At first just an underground scene limited mostly to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, “hipster” is now a term that defines an attitude and a lifestyle that has exploded into mainstream culture. Like most cultural movements, there are definitely several aspects of the hipster look that are okay to adapt (i.e. v-neck t-shirts are flattering on many people). But the following is a list of hipster trends that — like confessing to actually being a hipster — will always be taboo. Read More »

[Do you ever feel like you can’t pull something off? Have trendy pieces in your closet that you would never have the courage to actually wear out? Well take those pieces out, shake off the dust, and continue reading!

In this series, I will choose a different piece that can be difficult to incorporate into an outfit and give you ideas on how to wear it. If there’s anything you would like to read about in the future, please leave a comment!]

Jumper dresses and jumpers are going to be go-to pieces for many fashionistas this fall. The trend is sweeping the nation from runways to hallways. It combines playfulness (remember how you used to wear the little kid versions in grade school?) with high fashion to create a perfect look for the new season.

Since layering is always big in the cold weather months, and they are so perfect for layering, this is definitely a piece you will want to incorporate into your wardrobe.

But what on earth do you wear with this trendy piece? Here are seven ways you can rock this look. You can work em alone, or try combining them for the ultimate in fall fashion: Read More »

First we did plaid - now we’re going gaga for gingham. I feel like I should be back in an episode of Saved by the Bell when all of these 90’s styles were splashed across the pages of magazines and donned by our favorite celebs.

“For REALZ?” I thought when I saw this print again, running down to the basement to pull out my platform gym shoes, pogs and devil sticks.

But then I looked again. And I started to get used to it.
And I looked again. And I sorta fell in love.

Sure, the print is a little early 90’s, but the updated version is tailored and flattering, which is still light years better than that maternity crap we were stuck wearing for 2 years.

So this week I, your personal shopper, bring you:

Celebrity Chic on the Cheap: Gaga for Gingham - 10 years later! Read More »

Makeup is fun. With makeup I can make myself look like anything I want. I can glam myself up, or play out a more natural look. I can turn myself into a sex kitten, or an innocent girl next door.

But it has taken years and years of trial and error to know what looks good on my face and what makes me look like Mimi from the Drew Carey Show. Looking back I’ve had some pretty disastrous makeup moments that I have comprised into my top 5 makeup regrets.

1. Sweat + black eyeliner = scary raccoon eyes. Now I love me some black eyeliner, especially when I’m putting on a cute little dress and going out to a club, but there are certain places where it’s probably not a good idea to pile on the black and, unfortunately, I’ve learned this the hard way.

One night my friends and I dressed ourselves up to go out dancing and I had put on a ton of dark eyeshadow and eyeliner. The dance floor was completely packed and after about half an hour we were all sweaty and gross. My friend and I went to the bathroom to cool down and when I looked in the mirror, I found that the makeup I had so meticulously applied was now all over my face! Seriously, it looked as if I had rubbed a huge piece of charcoal all around my eye and down my cheeks. My black eyeshadow had literally melted from me sweating and was now sitting in clumps on my eyelids. Needless to say I had to scrub it all off before anyone (besides all those people I saw pre-bathroom trip) saw my disaster of a face. Read More »

Remember when the end of the summer meant a shopping trip with your mom and a first-day-of-school photo shoot to chronicle the beginning of first/second/third/fourth grade?

Then high school hit, and you took your own initiative to blow your money on the perfect ensemble to make a statement on day one. Freshman year meant something eye-catching enough to grab the attention of a studly senior, whereas by senior year, your wardrobe had to scream, “I’m a senior. I own this school. And I’m f***ing graduating, bitch!”

Now that college is just around the corner, is it time to retire the tradition of back-to-school clothes, or do you simply need to step it up a notch?

On the first day of college, the campus will be filled with tens of thousands of students, frantically trying to change their schedules, pay their financial aid, and find the right classroom in the right building. It was easy to get noticed in high school, when you were one fashionista among only a few hundred, but in college, the people you meet on the first day are most likely to be a nameless, faceless blur who were kind enough to give you irections to the registrar’s office.

