Left on Houston, Right on Sweaters

With autumn fading into fall, the season of knits and hot apple cider is among us. To help warm our frames as the leaves begin to drop in their final wind swept dance towards the earthen floor is the company Left on Houston, whose new line of cozy sweaters has recently been featured in local Mercer stores.
Left on Houston’s title came from Houston Street, a road named after a Delegate to the Continental Congress that divides the borough of Manhattan. It is a east-west thoroughfare that cuts down the fashion capital like a zipper, dividing all that is fashion, art, culture, and design of the modern and the venerable.
Left on Houston walks the line of modern and old fashion and then strays left into freedom of creativity and new age design. Their fall line epitomizes this direction with Victorian-esque, mildly ballooned sleeves placed on demure classic cardigans and a turtleneck re-worked on a vest for dramatic flair.
Each knit in the collection is named for something not uniquely New York but reflective of it, with titles such as Central, Uptown, and Landmark. The sweaters may have been born of New York sketches but their function and design cater to the drizzly winters and sweater loving Seattleites. Paired with our favorite flat boots and skinny jeans, you will find warm and cozy solace underneath these well-designed knits. Some favorites of mine include the Connector, a cape style vest with a button front and a high collar. Bought in a light grey, this piece can be paired with black or dark blue skinny jeans and tucked into boots of your choice. Wear a plain long sleeve underneath for a classic look or pair it with a subtly hued fall print and make a style statement.
If you want a sweater that you can throw on and feel fashionable in a moment you might want to choose the Bridge, a ¾ length kimono sleeve sweater with reverse seam details and gold buttons. Coming in a trio of colors, the copper brown hue is the most striking. Accessorized with chunky gold bracelets and lain overtop black jeans, this is a sweater you will nuzzle for its warmth and sheer genius.
With a week of 50 degrees lain out before us, it is opportune time to head to your nearest Mercer location and pick up one of these pieces. Accessorize with a venti coffee and a fashion magazine and you are ready for a snug afternoon in Seattle by way of Houston Street.

Be Jeweled My Gem!

This spring, buy something that shines as brightly as your smile! Drawing inspiration from Burberry and Marc Jacobs recently bedazzled lines, add a little bit of girliness to your spring wear with a bejeweled accessory.
Ultra girly is the best way to wear these treasures, because who can truly harden these pastel pretties, and for that matter, who would want to? Spring is all about being a pretty little pixie, so delve deep into your inner girl; think daisy chains, pink cheeks, and peonies, and collect some of these bright baubles to match with flowing solids in colors such as white, blush, and tan.
Necklaces, headbands, shoes and more are showing up with gems plunked atop them, so here are a few choices I found for you ladies to ponder your paychecks over. First, flashback to those 25-cent candy machine rings you treasured with this adorable ring from urbanoutfitters.com. The gold band and purple jewel will make a big style statement so make sure to pair it with a piece that draws attention to your accessory, such as a solid t-shirt dress.
If you would rather adorn your little wrists with jewels, here is an option for you. This charmingly charmed bangle is the perfect match for someone looking for a subtler jeweled piece. With jewels in purple, magenta and lavender, this piece will look great with a simple jean, tank, and cardigan set. Pull on a pair of dark jeans, throw on a wife beater, layer over a tan cardigan and slip into this adorable bangle set for a simplified style statement this spring.

For the bold, here are some beautifully bejeweled shoes. Guess? has created these ornate shoes for those not afraid to wear the trends in big ways. These shoes are a powerful statement, so, as to not overwhelm onlookers with your shining personality and shiny shoes combo, then pair them with your dark jeans. Slip on a solid capped sleeve top to up the girliness, without straying into the sugar coated boundaries, and you will have successfully pulled off the latest trends with your style and cash still in hand.

April Showers Bring a Rain-ge of Boots!

