New Year's Eve Sparkle and Shine

New Year's Eve by mainstreammisfit4 featuring sheath dresses

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.  I definitely did and with my new camera I hope to improve the content of this blog and show you some more photos.  Unfortunately, I did not capture my Christmas outfit, but I plan to return to posting my looks very soon.  In the meantime I will tell you what I didn't get for Christmas, an outfit for New Year's Eve.  There is nothing like breaking out the sparkle for the season, and this Silence and Noise Lords Leaping dress from Urban Outfitter's 12 Days of Dresses does the trick.  I love that it features 2-way sequins that are black on one side and silver on the other.  You can change your look with a slide of your hand.  Add any of these accessories and you are ready to party in style.  So if you're not snowed in, head out to the mall and get your shine on!  

Christmas Wishes

Christmas Wishes by mainstreammisfit4 featuring zara dresses

I can't believe Christmas will be here so soon!  In honor of the holiday, I have arranged some of my favorite red and green gifts with some holiday sparkle.  These looks give you a chance to look sweet or tough with just a switch of shoes or accessories.  Of course I'm not implying that you should actually wear your red dress with green shoes or vice-versa, but a touch of either color in your Christmas ensemble would add to the holiday cheer.

Heavens, waiting

Left: American Eagle Outfitters, Right: Steve Madden

Answer me this simple question, which shoe do you think would be more comfortable: Exhibit A, the American Eagle rope wedge with a low platform heel, leather ankle strap and fabric peep toe, or the Exhibit B, the Steve Madden cork wedge with a high heel and a suede T-strap?  If you chose Exhibit B you are correct!  Looks can be deceiving; I kind of wanted to make that the title of this post but it lacked the mystery of a Temper Trap lyric so I refrained from doing so.   Fashion is a funny thing, many things are not always what they seem.  In what I believe to be the [paraphrased] words of a shoe designer (Guiseppe Zanotti?), "a shoe should always be more comfortable than it looks."  I wore these Steve Maddens for the first time yesterday for about 7 hours.  I wore the other shoes for the umpteenth time last Saturday and I think I might have almost broke them in except they began to cut into my ankles.  I received the AEs from my mom before my 16th birthday and have worn them every summer since then.  Although they are leather which doesn't take too long for me to break in, I have experienced pain in these shoes if I walk in them for even a short period of time.  I made the mistake of wearing them on a shopping trip to Saks 5th Ave in NYC a short time after they were given to me.  At first they weren't giving me any trouble, but when I made it to the shoe salon I was feeling the pain.  As I entered the room I noticed a small, white piece of cardboard-like material toward the right corner of the room.  As my eyes took in the beauty of the words, "Sale in progress" I let out a sigh of joy.  I let my eyes wander over the myriad of shoes, all on sale and all waiting to adorn my aching feet.  I bet now you're thinking, "this story has a happy ending because Caroline bought an amazing pair of dangerous looking yet comfy designer shoes for a steal!"  Unfortunately for me, the only benefit of Gucci booties being 30% off was that I could go from staring at an ad for those unaffordable shoes in my copy of Vogue while drooling all over the page, to staring at an actual, slightly less unaffordable shoe and even touching it (while attempting to stop the spit from creeping out of my mouth).  Instead of switching my common, mass produced espadrilles for finely crafted Italian stilettos, I left Saks and made the painful journey back to my hotel room to change into my silver gladiator sandals (much more practical).  These silver gladiators had the misfortune of encountering the slivery slickness that is (more than 5) New York puddles during a downpour last summer but that's another story. Yesterday I walked all over my house, up and down stairs, on grass, hardwood, and linoleum in my new wedges and all I had to show for it were some small red marks that faded 10 minutes after I changed into flip flops.  Sometimes, what seems practical can't be perfect and what seems deceptively perfect is. 

