Met Gala | The Red Carpet Dresses Review

The latest Costume Institute's Annual Ball has yet again wowed us with their Red Carpet Dresses. This year The Costume Institute curated the exhibition "Impossible Conversations" honoring Prada and Elsa Schiaparelli. I will delve more into the forgotten Elsa Schiaparelli in Fashion 101 post after I visit the exhibit but for now let us see who wore what to the Met Gala on this glamorous Red Carpet night!

The Huffington Post was a reliable shutterbug to quickly post the glam from the Met Gala Red Carpet. There were a couple shorter dresses to last night's gala, and although I'm a firm believer in full length gowns for galas, these were fun to see.

 Carey Mulligan in Prada. How sequins do ombre! 

Christina Ricci in Thakoon. I don't totally love the sprouting ruffle top of the dress but I do love how the skirt is a fitted pencil with an attached train. The Costume Institute's Annual Ball always promises pieces that are a bit more avant garde.

Jessica Biel in Prada and JT in Tom Ford. He's always smashing on the glamorous red carpet.

Gwyneth Paltrow in Prada. I can't say I'm always her biggest fan, but I did like her frock for tonight. Something about the structure yet the peek-a-boo factor that usually is found on slinkier dresses.

Now for the shine factor, my favorite! Many gowns were dripping in liquid metallic right to the red carpeted floor they graced. I really wish I could wear some of these to an event. 

 Camilla Belle in Ralph Lauren. That is well played sheer my dear. Well played.

 Rooney Mara in Givenchy. Love how it evaporates to lace.

 Nina Dobrev in Donna Karan. Now THIS would be my gown, it literally takes my breath away as it melts into the floor. Simply stunning.

Rihanna in Tom Ford. Perfect blend of elegance and rocker...I love it. And the edge is great for the Costume Institute's Annual Ball.

Karolina Kurkova in Rachel Zoe. Although the headpiece is a bit much when the dress is already a lot of sparkle, it is the Costume Ball after all. What's a Met Gala without some other the top red carpet dresses n'est-ce pas? You may be aware I have an obsession with backless dresses, in which case you are not surprised why this is a favorite of mine. 

Dependable as usual, plenty of the Red Carpet Dresses can sweep you away by the timeless elegance of their hourglass figure. Classically woman. 

 Amber Heard in Zac Posen.

 Hillary Swank in Michael Kors. The man is Midas, everything he touches is gold...even when its scarlet red like the glamorous Red Carpet. 

Diana Kruger in Prada. I was stunned by this dress. If ever there was a time for me to happily wear a trapeze dress, this would be it. And embellished with feathers? It's like Prada read my mind!

Alas, not all Met Gala dresses are created equal...even when you are Prada or Elsa Schiaparelli. Here are my worst dressed list. *Note: not all of these dresses are bad, some just don't belong on their wearers. 

 Maybe for a disco themed anniversary you can rock this Prada frock. But Chloe Sevigny has not convinced me it is a good choice for the Met Gala. 

Lily Collins in Valentino. I am fully on board the long sleeve dress train, but not when it makes you look like Whistler's Mother on her wedding day. Somehow grandma made it to the Red Carpet. 

 Vera Wang in Vera Wang. She makes beautiful things but forgets to eat. Everytime I see her she looks more wasted away, and her skin is now revealing her lack of health as well. I'm not along on this am I?

 Rachel Zoe in Rachel Zoe. I always love seeing Rachel Zoe's streetwear, she always inspires me to think out of the box (into a hippier chic place) but I would've hoped her formal wear would have translated a little more appropriately. She looks like a girl at prom in 1975.

 Anja Rubik in Anthony Vaccarello. Nothing about this screams sexy to me.

 Eva Mendez in Prada. If that peplum was 3 inches shorter and that skirt pulled in, super fitted. This would be a smashing look for the curvy Mendez, but  as is...old and wide. 

 Leighton Meester in Marchesa. I love me some Leighton, but she should have laid off the tanning, 

orange clashes with Red Carpets. 

 Cameron Diaz in Stella McCartney. Beautiful dress, beautiful woman, but not together. *Note: Play close attention darlings, you must always work your body's assets. Even as a celebrity, if you don't have curves you don't magically turn into Sofia Vergara when you put on a curvy Red Carpet dress. 

DRESS FOR YOUR BODY TYPE! 

What was your favorite 

Met Gala Red Carpet Dress?

NYC Staycation | Instagram Weekend

Sorry to be absent lately mes cheris, but it was necessary to put myself on a little NYC Staycation. With all the running around I have done in the last couple months, I finally had the opportunity to rest...and so I Carpe Diem-ed the weekend away. Walks in Central Park, Ferry ride to Ikea, and lots of drinks with friends, it was a fantastic long Instagram weekend to rest, enjoy life, and gear up for the next chapter in my life.

