How Lovely!

It is no secret that I love Fashion.  

The way fabrics look and feel; the way an outfit is styled; the hair, makeup and accessories all working together to complete a look.  So here are some little tips I've picked up along the way...

 

Accessories are important - and they can totally make or break an outfit.  

A simple pair of jeans and a crisp white button-up shirt can look relaxed and summery with a pair of wedges + a straw hat ... or totally stunning with a big, glittery jeweled necklace + black heels.  

Conversely, a pair of cuffed shorts, a rocker t-shirt + a pearl necklace is fresh and young
... while those same shorts, a cashmere twinset + pretty, structured tote look chic and refined. 

Plus, accessories are a way to try out current fads for less money and commitment.

 *Check out Inès de La Fressange's handy little chart on the left detailing 10 Ways to Dress Like a Parisian.  -->


 
Quality is important - Did you know that if you have on a lovely, expensive dress or suit and cheap-looking, cheap-quality shoes that the viewer's focal point will be the shoes?  It is sad but true.  [This isn't to mean that you must spend hundreds of dollars on shoes if that is outside your limit, but you should take quality into consideration].  Try to buy the best quality you can for your budget.  After all, you want things to last so that you don't have to continue spending money in the long run.


Color is important - Know your skin tone and how to dress appropriately for it.  Whether you have shades of pink, yellow, brown or olive undertones will determine which colors and shades of colors will look best on you.  A quick + easy way to find out is to ask the makeup artist at your local department store's makeup counter. 

And always remember - fashion is about expressing yourself and having fun.  It shouldn't be complicated or hard.  If trying to recreate a crazy new look you saw on the street is stressful, then toss it and stick to the type of well-groomed look you feel comfortable with.  Because if you don't feel pretty and comfortable in your clothes, it will be obvious.

How Lovely!

Paris Haute Couture S/S 2013 - Ulyana Sergeenko

Write me back!  Share your tips and thoughts in the comment section below.



x

RH

A Hilarious Little Fashion Parody

Thursdays always need a little pick-me-up...they signal that the end of the work-week is near, but still just out of reach.  One more day and then, the weekend is here!  Although, in my case weekends don't necessarily mean that life is any less hectic.  

So, it is time for a little coffee + funny video break!  P'Trique's fashion antics have made me laugh for quite a while and I thought it was high time I shared them with you...

*The below video is a funny little, highly-exaggerated parody of the girls in the fashion industry.  Some of these references may not be funny to everyone [although they certainly will be if you do, or have ever, worked within the fashion industry]. 

Stay "tres chic" readers!



RH

Movie Review :: Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness - 

...an action-packed movie filled with cute Chris Pine, intergalactic space travel, an appropriately-menacing bad guy, and another cameo by the original [Leonard Nimoy] Spock.  

1. Good -  while the first installment was a little more funny and fresh, this one gave us pretty new sets, a good deal of action and hand-to-hand combat, and more character development.  We also got to see the USS Enterprise's crew act more like a family, instead of individual members fighting to find their place in the pack.
2. Better - witty dialogue amongst the crew, who are at times, still locking horns.  Also, each of the main actors/actresses had just enough dialogue to maintain relevancy in the film, which was nice...there's nothing worse than forgetting why someone was cast in the film because you don't see them for half of it.  Cpt. Kirk (Pine) is starting to act a little less "frat-boy-bar-fighter" and is more concerned with saving his friends and crew.
    
3. Best - Benedict Cumberbatch was so good at being so bad.  He was menacing and couldn't have cared In. The. Least. who he affected on his path for revenge.  Unlike Cpt. Kirk, who at times teetered between the right thing to do and the correct thing to do, John Harrison (Cumberbatch) knew exactly what he wanted to do.  And yet, you still felt sorry for him at times because of what had happened to him and his own family/crew.  He played the juxtaposition really well.

All in all, it was a great movie.  Definitely one of those movies that should be watched on the big-screen for the first time.   

Mentionable Quote - 

Leonard "Bones" McCoy: Are you feeling homicidal, power-mad, or despotic?   
James Kirk: No more than usual.

RH

Fashion + Shopping :: Handbags

As a truly girly female, fashion + shopping ranks highly on my fun To-Do list...not be confused with the lesser-enjoyable list, like washing dishes and paying bills.  

Warmer seasons bring new spur-of-the-moment get-away options, traveling for work requires that you know how to plan and pack, and the Fashion Months [Feb-Mar + Sept-Oct] are highly-anticipated periods of excitement, market appointments and running from one event to the next...all day long.  So naturally, a post about bags is a must.


