11th Annual Driehaus Awards for Fashion Excellence

Friday night I attended the 11th annual Driehaus Awards for Fashion Excellence. I placed last year and was super excited to see what was chosen for this years competition in particular what was picked from Columbia College's seniors (my alma mater). This year I brought my  mother and couldn't wait to show her how great this show is. Overall, there was not one let down. There were so many great designers this year and more avant guard pieces were shown than in years past.

The host of the evening ABC 7's Linda Yu wore a jacket designed by yours truly and looked amazing. The look from my winning collection was also featured on the news a few days ago and was worn by Yu on the afternoon news on Thursday.

Link! 

David Cantu

Gilda K. Hosseini

Andrew Cruz

brighten up

Last Friday I attended a little cocktail party in honor of my friends' upcoming wedding. Being that we are well into April and it's quite chilly again I wanted a bright spring look while still staying warm. My solution? Some super bold color blocking. So bright in fact, that upon arrival I was introduced as a cast member from Designing Women (hopefully, not Delta Burke) haha. Either way I got to carry my new bag which I LOVE ! It's clearly a copy of the Celine version I've been lusting after form quite sometime.  Here's what I wore:

Jacket: H&M, Blouse: Everly, Jeans: J. Crew Toothpick, Booties: H&M

Lipstick: Mac Impassioned

Clutch: Street Level, Bracelets (from left): Presence, Topshop, H&M Watch: Michael Kors

Driehaus Cocktail Reception

Hello all! Pardon my absence, March has been insane with moving, unpacking and living without internet but alas, I am finally back into the modern age! This passed wednesday I was invited to a cocktail party at the Ransom R. Cable mansion to celebrate the 11th annual Driehaus Awards for Fashion Excellence.  Overall the party was super fun, however the best part of the night was seeing my piece from my winning collection from last years competition. It had been donated to the Driehaus collection so I hadn't seen since last May. It was also great catching up with the other designers and meeting the judges for this years competition. Here's a little outfit of the evening:

Dress: Tibi, Shoes: Fioni, Purse: Marc Jacobs

Shoes: Fioni

Coat: Old Navy, Sunglasses: Presence

Ransom R. Cable Mansion

My Look

Leopard and Vinyl

Today was my day off from work and the boyfriend and I decided to grab some lunch and stop by Shake, Rattle and Read. They are currently celebrating their 46th anniversary with a massive 46% off sale, and I was on the search for some Zombies on vinyl. I scoured through almost every record in the place and no Zombies to be found, but don't worry, I found plenty of other great records. The owner was playing the greatest 60's compilation and when I asked about it he told me it was his own mix and gave me his copy! How nice is that? If you haven't been into Shake Rattle and Read before, you must stop in sometime. It's a tiny shop FILLED with books, records, magazines and movies. The prices are really great and the people that work there are always super nice. I love looking through their old paperbacks and vintage Playboy covers. 

Here's one of my all time favorites, a little ear candy for your Saturday night: 

ootd: flowers and puppies

The past few days here in Chicago have felt like spring. I've been walking instead of taking the bus, pulling out my sunglasses and reaching for brighter colors and prints. Today I wore what I refer to as the "Miami Vice" jacket. I picked this up a few years ago at the boutique I work at. With the vibrant print, rolled sleeves and shoulder pads, it screams 80's.  I paired it with my puppy tee and new favorite necklace. I've also been carrying around my Jason Wu for Target bag. I absolutely love it as it really cheers up my winter coats. Now if only it would get warm enough to wear those dresses! Here's an outfit of the day.

Jacket: Akualani, Puppy Tee: Kersh, Necklace: Presence

Jeans: J. Crew, Boots: Target

Bag: Jason Wu for Target

Springy song of the day:

Happy Valentines Day

Hello all! I hope you are having a splendid valentine's day. This year my valentine and I decided to forgo all the craziness and over the top gestures in leu of saving. We instead went out to run some errands and grabbed a quick lunch. But just because we decided on a low key, casual day doesn't mean that I didn't want to jazz up just a bit, so here's a little outfit of the vday! 

Hat: Presence, Coat: Diane von Furstenberg, Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Revlon Color Burst Lipstick in True Red: The perfect shade of red. I brightens up your face and even makes you teeth look whiter. This is my go to shade when I want a little pizazz!

Marc by Marc Jacobs Bag: This was a valentine gift from my boyfriend a few years ago. It's one of those bags that only holds a credit card, ID and some lipgloss but I love it.  This isn't however my favorite valentine gift I've ever received...This little guy is!

Harry "Winston" Churchill

Now here's a little Valentine's Day jam for you. 

Summer Dress

Forgive the lacking of outfit of the days. We are in the process of packing for the big move (a whole 4 blocks away!), so most of my clothes are all packed up. In other words, it's been pretty bland this month. I recently however scooped up this summery dress from Target, I mean I need something to wear! Even though it's a bit tropical, it's nice wearing something so vibrant after months of black and navy. I paired it with my new favorite necklace, some boots and tights. 

dress: Target, Belt: Forever 21, Tights: American Apparel, Boots: Mossimo Engineer Boots, Necklace: Presence