If you are thinking about going all out for a first day of school ensemble, ask yourself what your motivation is. Do you want to look professional to impress the teacher? Give yourself a little extra self-confidence to make it through the day? Find a nice college boy to walk you from one class to another? The following are some broad categories of BTS-wear that I have encountered year after year. You might fall into one of these groups, or you may notice a few hundred students who do on the first day of college. Read More »

If any of the producers of What Not to Wear ever happen to read this article, please accept my personal cry for help and send me to Stacy and Clinton asap.

Though I can usually throw together something appropriate for work or special events, about half of my clothing inventory consists of utterly ridiculous garments. It doesn’t help that I’m sentimental and can’t discard my prom dresses five years later, or that I’m waiting for certain trends to come back (though I’m pretty sure sparkly, sleeveless, turtleneck sweaters were never in style to begin with). And it definitely doesn’t help that I went through a goth/punk phase that a small part of the “professional” me desperately wants to revert back to.

As we all get ready for back to school, many of us will rummage through our closets and get rid of last season’s most shameful shirts, skirts, dresses, and pants in order to make room in our tiny dorm closets for upcoming styles (that we will undoubtedly regret in 2009 or 2010).

Here are some of my particularly embarrassing items.

1. Drawstring Khakis

I think that any pants that don’t have a numerical size should be left alone. So, why I bought these “Size L” drawstring pants with floral embroidery at the bottom is beyond me. They don’t go with any shoes, the trim is tacky, and they are so baggy that they make my ass look like a misshaped Volvo. I used to wear them to lounge around, because a lack of a waist obviously equals comfort; however, I made the mistake of wearing them out of the house one extremely hungover day. In public. With friends. My friend turned to me and said, “If you ever wear those pants again, I will cut them off your body.” Point taken. Read More »

Women’s social issues have been treated in programs geared towards teens for ages. Remember when DJ Tanner went on a crash diet so she could look good in a bathing suit, and then passed out on a stairclimber?

On Saved by the Bell, Elizabeth Berkley gained pre-Showgirls notoriety, for the famous Jessie Spano Caffeine Pill Breakdown (I’m so excited! I’m so scared!). Of course, Full House and SBTB were heart-warming sitcoms, where everyone learns their lesson in the end, and move away from their self-destructive behavior, never to mention anorexia, bullimia, or drug abuse ever again.

The breakout Canadian teen sensation, Degrassi, which airs in the US on The N network, covers a variety of teen issues, without the cavity-inducing sugary sweetness of the stuff we grew up on. Among the kids who dabble in drugs, alcohol, eating disorders, and bi-polar disorder, Degrassi introduced the world to Ellie Nash, who is a cutter.

I’m too old for Degrassi, but I don’t care. I’m pretty much obsessed with it. The best part about the show is that it doesn’t sweep the issues under the rug at the end of each 22-minute episode. And because the writers have the balls to “Go There.” I mean, come on: we all know the caffeine-pill incident was a stand-in for a harder drug, like speed or something, but hard drugs don’t exist at Bayside High.

I remember when the cutting craze swept my middle school. I have no idea who started it, or why it caught on, but at my school, cutting was the iPhone of the late 90’s. Read More »

Let’s face it, when you’re a college chic on a budget it’s hard enough to afford the actual fashion and celeb magazines (what are they these days $4.95?), let alone the glorious, “I will be poor for the rest of my life if I actually buy that” fashions that are inside.

It’s like that boy you love that you know has a girlfriend and yet you flirt with him anyways…a major tease that you knowingly setting yourself up for disappointment only to be left without the boy (or in this case, Jimmy Choo’s).

So what’s a girl on a major budget to do (aside from salivating all over this month’s Vogue)?

Consider me your new best friend (or personal shopper). Your own Rachel Zoe, if you will. Each week, I’ll take a new celeb or couture look and do all the leg work for you. I’ll find a similar style on a real girl’s budget. Now all you have to do is order it, throw it on and go.

This Week: Jessica Simpson’s Red Wrap Dress

Red Wrap Dress from Victoria’s Secret. A wrap dress is such a great wardrobe staple. This one is a little bit of a longer sleeve than the one Jessica is wearing, which is a great piece to take you from summer to fall. Wear it now with a wedge and in October with tights and a great boot… and if red isn’t your color, it comes in Black and Blue too! Read More »