Lovebird

LOOKBOOK: Orla Kiely fall 2011, looks #13 (LEFT) & #25 (RIGHT) - ABOVE - & ad campaign (BELOW).

My blogging holiday halted as soon as I spied Orla Kiely's fall 2011 collection: a siren song to 1960s gamines - I was like a moth to a flame. Some of my favorite pieces include this tiny lovebird dress & flutter collar blouse, which come to life in a mood video styled by Lula Magazine's Leith Clark. So inspired, simply had to share...

ORLA GIRL: Orla Kiely 'Lovebirds' dress (ABOVE). Orla Kiely blouse. Vintage Gloria Sachs skirt (BELOW).

Lovebird dress with ruffled Peter Pan collar features flying fawn colored birds across georgette. Silk crepe blouse with triple layer cake collar & squiggly seam bodice. Button rouleaux seem to be Ms. Kiely's signature, cunning closures with the subtly sensual allusion that her ladylike client isn't alone when she dresses.

SHOE STORY: Salvatore Ferragamo 'Vara' pumps (TOP) & Charlotte Olympia 'Kitty' shoes (BOTTOM).

Seduced by Ferragamo's patent leather pumps - fit for beautiful biddies in high Italian style, love old fashioned granny chic. Charlotte Olympia's gold heel flats are embroidered with kitty faces on velvet, a playful reimagining of men's bedroom slippers, perfect to sport with Le Smoking in the library late after dinner.

I ♥ LOVEBIRDS: Vintage jewelry.

Many thanks to the super helpful shopgirls at Ms. Kiely's new NYC store (shop HERE), who even track down things in the UK, where the brand is based. These downtown digs are a sunny Shangri-la secret world, complete with clothes, accessories & housewares, positively proclaiming the Irish designer Queen of Prints.

Stallion Stud

J.Crew 'Natalie' sweater (last worn HERE). Twenty8Twelve skirt (last worn HERE). Vintage necklace. Chanel wedges.

Schoolgirlish studded sweater, flopsy bowtie, pleated skirt - see perfect 1960s British ingénue in An Education. Bazaar's Shopping section recommended my punk pullover as the must-have edgy blush piece last spring.

Fetish for fancy supermarkets led me to glamorously grocery shop at new Fairway on Upper East Side. Unpacked gourmet goods during Emmy Awards' Red Carpet - lots of long colorful gowns like Fruit Roll-Ups.

Pumpkin

3.1 Phillip Lim dress (last worn HERE). Vintage headpiece. Miu Miu sandals.

I have this scaled paillette dress in black too, but beige sequins let me wear pumpkin flower headpiece without looking like Halloween incarnate. Already contemplating costumes - always drawn to little girl disguises.

Embrace inner country girl every leaf-peeping-pumpkin-picking season. Excited to hayride, carve jack-o'-lantern, bake pie. Projected outfit: vintage lace-up boots for field & frilliest floral Anthropologie apron to cook.

Waitress

"I'm stuck. Does it get easier?... I just don't know what I'm supposed to be. I thought maybe I wanted to be a writer. But I hate what I write & I tried taking pictures, but John's so good at that & mine are so mediocre. & every girl goes through a photography phase, like... pictures of your feet" - Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation

Vintage belt, necklace, Rayna's blouse (last worn HERE). Milly cami. See by Chloé pants (last worn HERE). Tod's loafers.

Black & white seems safely chic but can translate as actress-waitress. Pinned skinny pants high on hips, adorned with chain belt (belly dancer-rodeo star). Cuffed trousers over boat shoes, bought to go yachting.

Bianca

BIANCA JAGGER: Ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz (LEFT) & Milly fall 2011, look #12 (RIGHT)

Behold how nothing complements leopard like ruby slippers. I have such a penchant for fur, my heart positively pitter-pattered out of my seat at Milly's fall show, particularly when I spotted faux fur cheetah printing this trench. Designer Michelle Smith also cut a cropped jacket for retail, but I prefer runway version.

Milly 'Bianca' coat. Vintage ring. Chanel shoes & '2.55' bag.

Swooning over Milly's 1970s inspiration, including photographer Guy Bourdin's sexy saturated colors & my coat's name: Bianca, referencing the ex-Mrs. Mick Jagger. I'll layer it over any old thing & still be devastatingly chic - or run around town in this trench & nothing else like a glam flasher or Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8.

Meringue

D&G dress (last worn HERE). Linea Pelle belt. Vintage jewelry. Valentino espadrilles.

I-take-my-tea-with-sugar-in-the-front-parlor frock. Ready to be runaway bride who joins French circus as chanteuse & starts revolution - see Brigitte Bardot in Viva Maria! Equestrienne belt is my ticket to ride.DREAMBOAT: Monet, The Pink Skiff

Drawn to dreamy mood of bourgeois girls boating in Monet's painted Pink Skiff. This dress isn't out of place at the turn of the 19th century - would love to lift my layered lace & step delicately into their boat. It's as if they're sailing across van Gogh's Starry Night through the swirling lines in both scenes - star light, star bright tonight.

Eyelet Her Go

Vintage necklaces & blouse (last worn HERE). 3.1 Phillip Lim shorts (last worn HERE). Anthropologie belt. Vita bangle. Miu Miu sandals.

Eyelet makes me think of Irwin Shaw's Girls in Their Summer Dresses, but this sweet motif can toughen up like the leader of a biker girl gang in leather shorts. Missing bike - if only I could ride (rue my city childhood).Velvet bordeaux bow cummerbund: essential to recreating Marlene Dietrich making her dinner debut on a bon voyage cruise at the Captain's table, masquerading her secret spy mission. Imagine disembarking in Hawaiian port wearing these plasticized lei necklaces & plunging into private seahorse lair, lambskin & all.