Fashion for the Defense

Monday, January 1, 2018

Christmas at Asheville

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and winter break! Christmas this year was rather quiet. We spent a few days visiting our extended family and then took a couple days for a family trip to Asheville. When I was in college, we would take off from Greenville and head to Asheville to start my Christmas break every year. It was a tradition that I absolutely loved, and have greatly missed in the years since I graduated. So we decided that we would revive it this year. Usually we visited Asheville around the middle of December, but I wasn't off work until the Thursday before Christmas so we went the week between Christmas and New Years. Some things were very much the same and some things were very different. In the past we had stayed at the Grove Park Inn, but this time everything was either booked or obscenely expensive, and we had two of our dogs with us, so we stayed at the Holiday Inn in East Asheville. It was very nice, pet friendly and had a great breakfast.

We went up on Tuesday night and started our trip by eating dinner at the Moose Cafe. If you're anywhere near Asheville, this restaurant is an absolute must! It is positioned right next to the farmer's market and is the ultimate farm to table restaurant. And I could eat my weight in their homemade biscuits and apple butter. My munchkin also thought the apple butter was a hit.

Wednesday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Grove Park Inn to see the gingerbread houses and stores. However, we were greeted by some rather rude employees who informed us that Grove Park was closed to the public until after the New Year. So if you're heading up that way between Christmas and New Years and want to see the gingerbread houses, make sure to call ahead and make sure they are open to the public!

After that plan was thwarted, we headed over to the Biltmore Village to check out some of the shops. It was an incredibly frigid day so we didn't stay out terribly long. We love the Christmas Shop there so we paid them a visit, and we spent a good amount of time at the New Morning Gallery. I absolutely fell in love with this shop. It was a local artisan shop with art of all mediums; furniture, jewelry, pottery, glass and other miscellaneous types of art. There is nothing that I love more than local art, so the was in heaven! I bought two pottery coffee mugs (I have this weird thing about having to have mugs match in pairs) and a beautiful set of blown glass coasters (I'm also addicted to buying coasters - I have waaaaayyy too many sets, but I love them all!). I always admired my voice teacher's handmade mugs from Asheville and I've been on the hunt for ones that were similar, so I'm very excited to put these new mugs to use and enjoy them.

We got a late start to the day, so we ate a lunch-supper at the Village Wayside. Everyone around the Village recommended it, and it was the only place open without a terribly long wait. The short wait we did have before being seated was totally worth it. The food was absolutely amazing. I had their hamburger and their layer cake for dessert. And they had Cheerwine and Vernors! Restaurants never have those. Cheerwine is definitely my favorite soft drink.

After our meal we drove through the part of Biltmore grounds that you can access without a ticket, and were going to visit the gate shop but Munchkin fell asleep so we returned to the hotel.

Thursday morning we got up and ate breakfast at the Moose Cafe (I definitely ate two biscuits this time!), went to the Gate Shop at Biltmore and then headed home. It was overall a very nice and relaxing trip with which to end the holidays!

Turtleneck: Ann Taylor (similar)

Jacket: White House Black Market

Jeans: Loft (similar)

Booties: Tommy Hilfiger

Bracelet: Michael Kors

My spoils from New Morning Gallery

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

October Outfit Roundup

Skirt: White House Black Market

Sweater: Banana Republic (shop similar sweater)

Shoes: Kate Spade (shop similar shoes)

Pants: HEI

Shirt: Gibson

Shoes: Michael Kors

Sunglasses: Versace (shop similar glasses)

Sweater: Leith

Skirt: Vince Camuto

Shoes: Michael Kors

Sunglasses: Coach

Sweater: Loft (shop similar sweater)

Jacket: BlankNYC

Jeans: Loft

Booties: Franco Sarto

Necklace: So Good Jewelry

Headband: Talbots

Jacket: Banana Republic

Pants: Loft (shop similar pants)

Shoes: Michael Kors

Sunglasses: Versace

Turtleneck: Banana Republic

Sweater: Banana Republic

Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Michael Kors

Purse: Michael Kors

Sweater: Banana Republic

Skirt: Halogen

Belt: Copper Penny Boutique (shop similar belt)

Hat: Halogen

Sunglasses: Versace

Necklace: So Good Jewelry

Shoes: Jessica Simpson (shop similar shoes)

Fly and Flower Show

Tuesday night I got to go to an amazing event that showcased the amazing art of my good friend Claire Kendall in collaboration with the incredible clothing of the Fly Modern Apparel Boutique. Claire has been creating this ingenious line of paintings in which she takes fashion photos from blogs, and instagram and other avenues and paints the photos and replaces the model's head with a flower. Yes, it's a slightly odd concept when you hear it for the first time, but the final result is inspired and ethereal. I've been obsessed with this collection of paintings since she first opened them at the end of September. I actually found out tonight that I was her very first purchaser on this collection! And I personally think that one of this distinctive pieces is a must-have for every fashionista and art lover: and you can't beat supporting a local artist.

