A New Begining...

I'm sure everyone is blogging about this, but I could not skip it - Michelle Obama's inaugural dress:


By Isabel Toledo, formerly of Anne Klein. The color is a very difficult one to pull off and she does it beautifully. I am looking forward to years of great outfits from this very stylish first lady...

The Horror...And The Remedy

I don't usually do this, take a picture of a person without their knowledge...but I was stuck waiting in line at the post office for what felt like forever and, well, I was so horrified by what was in front of me. This woman was not at all honest when she looked at the mirror, that is if she looked in the mirror at all. We could all see every line and seam of her underwear under her awful capri pants (not just regular vpl, I'm talking EVERY seam). Plus the incredible wedgie that could not have been comfortable...oh, and then there are the socks pulled up. If it's so cold that you need to pull up socks, don't wear capris.


If you fear this could be you, buy as many pairs of this underwear shown below as you can, and wear it every day under everything, then at least you won't have people like me staring at every seam...

Stay Warm...

It's warm here in Northern California, but my parents just arrived back in Chicago from sunnier climes to a balmy -6 degrees. Yes, you read that correctly. Now, if you absolutely have to go outside in that weather, what the heck do you wear?

I bought a sweater at Banana Republic a couple of weeks ago, it was marked down and down again so I thought it was a good buy, however after two wearings it looks old and ratty. That is terrible, I don't care how cheap something is, it is not worth it if it doesn't last at least a season. Then I found this sweater at Brooks Brothers, also on sale, but made to last...




It looks very stuffy and boring in this picture, but imagine it with skinny jeans and boots, then it's fantastic. Or trouser jeans and gold heels, also fantastic. For work with light grey wool flannel wide leg pants, woooo.

These would be great jeans...



I also love these Rich and Skinny Jeans - but NOT with the sweater above,



The buttons along with the buttons on the sweater would be way too much, but these jeans with a simple top would be great - and they are on sale at eluxury which means another 20% off sale merchandise - plus



Happy Shopping!

One More day for Shopbop Sale..

Shopbop is offering an extra 20% off sale merchandise, use code 20more

Gustto online sample sales

The planets must be aligned properly or something because yesterday Gilt Group had a Gustto sample sale (I think it's still open) and today Rue La La opened one. I love these bags, some of their styles have been all over the place, thus not something I would run to buy - but I will readily admit that at some point last year I picked up THE most gorgeous bag, quite possibly ever, and it was Gustto. It was also around $700, so after oohing and ahhing I put it back down. However yesterday I made my first Gilt Group purchase - that bag. And today I am actually tempted by the other sale.

If you aren't a member of these sample sale sites you should definitely become a member, you can use my invitation link -

http://www.gilt.com/invite/elenaaronson

For Rue La La just send me an email and I will send you an invitation, they don't seem to have a link readily available on the website.

This is the bag I bought -

I cannot wait for it's arrival!!!

Denim sale, among other things

J Brand 14" jeans (means they have a 14" leg opening) are on sale at Pink Mascara, and you get another 20% off of the sale price. Use code 20offsale.

All in the details...

I get alot of magazines, many of them I flip through once and toss. I know it's wasteful, and one magazine I get by accident - Marie Claire. While it's an unbelievably quick read occasionally I find something I like and in the new issue I found something I LOVE -

It's all Versace, and I am in love with it all. The detailing, the pleats, the lines - both the skirt and the top are exquisite. Now, the question becomes, is it possible to find afforable versions of these pieces? I'm still looking...

Golden Globes WTF?

Haven't time yet to go through all the fabulous dresses, but the picture of Renee Zellweger cannot wait for comment - what the eff'ing lord was she (or her fired stylist) thinking?

Tina Fey (all the way on the right) looks amazing, as she always does these days. Laura Dern and Sally Hawkins (not sure that's right, never heard of her before last night...) look pretty good.

What the hell was Renee thinking? the top is totally sheer, and we know she is so skinny but she still manages to look like she has a belly. And the hair and makeup also - she kind of looks like she belongs on the set of murderous musical Johnny Depp was in last year. I'm totally blanking on the name right now.

What not to wear to a bar, among other places

*I tried links, but apparently google chrome does not work for this sort of thing. Guess I need to go back to Mozilla. Rats.


Greg and I went out on Saturday night. In some crazy fit of enthusiasm he thought we should go back to the bar where we met - they have a particular party there once a month where they take volunteer bartenders - I was a volunteer bartender when we met, so we had to do that part again this weekend too.

It was ridiculous. Wherever I turned there were horrifying sartorial mistakes. Like an ascot, I kid you not. And the dude with the ascot was not wearing it in some 'I'm crazy and have my own irreverent style' way. He was SERIOUS about his ascot. And as I found out the second he opened his mouth, he had the know-it-all air to go with it.

There were a surprising number of guys wearing ties, and I have to say I liked that. But they could not make up for the ascot.

As for the women, I have the same complaint I often do - everyone needs to take their body shape into account before trying to wear trends, or anything really. Take a good look in the mirror and figure out your best parts, and the ones you'd like to minimize or camouflage, and then figure out how to do it. Several times during the evening Greg asked me if certain women were pregnant (ugh) in a time when cute flowy tops are available everywhere and at every price point, as well has jeans with every possible rise, there should not be a question.

This is a cute inexpensive option -

If worn with jeans that hit at the right place, no horrifying pregnancy questions.

I also love tops with a banded bottom -

They also hide a multitude of sins.

A good time was had by all, but we went home pretty early and decided then and there we would not be returning. We are officially in couples coma (as opposed to Singles Stamina), the subject of an episode from our favorite show, How I Met Your Mother.

Smart Women like Fashion Too

The NY Times fashion section article about Michelle Obama as the saving grace of American fashion is interesting. Yes she looks good, yes she has great taste, and apparently she makes it ok for smart women to care about how they look. Did we really need someone to tell us that?

Antidote for Winter Blues

In a couple of weeks the winter starts to feel like it's been here forever, unless of course you are already at the point (this is not the time to stop procrastinating!) maybe you need some bright colors to feel better, how about this coat:



I think that would brighten my day.

And for the little ones -


How cute!!!

WTF?

Even a store as great as Shopbop can't hit it out of the park everytime, but this? Where to begin?

That is a $138 Jill Stuart t-shirt, with TAILS. ick. Then to add insult to injury, and I don't want to discriminate against very thin women here, but the model in this top looks kind of like, well, I don't really like seeing someone's bone structure beyond a prominent cheekbone. Our clothes are not supposed to show off the sternum.

My Versace Dream Dress

I am still slogging through a backlog of basically everything -magazines, tv shows, that accrued in the months before the wedding and while we were away. This morning I finally opened the January issue of Vogue, and promptly fell in love, or more aptly obsession, with a dress.

Anne Hathaway is wearing the Versace brilliance in her photo shoot -

It is perfection. It also looks like something the LAMB line might produce, sexy, tailored and unexpected with those zippers. I often like what I see in these shoots, but rarely can picture myself in the clothes - this one is different.

For now, I would go with this skirt to recreate something like the look for winter -

Even better it's on sale and another 30% off, plus free shipping, all at


I will still continue to obsess over this gorgeous dress...