Links a la Mode - The Embellished Life Made the Cut!

Fashion History, Doing it Yourself, and Breaking Stereotypes

Edited by: Marie Denee of The Curvy Fashionista

My first week editing the Links a`la Mode and it was such a pleasure to peruse the latest jewels from the blogosphere! Imagine viewing the history of fashion through the lens of a exhibition or a syllabus of what you wish was taught. How about taking inspiration from the latest Jeffery Campbell shoe and tricking out your own for less? Better yet, let's talk about the "nude" trend and its color classification, and while we are at it, let's question the newest movement in advertising campaigns: Unretouched and real beauty- a breakthrough or a publicity stunt? From fashion tips, finds, and favorite things, this week's links a`la mode will satiate your hunger for full frontal fashion!

Links à la Mode: June 24th

• Bay Area Style File Shoptalk: Stript Wax Bar


• Bonne Vie Is "nude" a problem? Or just a color palette?


• Fashion Butter How to deal with the girls (dressing a larger chest)


• Fasshonaburu looks back at the fashion rules she set for herself at the beginning of the year to see how's she's done following them


• Fish Tank Fashion Are "unretouched" and "real beauty" advertising campaigns just a publicity stunt?


• Grit and Glamour Photography for the Amateur, Stagefright-Afflicted Blogger


• Hello Beauty have a new makeup lesson video with the Bobbi Brown Beach Collection and Treatment Lip Shines on hello beauty! The lesson is by Bobbi Brown education executive Katrina Rau.


• Intrinsically Florrie From 50s swimwear to an 18th century duchess's wardrobe; a look at her college's fashion exhibition


• Living Embellished Take a course in Fashion History...you know, what you always wished your college offered!


• Lovely & Lavish With the help of a stylish scarf you can transform an everyday getup into a chic outfit, Lovely & Lavish explores this season's best accessory!


• Meowsk Dressing for the playground, reminiscent of recess.


• Miss Jones and Me Shares a Few of her Favorite Things


• Miss Vinyl Ahoy DIY Jeffrey Campbell Tick shoes for under $20!


• Profresh Style Combining prints & textures


• Retro Chick Frock love: Hot picks from the world of reproduction vintage


• Simply Luxurious Summer items to add to your wardrobe


• Stylish Thought Everyone Loves a Quirky Girl: Examining quirky style and women who dress the part


• The Coveted Under the Sea, Closeup view of Cynthia Rowley's Resort 2011 Collection


• The Curvy Fashionista The opening of Full Figured Fashion Week NYC 2010


• Wicked Whimsy How to build up a versatile & comfortable array of shoes

Tog and Trappings Les flâneurie: How observation of life can inspire creativity

Pourquoi Pas?

Why not pull out your favorite lingerie today and where it just for you? Walk around all day with an air of confidence and power which only you will know its source.

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Stay beautiful darlings!

Amsterdammers

I took a day trip last weekend to Amsterdam with some of my sorority sisters and we had quite a lovely time. I can't say that I can spend more than a weekend there, because there isn't too much to do other than museums, well if you are not looking to partake in the (illegal)legal activities I suppose. But on the whole we had a great weekend and it was nice to visit the Netherlands.

Amsterdam Cool Point #1 is that everyone...EVERYONE rides a bike. The streets are full of parked bikes rather than cars. It was kind of refreshing to see honestly.

Amsterdam Cool Point #2, waterfront city. All waterfront places automatically get my vote. I wasn't born near the beach, it wasn't even our regular vacation spot but for some reason I have an obsession with water. Its relaxing to sit next to, its fun to play on, and its pretty in pictures. Check, check, check.

Amsterdam Cool Point #3, the city seemed pretty lively and exciting. Yes, we did visit on a day of a huge soccer match, so I am not sure how hopping it normally is in town, but I enjoyed watching people run about the city with excitement nonetheless.

Amsterdam Cool Point #4, the people are SUPER friendly. Anytime we got lost which we managed to do many times in one day, someone gladly left everything they were doing to step outside and help us with our bearings. They also did this with a smile and jokes, they were so happy rather than annoyed that someone would dare come visit their city and then not know every street by heart.....ahem...France.

Have you visited Dutch-land mes cheries?

