Fashion Review: Grammys 2015

Reviewing fashion at the Grammy's always feels a little bit pointless because the point is to walk the line between good and bad. So with that in mind, in this realm, "good" rewards the people who manage to walk that line successfully and "bad" is for people who seemed confused about where they are or what this event is supposed to be.

Best Dressed

I thought Taylor Swift's custom Elie Saab made her look like an early '90s holiday Barbie in the BEST way. She knows what works for her and exactly how to dress for each event...this was the perfect mix of fun, sexy and glamorous. Also, the pairing of the ombre teal with fuschia pumps was a great move.

I thought Katy Perry looked like a 21st-century Marilyn Monroe in this sheer Zuhair Murad wiggle dress and her pop of purple hair. It was the perfect convergence of all of her vibes.

If you're going to wear a pantsuit and you're Gwen Stefani, this is the perfect pantsuit. This Atelier Versace is both vintage-inspired and futuristic, and her gold make-up was a great compliment.

Nick Jonas was my best-dressed male. As soon as he hit the red carpet in this Versace suit, I was like, "dangit Nick Jonas, how did you make me love you?!?"

We've kind of seen this dress before, but not on Ciara, so she gets kudos for bringing sexy glamour in this Alexander Vauthier dress. Also, I've never seen her with such dark hair, but it was very striking.

Chrissy Teigen hit the perfect note as a nominee's date in this restrained but super sexy Emilio Pucci gown. She knows she's not supposed to be the one in the spotlight, but she doesn't dress down either.

Katharine McPhee also wore a sexy cut-out Pucci gown and I thought it was a cool new direction for her. She's not normally one to be little miss sexpot, so I thought it was right on target for the event.

Like Ciara, Nicki Minaj ditched the colored locks and overdone makeup for a (demure for her) Tom Ford dress that would be perfect for a Bob Fosse musical. I thought this was a sleek turn for her.

I'm On the Fence

If the whole point of a rock and roll awards show is to push the envelope, then how can I fault Miley Cyrus's hint of hipbones in this sexy Alexander Vauthier dress. But...ughhhhhh such a weird area to highlight. I just can't quite get on board.

 At any other event on any other person, Charli XCX's pink-tinged tux and fur combo would seem ridiculous. But it's kind of perfect for the Grammys, right? You can imagine Little Richard wearing the same thing in 1963.

I think Iggy Azalea's Giorgio Armani is actually great. It's got the cut-out trend, a great color, a fabulous fit and feels like a good choice for a first-time nominee. But the challah roll on her head was so utterly distracting, it threatened to negate any good vibes from the dress.

I like when people actually wear legit couture, but this Jean Paul Gaulthier was not working on Kim, who looks like she's swimming in a heavyweight robe made by Elvis's jumpsuit designer for Apollo Creed.

I thought Beyonce kind of phoned it in with her Proenza Schouler gown...she hasn't seemed to have a lot of fun with red carpet fashion in the last few years. Maybe it's on purpose so that we're all extra blown away once she hits the stage?

I know it was her first chance to do a really glamorous event like this, but Meghan Trainor's look felt way overdone for me. Her make-up especially felt heavy-handed on camera and this just seemed more appropriate for Penelope Cruz at the Oscars.

Anna Kendrick's sexy take on the tuxedo actually skewed too business-like for me. It legit looks like an interview suit, minus a button-up shirt. She could have had some fun with a long sexy necklace or killer shoes.

First-time nominee Brandy Clark missed the chance to really have some fun with this overly demure sparkly gown and dowdy styling. With a sleek bob, this could have seemed edgy, proving it's all in the styling.

Jhene Aiko probably just wanted to feel like a pretty princess on her special night, but this delicate Alberta Ferretti is all wrong for this event, especially when you are a sexy young songstress. Get her a sparkly mini or leather catsuit, stat!

Worst Dressed

Pharrell's paramour Helen Lasichanh looked like she was sent to Star Trek jail in this dirty dishwater-hued Adidas bodysuit. This is the jail jumpsuit of the future, mark my words.

She's got the banging body of a 30-year-old, but Jane Fonda seems to be taking her fashion cues from Gumby (as widely stated by the Twittersphere). Part of me has to give this old broad some kudos for never playing it safe.

