Dear Diary, can a coat keep you afloat?

It isn't easy looking good in every coat you wear, unless you're name rhymes with the Duchess of Cambridge. 

Christmas may be over but winter has hardly begun. It will be cold up in Oklahoma until spring break, and probably through April... unfortunately. So even though everyone seems to be putting their cold weather coats on sale and packing up their sweaters, I've still got at least three more long months of harsh, cold, windy weather. This means a small section of my closet must be dedicated to winter coats. There are a few things I hate about coats: 

1. They're expensive. You need your coat to keep you warm when its 30 degrees, feels like 20 with a -15 degree windchill. Warm coats are well made coats; well made coats are expensive. 
2.  You can't have just one if the weather where you live is bad more than one week a year. There is no catch-all coat for women. At bare minimum everyone has to have a nice formal coat and casual coat.  
3. They're bulky. No matter what kind of coat, they take up space in your closet, over your arm while shopping, and in your lap in class.  
4. The sleeves are never long enough for me. I'm not 6'2", but my wingspan is, do you know how many brands make Tall coats? Not many, and if they do, see #1. 

My favorite game to play is 'lets pretend money is no object' and so that's what we're doing with coats today. This is my ultimate, dream closet of coats.  

Free People, $548

This rich-hippie-badass-boho look is not something I strive for every day, but if the mood strikes this jacket would fit the bill perfectly. 

Burberry Brit, $595 {currently out of stock}

The Burberry quilted jacket is one of the most iconic coats of all time and this green color is stunning and different, yet still with the classic design. 

Burberry, $2495

Could this bomber jacket be any more perfect? 

Burberry, $1195

With the cinch at the waist this would be such a flattering coat, making it feminine but not too girly.

J. Crew, $365

This peacoat would make a stunning impression. Its just the right amount of obnoxious, plus it comes in Tall so thank you for that J. Crew.

Kate Spade, $678

For the warmer winter days, this lace coat is what having money looks like, on a casual day. Not sure how I feel about the 13 year old who's modeling it, but I'll overlook it.

The London Fur Company - Vintage, ≈$947.60

I agree that the idea of fur is a bit morbid, but if it's vintage then you're really helping out cause that fur is getting reused so the animal's life continues to serve the fashion and warmth world, right? The faux furs also promote fur being fashionable so in my opinion just getting the real thing is the way to go. And this little hooded mink coat is just too cute for words.  

T Tahari, $300

This is what down chic looks like. The belt is key.

RED Valentino, $1295

I'm drooling just looking at this masterpiece, and somewhere far away Effie Trinket just fainted.

Ralph Lauren Blue Label, $498

If I'm going to support the good ole' USA in the pregame for the summer Olympics, I'd like to do it through my wardrobe. Thank goodness Ralph Lauren has a hold on our attire, and if this is any kind of preview, my hopes are high for the opening ceremonies outfits.

J. Crew {sold out}

Its timeless and preppy in everyone's favorite color, plus its the perfect length. Want your own? Too bad, they're already sold out, and I'm not lending mine out.

Emilio Pucci, $6490

And finally, the creme of the crop, this Pucci cape. I have a weakness for capes, probably because they remind me of princesses and rich 1950's housewives. 

Sorry like half of them are Burberry but they make great coats and that's not my fault. If you're packing up your winter gear cause you know it won't be cold until next fall in the blissfully warm place you live in, I don't want to hear about it. 

XOXO

Dear Diary, Karl is in my city yall!

It's finals week and I'm up to my ears in papers and exams so I don't have time to write a witty article about the fact that there's a huge Chanel event in Dallas tonight, but luckily someone else did! I'm so mad that I'm missing it ... unfortunate scheduling, clearly Karl forgot to run the date by me. 

Here's a news article about it from Christina Geyer from the Dallas Morning News. Favorite line: 

"The fashion show is invitation-only, with nearly 900 celebrities, members of the international fashion media and top Chanel customers expected to attend, helping to raise Dallas’ profile as a serious fashion city on par with Paris and New York."

