When All Else Fails: Black + Denim...and Stripper Shoes

 Black and denim has been my go-to look in a crunch every since I can remember.  When all else feels, it is a look that you can count for instant chic.  This morning I was in a bit of a rush (what's new?) and having one of those indecisive closet moments. You know the ones where you look at clothes you've frantically piled on your bed only to be left feeling like you "have nothing to wear" despite the fact that you couldn't fit another hanger on the rod if your life depended on it. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has these moments.  These are usually the moments that result in a weekend closet audit and a subsequent haul.  On these days you reach for the tried and true...

What I'm Wearing...

~ Up Against The Wall black boyfriend blazer
(This wasn't really apart of my outfit originally, but I grabbed it on the way out the door! LA is usually cold in the morning even if it warms up to 80 during the day!)
~ DM New York black button down halter with floral ruffle detail
~ CAbi dark was boot cut jeans
~ Vintage gold leather tie belt (passed down from a friends aunt)
~ Michael Antonio lucite "stripper" heels with gold trim
~ Guess earrings
~ H&M leopard cat eye sunnies

This is one of my fave hair styles though my friend say it's an old lady hair style.  I completely disagree.  I think its just classic...equestrian inspired? I don't know, but I love it! I always feel sophisticated when I wear my hair like this!

 
Lucite heels...actually all things lucite have been all the rage over the last couple seasons, but I've had these for about 3 years.  I bought them to wear with satin Grecian inspired white dress, and 'clear' shoes were perfect.  Strappy metallic sandals were the obvious alternative, but these were much sexier, in my opinion.  There is something about lucite stilettos that is just sooo sexy!  Of course, we all know there is a fine line between sexy and ummm stripper.  But when done right, they are very cute! If you're hesitant to jump on the lucite heel bandwagon, try a lucite wedge!

 Thanks for stopping by!! 

Shoulder Pads and Sensible Shoes...

You may remember back when I posted my thrifted HOTT pink silk blouse I mentioned that I had also picked up a couple blazers and an animal print jumpsuit. Well, I'm slowly starting to pull out my new-to-me duds.  I am one of those weird people that buys new clothes and saves them for a special occasion.  Am I the only one who does that? I know, weird! Lately, you all have been my "special occasion."  Aside from being OBSESSED with reading fashion blogs, one of the other reasons I started fashion blogging was because I needed to re-assert my personal style.  It's so easy to get complacent with your style when your job doesn't require you to dress up every day and you're just sitting at a desk staring at a computer for eight hours.  I hate putting on a super fly outfit only to come home exhausted at the end of the day and peel it off... what a waste!  It's nice to be able to wear jeans and sweats occasionally on a lazy Friday, but seriously, you get so comfortable and next thing you know, you're having to go home to change after work before happy hour because there is NO WAY in hell you'd set foot into a bar wearing those dusty jeans and flip flops! I can't be the only one that's ever been stuck in that rut!  Seriously, I used to say if my co-workers saw me on the streets outside of work they wouldn't recognize because I look like a completely different person.  Well, one day I decided that was really pretty stupid considering that I spend 5 days a week, 40+ hours a week at work...that is a considerable portion of my life! Why spend it looking dumpy...even if only my PC is watching. This was definitely a paradigm shift for me, and I have to admit that I still come home some days feeling like I just wasted a perfectly good outfit, but on the other hand, I approach my day with more confidence because I feel better about how I look.

Okay, I totally got way off track there. The point is, I am finally pulling out one of the blazers I picked up at the Goodwill a few weeks ago for $9.99. I am totally in love with everything about this blazer. The color, the cut, the shoulder pads! It is PERFECTION!  It was a real find for me because I had actually been hunting for two vintage blazers -- one in white, and one in blush.  I am still hunting for a white one, but I can definitely cross blush of the list.  The color of this blazer is a brighter blushy  pink than what I was looking for, but I think it serves the same purpose.  I LOVE vintage blazers because the fit is totally different from new blazers. They are more over-sized and boxy and of course they have KILLER shoulder pad action.  (My mom is going to die laughing when she reads this because I hated shoulder pads as a kid.  I used to rip them out of all my dresses and mini-blazers!)

What I'm Wearing...

~ 1980's Vintage Renee Tener for Jeanne Pierre blush blazer, thrifted

~ H&M tank, $5.95 in stores now

~ Boyfriend jeans, thrifted

~ Old belt circa 2005

~ Arden B. necklace (L's favorite)

~ Thee H&M silver bangle (Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win your own!)

