Doggy Style

Doggy Style

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dogs

Like many Colorado residents, I am very dedicated to my dogs. I have special wood steps allowing them access to my (and their) bed, my shower was specifically designed to accommodate a detachable head (for bathing), and the car remains filled with hair and Mt. Sanitas dust no matter how often it’s cleaned. However, one place that I won’t allow to go ‘to the dogs’, is the inside of my home. Living with dogs and all that entails (shedding, toys, food bowls, beds) does not preclude your ability to live with style. The following details how to keep the style integrity of your home intact despite your 4-legged children.

TOYS– Like children’s toys, doggy playtime accoutrement need their own container, and unfortunately, dog store brand toy bins are eyesores. The solution is to take something created for humans and use it for dogs. In that vein, West Elm makes fabulous woven and braided baskets in a variety of styles designed to hold newspapers, throw pillow, logs, and (you now know) dog toys. If your pup is a scratcher or destroyer, Design Within Reach makes a stainless steel wire basket that won’t be nearly as tempting to their mouth and paws. Another great idea is repurposing a wooden wine crate. If you’re willing to go the extra mile, Etsy or Ebay lists vintage ones. Just make sure to pick a good year.

BED– Designing for canines (and their people) has become a huge industry, with the quality and variety of dog beds serving as its ambassador. While we know that dogs don’t give a lick where they sleep, we should care about how it looks. With options ranging from Corbusier inspired sofas to specially ordered chaises, I’m simply suggesting the popular and reliable donut bed in a chic (and always machine washable) neutral color or animal print, available at most pet ‘boutiques’. For some extra panache, go with the shag.

SUSTENANCE– Like everything else in the canine retail world, dog food and water bowls have become increasingly stylish, personalized, and fabulous. From simple ceramic to modern metal, breed-specific, name-specific, cute or kitsch, styles range from gothic to neo-classical, mid-century to mod. Even the most basic white painted ceramic is light years more stylish than the standard (and unsightly) stainless steel bowls. Set atop a placemat (doggy or human), if your dogs don’t appreciate the effort, your friends and guests certainly will. Manhattan’s Canine Styles offers the best selection.

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Where to Wear

Where to Wear

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dressing room

Working with a fashion client recently, her closet full of the most amazing hand me downs (mother’s Louboutins, grandmother’s Gucci bags), she admitted to feeling it was somewhat inappropriate to ‘dress up’ in a place as casual as Boulder. I was successful in convincing her otherwise because among Mile High Style’s major edicts is this: you don’t need to downgrade your style because the majority downgrades theirs. Our conversation reminded me of this old post (below), so I’m resurrecting it, in the hopes it can give you permission to wear your best.

As a fashion stylist, I often get questions about what to wear and where to wear it. If there’s one statement I hear the most, it has to be ‘I have no place to wear this!!’

If I can accomplish anything with Mile High Style, it is to convince you of this: you don’t need a ‘place’ to wear anything. You don’t need a reason, an excuse, or an event. You wear it to look good and feel good, because you can and should. If that’s too conceptual, here’s the concrete: you wear it to brunch, to drinks or dinner, to work, to a party, to meet for coffee. Rather than looking overdressed, you’ll look put together and confident- a follower of no one’s rules but your own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Oscar’s Worst

Oscar’s Worst

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halle

You may want to sit down and take a deep breath before proceeding… Because I’m doing it. I’m actually citing Halle Berry’s beloved and iconic Oscar dress as one of my all-time worst. Like my choice for Best Dressed, context plays a huge part in how and why these dresses hit or miss.

 

  • First things first. I absolutely promise you this: if anyone other than Halle Berry wore this dress, it would have made most Worst Dressed lists. Halle Berry had the best year of her professional career, gracing many a red carpet in spectacular style, and as America’s sweetheart, could have worn a sack made from dead puppies without criticism. At this point, she was untouchable and an absolute lock for the Best Actress Academy Award, the first African American woman to ever win this distinction. I repeat: no matter what she wore to the 2002 Academy Awards, she was safe.
  • As to the dress itself, it is the very definition of too much: yards upon yards of skirt fabric, embroidered bust covering flowers (itself a total fashion crime), exposed midriff, and color palette reminiscent of Thanksgiving dinner. If the designer’s (Elie Saab) inspiration was the Garden of Eden meets Autumn In New York, then mission accomplished. Otherwise, this dress was a huge pile of no. Thankfully, her styling was otherwise impeccable with low-key hair and makeup and minimal jewelry.
  • My final point about the worst best dress? Halle Berry is stun.ning. Her flawless beauty, grace and confidence on that red carpet made the dress, not the other way around. Only the smallest handful of actresses have that kind of magnitude, and the only ones who immediately come to mind are Nicole Kidman, the late Grace Kelly, and of course, Halle Berry.

Image via www.stuff.co.nz/

 

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Oscar’s Best

Oscar’s Best

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cate

In celebration of tonight’s Academy Awards (aka Fashion’s Biggest Night), I’ll be posting my picks for best and worst; but they’re not the choices most of you would make. Rather than Julia’s Valentino and Bjork’s infamous ‘Swan Dress’ (which pops up first under a Google search of her name, a testament to its iconic bad-ness*), mine are slightly more controversial. In the case of Worst Dressed (posting tomorrow), down right scandalous!

Cate Blanchett in Givenchy is my choice for one of Oscar’s all-time best. There are so many fabulous things about this dress, styling and context-

  • The hate this dress often generates stems from the fact that many people didn’t understand it. Unlike Oscar De La Renta and Atelier Versace confections (the kind Penelope Cruz favors) that are created for these events, Cate’s dress was made for the Runway. Taking a high fashion Runway dress and putting it on that traditional and conservative carpet is a big risk. True lovers of fashion love risk takers and rule breakers, and these attributes alone bump her past some safer choices (like Reese Witherspoon in vintage Dior).
  • Created by Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci who’s not exactly known for traditional black tie couture, this dress is edgy. The juxtaposition of the ethereal lilac with neon yellow, the front and back cut outs, the soft draping of the skirt contrasted with the strong lines of the ‘sleeve’ all present as fashion-forward while still embodying elegance and total sophistication.
  • Great Red Carpet fashion is not just about the dress- it’s also about the styling. Cate (or her stylist) understood that to showcase a piece with so much going on, hair and makeup should be soft and modern and jewelry should be kept to a bare minimum. With the wrong styling (a severe eye, an ornate hairdo, statement jewelry), the precious balance she strikes between simple and detailed would turn into a hot mess.

 

*From all I’ve heard about Bjork, it’s obvious to me that she both knew and wanted that dress to be ‘bad’. Her meta-consciousness of Oscar Fashion should disqualify her from Worst Dressed consideration, and someone like Demi Moore, who thought that outfit actually looked good**, should instead wear the crown.

**I know this was the in the 80s, but still!!

Image via visual-therapy.com

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Save Your Sweaters

Save Your Sweaters

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comb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would you believe that the most important purchase for this new season costs $5?

Whether you’re a good girl like me (who stores my winter sweaters in moth ball filled plastic bins) or a bad girl (who shoves them somewhere in the back of your closet), most sweaters need some TLC around this time of year. Enter the sweater comb. Simply, this cheap little plastic device allows old sweaters to look like new by removing all ‘pillage’ (the unsightly side-effect of wearing cashmere and wool). Many prefer the modern convenience of the electric fabric shaver, but this one (pictured) works the best.

 

 

 

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