Thoughts? « Quite Continental

Your Thoughts? Wedding Hair

August 5th, 2011 § Leave a Comment

Hold your horses…

No, I am not getting married — take a breath — but in the spirit of the hair question I just answered, I thought I might turn the tables and ask your opinion.

As I mentioned, I am heading up to a New Hampshire wedding this weekend and have yet to decide what to do with my hair. Ground rules are (1), it must be up and off of my neck, due to the neckline of the dress, and (2), it can’t be too complicated because I do not have the patience. The DIY hair tutorials on Joanna Goddard’s blog Cup of Jo are right up my alley and I find myself torn between two somewhat similar styles and wondered which one you might prefer?

The Gibson Roll

Or, Three twisted buns

What do we think? All rolled up and tidy? Or a bit messy and disheveled? Or something completely different? Thoughts?

If you want to try these out yourself, head over to Cup of Jo for the easy, completely illustrated, step by step hair tutorials. I’ve already practiced both styles, and they are quite easy. Perfect summer updos, even if you aren’t going to a wedding.

Image 1 via FGR., images 2 through 5 via Cup of Jo.

Fascinated with Fascinators

February 24th, 2011 § 10 Comments

Earlier today the interwebs were thrown into a huge tizzy because the lovely HRH to be, Kate Middleton, christened a boat. I wasn’t aware boat christenings were so important in Britain. However, I had a smallish tizzy because she happened to be wearing a fascinator — an accessory that I’ve been fascinated with (sorry, couldn’t resist) over the last week or so.

Image via Styleite.

Now, as I am not British, I am a bit fuzzy on when a fascinator is appropriate, and perhaps someone out there will be able to help. I had thought that the headgear were specific to weddings, but since Kate wore one to a daytime event, does this mean the field of fascinator-appropriate events has widened — to include boat christenings? Possible to wear it whenever a hat is appropriate? Do only young ladies wear them? Must they have feathers? So many questions for such a small accessory!

I have discovered a darling etsy shop that sells the most beautiful fascinators and birdcage veils – Head Full of Feathers. The designer uses quite a bit of peacock feathers, and as I am nursing a growing obsession with peacocks, this makes owning a fascinator even more alluring to me. I am trying to plot a purchase, but I must have somewhere to wear the beautiful thing. Kate’s definitely given me confidence. Now, when is the next boat christening?

Image via Head Full of Feathers

Wouldn’t this look darling on me??

Your Thoughts? J.Crew Melanie Skirt

February 16th, 2011 § 5 Comments

I had the good fortune to attend the IFB Evolving Influence conference last week at Milk Studios, where I met up with fellow bloggers (and loverlies) StyleOnTheCouch and Mon Petit Chou Chou for a few panels, networking and post-conference libations. Aside from coming away feeling inspired, it seemed our most popular topic of conversation that day was sparkles. Evidently, nothing says NYFW like sparkles. They were everywhere – sparkles on sparkles on sparkles (on bloggers! Oh my!). Now, I am a firm supporter of glittering bijoux, but sequins and rhinestones? I’m not so sure.

Encouraged by mademoiselles Style and Chou Chou I set out to find something that sparkles that I didn’t hate. I managed to find a little something at J.Crew.

The Melanie is a taupe stretch merino wool skirt with sparkly paillettes. If I’m going to do sparkles, they’d have to be paillettes. I definitely could see myself wearing this at night, but during the day? Not so fast. Perhaps if I paired it with an oxford and a swingy cardigan or blazer, I might not feel like a walking disco ball. But then again, is that what I am supposed to be embracing with this look? Should I be delighting in the “look at me”-ness of this garment? Am I missing the sparkly point?

Man.
That’s a lot of sparklies.

Want the Melanie skirt? Scoop it here. And let me know how you wear it!

Your Thoughts? Club Monaco Max Blazer

October 20th, 2010 § Leave a Comment

Even though camel is very hot this season, camel is a staple color that I group along with navy and gray as one of my favorite fashion workhorses. Lately I have been on the hunt for a camel jacket, blazer or coat that would be a classic addition to my wardrobe. I think I may have found it this Sunday afternoon while wandering around Soho.

The Club Monaco Max Blazer hits the high points on my wishlist. I had been considering a few coats, but what I really wanted was a jacket or blazer to get me through autumn. It’s a wool blend and is fully lined, which will give it a bit of extra warmth that hopefully extends the amount of time it can be worn. The pricetag doesn’t break the bank, either.

But I do have my doubts. While camel with be around long after the “trend” has died out, this is definitely a boyfriend blazer and this trend does swing in and out (you will recall it was previously favored by Lisa Turtle at Bayside High). While the coat has a generally classic lines – I like that it’s not double breasted or gussied up with “fun” details – it is over-sized, a bit boxy and has pretty strong shoulders.

Your thoughts?

On balance, I’m definitely leaning toward making the move and bringing this find home. Someone needs to make me a bigger coat closet!

Your Thoughts? Tory Burch Cashfeel Arm Warmer

August 26th, 2010 § Leave a Comment

As my thoughts turn to all the wonderful layers fall fashions require, I came across the Cashfeel wool arm warmer by Tory Burch. Pictured here in black, it is also available in a slate gray and a rich red.

When the weather turns cool, I am never without gloves, so I was immediately interested — this could be a clever pop of color in an otherwise somber ensemble, or make your favorite short sleeved shirts or tanks last further into the fall, or warm up cool wrists when wearing bracelet-length sleeves. But then I had second thoughts. If it was really cold, would you need to double up and do an arm warmer/glove combo? Or is that a ridiculous idea and therefore this something you’d really only use in the fall? Are arm warmers a bit too Derelicte?

And then I see this, and I’m back on board (from the TB website):

Side note: J’adore her hair (!!!) and the skirt as well.

So what do you think?

Your Thoughts? Rugby Ralph Lauren Herringbone Suit

August 18th, 2010 § Leave a Comment

I am really enjoying this slightly cropped and feminine take on the classic herringbone suit. The jacket I would wear in a second, but the shorts…?

This opens up an entirely different debate on work shorts. My position on said work shorts is that they are always wrong for men*, but can be okay for women in certain specific circumstances, such as:

you’re not wearing them to work. Obvs.
you work at a rather casual place OR it’s a severely casual Friday OR your friendly office fashion police are on vacation, etc.
you actually work at Rugby. (Actually, they might be required there…)

As you can see, I’m on the fence with the work shorts in general, but especially in this case. Is this too twee for real life? Does the model look like she’s wearing her best Oliver Twist costume? If you lost the braces and the ruffled shirt, would that bring it down a few notches? Or do you love how all the details work together on the overall look?

Head to Rugby to pick up the suit.

*Oh, there’s only one exception to the “always wrong for men” rule: Brad Goreski gets a free pass to wear all the shorts he wants!