For those of you who don't know, "The Boyfriend Blazer" got its term because it looks like you grabbed it out of your boyfriend's closet, just like the boyfriend jeans...same idea. Many a woman knows the charm of wearing your boyfriend or husband's clothes...it smells like him, it's a constant reminder of him, and it's like he's holding you all day.

The big slouchy jacket with shoulder pads was locked in a vault marked "1988" until, what 2007, 2008? Sometime around there. Women in the 80's workforce literally dressed like linebackers in an effort to appear more masculine, less weak and driven to achievment in the dog eat dog workforce world. Since then, style has chilled a bit, and femininity in the workplace can actually have it's advantages. Thusly, you wouldn't expect the boyfriend blazer to come back into vogue. it's a big, boxy, overwhelming shape and some would probably still consider it unattractive. But not if you wear it right.

Downtown LA 2 by -miss T- featuring LAROK


Like, not in the office. For me, part of the appeal of the boyfriend jacket is it's comfortable. This outfit works because it's taking an old style, double-breasted gray blazer just about out of the trash and reinventing it for clubbing. This look is all about rebellion, thumbing one's nose at the beaurocracy that says "No, that's not how you wear a double breasted gray blazer!" And this look says to the naysayers, "it's not what you wear, it's how you wear it". Also, this outfit is extraordinary because it's so well controlled, and looks crazy cool. The gentle firm editing to a single pop of hot pink, and the attention to texture and lines is superb.



August, 2009 by Da Vera featuring Dorothy Perkins


This look is ALSO about rebellion. Taking the tuff girl jacket and pairing it with the softest, most feminine of prints, a floral. The mix of brown and silver is inspired, and RARELY excecuted with this degree of success.

You'll also note that both boyfriend blazers have 3/4 length sleeves. This is SO important to pulling the jacket off. If it doesn't fit just so, the jacket starts to look dumpy or dowdy. Pushing the sleeves up and pulling the jacket in at the waist slightly enhances the feminine shape underneath and reveals a youthful cool. By pushing the sleeves up, you're wearing the jacket, it's not wearing you. Just thought I'd throw in that hint.

"So Far Away from Life"


Res Nullius

First of all...stunned. It's been a long time on polyvore since I've seen something truly original and this...THIS...body of work (really, see them all, they're equally spectacular" is making the most of what polyvore can offer. I had dreams of making collages like this...brave, solid, believable "art"...but forget it, I just don't have the skills, and quite frankly, I didn't think anyone would nail it, but boy, I was wrong. I don't think I need to explain further. All I can do is implore you to, if you haven't already, check out this talented artist.

What Up?

For some reason, I have a fascination with this purple pencil skirt. It seems to reap some creative color choices in my brain. But in this case, I'd say the t-shirt definitely took this look where it needed to go. The light purple circle matches, in tone, the skirt...if I were dealing with paint, for instance, and I had the purple of the skirt sitting on the pallette and I added white...it'd be the color of the circle in the t-shirt. So, with those colors, I somehow managed to find these terrific and super-matching colored items, like the shoes and the sunglasses...this is one of those where luck was on my side :)

"So Money"

I swore I would never use that vest. I didn't get it, I thought it looked too costumey and garish, and it just didn't suit me in any way. That is, until, I needed a jacket to go over this outfit. I had my purple pencil skirt, and the top...I added the shoes and the bag and everything...but it was all very safe. As you all know by now, in my book safe=boring. So I opened up my favorite source for fabulousity, net-a-porter...and saw that vest again. And it clicked. I got the vest. Everything seemed more expensive, daring, high-class...in a 5th ave kind of way...and I knew it was right. Again, something that wouldn't have happened without the purple pencil skirt.

A short while back, Polyvore hosted a contest featuring "Net-a-Porter" and we were asked to design looks for 10 different styles. One of them was "the New New Look". Most people didn't do the research and didn't achieve a true "new new look". THIS...

Is the new new look. The New Look, as many fashion designers and industry-centric folks will tell you, ...well I'll let Wikipedia tell you since they do it better than I could.

"The New Look was the name given to the women's clothing fashions introduced by Parisian fashion designer Christian Dior in the spring of 1947. This collection influenced fashion and other designers for over ten years. The signature shape – characterized by a below-mid-calf length, full-skirt, large bust, and small waist – was hugely popular after a short initial period of rejection, largely in reaction to the short, skimpy dresses required by wartime textile rationing.

So, basically you're average mid-century "Donna Reed" silhouette was "the new look". This is the new "new look. Again, emphasis on the breasts, tight bodice, full skirt...just shorter and more ballerina like. But it takes STYLE to make this fashionable dress come alive.

