A Beautiful Mess

10 Things I Love Sunday

1. Orla Kiely's Autumn/Winter line is super magical. These are my favorite looks. 

2. I love this super cute necklace by Something's Hiding In Here. It's made with vintage paint by numbers. Dying. 

3. Dying over this painting. Absolutely love it! 

4. The swimsuits at Anthropologie are so good this year! I am constantly window shopping for my honeymoon, but haven't started buying stuff yet. So many good choices. 

5. augggh. I'm so in love with this belt. Oh the possibilities! 

6. These are insanely cute. LOVE. 

7. Kate Bosworth's stylings are soooo cute in the new issue of Nylon. Such a great shoot! 

8. Katie's doe on a chalkboard.♥ 

9. hanging tags inside of finished dresses. 

(mallory's photo)

 

10. thinking about these shoes for my wedding. i can't post my dress yet (you know, in case my boy peeks) but it's  a short 1960s lace dress. Any shoe suggestions? I want something bright with a heel & in jewel tones. (No skinny heels!) LMK if you see anything magical. I'm still in the market for a rehearsal evening and bachelorette party dress too. I love shopping with occasions in mind! 

XXO, elsie 

The Firecracker Dress & The Blue Velvet Dress

The Firecracker Dress is the hot older sister of The Golden Afternoon Dress. It's made of lush black crushed velvet with the same super cute peter pan collar. I love wearing it. It's very flattering on girls with a natural hour glass shape. It's no secret that I have a huge velvet crush this season, so these dresses make me so happy! 

note: I never thought I would say this, but I feel like I'm blogging too much. So, I'm squeezing three posts into one to minimize a little bit! Thanks so much for being a part of my never-ending-dress-line-posting this week.♥ 

Here's 3 Ways To Wear It.... 

Look One is a great day to evening look. The cardigan and glasses keep it casual, but the the bangles and heels dress it up just enough! The Moorea Seal necklace is the perfect pop of color.♥ 

Look Two is nineties inspired! We paired a cute Guess denim vest with an oversized vintage turquoise cross. The knee highs and heels channel a tiny bit of Clueless inspiration (my favorite guilty pleasure movie of all time). "Carpe Diem, you looked hot in it!"

For Look Three Sarah is looking grown up with pulled back hair, a huge pennant necklace and a belted cardigan. Super pretty and classy. I love the texture that velvet adds to layers. 

The Blue Velvet Dress was the original color that I wanted to use for the velvet mini dresses. Unfortunately the fabric was discontinued and we weren't able to produce it in this color. I love baby blue velvet and kept the name 'Blue Velvet' in honor of my David Lynch loving fiance. It's a little sad when fabric doesn't work out. I could write a whole post about it. We drove six hours to get fabric for the Wedding Cake Dress. Oh my.... what a story. 

I didn't shoot three ways to wear this Blue Velvet Dress, but take a peek at the gold velvet stylings. 

Ok, I'm off to stalk the bookstores for new magazines. XO, elsie 

3 Ways To Wear It: The Piano Lesson Dress

This dress is one of my favorites because it's incredibly easy to wear. I've always had a sweet spot for gingham and layers! In Look One Emma layered a cardigan, vintage belt and vintage leather purse. It's the cutest springtime look with the knee socks and chunky wedge heels! 

In Look Two we layered our mom's fringe cardigan with black knee socks, vintage boots and a woven black belt. She finished off the look with a floppy felt hat from UO. This look is more moody, but it's still very comfy.♥ 

Look Three features a super pretty light cotton blouse layered under the belted dress. I love the idea of layering light pieces under the dresses. It's casual and so pretty for Spring. 

Thanks for taking a peek at 3 ways to wear the Piano Lesson Dress. XO, elsie 

The Piano Lesson Dress

The Piano Lesson Dress is my favorite of all the sundresses in the collection. It has a pretty double scalloped collar and is made of 100% cotton gingham. I love the way it fits around the shoulders and neckline and it's so cute when layered. ♥ elsie