 It has been cold here in NYC lately, and since I'm stubborn and determined to wear my closet full of cute Spring stuff, I have had to add tights to all my Spring outfits to do so. Bummer.

 Went shopping in SoHo. I love passing all the creative storefronts around that nabe. They are the greatest. I especially love the C Wonder storefront. How fun and regal are these doors?

 You know it's going to be a good day when you start off your morning with Magnolia Bakery breakfast. Raspberry crumb muffin, coffee, infinity scarf, and Gaga glasses. Done and done. 

 I watched the Enterprise space shuttle fly over Manhattan as it made its voyage to its new NYC home at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. Bonus points for living on the Hudson River? You get to walk 500 feet to go see a space shuttle fly by your house. Um. Awesome. Not bad for an NYC Staycation huh?

 Had an all day long adventure to Ikea on Saturday which of course consisted of taking the NYC Water Taxi out to Brooklyn's Ikea. The Southstreet Seaport is always a great photo opp place for an Instagram weekend, and I haven't been out past the Statue of Liberty in over a year, so that was a fun ride. 

Ended the weekend celebrating a dear friends golden birthday out in SoHo at The Anchor bar. The DJ was amazing, and every single song had me screaming with excitement. Therefore it was a great dancing night to celebrate life with my really good friends. 

So how do you Staycation mes cheris?

NYC Digs: Brooklyn Shopping Secret

Deep in south Brooklyn I had to venture this weekend to file my taxes, and wouldn't you know mes cheris I was rewarding for the outer borough trek by stumbling upon an adorable Brooklyn shopping secret! This cute shop with affordable prices was tucked in between bad discount shoe stores and loan offices and ready to be discovered.

Flavour on 86th Street in apparently the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn news to me, has a variety of flowy summer tops and cute skirts, shorts, and maxi dresses to match. The decor with the oversized picture frames leaning against the wall of clothing racks was hip and the shabby chic vignettes planted around this Brooklyn shopping secret kept you wandering around to discover more!

 I especially couldn't get over this navy blue sailor top. It's a racer back knit tank that is soft and flowy. Perfect for a stroll along the beach at sunset...or any other time once the weather gets back to warm again. You are now all privy to this Brooklyn shopping secret and I hope you go check it out for yourself. I know I personally will be back to Flavour once I have a more prepared checking account haha!

What Brooklyn shopping secrets do you know?

What I Wore | St. Patrick's Day Weekend

It was a beautiful St. Patrick's Day weekend and I hope you celebrated properly. NYC was built by the Irish and since I am Irish it's even more fitting to really get in to the celtic mood! I took a weekend break and headed out to Connecticut with a bestie for some needed R+R. What I wore was demanding the Spring weather stick around for a long time.

 I rocked fun color with my floral print crop top sweater, thanks Beacon's Closet, Brooklyn. Perfect for a subtle touch of St. Patrick's Day green. This cobalt blue accordion pleat skirt from Banana Republic is the latest fav of my wardrobe and is perfection with the top. This weekend I switched out my Winter wardrobe for my Spring wardrobe...one of my favorite things to do! I love finding my favorite clothes that I forgot about since August. And I LOVE pairing my old favorites with my new favorites, as in this case!

Then armed with lots of bangles, skinny watches, and a cobalt beaded necklace, 

I was ready for a Guinness! 

My bestie represented her Irish roots very well with a deep emerald green. You cannot go wrong with a high to low dress especially when it has that gorgeous cutout trim! 

I spy with my Old Hollywood obsessed eye an iconic Upper East Side apartment....can you guess who lived here? This is the apartment of Audrey Hepburn as Holly GoLightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's! This is one of my all time favorite movies and walking down this block feels like they are about to yell action and I will Audrey Hepburn herself stroll down the stairs in her Little Black Dress, hat, and diamonds. It gives me chills to live in a city that is so iconic and special. I just love NYC.

What did you wear this 

St. Patrick's Day weekend?

NYC Digs: Shopping in the East Village

Last week I went on an adventure vintage shopping in the East Village. I found a lot of great stores but this boutique I happened to stumble upon as I was leaving. JULA has an array of affordably priced women's wear and really cute jewelry sourced from New York City. The storefront caught my eye and I ventured in, didn't realize I'd be leaving with the gold bracelet I've been looking for!

JULA, like most shopping in the East Village, has a small store space with a carefully selected collection. The clothing is simple and girly and the handbags are structured and colorful.

The jewelry was my favorite, a lot of gold which I love. The necklaces ranged from very delicate to bold statement necklaces. The same goes for the bracelets. This boutique was the perfect way to end my shopping the East Village.

