Vacation Planning: What to take (the basics) – Part 2

Posted on May 17, 2012

Before evaluating my wardrobe and figuring out what I am going to take with me, I decided to do some poking around on the Internet to figure out what a realistic amount of clothing is for a week. I am a less than efficient packer; I tend to bring too much and then end up wearing only some, or find that I forgot something essential and my pieces are just kind of all there, not really going together. Besides which, I want to keep my suitcase manageable since I’ll be with my family and all of their stuff as well.

So what is a realistic number of pieces that I’m working towards? Four skirts, two shirts, etc.? I turned to Lucky Magazine as an option, but found that resource sadly lacking in the packing help department. Eventually, I found a packing list on the Rick Steves website that gave some useful guidelines. Finally, I went to Fashion for Nerds, a fun site that I found (where else) on the Already Pretty Lovely Links. Her example of the wardrobe that she took on a recent trip to Europe shows just how several outfits can be created from just a few pieces.

So based on all of this, I came up with the following checklist for my basics. I chose “Black and White” as my basic color theme, because I thought that it would be easy to add color to brighten it up.

3 Tops

White Tee: Banana Republic – no longer available (get the look)
Black Tank: Dreamsacks $58 (get the look)
Black and white striped tee: J Crew – no longer available (get the look)

Tops

3 Bottoms

White Jeans: MEK – no longer available (get the look)
Black skirt: Old Navy – no longer available (get the look)
Grey skirt: American Apparel – no longer available (get the look)

Bottoms

1 Sweater: Cross front cardigan from The Gap – no longer available (get the look)

1 Dress (Can double as a beach cover-up): Banana Republic – no longer available (get the look)

Dress and Sweater

Hmmm, not very beachy. In the next installment, I’ll be adding prints and accent colors. Back to the wardrobe!

Links:

http://www.onebag.com/packing-list-wardrobe.html

This website is full of tips to help you pack light for whatever trip you are taking. Includes packing lists. Geared towards a general audience.

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/womenpack.htm

This checklist for women is geared towards international travel, but lists specific categories and amounts of things to bring.

http://geekthreads.blogspot.com/2012/05/packing-for-europe.html

http://geekthreads.blogspot.com/2009/08/packing-how-tos-clothing.html

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How I wear Sherrie by Naturalizer

Posted on May 17, 2012

Sherrie by Naturalizer is an interesting wedge with its classic t-strap and neutral shades of red, brown, and blue on top and a southwest fabric bottom. The outfit I put together to wear with this shoe plays with this duality a bit with a basic solid colored tee and a striped skirt. Throw in some feather-inspired earrings and a basic saddle brown bag to tie in the southwestern flair found in these super comfortable wedges by Naturalizer.

Top: farfetch.com, $450; more affordable option available at bluefly.com, $40.99.
Bottom: jcrew.com, $198; more affordable option available at target.com, $20.99.
Earrings: macys.com, $25; more affordable option available at Stella Says Go, $10.
Bag: modcloth.com, $65.
Shoes: Stella Says Go, $89.

Amy

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Meet the Brands: Naturalizer

Posted on May 16, 2012

Meet Naturalizer, or shall I say, the new Naturalizer. Created in 1927, Naturalizer claims to have had the revolutionary idea of creating stylish and comfortable shoes made just for women.  They invented an exclusive N5 comfort system—five essential features that provide all day comfort:

  1. Extra cushioning
  2. Breathable linings
  3. Balance with every step
  4. Flexible soles
  5. Lightweight material

While these comfort features of Naturalizer shoes have been proven for more than 80 years, until recently, the “stylish” aspect of their claim was questionable to many. I don’t know what they did to move into being a truly stylish company, but this spring’s fresh new styles certainly hit the mark of fashion meets comfort.

