A new American classic ...

I absolutely love the pieces I've gotten from American Apparel -- aside from flocking there for leggings, which have become a wardrobe staple for me over the last year, they have some of the most fashionable basic skirts and dresses made of incredibly comfortable cotton blends.

If you can get past the 70's soft core porn aesthetic of their Web site, you'll find they have many wardrobe essentials.

Their items are pretty reasonably priced, and I've just been amazed at how much use I've gotten out of everything I've picked up there.























This polo-type dress comes in several different colors (as do most of their items) and it's just such a great, comfortable, stylish basic.























This skirt is incredibly comfortable, with a nice wide but still soft cotton waist band, perfect for tucking blouses into. Incredibly comfy and breathable.

This cardigan almost screams Charlie Brown meets Mr. Rogers to me, but it has such a great vintage feel to it, and I just love the color combination. Very cool piece to layer with.

(Images courtesy of American Apparel)

Sale alert ...

Incredibly cute dresses from Mossimo Supply Co. are on sale right now @ Target.com, starting @ $15.

Cute, of-the-moment costume jewelry

Now, I was blessed (or cursed, depending on what day you ask me) with curves, so I have never been able to shop at Forever 21 for clothes with the exception of random "over-sized" offerings that come along once in a blue moon. Plus, I am technically Forever 25, so I feel a little funny shopping there 4 years past my supposed expiration date.

While I cannot partake in buying the sometimes cute, always inexpensive clothes they have there, I have no qualms about marching in there to check out their accessories section, which is stocked with very cute, very affordable pieces.

Their jewelry did not fall apart after multiple uses (much to my surprise) and they have some of the most of-the-moment trends. Plus when it's so cheap, you don't feel bad picking up stuff that's a total impulse and may not be trendy the next year. Most of the items are under $10, some are even under $5.

Images of these adorable pieces of jewelry are courtesy of Forever 21.

Check out their other adorable accessories as well!

An oldie, but now a goodie ...

I always used to think of Fossil as the maker of somewhat dorkie watches that you wore in high school, but never really thought of it as a chic brand.

Well, I stumbled into Macy's last week to check out the handbags, and to my surprise there was a new line from Fossil of wallets, handbags and totes that were totally adorable.

How cute are these?

(Images courtesy of Fossil)

The Possibilities are Endless...

I absolutely adore Endless.com, the new shoe Web site from those geniuses over at Amazon.com. They have free overnight shipping. Do you believe that? And sometimes, if you check the site at random times, overnight shipping is negative $5. They actually pay you $5 to ship something to you overnight. I have yet to wrap my head around how this is actually possible. I've recommended this site to so many friends, and they haven't even heard of it yet. However, every single person has had a pavlovian response when I mention the free overnight shipping part.

Anyway, go ahead, take a look. Great search functions, too. You can narrow your search results by size, color, style, etc. and the site is very aesthetically pleasing. Oh yeah and they discount.

Have fun stormin' da castle!

"You should totally be blogging about this stuff."

That's what my boyfriend Kevin says to me each time I bore him to tears with diatribes, little known facts, and random verbal musings about fashion, shopping, style, etc.

If I am being completely honest, starting a blog feels totally and completely self-centered to me. Who am I to think that anyone would care to read it? Of course, who am I to think he wants to hear it either, so perhaps this really is the best vehicle for my thoughts.

I am going to attempt to share on a consistent basis my thoughts on fashion, shopping, and style. And, as every great brain does on occasion, I will probably stray from those topics and talk about other random bits of pop culture. But then again, isn't it all related?