THE ANKLE BOOT: TO WEAR OR NOT TO WEAR

by Bradford Bankhead

All fall I have been back and forth and back and forth about the ankle boot. I am not going to lie to you, when I first saw the boot it brought back painful flashbacks of my Sam and Libby
ankle cowboy boot a la Jessie Spano from Saved by the Bell (you know you had a crush on Zack). Clearly, my fashion sense is something that I put time and effort into and was not something that I was born with. But I digress, back to the boot question about to purchase or not to purchase. I figured, why not (shocking I know)? Frankly, if all else fails and I look as silly as I feared I might then I can just wear them with jeans and no one has to know that they
stop at the ankle.
I must tell you, before I went shopping I did some looking on the internet to see just exactly how this boot was supposed to be worn. What I found was you can wear them with anything: skirts, tights, leggings, pants, the whole bit. For the most part they can function and update the stuff you already have in your closet (which is a huge plus for me).
However, if I am giving that much responsibility to a pair of shoes (that is to make me look stylish, sophisticated and utterly fashionable all at the same time) then I need the shoes to be
fairly unique. So the basic black will not due for me. In order to test this out, I put on my leggings and a mini-dress (that way I can check the boots out with leggings and a dress and bare legs) because what looks good on the internet does NOT always look so hot on me.
Today I have an accomplice in my search, my friend Stacy who is in from out of town. She has been to The Summit but never to the Galleria so off we go. First stop Belk, the selection was okay, as I said, if you are going to rock the ankle boot you it must make a statement. In the shoe department I found a lot of Jessica Simpson (who by the look of all her purple patent leather is getting her inspiration from strippers these days), Rampage, and some miscellaneous brands that I had never really heard of, but nothing that was 'exactly' what I was looking for. Stacy and I ventured out further into the Galleria.
Our next stop was Nine West, who always has cute stuff and I did find a precious gray suede round toe boot that I liked a lot but was not ready to settle after such a sort search. Our next stop was Macy's which has the MOST RANDOM shoe department I have ever been in. They had everything from Unisa to Kors by Michael Kors,we were most overwhelmed by (and a little bit afraid of) the chaos and made a quick exit. But not before spying a darling pair of Kors silver snakeskin boots that for sure made a statement. (I am just not sure what it was saying.) Tired and bootless we make our exit.
Not to be defeated, off we headed to Brookwood. Were I went into Gus Mayer and found a lovely pair of brown suede Prada boots which were more of an investment than I was willing to make in such a trendy item (Sex in the City was a show people I have a budget). As we had put a huge dent in the afternoon by this point, Stacy and I decided to make one last stop at Betsy Prince before we bid farewell. We walked in and there they were (insert chorus of angels singing AAHHH), beautiful soft suede gray, reasonably priced, stylish and sassy Me Too boots.
They were EXACTLY what I had been looking for!! I sort of had a thing for the grey color after seeing the Nine West boots, and these had a little style that I had not seen on any other pair, they fold over at the top so cute!! Stacy agreed so as of today I am officially the new
owner of ankle boots, Jessie Spano, eat your heart out!

