Designer Spotlight: J Crew

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J. Crew is perhaps one of the most iconic brands for smartly-dressed men, women, and children all around the world. With cleans lines, beautiful silhouettes, and impeccable quality in both fabric and make, the company has created a vast empire of cashmere and classic button down sporting followers who crave cult favorites such as the No. 2 Pencil Skirt (now on sale!) and Italian Leather Classic Ballet Flats. 

J. Crew began twenty-nine years ago in 1983 solely as a mail-order catalog company. The eighties were a time when catalogs were major revenue makers, with companies like Lands' End and L. L. Bean at the helm of the competition. Originally called Popular Club plan (until 1989), J. Crew aimed to create looks similar to the "Ralph Lauren" style but at a lower cost, in other words, leisure wear for the upper-middle class. 

In 1989, the company officially became called J. Crew and opened their first flagship store in downtown Manhattan. Since then, more than 300 retails stores have opened nationwide, including J. Crew, J. Crew Factory, and newer more on-trend sister store Madewell. 

I will be honest. If I could wear only J. Crew, I would. Yet, my college-student budget does not always allow for such a thing. In the mean time, I think I'll browse old catalog spreads and The Pink Peonies, who wears J. Crew in almost all of her outfits (flawlessly, I'll add). Preppy and classic perfection.

Cheers!

Golden

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Weekly Links

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend so far. I spent mine doing a bit of cooking, organizing my closet, and refiguring a couple things on the blog (see yesterday's post). Here's what caught my eye this week!

Jess on The Love List had a lovely little interview with Ann Mashburn, who you may remember from April's issue Matchbook Magazine.

Erin Gates from Elements of Style dishes on her apartment- so very lovely!

A generous sampling of pointed-toe flats at Luella & June- the Loeffler Randalls are making me swoon!

Vanilla Bourbon French toast with cardamom berry compote from Julip Made. There's nothing else really to say.

A peek at the ethereal Valentino 2013 resort collection at The Short and the Sweet of It.

Society Social's second Manifesto Magalog (catalog + magazine) is out, and I must say, I am quite smitten.

Cheers!

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A Few Changes...

Happy weekend to everyone! I have been rather full of thoughts and ideas for The Corner Apartment as of late, and have decided to do a little bit of content remodeling. A while ago I came up with all these great ideas (or so I thought) for features to do, but I for some reason haven't been able to be very consistent in churning out ideas and posts (a less emotional way of saying "my heart isn't in it"). I did a bit of very minor soul searching, and decided that I'm going to hone my focuses a bit.

First, I am going to have more written content on The Corner Apartment. Don't worry, there will still be plenty of pretty images, but I am studying journalism, and do enjoy writing.

Second, I am cutting down a bit on the fashion posts. I did not start out to be a fashion blogger, and while I do love clothes, shopping, and curating outfits, fashion is so unbelievably well-covered online and in magazines and I don't want to simply be a reiteration of sorts.

Third, I am going to focus much more on culture, art, and history. I know what you may be thinking, that you may reconsider your following of The Corner Apartment, but please do not worry. I am a twenty-year-old college sorority girl who loves pink and Keeping Up With the Kardashains. I promise I will not bore you, but instead enlighten you on some interesting subjects and connect them with the modern world (read: probably clothes).

All of that being said, I have created a simple schedule of sorts for you to look at and see what all I have planned. I am very excited for these changes and think that the content will be much more interesting and fulfilling. Let me know what you think!

Cheers!

My Friday Fancies: Color Blocking

I honestly love the color block trend, mostly because it discards old rules of wearing too much color and opens up the wardrobe to create endless combinations. For the most fearless, there are few color combinations that do not work.

Color blocking is, obviously, the theme for this week's My Friday Fancies, hosted as always by AV of  Long Distance Loving. I immediately took to the world wide web to find inspiration for this little segment and was very struck by a particular color combo: red, pink, and orange. While it strongly evokes one of my least favorite holidays, Valentine's Day, I still can't help but fall in love with the romantic and bright color pairing (even if it does remind me of my single-hood). And, I guess it does remind me of two of my favorite designers, Kate (Spade) and Tory (Burch).

Equipment Blouse//Michael Kors Shorts

J Crew Top//Jil Sander Skirt

Splendid Tee//Giulietta Skirt

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Baubles and Baubles

I know that I just did a roundup of jewelry, but I was browsing Bauble Bar I couldn't help but spend a good little bit of time pouring over all of the pretty art deco-like pieces they have right now and mentally pairing them with my own outfits for a fun night out on the town (if only!).

Lava Deco Cuff//Speakeasy Tears//Abstract Cascades//Snow Snake Cuff

UES Disk Pendant//Coral Shield Drops//Tearburst Necklace//Leaf Twist Ring

Gloria Necklace//Double Piano Cuff//Glam Noir Necklace

Most of you are probably like me in that you know somewhat what the term "art deco" means, and can peg a few buildings (The Chrysler Building in NYC), pieces of jewelry, and runway collections to the style. I decided to do a little bit of research to help understand the concept more. Here's the gist of the art deco movement.

The term art deco was coined in the 1920's in, of course, Paris. It encompassed architecture, art, industrial and interior design, fashion, jewelry, and more, and focused on glamour, elegance, and modernity. Art deco ideas drew ideas from earlier twentieth century concepts such as cubism and modernism and influenced many other well-known movements such as pop art and film noir (look for more on these two later!). While a lot of artistic movements are based from philosophical beliefs and ideas, art deco is solely, well, decorative, and draws from the geometric shapes of the classical Greco-Romans, Aztecs and ancient Egyptians. Faceted, crystalline, and repeated features are a common characteristic of an art deco piece, as well as the use of materials such as chrome, lacquer, and wood.

Old-fashioned yet modern, bold yet streamline, austere yet ornate. I'm really loving this trend Bauble Bar has going on right now. And the best part? It's all so wonderfully affordable. So please, indulge yourself in a little bit of old Hollywood glamour. It's a revival that can only be considered necessary.

Perfect Little Spaces

As stated before, I have a rather serious case of the interior decorating bug. I'm still somewhat obsessively collecting ideas, although most of them are either out of my college student budget or simply not feasible for your average apartment (so many restrictions!). Yet vignettes are always feasible, at least in most instances. I'm hoping for at least three empty spaces around my room, bathroom, living room, and kitchen next year to create a pretty little placement. Here are some of my favorites.

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Always Summer

I am back from a most beautiful and relaxing trip in the mountains of Colorado! I would like to first apologize for my lack of inspiring content- family time and other activities (hiking, train to Pike's Peak, shopping, white water rafting, eating, photo session with wolves, pool lounging, more shopping & more eating) took up much more of my time than expected and left me rather exhausted by the end of the day. Second, everyone must stay at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs at some point in their life. It is a luxurious and beautiful place situated in the mountains, a combination I highly agree with. Third, it's officially the first day of summer! I hope you've been living it up and attempting to keep cool!

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Pink and Blue

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