"Papahs in My Pocket" by marinagordon

This set I love because it gathers trendy elements and puts them together in a new way. I love the proportions of the super short skirt and the chunky wedge booties. Of course the hat is gorgeous and the vest gives the whole look an off kilter edge, sending a message to the people declaring what this chick is all about. Very hard rock, I love it.

"Pandora's Box" by guccilovexo

This is a far more um...i don't know, traditional take on the dress, but it's no less surprising. When I see the dress, i think of ah, tuxedo-ish look, with maybe a bow tie and some wedge boots...something ultra-modern. What guccilovexo did here though, was take this ultra-modern dress and send it back a few decades. It fits, but at the same time, there's something very unusual about it. LOVE the setting, and i love those shoes with the dress. They are perfect.

Interpretation is such a marvelous tool for creativity. Show someone a picture, and ask them to do something with it. Everyone will do something different. Sometimes the difference is subtle, sometimes it's hard to see the comparison. This...


"Modern Vintage"

was my interpretation of the picture of Leslie Le Rouge. I didn't find any gowns that suited the image, so i decided to do something far more casual, using the colors of the image alone, in most cases. I added some vintage accessories to stay true to the overall 'feel' of the image.

This...


"Peacock Goes to Prom" by Fashion Me Fabulous

is what Fashion Me Fabulous did with her. A more literal translation, but just as valid, because very little about this says "vintage". She took the situation and items from the picture...i.e., a woman going someplace glamourous wearing lots of feathers. That's what this set is, a beautiful dress, tasteful shoes, a happy little peacock clutch, and tons of feathers.



So that, my friends, is your two for tuesday!

"Nor Cast Your Pearls Before Swine" by Etranger

"the telephone in your house wants to sing" by purpess

This has long been one of my favorite shirts because of the versatility of it. Of course, there's the obvious direction, the tuxedo inspired look, but these two ladies went somewhere else with it and this is WHY polyvore can be and IS so inspiring for so many fashionistas. I picked these two sets because in character, they are very similar. Both are using bold, block colors, both paired the shirt with unusual pieces, and both have a certain "geek chic" mentality about them that I mean in the best way possible. However, while Etranger chose to feature the shirt, purpess chose to use it as an accessory, almost as a shell underneath the dress. both work equally well.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir

"Earth Day" by CJF Design

I conceive that the land belongs to a vast family of which many are dead, few are living, and countless numbers are still unborn. ~A Chieftan from Nigeria

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb

There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew. ~Marshall McLuhan, 1964
I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. ~Elwyn Brooks White, Essays of E.B. White, 1977
Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values.... God made life simple. It is man who complicates it. ~Charles A. Lindbergh


"The Wonderful World of Garbage" by Gokarm



Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. ~Henry David Thoreau

For 200 years we've been conquering Nature. Now we're beating it to death. ~Tom McMillan, quoted in Francesca Lyman, The Greenhouse Trap, 1990

Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.
~George Carlin

Humanity is on the march, earth itself is left behind. ~David Ehrenfeld, The Arrogance of Humanism, 1978

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money. ~Cree Indian Proverb

There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet. ~Brooke Medicine Eagle

"Clean" by stickypinkgum


"Dirty" by Gokarm

This is a fine example of why I slightly miss the days when we could edit someone else's set. Obviously, the tool got abused and the administration was forced to get rid of it, but it was fun. I saw this set by stickypinkgum and was inspired not just by the set but by the title. So you see I made a "dirty" to match her "clean" using the same proportions and items that she used. Also, by editing her set, I was able to show the rest of Polyvore that I had indeed been inspired by another Polyvorian and they could just click on the picture to see the other set bigger. Now, I know you can provide a link to another set, but let's be honest, it's just not as cool :).

"Chanel" by love_to_shop

This is such a fantastic set, I can't even stand it. Okay, maybe I'm overstating a bit, but it's early and I'm easily amused. I love that she used a cardigan as a dress. Normally, I don't like that, I'm like "why didn't he/she include the rest of the outfit?" or "omg, that's so slutty, she ain't got no pants on" but in this case, I find myself just adoring this whole look. Frankly, it just looks so darn comfortable. Flat boots, well covered up, all soft fabrics...I could cuddle up in this outfit and go to sleep and then get up and go to the organic grocery store and look totally put together and chic.

"Boy, can i borrow your clothes?" by mrs. Brightside
This is just really, so cool. Obviously, she's playing with menswear, as ladies of 2008 are known to do...and this is a really sexy result, because it's not boring menswear, it's rockstar menswear. This isn't Wally Wallstreet with his suit and tie and suspenders...no...this is younger, hipper, non-conformist menswear that verges on androgynous. My favorite part of this look is the Rolling Stones t-shirt. Something about the color of the red...it's just enough color without being *too* much.