What I Did This Weekend: The Oscars, The Artist, The Lower East Side

This was the most jam packed weekend I have had since New Year's, mainly because New York Fashion Week does tend to demand 100% of your social life. So apparently I managed to fit 2 months of social events into 2 days. What I did this weekend started with a band in the Lower East Side and lots of catch up with good friends, followed by seeing The Artist in an iconic NYC theatre, and ended (very late) with a viewing of the 84th Annual Academy Awards! And I found that The Oscars did not disappoint!

The dresses from The Oscar's Red Carpet this year were pretty (I have a few of my favs below, in no particular order) but I must say I was far more excited (and impressed) with the movie round-up for this year's Academy Awards.

Source: stylebistro.com via Dawn on Pinterest

Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji

Source: stylebistro.com via Dawn on Pinterest

J Lo in Zuhair Murad

Source: zimbio.com via Dawn on Pinterest

Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton

Well one movie at The Oscars that blew me away, The Artist, a classic silent film, was beautiful, enrapturing, and truly unique. A marvelous tribute to the magic of the movies and how you should feel when you experience a film. I walked across Central Park to the NYC icon The Paris Theatre (the French theatre Carrie visits in Sex and the City) and was transported into movie magic by the ambience and the incredible film that was The Artist! Here's a snippet in case you are behind...



I also ventured to the Lower East Side, the grunge hip Manhattan neighborhood known for vintage shopping, tattoo parlors, and lots 'o bars, and met up with a few friends to hear a new band. (I love New York). Stephie Coplan and the Pedestrians ended up being really fun. Catchy songs with a less hateful Lily Allen sense of humor, these guys put on a fun show! Please be sure to give their single Jerk a listen! The Lower East Side is so great for diving into a bar and discovering musicians. We happened to be invited to The Living Room for a listen and I'm glad we did!



Oh and I almost forgot to mention...did anyone miss Angelina Jolie's Barbizon leg at The Oscars? I was already laughing the second she stood still. But in case you missed it...there is a twitter account created in her honor...@AngiesRightLeg. I died laughing when I saw this tweet. In 10 minutes it had 1,600 followers by the end of the night it had accrued 6,500 followers and counting. I'm so glad someone finally called her out on her bullshhh...well you know. But in all seriousness...she really needs to eat a burger, the girl looks terrible.

What did you do this weekend?

Spotted: Riverside Park

Back in January New York City was dusted with just a little snow. It was the kind I like because it had melted by the next day. Well I took a stroll through Riverside Park to enjoy the view and to share some pics with you which I posted the next day. I also happened to run into street photographer/blogger extraordinair Lord Ashbury!

He grabbed a shot of me walking in Riverside Park and boy can he take a picture! Now I must apologize because he did happen to catch me with zero makeup on, just popped out of the apartment for a quick stroll and a stop for some groceries...so that goes to show you, you should always look your best walking out of the house. Mais t'inquiete pas my dears, c'est la vie.

Source: lordashbury.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Lord Ashbury continually snaps great photos of the style throughout New York City for his site, so be sure to stop by and be inspired. He got plenty of goods from the recent New York Fashion Week and this vixen in the patterned fur has me particularly dreamy eyed.

Source: lordashbury.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Pin It

What I Did This Weekend: Snow in NYC!

It finally snowed in New York this weekend and what a beautiful snow it was. Light, short, and melting by the next day. Perfect. I was so scarred by the last NYC Winter that I was very wary leading into November, espesh after October's freak snowstorm. Alas, here it is January and we got our first (and little baby) snow in NYC! Therefore what I did this weekend was walk through Riverside Park my favorite NYC locals park and book a lot of veg out movie seshes with the roommie!

Riverside Park is on the Hudson River along the Upper West Side. It is by far the most quaint and remote park in the city, with I would guess 98% locals. This is where I go running...although what I did this weekend was merely spectate the snow in NYC....not run on it.

 Fun Fact: Riverside Park is where You've Got Mail was filmed. The whole movie was actually set in my neighborhood on the Upper West Side. As is, Will & Grace and How I Met Your Mother!

 I love watching old favorite NYC movies and discovering they are right around the corner from my apartment! That actually happened this weekend when my roomie and I watched Uptown Girls!

I had quite a productive weekend. I ironed all of my clothing alterations. My fashion friend and I have regular sewing nights which we grabbed one on Martin Luther King Day when we were both off of work. I then cleaned my room putting away my better fitting clothes and  I prepared my taxes for Tax Season 2012. To end the perfect weekend, I watched the NY Giants field goal kick their way into the Super Bowl! Since my dear Carolina Panthers are officially out, bless their hearts, I begin rooting for my NY teams. It's hard having a divided heart...

Congratulations New York Giants!