On par with Paris and New York? It's an amazing opportunity for our city, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here. And here's a blog post from the Dallas Snob Blog, and this is my favorite line: 

"Perhaps it’s our unofficial slogan, “Keep Dallas Pretentious” that appealed to his sensibilities. "

Since when was that our unofficial slogan? I mean it's better than Austin's "Keep Austin Weird", in my lifetime of living in Dallas I've never heard that. But here's some pics of Karl with my idol, who is sure to be one of the 900 celebs who will be there tonight. 

They're besties. Reason #5983048 Blake's life is unreal.

XOXO

Dear Diary, let's party like it's 2007

In the spirit of Hanukah and this Thanksgiving-holiday-induced house arrest time, my brother and I decided to use time wisely by making a middle school throwback playlist. What’s that got to do with Hanukah you say? Well everyone in my neighborhood knows that middle school is the time for bar, bat and b’nai mitzvahs. We know this because for some reason we have a wonderfully large Jewish population living in this area of our school district. So far me and my brother have attended over thirty-two mitzvah celebrations, with seventeen dollar checks always in hand. If you showed up without your ballet sweater wrap covering your shoulders and matching eyeshadow you were clearly a novice clueless (sorry, middle school was harsh). But I digress- Some songs were left off because I hated them then and still hate them now, but every song can be found on Spotify. 

1. 50 Cent – Candy Shop
2. Akon – Smack That - Dirty
3. Akon – I Wanna Love You
4. Baby Bash – Suga Suga
5. Beyoncé – Crazy In Love
6. Beyoncé – Naughty Girl
7. The Black Eyed Peas – Pump It
8. The Black Eyed Peas – My Humps
9. Britney Spears – Toxic
10. Britney Spears – I'm A Slave 4 U
11. Cascada – Everytime We Touch - Radio Edit
12. The Cast Of 'High School Musical' – Breaking Free
13. Chamillionaire – Ridin' Dirty (feat. Chamillionaire)
14. Chingy – Right Thurr
15. Chingy – Holidae In
16. Chris Brown feat. Juelz Santana – Run It! - Featuring Juelz Santana
17. Ciara – One, Two Step
18. Coolio – Gangsta's Paradise - feat. L.V.
19. D-12 – My Band
20. David Banner – Get Like Me
21. Destiny's Child – Soldier
22. Destiny's Child – Say My Name
23. Destiny's Child – Jumpin', Jumpin'
24. DMX – Party Up
25. Eminem – Lose Yourself - Soundtrack Version (Explicit)
26. Eminem – The Real Slim Shady
27. Eve – Let Me Blow Ya Mind
28. Fall Out Boy – Dance, Dance
29. Fall Out Boy – Sugar, We're Goin Down
30. The Fray – How To Save A Life
31. The Fray – Over My Head (Cable Car)
32. Fugees – Killing Me Softly With His Song
33. The Game – How We Do
34. Gwen Stefani – Rich Girl
35. JoJo – Too Little Too Late
36. Justin Timberlake – SexyBack - Main Version - Explicit
37. Justin Timberlake – Cry Me A River
38. Justin Timberlake – Rock Your Body
39. Kelis – Milkshake
40. Lil Jon – Get Low
41. Lil Jon – Snap Yo Fingers
42. Nelly Furtado – Promiscuous
43. Nelly Furtado – Maneater
44. The Pussycat Dolls – Beep
45. Rihanna – SOS
46. Rihanna – Unfaithful
47. Shakira – Hips Don't Lie
48. Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars

If you didn’t realize how horribly inappropriate the rap songs were then… you sure will now. 

Today I am thankful for modern technology, the Internet, and my family. I am thankful that the three year peak of my decade of awkwardness is over. I am thankful that the boys grew, and some of them are now (omg) even taller than me. Lastly, I am thankful for the old friends that made these songs bring back such good memories, and the new friends who will hijack fraternity sound systems so we can jam out to this playlist when we get back to school. 