Tonight's event was especially special because not only did Claire paint the models from Fly, but she also had a hand in composing the photo shoot that inspired the paintings. She's just all around artistically talented and the event came together beautifully! I'm proud to call her my friend and I want to share her genius with everyone.

And let's talk about Fly Modern Apparel. It's located on a side street of downtown Summerville, South Carolina. Living on the opposite side of town, I seldom get to Summerville, though I occasionally hear great things about it. But it's worth the drive just to shop this fabulous boutique: this coming from the girl who had officially given up on boutiques. The clothes were sassy, creative and original and made with great quality fabrics, and the prices were very reasonable. I will be keeping my eye on this great little secret! I ended up getting an incredible top and a beautiful holiday dress tonight at the event. I can't wait to show them to you!

Fly Modern Apparel Models wearing Fly clothing and rocking flowers to mimic the flowerhead paintings

Fly - Claire Kendall Art Collaboration Flowerheads

(shop art at ckendallart.com)

So many cool details to love about this boutique!

Shirt: Stein Mart

Jacket: White House Black Market

Pants: Loft

Shoes: Michael Kors

The artist - my beautiful and talented friend, Claire Kendall

You can't go to an art and fashion event without a good friend and wing woman!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Reviving That Beloved Outfit

I felt like this outfit needed its very own post because it is one of my favorites. I originally put this outfit together when I was maybe 14 or 15. I absolutely loved it and it felt like I've worn it about once a week since then: until a year or two ago. And then at that point the original peasant blouse that I wore with this vest was yellowed and the seams had torn (since it was originally a size too small, but it was the only thing that worked). It was a sad day that blouse died. And I spent the next couple years desperately searching for another similar blouse so that I could wear my favorite outfit. The search ended a couple weeks ago in a mall in Raleigh. I was walking to the American Girl store (yes, I still love American Girl Dolls) and I saw the blouse in the window at White House Black Market. I practically screamed in the middle of the mall and promptly went in and bought it. I didn't even try it on. I've never actually done that with a garment before. But it worked perfectly and now I have my favorite outfit back! And I most certainly wore it to work the very next week! So if you have an outfit that you love and a piece wears out, don't despair: the replacement is out there somewhere!

Blouse: White House Black Market

Vest: Bebe

Pants: Loft (shop similar pants)

Booties: Michael Kors (shop similar booties)

Sunday, November 5, 2017

September Outfit Roundup

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Elie Tahari

Belt: Copper Penny Boutique (shop similar belt)

Shoes: Michael Kors

Dress: Nine West

Belt: shop similar belt

Shoes: Michael Kors

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Hurrication

So I’m going to be honest, this trying to blog several times a week is a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. I am just full of ideas, but between working all day and a small munchkin, finding the time to write everything out and take pictures of all my outfits is incredibly challenging. My hats are off to all you blogger mamas who manage to get everything done in the 24 hours we are allotted in each day!

Back in September Hurricane Irma was barreling toward the East Coast. My mother always panics when hurricanes come, even though she’s lived in Charleston for almost forty years. So, this news qued the hurried removal of pictures from the walls and draping the furniture and tarps. My mother and I were already planning on going to Atlanta for a haircut (I’ll explain that in a different post) so we decided to leave early and take the baby and two of our three dogs. One of my dogs doesn’t get along with my mom’s dog, so my dad was going to take the other dog and go a different direction. I was definitely not looking forward to driving in the car for six hours with two dogs and a baby and then wrestling that zoo in a hotel room and not looking like the Beverly Hillbillies.

Well then Irma decided to change her mind and go West, so Charleston was no longer a direct hit. My dad decided to stay in the house, so we left him with the two big dogs and my mom and I set off with my little dog and the baby. It was still a small zoo.

Our first night in Atlanta we spent in one hotel, and the next three nights we spent in another hotel. Sunday we got our hair cut and ate a yummy lunch and then headed back to the hotel. Monday we were completely hotel bound due to the high winds from the storm. Tuesday we headed over to Phipps Plaza for some shopping and lunch. It was a nice relaxing day, and then we headed home.

So what started out as an evacuation turned into a mini-vacation. We were incredibly thankful that all that happened was our backyard flooded, but no water in the house and no damage to the house. It could’ve been so much worse, and it was so much worse for so many people. Here are some of the highlights of the trip.