Joyeux Anniversaire

It's a Happy Birthday to me today! I find as I am getting older that with each birthday I can evaluate where I am in life and measure myself up to my goals thus far. This year is a hard one to assess, am I where I thought I was going to be? No. I am happy with where I am? Yes. Am I content to stay where I am? Absolutely not. So, I am very proud for stepping out and literally turning my life upside down to come live in France for a year. I have learned a lot, more than just the language I set out to learn. I have expanded my knowledge of culture, cuisine, people. I have learned how different people are, and at the same time; exactly alike.

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For today I have been saving an American Funfetti Birthday Cake to eat with my friends, and I am very excited! I will probably be seranaded in a Joyeux Anniversaire/Happy Birthday Duo, and there will be more of a grand occasion with champagne and good French wine. I had a Frenchman yesterday explain it to me perfectly, "Like Americans the French only use champagne for Grand Occasions, but the French just happen to find more Grand Occasions!" I love that. I will give it to the French, they definitely have the Joie de Vivre thing down pat!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Sunny Saturday & Giveaway Winner

Cheries I hope you have had a lovely first week of Summer and have even more exciting plans on how to spend the first weekend! Maybe you'll dive into a pool, shop around the city with an iced frap in one hand and a dozen bags in the other or just maybe you'll jet out to the Hamptons for the weekend and catch up on all the socialite parties you've been missing. Whatever you're weekend consists of I hope its fab! And speaking of cities, shopping and the Hamptons, lets see who gets to win her own key into the glamorous city of New York!

Congrats to...

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:1Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Wendy of It's Really Only a Purple World you have just won yourself a copy of Big Career in the Big City, so now you can work on Landing a Job and Getting a Life in New York!

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Have a Sunny Saturday mes cheries!

Shopping Nirvana

I like shopping, I get to browse beautiful things, gain information about my industry, people watch, and get a little cardio in as a bonus! The marketing side of me always really enjoys when a store has been completed successfully. By this I mean, not just a box with things inside and on a rack. I love to find stores that really invite the consumer in, tell a story, and convince you to stay a while. That is a successful store.

On my few visits to Paris I had never managed to get over to the Galeries Lafayette but finally I ventured upon it a couple weeks ago. I was not disappointed. This store puts Macy's, and even Bloomie's, to shame. You walk in and it seems like a normal high end department store. You continue walking toward the center and you stumble upon an escalator? Nope....this:

Yeah, I know. You can close your mouth now. Imagine actually shopping in here, it is just gorgeous. It makes you feel like you are shopping in a castle rather than a store. With a great selection of any brand you may have your eye peeled out for, Galeries Lafayette is definitely how the French do department stores best. Too bad one of these doesn't carry over into every city in France...well that is probably a good thing for my wallet.

What do you think mes cheries?

Where For Art Thou Shakespeare & Company?

Darlings, I would love to introduce you to one of my favorite places in Paris, The 5th Arrondisement. As you wander around the beauty of Notre Dame why not take a stroll across the street? Among a smörgåsbord of diverse cultural cuisine on a bustling fun street, here you will also stumble upon the world famous hole in the wall bookstore, Shakespeare & Company. Now for any bibliophile, like myself, you WILL be in Heaven. Serving as not only a bookstore but also a relaxing place to read, all day if you'd like, it specializes in English Language Literature and has a fascinating history. Now, as you all know I can't resist a unique boutique, but add a complex and fascinating story like this one and you will easily see why I am in love with this shop!

Originally started by Sylvia Beach, and expatriate from New Jersey, S&Co. has been around since 1919. Not always in its originally cozy corner along the Seine, before the last World War it was on the Rue de l'Odeon, and frequented daily by the greats such as, Ernest Hemmingway, James Joyce, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. S&Co at the time was the center of Anglo-American literary culture and repeatedly housed books that were banned in the UK and America. It closed in 1941 after, allegedly, Beach refused to sell a last copy of a Joyce novel to a German soldier.

But it lives on now, thanks to George Whitman, a Massachusetts boy who merged it with his book shop on left bank after the death of Sylvia Beach in 1951. George calls the bookstore a "socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore". The store also has 13 beds and over the years has housed some 40,000 young writers, called Tumbleweeds, who earn their keep by working in the shop a couple hours a day. George welcomes you to stay as long as you want and prop up your feet upstairs and read everything in the store, the only thing he asks in return is a one page essay about your life, he even provides a typing booth, complete with an old fashioned typewriter for you to tell your story on! At 96 years old, he remains the figure head of the shop but has past the legend onto his daughter, what an incredible legacy to keep alive.

*historic info is thanks to wikipedia and shakespeareandcompany.com*

Pretty amazing isn't it mes cheries?