Style
The other night before I went out to see The Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, I took a silly selfie as I often do and sent it to a couple of my best friends.
I often take selfies I don’t share with the world; I only share them by text with a couple of my friends and there is always a story behind the story. This selfie story is- I bought myself a new purse for Christmas and I saved its first outing till the night of the show. Obviously, I had to send a pic to introduce her (my new purse) to my best friends.
I got this response – by text – from my most cherished, longtime friendship.
“Great outfit!! If u want to gain more female followers u
could show us how to put such an amazing outfit together” 😉
She is the first GF I met when I moved to California – a woman I love – admire, cherish and take suggestions from because she rocks in every sense of the word!
When she gave me this suggestion – I promised her I would write a blog about putting together my outfit and send it to her as soon as it was posted. Here goes ….
Let me open with this. I LOVE PLAYING DRESS UP, always have, always will.
Let’s talk about the outfit and all the things that are taken into consideration up to the final steps on choosing my look for a night out.
None of this is happenstance – as a matter of fact, throughout my day before a night out, I will visualize many different options till I have that Ah-Ha moment that gives me the clarity I need to know – this is what I am wearing. I enjoy the entire process.
Step one: I check the weather
The weather reports will make my outerwear decision. Something I didn’t get to enjoy on the west coast, so it is a high priority in my fall, winter swagger. That night was going to be fifty degrees which is warm enough to wear my royal blue short coat.
With that said – royal blue coat, my look had to be solid black to give color pop exclusively to the coat.
Step two: Will I be walking or taking a cab / Uber?
This will help me choose my shoes. If I am waking, I have to factor in a comfortable shoe that still has a good look – so I chose my over the knee suede boots for that night with a medium heel perfect for city walking, they aren’t narrow, won’t go in any sidewalk grates, and allow easy balance.
So once I landed on the focus being the royal blue coat & the suede boots -I move the focus to texture.
Suede is a beautiful texture, and it works well with cashmere or any soft non-poly blend sweater. The reason I would avoid the poly blend is to get a smooth soft look with no shine to accent the suede. Now my lower and upper have soft balance.
The two soft textures suede boots and sweater would need to be broken up with – yes you guessed it another texture this is where I will bring in the shine with my black leather pants.
Flowing my rules and tying the look together is a win that just adds to the excitement of getting out with a friend to enjoy a city evening.
One of my favorite things about NYC is the style. I lean in! I am sure there were people at the show in jeans- but that is just not me. A special night out deserves a special look. It’s a passion of mine.
I love to make an event out of an event, and I look back and remember how much I missed getting dressed up and going out when we were all locked in our homes.
I promised myself I would appreciate every chance I got to get out and celebrate my lifelong passion for fashion. As a teenager, I plastered my walls in my bedroom with photos cut out of magazines of styles that I hoped one day I would wear. From jeans to dresses with one wall dedicated to accessories, shoes, handbags perfume, and makeup.
Little did know – those walls were my teenage vision board of the life of style in my future.
I also have to give credit to my French-Canadian grandmother who was stunning, took impeccable care of herself, and always showed me how she took care of her hair skin, and nails. To her chipped nail polish should have been a punishable offense. I, to this day, live by this code. If and when I chip a nail- I will not go 24 hours without getting an appointment to have it professionally fixed and will touch it up with polish to keep me calm in the meantime.
She was my personal style icon. I never saw her without makeup, the most casual item she would wear around the house was stylish jeans. But even at home she was fully accessorized – earrings, necklace, watch. Her long natural nails that she filed almost daily, she would put vaseline on her cuticles and Nivea cream on her hands and feet before bed. I do the same – I use Aquaphor & I always have the same Nivea blue tin I saw on her nightstand my entire childhood.
This is the same woman that taught me when I was eight or nine years old about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
One day I was sitting at her little kitchen table and as she was sprinkling ginger on my toast- telling me the health benefits and she said, “Lisa if you live by this rule, you will have the best chance of a long and healthy life – stay within 20 lbs. of the weight you are when you graduate high school.”
Those weren’t just words, she proved it to me daily as she walked 2 miles a day till she was 80 years old.
Mind you, at that age, I couldn’t even visualize high school, but I could see her and all her beauty standing in front of me sprinkling ginger on my toast. There was no other woman I would rather follow her lead.
Over the years she had so many style conversations with me. She made her own yogurt, her and my grandfather grew their own vegetables – she believed in moderation. She loved sweets and would have a little dessert. She didn’t live a life or not have the things she enjoyed, she just believed in balance. She was very ahead of her time.
I know this little blog on my outfit took a turn, but I felt it was the backstory that would give you an extra layer of understanding of me, my passion for fashion, and where I get my sense of style.
One more quick turn. I started to write this blog on my phone on my way to Florida and before the trip, I decided to up my manicure game and have some long tips put on with a nice red polish. I chose the rounded shape and as I was struggling to write with the length of my nails, I looked down and saw my grandmothers’ nails. The same shape, perfect polish. The little moment tied this entire blog together.
It started with a text from a friend about putting together my outfit,
to a beautiful walk down my memory lane and my grandmother’s style with a reminder that a cocktail and dessert are more than ok once in a while!
