Material goods.

Dakota Fanning sporting a leopard Rodarte dress.

It's that time again, where designers create a line exclusively for Target. This time, Rodarte will be the featured brand. This clothing line was founded by Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who are sisters! They graduated from UC Berkeley and are actually from Pasadena! I wonder if they'll make a guest appearance at the Pasadena Target store...

Saw this Rodarte for Target dress in my GLAMOUR magazine and I was in love with the lace, bows, detailing, everything! And for $40, it's the price you'd pay at F21! I intend on ordering it online right when it comes out, otherwise it'll probably be out of stock like the Anna Sui line for Target.

Forever 21 has been carrying some cute shoes lately, the only thing I'd question is the comfort. The black lace-up boots look like a polyurethane knock off of the ones by  Burberry, but for $35, you really can't complain. I love the tan colored booties, especially with the bows in the back, as I'm a sucker for bows. Now I'm tempted to walk over to F21 just to see if they carry them!

Food and fashion are two things that I love separately and equally, so you can imagine how excited I was to see the American Fashion Cookbook, a cookbook featuring fashion designers and their own favorite recipes. It features,"Isaac Mizrahis Mushroom Truffle Spaghetti, Carolina Herreras Pommes Toupinel, Mark Eckos Adults Only Chocolate Chip Cookies, Derek Lams Yellowtail Crudo, John Varvatoss Calaloo Soup. Published with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and with a foreword by Martha Stewart, American Fashion Cookbook is a chic objet containing recipes and original illustrations by more than 100 American designers. Brimming with color, flavor, and personality, here are the fashion communitys favorite dishes and preparation tips (Amazon.com)."

Okay, so I caved in and stopped my shopping freeze this month...

YSL look-alikes by Carlos, except I paid about 5% of the price. Don't let the heel fool you, the hidden platform make them surprisingly comfortable.

Found this vintage leather chain strap clutch at a thrift shop in Alexandria, Virginia during our DC trip.

Leather gloves with little buttons on the side from Target. They have a great selection of leather gloves on sale for 14.99 this week! The jade-colored stone bracelet was found at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History gift shop for 7.50 : )

Animal print scarf from Walmart for $5.

Anna Sui for Target brocade blouse. They actually had a few items left at Target and I was eyeing this during my shopping freeze in October. Turns out, the Hubby purchased it for me as a surprise for Christmas. Unfortunately, I found it while putting his clothes back in the drawers. This always happens to me...I love surprises, really I do!

I've been accumulating quite an amount of stockings lately, due to the fact that they're usually cheap and instantly update your wardrobe. Urban Outfitters was also having a sale last week and I found some for $2.50! Some other places with great prices are Ross, TJ Maxx and Loehmanns. 

Sigh, there goes saving up for a Chanel bag! I don't think I have the patience or restraint to wait two years, and by the time I would've saved enough, I don't think I could bring myself to spend all of my hard-earned cash on a bag. 

3.1 Phillip Lim Fall 2009

Image credits: style.com

Ruffles, hot pink, blush-pink, camel, fur, leather, gold sparkles, gloves...my eyes are going haywire from eye-candy overload! The last dress reminds me of the one I picked up at the garage sale, which makes me feel rather delighted. Another fall item to consider purchasing: bordeaux-colored stockings.

Seeing these photos make me even more antsy for Autumn. The heat wave and wildfires in our area have been making the end of the summer quite unbearable. I've always loved summer as a child, but as I grew older, I started looking forward to Fall. Even though it is rare to find colorful leaves trickling off branches in SoCal, I take the time to spot each one. 

There's always the feeling of starting something new during the Fall, even more so than the new year. It's the start of festivities, school years and (at least in CA) weather changes. Also, summer fashion feels so dreary and mundane-- shorts, tanks, dresses, sandals (repeat). I prefer blazers, layering, scarves, boots, coats, stockings, leather, etc... Basically, I choose ice over fire. Maybe I should consider moving...