Check out the cute new styles we now have in-store and on-line now:

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Vacation Planning: What to take? (Part 1)

Posted on May 14, 2012

With a beach vacation imminent, I’ve been going over my list of To Do’s (board cat, get suitcases out of attic, stop mail delivery) and trying to figure out the second hardest part of any trip (after deciding where to go), what to take! Thank goodness for style bloggers and the Internet. I spent some time yesterday checking out some of my favorite style blogs and stumbled across this great post from Sartoriagraphy which methodically lists out some great strategies for building a vacation wardrobe. Although her post is geared towards longer trips to more exotic climes (I wish!), her advice is useful whether going away for a weekend or a summer.

You can read her blog post in full here, but I’ve summarized her steps. She recommends the following:

  1. Choose basics in one color family (and stick to it).
  2. Add prints in your color palette.
  3. Add a few statement color and “just for fun” pieces.
  4. Choose versatile shoes and outerwear.
  5. Use accessories to expand your style options.

Over the course of this week, I will be posting on my travel wardrobe building exercise, following the steps listed above as a framework. Look out for the next installment: Basics!

h!)

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Anniversary Sale and Party This Weekend

Posted on May 4, 2012

Hope to see you there!

We can’t think of a better way to say thanks for two incredible years in business than with an anniversary sale and party this weekend, May 5th and 6th. Tomorrow and Sunday, our entire store will be 25% off. What a great time to grab spring and summer sandals, plus gifts for Mom (’cause Mother’s Day is just around the corner!).

To make things all the more fun, we will have a party tomorrow, May 5th, from 2–6pm. As you head from here to there to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, don’t forget to stop by for drinks, snacks, gift with purchase, and a trunk show featuring jewelry by MaryJane Designs. The jewelry company of our own Jane Howard, the austin based artists create custom personalized jewelry perfect for mothers and grandmothers. You will also be able to build a custom necklace during the trunk show with initial charms, dog tags featuring inspirational words, and birthstones.

See you this weekend at Stella Says Go!

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Meet the Brands: MaryJane Designs

Posted on May 4, 2012
At Stella Says Go, we feel fortunate to have hired Jane Howard, who works part time for us here in the store. Jane is a woman of many talents, and for several years she has designed jewelry. This weekend, we’ll feature jewelry from Jane’s line, MaryJane Designs during our anniversary party on May 5th from 2 – 6pm.
These pieces are perfect for Mother’s Day, and allow you to customize a gift for someone complete with initial and birthstone charms and inspirational words. MaryJane Designs also does custom necklaces (so that you can get the names of your children, pets, etc.) in sterling silver; chain and hand-made and lengths are customizable as well.
I recently sat down with Jane and her business partner and friend, Mary Beth, to ask them more about MaryJane designs.
1. How and why did the two of you start MaryJane Designs?

Jane: I have been creating custom earrings and necklaces using precious and semi-precious stones for over five years.  My friend Mary Beth has always been an enthusiastic supporter of my business. One day, when we were traveling together in Italy, I asked her if she would like to come to my studio and help me.  We had such great synergy and fun in those few hours, we decided to create an entirely new line of custom hand-stamped jewelry.  It has been a blast and we are now selling our sterling silver baby name pieces in a local maternity store and are thrilled to be showing our initial disks and inspirational tags at Stella Says Go.

Mary Beth:  I have been a fan and friend of Jane since our kids were in first grade together and her son asked my daughter if she wanted to see his “secret weapon.”  (Thankfully, a karate move!!!)  We have been laughing and crying together ever since.  I was beyond thrilled when Jane asked me to work with her!  I have been working in oil and gas for almost twenty years and haven’t been able to exercise my creativity.  I look forward to our time in the studio together – we catch up, listen to old records and create.  So much fun!

2. What inspires you?
Jane and Mary Beth:  Our beautiful and quirky friends, and definitely other artisans!
3.  How long have you been in business?

Jane and Mary Beth:  MDJ is almost a year old!

