Five Ways To Style A Silk Scarf
Easy ways to play with one of my favorite summer accessories, from the ’50s-style ponytail to “I Don’t Actually Own A Villa In The Italian Countryside…But I Like To Pretend That I Do.”
June 2012
DIY Jeans Into Cutoffs: Tips & Tricks!
Every spring, I have a tradition of hauling out my entire denim wardrobe and slicing up everything that I dare. You know all those pairs that you like but never wear - the ones that you put on because you “really should”…and then take off three seconds later because they’re fine and all, but you have another pair you like way better? Those are the pairs that I end up making into cutoffs. (I used to be all, oh, no, those are too expensive to go hacking into. But now it’s actually the pricey-yet-unworn pairs of jeans that I’m likeliest to transform, because if a item cost me upwards of a hundred bucks I would really enjoy getting to…you know…wear it.)
But read these tips before you break out the scissors, because I have done some poor cutoff jobs in my past, and destroying some denim that you were really excited to give a little new life to? No fun. And the point here is fun.
Have fun!
1. Always always always put them on first and make sure you really don’t like them before you pick up the scissors. In recent years, the pair pictured above - an A.B.S. style that I used to adore - was worn somewhere between “once” and “never”. And now those are my favorite shorts.
2. With the jeans on, use a Sharpie to make a little dot where you want the shorts to end. (Alternatively, you can lay them on the floor next to a pair of shorts that you think are the perfect length, and use those as a template.)
3. Err on the side of making them longer – you can always cut more off later – and remember that if you’re planning on letting them fray, you’ll lose a little length that way.
4. Remove the jeans, and cut the leg that you’ve marked. Fold in half, then cut the second leg to match the first. If you’re looking for a frayed effect, run over the edges (and any additional areas you’d like to have a “worn” look) with a steak knife, and then throw them in the wash.
5. Think outside-the-box. If Britney Spears-short isn’t your style, you can cut a pair that hits at the knee, roll them, and give them a quick turn with a needle and thread to make a cute retro style.
How-To: DIY A Ghost
…It looks to me like all you need is chicken wire (and an interest in sending your houseguests into a panic).
Click here for more.
StyleList Home: Small Space Ideas
In my StyleList Home interview with Kyle Schuneman, the interior designer describes how he made over one citydweller’s tiny apartment by focusing on her fondness for the Pacific coast, and offers his top three tips for adding very big style to a very little space.
Perfect Everyday Tees
Q. Hey Jordan!
My style is transitioning from fitted tees to looser tops that are slightly slouchy, but still feminine. Because this is your favorite type of shirt to wear, do you have any recommendations?
Thanks!
Becky
A. If I had my druthers, I’d totally wear slouchy t-shirts every day, everywhere, all the time. To work, to parties, to bed, to everything, just mixing in fun extras to dress them up or down. (This is actually sort of what I do.)
Above, three perfect tees that I’m keeping in heavy rotation these days.
L to R:
1. Vince is the gold standard for relaxed-fit yet soft and feminine, but I would never advise spending over a hundred bucks on a t-shirt (especially a white one; no no). I picked up a grey Vince scoop-neck at an outlet mall for about 75% off and am thrilled with it, but I do advise hand-washing even basic pieces when you adore how they fit, regardless of price point - it’s just too depressing when you finally find the perfect tee and then end up accidentally shrinking the thing.
2. My present t-shirt obsession: the Sunwash T from LOFT. I picked up one at an event a couple of weeks ago (in a size Large so it’d still be slouchy if it shrunk in the wash, which it didn’t), and then went back the next day for more (they’re on sale right now, and come in a zillion colors). I’m actually wearing one right this very minute.
See?
3. And finally, the shirt on the far right is Joe Fresh, a discovery I made when I was in Canada a few weeks ago: their tees are just perfect and very reasonably priced.
UPDATE: ThisIsWhereISayItAll asked: How is the sizing on the Joe Fresh tees? I’m a size 4 generally, and I went for the Medium (which fits similarly to the LOFT tee pictured above). So they run sliiiiightly large.
