OOTD: Red Rooster

Saturday night I went for a casual dinner at Red Rooster in Harlem for a friend's birthday and this is what I wore. I must admit I was completely exhausted from a long flight the night before and a busy afternoon day of, but I'm so glad that I decided to go. The party was great fun, the food was really good and it was the perfect opportunity to don my Beth Ditto denim skirt from Evans which I've had for a few months but am just now getting around to wearing.

I've owned quite a few denim skirts in my day but this is by far my favorite. There are so many unexpected details and it's SO comfortable. Aside from the very cool zipper down the front, the skirt has a muted floral print, asymmetrical hemline and sweatshirt-esque ribbed waist band. LOVE!

DEETS- Vest:Love Ady Top:Alloy Skirt:Evans Tights:125th Street Leopard Ballet Flats:Me Too Necklace:Vintage

OOTD: Little Bit O' Glitz

OOTD From the Essence Black Women of Hollywood Awards at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The event was pretty incredible. I was very honestly...surprised at how lovely the energy of the day flowed. Keeping this short but here are a few fun pics from the day.

Me on the balcony at L'ermitage Hotel - love this place.

1. Lloyd Boston and I 2. Miss Jay and I (hilarious no pictures alone incase he ends up on a *ahem* website, I'm on it too...lol)

1. Kimora Lee and I 2. Guest in a fab Bottega Veneta Dress that I loved!

Garcelle Beauvias Marsha of Flowetry Yvette Nicole Brown of "Community on NBC" (love that show) Fab YBF gals Natasha and Jamisha

My outfit deets: Blazer: Nordstrom Rack Dress: Asos Pants: Michael Kors Boots: Barefoot Tess Bracelet & Necklace: Tiffany

The Color of Love

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of popping by the Anna Scholz showroom to meet the UK based designer and preview the brands fall2011 collection. Anna and her sales team were in the city for sales and press appointments at the AKA Hotel penthouse in midtown.

When I arrived I took a quick look at the collection and was instantly attracted to the color stories. Anna Scholz is known for saturated color and prints on sumptuous fabrics, which generally I find near missing in most other plus size collections.

Anna walked me through the collection and then we had a chat: We spoke about how it all started. Anna began sewing very early on in life. As a six foot tall size 14 teenager, making clothes happened really out of necessity. She would receive fabrics and tools for presents or instead of shopping trips; which I find completely cool.

While Anna doesn't name her collections or work from a specific "theme", fall 2011 certainly feels inspired. It's a well rounded collection of dresses, tops, trousers and fabulous coats. Having seen quite a bit of luxe 70's inspiration on the runways this past fashion week, the collection definitely touched on the trend. Many of the pieces reminded me of what a reformed 70's rocker chick would wear. I say reformed because the clothes are polished and are bound to make you look really put together so, she'd be well beyond the drunken mess phase of life.

I'm obsessed with the leopard, vintage bird and geometric prints shown above! Anna and I discussed how so many plus women want to fade into the background and shy away from bold colors and especially prints but her love of the audacious has really set her apart and has been the foundation of a very loyal customer base. I certainly don't believe in hidding and don't want to be invisible.

What was great about these clothes is that even though it gave a nod to the 70's trend everything was also really modern. The fringe shown above gives so much life to this LBD and just when you thought you didn't love lace (which I absolutely do!), here comes a lace motorcylce jacket with edgy zipper details that you didn't even know you needed! Over all I LOVE this collection and want nearly all of it. Below are a few pictures of what's available at AnnaScholz.com for spring/summer. So cute!

My Outfit Deets: Coat:Vintage Dress:Asos Blazer: Calvin Klein Necklace: Forever21 Belt:Torrid Boots:Steve Madden Handbag:BCBG

OOTD:Z for Zenobia

Let's start with, I'm madly in love with this coat. Z for Zenobia is a terribly fabulous uber luxe Canadian brand sold at better department stores i.e. Saks and Saks.com. The company gifted me this gorgeous blackberry colored coat which happened to arrive the day before my birthday this past December and I decided it was a timely birthday gift (hehe).

This winter has been BRUTAL and so I was waiting for a warmer day to wear it since it's not lined but, I missed the boat on those spring like days and ended up wearing it this past Monday which was insanely cold! It was surprisingly warm and I did dress in layers so it ended up being great.

If you aren't familiar with the brand Z for Zenobia is a very high end line of beautiful classic pieces with a twist. It's definitely investment shopping, pieces that are timeless and that you will have forever.

The coat gave me this very whimsical vibe, the over sized hood and a-line silhouette sort of made me want to dress up like a woodland nymph lol.

I digress...Here is my first interpretation of how to wear it. I paired it with a blush colored maxi dress from Asos, a lace top (which you can't see here oh well) and added a belt since the pin closure that came with the jacket was allowing a bit more wind to pass through than wanted.

