Memosne: May 2015

A Review: Talbots Peggy Sandals

Warning: Ugly Foot Heavy Post 


I can't pretend anymore. I'm just an old lady. Low-heeled sandals are a must for me during the summer! As much as I love to stagger around in stilettos and hop about in heels, with all the casual walking I do it just isn't feasible. I was in the market to replace my Trina Sandals from Sam Edelman because they'd been absolutely destroyed.

Trina Sandal in Whiskey, Retails: $70
They used to look like this, but I wore them so much the leather straps were separating, the cork sole had worn away, and the gold heels were pretty badly scuffed. When Extra Petite mentioned she purchased Talbot's Peggy Sandals on her blog, I immediately went over and purchased some myself as well. I know, I know, I'm a bit of a blogger sheep. I did like the sandals and they were a slightly more "lady" version of my Sam Edelmans. They even had the same "gold accent" heel!


I purchased these during the Talbot's "Friends and Family Sale" where you could take 30% off your total purchase. At the time I believe these were full price at $119. Now they're on sale for $69.99! You can also apply eBates to your purchase to save some more money.


I got these guys in two colors to match the potential outfits that I would wear. In retrospect, it seems a little wasteful to get two colors like this, but both the colors fit into my wardrobe and I'm happy with how they look and feel.


I'm glad I got these guys on sale, I'm not sure if I would have paid full price for these. They're not poorly crafted, but I don't feel like they scream quality either. These shoes were manufactured in China, the straps are made with real leather, and they've put a light memory foam padding into the sole of the shoe. The memory foam makes the shoe comfortable. I was able to walk around New York City all day without pain, but they're not comparable to Cole Haan soles or anything.


Overall, I would highly recommend these shoes on sale. They're a good, low-heeled, comfortable sandal for the summer! They don't scream too "old lady" and I can easily incorporate the colors and styles into my current wardrobe. In addition to the two colors I bought, the Peggy Sandal also comes in Indigo Blue and Black as well.

I hope this helps!

Useful Links:
Talbots Purchase Link
Sam Edelman Trina Link
Ebates Link (Non Referral) 
Ebates Link (Referral)

If you don't have eBates yet, you can read my review of the site here and if you're feeling especially kind...you can use my referral link above or here!

Guerlain - A Night at the Opera, Palette Petrouchka


Hello All! I wanted to give you a look at Guerlain's 2014 Holiday Palette dedicated to the Russain Ballet! With all the snow coming and the cold weather setting in this warm palette is all you'll need this winter......wait. What time is it? What year is it? Wait....who am I?

I know I pulled a Rip Van Winkle. Can you believe that I fully intended on restarting my blog in December? Life ganged up on me though. I've detailed why I disappeared for so long in a previous blog post that I linked here.


Obviously, this palette is no longer in stores. I'm sure it's available on eBay by some makeup resellers or available for trade by someone somewhere, but I still wanted to share my initial impressions of the palette, just in case you were thinking about purchasing it. A year later...when a beautiful new Holiday collection will come out very, very soon. 



Let me tell you this palette is beautiful, but I think you might have known that. Every little detail of the packaging and the presentation is executed well. The brushes weren't magnificent though, even in the photo you can tell that red blush brush is a little scraggly.

One item that's not pictured is the red little bow it came with. It could be wrapped around the casing or worn in your hair. There were little instructions on the original box with suggestions on how to wear it. For me, it was cute, but also extraneous. It was a nice touch, but not necessary. I think it's kicking it somewhere in my bedroom.


The whole collection was based on a "night at the opera" theme, with cute bows and decadent, rich tones running through the packaging and the makeup itself. I missed out on the LIU Palette from the previous holiday, so I knew that I would have to commit on purchasing this one when it came out.


The palette is very much "on brand" with the rest of Gurlain's compacts and portable makeup. Even though they discontinued their "Parare Extreme" makeup line, the compact for the pressed powder foundation is exactly the same size and style as the Petrouchka palette. I was honestly a little surprised! Since the palette packed a range of eyeshadows and blushes, I expected it to be larger. 


