Get it for way less - Chloé Bow-detailed Asymmetric Silk Blouse

Gorgeous, stylish designer clothing is unattainable for many of us but luckily there are many budget-friendly versions out there that can achieve a very similar look for much less than the original designer price.

This beautiful Chloé bow-detailed asymmetric silk blouse was a part of the Fall 2009 collection and retailed on Net-A-Porter at £1,295.





Chic, elegant and feminine, this blouse was worn by quite a few stylish fashion-lovers including Anna Dello Russo (below), the Fashion Director-at-Large and Creative Consultant at Vogue Nippon. She paired the blouse with a bright orange feather-detail silk Rochas skirt and a black and gold Louis Vuitton Speedy bag.




Below is a lovely and affordable alternative by ASOS which has similar features to the Chloé blouse such as the nude, silky fabric, asymmetric style and detailed sleeve. Granted, this ASOS blouse is missing the bow-detail on the arm which is what makes the Chloé blouse extra special but I still think it's really great deal.

ASOS Cut-Out Sleeve One Shoulder Top
Price: UK£22.00 (US$39.05)

Fashion Inspiration - Pure Plaidness

Plaid is yet another trend to be resurrected this fall season and it's back in a big way. Generally associated with the rebellious grunge era in the '90s or traditional Scottish clothing, plaid is making a break from these fashion stereotypes to become a chic and trendy pattern anyone can wear.

This striking cross-hatched pattern is versatile as it can made even more dynamic by using bold hues and dramatic tonal contrasts or toned down with subtle, sophisticated colours. Depending on the look of the item, plaid may propose a diverse array of style options including youthful, classic, quirky, elegant, edgy or casual.

Models strutted down the Fall 2008 runways of Badgley Mischka, House of Holland, D&G and Sass & Bide clad in stylish, attention-grabbing plaid garments.

photos courtesy style.com and nymag.com

Jessica Szohr of Gossip Girl looked cool and casual in a plaid button-down at a Dazed and Confused magazine party last week while her co-star Taylor Momsen was dressed in a cute plaid dress on the set of their show. Diane Kruger wore a plaid tie-neck blouse to Tommy Hilfiger's Spring 2009 show and Rihanna wore a plaid ruffle front top with a white vest while out shopping with UK singer Duffy.

photos courtesy uk.popsugar.com, justjared.com and forum.santabanta.com

Some of the greatest fashion inspirations come from real people who are photographed by various street style blogs around the world. The great thing about this pattern is that it's gender-neutral so both girls and guys can work their favourite plaid pieces with style and confidence.

photos courtesy facehunter.blogspot.com, styleclicker.net, saopaulostyle.blogspot.com,
damstyle.blogspot.com, thefashionist.se, thesartorialist.blogspot.com
and the-intersection.blogspot.com

As many of you may already know, Chictopia is also a fantastic source of real life fashion inspiration. These Chictopia girls utilize different plaid items to effectively express their fabulous, individual senses of style.

photos courtesy chictopia.com/user/blog/kirstylee, chictopia.com/user/blog/jmdarda, chictopia.com/user/blog/Snowshoe, chictopia.com/user/blog/rose01545, chictopia.com/user/blog/jfehrenbacher and chictopia.com/user/blog/taghrid.

Jump on the plaid-wagon this fall with these gorgeous and affordable items below.


Click on name of item to go to product page.

Tommy Hilfiger Runaway Clutch
Price: US$28.56

Romy Plaid Vest
Price: US$32.00

Plaid Shortie Sock
Price: US$4.99

Plaid Fleece Cape
Price: US$39.99

Navy and Beige Tweed Plaid Hair Flower
Price: US$10.00

Go International® Jumper Red Plaid
Price: US$39.99

Andrea Plaid Pashmina Scarf in Blue and Green
Price: US$13.00



Buffalo Plaid Blouse
Price: US$34.00

Plaid Buckle Flat
Price: US$22.50

Plaid shirred-yoke skirt
Price: US$32.99

Update - Fabulous fashion blogger, Couture Carrie also did a great post on the plaid trend, more specifically bias plaid! She rounds up some inspirational photos of bias plaid on the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 runways, ad campaigns and various other sources. Check it out!

