My August Obsession - Veronica Beard Blazers

While most people I know are in beach/vacation/bathing suit mode right now, I'm in a full-blown-fall-fashion state of mind.  Call me crazy, but it's in the stores and ladies, NOW is the time to start shopping!  Especially for the hard-to-find transition outfits for fall.  I am trolling websites, stores, and trunk shows looking to fill the gaps in my wardrobe.  And as you all know, blazers have been a complete obsession for many years.  With the perfect navy blazer snugly hanging in my closet, my attention turns to finding the perfect black blazer.

My August obsession actually started back in May when Lisa and I had a 36-hour mini-break from our families, which really is a 36-hour shopping fest.  Just saying.  At any rate, we were in Viola Lovely in Boston's South End, when I happened upon a Veronica Beard blazer.  These are not 'normal' jackets.  These are super-cool and edgy jackets.  These are AWESOME.  

Images from veronicabeard.com.

Blazers with faux hoodie linings (and sometimes, faux cuffs!)!  Ok, they call them what they are: dickeys.  (And I hate that word - almost as much as I hate m-o-i-s-t.)  But think of the possibilities?!  Neat black blazer sans dickey for a cleaner look; black blazer with cool hoodie over jeans while running around town.  The options are limitless!

Here's why I'm obsessed:
1.  I need a black blazer desperately.
2.  I love the idea of a cool, multi-purpose jacket.
3.  They sell different dickeys separately, so you can change your look whenever you want.
4.  Viola Lovely didn't have my size at the time, so I'm DYING to try one on!

Basically every day, I've been going to their website waiting for the classic jacket to be in stock (pre-order only now).  And I'm waiting for the lovely ladies at Viola Lovely to call when they receive their shipment of blazers.  And I wait and wait and become more and more obsessed.

So while you are sitting on a beach reading this on your mobile device, I'm at home contemplating when I can get my hands on a Veronica Beard black classic blazer, with a grey, sweatshirt hoodie dickey.  Stay tuned. ~ JH

Our May Obsession - a Cross-Body Bag.

Lisa and I had the good fortune to escape for 36 hours of shopping and relaxing last weekend.  We hit some new stores (Viola Lovely in the South End) and some tried and true favorites (Calypso, Saks).  All the while...obsessively looking for the perfect cross-body bag.  What do we want in this bag?

• Small enough to be light, but big enough to hold our wallet, iPhone, sunglasses, and key.
• Maybe a pop of color.
• Chain or leather strap - doesn't matter to us.
• We would prefer to have a discreet logo - ok, Lisa would prefer that; I'm ok with a logo as long as it works into the bag.  Like that Gucci cross-body.  I'd be perfectly happy with that.

We found a couple of good ones, but nothing that jumped out and said 'Yes! I'm the one!  Pick me!'  Here is what we are contemplating - any thoughts on our choices?!

We spent a lot of time in Marc by Marc Jacobs on Newbury - good price point, fun colors.  Logo was an issue for Lisa on some of them, as was a flap that would make it tricky to get in and out of the bag.  While we loved the colors this bag came in (Prussian Blue and Soccer Pitch Green) and the TASSEL, the flap wasn't completely accommodating.

Image from marcjacobs.com.

This one was great too - comes in a ton of colors (in store and online at various retailers), was light weight.  But, I fear it was small for me; only my wallet fit in the bag. 

Image from marcjacobs.com.

Over at our new haunt, Viola Lovely, deep in Boston's South End, our friend found (and purchased) a great bag by Clare Vivier.  Cross-body and shoulder friendly, great colors, good price, and fit more inside than either of the Marc bags did.  The Moyen Messenger bag really fit the bill, but there was only one, and she saw it first.  We love the pop of color and the separate cross-body and shoulder straps.  

Image from clarevivier.com.

Over at Neiman Marcus, we found these Tory Burch bags, the Thea bag.  Yes, of course we were drawn to the tassels.  And the color.  But not the logo, and they were a little wider than we would like to have.  Ok, maybe I could get over the logo.  That orange one is pretty fabulous.

Images from nordstrom.com.

We played with the Chloe Marcie Round Cross-Body bag (both small and medium sized) at Saks.  Loved the shape, lack of huge logo, comes in 11 different colors (online)!  But the small wasn't big enough and the medium might have been too big.  

Image from saks.com.

Like Goldilocks; we couldn't find one that was 'just right'.  The search continues while the obsession remains.  We'll let you know what we find.  And let us know if you find anything worth looking at. ~ JH