I find all the colors to be very wearable and colors that I often wear everyday anyway. The palette size really is ideal for travel and I brought it recently with me on my trip to India. It saved a lot of space in my makeup bag...I usually try and travel light, but I always end up bringing one of Urban Decay's Naked Palettes with me because I'm indecisive.


It saved me some space on my blusher as well. It's a well put together kit and since my eyelid space is so small and the fact that I use blush sparingly, I feel like this palette will last me a very long time.


The colors are warm and I find easy to use on my skin tone. I'll be honest with you, I'm pretty butts at taking swatch photos, I think you can already tell that the photos I've taken are a little cool toned, so I've linked Temptalia's swatches and review of the palette here. A bit a cop out, so I've included pictures of some of my makeup with the using Guerlain's Palette Petrouchka.

Overall, if you're thinking of purchasing the palette though an eBay reseller, I would actually advise against it, unless you were in love with it. The colors are great, but not unique and at this point the markup for a "limited edition" palette will make the size of the palette not worth it in my eyes. If you're truly in love with something limited edition, try getting it in stores when it comes out. I'm always very wary of the "reseller" market afterward....it may seem overly cynical, but in terms of makeup, I always like to be the first one to open my palettes.





I hope this helps!


Bow and Drape - Review



You've seen my two Bow and Drape pieces previously in my two outfit posts "School Girl" and "Crop Tops and Excel Sheets," but I wanted to talk to you a bit about the company and my experiences with them. Bow and Drape, like eShakti, is a clothing company focused mainly on cool chic clothing that you can customize.


I actually met Aubrey Pagano, CEO and president of Bow and Drape, briefly in their Boston studio before they moved their whole operation to New York, and purchased a discounted sundress from her. With my curiosity piqued at this small clothing venture, I wanted to know more about the company and their clothing.


This little mission statement is taken directly from the Bow and Drape website and the sweater at the center is a key piece of their clothing line. It's one of their staple items that you can customize using their website. Bow and Drape was officially launchd on October 2012 after generating over $30k in Kickstarter funding. 


Like the sundress I purchased, Bow and Drape originally had a rotating collection that featured dresses and other "seasonally appropriate" attire. I remember last year they were experimenting in shorts, smart blazers and cute tops during the transitional spring season. You can still find links to these items on their FaceBook page. I'm actually unsure if you can still purchase these pieces, but if you click on the links in the photo description you're brought to a working page on their website that I assume you can purchase from. 

Cute stuff right?
So how does this customization thing work? Well, I've ripped an image directly from their Kickstarter explaining that for you! 


Previously, with other dresses and more "customizable" items of clothing you could choose the sleeve length, skirt length, color, material and accents. Right now, on their main page, it seems like they moved towards a simpler wardrobe with customizable sweatshirts and shirts with cute appliques and sweet embroidery.






By clicking on "Customize Your Own" you'll be brought to a page where you can pick the base item. Their customizable tops, sweatshirts and accessories range from between $18-$58. From there, after selecting an item of your choice, you'll be brought to a pretty awesome interface, where you'll design your custom piece and watch it come to life before your eyes!



I really enjoyed the customization experience that Bow and Drape gave me, but I preferred the custom suiting and dress options over their cute sweatshirts and tops. Personally, I prefer things that aren't really embellished so the pieces I designed only have an embroidered unicorn in discreet places.

They have a really great return policy as well!  Especially since they're customizing clothing items all day. So long as your Bow and Drape garment is unworn and the tags are attached, they'll take the return free of charge within 60 days of purchase.

If you're short on ideas of witty quotes you can check out their "Best Sellers" page.


Currently they're also running the #pun-isher contest, where you can put your wittiest (non copyrighted) quote up for a weekly popularity vote! If your quote beats out the rest, you'll get 10% commission of every shirt they sell with your exact design. You can read the rules here.

Packaging


I was really impressed with the packaging and presentation of the items I ordered. They came promptly and in this cute little reusable bag. 


See how excited I was? I got the excited shakes! Therefore...blurry photo.


