Happy Aniversary (Belated)!

{Rebecca Minkoff}

 {Badgley Mischka} 

 {Rachel Roy} 

 {Isaac Mizrahi, Anna Wintour} 

 {Vera Wang}

 {Michael Kors}

 {Gah and my favorites the Olsens!}

Women's Wear Daily celebrated their 100th anniversary on Tuesday night and oh what I would have given to be surrounded by those party goers!

The Cat's Meow

Ah I love everything about this outfit I saw on Nasty Gal this weekend. I'm a little behind on fall/winter shopping but hopefully once I get to get out there and actually fulfill my wish list I will come home with a blazer and boots just like these!

As the Halloween festivities begin...

Binx wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween weekend!

One Language: Going Green in Style

Today I wanted to feature a great bag line that has become quite popular lately. The line is called One Language and they offer printed canvas bags that are made from natural cotton canvas. For those of you who read my blog I love everything organic and natural (save the world! and these lovely ladies are doing it one bag at a time) so I was sure to be a fan right away.

Two sisters from NYC started the line and they totally have the background for this to be a huge success (it really already is!!); one sister graduated from Cornell while the other graduated from Parsons! Smart and fashion savvy? These are my kind of ladies!


I've been impressed by all things One Language so far. The bags are simple yet super modern, functional, and stylish; they are taking the canvas tote in a new direction. I even fell in love with their website! It has such a vintage, turn of the century New York feel and I loved how their inspiration tab is simply filled with their mood board that got them going.

You can find these bags at any local Nordstrom or you can order one from their online website, One Language. You better hurry though, because they are flying off the shelves!

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily

In an evening of July --

Children three that nestle near,

Eager eye and willing ear

Pleased a simple tale to hear --

Long has paled that sunny sky:

Echoes fade and memories die:

Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise

Alice moving under skies

Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,

Dreaming as the days go by,

Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream --

Lingering in the golden gleam --

Life what is it but a dream?

One of my favorite poems and a lovely photo to end the weekend before the craziness of the work week returns. 

My unfulfilled ambition is to write a great novel in three parts about my adventures.

These dresses make me wish I was Wendy living with Peter Pan in Never Neverland, swimming with mermaids, fighting pirates, playing mother to a group of lost boys, and never growing up.

Photos: Topshop

Bon La Vu

Last night I had the pleasure of attending Bon La Vu's fall fashion show and launch party at a great little rooftop bar in downtown Austin. Guests were greeted with a red carpet photo then led upstairs for some drinks and mingling before the fashion show kicked off around 9pm.

There was some amazing pieces courtesy of local Austin designers and boutiques; from leggings completely adorned in silver spikes, to several modern versions of the little black dress, and some of the cutest tapered trousers that I've seen in a long time. I found myself wishing that a lot of these items would find their way to my closet immediately!

{Eboni Spencer}

{Beverly Foreman}

{Britany Walker}

For those of you that aren't familiar with Bon La Vu here is a little background info. Bon La Vu is this great new online boutique that offers one completely styled outfit per day created and put together by local Austin designers, boutiques, and Bon La Vu stylists. Customers will be able to purchase either the complete outfit or individual items. And the greatest part of purchasing items from Bon La Vu, everything is tailored to fit your exact measurements.

{Lisa Del Dotto}

{Connie Dowdle}

{Connie Dowdle}

Casey Grooms is the man behind this new concept of the typical online boutique. Grooms said that this concept sprung from his experiences in traveling and not being able to access some of his favorite local designers from overseas when he got back into the states, and so Bon La Vu was born. Having only started his company in June 2010, I was incredibly impressed by the following that Grooms and his team have already. The show had a great turn out and I'm excited to see how this new concept of online shopping will be received by the public. Good luck Bon La Vu team and thanks for having us out, it was a great time and wonderful show!

{Casey Grooms and Brianna Fleet}

{Mercedes Trahan, Casey Grooms, Me}

For anyone in attendance last night that would like more photos of the show please feel free to email me at rach.thecoreessentials@gmail.com and I would be happy to get those to you!

Great Clothes, Even Better Prices

With the holiday season not even a month away, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it, and that means that holiday party season will be in full swing. Being a full time college student, I know the value of a dollar, and that I normally don't have many dollars. So just for you all, I've compiled my favorite sites for online shopping that gives you great deals for designer items. These sites will be more than helpful when your searching for that perfect party dress to impress that cute guy in bio!

Rent the Runway

-Two Harvard Business ladies thought up this dream website. They wanted to be able to have that dream wardrobe that every girl wants, just without having to take out another student loan to make it happen; and so it became Rent The Runway. This site lets you rent clothes for a specified number of days that you select. Most of the prices offered are 90-95% of the retail value! Rent the runway has also had some major press lately, recently their name was featured in the apartment of the new Gossip Girl nemesis Juliette. Click on the link here to sign up!

I-Ella

-I was just recently turned to i-ella by an email from our fashion group on campus, and oh my they have some really great stuff! The cool thing about this site is that you can buy, sell, or even trade your own clothes and others. Also every month they feature a celebrity that auctions off some pieces from their closet and all the proceeds go to their charity; last month they featured Whitney Port. Right now their celebrity if the Law and Order star Elisabeth Rohm. Click here to sign up!