Whatever your preferred style, and price point, the fact remains that good quality is not debatable.  Try to buy the best quality you can for your budget, since you want a bag that is going to last and continue to look good  better with age.  


Pros of Large Bags:

• they hold everything!
• they can double as weekenders, overnighters, or even carry-ons
• they hide baby-bumps or that extra helping of dessert you had last night

Pros of Small Bags:

•  they make it easier to carry only the basics, thereby cutting out unnecessary items
• they transition easily from day-to-night
• your shoulder or arm won't become as sore as it would lugging around a 15-lb. bag all day

**Of course, if you are planning to attend lots of appointments or events, or run a lot of errands within the same day a small bag probably won't be your friend.

I tend to lean towards a large leather bag - since I have to fit a lot into it.  Plus I tend to use it to full-capacity when traveling since space and luggage is limited.

What kind of bag girl are you?  Do you prefer the large totes, hobos and satchels or the smaller clutches and envelopes?  

Let me know in the comments below!


x

RH 

Sweet Thoughts for the Day

I was reading today and came across these verses:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
(1 Peter 1:3-5, KJV)


"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.  
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
(1 John 5:12-13, KJV)


"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths."
(Proverbs 3:5-6, KJV)



Have a great Tuesday!

RH

Celebrate :: Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

Thank you to all our servicemen + women who have dedicated and lost their lives to preserving the freedom [and freedoms] of this country.  While life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness may be rights of all men, they sadly don't come for free.  

Memorial Day also unofficially marks the beginning of summer.  Which means it is time to pack a bag, clean off the grill, find the tent + sleeping bag, and pull out the bathing suits!  My goal this summer is to spend more time outside, and a glamorous camping trip sounds like the perfect way to achieve this!  

Tell me below, what are your plans for this glorious summer?



RH

Lifestyle :: Got the Blues

via browndresswithwhitedots

Who doesn't love the color blue?  It makes me dream of summers at the beach + sailing along the Mediterranean.  Blue skies filled with puff-ball clouds over shimmering waves of wheat fields.  The ocean lapping at the sand's edge, looking for a taste of scuttling crab or forgotten seaweed.  

Ripe juicy blueberries waiting to be picked and eaten, right off the vine. And, speaking of blue... it's one of the easiest colors to wear.  Did you know that?  

I want to go paint a room blue right now.  Or, maybe do a blue mosaic wall.  hmm...

via lilibaba

What's your favorite color?

x

RH

Movie Review :: The Great Gatsby

I recently watched the F. Scott Fitzgerald-written, Baz Lurhmann-directed movie The Great Gatsby.  And enjoyed it.  For those literary-classic lovers out there, this is certainly a movie worth watching

• Let's start with Leo.  I love him as an actor...have loved him since his What's Eating Gilbert Grape? days.  And although all of the movie roles he picks these days end with his character dying, he is certainly still worth watching.  He doesn't disappoint as Jay Gatsby.  He portrays Jay in all his floundering, friendless, dreaming, romantic facets and makes you feel sorry for him.  He makes the audience want to be his friend...because he was so sad and alone at times, while still maintaining his ever-sparkling facade and refusing to bow down to society's dictates, the snobby old-money set, or the fact that his one true love was not ever going to leave her husband for him.
• Tobey McGuire did an amazing job too.  Another actor that I like watching, and one of Leo's friends in real life, Tobey was so genuine, slightly-out-of-his-element, and likeable as Nick Carroway.  Through Nick's eyes (and narrative) you definitely do get an extra-special glimpse into both the glittering (and shallow) world of the super rich and the murkier world of society's underbelly - and the gangs in large part responsible for the continuation of the liquor consumed by the masses during the prohibition. 
• Carey Mulligan was appropriately pretty, shallow and sometimes annoying at Daisy Buchanan.  Enough already Daisy - your husband cheats on you every chance he gets.  Grow some backbone and give him an ultimatum.  Of course, she can't do that because at her core, Daisy is too afraid of confrontation, gossip and the opinions of society at large, and going without the material blessings she has been surrounded with for her whole life.  

Some critics argue that there wasn't any believable chemistry between Gatsby and Daisy.  I can see why they would say that, but knowing how shallow she is, and how slightly obsessed he is with acquiring some dream alternate reality he created in his head, their chemistry really isn't the main issue here.   

The music was at times lovely and haunting and in other scenes slightly distracting because it was too-modern music set to a "period piece".   Lurhmann did an excellent job with the cinematography!  The scenes were sweeping, majestic and made you want to be invited to the same parties the rest of the city just happened to crash. 

