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Holiday Wish List

Saturday, December 17, 2011

I missed Holly’s Refinery29 deadline for a roundup of local blogger holiday wish-lists by a hair, so here you go! Here’s what I’m lusting over for the holidays; if you’ve still got shopping to do, many of these are available in town, and maybe your girl will like them too!

The just-released Autobiography of a Fashion Designer: Ralph Rucci ($195; Bauer and Dean)
Ralph Rucci is one of the most underrated American designers in the industry. He was the first American designer to receive an invitation to show at the Paris couture shows since Mainbocher in the thirties. This book would look great in my new apartment, resting on my coffee table, as I watch Ralph Rucci: A Designer and His House.

Classes at The Bar Method
I grew up in dance classes and I miss the rhythm of being in a studio.

Cartier’s Baiser Vole perfume
Somehow they’ve bottled freshly cut lilies. It’s a gorgeous, gorgeous scent. I always recommend including small sample vials of a perfume when giving a scent as a gift – they are perfect for stowing in a clutch and for travel.

A Tiffany blue Tiffany handbag
I recently found myself at the Tiffany store in Chevy Chase and was completely blown away to discover that Tiffany even had a handbag line, but also that they are all completely gorgeous. The designers behind Lambertson Truex are responsible for the designs; many of which include some way to include the company’s signature eggshell blue. The Tiffany Reversible Tote, above, is a simple design in a gorgeous color, and it’s reversible to a metallic leather in an act of thoughtful day-to-night construction. This was just one of a number of handbags that I admired–including one clutch featuring a strap that can be removed and worn as a necklace. It’s a brilliant, well conceived line.

Cozy Knits: A knit Cowl scarf and Slouch Beanie from De*Nada
Local designer Virginia Arrisueno’s knits are incredibly soft and stylish, and have the exact-right amount of heft and drape. Form and function in one warm, cozy place.

Major Earrings
I’m scheming an accessories plan for the year ahead that involves big cuffs bracelets and big, bold earrings. Right now I’m loving the Black Teardrops from local designer ARTAYA (she has a trunk show this weekend at the Bloomingdale’s in Chevy Chase; details are on her website) and various styles from Etsy seller DolorisPetunia, including the watercolor rhinestone lovelies above.

Happy holidays!

Filed under Inspiration, Shopping Events & News, Women | 1 Comment

PB Goes to the White House

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

I’m invited to a holiday party at the White House! With the POTUS and FLOTUS! What to wear, what to wear….!?!

In case you were wondering, it’s because of a partnership I’ve been working on between the House and our talented students at the Corcoran College of Art + Design, who created the illustrations for the annual White House guidebook both this year and last. Check out details and see a PDF of the guidebook here.

Filed under Only in Washington | 1 Comment

Cheery Winter Street (sort of) Style

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

I met Gabrielle Fouche Williams at Pulp the other night and promptly abandoned all urgency fr purchasing a wedding card to peppered this gorgeous stranger with outfit questions: where did you get that amazing scarf? (it’s called a kanga, and she got it while in Kisarawe, a village in Tanzania, where she was volunteering for her uncle’s organization, AHEAD) I love those funky but classic boots (Tommy Hilfiger ‘Sadie’ available at DSW)!

That perfect-fit, cheery cherry red topper? A size tall from J.Crew, the only tall sizing that truly looks great, she said. And oooh, that ring! (YSL). Who else is inspired not just by the fact that smart, interesting and cool people are this easy to trip over everywhere you go in DC, but also by this fantastically colorful winter look?!

Filed under On The Street, Women | Leave a Comment

Sofa Sob Story

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Something super sad just happened, and it’s called I Just Found My Dream Sofa on Craigslist and Someone Else Got to it First. Insult to injury: all three pieces were for $100.

If any of you lovelies come across something ohh, just like this, please email me and I will forever be indebted.

Can’t believe this is not mine. SHIT.

Just went out and bought cookie dough,
Rachel

Filed under Everything Else, Inspiration | 3 Comments

Meeps + Treasury = vintage power couple

Monday, December 5, 2011

OMG:

The ladies of Treasury (who used to be Listopad, read the interview with them way back when) are taking over DC vintage institution Meeps! Cathy and Katerina will add buy-sell-trade and local designers alongside casual, affordable unique lovely pieces and to top it all off, and to kick it all off, they’re throwing themselves a welcome party with music and a $20 all-you-can-cram-into-a-bag deal TOMORROW, which reminds me of the bag sales at the Stonewall Jackson Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Store in my middle school years when, my dear readers, my love for vintage all began.

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Eddie takes me shopping

Friday, December 2, 2011

Eddie Bauer recently invited local bloggers to check out their latest cool-weather collections and to put their individual stylist stamp on men’s and women’s looks (and to eat awesomely bad food-court Chinese food, but that wasn’t officially on the docket). I’m not sure that I’d really ever stepped into an E.B. store to purchase clothes for myself, but I’ve been realizing lately that I have very little options in the cute-but-casual-weekend category. As in, I think I own like two sweaters, one ugly pair of cropped (yes, cropped! so embarrassed) sweatpants and my dad’s old Citadel hooded sweatshirt (which is actually very awesome). From there I jump to vintage party dresses. I needed more of the in-between! As it turned out, I walked in and found myself drawn to a number of pieces from the collection, especially the insanely soft men’s quilted sweatshirt I styled one of the models in, which I ended up taking home in a size small (sorry Bets):

I have been wearing it constantly and can’t wait to continue to add to my much-maligned cute-casual wardrobe. I’ve got my eye on these terry pants (would look cute with the boots I wore to the event, no?), a Pendleton-collab shirt, and snuggly plaid scarves to top it all off. Also: this fair isle cardigan looked great layered over a plaid button-down.

Filed under Around Town | 2 Comments

And, We’re Back.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

…and now more home-decor obsessed than ever. Just moved into a new one-bedroom apartment on the Hill (I’ll blame the near month of blog silence on that!) and now find myself daydreaming about paint colors, deco-era design (my building was built in the 1920s), and how I might define my style, at home. The day I decided to take the apartment, I ripped this image out of an old Capitol File magazine and tacked it up to my bulletin board at work. Let the decor daydreams begin!

Filed under Inspiration | 3 Comments

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