Spring 2011 - Feather Accessories

Right now, most of the fashion world is blazing right now with the "it" looks for Fall 2011. I admit that I'm running a little behind the times -- I'm still stuck on Spring 2011! Don't get me wrong. I love Fashion Week, but considering that the temperatures here really haven't come above freezing in three months, I'm still worrying about how to work in the spring trends for this season without getting frostbite in the process. Once we get into balmier temperatures, then maybe fall will seem like the up-and-coming thing on my fashion radar...

One of my favorite trends that has come out out of the Spring 2011 season has been the continued fascination with feathers. I suspect that a large amount of this sudden zeal for feathers comes out of the Black Swan craze, which has also brought all things dancer and ballet to the forefront of fashion. I can't really complain; as a dancer it's entertaining to see "ballet fashion" suddenly showing up in the most unexpected places.

Feathers really can take on a life of their own, even separated from their swan-like origins. They turned up in dozens of shows for spring, and judging by fall concepts like this one, by Indian designer Bibhu Mohapatra from New York:

... this fantastic trend isn't about to go away. It'll be a safe bet for Fall going into Winter season 2011 as well as this spring, so investing in a few pieces or accessories now is probably going to pay off later.

College Fashion did a writeup on feather hair extensions a little while back, but they mostly were focusing on the specific trend of feather hair extensions. I haven't had the chance to try these out; I actually have never have worn extensions and the process to put them in seems a little daunting. I did find a few more places to buy these.

While I love the College Fashion site more than I should probably admit, since it's a fantastic resource that has weekly posts with sales, awesome buys, and ideas on how to channel runway looks in ways that won't get you stares of the bad kind (especially on my fashion-conservative campus), they didn't tackle how much of a trend feathers really are becoming during the Spring 2011 season. Glamour did put together a nice assemblage of feather dresses from the catwalks, but looks like these aren't exactly easy to pull off.


A lot of people are pushing for investing in a feather skirt or vest, and layering around that. While I do like the idea, I haven't found a lot of non-runway options to make that work, and for a professional or everyday look, it's difficult to work in this trend without being over the top. My solution to this has been to go for feathers while accessorizing.

I'm an admitting earring whore, and this is a great place to work in some feathers without going over the top (though watch out -- they still make quite a statement. Forever 21 has these beauties; a month or so ago they were selling them in a set with black and white earrings in the same style. They're also selling these ones for bargain prices; I love the turquoise color, and the brown will go with practically anything. If you want something that makes a little more of a statement, either this layered pair from Charlotte Russe is a nice statement, or go peacock for a few dollars more on Amazon.

If you aren't too into earrings, you might give a necklace like this one, also from Forever 21, a try, or really go for the Black Swan vibe and wrap one of these around your perfect ballerina bun.



How are you tackling this trend? Have you found any perfect pieces or do you have something hiding in your wardrobe that really captures this look?

Ideas Never End Well

For no good reason, I thought it would be fun to start a blog.

Most of the inspiration for starting a blog (especially when I have neither the requisite time nor creativity to maintain a blog properly) comes out of the fact that the fashion world has launched full speed ahead into the blogging world. Fashion blogging is in vogue, and now it ranks up there in importance somewhere next to Jimmy Choo and Prada.

... at least that's the rationale I'm giving myself for operating a blog. I've never been particularly good at blogging, keeping a journal, or anything else that requires me to regularly transcribe my thoughts to a verbal form, and I'm even worse when it comes to making the blog public. Either the blog's template turned into a place where I could exercise my (non-existent) creativity in creating an abhorrent agglomeration of black and red (or occasionally black and neon-green), or it eventually devolved into a place for ranting. I make no guarantees that there won't be the occasional rant, on here, but I do promise that if I get outspoken, it still will be entertaining.

So who am I? I'm a university student in the Rocky Mountain region, living in a mid-sized college town. It lacks quite a bit for fashion, any sort of urban vibe, and decent weather, but it's still home for the next couple of years or so. I made the decision to go for two majors and a handful of minors that still probably will not get me into any of the (Ivy League/overachiever-laden) graduate programs I am aiming for, but I am also stubborn enough to subject myself to a few extra semesters here in order to get everything I want. I'm liberal and a Democrat, so that might occasionally bleed through here (see the "occasional rant" caveat above), but I really do promise to keep this an open arena.

What's the blog? The idea is that it tackles fashion, beauty, and culture/pop-culture, but I also plan to work on a few pieces when I travel or find other interesting things to share. I don't have the most interesting life, but I'll try to give any (unfortunate) readers the hyped-up version that eliminates drama and polishes the rest into an interesting product...

I hope any readers like this. If someone starts reading, do comment in. It would be nice to think that I'm not talking to an empty room. ;)