Jennifer of Red Soles and Red Wine

I had brunch last weekend with the delightful Jennifer of Red Soles and Red Wine last weekend at Little Goat here in Chicago. We had a great time gabbing about fashion, blogging and her adorable babe (yes this woman semi-recently gave birth) over a breakfast that included bacon appetizers and dessert.

Jennifer is also the co-founder of T+J Designs, a really cool online jewelery shop and source of all things bling that she runs with her adorable personal style blogging sister I am Style-ish

 

When I said all things bling I meant it. Like this fabulous and totally affordable stunner.

Photo Care of T+J Designs

Or this hilariously over-the-top iphone case. I feel like you would never have a bad day with this puppy. All you would have to do is take out of your purse and gaze into it's sparkles to instaly lift your mood.

Photo Care of T+J Designs

So many sparkles, so little time. Go check out T+J Designs to get insta-glam!

Morgan in Wicker Park

Morgan looks beautiful in this vintage raspberry wool knit coat. Such a great look.

Designer Laura Lombardi

I caught up with Laura Lombardi outside her studio here in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. She looks lovely here in a necklace of her own design.

Check out her site for more truly radical peices.

Andy in Wicker Park

Andy is bringing a lil Pitti Uomo here to Chicago. I ran into him last weekend in Wicker Park and it was style love at first sight. The amount of cool that he is squeezing out of this fairly basic outfit is just wonderful.

Summer in Wicker Park

While it's still most certainly Winter here in Chicago lovely Summer is heating things up with her warm and toasty looking Max Mara Wool Coat and Burberry Boots.

A really beautiful classic and simple look. Nice work Ms. Summer.

Sweet Floral Dress

The Best Trends of 2012 - Baseball Caps

I'm still loving the baseball cap trend that popped up on the runways and around Lincoln center a couple of seasons ago. Not to be confused with "my hair is dirty so I'm going to pull a pony tail through a baseball cap" women are wearing these caps with outfits and textures not normally associated with sport.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that my boyfriend has a VAST collection of Supreme and Leaders flat brim hats. While I honestly think this trend is worth keeping around for another year or so,  do take my enthusiasm with a grain of salt ;) 

I met this lovely lady backstage at Lollapalooza last year. This photo makes me miss Summer BAD.

Love this Pop Art inspired outfit on Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad at NYFW back in September.

And the winner of the best baseball cap in the history of the human race goes to this man. 

The Best Trends of 2012 - Crazy Colored Hair

Over the next week I'll be reviewing my favorite trends from the past year. First up is rainbow colored tresses. It's actually nothing new, Punks were dying their hair crazy colors 30 years ago and the grunge punks carried the torch into the 90s. Back then Manic Panic was the only dye that you could get to achieve the look and was almost always administered in your bathroom. Now candy color tresses just signify fashionable cool and most of the handi-work happens in salons, which could explain why it looks SO much better. Here are some of my favorite examples from this rad trend from the past year.

Shannon O'Brien is a super talented makeup artist and blogger here in Chicago. When I saw her that day I couldn't believe my luck with her incredible style and matching bike! (This photo was part of my style coverage on Teen Vogue)  Check out Shannon's cool blog Cheap Frills and Thrills

I ran into this little lady at Millenium Park here in Chicago over the summer. Her half black half white hair is SO cool. Even though it's not brightly hued the radical dye job is a great example of the anything goes spirit of this trend.

I love Whitney's amazing red bangs here. I caught her as she was on her way to work the Thakoon show at New York Fashion Week this past September. Check out her blog Whitney Ambition.

I caught up with Claire Van Eijk and her rad curly blue faux hawk backstage at Lollapalooza this summer. She also has a pretty amazing tumblr that you can check out here.