I was only 14 years old, old enough to scar the delicate framework of my self-esteem, when I was caught wearing shoulder pads to school. I still can’t get my Mom to admit she was so wrong to make me wear shoulder pads back in the day. I get that it was the 80’s and all but I was still a little girl for chrissake. This obnoxious jock (but cute of course) came running up to me and grabbed my shoulders and asked me if I was going to join the football team. Would you have died too?

Fast forward 20 years and here I am playing with shoulder pads again! Well strong structured shoulders at least. I guess garment technology has improved since he 80’s and padding is not necessary to sculpt a look. Very good thing. No embarrassing white pads flying out of your jacket.

What do the rest of you think? I get a sense that the strong shoulder trend is not one that is going to take off with the masses. Maybe that’s a good thing. It certainly doesn’t look right on just everybody. I think it helps if you have a stronger profile to begin with. If you’re dainty and delicate this look might swallow you up for dinner.

I went el frugal route and picked up this zippered cardigan with sharper shoulders at H&M over the weekend, (see 1st photo below). Barely makes the cut as a strong shoulder top but it’ll do. And for under $30 it’ll tide me over until I find the real strong shoulder piece for my closet.

The rest of these were strong shoulder looks that inspired me..

I’m having a bit of a mid-life blog crisis, and been pondering what to focus my next posts on. Going back to the basics.. what I initially set out to do here.. is share insight and help enable you, my friends and readers, to explore more adventurous styles and fashions. I’ve always felt good fashion was too exclusive, too out of reach for the every day lifestyle and average girl. I don’t consider myself a fashion stylist or fashion trend setter by any means. If anything I’m just an avid consumer of fashion. A little too avid my husband might say.. But back to the point.. so I’m going to try writing more posts about what which fashion trends I’m following, and hopefully if I get this right, entire you guys to try a few of them out if you normally wouldn’t have dared.

So what’s on my mind right now? Sequin blazers! Is it just me or is this the trend that’s anywhere and everywhere. I don’t know exactly why started it but I think Rachel Zoe had a big impact.. esp. with her show the Rachel Zoe Project. Whatever she says on the show you end up seeing everywhere. By the time I’ve finally finished writing up this post, I’m actually on the verge of sequin blazer overload. Is it just me or do fashion trends seem to spread a lot faster and further than before?

Anyway, I’ve been photoshoping like mad and putting together some outfits with sequin blazers. The first look on the left is something I’d wear on a regular day, simple black and black. This is a very safe way to go. When in doubt go for all black, no one can say you didn’t know what you were doing. The next look (blue sequin blazer) would be something I’d wear at a more conservative event, maybe a work holiday party. Now that I look at it thought it’s a little on the mature lady side. The 3rd look (light grey/silver blazer) is definately work appropriate. The last look is a little wacky but I thought I’d try it out. What do you think? Does this work or is it just too mixy matchy?

I hope to hear you guys all try out the sequin blazer trend soon. If not sequin blazer, sequin anything. It’s everywhere so you can no excuse of not being able to find one you like!

While she may be a backstabbing fridge on The City.. Olivia Palermo has style. She is gangsta! in my book. At first I thought it was the pretty face that made the look, but it’s more than that. She has a way of putting together looks that make it seem she spent effortless effort in putting together. It’s not the sloppy celebrity style, it’s not boring head to toe chanel/haute couture either.. it’s just good style. I love watching her on The City this season. Each season her outfits get better and better.

Here’s some looks I found online that I’m going to have to steal… let me know what you think..

If you don’t regularly cruise ShopBop’s Lookbook.. I’d say you’re missing out on a lot!

My favorite look of the moment… it doesn’t hurt that the model is smoky hot! I’d want her if I were a dude.

@Shopbop.com

Don’t you just love the feeling of finding a piece of clothing that seems like it should cost you much much more than it really does? It’s nice that over the years the cheap n chic and luxe for less movement has helped make looking fashionable more realistic for everyone. But even so, with all these discount fashion retailers out there, it’s still challenging to find the finds.

Lately, Kitsch Couture in downtown Saratoga, CA seems to be a consistent source of these deals. Don’t be disappointed in their website.. the owner told me they are not focusing on their online presence. The boutique itself has some great stuff and tends to be quite well stocked. They carry a wide array of contemporary women’s clothing. Gentle Fawn and Kensie Girl are a few of the luxe for less brands they carry. If you haven’t heard of those you should definately check them out. They offer chic, urban styles at decent prices. Plus if you search for these brands online you’ll find a ton of cute avant garde online boutiques.

