then a fox you shall be

One of my all-time favorite Fall trends is the fox sweater.

The fox anything, really.

Now that the weather has begun to cool down, and the pumpkin spice latte is back at Starbucks, I've started looking around online for the perfect fox sweater. 

I still haven't found it, but I won't stop looking until I do. It has to be the perfect balance of trendy, simple, classic, cute, and affordable.

It's a difficult bill to fit, but I'm hopeful that it can be done. 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 

Honest talk: am I being too picky?

These sweaters are adorable, and yet none of them are the one. 

I think if I had to choose one, it'd be the scarf-wearing fox, because it's almost like an ugly Christmas sweater gone right, but I didn't realize this until it was too late: it's for babies. And I am not a baby, nor do I have a baby to live vicariously through. It's a lose-lose situation. 

(PS: sorry if I teased you with that sweater. I guess misery likes company. Maybe buy it for your baby, or any other baby.)

I'm also planning on attempting this awesome shoe DIY asap:

I think I like foxes for two reasons:

1. Fantastic Mr. Fox

I saw this on a tour bus once with a friend, having no idea what it was, and let me tell you...we were weirded out. We may have even booed the guy who chose it. As soon as it was over though, something strange happened inside me, somewhere in my soul, and I suddenly realized I loved it more than any other movie ever (except Ever After). #applejuiceflood

2. Heath Ledger in A Knight's Tale

Does anyone else have the urge to say "my foxy lady" any time you see fox-related attire, like my fox purse? Just me, then? Alrightcool.

What's your favorite Fall trend? If you spot any superb foxy lady sweaters, please let me know! 

I'll be on the lookout. 

cruisin' downtown

Yesterday, we headed downtown with my mom and some friends to check out the Saturday farmer's market and a few other shops before stopping for brunch at Market at Main. 

Downtown is one of my favorite places, and I love how bustling it is on the weekends! The market is packed with couples and young families strolling through to grab fresh produce and freshly baked bread. 

The market is extended indoors, where people can buy more produce as well as shop the various stands of handmade clothing, ceramics, art, and other goods. There's also the amazing bakery and crepe shop!

I love the unique shops downtown, and how there always seems to be something you've never seen before.
I'm constantly finding shops and restaurants I didn't know existed, and it feels like such a magical, mysterious place.
Old brick buildings waiting to be restored, ivy creeping up and around each window.
Vintage stores and antique shops filled to the brim with treasures, people window shopping and drinking coffee.
We found a new shop yesterday that I had never been in, and I really hope to go back soon! It was called Studio Eleven, and they have a bunch of unique and handmade furniture and decor.

The best part was the very back, where they had a warehouse-like assortment of furniture in need of repair and update. The store sells a special kind of chalk paint that doesn't require sanding or removing the previous paint. You just paint right on, and then seal with their special wax. It's easy to use, dries quickly, and is specifically designed for the perfect one-day paint project!
You can choose a piece of furniture from the back, and buy the paint you want - or they'll paint it for you!
Such a cool concept, especially for all those DIYers out there.

We had so much fun looking through the shop, and dreaming about what we would do with all the various furniture scattered around the back. I think my mom found a kindred spirit in the shop owner, too!

Dress (shop!)/Necklace (shop!) : Ruche, Cardigan: J. Crew, Purse (shop!): Target

In other news, this is the cutest dress ever. 

Covered in a funky vintage car print, with big black buttons, it's the perfect downtown-stroll attire. 

I snatched it up over at Ruche's Labor Day Sale!!

Don't miss out. This dress was $19.50, and they have $10, $20, and $30 bins full of goodies...PLUS 15% off all regularly priced items!

The sale ends tomorrow at midnight, so hurry over!

style gallery

If you've just arrived here at Voguish, I'll let you in on a little (widely known) secret.
I really like online shopping. I love boutiques, most notably Ruche, which I have become a loyal patron of.
(You can check out my style features on their blog here. My "not just a romper" outfit was featured this morning!)
They're also having a ridiculous Labor Day Sale until Monday, so seriously, get on that train.

Currently on my wishlist:

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 // 12 // 13 // 14

It all started when we moved to Lynchburg, Virginia and discovered that this is the town where shopping comes to die.
People must just thrive on thrift stores and garage sales, because the mall is disgraceful and Target is the #1 recommendation for shopping of any kind.
I mean, there used to be a Forever 21 but it closed down. In a big college town. That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard. It's like some kind of shopping twilight zone.

There is some good news though -- Francesca's and LOFT have finally opened in a shopping center a little ways away, so perhaps that's the beginning of our road to redemption.

