Summer Essentials

Now that the unofficial start to summer is here, below are a few things that are essential to your everyday wear during these next few broiling months. Try to mix and match these styles with your older wardrobe to bring a new life to your outfits! The bright colors will help boost your spirits and fun bikinis will look stunning in the water. Top-knots not only keep your hair out of your face during the days at the lake, but look super chic paired with a sparkly summer dress for those nights out. Make a bold statement with statement shorts in fun patterns and styles by highlighting them with more classic pieces.

Summer Essentials 2012 by historyandhighheels featuring butter london nail polish

Sheer tee, £64
Go Green M by M green shirt, £28
Madewell cotton shorts, $60
J crew, $47
Roxy shorts, $45
Crochet lace shorts, £30
Ksubi short shorts, $299
Side tie bikini, $15
Zimmermann underwire bikini swimwear, $238
Bandeau bikini, $15
Norma Kamali bikini bathing suit, $175
Melissa Odabash swimwear, £79
Brian Atwood high heel pumps, $755
Sensi Studio striped tote, $160

Below are a few of my favorite DIYs and recipes for the summertime!

Outdoor Wall Art

Confetti Sprinkled Linen Napkins

Spray Painted Straw Baskets

Cherry Beer Margaritas

Fashion Firsthand: 1 day, 2 Outfits

A couple weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to run around Kansas City's downtown City Market area with Lacey Crough from Lacey Crough Photography. Let me tell you, I seriously had so much fun with Lacey, who is such a talented photographer and made me feel completely at ease in front of the camera. We laughed and attempted to do cute poses, I changed in my car while Lacey played look-out, and were able to catch up on life post-Jewell. It really was a fabulous experience and I know she is going to go far with that talent!

When Lacey and I were planning this adventure, I decided I needed to be daring with my outfits for the shoot. I knew it just wouldn't do to talk this big talk on my blog, but wear only hum-drum clothing. Recently, I bought a new pair of colored jeans from American Eagle and surprisingly it was a bit of a challenge to pair them with the right top. I ended up settling on a neutral top with layers, accents of leopard, and a statement necklace to pull the outfit together. For my second outfit, I wanted to push my comfort zone even further and I thought, what is the most challenging trend to pull off in real life? For me it was pairing mixed prints together. As I began to brainstorm, I remembered some of the tips I gave in an older post and knew I needed to keep the colors in the same family and have them work together, either by being drastically different like stripes and floral or similar like leopard print and polka dots. In the end, I went with my leopard print skirt, black and white polka dot blouse, white schoolboy blazer, and bright heels. Since a lot was going on with the two patterns, the white blazer brought a sense of calm to the mix and the rose-hued high heels popped against the monochromatic tones. This outfit is something I would wear into work or on a fancy date, although if much walking is involved, I'd probably take flats instead!

Fashion Firsthand: Colored Jeans by historyandhighheels 

Fashion Firsthand: Mixed Prints by historyandhighheels 

Lately

Since this was Mother's Day weekend, I went back to Wichita for the few days of respite I had from work. It was a time full of fun, laughter, familial bonding, catching up with old friends, and eating enormous meals. It also entailed Bear (my cat) chasing down Lewis and Clark (my parent's 16lb cats) in the house, making two trips to Target, and debating paint pallets for my future bedroom. Saturday night included working with my mom to make pillowcase covers, seen below on my bed and using this template. Here's a look at what has lately been running in my mind and on my Instagram:

Bright polish

Overflowing succulents

Crisp white bedding

Reminiscing about NYC

Flower market

New uses for Mason Jars

The Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a famous annual event held at the Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky that features a grade 1 Thoroughbred race on the first Saturday in May. The event was founded by Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., grandson of the famous William Clark from the Lewis & Clark Expedition, after he had visited both London and Paris horse races during the 1860s. In 1875 the first race was ran between 15 three-year old Thoroughbreds and in front of nearly 10,000 spectators. The race holds several traditions, including the famous Mint Julep cocktail that is the race staple drink. The Kentucky Derby is often referred to as The Run for the Roses due to the time-honored practice of presenting the winner with a blanket of 554 roses.

Flappers study the racing program in the Churchill Downs paddock circa 1926.
courtesy of Kentucky Derby Archives

One more famous aspect of the race is the tradition of women to dress in a fairly conservative, classic style with outrageous hats atop their heads. This has been going on for years and one can see in the old 1920s spectator photos the women all wearing the stylish narrow wool hats so indicative of that era (seen above). When glancing through the pictures, the hats have become exceedingly ostentatious over the past couple decades. The tall plumes of feathers and banded caps have also become popular recently largely due to the fashion inspiration we all found in Kate & William's royal wedding last year. In my opinion, the best way to appropriately wear those over-the-top hats is to keep the hat's color a pale or neutral color and keep the whole outfit toned down. The risk one runs with these oversized and embellished hats is that it can become overwhelming and downright tacky. Taking the classy approach to this whole affair keeps with the race's tradition and reduces the risk of turning into a fashion nightmare.

Kentucky Derby by historyandhighheels 

Club L short dress, 199 SEK
3.1 Phillip Lim platform high heels, €400
BCBG Max Azria studded clutch, $73
Hat, $178
Leather glove, $60

Workday Wardrobe

I don't know about you, but I find working in a cubicle smack in the middle of an office building a little stifling to my creativity. The dullness of sitting in front of computer all day, answering catty emails, and talking with unhelpful people often lulls me into a coma of vapidity. To avoid this, I try to dress up with fun pieces to bring a bit of life to the hum-drum office work. Today, I tried out my chambray shirt, with several statement necklaces, and a leopard print pencil skirt. I also did the bling finger manicure with bright fuschia nail polish on most of my nails and polka dots on my ring fingers. These little bits of excitement keep me feeling less like I've stepped out of Office Space and more like I belong at J.Crew's corporate office!