blonde bed head: November 2010

the other girls are driven home

I'm baaack! Sorry for the lack of posts last week! Work was crazy, had car issues, been horribly sick and with Thanksgiving, I didn't have much time near the computer. But now, I think I have some things under control at work, got a Chrysler 300 as a rental car HA!, feel much better and am back in a regular schedule!

I wore this outfit last week when I spent the first of two days at one of the local t.v. stations filming a video for my work's annual dinner. I borrowed this sweater from Katelyn of Shop Vogue Vintage. You can see how she styled it here. I paired it with a pair of tapered dress pants, boots and the faux fur scarf. It's so cozy and warm. I'm not often practical, but I think I'll get a lot of use out of the faux fur scarf this winter.

[pants by bcbg, boots by nyla, faux fur scarf by bebe, borrowed sweater by sweater project]

Lulu's $100 Gift Card Giveaway!

Want to win a $100 gift card to one of my favorite online shops, Lulu's? So easy. Just visit Lulu's, select your favorite item and comment with a link to the item. This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian readers only and the giveaway will end next Wednesday, December 1 at 9 p.m. Winner will be selected at random. For a second entry, tweet the giveaway with a link to this post and comment again. Good luck everyone! In the mean time, if you'd like to save 15 percent on orders, use the discount code "bedhead"

royal oak

So I've been catching the cold that's been going around. I suppose that's what I get for surviving off bags of m&m's, red bull and hot cheetos. I kept things low key this weekend and went to the Detroit area on Saturday to meet up with Suze of Miss Vinyl Ahoy and Katelyn of Shop Vogue Vintage (who took these photos for me!) We went to a couple shops in the Royal Oak area and I tried on a variety of amazing fur coats from Paris, my favorite vintage store. Suze looked amazing in a leopard print hat that I'm convinced she MUST purchase.

I think of shopping as a sport. I need to be able to remove or add layers, move swiftly and have my arms free. A hoodie, leather jacket, jeans and a bag i can wear cross my body is the perfect combination for a shopping day outfit, especially for me. Although the boots may not be practical, I'm a pro in them. Yes, I suffer from the occasional trip and fall, but who doesn't? :)

[hoodie and leather jacket by gap, boots by nyla, jeans by bdg, bag by rebecca minkoff]

My new hoodie has GOLD zippers and hardware details. I've coined it my fancy hoodie.

My signature cat move.

Hanging out in Royal Oak yesterday I was reminded of this hilarious parody of the Pure Michigan ad campaign. If you're not from Michigan, or the midwest, you may not have watched or heard these commercials with Tim Allen's voice talking about the lush greenery to run through barefoot or beautiful sunsets that cascade beautiful colors of light over the great lakes (I hate adjectives so understand how much it pains me to pull this out of my ass and write like what I hear in these ads.) Here's the video of Royal Oak and here's an example of a real ad in case you're not familiar. Hehehe.

Morning light shall burst bright

Not often do I want to wear something so girly and pretty, but I fell in love with this fabulous dress Urban 1972 sent me. Well, I picked it out and it was calling my name, "Andrea, style me and wear meee!" I've since paired it with various boots, leather jackets and most recently, my favorite faux fur vest. I wore it a couple weeks ago when I went to a prescreening for Morning Glory. Although I'm not much for anything chick-flicky, I really liked the movie. Despite some expected cheesy parts and predictable ending, I giggled a lot and found it to be charming. Definitely a fun movie to see with a group of friends like I did!

Earlier this week, a dream of mine was fulfilled. After waiting a long 3.5 hours, I met David Sedaris and got my favorite book, Naked, signed..and he drew me an owl. He told me I looked fabulous and I sheepishly accepted his compliment and returned his enthusiastic questions with simple, monotone answers out of nervousness. I was annoyed with myself that I couldn't have left him with a better first impression. Typical of me. If you haven't read his books, you must read all of his! I reread them about once a year and end up exploding with laughter just like I'm reliving a funny story a friend told me.

[dress c/o urban 1972, tights from urban outfitters, boots c/o wanted, bag by rebecca minkoff]

P.S. Did you hear about the groupon deal, pay $25 for a $50 gift card to American Apparel. I screeched when I saw this since I hardly get any deals from American Apparel. Click here for a link to the discount! I bought mine already! Ha!

The Want List: Boots!

It's a necessity in Michigan to be armed with a variety of boots to keep warm (and to look stylish too of course!) From affordable to way-out-of-my-price-range, here are a few I'm coveting!

1. Josh Buckled Shearling boot by Dolce Vita, $245
2. Brisbane boot by Jeffrey Campbell, $183
3. Suede army boots by Brian Atwood, $1395
4. She's a Brit boot, $49.99
5.Constance Chukka by Alexander Wang, $670
6. Leopard print pony hair wedge by Nina Yaneli, $109.95
7. Camel buckle lace up boot, $49

Weekend in Chicago

Since I've had Onstar, I've loved the freedom it has given me to drive all over hell and visit my friends. Like this weekend when I visited my friend Sarah in Chicago . Sarah abandoned me for the windy city in July and I was finally able to reunite with her and catch up through a weekend of shopping and dancing.

