Category: Style Sessions

Target has their cute rain boots in stock right now and on sale for $20.

Don’t wait until it’s the day before Music Fest and the forecast is predicting rain, rain, and more rain. B/c, trust me, it will be difficult to find them then.

Anyone know where else in town has rain boots right now?

Anthropologie kicked off its new location in Saddle Creek last night with a fundraising party for the Dixon … and it was PACKED!

There were cute spring dresses …

and these things …

and cute, cute aprons. (So cute, in fact, that I saw one of the workers walking around and thought, That is the cutest dress. And then I realized it was a half-apron over her dress!)

And for those of you who asked me about this already, here’s your answer: Yes, the store may have just opened, but they already have a sale room.

What did I say last Friday?

They might as well rename it Denim Day.

Sophorn says she wears jeans almost every Friday, but still likes to wear heels with them. This particular pair is from Dillards.

In addition to her jeans — from Forever 21, one of the only stores that carry a size 0 — she paired a brown cowl neck shirt from Coco & Lily, and a striped wrap sweater from Old Navy.

“The clutch is a Gecko Traders purse made in my home country of Cambodia from old fish bags,” she says. “I bought it locally from Delphinium, but I know it still helps those women in Cambodia support their families.”

Socially responsible and stylish to boot.

While getting her architecture degree at Auburn, she did a design for Afghan refugees as part as of interior architecture thesis: “I included, with the interior architecture and furniture design, a redesign of the burka which I sewed and modeled. It was made more functional but still seemed avant-garde. I wish I remembered where I put those photo files,” she says.

Me, too.

Sophorn says that Thursday nights seem to be her new night out: “I usually go to design networking events Thursday nights,” she says.

For this particular day, she wore a ballet-inspired bubble skirt from Eye-Con Couture on Union with a scarf and a short-sleeved cardigan sweater that she got from her mother-in-law.

“She finds cute things, mostly at SteinMart, so I would guess that’s where these come from,” she says. “I love this scarf for the pop of color with all the black I wear but it’s also very warm and soft.”

Sophorn has about 8 scarves b/c her mother-in-law gets her a new one every year.

I get the sense that Sophorn is not a traditionalist with her clothes. Take, for instance, yesterday’s bridesmaid dress turned balloon blouse. In this outfit, she’s wearing the skirt high on her waist with a polka dotted belt she got at a boutique in Oxford. But she says she also wears the skirt below the waist if she’s just wearing it with a shirt or a tank top.

And the high-heeled boots? Guess.

Also, Sophorn and Annabella were nice enough to send me a close-up, which shows the really great texture of the scarf and the sweater.

A few months ago, I stumbled across norococo, a wonderful little blog that had me instantly charmed.

In fact I developed a little bit of a blog crush on it. It is just so *pretty.* And the music — well, let’s just say I plugged my headphones in and listened for hours.

Norococo is the online home of Formus Architects project manager and graphic designer Sophorn McRae. I didn’t really know Sophorn, but I knew that anyone with a blog this stylish probably had some tips to teach us.

I don’t like to brag, but … I was right.

In this outfit, Sophorn is wearing what appears to be a lemon yellow balloon blouse with an Old Navy pencil skirt and a skinny orange belt from J. Crew. (Seriously, I am loving orange.)

Beside her is a white cardigan that she wears when it’s cold in the office, and her shoes are from Shoe-Nami. (This isn’t her office, by the way. This is in a vacant spot above her office, in the Tennessean Building in Court Square. I believe it is available for lease.)

But let’s get back to that balloon blouse, shall we?

Three year ago, she was a bridesmaid and she had to find a dress that was yellow. At the last minute, she found one at Macy’s on the clearance rack … only it was a size 10. Sophorn obviously isn’t.

For the wedding, she belted the extra material and used it to make pleats.

And now she’s found that she can tuck it into a pencil skirt and wear it to work. She says she has to be careful the end of the bridesmaid dress doesn’t peek out the bottom, but what a great idea! I love this sort of re-use.