4. What is your dream mothers’s day?

Jane:  My dream mother’s day would be spent relaxing with absolutely no responsibilities!  Last year Mary Beth and I spent mother’s day in Italy with two other dear girlfriends.  It was the best trip ever – we were gone 10 days and ate, drink and museumed our way through Rome, Tuscany and Florence.  When we returned home we both felt so appreciated by our husbands and children who had actually figured out all that we do for them on a daily basis that they had sort of been taking for granted.

Mary Beth: Ditto!  I was just thinking we should start planning our next trip!  How about Paris?

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Meet the Press: Austin Monthly features natural styles from Stella Says Go

Posted on April 27, 2012

We were delighted to have three shoes featured in this month’s Austin Monthly edition (May 2012: 112 Fun Things to Do in the Summer — pick it up), as well as a quote from Natalie (more on that later).  All shoes featured a natural theme, with wood bottoms, elegant leathers, and ethnic-inspired beading.

Have you seen Universal Traveler by Naughty Monkey? So, so  cute, and so cute on. It perfectly taps into the ethnic trend that is so big this summer, and does it all on a comfy, flat sole that let’s you go for hours.

And check out the Frye Carlie Haurache and Esska Pull in the style section! Both featuring wood soles, these shoes tap into everything that we love about summer: easy, walkable heel heights (because really, who wants to be hobbling around in pain) fun and sexy styling, and great quality.

Thanks for the love, Austin Monthly!

-Natalie

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Meet the Brand: Wonders

Posted on April 26, 2012

“What does it make us be what we are?
What distinguishes us from the others?
Perhaps it is the way we do things–the Wonders Way.”

Made by hand in Spain, all Wonders shoes are made with quality materials so that you not only enjoy looking at them, but more importantly, you enjoy wearing them.

What is the Wonders Way? The Wonders Way is truly an international state of mind. Wonders designs and manufactures over 400 styles every year—all of them a current, attractive and comfortable design adapted to each country’s culture and trends.

Although not all 400 styles were available for us to choose from at market, it was still  difficult to select just a few styles from such a vast collection! Check out some of what we have available in store and on-line:

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Beauty Mark: Best (Red) Lipstick Ever!

Posted on April 26, 2012

While you won’t frequently find make-up suggestions here on the Stella Says… blog, I had to share what might be my favorite red lipstick ever, Revlon’s Wine with Everything.

Introduced to me by the lovely and incredibly stylish Kyla of Blue Collar Catwalk, I rushed right out an purchased this shade the next time I was at the drugstore.

The first thing to note about this budget shade is that it’s not actually a wine color at all, despite the name. It’s actually a soft red with pinkish brown overtones, and as such, it works well with a broad range of skin tones. Check out photos of Kyla to see what I mean — alabaster skin, check! But I have very khaki tan skin, and it still looks great.

For $7.99 (or less), this is a great beauty bargain that will give you a fresh pop of color for spring. Oh, and it works great layered over lip balm for a sheer look as well.

What are your favorite spring make-up looks?

-Natalie

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How I Wear Wonders

Posted on April 25, 2012

The Wonders sandals are a cute alternative to flip flops and sneakers for lots and lots of walking about. Made with love in Spain, the Wonders sandals have a sneaker-like sole and a unique leather top that looks cute with all of your casual looks.

Aside from throwing my Wonders on with simple tees and shorts, sometimes I like to dress up my casual look a bit with a pair of cropped cargo pants, a flowing floral top, wooden beaded necklace, and a straw hat. This outfit is comfortable enough to be out and about all day long and cute enough to feel comfortable stopping in to a nice cafe for a champagne lunch.

Top: Bootlegger.com, $58
Pants: Uniqlo.com, $48
Hat: Oasis-stores.com, $27; or San Diego Hat Company available at Stella Says Go
Necklace: Target.com, $30; or The Andean Collection available at Stella Says Go
Shoes: shop.stellasaysgo.com, $159

–Amy

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