Fake it, Make it: Kate Middleton Burberry Trench

On March 8th, the classic little trench became even more of an icon. Prince William and Kate Middleton made a trip to Ireland, and Burberry sold out of it's ruffled trench coat immediately. It goes without saying there's a lot of rubber-necking happening with this royal couple and their engagement, and Kate is becoming an icon for her classic style, I can see why.

I for one, would be hard pressed to find this coat, let alone be able to guiltlessly foot the (approximately) $995 bill for it, but I saw it and fell in love. I was a girl on a mission to find a decent replica. (And, it just so happens, that a trench is on my list of jackets to replace in my closet!)

So here's the royal couple out and about in Ireland:

(source)

Here's how I'm faking it:



Modcloth ($89.99)
No ruffle, but cute skirt and has the dark accents



Banana Republic ($198)
A bit short, only in green, but has a ruffle

Victoria's Secret ($79)
Lacks structure, not a fan of the hood, but cute

Steve Madden ($79.99)
Only in green, but has a belt and tiers

Ultimately, there is no absolute replica with this, and I do appreciate that I just wish there was something a bit closer to it. I prefer the Modcloth one for it's ultra feminine skirting, but I also do like the Victoria's Secret one too. We'll have to see what happens!

DIY: Lace trim tee for cheap!

A few weeks ago, I saw this post on one of my favorite blogs, Uber Chic for Cheap. This top on Blake Lively is too cute, and my crafty mind was kicked into full gear.

Cute, no?

This past week, I had my wisdom teeth removed and I was looking for something to do the day before my extraction to keep my mind off everything to come, and this seemed like an easy DIY to do just that. From start to finish, it took me about an hour to do, and the total cost of supplies was $3.49 for a yard of lace. I used a tee I had just hanging out in my dresser, and thread and needle from my sewing kit, which I feel is pretty standard in any household. This would have been so much quicker if I owned a sewing machine. (How I still don't own one is beyond me)



You could fold this over into the inside of the tee, and secure it that way, but my
skin is a little too sensitive for that.



I just today thought that a picture of this on would be helpful to see. But, you get
me in my yoga pants and without my slightly puffy post-extraction face.
You could sew random side pieces down to help the folding away. I may do this.

This tee was in my mind for another DIY involving my dear friend RIT dye, and now I'm wondering what would happen if I just tossed the whole thing into some anyway...but these are good colors for the Spring and Summer, so we may have to wait until the Fall.

DIY: Silver cleaning

I have lots of silver jewelry. It comes with the business, I guess you could say. But, I also have a lot of jewelry that once belonged to my great-grandmother (I call this my "archives"). Unfortunately over time silver blackens, I try to stay on top of cleanings, but I ran out of cleaner, and suddenly cleaning my pieces fell to the wayside. One day I decided enough was enough, I was going to find a cleaner that wasn't full of harsh chemicals (as part of my personal goals from my list) and potentially with something from my cabinets. Immediately, I figured there had to be some sort of baking soda paste I could make. I browsed the interwebs and found many homemade solutions. This was the one I went with, and I have to say, it worked great! I always get nervous with cleaning my vintage jewelry with stones, but having all natural ingredients kind of sets you at ease. Natural elements together can't possibly be bad, right?

So, here's what you'll need:

• Boiling water
• Glass baking dish (make sure the sides are tall enough to cover your jewelry)
• Aluminum foil
• Baking soda
• Tongs (or something to remove the jewelry)
• Dry cloth/Microfiber cleaning cloth
• About 20-30 minutes depending on the amount of silver

(Click on pictures to enlarge)



(This should say Step 6. Sorry!)

 And there you have it. After I dried my goods, I used a microfiber cloth to clean them more and bring out the shine. If you're extra adventurous, you can even use a polishing adapter on the Dremmel and really pump up the shine. I did that on the cuff with the pinkish stone on it.

Voila!

Rock the Red Pump

It's March 10th. Today is National Women and Girl's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

As I mentioned before, I signed up to "Rock the red pump" in order to spread awareness.

Every 35 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States. Though much progress has been made in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, women still represent 27 percent of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African-American women making up an overwhelming 66 percent of that number. In 2006, teen girls represented 39% of AIDS cases reported among 13–19 year-olds. Black teens represented 69% of cases reported among 13–19 year-olds; Latino teens represented 19%. These startling statistics are the driving force behind Red Pump's message.

The stats are scary, but they can change. Know your health and get tested. Be in charge of your health and be informed. With a little knowledge HIV/AIDS is preventable. Take charge of your health, take charge of your future. In my previous post, I had mentioned how I'd spread the word to my peers when they commented on my shoes, and I did just that. I had several people I work with and the barista at Starbucks mention them. I told them about the Red Pump Project and the startling stats. That's just a few people, but chances are those people, especially the 7 women I spoke with are likely to share this information and the word slowly gets out. You can do your part, too.

If you're interested in the Red Pump Project, please visit their website. This is their 3rd annual campaign and over 1,200 bloggers signed up and promised to rock their red pumps.

