Nautical Nelly

Summer is the perfect time to add nautical pieces to your wardrobe! It's a chance to venture away from all the pink and green since most nautical colors are red, yellow, blue and white and  maybe a little green tossed in there! Here are a few of my summery favorites:

Vineyard Vines Admiral Shirt--this one's my FAVORITE!

Sperry Topsider Boatshoes

J. McLaughlin Catalina Tee

Tipsy Skipper Tipsy Tote

J. McLaughlin Laney Dress

Vineyard Vines Reversable Bermuda Sail Skirt

Are you adding some nautical inspiration to your summer outfits?

xxKatie

Home! Home! Home!

This is my hometown. It is crab pots, Old Bay, plebes, flip flops, American flags and hot dogs in the Summer. It is boat shows, the most magnificent trees turning, and Indian Summer, knee socks, Navy Football and colonial colors in the Fall. It is chilly, frozen anchors, quilted coats, Tall Jamaicans, heat all the way turned up and high school basketball in the Winter. It is shorts, boat shoes, the annual Sock Burning, .05K, and lacrosse in the Spring.

It is Annapolis, MD.

I am so unbelievably, ridiculously thankful to be home for a few weeks!

xxKatie

Designer Boat Shoes

Just yesterday I saw on Twitter that Milly NY would be designing and pairing up with Sperry to design some B-E-A-UTIFUL boat shoes! I am so excited to show them to y'all! According to the site, they will be released in February! Check out the beauties:

See the "M" charm?

I think I need these for Summer 2012!

Imagine these with a Lilly shift on a rainy day or with jeans for fall and winter!

Recognize this print from earlier this year? Yep, it came in salmon pink too--looks great in navy on sneaks!

Last but CERTAINLY not least, these are my favorite product of the entire line! They're so nautical with the navy and gold with the brown. I love love love them!!

There are more heels and shoes too but all these boat shoes were the ones I couldn't resist sharing! Aren't they so great?

xxKatie

Summer Essentials

Summer is good for warm weather, hanging out with friends, rockin' playlists and tanning. Here are some of my top choices for summer must-haves! They apply to girls and guys so keep that in mind!

1. White shorts: not only are white shorts flattering on nearly everyone, they make you look very tan. Find a good length that you like and voila you're set! I stick with the classic 5'' Chino shorts from J. Crew. Good length for me, crisp white color and durable! For guys, this can be adapted to khaki, just as versatile for summer days!

2. Koozies: you can't go through summer with a sweaty beverage. Koozie's keep your drinks cold and your attitude chill. Keep one (or 3) in your purse before you go out. I often coordinate mine with my outfit. Yep, happens.

3. Boat shoes: Since it's summer you need a pair of shoes you can throw on at a moment's notice and not have to worry about how they look or where you're going. Boat shoes can get wet, dirty, and keep you dry. They look cute with shorts, skirts and  capris. You basically can't go wrong tossing on a pair of Sperry's even if you don't know what the rest of the day my hold!

4. Sunglasses: Running around, day to day, sporting and sunning from the early morning hours into the night, sunglasses are a must. And there for so are croakies. Since I've gotten my Chums (different than your typical croakies but still "sunglass retainers"...) they haven't left my sunglasses! My favorite brands are Costa del Mar and Ray Ban for everyone.

5. Swimwear: Ladies and gents, swimsuit season is upon us! Embrace it with wild patterns, the brighter the better! Animal prints, floral prints, plaid, and polka dot--rock them all! I find swimsuits all over the place from Target to Victoria's Secret to Belk. They sometimes take a little more trying on than other swmsuits, but it'll be worth it once you find a brand you can stick to! Maybe you'll even be able to find your own teeny tiny yellow polka dot bikini!

What are your summer essentials? Something you can't go without??

xxKatie

Quack Quack Quack!

About a month ago my Momma called me inquiring about duck shoes. Not only were these your regular Bean boots or anything. Nope. They're pink and shiny and have my name written ALL OVER THEM. Here they are:

Sperry Topsider does Duck Shoes

It is supposed to be rainy, rainy, and more rainy here at home so I'm wondering if these will make their big debut this week! Should be fun to take for a test run huh? Looks like chances are they'll be debuting with the khaki monster (the nickname for my rain coat) and a big ol' umbrella too! Hopefully our power doesn't get knocked out because we resorted to this (although this isn't me...):

And if anyone saw my tweet, I said, "Why yes we have resorted to hand puppets in the ceiling via candlelight. My dog/alligator is chomping and eating everyone." My dog was kind of missing that top ear so it more resembled an alligator. We seemed to enjoy ourselves for enough time because the power ended up coming back on before we went to bed. Thank goodness that AC came back on just in time!!

