In Spades

Style... in abundance

Fashion Friday

Today’s Fashion Friday will be a Fashcap – a fashion recap – of this week’s noteworthy moments.

Nordstrom Sustainable Style

First, Nordstrom now sells vintage!  You heard that right.  As part of their Sustainable Style program, they are carrying pieces from Goodfair.

Think vintage tees and jackets priced from $20 – $80.

A word to the wise – things are selling out FAST.

Between writing this post and publishing it, over 60% of the inventory has been sold.  Act fast.

Fashion Month Trends

With fashion month almost at an end, I’d thought I’d recap the trends for fall/winter 2021.

Let me just tell you that every single trend is perfection in my book.

Layers upon layers

Acne Studios FW21Nehera FW21

Menswear Inspired

Nehera FW21Valentino FW21

Ginormous Handbags

Sunnei FW21Acne Studios FW21Chloe FW21

Neutral palette (accented by pastels)

Max Mara FW21 Palmer Harding FW21 Dries Van Noten FW21

Images (C) IMAXTREE

Top 5 Favorites – February 2021

I love a crowd that loves denim as much as I do.  And based on your Top 5 Favorites from February, that is certainly the case.

Here’s what you loved the most in the month of love. 😉

Levi’s x Target

You guys loved this collection as much as I did.  Your faves?  This platter, the bar cart and these mugs.  It debuted February 28 and is only here for a limited time.  Prices range from $3 to $150 – act fast!

Layering Fragrance 

I received a sample of this and was immediately hooked.  It can be worn alone or layered on top of your favorite fragrance to enhance the scent and mix it up.

It’s super long-lasting and should honestly be much, much more expensive for the quality.  For under $100, this is a beauty cabinet must in my book.

The Best Skinny/Straight jeans under $100

I wrote about spring denin trends and these are definitely on the list.  My advice – go for the 100% cotton version (they also come with stretch).  They run TTS. If in between sizes, go up.

The Best Lounge Leggings

I now own these in 3 colors.  They are SUPER comfy, don’t pill or stretch out and also work great for all kinds of exercise.

Combat Boots

This post on how to find the best vintage Dr. Marten’s is one of my most popular.  With the rise of combat boots’ popularity, it’s no wonder I see a lot of traffic to this post each month.

If you’re looking for a rad pair of vintage Docs, definitely check out this post.

Denim & Disco Shoes

SLVRLAKE Dakota CrosbySLVRLAKE Dakota CrosbyA.L.C. sweater (similar here) // Jeans // Platforms // Bag // Sunglasses

Sometimes you just need to throw on a pair of disco shoes.

Earlier this week we shot some photos for the blog.  It’s been a looooong time since we did a proper photoshoot and I have to be honest… I had a really hard time figuring out what I wanted to shoot.  That’s not to say I haven’t purchased anything new to feature.  While it’s been mostly workout gear, I have added some jeans to my closet.

It was more the feeling of “what’s the point?”  I so desperately want to put on a ridiculous outfit and GO somewhere.  Meet up with people.  But because that day still seems decently far off, traipsing around in something fun felt a little like cheating.  A tease.  My babies knew they wouldn’t get to bask in the sartorial splendor of a crowd.  They’d have to settle for quiet admiration – party of 1.

Thankfully, I quickly got over my pity party and put on the damn shoes.  There’s nothing like a pair of metallic platforms to put you right again.

Wearing them with one of my favorite pairs of jeans, a gorgeous sweater I’ve owned forever but never shared, and pillowy metallic goodness (it felt SO good to actually carry a handbag again).

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Fashion Friday

Prada FW21

For today’s Fashion Friday we of course must discuss Prada.

The F/W21 collection walked yesterday.  It was the second womenswear collection co-designed by Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada.

Did I love it?  No.

Did it get better than their debut?  Yes.

Am I worried for the future?  Kind of.

At this point I’m really uncertain if I will see a collection that makes me cry.  Or a collection that sends the “take my money” meter off the charts.

What I liked

Prada FW21Prada FW21

The outerwear: loved the cocoon coats and sequins oversized pea coats.

The vibrant color pairings with juxtaposing gloves and boots were fabulous. The pockets on the gloves were weird and kitchy and totally worked for me.

I’ve never been a huge Prada Cleo handbag fan, but after seeing the ginormous one walk the runway, I’m officially a convert.

What I didn’t like

Prada FW21Prada FW21

There were way too many similarities to the menswear collection.  The idea of knit bodysuits isn’t super appealing to me.  I wasn’t a fan of all of the prints.

The faux fur was my biggest issue.  It just looked cheap and unattractive.  And let me be clear – I am 100% against using real fur.  I just wish the faux fur would have been cut altogether.

Where do we go from here?

Prada FW21Prada FW21

I love Raf.  I think he has a lot of gifts.

But as this second womenswear collection walked, I am leaning more towards believing he will not be with Prada long.  His short stints at Calvin and Dior (I actually loved both) is making me worried that he is in yet another place where he doesn’t quite fit.

In my eyes, his most successful run was at Jil Sander.

So where do we go from here?

Only time will tell.

Images used with permission via (C) IMAXTREE

Spring Denim Trends

If you’ve been reading In Spades for a while, you know I talk about denim a lot.  So of course we have to discuss Spring’s Denim Trends.

As Millennials noted in the press this past week, skinny jeans are out.  Do I really think so?  No.  But I’ve long been a supporter of straight leg, barrel leg, and wide leg jeans and haven’t worn a true skinny myself in quite some time.

Here are three of my favorite Spring Denim Trends for 2021.

Light Wash

This is my favorite of the three.  Not only does it have a throwback vibe (I secretly adore acid washed jeans) but the light palette makes these a super versatile option.

It’s easy to make a stretchy jean or a 100% cotton jean look awesome in a light wash.  Lighter washes are easier to dye, so you can find super affordable pairs that look expensive.  On the flip side, a dark wash is difficult to dye, so it’s easy to spot the difference between affordable and designer.

Tapered

AGOLDE Jamie Jeans

These include barrel leg, balloon leg, and “slim” leg jeans – anything that gets narrower at the hem.

What I love about them is that they are all cropped.  You need a cropped length to be able to see the tapered detail.  That makes them awesome to pair with any kind of shoe – heels or flats.

You want 100% cotton for this type of leg.  They’re meant to be broken in and roughed up, so anything with stretch doesn’t work IMO.

90’s Inspired

Pangaia cropped t-shirt

These include wide leg, flare leg and longer hem styles.  They look best with sneakers, boots or a block heel.

I also prefer these to be 100% cotton.  The relaxed vibe doesn’t really work when the denim contains stretch.