LAUREN by Ralph Lauren -Kiana, Brown

Ciao a tutti!

All right, my fellow Shoe-A-Holics, I am beginning to feel the warmth of spring...cascading down upon me...as though Mother Nature herself has knitted me a blanket...and swaddled me in its plush folds...so that I may cast off the shackles of winter's relentless hold...in order to forge ahead in this renaissance...born of the vernal equinox...yet slow to awake from it's slumberous state...ever mindful that it's still the beginning of spring, and while I am tempted to jump right into sandal season, anywhere else on a 40 degree morning (that's 4 degrees Celsius for all my metric readers), people would be wearing boots, not flip-flops!

Another of my favorite transitional pieces is a shootie; part shoe and part bootie, a shootie is an ingenious hybrid which has the functionality of a shoe (in my case a pump), with practicality of a an ankle boot (or bootie), and transitions beautifully from morning to night, cold-to-heat-and-back again.  These perforated loafers with side panel goring offer easy on and off which keep the outfit looking relaxed and laid back.

Baci a tutti!

Stella Notte

Day 324: Tuesday April 2nd 2013
Designer: LAUREN by Ralph Lauren
Name: Kiana
Color: Dark Brown
Style: Shootie/Pump Loafer
Heel: 3.5 inches (8.89 cm)
Material: Leather Upper with wing-tip style accents, goring and lug sole

To see how I styled these beautiful shooties, click on the link below:

La Stella Notte's Style (chic that's easy as 1, 2, 3)

Beautiful in any color; click here to see these beauties in Black!

 

Sunday Show Stopper Alert! Lucky Brand -June

Attention, Shoe-A-Holics!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog for this Shoe-Stopper of a post!

Nerd Alert:  I have always wanted a pair of penny loafers!  Along with oxford shirts, tartan print skirts and knee-high socks, this style of shoe, complete with penny slot, puts me in the mind of prep school chic (a style which eluded my own scholastic days, yet I like to play with every now and then).

 

Flirty, fun and functional, who knew loafers could be so fabulous?

 

How I Styled It?
Exploring my world of color, I look for style inspiration in a variety of places.  This primary color-blocked ensemble, I borrowed from the Candy Coated look from Tommy Hilfiger.  Adhering to the advice bestowed from Academichic's Two-Thirds Rule: pick only two colors from a color triad, (in this case red, blue and yellow, the primary colors), I have paired varying shades of a red-yellow combination (here), but never all three together.  Although wearing all the colors in a triad can be challenging, Hilfiger's styles are known for pushing the proverbial color envelope, and on a cold winter's day, that is exactly what I wanted to do!  What makes this outfit work (and not lend itself to a box of crayons look) is the fact that the blue is toned down with it's deeper, monochromatic shade of Navy. The yellow, toggle duffle is from Steve Madden (last year), and the Levi's corduroy skirt, I bought second hand while in Italy.  It was originally knee length, but I had it shortened to a mini!  The tights are from Hue and the computer bag, I got from Sears some years ago.

 

 

Baci a tutti!

Stella Notte
 

Day 295: Sunday December 30th 2012

Designer: Lucky Brand

Name: June

Color: Tortoise

Style: Wedge Penny Loafer

Heel: 4.5 inches (11.43 cm)

Platform: 1 inch (2.54 cm)

Material: Leather Upper with penny slot on vamp

Crushing on these beauties as much as I am?  You can find them here at Amazon.com!

 

Sunday Show Stopper Alert! Mossimo -Vianca

Attention, Shoe-A-Holics!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog for this Shoe-Stopper of a post!

 

 

Let me introduce you to the newest neutral...anything with a leopard print!  It is amazing how this  seasonal favorite has become a wardrobe staple, pairing well with everything from rich jewel tones to bright pops of color!  Whether you get this print in a power pump or a laid back flat, it will be your new go to shoe!

Baci a tutti!


Stella Notte

Day 290: Sunday December 16th 2012
Designer: Mossimo at Target
Name:  Vianca
Color: Leopard
Style: Smoking Slipper/Tuxedo Flat
Heel: 0.625 inches (1.59 cm)
Material: Sueded Upper

Crushing on these beauties as much as I am?  Click here to get them from Target!

How I Styled It?

I've been waiting some time to showcase these beauties; styling them proved to be a little difficult for me...at least at first! I finally found a pair of oxblood color pants from NY & Company, but them I really wasn't sure how to match them.  I went to my fabric color wheel from Academichic.com and followed their Two-Thirds Rule:  

The eye gravitates toward color combinations that make up two-thirds of a triad -a triad is comprised of three hues equidistant from each other on the color wheel. If you were to draw and equilateral triangle in the middle of the color wheel, the points would touch a triad of colors such as red-yellow-blue or orange-green-purple. Triads can be tricky to wear simultaneously, but picking just two colors from a triad often results in a terrific, eye-catching palette. I chose red and yellow, but like the Complementary color match (I discussed here), I went with the darker more subdued color complement (oxblood instead of red and the mustard instead of yellow) to create a more sophisticated pairing.  The long sleeved t-shirt, I got while still living overseas, and the cropped wool coat is from Anne Klein (a few seasons ago).  The scarf I  bought at an accessory story in Italy called Carina, and the clutch is from the GAP.  SN

Working Nine-to-Five! LAUREN by Ralph Lauren -Kiana, Black

Ciao a tutti!

Many of you have asked me about office attire; what and how to wear it...my best advice is to follow company rules and proceed as office decorum dictates, otherwise you may find yourself sitting with HR!  With that in mind, let your personality shine through!  You can always make a statement with what you wear without saying a word.  But you need to ask yourself, 'What am I saying today?' and equally important, 'To whom am I saying it?'

Styling Tip #1:  Mix it up!  Pair your shoes with something you wouldn't ordinarily.

These shooties, I usually pair with slacks, but for such a beautiful shoe with the wing-tip detail, I find that its beauty often gets overlooked.  So after I picked out the shoe, all I had to do was to find an outfit to go with...easier said than done!

This work week started off cold! Near ninety-degree days followed by forty-degree nights, doesn't promise an exceptionally warm morning! I had finally finished my Spring Cleaning only to have to riffle through things packed away for the season in order to find something warm enough to wear...don't you just hate when that happens?  But the outfit came together rather nicely, don't you think?

Do you have any styling tips for work?  Please share!


Ci Vediamo!

Stella Notte


Day 163: Monday April 23rd 2012
Designer: LAUREN by Ralph Lauren
Name: Kiana
Color: Black
Style: Shootie/Pump
Heel: 3.5 inches (8.89 cm)
Material: Leather Upper with wing-tip style accents, goring and lug sole

Beautiful in any color; click here to see these beauties in Dark Brown!



Corduroy Jacket: GAP, Corduroy Shorts: Old Navy, Top (not pictured): Old Navy, Turtleneck Sweater: Tally Weijl Italia, Legwarmers: Golden Point Italia, Socks: Gift, Scarf: Vintage, Bag: Mercato Caltagirone