Pull Off Printed Pants

One of the most, if not # 1, popular rule of fashion is: “Never wear white pants after Labor Day”. Many people enforce this rule thinking that white is too much of a “summery color”, but, with this season’s bold fashion trends, why bother with white when you can wear colored or printed pants?! Color blocking and printed pants have been filling window displays and falling (no pun intended) from the pages of summer magazines onto the latest fall magazinesl! So what’s the new fall fashion rule? Wear colored and printed pants!

These bold colors and patterns seem to be risky, but they are a fashion “do” that is encouraged and deemed to be safe this season. It’s all about balancing the top with the bottom. When wearing a bold pant you want to wear a solid color on top. The top can be colored, like an electric blue paired with a white and black printed pant, or neutral, like a white paired with a pretty floral pant. If you chose a colored pant instead of print, I’d go with a printed top… like a black and white zebra print top with a bold, jade green pant looks fresh and crisp for fall. It’s all about mixing and matching prints and colors to make once seen as “wild” looking items into classic looks.

Click on links below picture to bring you to the item on store's website :)

BLACK AND WHITE PRINT

                                 

H&M $12.95

J Crew $248

FLORAL PRINT

H&M $34.95

Urban Outfitters $49

Zara $79.90

Citizens of Humanity on Sale $151.20

BURGUNDY AND WHITE PRINT

H&M $17.95

J Crew $298

Zara $79.90

NEUTRAL PRINT

                                  

Zara ( available in Camel and Red) $59.90

                                                       7 For All Mankind $96.99

COLORS 

H&M $24.95 

Zara $49.90

J Crew $89.50 (Select colors as low as $39.99! )

Collared and Bib Necklaces

This season's hot new necklace trends are peter-pan collared/ bib- like necklaces. Fun Fact-Did you know the "Peter Pan Collar" was named after the collar of the 1905 Peter Pan costume worn by actress Maude Adams? She may have played the role of a man, but sure did pave the way of a timeless and stylish women's collar. Since then, it has become popular among women's clothing fashion and is a standard item found on little girl's dainty dresses. Fast forward from 1905 to 2012, the flat, round-cornered clothing collar has been transformed into necklaces that can be added to any outfit!  These gorgeous embellished necklaces serve as unique statement pieces that can make a plain white T look chic.

Here are a few of my favorite neck candies (links provided below) :



PETER PAN COLLARED NECKLACES:


 

H&M Collar Necklace $24.95   

Forever 21 Pearlescent Peter Pan Collar $24.80

 

Zara $29.90 

 kate spade new york 'plaza athénée' collar necklace $298

BIB NECKLACES:

Stella & Dot Olivia Bib Necklace $118

J Crew Bubble Necklace $150

J Crew Look-a-like at Etsy $16.00

kate spade new york 'paisley park' frontal necklace $178

Floral Bib Necklace $278

Buns...not just for Ballerinas

Three fantastic fall looks for pumpkin and apple picking season are buns, collared necklaces and printed pants. These may seem like pretty daring styles to pull off, but paired with the right pieces I think these can be turned into chic elegant looks for the fall.

This fall's hair trend proves that buns are not just for ballerinas- they are for all lovely locks! Whether you have short, long, thick or thin hair, this clean chic/clean look can be easily achieved. All you need is a couple of elastics,  hairspray and bobby pins. It's that simple. Put your hair in a high pony (my old trick is laying upside down on my bed and brushing your hair into a sleek pony- no bumps!) or a low ponytail (whichever you prefer), tighten with an elastic, twist your ponytail tightly, wrap your hair around the ponytail base, tuck the ends of the hair into the ponytail base, secure with another elastic, hairspray/ bobby pin wispy's and voila, a bun is born! 

If you want a PERFECT looking bun, I prefer the sock bun. If you need a little help, and want your bun to be thick and full, try clipping in a ponytail hair extension, or regular extensions (what I do).  Here are three types of buns that I love...click on the link below the pics for tutorials.

THE BALLERINA BUN 

The Ballerina Bun Tutorial

THE SOCK BUN

Sock Bun Tutorial

THE MESSY BUN

It's messy, but still looks chic, elegant, and  put together when paired with sharp shades and bold lips !  Just  "almost" make a  ponytail but the third loop around don't pull the hair all the way through, tug and tighten the bun for a "didn't even try/messy" look and DONE. No spray needed!

Collared necklaces and printed pants coming soon!! :)

Purple.The New Pink....

I HATE to admit, but purple has become the new pink. Anyone that knows me KNOWs that I grew up despising the color purple.The hatred for the color started as a kiddo.... watching Barney and taking grape Dimetapp did not make purple any prettier. There are purple girls (most of my best friends) and pink girls. I am a pink girl. I have an obsession with two things... hummus... and ALL shades of pink... magenta, fuchsia, bubble gum pink….you name it and I will be tickled pink (yes.. that was my favorite crayon in the Crayola box).

I definitely consider myself a pink girl, but over time I stopped hating Barney so much…started to love grapes (still can't have purple Dimetapp) .. and slowly incorporated shades of purple into my wardrobe and makeup collection! For all of you pink girls out there, yes, this year’s fall fashion is reporting that PURLPLE is the new PINK. If you're a pink girl and don't love this, a pop of purple can be incorporated in your wardrobe through smaller accessories such as clutches, statement stilettos, nail polish, and makeup! My favorite ways to wear purple are on my nails and eyes.