I would recommend seeing the movie, if for no other reason that to compare it to the book, the Robert Redford version, or so that you can carry on an conversation with your friends about current events.  

Have you seen it already?  What do you think of the movie, and of Leo as Jay Gatsby?



RH

L'Icona by Salvatore Ferragamo

Salvatore Ferragamo is doing something lovely -

in celebration of the 35th anniversary of their iconic and most recognized shoe - the Vara Flats - the company is launching a digital collection of fine portraits by photographer Clairborne Swanson Frank.  

According to their website, Frank "captures some of the world’s most modern, iconic women in customized Varas or Varinas [a ballet flat spin-off, first created in 2007], paired with their own wardrobe and their favorite Ferragamo pieces."   

Check out some photos below, and more of the "21 Girls 21 Days" launch at Ferragamo. 

Elettra Wiedemann in Paris, France

Lauren Rmington Platt in Morristown, NJ

 

Lily Aldridge in Nashville, TN

RH

Fashion + Shopping :: LoveGold at Cannes

 

 




Curated by Carine Roitfeld, the amazing LoveGold show was presented at the 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France.


The LoveGold show was a pretty [and fashionable] new way to look at gold - to inspire, to promote new designs, and to celebrate.  

 

Check out their website  
...there is a TON of information about:

• what's new in gold style 
• designers working with gold
• how fashion houses use gold metal in their shows
• plenty of gold dresses, shoes + jewelry

And, check out this short preview below about the show. 

Tell me in the comments below, what are your thoughts on gold?  Do you wear it, or do you prefer something else?  If you like gold, why? 


RH 

A Decade of Lessons

The first time I ever ventured out, truly on my own, was when I moved to New York ten years ago - with two suitcases and a lot of plans. And boy, was it a wealth of life lessons.

Corrie Bond Photography

Looking back over the past decade, here are ten things I've learned... one for each year:

1.) Life will not go the way you originally planned.  If my plans had worked accordingly, I would be an executive in a fashion house, living in a small but fabulous sky-rise apartment with a Yorkie, and engaged.  I did manage to become a director at 25 like planned, but it was in healthcare not fashion; the amount of home goods I've acquired certainly wouldn't all fit into an tiny NYC apt; I have two dogs, neither of which are Yorkies; and I am happily not married.

2.) Second chances are good.  Third and fourth...well, don't become a doormat.

3.) You know you have good friends when you haven't seen each other for a while, and then when you meet up, you can pick back up right where you left off.  Do not loose these kinds of friends!  They will become your extended family.

 
4.) Make a big purchase - the investment kind.  I remember all those good feelings that came with finally buying my first car... and with signing that last paycheck!  It gave me a sense of freedom and a means of transportation.  There are plenty of other big investments I hope to make in time, and they will need to be just as important and meaningful.

5.) Travel.  Travel.  Travel.  Some of my best memories were during vacations with my family or seeing a new city with girlfriends.  Traveling opens your mind to other possibilities, your eyes to unknown beauties, and your heart to different people.  And while you're at it, make sure to eat new foods and try new adventures.  You never know if you'll be back there again.

6.) Sometimes a cupcake, a chocolate bar, or tomato-basil soup with grilled cheese, does in fact make it all better. 

7.) Remember to occasionally make an ordinary day extraordinary.  Buy fresh flowers just because you like them, dance in the rain, or drink champagne while eating takeout pizza off paper plates.  Life is meant to be enjoyed, and sometimes we have to remind ourselves to do so.

8.) Be nice to other people.  Always try to be as friendly or polite as possible.  If not possible, try to be professional.  Even while other people are driving you absolutely crazy or trying their best to be horrible for no apparent reason, they are still people with a life and their own issues, insecurities and problems.  And, by the way, you never know how being nice to one person can make a big difference in their life or yours.

9.) Breathe.  You can not control everything, even though sometimes that would just make life simpler.  It took a few heartbreaks to learn to let go of my life plan and my desire for control.  This doesn't mean that every now and then I don't wish I knew where my life was taking me so I could pack accordingly, but it does mean that I have learned to give God a whole lot more of my faith and trust and credit when it comes to those little speed bumps in the road.

10.) I'm leaving this one blank... because I've learned there is no telling what new little life lesson is coming my way.



x

RH

Hi Friends

Hello!

Welcome to Rubies + Honey!  I'm so glad you've stopped by. 

I hope this site will provide a source of constant lifestyle inspiration, fresh ideas, and joy.  Leave me a comment ...I would love to hear from you.  



RH