April showers bring May flowers and heaps of adorable rain boots! For all of those stateside, with March just beginning and April in the near distance, adorable rain boots should be at the top of your shopping list. With their growing style stock, rain boots are becoming regularly carried in online stores, and after scouring the Internet I hit a rain boot jackpot with Target stores online.
The online store showcases over 44 prints, ranging from stripes, to polka dots, plaids to prints. With so many prints to choose from, and priced reasonably at 20 dollars, lovely little ladies of any personality and cash flow should be able to find a pair to suit them.
With adorable prints featuring cupcakes and accessories for the girly girls, plaid for the preppy, and striped for those looking for versatility, these boots with brighten your outfit while keeping your little toes dry and snug.

Styling rain boots may seem daunting with their rubber material and chunky look, but the key to pulling them off requires femininity and minimalism. Make the print of your boots the focus of your outfit, wearing them with solid tops and bottoms. Sport them over your jeans or pair them in a new way with shorts and long socks, re-working the fall trend, and you will make a style impact while warding off the rain drops!

Hand Candy for Valentine's Day

Ah, Valentine's Day. A Hallmark holiday or an excuse to dress up? For this lowly intern, Valentine’s Day is an excuse to shop, spend, and splurge. It’s a day where I rip the seams from the patched holes in my pockets and indulge in an adorable outfit. All this said, a girl working three jobs for ‘experience’ (A.K.A. for free! Can somebody hand me a Kleenex?), this little style scout must be frugal this year.

This Valentine’s Day it isn’t what I will wear that will make the impact; it’s what I will carry. No, it’s not myself with confidence (I know all you lovely ladies have heaps of that already!); it’s an adorable, must-have, to-die-for Amici clutch!

These affordable yet chic pieces add a lux accent to any ensemble; making your outfit look double it’s price tag. Made in just the right sizes, these clutches will fit all your necessary (and unnecessary) Valentines Day emergency items. From lip gloss, to mints, to gummy bears ( ☺ ), these bags can be filled with your purse staples, while showing off to your Valentine how minimal and fuss free you can (appear) to be.
Amici creates clutch styles for every personality, creating adorable envelope clutches that will catch the eye of your desired male man, as well as jewel tone and gem accented hand candy that looks like priceless antiques updated for this years party girl.

The accessory company also creates classic, preppy All-American red, navy, and bowed versions, perfect for those Valentines day-dates, and snakeskin card-holders for the minimalist.


The designers at Amici have not forgotten you bold, bright young things and have produced a rectangular pleated turquoise number, as well as a reptile topped clutches for all you wild child’s out there.

Whether you are classic, modern, trendy, or bold, there is an adorable clutch for whomever you choose to be on Valentines Day!

Build A Bag

With three weeks left before I take that 14 hour plane ride overseas to Australia, I have begun to wonder what all may I need to entertain myself for those slowly ticking hours, and more importantly, what will I put it all in?
Wanting to make more of a statement aside from “A-typical college student with a black The North Face backpack,’ I set upon the task of finding an adorable, durable, and affordable carry-on bag.
After scouring the Internet, I stumbled upon a gold mine of a find. With the ability to custom make your own tote; bag company LeSportsac gives you the ability to create a bag uniquely you. Able to choose both the type of bag and print, you have the power to create your perfect bag, for any season, need, or style.
The bag styles include the standard tote, hand, and travel, but the site also boasts many more styles with a variety of uses. Lesportsac gives you the option to not only create your standard everyday bag but also provides unique styles for personalization, including baby bags, backpacks and luggage, all with the ability to be customized, and even monogrammed, to fit your style.
With so many choices and spring on the horizon with summer in the distant future, you can create an adorable tote for days at the beach or spring break trips. This little Style Scout, getting ready for a big adventure and long plane flight, looked for a big bag with functionality. My personal choice? The travel tote for the plane and the bucket tote for the beach.
The travel and bucket both come with inside pockets, in which to fill with travel necessities; passport, Burts Bees honey lip balm, Ipod, and of course, lots of gummy bears. These two choices also came with the greatest choice in prints, a blessing for the picky girl, but brain chaos for the indecisive one.

