High Street Highlight: Ann Taylor Modern Lace Sheath Dress and Neon Yellow Sleeveless Lace Sheath Dress (at 40% off!)

Lace is one of my favorite materials (ahem enough to make my own alencon lace waltz length veil because I had to have it and couldn't afford it!) I am so glad that it is making a resurgence in the last few years.  Of course there are the classic design houses like Valentino which make exquisite lace dresses in their own lace motifs.  But retailers like Ann Taylor are also doing a fabulous job at making modern lace apparel.  Ann Taylor has created a few lace dresses for spring with modern draping (seriously I love the chiffon overlay) and in lovely colors like bright yellow or traditional black.  You may have to check out some styles in store because these pieces are selling fast!

Bonus - try out a lace dress and get 40% off your entire purchase with code ENTIRE.

Save!
- Go to Mr. Rebates first and get cash back on your purchase!  Here is my invite if you need it!

Modern Lace Sheath Dress, Ann Taylor, $148.80 (from $248) 

Sleeveless lace Sheath Dress, Ann Taylor, $118.80 (from $198)

Lace Complexity Lace Dress, Ann Taylor, $59.99 (from $99.99)

{High Street Highlight} Ann Taylor antique lace tiered skirt, bateau lace dress (wedding/lace inspiration)

I'm deviating from the norm and including two items in this High Street Highlight post because they're both lovely lace numbers from the same retailer.

The tiers and slightly shorter length on this skirt makes it a versatile option for spring and summer events.  Dress it up or down (love the fun styling with the high heeled oxfords here).  This looks very short, but I believe is the picture for the petite version.

Antique Lace tiered skirt, Ann Taylor, $138

This dress sold out online within a week of appearing and I think I snagged the last one in my size Saturday night (there is some availability in stores).  It would be a fabulous wedding dress alternative, particularly if you are looking for a more romantic and youthful look.  I bought it because I envision wearing it under blazers or as a skirt for a feminine and fun vibe. The price (particularly with more than 40% discount below) was icing on the cake.

Bateau lace dress, Ann Taylor, $198

Save!

- Go to Ebates or Mr. Rebates first and get 3% cash back.
- Get 40% off everything with code spring40 through 4/24

{High Street Highlight} Ann Taylor Abbey Lace Pumps

After holiday sales are dangerous (for my wallet).  But willpower and savvy shopping can be balanced right?

The lace love continues with these Ann Taylor Abbey lace pumps which I just ordered for myself and my mom (because we're the same size and any shoes I've left in NYC have been claimed by her).  I couldn't resist at $79.99 with an extra discount (last day for 40% off with code save40).


I also went through Mr. Rebates first for another 3% back.   Yep, I am definitely the savvy shopper.

While they don't have the signature, make me weak at the knees bows of these Valentino d'Orsay pumps, I'm happy to put my $800 savings towards another pair of Valentino heels.

What good deals have you gotten lately?

2010 and my favorite fashion trends

I don't have to have the season's latest trends.  But if a piece speaks to me and seamlessly works its way into my wardrobe - how can I deny it?

Here are my picks for pieces that represented some of this year's hottest trends:
1. Lace
My love for lace is well documented (why else would one sew an alencon lace veil or buy a 2nd Monique Lhuillier lace wedding gown 3 weeks before her wedding)

Victorian is victorious in this whimsical Oasis lace dress, £60

Wearable lace shift via Joie, $318

2. Leopard print apparel
I always thought I was too conservative for leopard print.  But I find that a touch of leopard can bring just the right raw edginess to an outfit.
Spun by Subtle Leopard zebra scarf, $50

...and shoes
Leopard print with a touch of black makes these Attilio Giusti Leombroni leopard print flats super versatile, $355

3. Minimalist essentials
One day, I will own Celine clothing.  Until that day, I can still evoke the spirit of Phoebe Philo's modern and minimalist pieces.

This Vince coat ($375) has such clean, modern lines.

This Karen Millen trench dress for £116 is super sleek and versatile.

4. Retro dressing
Timeless, womanly apparel is something that I can definitely adopt - flattering fits and full skirts evoke instant ladylike glamour.

This Pink Tartan piece at $395 is my ideal dress - fitted with an a-line silhouette and a great print.  It's going on the wishlist!

This Mango buckle waist full skirt, £39.50, looks comfortable and refined (pockets are a plus too!)

What were your favorite trendy pieces of 2010?

Every day Lace (Apparel) love

I unabashedly, unequivocally ♥ lace.  Something about those delicate floral/foliage patterns make my inner girl very happy.  You may recall I hunted down a more rare alencon lace for my DIY veil and won a Monique Lhuiller gown on eBay in the same lace.  But lace comes in many forms - alencon, guipure, chantilly, eyelet, etc.  Its uses have expanded beyond gowns and veils and it can be screen printed on a tee shirt or a piece of stationary.