XOXO

Dear Diary, Catching Fire well, caught me

On Thursday ChiO sprung for Catching Fire tickets for us at the prescreening at 8 o’clock so naturally half our chapter was there, including me, and all I can say is wow. All I want to do is live it over and over until I can recite it in my sleep or become Effie, whichever comes first. Am I disappointed at missed details and glossed over issues? Of course. Is it also better than I imagined from the book? Surprisingly yes. 

The visuals were more than better, they were incredible. The costumes, the hair, the make up, the scenery were all dazzling. I already read the books so the story was not what captured my attention, it was the costumes which were all done by Trish Summerville. In the opening scene Katniss has this absolutely fabulous grey, cowl neck, chunky knit, diagonal sweater thing that was the perfect blend of her roots in District 12 and her new world in the Capitol spotlight. I don’t even know what to call it but I want it.

I was underwhelmed by both Katniss and Peeta’s tour outfits. They were in no way memorable, which I guess was fine because the tour was more about the rebellion, but still, a little glitter and jewel tones go a long way.

It was all made up by Katniss’s wedding dress. I was disappointed by her flame dress in the first film, but this was a masterpiece designed by Tex Saverio. The gown was glittery, fluffy, dramatic, cloud-like and just stunning. I was disappointed by the mockingjay dress that it turned onto though because the graphics on the front and back reminded vaguely of an Affliction shirt, but the wings were sick. The people of the Capitol died for that special effect, and so did I.

Everyone was dressed to intimidate here, Effie just had a different audience than the tributes.

Speaking of Capitol couture, we must discuss my new style inspiration- Effie Trinket. She is always positive, polished, peppy and dresses like I would in my wildest dreams. This article talks more about the detail that went into synchronizing each Effie costume with where the characters and the people of Panem are in the story line.

This was my favorite ensemble- those are feather butterflies on her dress and headpiece.

Not a huge fan of this look, but cheers to the sleeves.

Used in ads and in the beginning scenes, I want to scream "IT'S SO FLUFFY!"

Every outfit came with new, matching nails- that's an insane amount of detail.

And finally, the game gear and the boys...

Not squealing when this happened was the hardest thing I'd ever done.

The wet suits the competitors wore in the games were really cool and made me want one, you know, for all the times I swim in the ocean or have to fight for my life in a jungle. In this New York Times article on the costumes of this second movie installment, Ms. Summerville said they decided to dress Peeta's character in a much more masculine way to accentuate the growing up Peeta did from being selected as a tribute to after the games as a victor. How convenient then that Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta, has quite the athletic build. In this movie he was much more convincing as a strong, steady man who could help save Katniss's life. 

Their nightmare-inspired sleeping situation is so precious I can't find words.

Also, at this point in the story Peeta is essentially competing with Gale for Katniss. What really got me was when I read that Ms. Summerville used a lot of subdued greens in Peeta's wardrobe "because Katniss's favorite color is green, "she said, "so subliminally, he's always trying to woo her." I know it's the costume designer saying that not the character himself, but it still brought a metaphorical tear to my eye. Peeta's undying love for Katniss is the steadfast core of the series. It's heartbreaking, tear-jerking and keeps you craving more. I've always been Team Peeta for Katniss, but maybe that's cause I want Gale/Liam for myself?

I'd accept his rose any day.

XOXO

Dear Diary, a Wednesday pick-me-up

A few weeks ago I obsessed over sweaters with animals on them, so it's only fair to feature animals with sweaters on them. It's a rough world out there for animals. When the weather gets cold, they can't throw on their quilted driving coat or chic down ski jacket. They can grow thicker fur, but sometimes that's not enough. So, we buy them sweaters. We love our animals, and here is the proof:

Happy Wednesday y'all.

XOXO