Indie Designer Spotlight - Lemonstory

"Thanks for this - it is a great item and I cant wait to wear it!!! Will keep looking for more cool stuff..."

"The dress is beautifully made. Thank you !"

"i LOVE this shirt! i am so impressed with the style and the professional look...thanks!"

"Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! I cannot say anything bad about this dress. I love it."

These are just a few of the many positive responses fashion designer Anna Kim has received since starting her Brooklyn-based label Lemonstory in May 2008, just two months ago.




She came up with the name 'Lemonstory' because she thinks of the color lemon as bright and warm, so whoever wears their own Lemonstory item will feel happy and warm as well.

Anna attended Parsons The New School for Design where she received a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in fashion design. Since then, in addition to creating Lemonstory, she has worked for a fashion design company and also does freelance work for several companies at the moment.




Lemonstory offers quality clothing and accessories, all handmade by Anna, which are infused with style and abundant with exceptional details. All the designs are trendy, feminine and wearable so they would easily fit into the daily wardrobe of any fashionable lady.

According to Anna:

"A little piece of clothing is art that is going to be the closest thing from the body. It is going to change the look, the character, and the mind of a person wearing."




"I have always dreamed of creating something unique, beautiful, and one of kinds. Then I found Etsy, handmade market, which made me so happy to open my store with other amazing artists.

All items are from sketching, swatching, draping, pattern making...step by step. I spend many hours to find right designs. For Spring/Summer 2008 my inspiration is adolescence. I wanted to create something very pure, young, pretty also mature, unique. I am always inspired by art, colors, music, stories...so many things around me."




Each Lemonstory item is uniquely priced and current merchandise ranges from US$54 to US$110, with the exception of a brooch for US$18 (shown below).




To browse more of these lovely designs or to purchase your own, click here to go to the Lemonstory Etsy store.

Cool Vintage Finds - Order of the Elephant

Don't you just love it when you get style inspiration from other bloggers? I've been getting quite a lot lately and this post from the very lovely Sharon Rose (thank you dahling!) about sea life prints is the most recent. Now it wasn't exactly direct inspiration, as today's post has nothing to do with the sea, but it did get me thinking about what other rare and unusual motifs are out there.

When I'm on ebay, I tend look at and save a lot more items that I can ever possibly purchase and then forget about them. I went on the site yesterday and saw that I had saved an elephant print dress because I thought it looked interesting and unusual at the time. So I thought it would be cool to make the elephant motif the theme for today's 'Cool Vintage Finds'.

Not surprisingly, this motif was mostly prevalent during the 60s and 70s when hippies were fascinated with other cultures, largely those from eastern Asia where the elephant is a sacred symbol in many of those countries.

Get on the hippie trail with these elephant motif items below.

Vintage 70s Cute Elephant Gold Brass Charm Necklace
Starting Bid: AU $8.00 (US$7.51)

Seller Description:

The necklace is featuring a cute vintage charm of elephant pendant. It is antique brass oxidized finish, which is then lacquered. The charm is from probably 1960-70 era and has a bit tarnished to show it's aging.

Pendant Size: 26mm (H) and 21mm (widest). Pendant Materials: vintage brass ox. Chain Length: 420mm vintage patina brass chain.

AUCTION END: Jun-18-08 06:05:24 PDT (2 days 20 hours)

Get this necklace.

Blue and Gold Elephant Batik Sleeveless Dress
BUY-IT-NOW Price: AU$5.99 (US$5.62)

Seller Description:

Gorgeous Navy Blue & Gold BATIK PRINT Sleeveless Sun Dress
100% Cotton
Made in Thailand
Cute little dress with fabric tie belt at back of dress, slip on style

Condition : excellent

Measurements (double for accuracy)U/arm-U/arm : 52cmWaist : freeLength : 96cm

Get this dress.