Lesportsac showcases a variety of prints including a psychedelic watercolor blotches, retro and antique florals, as well as adorable heart patterns. Though there are a variety of prints available for certain bags, including the travel and tote bags, other bag’s pattern choices are limited, some available only in four patterns.
Aside from the bad outweighed by the good, there is a print to match every personality and a style for every occasion. For a girl looking for a bag to fit her personality, style, four books, laptop, DVD player, and latest fashion magazines for a long plane flight ahead, this bag building option is just the ticket for your travel bag woes.

Ahoy Matey!

As the pirate themed clothing of the fall and winter (think vests, skulls scarves, etc.) sail into the past, nautical inspired clothing is ready to drop anchor in your local stores. A trend that is revived year after year, the sailor inspired clothing trend has once again boomed this spring and stores from Urban Outfitters to Nordstrom are filling their racks with nautical prints, anchor accessories, and striped attire.
With stores filling up on trend pieces such as these, it’s hard not to spend your hard earned cash on these trend styles. Learn to resist the temptation, as the key to saving money while expanding your wardrobe is versatility, and the rule of thumb when choosing any piece is longevity. When a garment, shoe, or accessory can be worn in a variety of ways, its versatility translates into longevity, allowing pierces to carry over from season to season, saving you cash while keeping you stylish.
With the case of trends, such as that of nautical clothing, one would be wise to spend less on the ‘trends’ and more on the basics. So, how do you fulfill your desire to be a darling sailor girl, without splurging on a two-month trend, all the while creating versatility in your wardrobe? It sounds almost impossible but it can be done. Just listen to this little style scout!
To get that ‘ahoy matey’ look for less, while adding versatility to your wardrobe, just buy the basics in nautical colors. Mix up basics in red, yellow, white and blue to get a sailor inspired look while adding pierces to your wardrobe that will translate into the coming seasons.
First adorable must have? These patent leather yellow sling backs! Pair them with a navy blue zip up ($40), add a white striped tank ($15), skinny jeans and a red bangle ($4) for a trendy nautical look.

The beauty of piecing together basics to fit the current trends is that as the seasons roll on, these pieces can be re-worked to fit the coming seasons and trends. In the approaching months, wear the striped tank under a cream or blue cropped jacket to suit your summer evening. Pair the bangle with a day dress for your afternoon shopping excursions and for back to school, pair them with jeans and a purple cardigan.

Like Christina belts out, ‘back to basics’ is the way to satisfy your trend fulfilling desire. By buying reasonably priced basics, you can save your cash to buy those must-have-can’t-live-without pieces, because love=longevity and longevity in fashion is as priceless as buried treasure.

The American's Will Soon Be Coming!

I think I would get along just fine with the British. I like tea, Prince Harry (more fun!), and of course, Top Shop. This British ‘trends’ store is comparable to that of Forever 21, but with cuter shoes and questionable bell-bottoms (I mean really…who buys bell-bottoms? Has Kate been sporting them around town without my knowledge?).
Following much of the same trends as Forever21, Top Shop is stock full of jersey tops, tunics, and style hits and misses, and like Forever, you have to dig and search to find that gem of a piece for a fraction of what it would have cost you elsewhere. Lucky for you, this little style scout has done the hard work for you! I have come up with two adorable must have ensembles that will make you the cutest thing this side of January. So flip over your couch cushions, scrape together some pennies, and go online to snatch up these pretty little things.



With shift dresses still finding their way into stores this spring, snatch up a pair of patent leather Mary Jane heels from Top Shop to spice up those shapeless dresses. Add a pair of leggings or tights and some fun jewelry and you will be making those dirty skater boys shift around in their seats to get a better look at you!
Whip lash inducing outfits are allowable with the sprint weather breezing in (though still out of sight for those of us in the stormy northwest), so snatch up this dainty blouse from Top Shop, add a pair of cropped jeans and printed flats and you will have all of the necessities a girl needs to be stylish in the coming months. Accessorize this outfit with simple jewelry such as medium sized gold hoops or a bangle, but don’t try and tough up this outfit with the clunky jewelry of winter, lighten up! It’s spring after all!