Styling My Sister for a Winning Look

(My sis in an all out 70s outfit, looking fierce!)

I wish I could you tell this is me. I do dress like this quite a bit. It's my thing. I mean, it's vintage after-all. Straight out of the 70s. But it's not me. It's my younger sister.  My sis dressed like this is a big deal. So big, I had to write about it; simply so I could read this 10 years from now and laugh at the fabulosity that's ensued.

My sis is a Dr. and the polar opposite of me; in every way. Personality, style, sense of humor -- of which I have none -- and general lifestyle. We couldn't be more different. I do believe deep down inside somewhere we have something in common. After 30 years, I've still not figured it out. I don't think she has either.

She's in scrubs 5 days a week, ONLY dressing up for church on Saturday. I dress her from time to time but try not to enable her lack of interest in putting looks together. She'll come to me for approval but when she comes with a clean slate asking me to dress her from top to bottom, I challenge her to start somewhere for herself. That doesn't work so well. She just gets frustrated and quickly defaults to her uniform: Sweatspants, t-shirt, and sneakers. At least she looks super cute in her monochromatic look.

But that fabulous look right here! I'd almost pay to see her dressed like this if even only twice a week! Sadly, this is all a dream. A fantasy. It was all for show.

Literally.

This is National Nursing Home Week and her facility hosts a contest where someone wins a big prize daily for rocking the best look for the determined theme. She won Monday and Tuesday so when she got word the 70s was the challenge for Wednesday, she got excited but nervous. She knew she had nothing close to Woodstock, hippie, butterfly collar, bell bottoms, platforms, etc...Not even jewelry. She wears none.

And I come to find out at midnight (yes, going into Wed.) via a frantic call asking if I had anything in the realm. What? Really? Why sure, but I'm not getting ready to move from my comatose state of mind to help you get dressed at the 11th hour. But big sisters have a duty, so I did, all from the comfort of falling into REM, directing her to where everything was in my dressing room. I dressed her in 10 minutes while falling asleep. She could confirm this.

Considering my exhaustion and slight irritation she'd really wake me up to dress her up at midnight, it's the best I could do, but it totally worked! Everything but the shoes, jeans, and head scarf is really true vintage from 70s.

What's funny is that I had fun PLAYING dress up - KH

She walked into her building yesterday morning in full regalia, rocking the sunnies and shoes (2.5 sizes too big) and was completely unrecognizable. But, she won, hands down, channeling Thelma from 'Good Times'! Looking fabulous, really. I loved it for her.

Now the best part is that she loved every bit of it. She felt confident, pretty, and enjoyed the accolades. A first step at getting her comfortable at dressing up outside of scrubs.

As for myself. I'm glad it's been confirmed I can style from my bed, half asleep. That was my victory!

Back to life. This was just this morning, arriving at work to treat her patients, which is more important, truthfully. It's what she's comfortable in. But for this week, let's have fun! She'll win tomorrow, for sure. If I have anything to do with it!

(Just this morning, arriving to work... in her usual uniform...which is 6 days/wk)

Sis wearing: 

Vintage top
Seven for All Mankind bell bottom jeans
Vintage straw clutch
J. Crew silk scarf
Platforms by Jeffery Campbell
Vintage Christian Dior Jackie O sunnies
Vintage elephant's foot necklace
Vintage Napier chunky gold nugget ring
IB Designs (St. Croix) gold hoop earrings 

*Pics c/o my sister

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Best of My Arm Candy in 2013

I came to realize how much I love my mother's jewelry, C.B. Herrera Designs, more and more. In actuality, she started it 5 years ago to placate my love for bangles, "gangarias," as we Cubans call any and all kind of costume jewelry, and anything I fancied in accessories. It's been great. At first, I was super hype and committed to blowing up her jewelry line and placing her in all the style magazines and in over 500 stores nationwide. But then Flanboyant Eats (my food and travel blog) and my private chef business took off, and as you can imagine, I put all my energy into that.

