Category: Style Sessions

James Davis is hosting a trunk show TODAY with Paige Hamilton. The handbags, which are weather proof, are also light-weight, perfect for traveling, and, for those of you playing the Style Sessions drinking game at home, cute as a button.

Though Shelton Clothiers generally is a men’s suiting store, they will host their second women’s custom suit event TOMORROW from 5 – 9 p.m. Suits are available from $695 to $895 and pieces include custom jackets, pants, and skirts. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served, and for every suit you buy, you’ll get a $150 gift certificate.

The newest store from Divine Rags is The White Horse at the Avenue Carriage Crossing in Collierville. The White Horse’s Grand Splash is this Saturday, November 21st. If you go in before then, you will get 10 percent off, and I believe there will be specials Saturday, as well.

While not technically clothing related, I also want to mention MCA’s 60th Annual Holiday Bazaar this Friday, November 20th, from 6 – 9 p.m., and Saturday, November 21st, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. The Bazaar features food, cash bar, photos with Santa and his elves, and original artwork by MCA students, alumni, faculty, and staff.

Also, the Flyer’s next Work It Wednesday event will be held at the Beauty Shop in Cooper Young December 2nd. Specials include 10 percent off all menu items, $5 house wine, and $2.50 domestic beer.

Not that y’all asked, but fall is my favorite season.

I love the light, that little bite in the air, and the way you can go outside without immediately passing out from heat stroke.

Actually, what I like most is the way you can wear sweaters and such sans outerwear. Or with outerwear. Or whatever makes you most comfortable. It’s really a very versatile time.

Take kindergarten teacher Jamie Thompson, for instance.

She is wearing a light, long-sleeved green-on-green argyle sweater with plaid slacks, sunglasses, and pumps.

To me, this seems very versatile: she could easily wear this just about anywhere and be comfortable: inside, outside, to lunch, to the office, or for doing what she was doing: watching her two small children play outside of City Hall.

Constance Johnson likes what she calls “the easy style.”

When we ran into her outside of the COGIC convention last week, she was wearing a green cardigan layered over a black lacey tee, a banded skirt, and black boots (Everyone has been wearing boots lately! I know they were in last year bigtime, but it seems like they’ve only gotten bigger since then!)

“I don’t like to be confined,” she says of her outfit. “I didn’t want to walk around and tiptoe in some heels. … I can be comfortable and praise the Lord at the same time.”

I bet some of you ladies who don’t like heels are giving her an “Amen” right now.

Just guess what Valencia Woods’ favorite color is.

I’ll give you a hint: There’s an Aerosmith song by the same name. And a pop star with a Top 40 hit right now on the pop charts. And a Victoria’s Secret clothing line.

“I wear pink every day,” says Woods. “I love pink.”

She will generally pair her pink with black — like she did on this day — or she’ll pair it with lime green or purple.

This week, Justin got himself an all access pass to the 102nd COGIC convention, and, quite possibly, the last in Memphis. Though the church is headquartered in Memphis, and has been holding its Holy Convocation here for more than a 100 years, next year it will move to St. Louis.

With that, Memphis will lose its access to fabulous November fashion. I mean, let’s be honest, the convention is known as much for hats as its economic impact or spiritual message.

So the other day, Justin let me tag along with him. Unfortunately, it was mid-morning and there weren’t that many hats out and about, but on the other hand, a lot of the outfits sparkled in the mid-morning sun. There were diamonds and rhinestones, iridescent fabrics, beads, sequins, jewelry. Take Shelia Sewell’s outfit, for example.

She was wearing a cream-colored three-piece skirt suit in lace. But her leopard print hat includes a big satin bow and a rhinestone trim.

And her jacket clasp is completely inlaid with rhinestones, as well. Which matches her necklace and earrings.

Cute little Faith Jackson was in town from Chicago to attend the convention and wore this gray skirt with a short-sleeved black cotton blouse because she thought it was going to be hot.

(Funny how our perceptions change depending on what we’re used to. See the next item.)

“My skirt looks like it’s wool, but it’s actually cotton,” she says.

She says her style is simple, but sophisticated. I especially liked her silver name necklace.

Texan Christin Gordon was one of the vendors out on the Main Street Mall this week.

(I think I’ll let you guess what she was selling.)

I loved her mix of high and low — what she called her “Chicago” coat, the stripey tee and jeans, and her Texas A&M/Aggie camo cap.

“I wanted to be warm,” she said. “It’s beautiful now, but when the wind starts to blow, it gets cold.”

She also brought a number of different scarves with her, not just to Memphis, but to the booth.

“I love scarves. I have a bunch,” she says. “You can still be cute in the cold.”

A friend of mine just got back from a trip to Turkey.

No doubt inspired by the many hours I have helped him shop for shoes, or my recent “shoes that pop” posts, or even the shoes I am wearing today …

(And, yes, this does mean I wasn’t wearing any shoes when I took this picture.)

he was kind enough to bring me back a little something … shoes that REALLY pop.

I mean: elf toes, puff balls, gold trim? I’m not sure where exactly I can wear them, but they definitely raise the bar for the rest of my footwear.

Thanks, PD!

Oak Hall is having a Knock Your Socks Off “fun raiser” this Saturday, October 31st, with food, fashion, and the unveiling of Ovadafut’s custom Big Brothers Big Sisters sock.

From the flyer, it looks like 10 percent of sales from Ovadafut, Robert Graham, Eton, Antique Jewelry Box, Torino, Jose Luis Leather, Frye Boots, Shin Choi, Christopher Fischer, Ava, Minnie Rose, Repeat, Magaschoni, White + Warren, Cullen, and Kinross will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Memphis.

Speaking of fun, here are some other pictures of Ovadafut socks.

I don’t know if it’s something about us or something about Memphians, but Justin and I have a singular talent for finding and photographing people who are not from here.

Seriously, the Convention and Visitors Bureau should hire us. We’ve met people from Sweden, Los Angeles, Denver, and Las Vegas, among others.

The latest was Toronto resident Rachel Hilton.

We first noticed her lovely Virginia Johnson silk-screened scarf — “it’s cold in Canada,” she said — then her simple cloth and sequin necklace.

“I like jeans and t-shirts, but we’ve been wearing those all week,” she said. “We’re going to dinner and McEwen’s and we thought we’d put on something nice.”