~ Target silver tone hoop earrings

~ Modern Vintage brushed gold pumps
(I bought these a couple years ago, but I've only worn them twice. They were on the Nordstrom Rack clearance racks marked down from $297 to like $20 or something ridiculous.  I love, love, love the color, but I realized today that the heel is a little low for my taste.  The low heel gives them a real "sensible" kinda vibe. What do you think?  I've considered getting rid of them several time, but I can't seem to part with them.)

So this jacket is a size 10.  Vintage sizing always throws me for a loop.  Why has it changed so much over the years?  I think that might be a good little research project for me.  This brings to mind the infamous Miss  Marilyn Monroe, people love to throw out that she wore a size 16...blah, blah, blah.  Well, I did a little research on Miss Monroe's stats.

Height: 5 feet 5 1/2 inches
Weight: Varied, 115 - 120 lbs.
Measurements: 37-23-36 (Studio's Claim); 35-22-35 (Dressmaker's Claim)

(stats from http://www.marilynmonroe.com)

ummm in today's world, I'd say she'd be about size 2! Possibly a 4 because of the waist to hip ratio. Seriously, a 23" waist!  So, all of that goes to say that hearing "Marilyn Monroe was a size 16" doesn't meant a damn thing to me in 2010! Lol!

Sorry for the rants in today's post! Lol, thanks for stopping by!!!  And don't forget to enter my giveaway before June 30.

It's Reader Appreciation Day!!!

Well folks, here were are on Reader Appreciation Day!  Alas, it is time for my very first giveaway.  I hope you guys like my "Eboni's Summer Essentials" bundle 'o joy!  Because I appreciate each and every one of you so much, I am sponsoring this little giveaway myself as a gift to my readers, but I do hope that as my blog grows, I will one day have the opportunity to offer a sponsored giveaway for you guys! Sooooo here it goes...

One lucky Fashionista Next Door will win my summer essentials survival kit consisting of SIX of my favorite items this summer (you guys should recognize some of them! lol):

1. H&M Aviator Sunglasses
2. My FAVORITE H&M Bangles (Yes, this is THEE bangle that I wear every single day, except you get one in gold, too!)
3. H&M Silver Hoop Earrings (have you noticed I wear hoops almost daily?)
4. Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara in "Very Black" (Don't wear much makeup but I wear mascara every day!)
5. MAC To The Beach Collection Lipglass in "Splashing" (I was originally going to get 'Pinkarat' Lustreglass, which is actually my every day color, but I figured I'd get something from the To the Beach collection instead because it's limited in availability.  I did try the color on in the store and it is FABULOUS and very natural looking which is right up my alley!)
6. OPI Nail Lacquer in "Gargantuan Green Grape" and "Samoan Sand" (I am officially in love with my lime sherbet toes! I could not find the exact color anywhere, but I did find this OPI polish that is very similar! I also got a nude shade because I never, ever do color on my hands regardless of what I've got going on the feet.  I always stick to nudes and buffs on the finger nails)

You can't really see how loverly the nail polish colors are in my rinky dinky iPhone pic, so I found some pics online to show the colors better.  Aren't they great!

The lip gloss....

Entry Rules:
Contest is open to US and international readers.  I will ship internationally if necessary.  Winner must be willing to give their shipping address so I can ship off the goods.

1 entry (mandatory)

1. Follow The Fashionista Next Door with Google connect, Bloglovin or Feedburner.  Leave a comment below and let me know that you're following, and which method you're using to follow.
2. In your comment, tell me your top 3 summer must haves.
3. Input your email address field provided so I can contact you if you win.  This information will not be posted publicly.

 1 additional entry (optional)

1. Post about this giveaway on your blog or site.
2. Leave a separate comment with a link to your post.

1 additional entry  (optional)

1. Tweet about this giveaway.
2. Leave a separate comment with a link to your tweet.

Contest ends Wednesday, June 30 at 12 midnight PST and a winner will be randomly selected using Random.org's number generator.  Good Luck!!!

Now on to today's Goofy Pics... I also have a Fashionista in the Next Cubicle but it's late and I'm tired, and I'm pretty sure my fiance is not gonna speak to me for the rest of the week so I better get off this computer...QUICK!  He is so over my blogging!  I'll post the Fashionista in the Next Cubicle tomorrow!

Recognize the aviators and bangles??? Lol

What I'm Wearing...

