedges. Add some gold accessories and your good to go. The great thing about maxi dresses is that they work well for a variety of outings. You can dress it up and make it look more formal or keep it simpler for a lunch date and some shopping. Everyone should have a maxi dress or 2 in their closet, and with the super affordable prices at rue21, you can definitely afford to do so without breaking the bank this season.

What are you favorite stores when looking for affordable fashion?

Sponsored post, all opinions are my own

Fall Inpiration

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I can't wait to start dressing in layers. I love scarves too so I'll be able to pull them out, I even wore my Givenchy one yesterday for the first time. Here are some outfits that are inspiring me this season

 

Perfect for a night out

  

Great transitional outfit

                     

                      These boots                                                        and this scarf. Amazing!

definitely can't go wrong with white on white. It looks so chic and expensive. 

To see more, check me out on Pinterest :)

What's inspiring you this season?

How to wear knee high socks alone or w/ boots, leggings & tights

A trend I'm really loving right now is knee high socks. You can wear them in so many way and still wear your cute short dresses and skirts and stay relatively warm for the most part. You can even wear them with shorts, but it's a little trickier to do imo.

These socks would look great w/ boots that come up to the calf or with ankle boots.

                 

I love these tights. You could wear these alone with knee high boots or with knee socks and boots that are just a little shorter that the socks so some of the sock will show. If you wear patterned tights or leggings, I think it's best to go with a solid color sock so that the look ins't too busy. The same goes for the outfit you wear with the patterned legging/tights. You don't want the two things to compete w/ each other and having one piece stand out (the tights in this case) just looks a lot better. ( You can find these tights below and the 2 socks above at Payless)

Here are some inspirational pictures to get you started.

 I love the one on the left, this picture shoes how you can wear tights/stockings w/ knee socks.

Keep in mind that boots aren't the only thing you can wear these socks with. They look great with flats or penny loafer type shoes and even heels. Although, socks with heels are my least favorite way to wear them b/c I don't think they look that great on me.

This one shows how she wore skinny jeans with knee socks and knee high boots. Now you can stay warm and still look sexy ^-^

What do you guys think of these looks, do you wear knee socks? What's your favorite way to wear them?

Hair Trendz

As you girls might have noticed, feather extensions seem to be quite popular right now. At first I didn't like the look at all, I felt like it looked like someone rolled around in a barn and got feathers stuck in their hair lol. Well now I'm kind of digging the trend if it's done the right way.

But my favorite hair trend has to be the tinsel strands (also known as hair bling and sparkle strands). These actually came out a while ago and if you've seen the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills you may have noticed one of the women on there (forgot her name) had the golden tinsel mixed in with her blond hair. I thought it looked awesome. I actually don't remember seeing anyone out with tinsel hair stands like I've been seeing with the feathers, but the tinsel is definitely my favorite look of the two. I think it's time to bring it back ;) 

This one below is my fav! She has the super sparkle kind which has a hologram effect

This is the plain sparkle, not really impressed w/ this one.

I think the tinsel looks especially gorgeous in the sun. Since my hair is dark brown I would want to get a color that blends in a little. Maybe something like a coppery gold. I like how these are also much easier to apply than the feathers. These can be glued or tied into the hair and can be heated up to 350 degrees, Whereas the feather extensions need to be threaded and then clamped in using a micro link.  They can however be blowdryed and styled as usual. The cost of feather extensions can be pricey and vary greatly depending on if your just purchasing a strand, a clump of about 5, a bag, or if they include the micro links or not. The tinsel strands I've seen on ebay for about $5.44 with free shipping for 120 strands. So even if you end up hating them you didn't waste much money.

Have any of you tried any of these trends? Which one do you like best?

How To Wear A Cropped Top

Cropped tops are really popular this summer. I know many people stay away from them b/c they think they are too hard to pull off. Not so. The first thing you need to do is to pick a length. Depending on how daring you are, you can pick a top that shows only a sliver of your stomach or one that bares your belly and hits above the navel. Next is to pick the rest of your outfit. My two favorite ways of wearing them are with jeans or with a tank underneath with jeans.

Cropped tops can also looks super sexy with a high wasited skirt for a night out.

You can also go much more casual and even turn it into a beach wear outfit

However, there also a wrong way to wear this look, really wrong lol. If you pair a boxy cropped top with boxy shorts it gives a really unflatering effect (i.e Whitney Port). This looks does nothing for her and makes her look sloppy. Stick with the looks mentioned above and you will be on your way :)

What's your favorite way to wear this trend?

Trend Alert - Fedora's

Im totally loving the straw fedora's I'm seeing everywhere lately. I just wish I were a hat person so I could pull it off. I've been on a quest to find one that works for me. Here are some good ones.

Amazon had some great ones to choose from. Check out this one for only $7.50

Here's the link to it.
http://www.amazon.com/Woven-fedora-straw-unisex-white/dp/B004TIVK8U/ref=sr_1_301?s=apparel&qlEnable=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1303144743&sr=1-301