Urban Outfitters nail polish

After finally teaching myself patience and the art of painting my own nails, I have had a recent obsession with finding new, fun colors to practice with. And by far my favorite so far have been the glittery shades at Urban Outfitters.

The polish comes in a variety of fun shades from turquoise to midnight blues to multicolor sparkles and is perfect for making a cool statement or for a night out. And the best part is, the glitter makes it easy for your manicure to look perfect, because any streaks or inconsistencies in the paint job are hidden behind the iridescent polish.

I just bought two more shades yesterday (the turquoise pictured above and an indigo midnight blue shade) and can't wait to try them out!

There are a few fictional characters that I truly admire. Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's; Mia Thermopolis of The Princess Diaries (both the books and the movies); Any Molly Ringwald character; Gossip Girl's Blair Waldorf.

As different as these women may be they all share some striking similarities: they are all pretty young, sometimes stylish, always naive and slightly self-absorbed women with fantastic lives but realistic flaws. It's easy to love a superhero in a comic book because superheroes are meant to be absolutely perfect; even their flaws essentially make them stronger. But these women don't necessarily aim to correct their flaws. No, they embrace them or even sometimes remain blissfully unaware that they aren't perfect princesses after all.

For the same reasons that I love the previously-mentioned ladies, I am in love with Cher Horowitz, the incredibly shallow if not absolutely loveable heroine of the 1995 Beverly Hills Spoiled Teenager Bible Clueless. Cher has a computer program that makes sure her outfits don't clash, a fancy car that she can't drive, and an overall incredibly charmed life but still the same woes and heartbreaks that we normal people also deal with. Cher gives makeovers and tries to find love for herself while playing matchmaker to others all while wearing unforgettable yellow plaid outfits and mini-mini dresses by Calvin Klein and Alaia (which are the subjects of great memorable lines from the movie, I might say).


Cher might be a bit misguided, but she is such a beloved character because she is such a real teenager- albeit an incredibly stylish one.

Wildfox Couture, the cheeky T-shirt design label that always produces incredible campaigns, has also been incredibly inspired by the life and times of Cher, and their spring 2013 ad campaign recreates the iconic movie in a modern style.

And with great, sassy phrases like "Need Ride to the Mall" and "Rodeo Dr." emblazened on barbie pink oversized tees, Wildfox has got the Valley Girl lingo down.

There's always an otherworldly, fantastical element to Mulberry (the British label known for its iconic handbags) collections.

For Spring 2013, the label plunged into the ocean -a soft, pastel coral reef, to be precise- and created a dreamy, mermaid-like collection of soft beaches, cool seafoam greens, and fish scale-like prints. Throw photographer Tim Walker, who happens to have a flair for the magical, and you are bound to get an enchanting end result.






images courtesy of Mulberry

Elbow patches -which used to be reserved for stern-looking collegiate professors prone to donning easy-fraying tweed jackets at lectures- have made a stylish resurgence as of late, and everyone is getting their hands (or should I say elbows) all over this trend. 

When donning revamped elbow patches, there appear to be two schools of style thought:

1. The Literal Bunch. This group is doing the full-on tweed jacket with suede patches, Ivy League Prepster look. There will be plaid, leather briefcases, and other smart-looking cliches.

Copenhagen Street Style

untitled by tweexcore on flickr

2. The Rethinkers. This group has taken the elbow patch out of its traditional school teacher blazer setting and placed it into a more modern environment. Think sweatshirts and knits with elbow patches, patches decorated with sequins or in crazy prints, a more urban edge.

Tommy Ton for GQ

Chinti & Parker Fall 2012 ad campain

Personally, I'm in love with both schools of style thought, so I'll take inspiration from everyone! In case you are still wary of being tempted to lean on your elbows too much or don't know how to quite pull this off, I've taken the liberty of creating two possible outfits for your new patched-up sweaters! 

The two outfits mix preppy poise with urban cool, so feel free to channel both Greenwich, Connecticut, and Greenwich Village when testing out your new elbow patches!