Vacation Du Jour 6.21.10

Howdy All, I have some bad news for you all! I will be gone for two whole weeks! I have schedule some posts so you wont miss me too much!

I will be hitting proverbial trail with my best friend Steph. We are traveling to the wild wild west! We are taking a girls nature trip through Wyoming... interesting huh? Not the typical vacation for the New Yorker, but I need some nature and R+R.









Have a fabulous 2 weeks!

x

Shoes Du Jour 6.18.10

I never thought I would write what I am about to write...

I bought a pair of shoes from ALDO.

Yes, I did. I am still in shock, not to say ALDO has bad shoes but I guess I had a preconcieved notion about ALDO's shoes. Anyway, I was home on Broadway in Soho and I happened to pass by and take a look inside. Nothing caught my attention, the music was pumping and blaring and I turned around to leave. A pair of Nude Utilitarian wedges caught my eye and I fell in love with them.

The perfect color nude/ tan to elongate tan legs and a sky high wedge of almost 5 inches plus a peep-toe and all under $100. SOLD!

I am a changed woman, I will never turn my nose up at ALDO again!


Love them, I would recommend going to check ALDO out for some cute cheap shoes...

x

Style Inspiration Du Jour: Stephanie Michelle

Hi All, so today is a special day. I am going to do a post on one of my style inspirations, she happens to be my best friend in the world...scratch that. She is my soul mate. Dead serious! I know that sounds weird BUT WE ARE. We are the same person, its actually semi scary sometimes. We met in college, freshman year but really became close our sophomore year and after than I can not remember a moment without her. We became inseparable.

Anyway, enough of the back story, point is we have been friends for 8 years and in 8 years style evolve a lot. Stephanie is one of the very few people that I know every time I see her (which is a lot) I will love everything she is wearing. It is easy to look in magazines and find inspiration but much harder to find real live people who have everyday lives. We share many of the same ideas and style elements to our wardrobes. She has a keen eye for style and mixing high with low. She takes risks with mixing things all while staying classic, modern and glam.

Stephanie runs a PR firm with her friend called REWARD PR. She is also currently going to graduate school to become a teacher, so she needs to mix being comfortable with looking glam. A very hard mission to accomplish! I know, I am on the same mission!

Moving on, I asked Steph to take pictures for a few days for me along with her accessories to share with you all. So please see below:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

And a special treat...a real in-depth look at Steph.

Yes, she likes TOYS....what a crackpot. She will be a great teach!

Anyway, let me know what you think and if you want to see more of Steph!

You can also check her out on my video with her VLOG here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJHY41ydYZ8

x

DaraKaye.com coming soon...

Hi Guys,

I have very excited news! DaraKaye.com is coming soon. I am finally getting my act together and getting back into making and selling jewelry on top of my full time job and blogging and you-tube and a thousand other things.

Am I Crazy? Maybe.

I love to be creative and make things though.

As I said, I will be taking pre-orders before the site is up, I already have a queue of over 20 orders! If you are interested watch my vlog on my channel or email me on Belledujournyc@gmail.com so that so I know you are a reader!

Wearing today:



A few quick shots of what I will be making.







I will be just starting with the Tibetan Rosewood bracelets.

Let me know what you guys think!!
x

Obsession Du Jour 6.15.10

Givenchy Shoes.
Whimsical meets Edgy.
Love.

Obsession du Jour: Catch me in your net 6.14.10

I have been lusting over anything sparkly lately. Actually that's a lie, I always love anything with a good sparkle! Anyway, recently I have been crazing a good sparkle-riffic nail polish.

I am happy to say I found the ultimate color! Its by OPI and its from the new collection called Summer Flutter. It is the teal blue color on the upper right hand corner of the display. I ordered mine off the Transdesign website for $5.24.



Anyway more about the good stuff, contained in this bottle is teal/blue/turquoise sparkling goodness. It is SO sparkly, I was shocked when I put it on my nails. One layer gives you intense opaque goodness! This polish is no joke. If you are in the market for high shine bling to your nails and love greens and blues give this a try. I highly recommend it for all you magpies out there!

The sparkle was very hard to capture but I promise this will please you! On to the pictures!

I tried to take a pic in the sun to show you the glimmer, but obviously was not so successful! You get the idea though.

Will you be trying any of OPI's new colors?
What is your current favorite?

x

Friday Inspiration 6.11.10

There is something so beautiful about both of these pictures juxtaposed next to each other. It's almost like old world vs new world.

What I love about these photo's is that they both can tell a rich story in their own right.

I love when fashion can do that. That is why Fashion can really be an art, just as much as a painting or a novel.

Happy Friday!