How many of us have dresses in our closet that we never wear again? I would have never thought about using them as a blouse and wearing them to work.

Sophorn volunteered with Dress for Success for several years as a “personal shopper,” putting together outfits that were work appropriate but stylish for their clients going to interview for a job or just starting work. Seeing this, I have no doubt she did a wonderful job.

This is Elizabeth’s favorite dress. It’s also from Martin + Osa, which you may recall is where the dress she wore at the “beginning” of the week was from.

“Unlike the tomato-soup-red number, this one looks good by itself,” she says.

“It also looks good with everything in my closet,” she says. “I paired it with a gray sweater — I have about four gray sweaters — patterned tights from Target, and my trusty black boots.”

This week, I learned that Target has great patterned tights and, obviously, you can never have too many gray sweaters!

Thanks again to Elizabeth Alley and her photographer Shannon Dixon for participating in Fashion Week. Maybe we’ll see some more of them later. Elizabeth has already asked me if she can do this again in warmer weather, so she can show off some of her cute shoes. I don’t think I have to tell you what I said. I love cute shoes.

What did we say about suits yesterday? Three outfits in one? Here’s another outfit that proves the math.

This pencil skirt is from Banana Republic and has a jacket that goes with it. Only that’s not what Elizabeth is wearing with it.

The sweater is also from Banana Republic, and Elizabeth got it from Garbo’s “for about $8!”

“The boots were an unexpected purchase for me by my husband, and the tights are patterned and gray, because as I have said, gray goes with everything,” she says.

I have to say, Elizabeth wears orange better than anyone else I know. Orange, to me, is one of those tricky colors, like yellow or lavender, that people sometime shy away from. Elizabeth wears it often enough that I think of it as “an Elizabeth color” and it never looks garish or young when she does it. It always looks sophisticated.

Her advice for wearing orange: wear a slightly muted version — not UT orange — and wear it with neutrals.

“I only wear orange with black if I have a third color along with it to tone it down, such as the orange dress with black boots, also worn with a gray sweater,” she says. “Also, try to be aware of the tones of colors that you wear — a less saturated orange (or lavender or yellow) will be easier to wear.”

One of the best things about buying suits is that you don’t *have* to wear both pieces together. It’s like getting three outfits out of one. (provided there are other clothes in your wardrobe, of course!)

In this picture, Elizabeth is wearing a dark blue sweater from Old Navy, with patterned tights, and a cute little skirt that is actually half of a suit.

During her tenure as interim director for UrbanArt, she says she went on a suit buying spree. She had to attend a lot of meetings at the time, and made a rule that she would never attend a meeting at City Hall without wearing a suit.

“I believe people not in suits are overlooked in those situations,” she says.

But that left Elizabeth with a closet full of suits.

“For everyday wear, I found the idea of them better than the reality. It’s just too matchy-matchy,” she says. “I like pairing the jackets with jeans or other skirts, and the skirts with every top I own.”

I have to say, none of my skirt suits are this cute, but at least it gives the rest of us (or, just me) something to aim for.

Elizabeth Alley recently ended her more than 10-year tenure at UrbanArt for a position in the corporate world.

Before she left UrbanArt, she wore this one recent Friday:

Along with Friday’s ubiquitous jeans (Look down. Aren’t you wearing a pair right now?), she paired a cute jacket from the Banana Republic outlet and a long-sleeved tee.

She also added a pair of cowboy boots.

“My husband’s aunt gave them to me about 15 years ago. At the time, I had no interest in wearing cowboy boots, but luckily, I had the foresight to keep them for when I did,” she says.

Just goes to show, some pieces you might want to hang onto for a while. Although, on the other hand [gratuitous plug], if you have pieces that are in good condition and professional, but you don’t wear anymore, you might bring it to Style Sessions’ Swap and Shop in April to celebrate Earth Day (and refreshen spring wardrobes)! More deets on that later, tho!