cheap thrills

Check out the BVALNTNE from Steve Madden.  It's not Balenciaga, but it's close enough!!!

Steve Madden, BVALNTNE Clutch, $58

Balenciaga Arena Envelope Clutch, $1,045

it happened

Enter thoughts of guilt and extreme overindulgence that I'll surely get over sooner rather than later...

madhouse

Steve Madden 'Madhouse', $149.95

Chloe 'Susan', $1,276

The other day I noticed these boots on the main screen for the Steve Madden new arrivals page, but they weren't available for purchase anywhere on the site. Being the stalker I am, I contacted customer service to see what they were called and when they'd be available, but got no answers. I checked back for days and pre-ordered them as soon as I saw they were available.

As a much cheaper alternative to the highly coveted Chloe Susanna boots, I think these were a great find. 

Pros - (1) The price (2) The actual style and shape of the boot itself

Cons - (1) I'm not sure how I feel about the swirly pattern of the studs (2) I don't wear gold that often

Ultimately, I think I will be very happy with them, but only time will tell. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait a while to decide because they don't ship until mid-August.

**Use the code SMSUMMER15 at Steve Madden for 15% off of your order of $75 or more plus free shipping**

...photos from SteveMadden.com, MyTheresa.com...

mini mac

Rebecca Minkoff's leopard Mini Mac is my ultimate leopard accessory. I dreamed of this bag for a long time before finally scoring it during a Black Friday sale at Saks last Thanksgiving. Everything about it is perfection --- The luscious leopard printed calf hair, the matte black hardware, the supple black leather.

Unfortunately, this particular style is no longer available but the Mini Mac comes in many other varieties.
Neon Pink/Yellow/Orange, White, Black, Blue, Purple, Almond

bedazzled

Several months ago I became obsessed with the idea of DIYing iPhone cases and ordered a boat load of rhinestones from Etsy. This is the second case I've made, and I'm hooked on the idea of creating something that is completely custom and exactly what I want. In theory, cases like these are super easy to make but the main ingredient is patience. If you don't want the end result to look bootleg you have to take it slow and you'll end up with something fantastic.

I used E6000 glue, available at any craft store, a cheap iPhone case ordered from Amazon and AB rhinestones from Etsy, which can be ordered anywhere online or found in craft stores. The supplies probably cost me about $8 in total.

I added the glue onto small sections, then covered the section in rhinestones, then glue onto the next section and so on. For the rhinestone placement, I wrapped a piece of tape, sticky side out, to the end of a pen to pick up each one and a toothpick to help the rhinestone off of the end of the pen and onto the case.

The entire case took me a little less than two hours to complete and I let it dry overnight. I didn't worry too much about it coming out absolutely perfect or trying to pre-plan the rhinestone layout too much --- I had an idea of what I wanted to do and just let it flow.