Here's how I rocked the red pump today.

Late to the party.

So apparently March is National Craft month. National Craft Month! Clearly I cannot look past this and just sit and observe. Craft is my thing. I want to actively participate!

So I don't have anything planned crafty for today since I'm just learning of this, but don't run away! I figure my first thing would share some of my favorite blogs/websites for handmade, lovely, design, DIY...well...lovelies.

• Design Sponge This is a lovely collection for design, be it interiors (I love the Before/After features) or refurbished items, DIY, you name it. Sometimes it gets backed up in my reader but even just flipping through and looking at the pictures is inspiring enough.
• Poppytalk Similar to Design Sponge, Poppytalk covers all areas. I love the photography, the Indie Shop of the day feature (on the sidebar) and just so much about this site. Another one where even the pictures get your gears grinding.
• Oh, hello friend I strive to have the cohesion she has on her blog. Photography, products, a monthly desktop calendar wallpaper, and she just had the most whimsical handmade/vintage wedding. Also, a fellow Etsian with a lovely shop to boot!
• Lillyella Another Etsian with an amazing blog. Fashion, DIY, interviews with other artists, and recipes! Another website that also had a gorgeous DIY wedding. I wish these blogs were around when I was planning!
• Amber's Notebook Fashion, DIY and other lovely finds. Amber's DIY's from earrings, to themed parties, to even Lady Gaga costumes she's so creative! (Not to mention that I wouldn't mind having her closet to go through!)
• Prim and Propah a new little blog that will certainly be going places. Amanda just embarked on Pattern Project 2011 and I can't wait to see the outcome. AND she has a love for all things BravoTV and lets me tweet up a storm to her, which shows she's a kind and patient person who's not afraid to call me out for my flare for the dramatic.

There's so many other blogs out there that I stop by, but these are the ones I have in my reader and look forward to reading. I'm hoping to soon have some crafty goodness for you, my DIY list is plenty long and my head is swimming with ideas. Craft month is going to be awesome.

Any crafts planned? Any crafty blogs you love? Any crafty things you'd like to see here?

Fake it 'till you make it: Seychelles shoes

I've said it a thousand times over. Me? I'm a shoe whore. LOVE shoes. Can't get enough shoes. If I had my way, I'd have a weekly shoe allowance and blow it and then some on shoes. They're my drug of choice. Some of you may prefer the Charlie Sheen drug, which makes your face melt off, but for me, it's shoes.

If I know anything about shoes, it's that designers love knocking off other shoes. You know that scene in Devil Wears Prada about Cerulean? It's kind of like that in the shoe world (or so it seems). Some shoes, I'm okay with buying their lesser counter part. Other times, I want, nay, NEED to buy the original.

I'm thinking that since shoes are one area I excel at (No lie, friends email me asking where they can find a certain shoe, and I probably can find it within 15 minutes, I browse that much!) I would share my shoe finds and their impostors.

I'm starting off with Seychelles, which seem to be right on trend as many people are copying them left and right. In general, Seychelles are affordable coming in at roughly $100 (give or take a little) and in my shoe-world, that's not a bad deal.

Fake it:


Seychelles Cream of the Crop (About $90)

These are lovely golden flats, and are also available in a black, pewter and kind of off-white-beige color. Now, if you remember my Spring/Summer shopping list, I am searching for new metallic sandals. This would kind of fit the bill, but not quite what I had in mind. But, they're too cute!

Enter Target.

Mossimo Othelia ($17.99)

Cute. REALLY close in style. But, only available in this nude color and black. So, if you wanted the Seychelles in either of those colors...here you go. However. I am looking for metallic. Gold, specifically.

So I went to Kohls.

So Cristal ($21.99)

These, are actually what I ended up with. I bought them in gold, which appears to be off their website, and back on sale for $16.99, which I then got an extra 15% off of, and I had $20 in Kohls cash that my mom gave me, which means, really these shoes were negative money for me. (I didn't earn the Kohls cash, so again, no money spent there).  As you can see, they're similar, not a direct copy, rather a copy of a copy (which we all know ends up not as pretty, but still serves well).


Make it:
Sometimes though it's worth waiting, holding out and buying the real deal. The make it Seychelles here is:



Seychelles Joan (now $70ish on Endless)

 These wedges I saw last year on Nordstrom's website and it was love at first sight. I could not for the life of me find anything that closely resembled them, but I couldn't justify the price when I had other shoes I needed to buy for the summer. This summer, I want a colorful wedge. I'm a sucker for a wedge, and seeing as these are still floating around, the time has come for me to purchase them.

The faker I found for these if you're interested are also by So and from Kohls:

So Serina Wedge ($33.99)

These are really similar, but the fakers are from the juniors shoe section which means the wedge is a bit clunkier. I also prefer the chartreuse colors in the Seychelles versions fabric over the reds of the Kohls pair.

Some shoes are easier to find lower priced counterparts, just about anywhere will have black peep toe heels, or brown boots, but detailed shoes like these can be trickier to find. I just call it a challenge!