A Tropical Contrast

Wearing: Necessary Clothing top / H&M pants / Topshop sandals / RayBan Sunglasses

I know I can't claim everything I post "my favorite" but this is yet again another combination that I wouldn't have a problem wearing everyday. I feel that pretty much anything with a black and white combo, whether it'd be printed pants or a shirt like this one, seamlessly pairs great with anything colored, printed, etc. Something else black and white that I can't get enough of are these sandals from Topshop, (which I've mentioned before), definitely a style that isn't for everyone but when done right I think they can come across as cool to most people. Or to people like me, cool while sitting on the shelves. That's another thing about fashion I love, how you can get people to look twice or change their mind completely on something they were probably so dead against, and get them to think outside of the box.

Leather Overdose

Wearing: Urban Outfitters shirt and shorts, Forever 21 sweater, H&M boots

Leather on leather on leather. Despite that it's spring, that combo will most definitely be one of my new favorites for the upcoming weeks, hopefully it'll stay for fall. I find it funny how a year ago I would never think about wearing this combination but now I wouldn't think twice thanks to the likes of Mulberry, Rick Owens, Wang and Charlotte Ronson for Spring 2013. I also made sure to slowly take on this trend by pairing leather shorts with a shirt with only a leather collar, so technically it's not "overdose" but you get the gist of it. Speaking of leather shorts, I finally found the perfect pair of leather running shorts from Urban Outfitters (at half price also!). I can tell they are going to be a staple piece for both summer and spring, they're comfortable and so easy to style. And also the only time that  I will wear anything that has to do with running.

Nails, Roses and Pearls, Oh My!

Here's just some pictures from my most recent project which was to create a topiary for a pair of shoes, in the end a shoe display is formed. For my shoes I chose Dr. Martens, my patent leather 1460's to be exact. The notion behind my display was that I wanted to exhibit the contrast between "soft and hard" or "sweet and edgy"; essentially to portray how Docs can work for numerous types of people with increasingly different styles. I translated the contrast by using red roses, pearls, and a light, airy fabric with oversized nails and black sand. My favorite aspect of this display is the red roses because although they are considered more on the "girly" side, I feel that they can be easily interpreted as edgy at the same time, think of Betsey Johnson for example. In my opinion they are a good transition piece between pearls and nails which are polar opposites. 

Wanna create your own? Probably not, but just in case your curious of the materials I used to create this, here you go:

(topiary)-

-glass vase

-black sand (from Michael's)

-artificial flowers (from Michael's)

-sphere topiary balls (from Michael's) painted black and covered in black sand

-wooden dowl

-(sign) foam core with a gold chain wrapped around it

-a strand of pearls that were cut individually

-oversized nails (home depot)

-Michaela, TheCityCloset

Met Gala 2013: Michaela's Top Picks

Last night was not only the launch of the MET's 2013 fashion exhibition titled "Chaos to Couture" for VIP's (such as the ones below) but with it came along the Superbowl for fashion enthusiasts everywhere, the Met Gala. This years theme was punk, hence the title of the exhibit, which the majority of these very-important-people interpreted extremely differently. 

The first "category" I took notice of was the gothic punk approach which consisted of black ensembles and in these cases, crazy hair. Although Lily's look can be seen as overdone I think the dress itself and layering the jacket for the occasion. As for Anne, who chose a vintage Valentino gown and channeled her inner Miley (who's up next) didn't push the "goth" too far, just the right amount I'd say. All in all, I think her look is perfection, the dress is stunning, her makeup is on point and her hair really topped it all off. Last in this category we have Miley, not surprised by her dress choice, a mesh Marc Jacobs gown which suited her faultlessly. Her crazy hair may of been questionable but I didn't think it was too bad. 

My personal favorite, the ones who took an angelic approach to this event, at least in my opinion. By angelic I mean white, obviously, and mixing in punk with femininity and elegance. For all four of these ladies, hair and makeup did the trick to transform their look from "elegant" to "punk". The best example is Rooney Mara in a Givenchy gown with dark, slicked back locks and dark, vampy makeup (the cherry on the top of the cake). A+ for Rooney Mara. Same thing goes for Nicole Richie in a Topshop gown and her newly died purplish-gray hair and equally as vampy lips. As for the extremely tasteful Katie Holmes and Haille Steinfeld, makeup was the focal point in addition to their staggering dresses.

Last we have "the best of the rest", basically the ones who didn't fit into a category but still made it into my list of top 11. Although the entire world may beg to differ on this one, I think Kristen Stewart's look was great. Her monochromatic makeup+jumpsuit look screamed "Kristen" and fit into the theme of punk seamlessly. Jennifer Lawrence and her net headpiece also dipped into just the right amount of punk for her, you can tell she stayed true to herself in a Dior dress but wasn't trying to hard at all. And also, we can't forget about my girl Alexa. Alexa did it right, yet again, in an Erdem dress that exemplified her personal style, sweet but masculine. As always we save the best for last, Sofia Coppola and Marc Jacobs showed up as partners in crime, although not really "punk", the duo looked fashion-foward with Sofia in a Marc Jacobs silk pajama suit and Marc in a polka dot suit. 

-Michaela, TheCityCloset

Sometimes You Have to Settle

What happens when I realize the little surprise that comes along the sandals I've been drooling over for the past few months from Windsor Smith...

 I have to resort to these. Although it's not really resorting because I do love these chunky white sandals from Topshop also, but when I get set on something for so long it's hard to get it out of my head. 

Long story short, the shipping for the beauties at Windsor Smith was a whopping $70 along with the $119 for the shoes themselves. As much as I adored them, I was not about to pay that price for shipping. Lets just say the disappointment that immersed me cannot be put into words. A bit dramatic for a pair of shoes, I know. Anyway, just please reassure me that this pair above is at least remotely similar to the "originals".