Anyone getting a lot of rain this week? It's just about time for those summer soakers to start...

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Shorts Shorts Shorts Shorts Shorts Shorts Shorts Shorts Shorts

In the words of "Shots" by LMFAO, I decided to adapt it to my own OOTD. It is currently the PERFECT climate here in SC. You can wear shorts and at night all you need is a sweatshirt. Simply phenom. I wore this last week:

March 15 by letsbepreppy featuring a sterling silver monogram pendant

It was so comfy and relaxed. I'm LOVING this presummer condition before it really starts to heat up. We're very lucky right now other than the allergies that I'm currently suffering from, but still pretty lucky compared to the North where it's only beginning to warm up!! What are the temps like by you??

xxKatie

Guest Post: Bowties and Boatshoes

Thanks to Ryan over at one of my favorite guy's guy blogs! They offer so much great insight into dressing well, having a good attitude, and just being an awesome guy! I'm sure you'll agree!


Bowties & Boatshoes is not only the name of our blog, but it perfectly sums up our view of the East Coast Prep way of life, and two of the most basic versions of each are pieces that should be in everyone's collection.

First, let's talk about the bowtie.  The first thing you need to know is how to tie one.  If you don't know how, check out this video from Bows & Boats co-founder, Ben Meredith.  Second, you have to commit.  If you are going to wear a bowtie, you can't be shy about it.  Own the look, and have confidence in it.  If you don't, you are just going to feel awkward all day.  While there are a ton of great options out there, we think the perfect "starter" bowtie is the BB #1 Striped Bowtie from Brooks Brothers.  Brooks Brothers is one of our first stops when looking for simple classics, and this bowtie will look good for any occasion. If you want a more cost effective, less mass produced option, check out Ben's handmade bowtie shop at www.StarboardClothing.com.

While there are multiple pairs of boatshoes in our rotation, the one that we reccomend for everyone is the Authentic Original Boat Shoe from Sperry Top-Sider.  Sperry is credit with originating the boatshoe over 75 years ago, and their products remain some of the best out there.  No matter what type of boatshoes you own, there are three rules you should always abide by: 1. No Socks, this is not negotiable.  If you have to wear socks, wear a different pair of shoes.  2. No black soles.  If they soles are black, they are going to leave marks on deck.  3.  No complaining if they get wet.  Seriously, they are called boat shoes for a reason.  Don't worry, the leather can take a beating.

Obviously, this is just a small start to living the East Coast Prep lifestyle, but if you want to understand a little more each day, make sure Let's Be Preppy, and Bowties & Boatshoes are daily stops while you are cruising around the web.

xxKatie (+Ryan)

Be sure to check them out on Facebook! Shoot them a LIKE and you won't be sorry!

Shagging Shoe Shopping

Today at 6:15, I have my first shagging dance class. (Read: I'm very very nervous). I've posted about shagging before, but decided to bite the bullet and enroll in a class. I figured it would be fun to take a random class with no one I knew and put my best foot forward. Low and behold, a know very many people in class (which I think is good and bad) and one of my best friends, Colleen, signed up for my moral support (I'm still thankful...). For anyone who's not entirely familiar with shagging, here's a good video to watch:


My professor is pretty strict about what kinds of shoes we can wear to class and sent us (5) an email about all the kinds of shoes we couldn't wear. They had to be closed toe, no black bottoms, no sneakers, no streak-leaving, no sandals, no heels, that were comfortable enough to dance in. What was I left with? Nothing. She said boat shoes were acceptable, but this girl doesn't own any...can you believe that? In an effort to go shagging shoe shopping--say that five times fast--Colleen and I hurried over to the mall yesterday morning. I was lucky enough to find two pairs of boat shoes (a preppy pink and green pair and a standard brown pair that would match anything) and they were included on a BOGO sale!

I used to have two pairs of Sperrys, but one was the wrong size (there's a HUGE difference between a 9.5 and a 10!) and the other was a pink leather traditional boat shoe that gave me horrible blisters (also a 9.5!) and now I have two pairs that I can rely on. I'm really looking forward to having both pairs because they're so functional plus I can pop them on with shorts or in place of Jack Rogers with some outfits! I definitely needed a pair of these for a few years!

So here goes nothing...I haven't taken a dance class in YEARS! The last formal dance class I took was Irish dancing and this is certainly a departure, but how can you graduate from a Southern school and not know how to properly shag?! You just can't! Even my dad knows how, so here goes quite the class. Hopefully I won't be as nervous once 6:00 rolls around!

xxKatie

Fun-ctional Shorts!

