The good news =  I was super-excited this morning to brighten-up this dreary Wednesday by wearing my super-cute new plaid shirt from J Crew.

The bad news =  When I got to work I discovered that a co-worker was wearing the same shirt.

The badder news =  The shirt looks like this so there’s really no mistaking that we’re twinisies:

For the record I’m wearing mine with this black pencil skirt and these shoes I bought earlier in the summer.

The worst news = I will now live in constant fear of this happening again.

Obviously my co-worker and I both love this shirt – but what do you think?

I’ll be honest – I don’t really need your help to know if I love these:

Frye Paige Riding Boot from here

Because I do. And so does my friend Emily. (Hi Emily!!) But try as I might last year I just couldn’t shove my high-arched foot down into them without a zipper. Here’s hoping Emily has more luck!!

But every girl should own at least one pair of riding boots. (Or two pairs. Or ten pairs. There’s no judgment here.) So here are some of the ones I’m lusting after this year:

Enzo Angiolini Porcelain Boot

Hooray for a side zipper! And I know a lot of you (*cough* Emily *cough*) aren’t sure about a gray riding boot, but I think you’d be surprised how versatile gray can be. Especially this color which is more of a brownish-gray anyway.

Lucky Brand Andrea Boot

Now I am usually anti-black riding boot. I always think they look too much like heavy motorcycle boots. And heavy-looking boots equal heavy-looking calves. And no woman wants that. But I actually think these black boots might work because they have just enough western detailing in the buckles, stitching and soles to avoid any Hells Angels overtones.

Enzo Angiolini Dame Boot

Normally I like my riding boots like I like my college football uniforms – simple, traditional and not all junked-up with a lot of superfluous (fancy word of the day!) embellishments. But despite the fact that these buckles might be the boot equivalent of the stupid stickers teams like Ohio State and FSU put on their helmets, I can’t help but love them anyway.

Indigo by Clarks Leslie Sharon Boot

And here’s the Alabama/Penn State version of the boot above – simple, classic and will be in style forever.

And just in case I miraculously develop skinny calves and flat arches this Fall:

Frye Melissa Button Boot

Sigh.

So that’s my riding boot wish list for 2011 (so far anyway – I reserve the right to add to/amend this list at anytime over the next few months). I’m not even going to put a Do We Love It poll at the bottom of this post because if you don’t love riding boots you might be dead to me.

PS – this is just the first of many, many boot posts to come so prepare yourselves. Boot season: it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Dear Christian Siriano –

I must confess that I was not your biggest fan during your Project Runway days. Yes you were a great character, an impeccable tailor and a seemingly nice guy. But you went to the pirate-inspired / puffy-sleeved well a few too many times for my liking.

I hope, however, you won’t hold that against me because your new Spring 2012 collection is Rocking. My. World. And when I when marry Ryan Gosling* I’m going to need quite a few items from this collection to fill out my trophy-wife wardrobe.

*This may or may not be something that is only happening in my dreams.

Like this skirt and top combo:

I am going to need this impossibly chic outfit to wear when Ryan and I are invited to Brad and Angelina’s inevitable French-chateau wedding.

And this little white dress with the fab orange shoes:

This will be perfect for a paparazzi-filled lunch with Ryan on the patio at The Ivy in June.

And this adorable sheath dress:

I’ll need this for a power lunch with the investors in my new fashion line/clothing boutique/hot yoga studio – after all, no matter how hot and famous her husband is, a girl’s still got to have her own life.

And finally, I’ll need this gown:

For the Oscars of course. But I’ll need you to make it in a different color – maybe navy blue or a deep raspberry – because this isn’t really my shade.

Thanks in advance for all of your help. And kudos on the awesome collection!

XOXO – Shea

Despite the glorious return of college football and the truly gorge weather we’ve been having the last few days, the return of Fall is making me really sad – because it means Summer is officially over (Insert frowny-face here). But a part of me always feels a little sorry for Fall because retailers apparently forget that it exists altogether. They’re all “Today = tiny swimsuits. Tomorrow = heavy coats!” And nowhere does Fall present a greater fashion challenge than in the Deep South where the temperatures stay in the 80’s well into October.

So how is a girl supposed to prepare for the coming Fall-pocalypse without spending a fortune on clothes she’ll just have to shove aside when Winter finally arrives sometime in mid-December? One way is to arm yourself with a skirt like this one:

(Get it here but don’t buy all of the ones in my size because I saw it first.)

Here’s how I would wear that skirt now:

Ankle boots = great way to transition from summery sandals without getting the dreaded sweaty calves. Marc Jacobs bag = perfect gray color that can be your neutral bag all the way through the Spring. And pendant necklace = obviously.

