Chic and Untroubled

Sneak Peek: Rifle Paper Co. Introduces 2012 Calenders & Notepads

Tiffany Neal — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:00:16 CDT

Over the past few months, I've become something of a paper addict.

It began innocently enough, trekking to target to find cute note cards for post-interview "thank yous." But with more interviews and more note cards (job hunting in this economy is no joke!), I became more curious about the letterpress community and all the vendors that made-up the industry. My journey led me to several cool finds, which I intend to begin sharing with you here at Chic & Untroubled.

First up? Anna Bond's Rifle Paper Co., which is based in Winter Park, Florida. Although we're still in the thick of 2011, Bond has released images of her upcoming 2012 calenders. Covered in Bond's gorgeous illustrations, the larger calenders are botanicial themed and the smaller calenders are covered in brightly-colored fruit. The notebooks, which come in 4 different options, will be available in the online shop shortly.

If you're looking to get a head start on your Christmas shopping this year, these items would make for great little stocking stuffers. And if not, it's never too early to begin looking for new office/cubicle swag.

Image Credit: Rifle Paper Co. Blog

Happy 4th of July!

Tiffany Neal — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 08:00:19 CDT

Happy 4th of July, everyone! Today, my plans consist of eating, drinking, eating, and taking naps somewhere in between. If you have a moment of down time (remember, booze is a depressant), I suggest perusing Ebony's ultra amazing online magazine archive. While best viewed sober, the archive features lush images of your favorite male and female icons dating back to the 1950s. In this post, I've highlighted the 1973 July issue with the divine Diana Ross on the cover and her two adorable children.

Have fun!

Three E-Commerce Sites Offer Personalized Experiences for Budget Fashionistas

Tiffany Neal — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:00:21 CDT

In a perfect world, we would wake-up to meticulously crafted ensembles laid out for our choosing by an uber-stylist like Edward Enninful or Katie Grand. Since most of us aren‘t society girls with lush bank accounts and zip codes to match, we‘ve become our own power stylists. But with affordable personalized e-commerce sites popping up left and right, things are beginning to change for budget conscious fashionistas.

There are three e-commerce sites garnering the most attention among fashion consumers.

JewelMint: Launched by Santa Monica-based company BeachMint Inc,. JewelMint is a jewelry-of-the-month club created in partnership with actress Kate Bosworth and her stylist, Cher Coulter. After completing a style quiz, JewelMint will recommend personalized baubles based on the results of your quiz. Each piece costs $29.99. Even cooler, you won’t be charged until you purchase your first piece of jewelry. Also, you can skip any month, with free shipping and “simple returns.”

StyleMint: StyleMint, the second enterprise by BeachMint Inc., is a new online venture by style icons Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Launching July 6^th, StyleMint will offer customers a personalized e-commerce experience with the added value of social media, allowing you to link to Facebook and Twitter to garner the opinions of your friends and family. Initially, the site will offer eight t-shirts designed by the power sisters. Much like JewelMint, the items will cost $29.99/month and you have the option to opt out.

SendtheTrend: SendtheTrend is the brainchild of Project Runway winner Christian Siriano, Mariah Chase and Divya Gugnani. In the vain of the two previous sites, SendtheTrend asks the customers to take a style survey. Once your fashion personality has been identified, the e-commerce site will put together a collection of personalized accessories to choose from each month. Again, the service costs $29.99/month and you have the option to opt out.

When you do the numbers, an annual subscription to one of the e-commerce sites will set you back a cool $359.88. So, I ask you dear reader: are these e-commerce sites, fashion’s answer to wine-of-the-months clubs, worth their price tag?

Image Source: JewelMint Facebook Page

Chic Music Video: Nicola Roberts - Beat of My Drum

Tiffany Neal — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:00:57 CDT

Nicola Roberts - Beat Of My Drum from Diego Purizaga on Vimeo.

Blame it on Spice Girls fatigue but I've only recently become aware of Girls Aloud's existence. For the past two weeks, the micro-blogs I follow (thanks Tumblr!) have been buzzing about Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts new song. Produced by Diplo, Beat of My Drum is Robert's first single off her debut solo album. It's a super fun dance track that begs to be added to your morning commute playlist.

The single is only available for purchase to UK residents but a fan managed to upload the accompanying music video to Vimeo.

Warning: Nicola's dancing is reminiscent of Britney 2.0 (stiff upper body movements, awkward lip-synching, hairography). But once the porcelain beauty begins to wail "ohhhhhh, don't it make your heart go willlllldd," you'll be too caught up in her saccharine melodies to notice.

Happy Monday, everyone.

A Lesson in Branding with Rebecca Minkoff

Tiffany Neal — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 08:00:58 CDT

Can you believe it's June already? I'm not sure where the time went but designer Rebecca Minkoff is at it again with these fun desktop wallpaper calendars. They're free; they come in two cool colorways and can be downloaded at minkette.com, which brings me to a larger point I've been wanting to make about Minkoff: she's great with social media.

The new mother respects the fashion blogging community and has incorporated young bloggers into her brand (guest posts on minkette) without isolating a more mature consumer. She's on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr and actively engages her fans with giveaways and product sneak peaks. Plus, she's clever enough to give away free branded items like these calenders that don't feel like ads for her downtown chic products.

What other designers are using social media in new and interesting ways?

C&U Summer Reading List: 7 Books to Get Lost in This Season

Tiffany Neal — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:05:38 CDT

Now that Memorial Day Weekend has passed, we can began to embrace summer. For most, this means consuming copious amounts of cold beverages, devising a plan to wear shorts in the office, and finding a few good books to pass those long summer days.

