2011 {First} Year in Review

This post will serve as a walk down memory lane, I had such a great summer in Charleston, SC and was able to incorporate so much of my surrounding environment.  I've also highlighted some of 2011's best trends.  Without further ado, here is my review of some favorite posts from Sartorial Roadmap's first year...

 Residents of the Runway: Seriously Feminine was inspired by this perfect little house right down the street from my apartment.

Stripes + Stripes = Style Stars was inspired by this SS '11 trend, which also reminds me of a dress in this post!

I had A LOT of fun with my Oh Irene post, listing necessities for the incoming Hurricane...that ended up causing mayhem for a whole 10 minutes...

Jenny & I stopped by Sugar Bakeshop to celebrate 1,000 views on my blog!

This was definitely a favorite post, PJ's In Public highlighted the silk p.j. trends that were shown on runways around the world!

In September I prepared my Missoni x Target Shopping List and was able to score a few of my favorite things, but I'm still bitter about the socks!!

The Paris Market was definitely a highlight during my trip to Savannah, and obviously seeing this girl!

Design minded in every sense of the word, Jenna Lyon's just knows what she's doing, and that's why Lyon's Den is my favorite interior design-centric post.

Going to see My First Artprize in Grand Rapids was so fun, the above piece was one of my favorites!

Thanks for a great first year, I can't wait to dive into 2012!  I'm moving to New York in exactly 1 week and can't wait to see what the year brings!!

Residents of the Runway: Get Your White On

In the final summer installment of Residents of the Runway it's all about WHITE, all white all the time.  Within the first day or two of the Spring/Summer '11 fashion shows it was clear that it would be THE trend of the summer, so with one month left I suggest you get your white on all day errday if possible.

I'm thinking that the designers stole inspiration from these adorable Charleston residences...

Sidenote: Not sure if many of you have noticed the side porches on some of these homes that I've featured...but they're called piazza's and I'm pretty sure they're one of my favorite things ever...I hope to have one of my own someday...

On to the designer looks, it was all about easy breezy white dresses and I love that every single one in here has some standout element...they're all very different and special.

The dress above left has the MOST flattering fit and detailing...who ever said you couldn't wear a skin tight white dress.....um yeah...not without spanx at least!  I love the sheer details at the top of the dress on the right!

From left to right I know that Calvin Klein is the first and Viktor & Rolf is in the middle.  This Viktor & Rolf collection is one of my favorites of theirs to date, it was all based off of a simple white shirt (on steroids)...on this dress you can see the elements of the bottom of a basic white men's oxford shirt, I love that they made it into a gown.

If you don't have a white dress yet this summer...now's the time to buy, there's a good chance you can find them on sale by now!  Who's ready to get white hot??

photos via style.com

Residents of the Runway: Seriously Feminine

This edition of Residents of the Runway was originally inspired by one house.  I noticed it the first time I was in Charleston in May and it melted my heart.  It is so adorable, its address is 82 1/2 also cute, and it's nestled right in between two other homes making it super cozy too.  There's really nothing else to say except for prepare to fall in love...

This is another precious house that I passed by on a walk once upon a time.  Both of these homes are perfect examples of another one of the big Spring/Summer 2011 trends (that they obviously set); frills, florals and pink all rolled up into one.  Typically those three words are not in my vocabulary, but how could you possibly dislike any of these darling dresses??

So in love with the Nina Ricci confection on the right, all I want to do is wear it and dance ALL NIGHT...and I'm being serious because I LOVE to dance.

This is where the flowers come in, so pretty and romantic!  And the Valentino dress in the center is just too cute I couldn't resist featuring it on Sartorial Roadmap twice (first seen here on Ginnifer Goodwin).  I don't know what it is about Summer 2011 but I find myself gravitating a lot more to pink than ever before.  I'm going to chock it up to a trend, instead of assuming an entire change of lifestyle...however, for your piece of mind go forth and invest in frills and floral's because they're not going anywhere soon!

photos via style.com (dresses l to r antonio berardi, nina ricci, marc jacobs, valentino, d&g)

Residents of the Runway: HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

Within a week of being in Charleston I noticed a couple of permanently patriotic residences and immediately decided that a 4th of July specific post had to happen.  Then I remembered a certain Chanel collection from spring 2008 that was inspired by some all-american stars and stripes!  Check out these All-American beauties!

Chanel Spring 2008 ready-to-wear showed some love to our star-spangling nation, and if Karl can do it you can too!  Below is a dress for the ladies and some Vans for the dudes at Urban Outfitters so that you can outfit yourself for a continued patriotic summer (the dress is only $19.99!!).  I painted my nails blue last night, except for one nail that got the sparkle treatment (ya know...like for fireworks), what will you wear this weekend to show how much you love the US of A??

Residents of the Runway: Neutral-Blocking

Neutral Blocking is a new term for Spring '11 I'm pretty sure I just made it up. So in the 2nd installment of Residents of the Runway I want to look at some super cool full-on neutral homes in Charleston & this spring trend.

While wandering around and taking a look at some of these homes, I realized that I LOVE when the homes are a little on the ragged side. When stucco isn't perfect, & there are funky spots here and there from trying to cover up cracks on the exterior. Here are 3 homes that are so on trend: Neutral Blocking.

These runway pics come from assorted shows during fashion month. The first is (one of my fave models Ginta Lapina) from the Chloe spring show...specifically reminding me of house #2. The 2nd look is from Brioni, the 3rd from Cushnie et Ochs, I love how both are updated suit looks. And last but not least a look from the Rodarte Spring '11 show, LOVE THIS, it definitely gives me home #1 vibes, with the mixed textures.

What are your thoughts on Neutral-Blocking, think you can rock it as well as Charleston?

Residents of the Runway

Today I decided to spend my afternoon walking around this beautiful city to find some awesome homes that embody some Spring/Summer 2011 trends. As it turns out Charleston has been wayyy ahead of the SS '11 trends, and there were a bunch of cool photos to snap. When I was looking through my SS 2011 lookbook on style.com for a trend refresher, the first edition of Residents of the Runway came to me in a second, so let's get to it.

Today's trend: Monochromatic BRIGHTS!

In Charleston there is a section of houses that are nicknamed "Rainbow Row." For about two blocks there are these pastel colored stucco homes and they go PERFECTLY with the runway pieces that I was reminded of today...

The runway looks that inspired this post are from Christopher Kane's SS '11 ready-to-wear collection. He did these unreal monochromatic lace number's in which the colors came out like muted neons, and were such standouts...

So what do you all think about the looks?