~ Linen "Peplum Blazer"
(the little 'peplum' in the back was much cuter before I sat in my desk chair all day. Love linen, but we all know how it wrinkles)

~ Lace skirt worn as a shirt. 
(I am not really a fan of this actually worn as a skirt, but I do love it as a tunic.  It looks fabulous under a black blazer, but I thought I'd switch it up with the eggshell blazer today... it is summer after all)

~ Black skinny belt taken from a random black dress???

~ Black leggings from a random Forever 21 type store.

~ Michael Kors pumps with zipper toe detail, purchased at DSW

~ H&M silver bangle (Who's gonna win TWO of these for themselves???)

~ Lucite and lace bangle

~ Forever 21 necklace (this necklace makes soooo much noise when I walk. Lol!)

~ Target silver tone hoop earrings

Thanks for stopping by!!! and Good Luck to every one!

Bittersweet: Fashion Bombshell of The Day Feature

Yesterday, I was featured on The Fashion Bomb as there Bombshell of the Day! Yippee!  Great honor to be featured among all the submissions they must receive, but many the comments were less than complimentary.  According to readers over at The Fashion Bomb, my style is just blah.  This is to be expected, every one's style is different and I can't expect everyone to like my style, but I will say that some of the comments were kinda hurtful and ummm...rude.  You can critique someone without being rude, ya know? Ironically, the outfit that they all HATED was an outfit that most of my loyal readers loved (see it here).  In fact, to this day it is my most commented on post!  So I say, whatevs! Hate it or love it, I'm gonna keep doing my thing!  I read a ton of blogs, and I don't like everything I see FOR ME, but my comments are always polite because fashion is a personal expression for the person wearing it.  Besides, I live by the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" rule. I guess this is the downside of blogging. You put yourself out there to be judged by the world. It's a good thing I have all of you to keep me grounded, or I might have been really hurt by some of the comments.  So anyway, thanks to The Fashion Bomb for the feature, and thanks to all who commented... good and bad! I appreciate the feedback, either way!

Go check out the feature here!!!

p.s. I am wrapping up all the details for the giveaway... I think you're gonna LOVE it!!!!!!! Here is a little sneak peak... I will be giving a way a bundle of goodies..."Eboni's Summer Essentials"... so what are they??? You'll find out tomorrow! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Where The Wild Things Are....

The weather in LA was GORGEOUS today. Sunny, clear blue skies, with just a slight breeze! Summer has definitely arrived, and I happily greeted summer with this colorful "tiger" print maxi dress! I've had my eye on this dress for a few months and I finally bought it a couple weeks ago and couldn't wait to get it on! I adore the vibrant print, and the floor sweeping length, and to top it all off it feels like a nightgown! It is soooo dang comfy! The best thing about summer dresses is they are no fuss! Especially in this jersey knit no-wrinkle fabric. Just throw it on, add some accessories and that's it! You're good to go!

What I'm Wearing...

~ Tiger print maxi dress

~ H&M L.O.G.G. jean jacket

~ Michael Antonio ankle cuff sandal

~ Forever 21 necklace

~ H&M silver bangle (yes, I am going to wear this bangle every day for at least a month)

~ Random plastic/lace bangle (Also a summer favorite)

~ Tiffany toggle necklace wrapped around twice and worn as a bracelet

~ Target silver tone hoop earrings

~ H&M aviator sunglasses

Well folks, I have officially made it to 50 + 2 followers! WOOHOO!!! I really can't even believe it! I really do appreciate each and every reader! So, in honor of all my FABULOUS readers, I am very excited to host a Reader Appreciation Giveaway!!! Yippee!! I am still finalizing the details, and will post the prize and entry rules in a post this Thursday, 6/24. Stay tuned!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Feedburner! Never Miss a Post!

Hi Folks! I just set up The Fashionista Next Door on Feedburner so you can either subscribe to read posts in whatever RSS reader you use (google reader, etc) OR you can subscribe to receive posts via email!!! (I personally love this option since I follow so many blogs!)  Subscriptions options can be found at the top of the menu bar on the right.

I was prompted to set this up because one of my good friends told me that she only reads blogs that can subscribe to via email.  She is far to busy to actively browse through her fave blogs, but will definitely read them if they come to her email!  Laurina, this ones for you doll!  I hope you'll become a dedicated reader :)

I also wanted to give a quick shout out to all my new followers and readers! My little Google Analytics numbers keep climbing and it makes me really happy!  I no longer feel like I'm talking to myself, which is kinda nice...Lol!  Anyway, I am aaaalmost at 50 followers... woohoo!  I think I might have to celebrate with a little giveaway of some kind when I hit 50...hmmmmm....stay tuned...

Thanks for stopping by!