While I can't perform ninja mind-altering tricks on your HR department to lax the summer dress code, I have compiled a list of interesting and thought-provoking summer tomes.

So without further ado, check out Chic & Untroubled's Summer Reading List:

1. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

3. Normal Gets You Nowhere by Kelly Cutrone

4. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

5. The Known World by Edward P. Jones

Throughout the summer, I will write about my progress and any passages that stick out in particular. I encourage you to follow along and share your thoughts and opinions on the books as well. First up? The Hunger Games, the first book in Suzanne Collins' YA trilogy. To track my of-the-moment reactions to the books, you can follow me on Twitter @tiffanysneal.

What books are you reading this summer?

Image Source: Nymag.com

Youbeauty: Dr. Memhet Oz Wants to Improve Your Look From the Inside Out - Literally

Tiffany Neal — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:00:00 CDT

I don't know about you but when I wake-up in the morning the very last thing I want to do is apply a full face of make-up. Fill-up my traveling mug with coffee? Definitely. Make sure my tights don't have a rip in them? Absolutely. But whip out my makeup brushes to contour and blend at 6 in the morning? Hell to the no.

Still, I care about my appearance. There's nothing worse than going to work, semi-confident, only to have a co-worker say, "Oh my, what's wrong? You look really sad." It sucks. However, it happens all too often to young professionals full of ambition but lacking in the sleep department. So what's a girl to do?

Well, Dr. Memhet Oz (Oprah's protégé and poop extraordinaire) and pal Dr. Michael Roizen are ready to assist those looking to enhance their beauty by focusing on inner health with youbeauty.com.

Here's what the website says about the duo's online venture:

We believe beauty isn’t just some “skin deep” or vapid concept. It’s quite the contrary. You’re hardwired to recognize beauty because it reflects inner health: Sleep better and you’ll have fewer wrinkles, eat healthier and your skin will be clearer, de-stress and you’ll get less grays. There’s real science behind beauty.

We want to bring this science to you, so we founded YouBeauty.com, which launches in July. Here, we’ll make science personalized, accessible and-as is the You Docs way-actually fun. We’ll arm you with proven tools to measure and improve your inner and outer beauty.

While the site won't officially launch until July, I've been on the receiving end of a weekly newsletter. And so far, I've liked what I've seen. I'm really excited about this website because I've never been one to wear too much makeup in or out of the office. Still, I would like a few tips to get more sleep and remove these bags of mine or what kinds of foods will make my skin glow like Beyonce's (OK, the latter may be a bit of a stretch but you get the point).

Are you excited about the new concept site?

Image Source: Models.com

Top 5 Tweets from the 2011 Met Ball

Tiffany Neal — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:22:16 CDT

Did you you attend the Met Ball last night? If not, don't fret! I made it a point to stay glued to my time line, watching intently as instagram pictures of Gisele and Naomi came fast and quick. Here are few of the highlights of the lavish fete (or at least the red carpet) as told through tweets:

"Lauren Santo Domingo may have given birth like 20 minutes ago, but she IS at the #MetGala" - {@TheCut}

"The #MetGala is seriously better material than the Oscars. Like....FREIDA PINTO, WHY? http://tinyurl.com/3mkt6mk" - {@fuggirls}

"Beyonce tries her hardest not to fall over in her SUPER tight #MetGala gown: http://eonli.ne/kpiqhT" - {@e_FashionPolice}

"http://yfrog.com/h4gyavsj Rosie Huntington Whiteley. What's scarier- runway or acting? Depends what she's wearing #metgala" - {@HuffPostStyle}

"Gisele and Naomi admire each other's Alexander McQueen http://t.co/XclBLXu" - {@WorldMcQuuen}

Image Source: Style.com

Chic Music: Santigold ft. Karen O - GO

Tiffany Neal — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:00:15 CDT

Last Thursday, Jay-Z's Life + Times premeired a new song by Santigold featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O entitled GO. It was co-produced by Q-Tip, Switch, and Santigold.

According to Santigold, "this song comments on the era we live in and the NEW American dream. The dream used to be that if you worked hard, and you were good at what you did, you could pave your own way in America and the sky was the limit.… However, things have changed. The NEW American Dream is to become rich and famous by happenstance – or sex tapes – and to get there with as little work or talent as possible. And as a result, we are suffering – though many of us don’t know it – as quality becomes a notion of the past. We’re ruining art, our planet, and our health, all due to our newfound obsession with instant gratification."

And now you know!

Macy's Taps Christine Staub for Bar III Collection

Tiffany Neal — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:04:04 CDT

Introducing Where Are They Now, a new feature that will highlight some of the most talked about reality stars' forays into fashion. We will highlight not only the good, but also the bad. Hopefully, you'll enjoy this kind of weekly post. Nevertheless, your editor will feel slightly less embarrassed about her consumption of bad reality television shows.

Name: Christine Staub

Age: 17

Origins: The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Season: 1,2

Most Remembered For: Passing out at a runway presentation due to nerves/dehydration/ unapologetically crazy mother.

Claim to Fashion: Christine was discovered by Giles Bensimon and subsequently signed to IMG Models development board with his help. Since then, Staub has been booked by Style Rookie's Tavi Gevinson for a Black Book spread, featured in Teen Vogue and earned (most likely) a hefty Starbucks booty for doing a lookbook for Macy's Bar III collection (pictured at left).