These shorts from Liquid Flow are awesome, if I was a guy, I'd be all about these. (Although totally wrong timing since it's winter...) We got my dad a pair a few years ago for Christmas and I was browsing some vacation photos and decided to pursue where they were from.

We got my dad the orange shorts with the blue crabs from a place back at home. He tends to bring them on vacay and I'm a big fan. What's cool about these shorts though, is that they're quick drying...yes drying. Meaning, you can wear them in the water!!

If you still need a Christmas gift, they have free shipping through the holidays! Plot spoiler: the spring prints are AWESOME and I've heard that ditty from someone on the inside (haha!) so keep your eyes peeled for spring break, vacations or spring birthdays! The new prints will be out in a month!

I love all the different combos in the photo above. They all would look great with a white polo and boat shoes or even just a t-shirt. They're such breezy shorts that you can't help but think  you're on vacation. Speaking of vacation (or mini vacation) I'm totally keeping my fingers crossed that Jimmy Buffet makes another appearance here at USC once he announces his tour dates!!

xxKatie

Care-Package

The other day my mom tried to send me a care package, but since all the snow came, it was TOTALLY delayed. Typically packages from home take about 3 days to get here, 4 days maximum through UPS, so she was not expecting it to take that long. It was chock full of Valentine's goodies and snacks that were very much appreciated! I love getting packages from home and I especially love the cards that everyone includes. My Aunt Patricia always sends me little seasonal presents and I love the cards she sends me. I actually cut up one of the first cards that my mom sent me when I was still having a tough time at school and she signed it "I love you! xoxo Mom" and it's now framed up on my wall and you can see that she drew a heart around the little note and the outline of that is at the top of the frame. It's just a little bit of home that I like to see on my wall.

Included in the most recent package was this fabulous pair of yellow and plaid boat shoes! How much fun are they? I can't wait to wear them with my J. Crew 5'' chino shorts!! I absolutely love these little gems! They're just making me WAY too excited about warm weather and it getting sunny. Today I gave a campus tour and I was freezing in black pants with leggings underneath, tall black Ugg boots, and 3 different shirts on underneath my big North Face Denali fleece. I am SO over all this cold weather crud.

On a completely different note, I want to wish my sister a GIGANTIC "Break a Leg" for her show tomorrow. She's in the musical Good News at her high school (my alma mater!) and I couldn't be more excited for her! Thursday night is the opening performance and I am dying to hear how it goes!! Here's my card to you:

I miss you so much and I wish that I could be at your show!!

xxKatie

See U In The Dark

Last night, my sister and I went out to Philadelphia, P-A for a concert at the Wachovia Center. As my mom likes to call it, it is our "last sister hoorah". Grace is a huge Jonas Brothers fan (I am not however but details to follow) so she wanted to get tickets to the summer tour. I, however, like the opening band much better. They're called the Honor Society (Listen to all their songs! The first one on their MySpace is going to be in the movie "Bandstand", and I'm going to see the movie only because they're in it, yay!) and "See U in the Dark" is their most well-known song (grammar?). Grace told me that they are from NJ and they're whole look is Prep School(-esque). I couldn't agree more! They are a PREPPY BAND, can you believe it!? 

My favorite band member just so happened to match his-wait for it-boat shoes with his GUITAR! He even wore a button-down and a Madras tie!!!! 

By the way, all these photos were taken by me. Since my sister's in the JB fan club, we got a chance to get un-believable seats. We were virtually in the 4th row. Anywho, look at his tie! He was ADORABLE!! I got this ridiculous photo of his shoes from where we were sitting. These were his shoes (you won't believe this picture):

He was adorable! His name's Andrew.  I took this video of them singing their song (title of my blog- See U in the Dark). They have 3 other band members, Michael, Alexander, and Jason. 

(I really want to help them get famous. I mean they're already famous-obviously because they're touring with the JBs- but they're very cool!) They only have one song on iTunes, and its called "Where Are You Now" its the one I have another video of (it took too long to download on blogger), but download it please! I'm listening to it now as I write this blog. To make their preppy look even better, the drum/their logo has two crossing guitars above the HS, but they look like teeny-tiny lacrosse sticks! I love them! They even like one of my favorite sports!

Last summer Honor Society were discovered by another group of New Jerseyites, the Jonas Brothers, who have since introduced Honor Society’s brand of radio-friendly slick R&B pop to its fans and grabbed them as openers on the JoBros’ upcoming world tour. Even though its members skew slightly older than Jonas (Honor Society’s four members are all in their twenties), Honor Society has already achieved heartthrob status and nearly two million MySpace plays.

That's "their story" according to RollingStone- yeah they've been in RS. They even consider their look to be "very Polo Rugby with some rock edge" how fab! Enjoy HS!

xxKatie