Fiesta Cups!
I’m going to call these “Fiesta Cups” because it’s my personal belief that when you serve tequila in hollowed-out fruit set on a retro deviled egg platter…well, that’s a party, right there.
FIESTA CUPS
1. Hollow out halved limes (reserve the juice and pulp). This is vastly easier if you happen to have a grapefruit spoon laying around. I don’t, so I used a serrated knife, which seemed both unnecessarily messy and surely dangerous. Don’t do that.
2. Dip the rims of each halved lime in coarse salt.
3. Set the salted limes in your fabulous Fire King egg platter. (If you don’t happen to own one already, try eBay; if you’re feeling impatient, Crate & Barrel carries a pretty, simple version.)
4. Carefully strain a little bit of fresh lime juice into each hollowed-out lime, and then top with good-quality tequila.
Note: If you’d prefer to serve these on a regular (flat) platter, make sure to take a little slice off of the underside of each halved lime, so that they sit upright.
Oh, and if you’d rather fill your deviled egg platter with deviled eggs than with tequila, click here for some tips.
Inspiration via Pinterest.
In A Dream World...
It never rains in my garden, so I can fill it with antique rugs, grand old couches, and crystal chandeliers.
Carrity Car Car Car
In which we pick up some wheels and I grin like a lunatic.
You know what this is?
Exactly what I wear every single day of my life, ever. T-shirt. Cutoffs. Boots (or sandals). Fun jewelry. So it’s not the most world-rocking of outfits to photograph, but hey: I was pretty excited/nervous on Saturday, so the fact that I managed to remember to wear pants at all is worth commemorating.
And apparently navy is my car-shopping color of choice.
Like, ooh, everyone in the universe, I just adore Rebecca Minkoff. The M.A.C. clutches were everywhere last summer and seem not to be what the mayjah fashion ladies are running around with this year, but a) don’t care, and b) also don’t care. And even if you’re into the Bag Of The Moment, I still think they’re worth investing in: to me, the shape has reached “classic” status and will never go out of style. (I’m especially fond of the two colors I managed to snag at a sample sale a few months back: red and camouflage.)
Oh, right.
We bought a car.
I love it.
Kendrick is a little fond of it too, as you can see.
It’s a Subaru Outback, which is the car that we’ve had our eye on all along but figured we’d probably have to end up leasing…but then we stumbled upon a 2006 with decent mileage that we were able to finagle down into our price range (with the assistance of Brian out at Prestige Subaru in Pleasantville, who was just wonderful to work with).
You know why this car makes me so happy? Because it’s super safe and practical and fits our budget and is all those “smart” and “responsible” things…but it’s also a little geeky, cool in exactly the way I respond to (see: a little geeky), and not even the tiniest bit precious. I hate the idea of having a car I have to be all up in arms about if someone dares to stick a fingerprint on it: I want something I can pile babies and dogs into and ride off into the sunset.
(And yes, Dad, I will remember to change the oil and will wax it often.)
(Totally lying. That’s Kendrick’s job.)
CAR!
Have a car.
So excited.
On me: Joe Fresh t-shirt, A.B.S. jeans DIY-ed into cutoffs (they’ll look better after they’ve taken a pass through the washing machine), Forever 21 belt, Steve Madden Roady boots, Guess by Marciano sunglasses, Hannah Warner necklace, Rebecca Minkoff purse, chloe _ isabel silver bangles, ROXoxox neon wrap bracelet, earrings c/o Ippolita.
JITH: DIY Junk Drawer Rehab
Sure, junk drawers may not be the sexiest of subjects. But everyone’s got one, and in this mini-segment, I have some tips for how to transform yours from a black hole of despair into something that’s actually…you know…useful.
P.S. Say “junk drawer” five times fast. I dare you. (I had to shoot that first moment in the video oh, ten times in order to not say “junkkoar”, or similar.)
Win My Summer Vacation Wardrobe!
Oh, so fun.
Last week, I picked out my dream summer vacation wardrobe from LOFT…and I just got word that they’ve offered to gift one RG reader with the entire lot of pieces, from sunglasses to stripes to snakeskin sandals.
