It's Friday, which means we are but a few short hours away from stripping off the work wear and throwing on our favorite weekend wear. (Yay!) For the past two years, skinny black jeans have been my fall and winter weekend staple. While there are a lot of great black skinny jeans options out there, I am particularly into the J.Crew toothpick jean in pitch black wash, which fit great (they are très slimming - seriously, there's something magical in them) and (when a good 25% off sale is running) are a much better price point than the more "designer" brands. I am 5'7" (though "legally" I am 5'8" (according to my license)), and the length (28" inseam) is just right on me. If you're any taller, I'd upgrade to the "tall" (30" inseam). If you're much shorter, J.Crew unfortunately doesn't carry this jean in a petite, but they offer free alterations if you purchase with a J.Crew credit card (which also offers generous end of season gift card "rewards"). Warning: there is a moment of fear as you squeeze these puppies on ("OMG they're never going to get past my knees!"), but then suddenly, voilà!, you're in. And they fit. Like an incredibly slimming glove. Wear these jeans during the day with a great pair of boots (like these Frye "Smith Engineer Booties, $297.95 - I'm partial to the black - or this Donald J. Pliner "Diem" Boot, which is on sale for $260.90 and I am flat out dying over) and a button front shirt (like the classic utilitarian J.Crew chambray "keeper" shirt, $78) or even a t-shirt (love the J.Crew vintage tee in white, heather chrome, deep pine or warm ash) with a cozy sweater (like this Vince sweater coat, $475 + 25% off = $380) or, on cooler days, a collarless car or pea coat (like this Vince military jacket, on sale for $525 (down from $750!) + 20% off = $420). Wear them at night with a gorgeous silk blouse (like this Vince one, $265 + 20% off = $212, or this other Vince one I died over in Wednesday's post)and great flats or heels with a fabulously cut blazer (like this Theory one, $415 - 20% = $332) and, in colder weather, an incredible coat (like this insanely awesome DVF coat, on sale for $556.60 (down from $795!) + 20% off = $445.20) (all of the above are at Bloomies with code FRIENDS). Note: The deep black wash (which I love) tends to fade over time, giving it a grungier, less evening-appropriate look (though still totally great for casual weekend days). I had to rebuy the same pair this fall that I'd purchased last fall, but I got them during a big sale that helped lessen the blow. JCrew runs sales often. They're running a big sale on their sale items right now (sale squared!), as they often do to clear out merchandise, and that usually means that after a week or so of no deals, they'll run a 25% off sale on their full priced merch. So if you're willing to wait a week to save ~$30, by all means do. Back in the day, these bad boys sold out quickly, so I would have paid full price without question, but J.Crew seems to have ample stock available now, and waiting a week might yield you some delightful savings (though, according to my "consumer insights" business school professor, delaying your purchase to get a discount may "undermine" the emotional benefit of the discount). My takeaway? Buy the jeans now, wear them immediately. You'll feel great, and you'll look great too :) What's your weekend wear staple? And how do you style it? Happy weekend! :) KK
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Staving off apartment entropy is a constant battle; I have to fight hard against my messy nature. I have been trying to incrementally de-clutter our apartment, and sometimes practicality - like having easy access to books (or, more likely, not having a receptacle to store them in) - must win, and clutter must be put on display rather than contained behind closed doors. How to cope? I have found an easy trick ("borrowed" from my good friend Kate P., who has an excellent eye) that easily makes viewable clutter appear "organized" and aesthetically pleasing: organize/arrange along a color gradient! It takes an otherwise visually distracting (and messy looking) display and makes it appealing to the eye. (And the feeling after completing this task is downright satisfying!) As you can imagine, this works best with books (though it can be done with other objects too). I have read that people who are hard-core organizers find this method of organizing books by color to be difficult to swallow ("How on earth would I find the book I need if it's not alphabetized!?") and others just take inexplicable offense to it (seriously, I had no idea it was so controversial), but for those of us who remember a book by its cover color rather than its title, this trick is a quick way to turn something displeasing into a lovely rainbow. It appears harmonious to the eye and creates an inner sense of order (and couldn't we all use a little of that?). Also, if you're prone to messiness like I am, it makes you feel downright pleased with yourself to be able to contain clutter in a pretty, organized fashion. It's the book organizing equivalent to making the bed (a satisfactory deed indeed). (Side note, I love the interplay between the fashion world and the world of interiors. Chanel's Spring 2014 runway featured some major rainbow action, and I am happy to carry that trend forward in the home. It's like having a little bit of Lagerfeld on the cheap!) I have arranged books by color in two areas of our apartment: 1) with our