[Birthstone Baubles] February: Amethyst!

Happy Birthday to all you February babies!! Celebrate the anniversary of your birth with the perfect birthstone bauble.  Your birthstone amethyst is said to strengthen relationships and give the wearer courage.  At one time, only royalty could wear the amethyst stone.  Ancient Greeks thought that the amethyst guarded against intoxication.  Another fun tidbit is that the word amethyst is derived from the Greek word "amethystos" which means sober.

Start the year long celebration of your birth now and check out the 18 amazing pieces I've picked out to help you do it in style!

Designer Handbags 101: Get More Bang For Your Buck!

A few CSM readers have reached out and asked me about tips on how to buy designer handbags so I've decided to share my approach to designer handbags in today's blog post.  My central focus when I embark on the hunt for finding the next treasure to add to my handbag collection doesn't initially start in the handbag section.  My search always starts in the fashion accessories department.  Majority of the high end designers have fashion accessories in addition to their handbags that are much more affordable than their handbags are.

Cosmetic pouches, large wallet size pouches, etc all fall under the classification of fashion accessories.  Many  of these pieces are actually the size of a clutch but are only a small fraction of the cost in comparison to an actual clutch.  Remember my Alexander McQueen pictured below (post here)? Well here's a secret, it's actually a coin purse.

Alexander McQueen 

Check out the following designer fashion accessories that you can definitely carry as a clutch.  Which one will you be adding to your collection?

3.1 Phillip Lim 

Alexander McQueen

Alexander Wang

Givenchy

Lanvin

Proenza Schouler

[Birthstone Baubles] January: Garnet!

Every year for my birthday my family and friends know that I always make the month of my birth a month long celebration (literally).  My philosophy is that our friends and family wouldn't be the same without us so why not celebrate our greatness.  I mean one day just isn't enough, right?

January's birthstone is Garnet.  The stone symbolizes constancy, faith, loyalty, and strength.  Wearing a garnet stone is believed to endow the wearer with cheerfulness and sincerity.

So celebrate the anniversary of your birth all year long with your birthstone bauble.  I've picked out 20 amazing pieces to help you do so in style!

Happy Birthday!! xoxo

Edgy Cut-Outs... for your Feet!

Today's warm 70+ degree temps have thinking ahead to spring.  I know, I know it's too pre-mature because they will eventually drop but it's too late.  Once you hop on the shoe-gazing train it's ridiculously hard to get off and especially when one big trend kept popping up: Edgy Cut-Outs.

Sprinkled all over the Spring 2013 runways were various versions of an edgy cut-out.  Check out my favorites  from the runways pictured below:

Alexander Wang

Altuzarra

Jimmy Choo

Proenza Schouler

Salvatore Ferragamo

Tom Ford

Versace

Big under the radar trend for Fall: Elaborate headgear!

With fashion week approaching, I get more and more enthusiastic about the great fashions that will be shown during fashion week.  At times I can't decide if I'm more eager to see the fashion shows or the attendees.  Perusing the past street-style snaps from the fashion week shows that have occurred so far this year I'm noticing an amazing trend that many of the attendees have been sporting: Elaborate and Extravagant Headgear.  Iconic fashion week inspirations such as Anna Dello Russo & Bryan Boy have showcased some serious headgear as of late, so why not take some inspiration from them as well as from the designers themselves.

Check out my favorite pieces below. Are you fashion forward enough to take a nod from these inspirations to werQ an extravagant headgear piece come this fall?

Armani Prive

Shona Tawhiao

Jil Sander

Maison Martin Marigela

Balenciaga