Style Inspiration: Norah Jones

One of my all-time favorite muses is Norah Jones. I love her sultry, bluesy voice and her mellow vibe. I also happen to really like her style, and when looking at some photos of her recently, I noticed a recurring color theme of black, white and red. She frequently wears stripes, polka dots, and fun prints–such as a short dress covered in sheep. She often belts her ensemble, something I am also fond of doing. While she can pull off any look– from 70’s inspired bell-sleeved mini dresses to jeans— this particular color palette and pattern mix seem to be her signature style.

Here are some items that would fit right in among Norah’s wardrobe, yet are also affordable for a non-celebrity:

Inspired Style: Shop Girl

 

I love the movie Shop Girl, starring Claire Danes, Steve Martin, and Jason Schwartzman. I first saw it with a friend one night, when we rented it on DVD. One thing that struck me about it, was the awesome wardrobe of Claire Danes’ character, Mirabelle.

Her clothes are vintage inspired, with floral prints, cardigans, brooches, blouses gathered at the shoulders, and feminine silhouettes galore. I would gladly trade the contents of my closet for Mirabelle’s any day. Here are a few examples of her awesome clothes, but really, to get the full effect you have to see the movie.

I thought I would have a little fun trying to recreate one of her outfits, and to make it as affordable as possible. Honestly, if I were to imitate her style I would be better off shopping in second-hand or thrift shops for actual vintage pieces. However, for the purposes of this blog post, I used the internet.

Here is the outfit I chose, one of my top favorites from the movie:

And here is my inspired version:

I used a blazer instead of a coat, because apparently brown coats are just not in this season. At least, not within a reasonable price. I also didn’t include shoes because they didn’t show in the photo, but I later came across another shot of her in the outfit, revealing brown pumps.

So, have you seen Shop Girl?

Julie Inspired Style

My husband Jeramy and I recently watched the movie Julie & Julia
together. It was my third time seeing the film, and his first. Every time I watch it, I find myself not only culinarily inspired (and hungry!), but I also love all of the costuming of the two main characters, Julia Child and Julie Powell.

Meryl Streep as Julia wears clothes iconic of the time period during which she was studying and teaching in France: the late 1940’s into the 1950’s. Long skirts and dresses, high-heeled pumps, collared button down blouses, fantastic a-line party dresses, and of course, pearls.

Amy Adams as Julie has a style that is a mix of modern and vintage-inspired. She wears a lot of funky brooches, belted skirts, feminine blouses, and her own faux pearls.

Since I have recently discovered my own love for belting, all of the outfits with high-waisted silhouettes worn in the film had me shouting “See! Look they are doing it!” at Jeramy, who thinks my belting choices are weird. I tell him that he just doesn’t understand vintage-inspired style.

I thought it would be a kind of fun little project to re-create some of my favorite outfits from films or other media, and to try to do so cheaply, as a way of demonstrating how to use inspiration from external sources for one’s own style. Also, to show that it doesn’t require a lot of cash to build an outfit, if you plan a little.

So, here is my first re-creation. An outfit of Julie’s from a scene where she is being scolded by her boss. When I first saw this, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the tucked-in turtleneck with the high-waist of the skirt, however, I have since come to love it, and “potato sack skirts” are now one of my favorite styles.

Here is Amy Adams (aka Julie):

And here is my re-creation:
The entire outfit comes to a total of only $43.34! Granted, I don’t include hose or shoes here, because I could not see them, but if I were to wear this I would add a pair of dark tights and some black pumps. Also, since it is currently summer, turtlenecks are hard to come by. This one from Target was in the clearance section, and therefore subject to availability in stores, but come fall this problem would be easily resolved, though possibly at a bit more cost. (Although, you could probably thrift one any time of year for about the same price as this one on clearance!)

Stay tuned for more inspired styles in the future!