cookbooks (left), which are proudly on display on the window sill in the alcove next to our kitchen (and viewable from the living room); and 2) with Matt's and my grad school books in our "office" area (thankfully hidden from living room view, but viewable in the slideshow below). The final product is decidedly less appealing with law and business school books than with cookbooks. Law books come in exactly two colors - blue and red (so stringent, these law types!) - and business school books are either case books with black binding or just atrociously ugly text books - but there is a certain level of satisfaction that can be achieved by finding a level of order and calm amid the chaos that is grad school (or really anything stressful). The real trick for organizing all those school books was scoring a ginormous bookcase from Craigslist (I refuse to pay retail for bookcases, and I'm happy to scour your local Craigslist for you), which Matt and I hauled home from a nearby apartment after work on Valentine's Day 2012 (I would make a joke about marriage and romance, but seriously, Matt's willingness to go along with my insane Craigslist furniture procurement schemes is one of his most loveable qualities). The best thing about this color arranging process is that there is really no right or wrong way to do it, though I would not recommend removing all of your books and starting from scratch (a truly daunting scene) - much easier to pull out a few and keep the majority of your books upright and intact and then move colors around incrementally from there. I am sure you could get very rigid in following the color wheel (and really, who's got time for that?), but I tend to just go from dark to light and see what works in between. Give it a whirl and see what you think! Happy harmonizing! :) KK This season I am really digging looser, minimalist cuts and expert tailoring. After seasons of more-is-more embellishment and baubles, it's time to pare everything down and focus on beautiful cuts, textures and colors. Thankfully, some of my favorite brands like Vince and Theory agree. In the blouse department in particular, Vince gets it just right, and I am completely obsessed! (My closet is happy; my bank account, not so much.) I love the tom-boyish cuts, the expert tailoring, the beautiful fabrics and the earthy yet urban colors. The blouses have a certain understated, almost edgy, femininity to them that I just want to envelope myself in. It's everything I love about downtown New York style all rolled up into a piece of beautifully draped fabric. I could go on about a number of the pieces in the line (and I certainly will in future posts), but I have one favorite item in particular that is a must-have addition to your work and weekend wardrobe: the Contrast Placket Blouse, $275. (And it just so happens it can be obtained ON SALE at Bloomingdale's right now.) I happened upon the navy/black version (color description: "coastal") while on a recent shopping trip to Nordstrom in Kansas City with my mom (Good lord, how I love department store shopping in the 'burbs! So empty! So spacious! With a seat for Mom!), and immediately fell in love. (Thankfully Mom took note and gave it to me for my birthday - shopping with Mom is the best!). I have tried on and purchased a lot of shirts in my day, and I can tell you that this Vince one is worth the splurge. The silk is so sumptuous and totally luxurious (and this comes at a time when I feel like the overall quality of my "go to" silk top brands like J.Crew and even Joie is declining). The cut is perfection: the neckline is beautiful and offers just the right amount of coverage (though watch it with that little plunge in the office!); the sleeves are a flattering length (no arm fat accentuating cap sleeve here, folks!); and because the placket goes all the way down the blouse with a sort of fluttery, fly-away effect at the shirt-hem, the blouse hangs just right around the hips, which pear- and hourglass-shaped ladies will appreciate. You could even do a half-tuck to accentuate the waist, if you're daring, for a look that's effortlessly chic (not to mention super comfortable). Plus, it's long. It is also tremendously versatile: it can easily be worn day or night, day-to-night, at work or on the weekend. I've worn it in every aforementioned situation, and it fits seamlessly into all of them. I have a soft spot for mixing navy and black (it goes with everything), and I just love the mix of navy and black in the Coastal version, which is available at Nordstsrom and Bloomingdale's. I am normally a huge fan of Nordstrom - excellent customer experience and one of the first high-end department stores to offer free shipping and returns - but I can't deny a good discount when I see one, and Bloomingdale's is offering a Friends and Family 20% discount until 11/21 (code: FRIENDS)! So that $275 blouse becomes a more stomachable $220, which also wins you free shipping at Bloomies (on orders of $150+). My mother used to be a buyer and always taught me that if you find an item of clothing you love, make sure you buy it in more than one color. Trust me, she'd say. You need more than one. No surprise here, but Mom is always right. While having the Coastal version is great, having the Coastal version and this Blackberry one (without contrast) is even better. The blackberry one is sold at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman (though I prefer Neiman Marcus for in-store experience