How To Be Realistic

Above is one of my best friends, Hannah. She's always got really great, realistic, I-just-stepped-out-of-Gap style. Yesterday she stopped by my work to visit me (please note the tacky wall colors I have to stare at for hours at a time) and I was instantly smitten with her outfit. As someone who's most often inspired by Alexander McQueen, ballet-terror movies, Tavi Gevinson, and a whole host of other brilliant, "weird" fashion icons, it's easy to forget how to dress realistically for life in a small southern city. Hannah, however, never forgets.  This look reminded me of those Parisian chic outfits that are so common at The Sartorialist, but done in a very distinctly college way.

Hannah is wearing: shirt from Ralph Lauren, circle scarf from Gap, dress, socks, & boots from Target.

Oh, Hey There

Oh, hey me.

So remember way back in April when I promised that you'd be seeing more personality from Les Deux in the near future? No? That's okay, nobody actually read this blog in April, so I forgive you. Anyway, I lied back then, but I'm telling you the truth now when I say that there will be more personal style from here on out. Why? Because I've finally got a camera! But before you start fretting, thinking that Les Deux will just be clogged up with outfit posts every day, let me lay down the law and make it known that I will only use my Canon Powershot for good...and by that I just mean that I'll use it sparingly.

That said, I figured I may as well celebrate my new toy with a nice little 1 a.m. outfit post. So here we go, this is how I layer like a pro:

Wearing: Boots by Wanted, pants from Gap, t-shirt from Target, navy cardigan from Gap, coat from Express, scarf from American Apparel, headband from Scarlett Begonia (a boutique in Nashville), awesome backpack from Target.

I call this look tribal soldier, because (unfortunately) my warmest coat just so happens to be almost the exact color of the pants I was wearing today. Ain't no thang; military-wear is popular right now. Plus, nothing, not even monochrome overkill, could stop me from wearing this faux-fur lined coat when it's about 25 degrees with 15 mph winds.

I'm still feeling a little uncomfortable about asking my friends to take pictures of me and then finding an awkward corner of my living room to shuffle around in while I look like I'm in a Deal Breakers promo. This is all weird/new territory for me, so please forgive obtrusive dorm furniture, grainy editing, and self-conscious 8th grader poses until I get into the swing of things. We got a deal?

Black/Navy/Brown With Envy

What a very nice look. This will definitely be what's inspiring my outfits for the next few days. I love the black/navy/brunette combo. It all feels very fresh and youthful, like a trendy sailor or something of the like.

Katie

(Image and clothing info from If You Seek Style)

Dream Outfit: November 8, 2010

KATIE

Perfection?

This is my ultimate outfit inspiration at the moment, aka, the outfit I will envision every morning as I get ready yet never actually attain the pieces needed to pull it together. A perfectly large, texturized sweater; military pants with just enough detail to be versatile, but to have enough wow-factor to cause traffic-stopping double takes; a matte, clean face; dark, fussy, I-just-woke-up-and-my-hair-looks-this-nice-every-day hair; black boots; and OF COURSE, autumn surrounding you.

Replace the shoes with my Doc Martens and add a cup of coffee and a pony hair, leopard print, cross body bag and you've got yourself a winner.

-Katie

(Image from ...look closer)

Ready For Fall.

KATIE

.../Ready for having all the money in the world so that I am able to wear this come Fall.

High Back Top, $225
BURNS PLEATED MINI SKIRT, 169 GBP
Women's Dolce Vita for Target® Buckle Ankle Boots - Black : Target, $35
Proenza Schouler PS1 Medium leather satchel, $1,595
Juicy Couture Modern Nostalgia multi-chain bracelet, $130
Rick Owens Ribbed jersey snood, $245
RIBBON HEART Lederhandschuh in Rosa, 50 EUR
Burberry Wool and cashmere-blend beanie, $175
Lippmann Collection Nail Color, $18
Dior DiorShow Mascara - 2010 - Best Beauty Buys - InStyle

Luckily I'm not so unfortunate to discount owning any of these items. Diorshow mascara is easily accessible and is, in fact, the only mascara I use. And those Dolce Vita for Target boots should be shipped to be within the next 1 to 3 weeks. Hopefully they won't look cheap since they're from such a major chain. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

-Katie

Riddikulus.

KATIE

Seeing as I have no real Summer wardrobe, it's a bit difficult for me to pick out clothes to wear in the summertime. Often times, my Summer outfits are really just my Autumn and Spring outfits without any sweaters or scarves. Living in the South complicates this outfit theme though, particularly come July and August, when going out of the house in anything but a bathing suit instantly causes one to sweat profusely. So when I'm not wearing far-too-warm clothes, I generally look like an idiot. Imagine a SoCal Clown, and that's pretty much what I look like 50% of Summer. Think maxi dress tied at mid-thigh level, ridiculous Teva sandals, constantly exposed bandeau bra, sunglasses dangling off some surface, and hair pulled out of  face in some absurd fashion and you've got a lovely vision of me.

That's why this L'Officiel spread from Fashion Gone Rogue really resonated with me today. During Summer, it's too hot to really concentrate on anything, let alone wardrobe. So it's best to just throw on things that will keep you mildly cool and hope that you look even slightly as badass as Valentina Zelyaeva does in these pictures.

I can't get enough of that horse dress, the designer of which escapes my memory.

-Katie

(Images from L'Officiel via Fashion Gone Rogue)

Copycat.

KATIE

While it's often evident that stores like Forever21 and Wet Seal have their own semi-trashy and/or completely-trashy takes on runway styles, I've recently discovered that Modcloth clearly knows how to get runway to real way right.  I mean, not only did they have the perfect replica of the Chloé boot, they have this dress, which is clearly a perfect recreation of what Dolce & Gabanna has been after now for two straight seasons. And for only $64.99? I'm blown away.

Images from style.com and Modcloth

Twins? I think so.

-Katie

katie...a proper introduction.

because we were both finally in town at the same time, jax and i spent a few hours catching up and talking about les deux yesterday evening and made a few decisions. first is that rather than continue entitling our posts as what we like and dislike, we're going to make them a little more creative. if anything in the future is entitled as what we like or dislike, you'll know that we really feel extreme like or dislike for it.

another decision we made is that over the summer we're going to be adding a lot of new components to the blog since we'll have more time to focus/refine it and since we'll literally be a minute's walk away from one another. so far we've brainstormed up a few fun ideas, and while i'd love to share, i think they'll be a surprise.

the last decision we made was that we need to make les deux a little more personal. yeah, sure you can get onto our site and read all about how we feel about chanel's latest collection or some new store we discovered; but there's a big difference in reading about a $10,000 dior gown that we like and seeing how we try to interpret that gown in our daily lives. while neither of us (at the moment) have a suitable camera, my younger sister just so happens to have one that's pretty nice and i employed her this weekend to help take some shots of me so that i can give you readers a proper introduction to my style.

and some of my favorite things:

1. wearing this great urban outfitters scarf as a headband.

2. new forever21 sandals and mink muffs essie nail polish.

wearing today: j.crew tunic, forever21 bodycon skirt, forever21 sandals, urban outfitters scarf as headband, charm necklace from local nashville shop pangea

please excuse the: a) slightly cluttered bedroom, 2) unprofessional-looking shots. hopefully this gives a pretty good first representation of my style. hopefully jax and i can continue to keep up these sort of posts.

katie.