Below are two of the pieces I selected (to check out all my picks, head over to my Pinterest page):
(How great are those sunglasses? Every. Day.)
To enter to win my dream LOFT summer wardrobe (in your specified sizes, of course), just follow me on Pinterest and re-pin your favorite of my LOFT selections to one of your own boards, then leave a comment below telling me that you entered (just so I have your email address and can notify the winner). And to be clear: you only need to re-pin one piece (although you’re certainly welcome to pin more), but if you win you’ll get all the pieces shown on my summer vacation board.
Winner will be chosen via Random.org and notified on Monday, June 18. Contest open to U.S. and Canada residents only.
(Click here to follow LOFT on Pinterest.)
[CONTEST CLOSED. WINNER: DENISE LANDRUM-GEYER.]
“
I was only about a minute away, so I made the scene about the same time as the police. People, young and old, wandered without direction, some crying into cell phones, others having to be restrained. All attention seemed focused on a white house with cheerful green trim and tables filled with food set up out front. Colorful star-shaped birthday balloons twisted in the wind, tied to a railing. At the top of the steps, bathed in the evening sun, was a little girl in a white party dress decorated with a large, pink flower. A man, who I later learned was her father, gently cradled her head in his hands.
I raised my camera and through the zoom lens realized with dawning horror that 5-year-old Briana Allen did not have a large pink flower on her dress. A bullet had emptied the contents of her abdomen. I continued to shoot the first responders desperately trying to save the girl and the police officers fighting to control the chaotic scene. As I shot, I realized that this was the worst crime I’d ever witnessed, and I fought tears.
” —Absolutely heartbreaking. (via cajunboy)What Is A Michelada?
I was wondering the same thing when I ordered one at brunch yesterday. But I am now full of information on the topic, thanks to our very helpful waitress, so I’ll tell you.
It’s a Mexican cocktail that consists of a beer poured over a mixture of lime, salt, and various hot sauces or chiles. It’s served in a chilled, salt-rimmed glass, and is considered an excellent cure for a hangover. I have no idea why I ordered one; I’m really not a hot-sauce kinda girl, but what can I say? I was feeling frisky.
Anyway, it tasted like spicy ocean water. Not my thing. But Kendrick seems to like them.
(It’s pictured above with the pomegranate-rubbed skirt steak tacos at MXCO, which were way better.)
Play
Navy And Nearly Nautical
In which I shop for a car down by the river.
P.S. (Yes, a P.S. before the body of a post; I’m feeling wildly avant-garde today) I’m trying out a slightly new format that I hope will help the home page load nice and speedily. So with photo-heavy style posts, the bulk of the post - all those stories rife with whimsy and disaster and thoughtful, off-camera gazes at nothing at all - will come after the jump.
Jump!
So we went car shopping last weekend. And we’re going again tomorrow, which means that by tomorrow evening we will be the proud owners of a car (or at least the proud owners of a lease), because the next few weekends are crazy for us - Kendrick is swamped, I’m headed to San Francisco for three days (the first time I’ll have spent the night away from Indy since his birth; sort of panicking/sort of excited to, you know, sleep) - and we’ve got to make this happen, because I am in serious need of checking one major thing off my insanely long checklist of major things.
Anyway. We went car shopping. And I decided to dress sensibly (for me, anyway). It was hot, and humid, and also intermittently cloudy and rainy, which meant:
1) No jeans (I hate the way water climbs up the legs of your jeans when it rains),
2) Layers (to accommodate rapidly changing temperatures,
3) Easy hair and makeup (it was a long day), and
4) Flat-ish shoes.
And moons and bones. Of course.
Beauty-wise, I just went for my fallbacks: ye olde Topknot With A Twist, and watermelon lipstick.
We were just about to head out for the day, when Kendrick looked down and noticed that I was wearing these shoes. Which are amazing, but which are also…oh, the least appropriate shoes ever to wear when test-driving cars all day. (It’s for reasons like these that I keep the guy around.)