Let's not even talk about whether or not Madonna's Givenchy matador costume was good per se...that's never the point with Madonna. I was more concerned about the really deplorable cleavage situation. This was not doing her ANY favors, and it's not like this woman has old lady boobs! Her pancaked boobs look off-kilter. Her flash of butt cheeks on the red carpet also felt desperate for attention rather than...cheeky.

And although I can admire the capital F-Fashion of this Giambattista Valli couture confection, it just seemed ridiculous in real life. Can you imagine trying to sit beside her throughout the show? It would be like trying to share a seat with an itchy cloud. Even her face here looks like she just realized she looks like a Cupcake Doll from the 80s.

Sunday Best v.232

Salvador Dali and his pet ocelot. JEALOUS.

The weekend has been simultaneously chill and exciting! After a delicious day of lounging around, I danced my butt off at our friend Gordon's birthday party last night. Tonight we're going to watch Boyhood and the Grammys and it's actually warm enough to grill burgers on the deck! Spring is just around the corner.

• Famous women with armpit hair.
• The amazing story of how Monticello was almost a goner.
• Female artists in their studios.
• Do you have a home? Can you pay for gas? You're doing great.
• A great idea: cover parking lots with solar panels.
• A man has built a mini town in Missouri using salvaged buildings.
• Great art you'll love if you grew up in the nineties.
• Couldn't make it to MOMA's Matisse exhibit? Take the NY Times tour.
• And in case you missed it, Saved By the Bell reunited.

We're Halfway There: Dining Room Makeover

A couple weeks ago, Sean started building our IKEA bookcases when I realized: dammit, no time can wait, we HAVE to paint the dining/living room. The cases are intended to be mounted to the wall and it became clear it would be a nightmare to do that, unpack the books and set the whole thing up only to have to do it again when we decided to paint. So, I went to Benjamin Moore on my lunch break one day, came home with samples of two greige colors (Nimbus and Revere Pewter) and told Sean, "We're painting this week."

After cleaning up from our mini kitchen fire, we started painting on a Sunday and after plugging away at it after work and on the weekend, we were ready to put together the bookshelves by Saturday night. I'm so excited to show the progress we've had so far! Let's look, shall we?

Here is the living room the way it looked when we toured the house. Because of the railing and the somewhat large furniture, it felt very small to me!

Another view. I walked in and said: the railing, the carpet and the wallpaper HAVE to go.

When we moved in, it was amazing to see how much bigger the room already felt, but the senseless divider was still throwing me for a loop!

But I definitely saw lots of potential...I realized the wall around the entrance might be perfect for bookcases that look almost built-in.

Two months later, here we are, with gleaming hardwood floors and greige walls! We ended up choosing Benjamin Moore Nimbus, which is more gray than Revere Pewter and seemed to better offset our favorite painting by our cousin Emily. Don't mind my dirty old rug...it's a placeholder.

Et voila! I'm so in love with how this came together. We got four BILLY bookcases from IKEA. They're inexpensive and very sturdy. You can buy extender units to make them go almost to the ceiling, which we opted to do. They also doubled our book storage! In our apartment, we had the 4x4 square bookcase from IKEA and it was bulging with books; this is almost all of the same books (save some graphic novels that are going to live in Sean's man room), but now I had room to tuck in some of my little treasures.

 Like my glass glitter Eiffel Tower!

 And my framed photobooth pictures from San Francisco and Pittsburgh!

Fair warning: if you buy the extender units, the IKEA directions recommend attaching an L-bracket to the top of the bookcase and screwing that into the wall. But ours came so close to the ceiling, Sean could barely get his hands back there to hold the screw and washer in place. After debating our options, we decided to place the screws on the side instead, so this is hidden from view, but is doing the job just fine. The cases would stand on their own if they weren't screwed in, but could very easily tip if you pulled on them.

To add some lighting to that side of the room, I picked up this $60 floor lamp from Target and it's a nice modern element next to all the wood. Our next agenda item is to find an affordable, comfy couch that fits nicely in a more formal room and to find the rug of my dreams. I've found myself more drawn to antique Turkish rugs, which means I need to either win the damn lottery or became an eBay savant. I'm hoping for the latter. 

I Spy: Mid Century Chrome, Indian Rug & Italian Chandy

I've been enjoying a chance to scope out some new-to-me antique stores now that I have a house to decorate, so I have a few "I Spy" posts ahead for you antique lovers. First, I hopped into Design and Consign in Newport News to see what they had.