Eyes: My favorite MAC eye liner is the Pearlglide Intense eyeliner in Iridescent Violet. It glides on so easily and gives a little sparkle to your eye. The pencil has tiny sparkles (not the huge tacky sparkles) in it that gives off a shimmery soft look. If you don't have enough time for eye shadow you can apply this on the top of your lid and you are all set! Or you can lightly smudge the eyeliner on the top lid and use it as an eye shadow. It's that simple. I personally like to apply the liner to my lower lash line and outer corner of my top lids, winging out the edge for the cat eye affect.

http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/shaded/151/7200/Products/Eyes/Liner/Pearlglide-Intense-Eye-Liner/index.tmpl

Nail Polish: I have to admit I'm not the BEST person when it comes to painting my nails. I'm one of those people that wears chipped nails for 3 weeks and pick off the remains when I'm bored- way more fun than nail polish remover. This usually results in me getting yelled at by my roommate/best friend who is the complete opposite (she's also a purple lady.. hey opposites attract!). She follows the nail trend more than I do and inspires me to become a better nail painter. When I do wear nail polish, I usually steal her Essie colors or use one of our Chanel colors that we share since each bottle is $26 a bottle…but they NEVER chip! Despite the $$ cost of the  Chanel nail polish, I do love them because they do stay on FOREVER and are CHIP FREE for days… which is great for me because they make me look like I actually take care of my nails!

Here are a few shades of purple Chanel and Essie nail polishes that I love and are fab for fall:


Color: Vendetta
Price: $26

Color: Devil's Advocate

Price: $8

Statement Skirts: One of my new favorite skirts is...yes.. PURPLE. My amazing mom (Coco) recently got this for me at J Crew. It's on SALE now for $49.99 down from $110. Definitely a steal and great statement piece to add to your wardrobe. I like to pair this trendy skirt with one of my printed sweaters (zebra or cheetah print sweaters are also big this fall) or a favorite pair of printed flats. I will provide the link to the skirt below :)



J Crew No. 2 Pencil Skirt
$49.99
http://www.jcrew.com/womens_special_sizes/size16/skirts/PRDOVR~59369/99102556809/ENE~1+2+3+22+4294967294+20~15~~20+17+4294967041~15~~~~~~~/59369.jsp



Wake Up Your Breakfast Table

 There is nothing like the smell of sweet buttermilk pancakes drizzled with maple syrup and sprinkled with yummy chocolate chips to wake you up in the morning. But....what about the breakfast table?? This wooden inanimate object needs to be woken up after a long night of serving dinner! It has breakfast guests to serve and impress. Hosting a brunch and don't have anything to dress your table? Don't worry, fairy godmother Coco and daughter Melsy are here to help pretty up your table before the clock strikes 12pm.

Keep calm and... 

*Dress up your table by draping it with a pretty table cloth. If you don't have a table cloth a bed sheet folded in half will do too!

*Choose your accessories (this includes dishes, napkins, center pieces, cups, silverware, table chairs) to use to fancy up your table.

* Decorate other areas of the kitchen around the kitchen table to help wake up the space! Our favorite is using white icicle lights to give a soft and delicate look.

A simple, chic and sweet look can be created by dressing your table in a white lace table cloth, crystal glasses, flowers, butter cream scented candles and white icicle lights that will add elegance to any breakfast table . 

These statements pieces (found at Marshall's or TJ Maxx) add a touch of class to breakfast

 Try pop's of color like yellow, red and white  to really wake up your breakfast table ! This yellow and white polka dotted table cloth will bring the sunny to sunny side up ;)

Desk Candy

Candy is sugary goodness that we all (well most of us) LOVE. It just makes life a little more sweeter. A little something else that makes life a little more sweeter and delightful is desk candy. I have always loved to decorate my desk and add little accessories here and there to cheer up my work space. My most prized possession on my desk is a pink sparkly, luminescent and over sized diamond .... did I forget to mention it's a paper weight? It was a whopping $3 at the Christmas Tree Shop... and yes, this diamond is this girl's best friend - can't beat that price! In addition to my pink gem, another piece of desk candy (and money saving trick that will help spruce up your desk)  is a framed greeting card. I had a lot of extra cards laying around the house and didn't want to throw them away, so my mom came up with this clever idea. This will help add a pop of color to any desk or room. My third piece of desk candy that I adore is my cupcake calendar that surprises me daily with a different baked cuppie frosted and decorated to perfection. On the back of each tear-able page lies the recipe for the cupcake of the day which I have yet to try! Hopefully a baked treat will appear on Coco and Melsy's soon :)

My Dainty Desk

One of my favorite spots is my pink desk. A lot of the accessories have been collected over the years from Marshall's (like the Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes wall decor) and Pottery Barn. I recently bought the pink 1950s phone from amazon.com. It's also available at Target! Find the link below :) 

1950's Pink Classic Pay Phone  http://www.target.com/p/crosley-cr56-1950-s-classic-pay-phone-pink/-/A-10528847

Meet Coco & Melsy

Hello everyone!
I would like to introduce you to Coco and Melsy's - a blog created by my mom and me. This blog is inspired by our dream to one day have a quaint little "shabby chic" boutique.
Growing up in a household surrounded by boys and a male dominated family business, my mom and I have added our touches of girly flare throughout our home. This includes painting the bathroom bubblegum pink , filling glass jars with candy hearts/colored gumballs (as seen in Juicy Couture stores) to serve as a sweet treat centerpiece, saving black Chanel shopping bags to accent white rooms, diamond paper weights, and having at least one “Keep Calm and Carry On”/ “Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes” in a room.  As a result of our passion for decorating, almost every room in our home mirrors the interior of a doll house or vintage jewelry box.
Like mother like daughter, we both have a love for home decor, fashion, and all things PINK. Both our wardrobes and home reflect a classy yet chic elegance that we are excited to share with you! We will be posting about home decor and fashion so "keep calm" :) , stay tuned and thanks for stopping by Coco & Melsy's!