Gilt Groupe

-This was one of the first online discount sites that I got invited to and I have made so many purchases through them! They also offer mens, womens, children, home, and even a jetsetter and city category that have special items just for those purposes. The stuff on gilt sells out quick, so stay up to date about when the sales are beginning and ending. They also have a wonderful little app for your iPhone that will text you when a sale is beginning. Click here to sign up!

Rue La La

-Rue La La is essentially the same as all these wonderful sites I've been sharing with you guys. They also offer travel destinations, clothes and accessories, and home decor. However, a factor that sets Rue apart from others are that they actually have boutique categories that you can always click on and browse through. Rue La La also got some press from a popular TV show when Whitney Port's line, Whitney Eve, was announced that it would be sold on Rue La La helping Whitney get her name and line out the masses! Click here to sign up!

Ideeli

-This site has really really great prices, most of the stuff on the site I can afford regularly. They offer men's, women's, children's, home decor and travel destinations! Ideeli also has a link called ideelACCESS that has super special goodies at great prices! Click here to sign up!

All of these shops are also great places to frequent when thinking about Christmas shopping! They all offer really great gifts for your loved ones that you won't need to pay an arm and a leg for!

Hope everyone is having a great week and happy shopping!

NYFW: Derek Lam

"There’s no shortage of minimalist references this season, but what’s different chez Derek Lam is that he pulled his collection’s theme from a New Yorker review of the recent “Primary Atmospheres” exhibit at New York’s David Zwirner gallery, which focused on Sixties California minimalism."

-WWD

 

Well, Derek you had me at Sixties California.  

If I was seven inches taller, I would need the last piece in my closet immediately. 

Photos: WWD

Emmys 2010

I've never been a big fan of award shows. Truthfully they give me headaches, but for some reason last night (after 36hrs of straight nannying) I decided to stretch out on the couch and watch the Emmys.

It was funny, entertaining, and the fashion was to die for (well most of it). I have to say that this years Emmys might have changed my attitude towards award shows. And now, of course, I must share with you guys my two favorite looks of the evening.

Dianna Agron in Carolina Herrera 

Jayma Mays in Burberry

I have to give my best dressed awards to the women of Glee. They all looked absolutely stunning last night!

Photos: WWD

The Beginning of the End

I've had some serious blogger block lately. My brain has been consumed with errands galore getting ready for my senior semester of college! So many changes headed my way. A new apartment and adding a third lovely roommate, taking classes I'm actually going to enjoy, possibly adding a second job to my plate, finalizing where I want to intern, real-world job searching, and finally seeing my fours years of ass-busting work pay off when I walk across the stage and graduate from the University of Texas. Ah might have just overwhelmed myself actually typing all that!
So with that said, here are some photos to enjoy that have me itching for fall (which is hopefully just around the corner!)

Photos: weheartit

On To The Next One

For the fourth time in 4 years I will be moving into another apartment here in Austin in three short weeks. I've only lived in my current apartment for just over a year and I never fully decorated my room. I had bare white walls (which unfortunately are still bare and still white) so in an attempt to decorate I bought a new duvet, some cute curtains and some new shelves, but nothing really ever seemed to cohesively fit in there as much as I would have liked. So moving into a new place I'm going to take the initiative to decorate my room fully. I love urban outfitters apartment section so I spent a little time online shopping to pick out some wish list items that I will hopefully purchase in the next coming weeks to furnish my new little abode.

I'm also looking for a great cheap chair, some good curtains, I've been dying for the perfect shag rug and of course some wall art to finally complete the room. Figured this was a good color palette and some good starter pieces to get my decorating gears going. Do you have any fun decorating tips? Would love to hear them!

All items can be found on urbanoutfitters.com

Paint the Town

Over the past couple weeks I've seen several blogger articles featuring the "it" nail polish colors of the fall. Most of them have been deep purples, several blacks, and a few nudes. I searched around for my fall polish picks and here they are.

Sephora by OPI are my favorite polishes; they go on so smoothly, last quite a long time, and have great coverage with little reapplications needed. 

Jeff and Sam

Yes Please!

1. Tick by Jeffery Campbell 

2. Kinley by Sam Edelman

3. Jackie by Jeffery Campbell

4. Lorissa by Sam Edelman

MK Love

Marie Claire's fall fashion issue is out and the beautiful Mary-Kate Olsen graces the cover! Just last year, also in the fall fashion issue, Ashley Olsen did a similar spread, taking us inside her closet and a peak into her life. The current issue features an amazing article where MK opens up about being raised in the spotlight, jokingly saying that her and Ashley feel 48 instead of 24 because they've been working since they were 9 months old. I couldn't imagine being 24 yrs old, CEO of a billion-dollar company, and designer for two amazing fashion lines The Row and Elizabeth and James. I have so much respect for these girls, what a inspiration to turn what you truly love into such an amazing career. Here MK's photos from that shoot: