Red Shoes

  Top : Emily Farina (similar) / Jeans : Blank Denim / Blazer : old (similar) / Bag : old (similar) / Shoes : Forever 21 & Emily Farina (similar) / Sunglasses: Karen Walker

A few months ago I bought a pair of red heels from Forever 21 with the intention of turning them into a special pair of my own with ruffled silk rosettes. I had done a similar technique before and wanted to revisit for a new pair of shoes. While I knew what I was doing, I wanted to test the technique on a cheap pair of shoes rather than a pricey pair. After initially posting about the shoes here, I finally got around to actually wearing them!

Fall Trend Update : Fringe & Ruffles

  With the heat wave we have going on in NYC right now, I have been dreaming about fall weather. One trend I have my eye on in particular is mini-fringe and ruffles. Neither of these texture treatments are anything new, but in the Resort 2017 shows many designers added theses classic cowgirl and schoolgirl details in sophisticated and modern ways.

See By Chloe - The Modernist

The See By Chloe collection showcased fringe on skirt hems and horizontally down the length of both skirts and sleeves. Rows of contrasting colors created a striped effect with lots of texture. I particularly love the full mini-skirt with striped fringe and imagine this working great with booties and a fall coat.

Mid-Summer Mood Board

We're reached the mid-summer mark for 2016, at least in my opinion. Which means we are at the height of heat and sunshine. It is officially that time of year on the East Coast when sleeves become oppressive, sandals become necessary and water truly is the elixir of life.

I find at this time of year I get into a style rut. For work it is any breezy dress I can throw a sweater or blazer on top of and for the weekends it's jean shorts and tank. I thought this was the perfect time to put together a new mood board for Mid-Summer. 

Right now I am really loving mixes of pastel pink, blue and green with pops of dark and kelly green, black accents and of course clean, crisp white. Ruffled easy dresses, versatile nude sandals and my favorite fedora are all finding their way into the look. 

What are your favorite pieces from this season? Let me know in the comments section! Check out some of my new favorites for getting my Mid-Summer Mood below.

City Floral

Dress : Emily Farina (for similar see bottom of post) / Sunglasses : Karen Walker / Bag : Coach (similar) / Sandals : Sam Edelman (similar) / Lipstick : MAC

I have been in love with ruffles for a long time. Looking back at all the different collections and pieces I designed throughout my college career as a fashion student you can see just how obsessed I was with flounces, layers and feminine ruffles. Another thing I love is a bright, vibrant floral pattern. This dress combines both of those loves into one. I got this fabric years ago on sale and just loved the bright color & print and decided it would be a perfect simple and airy dress.

Red Ruffle Heels

Shoes : Forever21 (similar here, here and here)

If you follow me on Instagram (@emilykfarina) you may have seen that I did a fancy little DIY project lately that involved a pair of Forever21 shoes and a whole lot of ruffled silk.

The technique I used was not a new one, but rather a shoe-decorating method I had employed for my senior fashion collection at Cornell. I had seen a pair of designer shoes recently that had chiffon rosettes all over them. Immediately I thought "I can do that. I'm going to do that". So I found an affordable pair of heels (in case it didn't turn out so well, minimal loss) and hit up Mood Fabrics for a little silk crepe de chine. Rather than go for some boring color like black, I went for red. Bright red.

Trend Update : Ruffles

There is no other fashion design element I love more than ruffles and flounces. They serve no actual garment construction purpose, rather are there purely for decoration. They can be stiff or drapey, asymmetrical or layered. I love them all. When I started seeing ruffles and flounces on more and more clothing out in the market I was thrilled. Looking through the Resort 2017 collections it is clear they will be hanging around for a while too (yay!). I just love how they make a garment more flirty and fun without being overly feminine.

Ruffles and flounces can take various forms and present themselves in various locations on the garment- on the hem, across the bodice, at the ends of the sleeves. Right now you can get ruffles just about anywhere you like. My favorites are on sleeves and across the bodice of an off the shoulder top (which by the way, by Resort 2017 accounts will be around for awhile longer too).

I included a few of my favorite ruffled looks from Resort 2017 below - Erdem, See by Chloe and Adeam. While all feature ruffles and flounces, the different fabrics, cuts and prints make for very different moods and styles. I especially love the white and light blue ruffles in the Erdem collection with the black lace-up flats. I might be stealing that look in the near future...

Erdem - Resort 2017 (via vogue.com)

See by Chloe - Resort 2017 (via vogue.com)

Adeam - Resort 2017 (via vogue.com)

Ready to get the look for yourself?
 Check out some of my picks below!