best dressed: january

So begins award season! This year, I was really impressed with the amount of gorgeous dresses and hair styles at the Golden Globes. I cannot wait to see what these ladies and others wear to the Oscars. Anyway, here are some amazing Golden girls, street styles, and various events. Enjoy! 

Anne Hathaway

Knockout! Holy shit, I love this Armani gown. She (or maybe Rachel Zoe?) did an amazing job picking out a color that compliments her gorgeous skin tone and hair. Truly beautiful. Favorite of the evening.

Mila Kunis

I couldn't have imagined a better color on her. She has such a strong look with dark hair and intense eyes, that this regal emerald is the perfect match. Also, her hair is incredible. 

Helena Bonham-Carter

Yeah, yeah, all of the talk show hosts and blogs will call her the "worst" dressed. Do you think she cares? I love her style and this Vivienne Westwood dress is beautiful on her. She's basically giving a sartorial "fuck you" to everyone with the mismatched shoes and disheveled hair.

Michelle Williams

This is such a charming dress. It reminds me of one of my favorite Marc Jacobs' perfume Daisy, which is why I'm drawn to it.  I think she looks really cute. She has a quirky fashion sense, but this is still elegant and appropriate.  Worst dressed? Not to me! :)

Kate Moss

It was really hard to find a good outfit photo on this particular occasion. Doesn't she know that's crucial, to show off the outfit?  Especially when you're Kate Moss? Give the people what they want. Regardless, I love this outfit and will copy it to no end.

Amber Heard

Jessica Alba 

Diane Kruger

Best dressed leaving a gym: Nicole Richie 

xox

Jessi Lou

lanvin + h&m

As if it's hard enough that Omaha doesn't have an H&M. Now H&M is collaborating with high-end Paris fashion house Lanvin for one of the most anticipated sartorial marriages of the year. The results were an incredible fashion show, a killer lookbook that virtually every blog has featured and fashion lover has drooled over, and an uber-stylish launch party. The queen of minimal chic, Sofia Coppola, was divine in a fur coat while my favorite look was Susie "Bubble" Lau's striped ribbon dress topped off with her signature bun.

One of my personal style icons, Sofia Coppola

Sofia and Anna Sui

Emma Roberts

Blogger Bryan Boy of Bryanboy.com

Blogger Susie Lau of Style Bubble

And the absolute best part? The runway looks. Seriously, I need to hop a plane or drive to a nearby H&M (Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis). These were so inspirational and over-the-top, exceeding my expectations. If I can't own anything, I definitely plan on copying the outfits with my own pieces. And with all of the leopard, floral, and black, it shouldn't be too difficult.

xox

Jessi Lou

jil sander spring 2011

Synonymous with "minimalism" and workwear in the '80s, the Jil Sander woman this season might be sneaking in some prints and even *GASP* mixing them! Raf Simons, who took on the label, shows us what modern minimalism might look like come spring time. 

Simons still sticks to clean lines and the basics with a hint of bold, but this time there's a twist: ruffles and dresses, skirts, and pants that bubble out. Seemingly shapeless, however, they look so chic especially with the tailored jackets. Towards the end, we see outfits that could be worn by any woman right off the runway. That is, if she has no fear of the colorwheel.  

Clean and crisp, yes, albeit baggy at times. It takes a special kind of design to make it look put together and elegant. 

photos: style.com

dolce and gabbana spring 2011

Talk about a summer blockbuster with an all-star cast. The titans of the modeling world were in full-force at Dolce and Gabbana, including my hometown hero, Samantha Gradoville (interview someday, perhaps? Lemme talk to her dad and see what I can do). As though they were exiting heaven, all ladies began the show dressed in head-to-toe white, which was so elegant and summery.

The attention immediately turned to Victoria's Secret model, Alessandria Ambrosio, who juxtaposed the purity with an all-black ensemble. She came back a second time donning another black look, which I have to say, was absolutely beautiful on her.

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Just to show that, no, they're not totally innocent, a little bit of leopard was included. One of the dresses was a lace-leopard fusion mixing the two trends in one. The only other print was a greenish floral. This was a highly-wearable collection that was kept simple with two main colors and two prints. The way in which they married the prints and the lace was lovely. I imagine I would enjoy mixing the leopard pieces with the floral as well. 

It says a lot about a designer (or in this case, two) when they are able to book most of the greats, past and present. Dolce and Gabbana continues to establish their dominance in the fashion world, and they have the gorgeous designs to back them up. 

photos: style.com

betsey johnson spring 2011

What's it like to be in a fashion show for the industry's most cuckoo-adorable designer? The models give it away: most of them are smiling the whole time. That says a lot coming from the notoriously-stoic, icy cool creatures. And how couldn't you? Everything about Betsey Johnson makes you smile, especially when you're wearing a dress that looks like a delicious neon cupcake.  