As this year started shaping into a wildly successful one with TV appearances just about everywhere, being hired to do on air work for a wine brands, my excitement for my mother's jewelry was reignited. And so with the love affair and borderline addiction I have with Pinterest, I started obsessing with this notion of  having a party of pretty arm jewelry -- otherwise known as "arm candy" and swag -- stacks and stack of brackets, bangles, and your watch. I realized how much I love bows (whew knew?!), leather, studs,  lots of simply crystal stretch bracelets, mixing media, and vintage intermixed with modern pieces.

I quickly got hip to the attractive and super easy way to accessorize beyond a  stack of ring and my two tone Marc Jacobs watch, which makes it everywhere. And then it hit me: Have my mother start making jewelry again, but this time with a more streamlined look and purpose. I'm certain the arm candy (and if you're in Instagram, then you know you can find thousands of looks by searching #armcandy and many derivatives of that) trend explains the abundance of new bracelet designers, some of which I'm in love with.

I love stacking, playing around with combinations, sometimes going light, others going way overboard where I looked at a picture later and wondered 'what in the world!' -- but all with a lot of fun and definitely inviting a great conversation among both chicas and the fellas.

2013 was particularly fun in exploring how I love to stack and have arm candy parties. These are some of my faves as shared in Instagram. There are still so many I never shared and pieces I never shared b/c there they were too dear to my heart that sharing publicly wasn't necessary. Sometimes, some things just need to stay between you and the gifter ;)

I hope you love my stacks and I'd love to see some of yours!


Wearing:
Rose gold and silver two tone MJ watch via Nordstrom; Rose gold and gray rubber MJ watch via Neiman Marcus; Vintage Seiko watch, gifted; BCBG watch via Loehmann's; Cocktail rings by Lucky Brand; Ghandi bracelet by my mother's jewelry line; All the crystal stretch bracelets and rings by my mom's jewelry line; Chain bracelet c/o L. George Designs; Silver bangles c/o IB Designs in St. Croix; Sterling vintage bangles from Mexico; String-y bracelets gifted; Variety of others.

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Sunshine Eyelet & Minis

Yesterday was my very best friend's birthday. I've known that girl since we were 7 and anytime I get to see her makes me super happy. She recently bought a brand new home and finally decided to welcome us over for dinner and an amazing strawberry creme cake. 

Right before I left, my niece, who I ended up taking with me, and I decided to play in the street before trekking to middle Virginia. It was an awesome day with great food and sweet company. Especially since I woke up to a loveliest satin bag of freshly designed arm candy by my mom... see the goodies on Instagram, which I'm wildly obsessed with! 

Oh, and this brown leather bag is that best thing I've scooped up this summer. I bought it a few weeks ago in Granada, Spain where leather is super cheap and incredibly great quality. I should have bought 10. 

Hope you had a fabulous weekend. 

***

Skirt via Old Navy (loooove this mini)

Top via Macy's

Wedges from Aldo

Sunglasses, vintage Christian Dior

Bag from Spain 

Bracelets, various and some made by my mom 

Cuff, vintage lucite

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*PS: I'm now teaching my sis how to use my camera so this should be fun getting some decent shots until she gets IT! 

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White in Arizona

Our view from the Red Rock Chapel via my Instagram 

The beautiful Red Rock Cathedral via my Instagram

I forgot I used to show my street style here on B So Chic! You probably did, too. My life has literally gotten in the way of sharing how I much I love my fashion, my own sense of style, and how I find the gems I own. Especially since I left Atlanta... I won't pretend this is a strong comeback to that point where I was sharing like here, here, and here, but it's a formidable start. Mostly because I have a boyfriend who's recently become obsessed with his camera. And lucky me, he loves to snap pictures when I'm not looking. Like these. Seriously.

He took me to Sedona over the weekend, stopping at the Red Rock Cathedral. My first time in Arizona. I wore this for our day stroll through the magical city. I couldn't have been more comfortable. It was a cool 85F and the floor length dress my mom bought me in Mexico a few months ago got more compliments than most anything else I've worn this Summer. Odd, but true. Could be the super laid back vibe of the city that complemented the flow-y dress.

Looking forward to sharing (finally!) my everyday street style again. I feel like my wardrobe has gone through a major overhaul since I last shared a look!


***

Dress: Grabbed it in Mexico
Bag: Bought in Spain last month
Sandals: Dolce Vita via Nordstrom

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