But I didn’t want to wear flip-flops or slip-ons…and so, even though these shoes are much more “cozy fall” than “nautical summer”, I thought hey, let’s give them a go. And as it turns out, I love the look of rugged suede booties with a light, warm-weather outfit.
On me: Sweater c/o LOFT; Forever 21 tank, Sold Design Lab shorts (via Tanger Outlets), GANT sunglasses, vintage rose bracelet (from Sussex Flea Market), black wrap bracelet c/o ROXoxox, chloe + isabel silver bangles, Hannah Warner necklace, Joie booties.
Sarah's Sweets / Special Sauce
I’ve spoken before about the importance - nay, the absolute mandatoriness - of remembering to order a side of that magical Shack Sauce for your fries whenever you go to Shake Shack. Shack Sauce is like heaven on a cracker.
But I’m moving far, far away from the land of Shake Shacks (well, thirty minutes, anyway), to a place where the majority of hamburgers that grace my lips (oh, and there will be many) will be constructed by my own two paws.
So this summer, I’ll be whipping up some special sauce of my own (extra for the fries).
This recipe I is one I found over on new foodie blog Sarah’s Sweets…and it looks great: simple, straightforward…and Sriracha-involving.
(Image via Sarah’s Sweets; arrow and emphasis mine.)
Back To Basics
I’ve had it with my skin. Had it!
You’ve heard me moaning about my oft-troublesome skin from time to time: the post-pregnancy period, what with the tidal waves of crazy hormones and all, has been less-than-kind to my face, and now with the weather turning…
I’ve had it.
I’ve tried lots of products and potions over the years, with varying results: some work, some don’t, some work temporarily but then sort of peter out…and I’d like to find a comprehensive (and affordable) routine that works for the long-term. So I’m taking it all back to basics, and going for facial skincare products that are specifically designed for sensitive skin, free of dyes, chemicals, irritants, and anything else with the potential to send my pores into a tizzy.
For the remainder of 2012, I’m partnering up with Simple Skincare to bring you tips, tricks, giveaways, and information on how to bring out the absolute best in your skin (and with 58% of women classifying their skin as “sensitive”, I’m assuming there are a lot of you out there who feel as I do). Simple is new to the U.S. market (I remember using their products during my brief time living in London), and they’ve launched 13 core products specifically for sensitive skin.
Simple also teamed up with goal keeper of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, Hope Solo, to share her advice on managing sensitive skin through balanced lifestyle choices. Learn more – and enter for a chance to win an all-inclusive trip to Los Angeles – at www.EscapeWithHope.com.
P.S. The top photo is of the Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes packed into my travel kit – I took them with me to Canada so as to avoid the whole traveling-with-liquids thing, and loved them, especially that they’re oil & alcohol free.
P.P.S. Do you have sensitive skin? Tell me your troubles in the comments! I’ll do my best to address any specific issues or questions you have in upcoming posts.
Simple Skincare is a sponsor of Ramshackle Glam.
Objects Of Affection
Laura Mercier Almond Coconut Milk Honey Bath, which is in a holding pattern awaiting its arrival in my new, actual-bathtub-containing home, where I plan to spend the first evening awash in cake-scented bubbles…
…The fact that I am actually and for real turning into my Nanny Ruth, what with the ridiculously piled-on rings (I even sleep in most of these).
L to R: my engagement ring; Nanny Ruth’s silver-and-crystal ring, LyraLoveStar crescent moon ring, a ruby-and-diamond 30th birthday gift from my parents, Nanny Ruth’s black-and-gold ring/my wedding band/my mother’s wedding band/Catbird alphabet ring (stacked); Nanny Ruth’s pinkie ring…
…MCMC Noble perfume, which I’ve been drooling over for a year now and which Kendrick surprised me with for Mother’s Day…
…Brilliantly-colored melamine plates (click here for a DIY) that will play a starring role in this summer’s backyard BBQs…
…And my favorite thing to put on those plates these days: salted peaches, prosciutto, and mozzarella sliced over lightly toasted challah bread.
