­

Why Did You Wear That: Daisy Duke

By |May 13th, 2014|Personal Style, Why Did You Wear That?|

whydid kirsten smith April showers brought May flowers… and more showers.  So, when there were a couple of consecutive days of actual sunshine last week, I was certain to take advantage of them.  When the weather warms up, habitually angry city dwellers suddenly become jovial, relaxed, and if you look very closely, you may even see some of them smiling.  The West Village is prime for people watching.  Restaurants expand their dining rooms out onto the sidewalks and seats outdoors become prime real estate.  Spring in New York reminds us all why we suffer through bitter cold, slushy streets, and near hypothermia.  It gives us just enough to fall back in love before cursing it again during sweltering summer months.

whydid kirsten smith

whydid kirsten smith

kirsten smith whydid

kirsten smith whydid blogkirsten smith daisy dukehat: (similar here), bodysuit: Forever 21, shorts: Brandy Melville (similar here), bracelets: Alex and Ani, bag: vintage (similar here), shoes: Steve Madden (similar here)

xx,

WhyDid

Photographs by Brian Schutza

 

 

Why Did You Wear That: Rain, Rain

By |May 5th, 2014|Personal Style, Why Did You Wear That?|

kirsten smith whydidSpring in New York tends to be more fickle than the beautiful women who inhabit it.  One minute it’s all sunshine and soft breeze.  The next it’s dark storm clouds and running for cover.  One must always stow a small umbrella in her bag and never become too attached to her blowout. When Figleaves was kind enough to send me some stellar swimwear, I could not wait to suit up.  Problem is, it’s hardly warm enough for exposed limbs and there’s definitely not enough sunshine for SPF.  So, when the second to last day of April gave us just one last monsoon to remind us who’s boss, we had to get creative.  If rooftop poolparties aren’t in Mother Nature’s forecast for me, I’ll just have to make due with my own watering hole.

Don’t despair over your summer plans, folks. You can still wear a luxury swimwear this season if you can safely access a beach, have a backyard you can lay out in, or if you just decide to dress up in one around your house. Do you! We all have to take some precautions and make changes to our travel plans with a pandemic still happening, but sometimes a little shopping can help take your mind off things, even just for a bit. Miami Swim Week happened last year, but the runways work ahead of schedule, and these are the 10 trends we saw for 2020.

 

 

_S1A1651web2

bubble bath

rubber ducky

 

_S1A1709web2

kirsten smith whydid

 

_S1A1802web2

_S1A1757web2

 

kirsten smithshirt:Lucca Couture, hat: Big Buddha, bathing suit: Huit c/o Figleaves, shorts: Joe’s Jeans, shoes: Steve Madden, sunglasses: Pucci, bag: Diane von Furstenberg, towel: Cynthia Rowley, bracelets: Alex and Ani

xx,

WhyDid

photos by Brian Schutza

Why Did You Wear That: Distressed Done Up

By |April 24th, 2014|Personal Style, Why Did You Wear That?|

whydid kirsten smithWhen one thinks of shredded jeans, I  assume that most file destroyed denim under completely casual.  To be honest, I treat some of my destroyed denim like my own version of sweatpants.  A particular pair that reign as queen bee of my cluttered closet and are often the first thing I pull out for morning dog walking duty also happen to be the very same pair I pull out to wear with a tiny top and high heels for an evening out.  So, you see, distressed denim truly can go from day to night.  I’ve never worked at a job where I had to wear a “suit” (that’s the beauty of the fashion industry, kids), but when I worked in a sad grey cube at Henri Bendel, we were supposed to follow a few simple guidelines like, I don’t know: don’t look like an asshole or wear flip flops.  One of the clauses when distressed denim became one of our biggest sellers in store was that we could wear it… so long as it was one of our vendors… and most certainly not with flip flops- not even Havaianas.  So, full circle: destroyed denim can be both very downtown as well as totally dressed up.

whydid kirsten smith

whydid kirsten smith

kirsten smith whydid

kirsten destroyed denim whydid

whydid kirsten smithblazer: Dian von Furstenberg, blouse: Philosophy, jeans: DIY (learn how here), bag: Rafe, shoes: Carlos by Carlos Santana, sunglasses: Ray-Ban, bracelets: alex and ani, necklace: Maya Brenner

xx,

WhyDid

photos by Brian Schutza

Why Did You Wear That: Kiss the Sky

By |April 18th, 2014|Personal Style, Why Did You Wear That?|

kirsten smith whydidSure, as a New Yorker, it’s a given that my favorite “color” is black.  However, if you want to know the way to my heart, take me to see the sun set… or rise.  The color of the sky never gets old to me.  Every single day is a different variation that takes my breath away.  I’d say the thing I miss most about California other than daily morning coffee and cocktail hour with my dad is the sky.  Smitty would say it’s having more than 500 square feet of wood floor to run on.  I tried to take a hike- literally- every evening to be quiet and alone and watch the color of the sun and the way it painted the hills different shades of glorious each evening.  There isn’t a whole lot of that here in the city, hell, we can’t even see the stars, but I’m fortunate enough to have a rooftop that overlooks a lot of the city and Hudson River, so even if I can’t see the Big Dipper on the regular, I can take a rose gold sunset from time to time.  And hey, when there aren’t a bunch of bros drinking Stella upstairs, sometimes, I even get a sacred moment of silence.

nyc sky kirsten smith

kirsten smith nyc

pastel sky

kirsten smith whydid skirt: Zara, top: American Apparel, bralette: Victoria’s Secret, clutch: Alexander Wang, shoes:

SHOP THE LOOK:


xx,

WhyDid

 

Photos by  Brian Schutza

Why Did You Wear That: No-chella

By |April 10th, 2014|Personal Style, Why Did You Wear That?|

kirsten smith coachellaIf you live in New York you are in one of two camps: the ones who boarded Palm Springs bound planes for a wild weekend at Coachella or the rest of us who plan to stay put and enjoy the little bit of sunshine that’s finally been bestowed upon us.  I fall into the second camp and am pretty okay with that.  As mentioned, as much as I love a live show, being part of a commercialized and overcrowded concert series gives me the heebie jeebies.  I do, however, love the opportunity to tap into my inner flower child from time to time and fortunately, my mom was smart enough to hold onto a few of her favorite pieces and pass them along to me.  Smart and pretty.

kirsten smith coachella5

kirsten smith coachella

 

kirsten smith

kirsten smith coachellasunglasses: Stella McCartney, sweater: Staring at Stars, top: vintage (thanks, mom!), jeans: Odyn, shoes: Charles David, bracelets: Kenneth Jay Lane, bag: vintage Dooney & Bourke

xx,

WhyDid

 

photos by Kate Alex