And the trends...well, what trends? Betsey doesn't care. She was inspired by cyclists for this collection, thus the grand entrance she made at the end on a pink bicycle. Trends are often thrown out the window and replaced with bat-shit crazy designs and eye-popping pinks and blues. A true Betsey collection just wouldn't be complete without sparkles, pinks, and florals.  And that is why we love her. 

photos: style.com

i love the '90s

When I was in 5th grade, I desperately wanted my first pair of Dr. Martens. I saw them at my local department store (okay, at Von Maur): the tortoise shell patent leather 1460 8-eye boot. I couldn't wait until back-to-school that year so that I might beg my parents for a pair for my school shoes for the rest of the year, NAY, the rest of my life! It was a sad day, come the end of August, when they were out of my size and another pair could not be located because they were so special. They were the ones that got away.

I settled for a pair of basic black boots which I wore to death until my feet grew out of them the next year. Last week, I requited my long lost love with a pair of black patent leather boots from Zappos.

When I wear them, I feel like a more grown-up version of myself at age 10. I love that we can all take things from our childhood that meant so much to us and still make it apply to who we are now. I can't say that about many things, especially things I wore. A lot of them represent who I was in the past, and that's where they'll stay.

Some fashion trends were too cool to be a memory frozen in time. I've seen a huge resurgence of '90s-ish clothing these last couple of seasons. As a child of the '90s, naturally, I feel comforted by these trends and reminded of how simple my life was watching Nickelodeon and reading The Baby-Sitters Club. I wanted to be just like those girls from the books and Melissa Joan Hart's title character from 'Clarissa Explains It All.'

Clarissa (Melissa Joan Hart) was fearless when it came to her outfits. And, hey, look! Patent Docs! 

Claudia Kishi from The Baby-Sitters Club, as portrayed by the book cover artist.

We don't always have a picture of what Claudia is wearing, but we usually get a vivid description in the books. She has an extremely eclectic sense of style, always described as wearing things that you would never imagine to go together, but she makes it look amazing. Like Clarissa Darling, Claudia loves bright colored leggings, big earrings, vests, lots of denim, and cowboy boots. Claudia and Clarissa would've probably been friends had they gone to the same fictional junior high school. Also, they would be great thrift store shopping buddies.

In contrast to the bright colors and prints, the '90s also had its share of moodiness. Charlotte Ronson's Spring 2011 collection was inspired by Claire Danes' character on My So-Called Life (Angela) with lots of flannels, shirts tied around the waist, florals with boots, beanies, and denim shirts.

Angela was angsty and post-grunge adolescent to the max.

Seeing these trends making a comeback makes me happy. It's not even completely that I loved wearing them, but because they remind me of when I was a kid and how excited I got over everything. Life was just good. No stresses over work or school. And the TV shows? They were so good! I feel sorry for any generation that can't grow up with Nickelodeon or TGIF. Not the crap Nickelodeon has today, which is basically a pre-pubescent version of MTV, but the old stuff. It's comforting and nostalgic when you see stuff from your childhood that brings back fond memories. I'll probably have a new pair of Doc Martens when I'm in the retirement home just to make me remember those days.

xox
Jessi Lou

marc jacobs spring 2011

After having been sick all day, not even that could keep me from watching my favorite designer's spring debut. I dragged myself out of bed to visit the live link to Marc's website sent to my e-mail. It was an invitation, and I'd be rude not to attend. In my delirious state, I had convinced myself that Marc himself had invited me and me alone to watch the show. I still like to believe this is true.

And just like that, I was cured. Vivaldi's "Summer" raced with dramatic violins over the speakers to announce Marc's spring 2011 collection. As several models at a time came out of what appeared to be a circular cave in the middle of the runway, it was clear that shades of orange, mustard, fuschia, gold, and plum were the dominant hues. The models also donned oversized sunglasses and floppy hats complete with giant floral corsages which were very reminiscent of the plastic flowers atop the Lola perfume bottle. In typical Marc fashion, it was very '70s-inspired. The girls looked a great deal like Jodie Foster's character in Taxi Driver with the frizzy hair, kohl eyeliner, short-shorts, wide-leg pants, and platform shoes.  As per usual, Marc gives us little kid-pre-Christmas-giddiness for the next season. 

photos: fashionologie.com

edited on my picnik.com account