And here’s how I would wear that skirt later:

Knee-high boots = because now your calves are kind-of chilly. Marc Jacobs bag = because you paid a lot of money for it and it’s still gorgeous. Navy boyfriend blazer = because you should already have one in your closet by now. Lace top = to add some girly details to the structural nature of the skirt and blazer. And dangly earring = to add some color and visual interest by your face.

So what do we think of the Leifsdottir Sloping Skirt? Do we think it’s a good transitional piece to keep in the closet? Do we think we would like it more in black instead of red? Do we think that I’m delusional and there’s no way my waist will fit into that skirt?

Don’t be shy – help me decide.

Despite the fact that Carrie Bradshaw is also a fashionable, single blonde and we share an all-consuming love of footwear, I don’t really feel like she and I have that much in common. She lives in NYC, I live in Nashville. She has a glamorous job as a writer and Vogue contributor while I have a career that is the opposite of that. And oh yeah – she is  a fictional character and I am not.

But one thing Carrie and I definitely did share is our reaction the first time we saw the fabled Manolo Blahnik Mary Jane:

“I thought these were an urban shoe myth.”

Thank God no one was around to take a similar picture of me. But let’s have a closer look shall we?

(And if you follow this link you can watch them spin majestically in a circle.)

I LOVE THEM. LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THEM. But here’s another difference between Carrie and I – she can afford them and I cannot.  I mean, at this stage in my life, $645 for a pair of shoes is not even something I can justify saving up for. Too many other bills to pay and mouths to feed (okay, just my own mouth, but still).

So I set out on another mission to try and find a way to love a black mary jane pump for less. Let’s see how I did:

Via Spaga Macey

The good: the shape and the style are pretty close to the Manolo. The bad: they’re suede, not patent and at $198 are still a tad pricey. And so we soldier on:

Gabriella Rocha Dancy

The good: may not be patent, but is actually leather. Plus I think the double-strap detail is cute and the price is good, too. The bad: still not the Manolos. And so we soldier on:

Michael by Michael Kors Devenport Mary Jane

The good: they are actually patent and I like the wider strap across the instep. The bad: the 4 1/2 inch heel would make me approximately 8 feet tall.

Ultimately, I think I gave my heart away a long time ago and no matter how great another shoe might be, it’s just not the shoe for me – kind of like when Carrie broke up with Aidan because she couldn’t let go of Mr. Big.

So kids – what do you think?

Hello, my name is Shea and I am a pendant necklace-aholic. I say this in the hopes that you might learn from my confession and save yourself the agony I have suffered as a pendant necklace addict over these past many months.

It starts off harmlessly enough. You fall in love with one long, affordable pendant necklace in the Spring, like this one:

You start to spend a lot of time with your pendant necklace and pretty soon the two of you are involved in a passionate affair. But your friends and co-workers are starting to get a little suspicious of all the time you spend with your pink pendant necklace, so you spend a little more money and get another one – with the excuse that this one is more “work appropriate”:

Plus it’s gold so you justify the higher price because it will go with everything. But just a few weeks later you need another fix in the form of this necklace:

You tell yourself it’s okay because it’s black and still affordable so what can one more pendant necklace hurt, right? But pretty soon it’s not enough. Now you’re craving the good stuff like this one:

And this one:

And before you know it your friends and family are having an intervention to convince you that you do not actually need a $798 pendant necklace, like this one:

No matter how beautiful and perfect and wonderful it may be. (Sigh.)

So take it from someone who’s been there. Pendant necklaces are highly intoxicating and should be approached with caution lest you end up an addict like me.

(That being said if anyone has an extra $798 to spend I would really, really REALLY like that necklace!)

In my dreams I am an amazing hairstylist who has hours of time to coerce my long locks into all manner of chic styles and up-dos. In reality, I wear my hair one of four ways: 1. down and straight, 2. down and wavy, 3. down and curly, 4. ponytail. But in my dreams, my hair looks like this:

(Image from here)

I mean – how cute is that??? (And if that girl looks familiar it’s because she’s Elizabeth Olsen, younger sister to these two. So nice to see a member of the Olsen family NOT looking like a homeless vagabond at red carpet events.)

In the past I’ve always found headbands to be a little confounding. Do my bangs get pulled back or stay out? If I wear the traditional style I get a headache from where the points pinch my head, but if I wear the elastic kind I spend all day trying to keep it from popping off like a slingshot.  And most importantly, am I just too darn old to wear a bejeweled headband?