if you can get yourself out to the 'burbs, and they also have better deals in general for online shoppers). And all colors that exist are sold at Vince (which also offers free shipping and returns!). Both colors of the top go particularly well over skinny black pants or jeans for weekend and can be paired with a long black cashmere sweater or a sharp jacket for the office. In terms of sizing, it runs pretty true to size (it should fit a bit loose). For a more casual look, pair it with distressed boyfriend jeans rolled at the cuff and ballet flats or men's inspired oxfords. Happy Wednesday.... and happy shopping! KK It is cold and dreary outside, and I am yearning for a reminder of what summer -- and in particular vacationing in the summer -- is like. My husband Matt and I went on vacation to California this summer and stayed in some pretty cool hotels throughout our drive up the coast. One of my favorite things about hotel stays is the shampoo/conditioner experience that a hotel chooses to give you. It says so much about the hotel's brand and, if you're lucky to grab some extra mini bottles, gives you a little souvenir that can extend your hotel experience well beyond check out. Our favorite shampoo/conditioner experience was at The Mondrian in West Hollywood (a deal we got on Jetsetter): Malin + Goetz Peppermint Shampoo and Cilantro Conditioner. It felt so luxuriously hip to wake your hair up with peppermint and cool it down with cilantro. The two scents strangely work great together (though Malin + Goetz, if you're reading this, please make a peppermint or lavender or rosemary conditioner!) and smell so modern compared to the shampoos I've experienced in the past (the scents are also delightfully unisex). Matt and I loved it all so much that, upon returning to "real life" back in New York, we decided that purchasing the full-size Malin+Goetz shampoo and conditioner was a worthy splurge to imbue our regular life with a feeling of vacation. Showering now reminds me of LA summer, relaxed vacation and warm sunshine rather than too-early mornings, the eternal workweek schlep and hustled, inconvenient commutes. It was pricy, but a price worth paying to bring a little summer sunshine into the fall and winter months. And three months later, we still have plenty left in the bottle. This order marked my first purchase experience from BeautyBar.com, and I must say - amazing. Next-day free delivery?! Don't mind if I do. You also can get 20% off your $30+ order as a first time customer (code BBTAKE20) and free shipping for $35+ orders. That 20% alone convinced me to bump up the size of my first purchase from the 8 oz ($20 for shampoo, $22 for conditioner) to the 16 oz ($36 for shampoo, $40 for conditioner), which allowed me to save $15.20 instead of $8.40 (all in, this is about a $0.70-$0.75 savings per ounce for buying bulk and using the discount code). You know the old promo code shopaholic's adage: you have to buy more to save more! And just think: with next-day delivery, you could be washing your hair in summer hipness by tomorrow night! Ah, modern conveniences. Malin + Goetz Peppermint Shampoo, $36 for 16oz beautybar.com (next-day delivery!!) Malin + Goetz Cilantro Conditioner, $40 for 16oz beautybar.com (next-day delivery!!) If you're a buy-in-person type of shopper, in New York, you can purchase your hipness at Bloomingdale's, Gracious Home (Upper East Side and Upper West Side), and the Malin + Goetz Apothecaries (Upper West Side and Chelsea). Happy cleansing and summer lovin'! KK I have developed a healthy obsession with Eames or Eames-like molded chairs with sheepskin rugs artfully tossed on them. It's a mix of urban modern and rustic coziness. Love it. Especially as the weather gets colder and the days get shorter. My husband Matt and I are lucky to have a working fireplace, but we still have never outfitted the area with appropriate seating. I've been trying to find the right chair "mood" on a scale of antique/traditional to modern/non-traditional. We want something with some coziness to it but with a good deal of non-upholstery (e.g. wood or metal) to break up the seating experience in our living room (our living room is sectioned into "dining area," "TV-watching/living area" and "empty space around the fireplace area" - the dining area is all loaded up with wood and everything in the TV-watching area is heavily upholstered). So, how to achieve non-upholstered coziness? French antique Louis XIV/XV/XVI chairs with light upholstery? Or something more modern and bohemian involving wood or metal or - dare I say - plastic?? Mix in a little furriness for good measure? Because I have a lot of antique French and Italian going on in my apartment with a touch of Asian, I wanted to mix the overall aesthetic up with something a bit more modern but with the ability to blend into what I already have going on. The Eames chair achieves all that I was looking for: modern, but not glaringly so, and with a vintage throw-back quality; plus it's got plastic, wood and metal! It's all so very American! (Well, the originals were Fiberglass, but I digress.) Add in a cozy sheepskin throw (faux or real), and you're set for winter-time cozy fireplace lounging. Full disclosure: I would always prefer to own an original. I am not usually one to promote knockoffs. We could go over the pros and cons and IP issues, but at $500 a pop for the real deal, it's just not in the cards for me right now (if you want the real deal, go here at