Florida Finds

I love vacationing in Orlando, especially when it involves shopping at the outlets.  I received a comment asking if I could describe a typical day in my life or a day of shopping.  Since blogging about a day in my life would bore my readers out of their minds, I'll describe a day of shopping, namely the day of shopping I had on my vacation. When I go shopping I look for 3 things: style, quality, and cost-- low cost.  I usually go to the Orlando Premium Outlets but this time I went to the Orlando Prime Outlets because of the nice coupon in the brochure that could be used to get a free coupon book  (did I used any of these coupons?- no).  I did, however, make use of the 30% off Neiman Marcus Last Call 4th of July Sale and the 40% off one non-sale item of my choice offer.  I had originally thought the one non-sale item would be 40% off instead of 30%  but to my surprise I snagged my Hype leather cross body for 70% off!  It was a great day in spite of the torrential down poor that kept me in the same store for at least an hour and a half.  I feel like this post is kinda long so (if your really curious) I'll post about my typically shopping habits some other time.  And no, I did not buy those great L.A.M.B. heels, but I sure did want to!  They are probably the highest shoes I've ever tried but they were surprisingly comfortable. 

Running Free

Running Free by mainstreammisfit4 featuring Nike

Nike Tempo Track Women's Running Shorts, $28
Nike Dri-FIT Cotton Airborne Women's Sports Bra, $24
Amazon.com: ASICS Women's Everyday Run Visor: Clothing, $18
Sail Duffle Weekender Bag, $350
Nike Triax Mia Women's Running Watch, $89
Oakley Women's Ravishing Lavender Trust Special Edition Sunglasses,..., 105 GBP
H2-Origami Water Bottle, $18
Nike LunarGlide+ Women's Running Shoe, $100
Strangelove Text - Fonts.com
The FITNESS Spring 2010 Sneaker Guide Nike LunarGlide+
Marathon Training in a Skirt - That's Fit
Nike Sport Armband for iPod nano (5th Gen.) - Apple Store (U.S.)

Last night I was thinking about how much I love running and how I need to start running on a regular basis again if I ever want to look good in a bikini. Of course, since I am lazy and have absolutely no motivation even though it was only 70 degrees out and perfect running weather, I made a collage of the running gear I would like to own instead of actually hitting the trail. Obviously you should look up to me as the model of health and a passionate champion of fitness. Anyway, I have recently become obsessed with the Nike LunarGlide+ running shoes which I read about in Fitness Magazine. They come in so many cool colors and I am convinced that I don't need quite as much arch support as my trusty Brooks Adrenalines give me. These sneakers would be perfect for the stylish runner so I will try to buy myself a pair soon and maybe acquire a little motivation for some serious training. But other than those shoes, I find many of these products perfect for looking cute and staying comfy while you run your route or conquer the stair-master at the gym (though I'm not quite sold on the running skirt yet even if I did put a picture of one in this collage). Isn't that Tory Burch Duffle cute?! I'd love to have one of those too! But I digress, I plan to go running tomorrow morning so I'll let you know how it goes!

Dance Dance

Prom was on Friday night.  I could not have asked for more perfect weather.  Furthermore, I had the good fortune to wear this BCBG Max Azria silk and satin gown, in my absolute favorite color with some sparkly earrings from Skirt and my the best pair of croco-embossed evening slides by Calvin Klein.  I must say, finding this dress was noting short of a miracle.  I walked into the BCBG boutique and walked out a short time later with a gown that fit well, was in my favorite color, and was on sale.  This was the only gown I tried on this year and I only went prom dress shopping that one time.

What I love about this gown and my gown from last year are the subtle design details.  I like to focus on the construction of the gown, when I choose what to wear.  The pleating on this gown is beautiful and the silk stripe down the front has a lengthening effect.  Another thing I loved about it was that it came with straps, which I attached before hitting the dance floor.  I was so nice to dance and not worry about my dress falling down.  I finished off the look with a slightly messy up-do and wore Maybelline Stiletto  liquid eyeliner with subtle pink Lancome shadow and Honey nude lipstick by Kohl's brand Flirt.  
   

Loves

BCBG Paris Chloe Leather Kooba Booties

I Got Chills, They're Multiplyin'

Happy Friday (almost Saturday)!!
Today, I thought it I would share the story of the beautiful shoes that I spotted a week ago. They are fabulous L.A.M.B. Deven perforated metallic and patent leather flats I discovered hidden in the sale racks of Baltimore Pike Shoes. The minute I tried them on, I knew I had to have them and at a 90% discount off the price they would have been in a department store, it would have been a sin NOT to buy them. Since the Fashion Show was the next day, I wasn't sure how much money I'd need there so I held off my purchase. Fortunately I didn't spend too much the next day, went to the store to pick them up and ended up paying less than the sale price on the box! Don't you just love it when that happens?