Coming (back) soon...

I am currently on maternity leave, but will resume posts in mid-September, 2009. Hope all are well and still stylin'!

Lucky gal!

My good friend Julie and her jewelry are featured in the June issue of Lucky Magazine (Chicago edition) and I wanted to share with everyone here! Julie designed my bridesmaid necklaces for my wedding, as well as an initial pendant for me to wear when my baby arrives. To view (or purchase!) her designs, visit her website here. In the meantime, read up on her style and design in the attached article from Lucky!

M.i.A

MIA? Yep, I have been. For nearly 4 months.

For those of you who don't know, I'm expecting my first baby in two and a half months. My very own junior fashionista - a girl! My pregnancy has been short of glamorous and my last entry was written just as I came off a very, VERY rough first trimester. My focus has shifted these last few months, but with the end drawing near, I've started to pay more attention to the trends again so I know what to wear when I get my body back. Maternity clothes are ridiculously expensive and rarely are worth buying even on sale, thus I only splurged on two pairs of jeans (1 of which I can't wear anymore) and a Vince sweater on sale. Other than that, I've lived in GAP, Target, Old Navy and Lulu Lemon. I've made it work and although felt quite "comfy" throughout, I'm happy to say I didn't break my bank and I'll be able to buy less temporary clothing once this is over.

I'll work hard these next few months to come back to you with my writings and once Baby A is born, when she naps, I'll research and write. Sound good? Never fear, I'm still around and don't plan on going anywhere too soon.

xo,
Susie

A day in the life of a "Recessionista"

In an economy where we all need to hang on to our dough, it's going to be a tough holiday retail season. Retailers are preparing themselves for what could be the worst holiday season since 1991. People are holding tight to their usually loose holiday funds worried about what's to come. Large retailers, like Bloomingdales, are in a hiring freeze and aren't bringing on any seasonal help. Boutiques across the country are bracing themselves, knowing they will have to deal with the large percent sales happening at stores 4x their size. God knows how they will survive this spending drought.

Are you familiar with the term "recessionista?" The NYT defines it as "a style maven on a budget." Aren't we all watching our wallets these days? When the economy started to sour months ago, people wondered how it could possibly affect his/her wallet. I also had people saying to me "well, the people who use your service likely aren't affected by this." WRONG! Everyone is affected by this downturn. With a HUGE drop in the stock market, frivolous spending becoming nonexistent and the soaring gas prices, consumers have never been more budget conscious than they are right now. Well, at least in my lifetime. I'm asked all the time how business is going. I just answer "it's ok." It is ok. I may not be working with client after client day in and day out, but I'm doing ok. I know I still have my skill set and that when the economy picks up, mine will be a service that is restored and needed.

That all being known, I continue to work with friends in the same boat to keep my business floating and reminding friends and clients alike that I'm still here when you need me. Heck, I've even turned into a recessionista (tho I've always searched for a good deal!) myself. Why wouldn't I? With retailers slashing all of their merchandise to 40% off and growing, who wouldn't want to benefit from these great sales. We will all probably have a hard time paying full price once this economy is back on it's feet. So, what I say? Buy now and support this sad economy! Or, if funds are tight, borrow clothes from friends or host a 'Bitch `n Swap' party. Be creative!

And to the stores and retailers, godspeed.

SAVE LIPSTICK JUNGLE!

Ok, so normally I wouldn't post about a TV show, but I'm feeling pretty passionate about this one. Not since Sex and the City have we had such a woman-focused show. Lipstick Jungle (over it's last two seasons) has become a silent killer with women in every age bracket. We all love it - it took some time - but it grew on us. The fashion. The love stories. The characters. KIRBY! The storyline was interesting, funny and quirky and kept us coming back each week for more! So today, I open up my igoogle on my blackberry to read "NBC axes Lipstick Jungle." WHAT?! More like, WTF? How could the 'axe' such a promising show? And seriously, ER ends this year, they could have slipped LJ right into that slot and it would have thrived!!!!! How can they NOT see this? LJ hasn't had the greatest ratings, but it's likely due to the fact that most of us are religiously using our DVR or TiVo these days and Nielsen doesn't collect those ratings! Did you know that?! ARGH!

Soooo, whether you watch(ed) this show or not, please sign the petition I started HERE!
I am working on getting the name of a contact at NBC who I can send a scathing note to, to let him/her know how pissed off we are!

And yes, I do realize that I appear to have way too much time on my hands - but I'm irked!

Costumes

With Halloween just around the corner, I've heard just about everyone talking about what they are going to dress up as for this festive holiday. Sure, we all know it's every girl's chance to make any look "slutty" (ie. slutty teacher, skanky nurse, hooker doctor, etc) and/or get creative. The following are what I've heard most people say they are going to dress as this Halloween (should be A LOT of repeats):

-Blair and Serena (from Gossip Girl)
-Chuck Bass (also from GG)
-Sarah Palin and John McCain (couples)
-Rachel Zoe (or Brad or Taylor . . .)
-The Joker from Batman
-Posh Spice aka Victoria Beckham
-A Dancing With the Stars contestant
-Flapper
-Hillary Clinton

And last, but not least...

Joe the Plumber (who, oddly, most Americans still don't understand who he is).

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I will not be dressing up this year (nor did I last). We've decided to have a quiet night at home with friends and to hand out candy here to all of the kids in our neighborhood. I'm totally fine with that, seeing as with this year's Halloween costume rankings, I might pass myself coming and going all night.

Happy Halloween!

xo,
Susie

The Rachel Zoe Project

I can't lie, I would like to live a day in the life of the Zoe camp. You know, just to feel better about my work! This show for the last 6+ weeks has been my guilty pleasure and I'm sad to see it go. Although I've never particularly admired Rachel, a look into her crazy celebrity-filled, vintage clothing loving and somewhat (ok, over the top) narcissistic life was sort of fun for me. Although my experience as a stylist doesn't come close to hers, it was cool to see the similarities to my work. I have my mentors, LMM and KP, to thank for everything I've learned along the way. And unlike the dynamic between Brad, Taylor and Rachel (can you say constant drama?), we like to work as a solid team and we have a mutual respect for each other. I have learned SO much from the two of them and continue to every single time I work with them. And the best part? They have my back no matter what. KP once said "It's so hard to find nice people in fashion. So when you find someone who is nice, you hold on tight." That has stayed with me since she said it and I try to pay my experience and good fortune forward at any chance I get. The snoots definitely cut throats to get to where they are, but once at the top, they turn back and realize they have no friends in the biz. Perhaps they don't care because somehow, even without friends, they've gained respect of their peers? Who knows. I guess I might care too much. Anyway, if you've missed this show, tune into Bravo anytime because I am sure it will be replayed or they will have a marathon at some point! I quite enjoyed Brad's hilarity. Rachel can be a bit of a brat and Taylor's passive aggressive bitchiness leads me to believe she was edited into her 'character.'

UPDATE: Someone asked in comments who "K" was. I'd prefer not to name names, as they don't have anything to do with my blog, but LM and K are two awesome people I met while working on shows last year and K will now be KP (her initials).