A beauty post coming up later today...do not want to focus TOO much on fashion!

x

My style is... 6.8.10

My style is a mish-mosh between 60's and 70's, bohemian luxe comfort. That is how I would describe it.

I dress for myself. I dress for comfort. I dress to be happy in what I am wearing. I dress simplistically.

I have been getting tons of emails requesting fashion advice and tips. I think this is a very hard thing to give as styling and fashion is very personal. My only advice is dress to make yourself happy. You should feel confident everyday in whatever you choose to wear.

Also, something very important is to not follow trends. Well, you can follow trends but only follow trends that fit your body type. Know your body and love your body and don't embarrass your body! Not everyone looks good in harem pants or leggings or plunging neck lines or...whatever! Be mindful of your natural shape and dress to flatter it!

I have take a few snaps this week of some outfits I have worn to work.

Jeans and White Tee.
Very basic, I use a very large white YSL bag to accessorize here.

Nautical Inpsired on a Hot Day
The outfit was based around Alexander Wang's jersey over sized boat neck tank and my very large balenciaga weekender.

Safari Themed.
A khaki green long pants romper accessorized with a vintage gold cuff. I love green and gold together. I also used the black balenciaga weekender again.

A black tie event, Luxe.
I wore a sample dress that I own. This is a silver dress with a graphic x going over my hips.
I accessorized with gold shoes and a gold clutch. Opposite of the muted silver color of the dress.

Here are a few quick face shots.

A panama hat from JCrew and a bright coral lipstick. I used Chanel's Genial.

Bronzed face and a nude lip with over sized aviators, no name brand.

I hope this gave you a little bit of insight into my daily looks.

A few of my fashion must haves:

- Bold oversized jewelry
- tons of rings
- White T- Shirts
- An oversized black everyday bag
- Aviator Sunglasses
- The perfect pair of jeans
- a metallic clutch to go with anything, vintage or new
- The perfect White Structured Shirt
- Denim cutoffs
- Leather Leggings
- The perfect black pump shot
- A striped long sleeve shirt
- A nude heel to elongate your legs
- Anything is drapey- whisper soft jersey!
- CONFIDENCE!


I have also enlisted two of my most stylish friends to take daily OOTD shots for me to showcase for you in the upcoming weeks, Eunice and Stephanie. So you can get excited to see some more real life NYC inspiration!

x

Inspiration Du Jour 6.7.10

So, I am going on a Nature Vacation with my best friend, Stephanie to Jackson Hole Wyoming. In light of my summertime nature get-a-way, I am feeling very inspired by these sun soaked photo's.

I am in dire need of total relaxation. I cant wait to soak up the sun and the nature!

I especially love the photos from Vogue Nippon of Lily Donaldson in Vintage fur. So luxe!









What are you feeling inspired by lately?

x

Obsession Du Jour: Coral Nails 6.4.10

I love Coral nails on my toes for summer, strangely though, I usually don't wear any polish in the red family on my nails unless its an orange-y red. I don't really know why! However, when I saw this color everything changed!

Anyway, Eyeko sent me a few nail polishes and this is the one that I loved and really was a stand out product for me. This is called Coral Polish, For Resort Nails and this is exactly what it is. So summery and fun. The color is BRIGHT and such a great coral, a perfect mix of orange, pink and red.



The formula is what really got me singin' its praises. It is super creamy. It only took one coat to be opaque but I used 2 for good measure. It is thick, but I like thicker formulas. I hate runny streaky polish and this is the opposite. You can not see in the picture how vibrant and shiny it is.

I have been wearing this color for a week with Seche Vite topcoat over it and it is still perfect, no chips or peeling! Major win in my book as everything ALWAYS chips on me!

I am not as familiar with the Eyeko brand as some others are because it is a UK based company, but I sure wish it was more readily available here. I picked up a few Eyeko products from Superdrug last time I was in London and I absolutely loved them. The products are very affordable, great quality and have very cute packaging!!

Let me know your thoughts on Eyeko!

x

FTC Disclaimer: This product was sent to me for consideration, however I only review things that I like and would want other people to try out. I would never review or recommend something I would not personally buy for myself. I am not running an advertising site here! As always, I will give my honest thoughts and opinions!

Obsession Du Jour: Body Chains 6.3.10

Lately I have been absolutely obsessed with body chains.

Its odd, I used to hate them and think they looked so "trying to be cool" but recently I have totally changed my mind.

My preferred way to wear them is under a slinky white t with just the top showing and hinting at what is underneath! Sexy rocker chic.

See below the ultimate sexy rocker chic chick Erin Wasson!






I will for sure be picking one up within the next weeks.
Bliss Lau has a great line that can be bought here: http://www.blisslau.com/?section=collection

What are your thoughts on body chains?

x