I love how lace is so versatile and transcends seasons (say in the basic black jacket below) - wear it for formal occasions, tea time, and more!

Here are some of my favorite every day lace options ...

 ASOS £75.00 here

Topshop $32 here

Madewell tee $42 here

ASOS£10 here

  

 ASOS£29 here

Topshop $32 here

What do you think of lace apparel?  Is it something you could indeed wear every day?

Learning to Love DIY and saving money: Guest Post at a Mountain Bride

Hello my dears, I wanted to point you over to my guest post at  A Mountain Bride.

I talked about the every(wo)man's/bride's struggle to have beautiful things, save money, and create a few DIY projects along the way (particularly when it comes to wedding planning).   For my married friends and brides, you know how enamored you become with decor, details, and style.  Of course this doesn't come cheap, but there are ways to recreate some of this with a little patience, some internet tutorials, and time.
I didn't exactly become Ms. Martha, but I learned a lot about how /where to save money for projects, gained confidence in creating and designing my own DIY ideas, and retained faith that I could still end up with the item of my dreams.

You don't always have to give up on dreams of pretty.

Please feel free to visit Jes and see my guest post here.
I've also included a few more veil pics (Jes is sweet, she really wanted me to talk about the veil!)

For my full DIY on making an alencon lace waltz length veil, here is part 1 and part 2.

Designer Thursday - Monique Lhuillier bridesmaid line(and my reception wedding gown!)

How can I write about fashion and not write about one of my fave wedding and overall high-end fashion designers: Monique Lhuiller.

Isn't she lovely? She is a Filipina fashion designer based in the United States and she is of mixed French and Spanish-Cebuano descent (from her Wikipedia entry).
Lhuillier and her husband Tom Bugbee, founded their company in 1996 and launched their first bridal collection (as a 25 year-old!) shortly after she designed the apparel for her wedding entourage (which was also a high society wedding). Her bridal and ready to wear collections have already been a hit and now she has launched bridesmaid dresses!

Here are some favorites:

The one-shoulder classic look is awesome  while the pleating is great on the second dress.

I loved the last design and it is close to an Amsale I originally wanted for my girls.

How lucky for girls that can wear these styles now! Actually I will probably look for one to wear to a formal event - I love the practicality and rewearability of these gowns.

Now for my reception gown (ceremony gown here). I bought the Monique Lhuillier Parisian 2.5 weeks before the wedding and wore it for the reception.  I was obsessed with alencon lace (my journey here) and was crestfallen I couldn't find an alencon lace dress that was actually affordable,

Then I saw the dress (it was actually the second one within my size posted on eBay in a few weeks),  I bought it, truly loved it, and will be wearing it to our small Asian reception at the end of the year.

Here I am! My brother thinks this is one of the best pictures. I agree. Embrace the cheese and make faces (though I've decided to crop out mine).

P.S. I got it on eBay for almost 90% off retail price (remember the start price is pretty high tough).

Chic 'n Cheap ladies.

DIY - modeling shots and how to make your own waltz/chapel length alencon lace veil (part 2 of 2)

So we finished cutting the tulle and sewing the tulle on to the comb in part 1.

Attach Lace
1. Lay out the tulle in its entirety. Place the alencon lace carefully around the tulle.

2. Line the lace up to where you want it to end around the front. Mine is 5" away from the comb lining up with my ear which worked out perfectly.

3. If you want a specific pattern at the end, sew that first. I wanted a few more flowers at the end and had to cut my trim accordingly. In addition since alencon lace trim is double faced (flowers face different directions after you cut it) I lined up the same lace accordingly on either side of the veil.

4. Sew the lace to the tulle at the top edges of the trim with a triple knotted double thread. Ensure that the trim covers the tulle and the eyelash fringe is overhanging the tulle. Also ensure your alencon lace is on the right side (corded side is facing outward).

If you ever have to cut a small piece of the pattern, I recommend sewing it to the next piece of trim. This will give the illusion of a continuous pattern and keep the lace from flopping around.

I had a very specific amount of lace to work with. Otherwise my veil would have been a little longer, a full chapel length. Now it's maybe 76" so it's between a waltz and a chapel length.

This also took quite a few hours, especially since I adjusted (i.e. had to rip out the lace with the seam ripper and realign) a few times. I have some extra alencon lace flowers and am wondering if I should sew some in the center. What do you think? It's hard to take self-modeling shots because the veil doesn't drape well when I have one hand up?  This was the best shot I could take and apologies that it didn't resize very well!

Chic 'n Cheap - truly a labor of love and it's something I will pass to any daughters.

Do you like it? Who else is making her veil?

DIY - how to make your own waltz/chapel length alencon lace veil (part 1 of 2)

How much do you really care about a piece of tulle?

