All About Pam

If you've never seen the old MTV Cribs episode where they tour Pamela Anderson's home, I'll link it here so you can see what my dream house looks like.  It is stunning!  It's full of all my design favorites including: floral chandeliers, pink depression glass, clapboard walls, and wicker furniture.  I love it all and I'm working on building my dream home just now, which includes many of those same elements.  I'd love to do a tour one day when it's finished, but for the moment, I thought I'd share this Pam Anderson inspired Selkie dress, aptly titled, The Pammy.  The print is devine and really does seem to be inspired by her 90s home.  I've had my eye on it since its release and promised myself that if it were part of the Black Friday sale I would go for it.  I intend to do far less buying in this new year, but I have no regrets about getting this piece while I could.  The icing on this cake was that I got to stack a promo code on top of the sale, so it was even better.

 Outfit Info:  The Pammy Garden Party Dress

10 Years

    It all began with a little shop called ModCloth and their Customer Gallery.  I loved opening each box and then styling my newly acquired treasures to snap a pic and post in the gallery with a review.  Eventually I wanted a more permanent way to hold on to my fashion creations and so the blog was born.  It was 10 years ago this December that I published my first blog post.  All I had was an empty bedroom for which I tried to create some kind of paper backdrops to make look more interesting.  But, there was so much white space to fill, I eventually gave up and just began digitally overlaying backgrounds.  

    Looking back I see the all mistakes in my PhotoShop work.  Never the less I still love those outfits even if they are long since out of style and I still have a little skip in my heartbeat when I remember how excited I was to begin this hobby.  It gave me something that was all mine, that I looked forward to and enjoyed and caused me to get outside my fashion comfort zone as I began (in my early 30s of all times) to finally learn to style my hair and makeup as well as putting together an outfit.  I'm not a genius at it even now, but I do still love it just as much 10 years later as I did on day one.  

    Microsoft informed me that these particular photos were taken in November/December of 2014 and I'm not entirely sure that all of them made it on the blog, so I thought I'd share this little collection of nostalgia as a bit of a blog-iversary celebration.  This has been such a wonderful undertaking, and thank you, dear reader for 10 great years.

Winter Green Toile

I fell immediately in love with this Cedar Toile French Bonny Dress from Selkie.  You know I can't resist toile, especially if you've read my three part series on the history of toile (if not, start here).  The sleeves have turned out to be quite itchy and the skirt has been a little difficult to navigate while feeding animals, etc, but it is a gorgeous dress and perfect for the Christmas season.  Truly I think Selkie's designs are improving and if you'd like to see the full review, I'll link my YouTube video below.

Outfit Info:  Cedar Toile French Bonny Dress by Selkie

Collectif Returns!

THEY'RE BACK!!!!!  Collectif has finally reopened their shop and I have to say that so far things are looking good!!!  Lots of holiday styles for now, of course, but there are more things on the way as they launch not only their website, but the brick and mortar shop in London.  The web address has changed, so take note that it is now collectifvintage.com and you will need to create a new account.  Sign up for newsletters and get a 10% off promo code.  The Outlet is currently chock-full of prior season styles and in lieu of my up coming spending freeze in the new year added to the fact that I have been in serious Collectif withdrawal, I hit the outlet hard.  No regrets!  This is a brand that I am more than happy to support.

AW Bridal Collaboration: The Thetis Dress

The second dress in my collaboration with AW Bridal is the Thetis dress.  Although this dress comes in six different colors, I was smitten by the black version.  It reminds me of the painting Madame X by John Singer Sargent.  If you're not familiar with that beautiful painting and the scandal surrounding it, I encourage you to do a little research, it's an interesting read and truly one of his finest works.  In fact, forget the research, I'll do it for you in an upcoming post!

Back to the Thetis dress.  With layers of floral lace and sequins this dress is a dream.  It comes in US sizes 0-30 and can be custom sized for free.  The corset boning in the bodice provides great support and the fit is perfect.  I am so glad I got to collaborate with this brand.  They have so many great qualities and at amazing prices.  And don't forget you can save an extra 15% off your purchase with code Leandra.  For a full and detailed video review, I've linked my YouTube review below.

Outfit Info:  The Thetis Dress-$139.99 from AW Bridal.  Use promo code Leandra to save 15% off your purchase.

AW Bridal Collaboration: The Millie Dress

Life is filled with special moments and they are worth celebrating in style.  The holidays here and with them come so many opportunities to dress up, no wonder I love this time of year!  When the lovely people at AW Bridal reached out, of course I agreed to try a couple of their gorgeous dresses starting with this Millie dress in Dusty blue.  I love this color, the way the applique forms the heart around the bodice and the 3D flowers.  Such a lovely dress!  They offer sizes US 0-30 and you can custom size for free.  They also have lots of color options and you can even get different fabrics on certain styles.  I have a full review posted on my YouTube, but the best part of all is that my readers get an extra 15% off their purchase with code Leandra.  There is a lot to love about this dress and AW Bridal, and I'm excited to bring you another gorgeous dress in tomorrow's post, so check back with me or if you just can't wait another day to see what I got, I'll leave the link for my YouTube video below.  It airs today at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

Outfit Info:  AW Millie Dress-$119.99 from AWBridal.com  Save 15% off your purcahse with code Leandra.  Gloves from Unique-Vintage, Shoes by Chelsea Crew.

Christmas Caterina

      I spent a pleasant afternoon, putting away all my autumn things and hanging up all the beautiful reds, greens, and blues of my winter wardrobe.  If you'd like to spend that afternoon with me, I'll link the YouTube video below.  I must say that, while I don't necessarily enjoy this task, it is very refreshing to see all these warm colors just as the winter chill sets in.

      I purchased a few wishlist Collectif Caterina dresses from my favorite thrift sites once I found out the brand was closing its doors and I'm so glad that I did.  These pretty little checked button down dresses are my favorite for wearing around the house as do my cozy little chores.  Still no noticeable progress on the Collectif website being back up, so in the meantime, all I can do is thrift these pretty pieces.  This one probably wasn't any cheaper thrifted than I would have paid buying it new, but I loved the colors so much, I think it was worth it.  With Christmas on the way and as much as I love reds to get me through the winter, it's bound to get lots of wear.  

Outfit Info:  Collectif Caterina Dress