Saks Fifth Avenue at The Summit Announcing Jo Malone

BRADFORD'S CLOSET: THE ADDITION OF THE SWEATER DRESS

by Bradford Bankhead

Here it is; my next major purchase of the season!! But first I must make a confession; the bone wrap shirt that I spied last time I was about town in search of high waisted pants, you know the one at Theadora? Well, I bought it. I didn’t want too, I HAD TOO!! It haunted my dreams – literally! My husband: my dear, sweet, handsome, kind, and generous husband is now reading about said wrap for the first time (thank you honey! Please see the previous line). But I had to have it even though it was not so much, or at all in the budge. I have been wearing it secretly (that is between 8-5 on weekdays) for a weeks now. I am obsessed with it and think that I have the makings of my first fall uniform. Needless to say, it looks great with all pants (i.e. jeans, sweat pants, pajama bottoms, etc) and yes, I am wearing it as I type this very word.
Okay, now that I have that out in the open (they are so right, confession is good for the soul)moving on to the next staple for my closet – the sweater dress! I am very much into dresses, you put it on and BAM you are dressed. Grab accessories and lip gloss and you are out the door in no time. This is great for me as I have a love affair with my snooze button and wake up 20 minutes late on a regular basis. Back to the dress, as I said I like dresses and I like comfy sweaters so the fact that they have mated this season is most exciting to me. What I am looking for is a dress that is classic something that I can change the look with by changing the accessories. A dress that can take me from my cubical to the Rare Martini with a change of earrings. I would really love it if I could find it in grey (only one of the hottest colors for fall not to mention blends well with I dunno everything!).

Advertisement Saks Fifth Avenue at The Summit:
Announcing Prada Launch mid-November



So, shopping day arrived. After I finished a few chores at home I decided to reward myself with the dress. But first and foremost, what to wear to shop!! I start off in my fave pair of Citizen jeans, and by my fave I mean bury me in them because I cannot bear the thought of eternity without them! Paired them with a basic coral colored tank, my Tod’s driving shoes (both classic and comfy), and OF COURSE the bone wrap shirt! I grab a Diet Coke as fuel for the journey and off I go lookin’ pretty good and comfy caz if I do say so myself.
My first stop is Crestline Village, first off for the mums at Harvest Glen (which are lookin’ great.) After that purchase I head into The Pants Store which has stepped it up a notch. They have lots of cute things and even several sweater dresses to choose from by 213 and Jenny Hoi just to name two. While both are cute and grey neither are exactly what I am looking for. I am looking for something simple, flattering but simple. It was defiantly worth the time it took to pop in if just to peruse the cute flats!
While in the village I swing by Laura Kathryn which I love. Not to mention, where my fave dress of the summer was born … it is fuchsia and fabulous I am sure most of you have seen me in it since I wore it like it was all I had, seriously, even my husband noticed so it must have been bad! So I breeze in with my slight caffeine and B12 buzz and look around. Here is what I found, LOTS of cute tunics, short jackets, a great looking reasonably priced black purse, but alas, no sweater dresses. Sad but still stylish I press on.
I needed to grab a book at Barnes & Noble so off to The Summit I went. I heard a rumor that there were sweater dresses in abundance at J.Crew so after my book purchase I headed down the hill… sadly, it was just a rumor. Although, there were lots of cute sweaters any attempts to wear them as dresses would have me arrested for indecent exposure even with tights! But, I did rediscover my love for argyle, I mean seriously, it is too preppy not to love. Alas, I had to go away as the budget had already been stretched by purchase of the bone wrap.
Next stop Urban Outfitters, when I first walked in I immediately feel like I was five years too old to be in there but oh well. I stop and browsed through the books and games ….. they are soo bad, I LOVED on! I saw lots of uber trendy items at ultra low prices but nothing that called out to me. I moved on.
Then to the obvious, Banana Republic. I know I tried to stay away but I could not it was like my go to place and the Diet Coke had worn off by this point and I was almost grumpy. I went in and there it is (insert light from heaven and angelic chorus of AAAAhhhhhh here)!! The perfect dress, exactly what I was looking for (clearly, my clothing Karma has paid off)! It was a dark grey A-line (which looks great on everyone), turtle neck, with puffy sleeves and a seem down the middle. Yippee!!


Bradford's Banana Republic Sweater Dress Find is pictured at top. Here are some other Picks from My Scoop:

213 Sweater dress with unique collar. 213 can be found at The Pants Store in Crestline Village.














Vince Sweater dress available at Saks Fifth Avenue at The Summit. Great length and love the sleeves!








Mod sweater dress by Autumn Cashmere. Autumn Cashmere is available at Gus Mayer at Colonial Brookwood Village.