Everything came wrapped up super cute and super neatly in this little love package from Bow and Drape. It came with a little note...


Pieces

I only own three pieces of clothing from Bow and Drape. A dress and two tops! I really love the black and white tops I customized, I think they're great basics in colors that I already wear often. Black and White. Not too complex, right? They fit well and their quality is good for the price I paid. I would say that their clothing quality is comparable to Top Shop items.


This sundress is what led me down the Bow and Drape rabbit hole. It's 100% silk and in size XS. It's constructed well and has a inner lining on the bottom half of the dress. Overall, I like it and the summer that I purchased it I wore it quite often! Looking back, I think the elastic waist design of the dress leads the back to be a little too "poofy." There's a lot of excess material there that I don't like visually.


I've been eyeing a crop top for a long time, but I was waiting to find the perfect one...and this was it! I loved the little mock turtleneck, the texture and the zipper detail. As I mentioned before, the overall quality of these pieces is reminiscent of Top Shop. The material of this top is stretchy and thin, so if you don't wear the right bra a lot of lumps and bumps will show through. There are also little plastic "hanger holder" strings attached to the crop top, I've cut mine off, but previously I would just stuff them into the top itself and it looked like I had tapeworms crawling on the inside of my top. I advise cutting those off if you get one to get the most joy out of your crop top.


This last piece is probably my favorite. It's a basic black sweatshirt with a beautiful texture and a simple zipper detail down the sides. I can wear it on it's own like I did here, while I was apple picking, or layered, like I did here in my School Girl outfit, so it's a very versatile piece that stands out on its own.

Overall, I would buy from Bow and Drape again, but I think I'll either purchase from the archived dresses, suits, and shorts on their facebook page or wait until a piece really calls to me.

Let me know what you think! What are you favorite pieces from bow and drape? Leave them in the comments below!

Bow and Drape
Website
Instagram
Facebook



School Girl

Outfit: Zara, Bow and Drape, Stuart Weitzman, Kate Spade, and House of the Playlord
I think I mistakenly named this blog. FaFoFi? Psssh. It should have really been named" All I Want to Be Is A School Girl." Give me dem pleated skirts and collared shirts. Well, obviously in this post, I'm not wearing a pleated skirt. You can't go "full" school girl when you're over 21 very often. As you guys can tell from the fallen leaves, this was actually taken in the Fall. Why the long wait to post?


To be honest, I couldn't tell you about the delay. I had planned a big resurgence post month in December, but I switched luggages with a boy from Australia when heading home to Seattle. That's a story for another time though...


I got a new job and it's taken a little time for me to settle into routine. I have a bunch of posts that I want to share with you all (More like Mom and Jeanine since you're the only ones that read my blog ;)), but I wanted to you for being so patient with me. As I've said, time and time again, I blog in cycles, but it's always something I really enjoy and come back to.

Stuart Weitzman Booties
I put together this outfit because it has all of my favorite things: black, leather, and collars.


With simple outfits like this, I find the devil to be in the details. You could go all out with a statement necklace, a hat, or arm candy, but I prefer a more pared down look. 


I find that when I accessorize or wear too many things, I just strip down throughout the day anyway. I also get increasingly paranoid, as I'm just shedding my hat or bracelets or rings, that I'll just be careless and leave it somewhere.


Go clean and go simple. Don't be afraid to under accessorize! Remember in the words of Coco Chanel.

Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off. 

Coming out of hibernation....




Hey guys. What's up?


After a historic 108.6 inches of snow, the California Girl in me that loves sunshine, beaches, and ice cream has turned into a pale Gollum-like creature that only subsists on hot chocolates and soups. 


Although the Spring officially started on the 20th, I won't consider it Spring until all the snow has melted. Even though it doesn't look like this anymore, it's still a little chilly for my Californian blood.


I'm very thankful for the sun though! As of late the sun has been coming out to play more and more, although the wind still keeps the temperature pretty cold. 



Soon enough, Summer will be here and I'll be complaining about the heat and humidity. Just wanted to give you all a heads up! More posts will be coming.

Thank you for reading!