There are some amazing pieces in the latest J. Crew roll-out. This velvet blazer in pink is no exception. It comes in a beautiful pewter as well. Just when I think I have all the plaid shoes I need, I must have (at least) one more. I featured the Sadie Ankle-Straps in Tartan in It’s time for Plaid! a couple of weeks ago. They sold out right away, as predicted, but have been restocked! I have worn them non-stop since they arrived last week and I have lost count of the compliments I’ve received. They are so comfortable and I love the mix with the Black Watch club collar shirt and the pink blazer. Don’t delay, they are likely to sell out.
My six year old son told me this “jacket” is perfect for reading. It does make me want to curl up with a book. I love the pop of red with the purple houndstooth. It is a nice transition to winter. I just ordered a Black Watch plaid blazer from J. Crew and a pink velvet blazer (also from J. Crew) and I can’t wait! The pink velvet blazer is going fast, so I have linked it below.
It’s beginning to feel a lot like the holidays which to me says it’s time for plaid. I am mad for plaid as it brings back happy memories of when the Preppy Handbook was my bible. Plaid dresses up even the most basic holiday attire and adds the perfect touch to home holiday decor.
Last year J. Crew had plaid shoes and pants. I was lucky enough to get two of each and wore them repeatedly throughout the holiday season. They sold out fast (within a day of being on the website).
This year is another chance to add to your prodigious plaid pantheon with their two new adorable styles that are linked and shown below. They are available now through the links below. They will hit the website next week and will be featured in the December Style Guide. Now is the time to snap them up. I ordered both today. Don’t delay.
It is clear that I love shoes. If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know that these striped shoes got a workout this summer and served as a perfect neutral. They were also the shoes I was wearing when my six year old snapped a photo that ended up on J. Crew‘s #SHINYPONIES page as I mentioned in Shoes Tell the Story this week. So I decided to commemorate my proud Mama moment with yet another shoe, this time on my hand.
October 7th was the six month mark for my blog. And, it’s been about a year since I made my Instagram profile public. I was intrigued by the J. Crew #SHINYPONIES Contest, where I posted and hashtagged photos of my shoes for the chance to win a year of shoes curated by Jenna Lyons each month. I was determined to win and so excited when my first photo was chosen for J. Crew’s #SHINYPONIES page on jcrew.com. I have since had over 20 photos selected for the #SHINYPONIES page. Here are a few of them with links to the J. Crew #SHINYPONIES page and purchasing information linked below the grid.
The best moment of this social media journey happened last week when I woke up to a number of notifications from J. Crew letting me know that my photos were selected for one of their posts. One of their selections was a photo taken by my six-year old. I beamed with pride and could not wait for him to wake up so I could tell him. He has recently been helping with some of my Mani Friday photos, too. Sharing this love of photography with my six year-old son has been a blast. He has an amazing eye when it comes to shooting with just the iPhone.
As a child I enjoyed photography and my high school class was one of my favorites. I liked taking self portraits (long before selfies) that were artistic because I liked that I could control the art in front of and behind the camera simultaneously. The logistics were harder with the timer.
In college I took an Art History course on Photography and it was among my favorite classes. It was nice contrast with my Economics major. Cindy Sherman was one of my favorites. She was a big influence, especially her Untitiled Film Still series . I recently saw the Cindy Sherman Imitation of Life exhibit at The Broad and I could not help but snap this selfie in front of a photo of her playing all four roles.
Combining my love of shoes with photography was a no brainer when it came to the #SHINYPONIES contest. I already had a shoe obsession and it was fun to feed it by photographing shoes.
I have always said that shoes can tell the story of your life. Yesterday I featured a pair from a 2005 trip to Antwerp in Antwerp Memories and Pink Cherries. They have walked with you through experiences. In my case, I almost always buy a pair on vacation. Then when I put them on I remember Paris or Antwerp or Hawaii. When I did not win the #SHINYPONIES contest, I was disappointed, of course , but not discouraged. I decided to just keep on going. Six months later I started this blog. I wrote about where the name came from in It all started in Paris with these shoes…. I really need to thank J. Crew and Jenna Lyons for the inspiration to document my love of shoes as art in a whole new way.
XO,
JAE
This is not a sponsored post, in fact none of my posts have been sponsored (so far). I will definitely make that clear when the time comes.
I love this mural “One Pointed Attention” by Kelsey Brookes in La Jolla. It definitely relaxes me and is a great image for a mini-mediation. You can read more about Kelsey Brookes here.
This summer we visited the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. It is so well put together with great interactive exhibits for kids. I highly recommend it. My son loved it and we visited two weeks in a row. I also loved the adobe building, so on our second visit I took advantage and shot this fall look.
Tied with my love of leopard is my love of blue and white, particularly blue and white stripes. I am always excited when I spot a new take on the classic blue and white. This J. Crew shirt has a club collar and the fabric is a textured jacquard with the coolest buttons. The jeans are also a new J. Crew cut and style called the straightaway. I love the exposed button fly. I had forgotten how comfortable a button fly can be.
the navy leopard 