Check out this cute cropped cargo style jacket from BIZZ that my friend Jenny got. The jacket was $68! It’s cute worn both buttoned up and loosely open. The material is fairly thin so it’s more suited for the cooler summer nights, but worn over a thicker sweater or turtleneck this could definitely get you through fall and some of winter. The funnel neck (when the jacket is fully buttoned up) is super cute. Jenny you better work this when you get back to New York!
 

Do you guys remember Polyvore? If you don’t then this might be a good way for you to get acquainted with this high tech fashionista tool. A fellow reader (and friend btw for full disclosure hehe) commented to me after reading my last post about the Look Book album I created, that it would be nice for her to have a look book of her own. She wanted to take some of the looks I had in my album and add and subtract items to her liking. Immediately, I thought about Polyvore and how that really is the solution she needed to make this happen. She could work off of the outfits I create in Polyvore to polyvorize her own looks. And of course she could outfits from scratch.

So I’m curious… what do you all think of Polyvore? Have you tried it? Do you like it? If you are using it, what do you like about it and not like about it?

Here’s where the Luxemix Style Challenge comes in!

Objective: To entice my readers to show off the fashionistas they truly are and at the same time get to know more about how you like tools like Polyvore.

The Big Prize: A $50 Gift Certificate to Shopbop or Forever21 (winner’s choice!)

How to Play: Create a look on polyvore and either add to the comments of this post or email it to me directly. In your response please answer the questions found at the end of this post.

How to Win: After a few weeks or once I’ve gotten enough entries I’m going to choose 3 of my favorite submissions and run a poll here on Luxemix and let crowd pick a winning look.

(I’m new at this guys so no promises this is actually going to work!!)

And just in case you’re wondering, this is not a promotion I’m getting paid to do or asked to do by any 3rd party, such as Polyvore, Shopbop, or Forever21. To be honest I’m just obsessed with web tools and in particular ones that have anything to do with fashion and one of these days I’m going to create one myself .

Questions to Answer for Luxemix Style Challenge

1). What’s the link to your Polyvore Profile?
2). What do
you find works well for you when using Polyvore?
3). What do you not
like about using Polyvore?
4). What functionality needs to be added to make Polyvore work better or more fun to use?
5). Are there any other online tools like Polyvore you’ve used? If so, please list.
6). How do you put your outfits together on an every day basis? e.g. Do
you plan what you’re going to wear the night before? Do you keep track
of outfits you’ve put together and re-wear them another day?
6). Do you enjoy coordinating your own outfits or would you rather have someone else do it?
7). How much time do you spend on fashion-related activities per week
(including shopping, picking outfits, reading magazine/blogs, etc).

Thanks for playing guys! Now get out there and start polyvoring!

Start Polyvore

Hey everyone~ I created a look book album to make it easier to have everything in one place. The next time you’re digging through your closet and have the nothing to wear depression, take a peek into this album for some inspiration for looks to throw together. Honestly, it’s not that you don’t have anything to wear, you just haven’t taken the time to try working different pieces together into a new look. When I don’t have the perfect piece to complete a look I’ll just throw second best in there and after I’ve got everything on, I realize it really doesn’t matter that much. Try it!

For now you’ll see some of the older looks I put together in the past. Promise I’ll put together some new looks soon! I’ve been wearing same ole’ same ole’ every day myself so I certainly could use some inspiration myself. Also don’t forget about the list of look books on the internet I’ve collected. If you know of any other good look books please share with us!!

http://www.luxemix.com/photos/look_book/index.html

One more look book to add to my Fashion Look Book Index!

This look book from Armani Exchange is well done from a usability standpoint, e.g. easy to navigate and they have a nice summary summary (3rd image down) which makes it easy to shop for the items in each look. I must say I am disappointed with the looks themselves though. I’d expect more from Armani. It’s funny how you can take the same clothes and result in a completely different style identity. I’d put these pieces together so differently. The look I show below is probably the only one I like a little.. I like how they name the looks too. "Campus Clique". I guess I must think I’m younger than I really am.

Check it out at Armani Exchange.com

Hey Mayor! I heard about Polyvore from another friend. How did you hear about it? And more importantly what do you think? Are you using it regularly now? — conducting my user research when I can..

Polyvore Look of the Week — Work Attire

I like to carry two bags with me in the event I need to downsize for an evening event. Usually the evening purse fits inside the larger bag with no issue. I like how this top is long enough to cover the rear — espcially important when wearing white pants since a lot of times they are can be sheer. I’d like to layer this shorter jacket over the whole look, a necessity in the office since I’m always freezing from the AC.