[coat by h&m, dress by akira, heels by kelsi dagger, nylons from walgreens]

Saturday, we headed downtown to shop and met up with Lisa of Archives and Emily of Sartoriography. It was so great to see them and next time, girls, I need to give you more notice so we can hang out longer! That night, Sarah and I got ready for a night out on the town and these are the outfits we wore. I picked up the dress, shoes and coat earlier that day. I went super simple with the light brown dress and black suede pumps. They're actually the same shoes as Sarah's, but I took the bows off. I felt like I had a booty in the dress and long legs, both of which I don't normally have!

This is Sarah and her hot LBD!
[dress by bcbg, heels by kelsi dagger]

Had such a fun weekend with you, Sarah! <3

Featured in Lansing NOISE

Let's be honest. I'm not the most frugal of shoppers and when I was approached to be apart of this thrift shopping challenge in Lansing, it was an actual challenge for me. The task was to spend $20 or less on a fashionable outfit by shopping at thrift stores. Along this journey, we were photographed and filmed! Nicole, Kat and I made a trip to a Goodwill in town and to my surprise, I found so many things on my wish-list for fall/winter. And my outfit only cost $14.

To read the article and watch the video, click here! To see how I wore this outfit, click here!

Guest Post: Mike

Mike is one of those guys who always looks put together. I admire him for his efforts seeing how not a week goes by I don't look disheveled and dirty. When I first met him I thought him and his girlfriend were probably the most attractive people in the world and turns out, they are the most fun too! I bother them endlessly about being their wedding photographer whenever they take that next step in their relationship, haha! Anyways, not only is Mike easy to photograph, he's such a good friend and has some serious style, especially when it comes to dressing professionally. So here he is!

I work in sales and I'd be lying if I said first impressions were not very important. To be taken serious as a business professional, especially as a young pro, you have to appear put together and confident, which surprisingly, clothes can do for you.

[Shirt by Robert Graham, tie-vintage, shoes by Robert Wayne, suit by Pal Zileri, pocket square by Jos. A. Banes, watch by Diesel]

I am lucky in my line of work as I deal with interior design firms on a daily basis. This allows me to add some flashier colors, like pink (or salmon for all you men who don’t wear pink) to my outfits. I can also get away with rocking a 5 o’clock shadow most of the time, but let’s be honest, I'm Italian and it appears by lunchtime anyway.

My advice, don't be afraid to wear color! I recently read somewhere that women are attracted to the color red. It has to do with its ability to stand out and be noticed quickly. I personally like wearing the color purple. I try to add that into many of my daily outfits as an accent.

[sweater by Banana Republic, shirt by Prada, tie by Timo Cosura, pants by Zanella, boots by Giorgio Brutini and watch by Bulova]

My personal style has much to do with fit and finish. One of my biggest guilty pleasures is having my clothes custom fitted to me. There are people out there that can just go shopping, pick up clothes and it fits, but to me (who happens to be between two sizes on everything) having it tailored just right is the only way to go. That way, your clothes fill out your frame perfectly without sagging or suffocating you.

Like any fashionable male out there, GQ is the bible in regards to everything. I also rely on my Uncle Jim for style tips who is a partner in a men’s clothing store, Adesso.

A note from Andrea: For more photos, click h e r e ! What do you ladies think of men experimenting with different colors in their wardrobe?

Are you ready boots? Start walkin'!

Wanted gave me free reign to choose a shoe of my choice from there site to review! After narrowing down the choices, I selected the Nevada, a black cuffed boot and have been wearing them with dresses and skinny jeans for the last couple weeks! Although they're quite versatile, stylish and comfortable, I have one critique. The cuff sags and I've already destroyed the bottom of the cuff. I find myself having to tug it up a lot. I just love the look of them and how they fit, but wish I didn't have to worry about stepping on part of the boot!

[sweater by h&m, pants by bdg, boots c/o wanted, leather jacket by gap]

I've been on the search for cozy, oversized sweaters and I loved the color palette of this particular sweater and the price (under $15!) To add some structure and to keep me warm, I added my favorite leather jacket. Just need to find more sweaters to gear up for the winter season!

Psst..Check out Threadsence's new lookbook (video and photos!) It features Liz of Late Afternoon who looks so beautiful!

Make it work!

This weekend I had the pleasure of being in extreme close proximity to one of my favorite TV personalities and fashion consultants-Tim Gunn. For the few who might read this and not know who he is (yes, mom, I know you don't know who he is.) He's the chief creative officer for Liz Claiborne and the co-host for one of my favorite shows, Project Runway. He hosted a fashion show at Somerset Mall near Detroit and the place was packed!

I met up with Suze of Miss Vinyl Ahoy and Katelyn of Vogue Vintage. Suze saved me a seat near the runway and I was able to snap photos at a great angle. At the end of the show, there was a question and answer session where he answered every question enthusiastically and candidly. I love how he didn't shy away from answering questions on his opinions on show contestants and who he thought should have won the last season of Project Runway (he stated clearly Mondo should have been the winner.)