Here are some I spotted perusing the Anthropologie website (I swear I’m not paid to talk about Anthropologie – although maybe I should be) :

I’m thinking any of these would be a great, fun easy way to dress up a ponytail or add a little sparkle to a simple t-shirt and skirt combo. Now if only I could find a way to keep them from snapping off of my giant head and putting someone’s eye out…

So what do we think?

(NOTE: Sorry for the extended blogus interruptus. It’s hard to write witty commentary about fashion when all of your brain cells are being used to defeat tiny, evil Plaintiff’s attorneys at trial.)

When you say poncho, I think this:

Complete with pan flute

And when you say cape, I think this:

Complete with Watson

But despite the fact that ‘just got off the burro’ and ‘solving crimes in late 19th century London’ are not usually fashion statements I would consider making, all of the magazines and stores keep telling me that capes and ponchos are on the Fall 2011 fashion menu. So let’s take a look at some of the offerings and decide if we love them.

Exhibit A is the Rachel Zoe Ava Knit Cape:

First, I should admit that I am predisposed to love anything Rachel Zoe says I should love. But second, I think this is pretty fab even without the Zoe stamp of approval. It would be tres chic with a pair of black skinny jeans/pants tucked into some brown or black knee-high riding boots. And since we recently celebrated the return of college football (HOORAY!! and ROLL TIDE!!) I could totally picture this perfectly accessorized with a houndstooth scarf and crimson and white shaker for a November tailgate.

Exhibit B is the Cartonnier Checker Table Cape:

I think I love this one, too. Now granted, it’s a little bit more like a wide coat than a true cape, but that checkerboard pattern is super-cute. And it would be a great alternative to the boring black peacoat we all wear during the Winter months. (Don’t lie – you know you do it.)

And lest you think I love all capes, I give you Exhibit C :

Seriously Burberry? You should be ashamed of yourself.

So it looks like for the most part, if used correctly and not like the cape they make you wear at the hair salon, I am pro-cape. But the ponchos – oh, the ponchos are a different story.

Horrible (and crazy-expensive) poncho number 1 – the Sonia Rykel Stipe Fringe Poncho:

This is not an article of clothing. This is an afghan that someone took off the back of their couch and cut out a neck-hole. And you really don’t want to be the girl who uses her home furnishings as outerwear.

Horrible poncho number 2 – the Free People Sestiere Poncho:

This is not an article of clothing. This is something that grows in a swamp.

Horrible poncho number 3 – the Goddis Parker Sweater:

This is not an article of clothing. This is something a horse wears to protect him from the saddle. And you don’t want to be able to share your clothes with your horse.

Obviously these are extreme examples of horrible ponchos. And I will admit there are some ponchos out there that might have some potential. But on the whole, I think ponchos are a bad idea. They make everyone look wider than they are. And that is never a good thing.

So what do we think about ponchos and capes? Do we love them?

If there is one absolute in fashion it is this – every woman looks good in a wrap dress. Period. In fact, I challenge you to find me a woman who would NOT look good in a wrap dress. If you have a small waist, a wrap dress shows it off. If you have no waist (like myself) a wrap dress creates one. They can be dressed up. They can be dressed down. They can be worn all over town.

And without a doubt, the absolute queen of the wrap dress is Diane von Furstenburg. Period. For your consideration:

I love them SO much.

Side note: I saw a girl at Hot Yoga Nashville wearing a DVF wrap dress in a green and black pattern similar to the first one shown above. After changing clothes for class she left her wrap dress UNATTENDED in a cubby in the lobby right in front of me. By some miracle I was able to keep myself from clutching it to my chest and running out the door. But I make no such promises for the future. 

Now at this time, I do not own any DVF dresses. But one day I will own as many as I can get my hands on. Including, fingers crossed, this one:

I love this. But I can see where it could be controversial. So before you make up your mind, this would be my plan:

(I figured in a fantasy world where I could afford a $425 dress I could also afford the $595 shoes and $765 clutch to go with it.)

I’ve made my case for the DVF Nove dress so now it’s your turn to decide – do we love it?

Happy Monday! Big post coming later this week about how I spent my Saturday. (And for once it does NOT involve shopping……. because I did that on Sunday.)

But in the meantime:

Behold the Faith Hill and Tim McGraw Barbie dolls. Hers looks like a glamorous woman  ready to walk the red carpet before a big performance. And his…. also looks like a glamorous woman. Am I right?

And the best part is that according to this article, Faith and Tim worked hand-in-hand with the doll designers to get every detail just right. Which means this is how Tim McGraw sees himself. As an effeminate man with a giant hat.

So I can’t even ask this with a straight face (hehehehe) – but do we love them?