I spotted this handsome cut marble-topped coffee table for $150. With a painted base, I think this could look quite modern!

I loved the detail and the grain on this antique dresser...I think it would be a classy piece to leave completely alone! It was $235, which really is a great price for something with so much interesting detail and only a few nicks and scratches. There's a point when you just call it "character" and move on.

The next day, I made a stop at my old favorite, Cypress Point Antique Mall in Virginia Beach. It's always a reliable treasure trove of mid century modern items, like ...

This $55 chrome-base magazine holder would be a sleek addition to a living room or office.

I'm also a sucker for chrome side tables, like this curvy one priced at $65.

And this guy is REALLY heavy, but too beautiful to leave out...a teak magazine holder by Norwegian company Bruksbo. It had a little damage and was priced at $140; an undamaged one goes for $550 on 1stDibs!

This side chair was screaming Betty Draper to me. I'm not usually a big fan of 60s patterns, but I actually really like this one! It was $180...less than you'd pay for an inferior quality patterned side chair from Target.

It was hard to pass up this shiny brass plug-in sconce, only $43. It would lend so much glamour to a space, if you could only find a way to make the brown cord a little more stylish.

A truly fabulous chrome and wood sofa table, really perfect if you have a nice long foyer (we sure don't). It was $420...not cheap by any means, but if you're in the market for something unique and timeless, it might be worth it.

This dealer was on point because I couldn't get enough of all the mid century goodies! This small brass arc lamp is a  much more realistic height than many of the super tall ones you see today and would be a chic alternative to the typical reading lights you see in most stores. The marble base makes it seem even more sculptural. I missed the price on this one...my bad!

Someday when I start decorating my husband's man cave, I'm going to scoop up some fun "man" art, like nautical prints of ships. This one was pretty and modern and $24!!!

I couldn't resist these brass Mayan guys. I'm not sure what you'd do with them, but I feel like they'd MAKE a gallery wall. Sometimes I feel a little funky about buying these types of worldly souvenirs...like maybe I should wait until I get a chance to buy them directly from the source myself. But then I remember, that may never happen and also, why am I being so neurotic about antiques? For $21.50, all five brass Mayan dudes could be yours. They'd look great on their own, but might look double great framed in shadowboxes and displayed gallery wall-style.

I wish I'd had the dough to drop on these beautiful art deco bookends showing naked ladies reading. They were well over $100 for the pair, so it wasn't a realistic or practical splurge, but let's just admire how great they'd look holding up some Fitzgerald books.

If you saw Big Eyes and actually fell in love with Margaret Keane's aesthetic, hit your local antique store. I've seen tons of her posters and prints in antique shops since I was a kid, so I wasn't surprised to find this one, priced at $140. I bet her work will get a tiny price bump from the movie, but it's never really been my thing.

Campaign furniture was really trendy a couple years ago, and I still think its brass accents are a fun detail to make otherwise boring furniture worth a second glance. This pair of nightstands was $225.

I'm on the hunt for really great kilims (flat-weave rugs from the Middle East or India) and although I'm not super into brown, this Indian rug seemed like a great buy for somebody! It's $95, which is less than you'd pay at World Market for a similar rug at a similar price.

I also loved this Indonesian mirror, for $75. It would look pretty in a foyer or above a small dresser.

In the same shopping center as Cypress Point is Antique Promenade. I had never stopped in, so I figured I'd see what I could find.

I've seen a few designer showcase homes where the man's room or a little boy's room had a few of these vintage airplanes dangling from the ceiling and it always gives a great sense of whimsy to a room. I'd love to display this pretty yellow plane as an objet d'art.

And last but not least...the old granny in me loves a floral chandelier, and I think this Italian oval-shaped light fixture would lend so much character to just the right room. I'd steer clear of pairing with with a lot of other granny-ish accessories, like floral, lace or a room full of brass. I picture it in a modern room of white and wood or a sweet nursery/teenage girl's room. It was $300. That seemed like a bit much to me, but when I checked eBay, similar lights were going for around $325-$400, so it's right in the ballpark.

Any luck in your recent hunts? I've been hunting for a few very specific things, so it'll take a while, but that's good news for me because I love the hunt!