Only Hearts grey comfy and sexy sweater dress. Only Hearts is available at Lara at Patton Creek.







Winter white sweater dress from Francesca's Collection at The Summit.

BRADFORD'S CLOSET: THE SEARCH FOR FALL'S STAPLES (AND WE DON'T MEAN BREAD AND MILK)

by Bradford Bankhead, the trials and tribulations of stocking the closet of a savvy cost-effective fashionista!

Okay, so here is the deal, I consider myself a fashion forward (albeit incredibly neurotic) gal. My husband however, considers me a danger to our credit. As such we have made a compromise; I am now a married- fashion forward- budget conscious-neurotic kind of gal. That being said I only get a few staples to get me through each season. Some of them require investment, some not so much, either way it is a budget conscious way to keep me in the fashion loop. The following details my search for the first staple of my Fall 2007 wardrobe: the high waisted pant.

I love this pant; it is very Katherine Hepburn: it looks great and it’s tailored. Therefore, I can think of a variety of places to wear it from the office to Game Day and all things in between (not to mention it can be paired with a few things that I already own - which is a must for my wardrobe). Not to mention the waist is so high that my stomach is held in without the aid of Spanx!!

To begin the day I have to put on the perfect shopping outfit, naturally it is my most comfy as one never knows how long this will take. One of my Summer 2007 uniforms (I usually have about three that are in rotation in any season) is a large blue Michael Stars shirt that is gathered at the bottom, gray leggings, and rainbows (keep in mind I look suspiciously like a raspberry blow pop, but it is so comfy I do not care. I am beyond thrilled about the return of leggings!! ). Once dressed and out the door my quest begins with a pit stop to fuel up with my most favorite Starbucks beverage (This is the most caffeinated and high maintenance drink they make.) A grande dirty chai latte, this is a grande chai latte with two shots of espresso add soy. With my heart rate sufficiently elevated, hands jittery, I am wide eyed and ready to shop.

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My first stop is Mt. Brook Village , this is one of my fave stops for several reasons
a) clearly, there are several cute shops to choose from b) should I hit the jackpot early on I can be back, on the sofa and into a Lifetime movie in no time
c) with gas prices so high and so many cute clothes out there who want to waste extra $ on gas if they don’t have to.
My first stop Susan G. Mathews (this is one of my favorite stores and home of one of last year's fall uniforms) however, today no such luck. As always, they had cute things, alas, none of the pants that I am looking for. Since I was in the village I popped over to SWANK 35223 which is beyond great and had just sold out of, what I am told, the “Fabulous black high waisted pants”. Instead I decided to try on some high waisted skirts – they were cute but a little big and I am more of a pants girl myself.

Next stop was Homewood. First I stopped into Theadora’s who ironically had also just sold out of pants (it would seem I am late on this bandwagon!!) However, I did fall absolutely in love with this fabulous comfy cute bone colored wrap thing. It was a long sleeved wrap made from the most comfy cotton. It was everything in my power not to purchase but I was a woman on a mission!

Slightly disappointed, hot, and hungry I headed to The Summit (I know right, why didn’t I start there). My first stop, natch, was Anthropologie where I found some wonderful wide leg pants but nothing with the high waist that I was looking for (i.e. these all required Spanx after a large meal). When I inquired about any high wasted pants I was told that they were not yet in but should be arriving soon. Dragging myself away from all the cute things and wonderful books (I swear I would go in there for the books alone, did I mention I am a closet nerd), I headed down the hill to J.Crew. Which had lots of cute short coats, that would be precious with my high wasted pants, but no pants—again I am told to wait until later in the season. Feeling most tired, I headed to the Mecca of clothing Saks Fifth Avenue where once again I was distracted by the fab bags for the fall season. I headed upstairs where I found a couple of pairs of pants by Vince - FINALLY!! Who knew this search would be so hard. Clearly you need to be way ahead of the game or you will find yourself waiting until later in the season!