When it's going to be your wedding veil, you'd probably care a little more than usual.

As you may recall, I was determined to have an awesome alencon lace veil after trying it on with the dress that got away. Through sheer chance (I've had incredible eBay luck) and perseverance, I have, umm, multiple dresses including my coveted alencon lace for much, much less than the original prices.

I also was blessed to find tulle and alencon lace locally. I used tutorials from my lovely blogger buddy The Thirty Something Bride and this bride to create the veil.

Here is my DIY veil tutorial for someone who barely knows how to sew (part 1 covers laying out the tulle and comb parts).
Materials:
- Tulle of your choice (mine was silk tulle which is the lightest, but priciest)
- Fabric scissors
- Mini binder clips
- head comb of your choice
- needle and white thread
- alencon lace
- narrow satin ribbon (to cover tulle poking out of comb)
- glue
- seam ripper (to fix your mistakes if the lace isn't aligned well)

Cut the tulle
1. Gather your tulle and decide the length and width. The top is now North (N), bottom South(S), left West (W) and right East (E).

2. Then fold it into quarters (first from N to S and then again from W to E). I clipped the tulle together at the edges with mini binder clips.

3. Continually smooth out the tulle so the 4 layers are even when you cut them. You may want to remove and replace the binder clips as you cut through the tulle.

4. This is to cut out an oval shape (great draping IMO). If you don't have a pattern, you will want to manually eyeball and cut out a quarter oval (basically a Nike swoosh logo upside down). Cut at a slight angle and round towards the top. Keep in mind that if the top is narrow, the bottom will be as well so don't cut it too narrowly.

Attach the comb
1. Gather appropriate amount of tulle to gather for your comb. If you use too much it will bunch up on the comb. In my two veil projects, I thought ~6-8" was a good amount to gather. Adjust as you see fit.

2. Create a substantial knot for the first run. I double knotted thread and knotted the end 6 times.

3. Now make an evenly spaced running stitch (~0.5"). I used pens as guides and sewed over and under them for a few inches. If you have a good eye, simply start sewing! You may need to cut the tulle across a straight line to make it even. Otherwise you get long and short strips to work with.

4. Pull the thread through to gather the tulle.

5. Tuck pieces of the tulle through the comb evenly. This is important because this will determine the fall of the tulle from the comb.

6. Sew tulle to the comb (through the teeth) to secure it.
7.You may also sew or glue (as I did) a piece of ribbon to hide the tulle.

You may need to adjust and gather more tulle to get the "hang" right. Just continually hold the comb with the tulle hanging as if it were hanging from your head and adjust accordingly.

Stay tuned for part 2 and modeling shots!

Six degrees of savings – my $1000 silk alencon lace chapel length veil in the making

$1000.

That was the price of the alencon lace veil I tried on at Kleinsfeld a few months ago. My two couture dresses don’t even cost that much. I was quoted “starting at $500” for a finger tip alencon lace veil at M&J Trimming. But I really wanted this veil, especially since I never bought that Monique Lhuillier. Why the high price tag?

Alencon lace trim is about $25-$55/yard. If it’s double-sided, I would still need 3-5 yards. Silk tulle, which I admire for its even, non-poofy finish, was $120/yard. Depending on the width, I would need probably 1-2 yards. I was determined to make my own awesome veil for much less. I scoured the internet and got tips from my bridal blogger buddies and set off on my mission.

Find 1: I got my silk tulle from a lovely eBay seller who was closing her bridal shop. I got over a yard/120” wide for less than $50. I am able to make an elbow length and a chapel length veil from the tulle.

Find 2: The Thirty Something Bride referred me to this great site. They have great trims, but not exactly the one I was looking for.
So I hit the pavement. I was at my 8th fabric store searching for the trim. The salesman didn’t have what I wanted but took pity on me for some reason. I think he thought I was just a poor student (FIT was nearby). He said “Do you have a pen and paper?” I handed him the aforementioned items and he wrote down a name and address nearby. He said they might have what I wanted.

I walked into a random office filled with fabrics. I told them who referred me and they let me look around. I found this beautiful lace trim (which I have carefully cleaned up). It wasn’t the length I was looking for. But $20 was tough to beat and I was thinking of shortening my veil anyway. It turns out this guy was a wholesaler who doesn’t normally sell to the public. He just has random stuff left over from jobs. I went over to Lace Star that day to find a coordinating lace to round things out. I found some remnants for below retail and am still deciding whether to keep them.

I went back the next day and bought breakfast for the guy in the first fabric shop, the wholesaler, and the Lace Star guy. Sometimes you gotta know someone to get a great deal. Look online, go to flea markets/estate sales, and ask around.
I'm extremely lucky to have found my wholesaler. It's possible - do your research and ask around too - the connection with great prices could be waiting for you!

Veil tutorial part 1 here and part 2 here!