The Perfect Shirt, Part 2

Click here to read my interview with Rochelle for Refinery29. I want that snakeskin skirt!

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The Perfect Shirt

 

Meet Rochelle Behrens, founder and designer of The Shirt and my new style icon and entrepreneurial inspiration. She’s a former White House intern and lobbyist who could never find dress shirts that fit properly – they’d pop open at the button holes and at really inopportune times (I know the feeling….). So, she decided to solve the problem by designing dress shirts with an extra button, and has grown her concept into a successful fashion line loved by Oprah, the Today Show, etc.

I recently interviewed her for a R29 story and loved hearing her story. She shared some advice that I took to heart: “Women are generally inclined not to go for it  …my impulse is to ‘just do it’ – had I known all the hardship I would encounter, I probably wouldn’t have done it. So just do it, with reckless abandon – it’s the only way to succeed. You figure it out if you have to.”

 

Above, Dual Button concept to keep blouses shut and below, The Shirt custom-designed prints (I love the coffee beans!)

 

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Wanted: Chelsea boots

Flew into Chicago last night just in time for a blizzard and several inches of snow. Of course, I did not pack boots (instead, I brought wooden clogs and leopard heels). My perpetual underpreparedness for the weather when it comes to footwear stems from my distaste for practical boots. It’s hard to find a versatile pair that you can wear to work, trudge through snow, and wear with a dress.

Then I saw these boots (Alexander Wang Anouck Chelsea leather boots, worn by my stylish friend Elle) and I’ve been hunting them down ever since.

I found some similar ones on Asos and am kicking myself for not ordering them a month ago because I need them in 15 minutes to fight the sludge… var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-46889504-1’]); _gaq.push([‘_setDomainName’, ‘thestyleheist.blogspot.com’]); _gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true; ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

Funnelneck sweater-jacket

 

Picked up this giant knit sweater last season and it sat in my closet with the tags on for far longer than I care to admit. But there is nothing more satisfying than discovering something in the back of your closet and it suddenly becomes a wardrobe staple. I pulled this sweater out of my closet as a quick fix for separation anxiety caused by my overloved wool blazer taking a much-needed trip to the dry cleaners and now I remember why I bought it in the first place!

 

Ripped jeans from Amsterdam (similar here), vintage blouse, vintage Coach bucket bag, J.Crew Collection Snowden funnelneck sweater-jacket.

 

Thanks Elle for the pictures 🙂

 

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Best of Austin

 

I’ve been meaning to visit Austin for two years and finally made the trip a couple of weeks ago to visit my friend/favorite speech pathologist Ashley (above). By the way, I think of Ashley every time I misuse a Qtip – despite all her scare tactics, I just can’t help it. I did learn a trick from her this weekend that I will steal forever: Keep a guestbook in your apartment, and have visitors write a note about the weekend before they leave!

 

Anyway, Austin was amazing – although Ashley is someone who could make a trip to a state correctional facility fun so that’s not really surprising that I had a good time. I fell in LOVE with the city, ate lots of TexMex (include queso for breakfast one morning), met some celebrities, and came home with a $5 horseshoe, a vintage mink fur stole with ‘Pat Fondrem’ embroidered inside the lapel, and lots of Texan inspiration.

One morning, Ashley took me to South Congress Cafe, one of her favorite breakfast spots – and seated outside the door also waiting for a table was Jane Aldridge of Sea of Shoes (my best source of vintage fashion inspiration) and her photographer/mom! I ran outside to meet them and let them know how they’ve inspired me to wear distressed denim and terrycloth sweatshirts, and later ran into them again at a vintage shop down the street. Jane and her mom were very sweet, posed for an iPhone picture, and gave me the short list of spots to shop in Austin, including Laced with Romance and Archive in Austin.

I went to none of them (partly because I didn’t want to stalk, and partly because Ashley has a time limit for looking at used tee shirts) – but I will be back!

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Parka and combat boots

I am writing this from Florida and heading to Chicago on Thursday. It will be 19 degrees and I left my down jacket hanging next to my door on the way to the airport Monday morning. So, I’ve been thinking a lot about coats.

Making a puffy coat look cool is a skill of the truly stylish, one that I have yet to master. And its particularly rough in the winter when your coat is the main entree of your outfit. It’s even harder when it’s too cold to think: When I moved to Minneapolis, I almost immediately lost all interest in personal style and purchased a floor-length North Face. I sold it on eBay the moment I moved to D.C., but three years later I’m still hunting for a more-stylish-but-equally warm replacement and constantly on the lookout for ideas.

I found some winter gear inspiration when I spotted Yuka at Eastern Market back in December. Her outfit was perfect for a cold day – comfy, warm, and a little unexpected. I love the big parka balanced by skinny jeans tucked into leather hiking boots. She’s inspired me to hunt for a fur stole to wrap around my messenger bag for some extra flair (and warmth).

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Sartorialist book signing

 

 

This post is past due, but I wanted to share some (stolen) pictures of the stylish crowd that turned out for The Sartorialist book signing in D.C. last month. I left with new picture book complete with Scott Schuman’s signature plus lots of inspiration from the crowd of fans who also like to take pics, write blogs, and dress up. Below are some pictures (all taken by the staff at Politics and Prose) of the fans who inspired me and validated my appreciation of fur hats, sequins, jean jackets, and unkempt hair. My favorite is the girl above – I love the beaded yellow silk with camo and bright lipstick!

 

 

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