All of that being said, I've finally discovered Modcloth's "Style Gallery". It's so much fun. 
There's such an assortment of styles, sizes, and types of women that post their personal style on there! I spent way too much time scrolling through it yesterday, and picking out my favorites.
I went a little crazy and started developing my own Style Gallery page! (See it here).

It's such an encouraging little space. No comments, just hearts! People scroll through and can heart your outfits - it's all about the love, ya'll. All about the love.

What's on your Ruche wishlist? Do you have a Style Gallery page on Modcloth? I'd love to know!

I hope you all have an amazing 3-day-weekend. Do something crazy fun. :)

creative layering: back bows

Early last month, I won $100 gift card to a local boutique called Gladiola Girls.
It's super cute and I fell in love when I happened upon it while walking downtown, so I was overjoyed to get the gift card from a Facebook 4th of July outfit contest!

It's a store I'd most likely have drooled over often, but never actually purchased from, except for a few perfumes and accessories - they carry higher-end clothing brands and most of them are out of my price range (I spent almost the whole gift card on this dress!).

Spending the gift card was a similar experience to my first Anthropologie purchase.
Freshman year of college I was introduced to the joy that is Anthro window shopping, and received a 15% off coupon for my birthday. I was so excited. I waltzed right in, grabbed the cutest mug I could find, and saved a whole $1.50 with my coupon.
The sales lady was completely baffled, maybe even a little irritated.
"Um...you know this is 15% off, and you can only use it once. You should probably save it for a more worthwhile purchase."
I stuck to my guns, "Oh, trust me. This is worthwhile."
That mug is still my absolute favorite, for being my first Anthropologie item and for being a special treat on my birthday as a poor college student.

My time in Gladiola Girls was no different. "Um...you're getting a $100 dress for free. And you're not buying anything else?"
Sorry, Girls, for being the worst customer ever and ruining the whole point of these kinds of giveaways...

I took these photos shortly after I got it:

...but didn't actually end up wearing it, so I left the photos unblogged. I always try and blog things that I actually wear for a full day or for a specific event, and this outfit wasn't quite right yet.
I was trying to scheme a way to wear it in cooler weather, because we've been having so many rainstorms and it feels like Fall is trying to sneak up on us a little earlier this year. While it's an adorable summer dress and has this great back bow, that makes it really tricky to wear during any other season.

I was determined to find a way to successfully layer it, even with the tricky back bow, before I posted the outfit.

So, voila! Thanks to some advice from Rebecca of The Clothes Horse (who also owns this dress in another color), and some searching around online and within my own closet, I managed to put something together.

Dress: Dear Creatures (shop, shop), Blouse: Ruche (similar), Cardigan: J. Crew

I honestly love this outfit.
It's completely different from anything I've worn before, and makes me love this pink bow blouse even more for its endless versatility!

I felt a little overdressed for work (especially when corduroy pants are my coworker's go-to clothing item), but didn't care too much because I was covered in bows and completely comfortable.

I even grabbed a cardigan to help with my occasionally freezing office, and just let the bow peek out the top (which, in case you didn't follow the link earlier, is how Rebecca styled it).

What do you think?

Sound off in the comments below!

that new book smell

There's something about a bookstore that is refreshing and inspiring and makes me feel ancient. 

I can remember countless hours spent in our local Barnes and Noble, snatching up bakery goods with mom, coveting the fancy leather journals and waltzing around the kid's aisle. Feeling too shy to play with the toys, but really wanting to. Buying expensive bookmarks for friends. Collecting calendars. Wishing I could afford hardcovers. That momentous occasion when I finally began looking toward the young adult section, rather than the children's. 

How is it that the upcoming generation spends little to no time in bookstores, perusing the young adult fiction section for their next great adventure?

I wonder if there's any truth to the idea that books will be entirely electronic eventually.

There's a person somewhere inside me that clenches her teeth, pushes up her horn-rimmed glasses and cocks her hip while shouting emphatically "Never!"

But on the other hand, there's no use denying that the number of books, journals and articles available electronically is steadily on the rise.

Kindles have converted even the strictest (and horn-rimmed glassiest) of folks. 

Having said that, I'm confident I'll be long gone by the time the smell of new books ceases to move people. 

Skirt/Shoes: Zulily, Sweater: Gifted, Top: Ruche (similar)

On a completely separate note, what's the general consensus out there about Gwyneth Paltrow?

All sources point to her being snobby, pretentious and occasionally difficult to work with...

And yet I still see her and think she's completely fantastic. 

(The best thing about admiring celebrities - you can pretty much make up whatever you want about them, because you'll never know them in real life.)

So Gwyn: love her, or unlove her?