Design Within Reach - they have the rights and the original chair molds). But for you "chipper" chicken fans (go to 3:30 in the clip!), read on about my hunt for affordable Eames look-alikes and cozy furry throws. I found a pair of Eames-style Eiffel armchairs with wood legs on Craigslist on Sunday for $100 that I was pretty excited about, but I LOST THE SALE to an even more eager beaver Craigslist shopper than me (the horror). Sigh. Slight devastation, but obviously it wasn't meant to be. Fresh off of this loss, I decided that I need to own these chairs immediately and under mainstream, mass-produced conditions (I couldn't deal with the anticipation and high/low that comes from auction or Craigslist shopping) - so to established online retailers I went. After some Google searching and some helpful advice (and snobby comments) from Apartment Therapy, I settled on the Retro-classic White Accent Chairs (Set of 2) from Overstock.com for $166.99 (down from $219.91) with FREE SHIPPING (little in this world makes me happier than free shipping) and a DISCOUNT CODE that gave me an additional $20 off (the only thing better than free shipping is an additional discount code for extra savings!). (Note: White on White had good recs, but for $320 a pop, I'd rather splurge and buy the real thing.) Just for fun, let's compare the cost of purchasing the Overstock chairs v. the real deal from DWR (excluding tax). Overstock: Pair @ $166.99 (or $83.50 each) Shipping @ FREE Additional Discount: $20 off for spending $150+ Total: $146.99 DWR: Pair @ $998 (or $499 each) Shipping @ $79.84 Additional Discount: None Total: $1077.84 What do we save?? $930.85! Man, I love deal hunting. In addition to that sweet set of cheapo chairs, I am buying two lambskin rugs from a charming Canadian company called Southern Cross Sheepskins Inc. (website: Sheepskinstuff.com) to complete the look. The size (24"x42") runs a bit larger than the rugs I've seen on Joss & Main, Overstock, Pottery Barn, Ikea, etc. (all 24"x36"), which I think will work well with the chairs (I want some of the rug edges to hang over the chair edges). And the cost is reasonable ($67 on sale, plus $23 shipping in Canadian dollars, which is around $150 in total for two rugs plus shipping in USD). (All of the other rugs except Ikea ran in the $70-$80 range and become significantly more expensive when you add square footage. Ikea at $30 might have won my vote, but the items aren't sold online or at any store near me.) I also appreciate that 1) I'm ordering from an adorable, family-owned Canadian company; 2) it feels like the rugs are not terribly mass produced (and I have to offset the feel of my chair purchase), which means I can pretend that everything was done humanely; and 3) they showed me a photo of the backside of the rug, which is hard to come by online (and was stressing me out); and 4) upon checkout, I got a free pair of sheepskin mittens! Oh, Canada...! I can't wait to receive all of my loot and to try it out! Here is a mockup of what I think the chairs will look like in my living room! We shall see what really happens! 'Til then, here is some photo inspiration of cool modern chairs with sheepskin throws from Pinterest to get you in the mood! Happy shopping and fireplace lounging! KK Want to make your hair happy? Try this phenomenal Fekkai mask: Fekkai Technician Color Care 3-Minute Mask. The price seems steep (~$30), but it will last you a long time and is well worth it. My hair was a little fried and hay-like last week after a few too many sprays of dry shampoo, and this calmed my hay-hair right down. Bonus: it feels and smells phenomenally luxurious. I use a dollop on my hair about once a week in the shower, let it sit for 3 minutes and then wash it out. I like to use it on the weekends when I have a little more shower and primp time to spare. My hair is left silky smooth, glossy and smelling amazing. Try it! You'll like :) Happy conditioning! KK Welcome to my blog "A La Recherche" and to Kate Kelly Design! This is something I've wanted to do for a verrrry long time, and I am so very excited to get started. A little bit about me and the inspiration for this blog: When I was growing up, I wanted to be many things -- an architect, a fashion designer, a psychologist, a writer and an editor (all at the same time, naturally). I have flirted with bits and pieces of each to varying degrees over time, but I eventually settled into a career in finance and just finished my MBA. While I love finance, I have always felt a strong pull towards design, and now, in my "old age," I have found that while I am none of those dreamy childhood aspirations per se, interior design, personal styling and helping others find the things they're searching for allows me to fulfill those childhood dreams. Design has been a hobby of mine forever, and I am so excited to get started in a more tangible and real way.
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Kate KellyI am an artist/designer and former financial professional with a background in comparative literature, business and design. I live in New York with my overworked lawyer husband and my two boys Michael and Theo and spend much of my free time dreaming about how to enhance the aesthetics of our little world. I am endlessly inspired and always in search of something new. This is a blog about my search, my inspiration and things I just really, really like or want. Archives
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