Vintage 60s Handmade Leather Embossed Elephant Purse Bag
BUY-IT-NOW Price: US$10.39

Seller Description:

This auction is for a Vintage HANDMADE Leather Purse. Leather is in very good condition for its age. It features embossed color prints of Elephants and other scense from India or Africa. Measures approximately 5" x 4" x 2".

Get this bag.

Vintage Hippie Boho Ethnic Elephant Empire Sun Dress
Starting Bid: US$14.99
BUY-IT-NOW Price: US$55.00

Seller Description:

This vintage dress is so cute! Gray with turquoise blue print of elephants and other little cosmic adornments. Cute little straps. Zips up the back Has cute little empire waist tie in front.

Very good vintage condition.

Measurements (double)
Bust: 30/31", Waist: Up to 30";smaller when ties are cinched, Hips: 37", Length: 52"

AUCTION END: Jun-18-08 19:00:00 PDT (3 days 9 hours)

Get this dress.

Vintage Square Head Scarf Bandana Elephant
Starting Bid: US$0.99

Seller Description:

This is a square 21" head scarf or bandana. Feels like polyester. Has elephants on it. No stains or holes noted.

AUCTION END: Jun-21-08 09:40:14 PDT (5 days 23 hours)

Get this scarf.

Vintage Cotton Indian Ethnic Elephant Dolly Blouse
Current Bid: US$12.30

Seller Description:

Fresh white cotton is crafted into an adorable, slim-fitting sleeveless blouse with a perfectly cute peter pan/dolly collar. Indian-style elephants parade about in warm shades of yellow, orange and purple. Looks amazing worn solo, belted or tucked into your favourite bottom.

Measurements
Chest: 36", Waist: 32", Length: 23"

Condition: EXCELLENT (no flaws)

AUCTION END: Jun-17-08 18:09:41 PDT (2 days 8 hours)

Get this blouse.

Vintage 80s Safari Metal Elephant Animal Chain Link Belt
Starting Bid: US$9.99

Seller Description:

Get wild…with our Sick Thrift safari elephant chain link belt!!! Belt is made in an antique bonze tone metal!!! Features five 3” wide elephants charms linked together with adjustable chain hock closure!!! Goes great worn over anything from swim wear, high waist skirts to mini dresses!!!

Measurements
Width: 37” long from end to end
Total length of elephant portion: 18”
height: 2”

Condition: Perfect!!!

AUCTION END: Jun-17-08 19:30:00 PDT (2 days 9 hours)

Get this belt.

Get it for way less - Christian Siriano Blouse

Did anyone else catch the fabulous Christian on last week's Ugly Betty episode? The Project Runway diva brought his fierce flavour to the show along with his amazing designs.

Not only the models were outfitted in Siriano creations however, as he also custom designed the outfit Amanda (played by Becki Newton) wore for the episode.

I had to stream this episode online as I missed it when it showed on T.V. When Amanda appeared for the first time, I kept rewinding it to look at that gorgeous blouse she was wearing!




This black, ruffled, puff sleeved beauty is now being auctioned off on the Clothes off our back website where the bid is now at US$550.

I don't think there's a girl on this planet who wouldn't love to own this blouse (there probably is but for exaggeration purposes...). Unfortunately, not all of us can afford it and the bids are only going to get higher.

Luckily, I found a similar, much less expensive blouse online at Bebe.




It costs US$69 and of course it's not nearly as gorgeous as Christian's but for the price, it doesn't do too badly at all.

Obviously there are a few differences such as the fact that there are no ruffles at the neck and this one is short sleeved as opposed to Christian's long sleeved version. If this a problem, maybe wearing them with long black arm bands might work to complete the look.

Other than that, I think it looks pretty close.