DEETS: Coat:Z for Zenobia Dress:Asos Necklace:Gift from my bestie Belt:Torrid Boots:BlowFish

Here are a couple of looks from currently available on Saks.com:
http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/main/productarray.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374306439999&bmUID=iMRJoAb&folder=2534374306439999&SortBy=0&ShowPage=0&use_parent=0&ViewAllOnly=0&Special=&numberOfItems=96#0474926079394

Nu Nu...Yea Yea

Too young for the Nu Nu reference? Peep the link below. So lots of new things on the blog. All of the new "stuff" can be found right side of the page. Scroll down, look around, check it out, click things...get excited! (haha)

First, I've added YouTube videos from Mercedes-Benz Fall 2011 Fashion Week. I love this feature because you can scroll through and check out all of the top shows. I'm OBESSESED with Alexander Wang, Betsey Johnson and Charlotte Ronson. In brief: Alexander Wang is inspiring...period. Though his clothes don't come in plus sizes you can certainly recreate the vibe. Additionally his accessories are SICK *dead*. Betsey Johnson's show moved me for the first time in a very long time. It was rock and roll, chic, grown up, sexy all in one. She also has recently launched a less expensive line which is for "every woman" which is why she used her staff and sales force to model it rather than traditional "models". Lastly Charlotte Ronson *swoon* really fantastic and she has a doper than dope less expensive line at JCPenney, most of which is cut pretty generously. I have a few pieces from that collection and always get great feedback.

Second, I've added a "Shop" section where I'll sell new and gently used items I've acquired. The first thing up for grabs is an incredibly cool NOOKA watch. I got it in a fabulous over the top gift bag and never wore it. I have 2 and wear the camel colored one on rare occasions but the fuchsia not so much.

Next, there's a new "Beauty Buzz" section where I'll do short to the point reviews on new or new to me products that are worth mentioning.

And lastly, also new is the following OOTD. I've had these shorts for a few weeks and was looking forward to a respectably mild day to don them. These are from Torrid and I instantly fell in love with the bold floral print and sassy cut. I wore this on an afternoon mini date followed by dinner with another friend. I kind of loved day to night versatility.

Deets: Ruffle Sweater:Alloy.com Tank:Lane Bryant Shorts:Torrid Tights:Avenue Belt:Torrid Boots:BlowFish Spider Necklace:TJ Max

Nu Nu:

GAUDY never looked so GOOD

I sort of half assed it through most of fashion week because I'm just now off crutches and honestly, standing around for hours isn't really tops on my "I can't wait!" list...but there were a few things I refused to miss. Amongst them...Indashio's FW11 Show.

If you haven't heard of him, you soon will. Indashio is a stylist, TV Personality and genuinely one of the nicest people in fashion. We met a few years back when I was putting together the Nolcha Fashion Week Shows and his over the top FUN personality won me over instantly. He's dressed Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Amber Rose and many others.

Anyhoo...I went down to the show early to check out the Style360 set up at the Metropolitan Pavilion and get some back stage scoop and shots. As I'm waiting on line (they aren't letting press in yet), Indashio strolls up to the door in a trench coat that made him look like he either had a lots of acid in his pockets or a bunch of skittles...or both! (Taste the rainbow - mmm).

He sees me standing on the line, gives a warm hug and yells at security to "Let Kellie in, she's cold!". Skipping the line was def great as I was wearing a leather jacket and was in fact FREEZING.

The collection is called "GAUDY" and it was just that in the best possible way. It was flashy and "look at me" and cool. Inspiration: Liberace and Trident's new gum Trident Vitality.

Never without a cast of merry characters, this shows casting was really incredible. Johnny Wier, Aubrey O'Day, Keenya from cycle 4 of America's Next Top model...all added flavor on the runway. Front row included Denise Richards, Adrienne Ballion, Kat De Luna, and one of my biggest model crushes Omahyra Mota.

P.S. love the thickness in some of the models! I'm not one of those gals that are against rail thin models, they serve a purpose but I think there should be a balance and there was plenty of hips in this show.

Outfit details: Faux Leather/Knit mixed jacket: Vintage, Body Con dress: Torrid, Tights: INC., Boots: BlowFish, Necklace:Vintage, Python/Gold earrings:Wendy Nichol

NOTE: I completely forgot I didn't snap full pics of myself until I got home so there's one so-so pic in my room. Oh Well.

Photo Credits:Elle.com, Indashio, Moi

guest blogging for Evans

I was very flattered when Evans reached out and asked me to create some content for the brands blog page. Evans asked that I do something related to Valentine's Day which I was excited to do because my week has been pretty busy and I didn't have time to do a V-day gift idea round up for Fatshion Insider.

There are many different views on V-day but I'm a pretty traditional gal in a sense. It's definitly a "chick holiday" and most guys are like "ugh..." but to me, it's really about just making a gesture to show someone what they mean to you.

I put together a few outfits for different Valentine's Day scenarios...hope you like

http://blog.evans.co.uk/2011/02/11/my-valentines-date-outfits-by-kellie-b/to view the piece.

Maybe the dingo at your baby!

I kid, I kid...City Chic has an amazing contest going on: Win a trip to Australian Fashion Week. How effing cool is that! Click on this link to enter. Good luck!" http://bit.ly/f3eyxn

You think you can, but really can’t wear to work...

Great look – one that has been a favorite of all for a long time – has been the Criss-Cross Banded Dress. Even though seemingly sexy, the wide straps, no cleavage and just above the knee-length made all to feel that maybe with a blazer over it I could pull it off at work.

Once I tried it on, however, I soon learned that that would certainly not be the case - in actuality it showed off way too much cleavage. Ladies, be warned! This is a definite NO NO when it comes to work. Never ever wear things at work that sexes you up! This means no to mini skirts, low cut tops, or anything that focuses your colleagues’ attention on your body and not on you!!

Kristen Stewart’s Vogue February 2011 behind the scenes.

dear Rhi

Umm...I love you. Please note, after my evil mail man held my Evans package hostage for the entire month of January, I'd love to put in him on leash and walk him. Probably beat him with my crutch too.