Showing posts with label Madras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Madras. Show all posts

Monday, March 25, 2013

Carolina Cup Week: The Holiday

Carolina Cup is the biggest party of the spring in South Carolina!
It's our version of the Kentucky Derby in Camden, SC!

It's a horse-race that starts with mimosas in the morning, party busses to the race course, and popping from tent to tent throughout the day!

Students from almost all the local schools attend, with some making a weekend or entire 24-hour event of the day. It's one of my FAVORITE events each spring and is THE place to see and be seen!

Last year, it started out in the POURING rain, but eventually the day brightened up!

One of my favorite excerpts about the Cup, from Columbia Living Magazine says, "The label “clothes horse” may have been first applied at the Cup; seersucker and madras plaid make new debuts there each year. And Palm Beach shades, especially Lilly Pulitzer’s signature pinks and greens, are sported by sorority sisters and once-preppy matrons who, in the ‘60s, affirmed the venerable Florida designer’s belief that tropical colors and patterns make posh resort attire of simple sundresses."

This Cup week will cover EVERYTHING you can think of about the Cup! Any questions? Tweet them at me @letsbepreppy!!

Will you be there?

xxKatie

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

SwiMen

After giving it some thought, I haven't done a guy-foucused post in awhile! I just did the swimming post for us girls a few days ago, so I thought I'd show y'all some of my favorite swim trunks for the boys:
Lilly Pulitzer
Tommy Bahama
Brooks Brothers
Ralph Lauren
Mahi Gold
Vineyard Vines
Ralph Lauren: these seersucker trunks are one of my FAVES!
Chubbies: Have y'all heard of these yet?
Brooks Brothers
Ralph Lauren
Columbia PFG

Where does your guy like his swim trunks from? Does he do the short ones (like the Chubbies) or longer ones?

xxKatie

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Cup Dress Week: Maddie's Dress

...and by Maddie, I'm referring to Just Madras of course!!
Kimberly Dress

Just Madras has so many different madras options that give you SO many different hat/ribbon/shoes combo possibilities!

Mackenzie Dress

Plus, plaid options like the Mackenzie Dress gives your date a ton of different ways to match you! The way I'm envisioning it is: him in kelly green pants, a white button down and add a pink-and-green bowtie and YOU in the Mackenzie dress!

Ellie Dress

I love the versatility of all the Just Madras dresses! Also nice, if it's a really hot day, madras will keep you cool since it's so lightweight! Totally a plus!

xxKatie

Friday, May 20, 2011

Nothing Says Summer Quite Like Seersucker!

Seersucker is a go-to fabric for the summer. It's comfy, breezy, and packs well for quick trips here and there. Girls can wear it, guys can rock it, and let's face it, a baby looks stinkin' adorable donning seersucker. What's better? My friend Madras might have a bone to pick but here are my seersucker picks for summer:
Lilly Pulitzer: Blossom Dress in Classic White Regatta Embroidery
Brooks Brothers: Seersucker Fitzgerald Fit Suit
High Cotton Ties: Walker Madras & Yellow Pincord Reversible Bow Tie

High Cotton Ties: Duncan Madras & Blue Seersucker Reversible Bow Tie
Vineyard Vines: Seersucker Patchwork Shorts

Just Madras: Caroline Dress-Girls Pink Seersucker with rick rack
(Isn't she just cute as a button?!)

Aerie: Halter Seersucker Bikini Top and Bottom (on sale)

Anyone already have their seersucker ready for summer? Gearing up for those hot days!

xxKatie

Monday, April 18, 2011

Cooler Painting

Back home at last! We returned home from the beach around noon yesterday after a very successful weekend! A big custom with these fraternity weekends is to paint coolers themed around the weekend or event (formals, initiation, for your littles if you're in a sorority) so that you can bring your drinks, snacks and food easily with you! They are EXTREMELY difficult to paint. Whoever made this custom of painting acrylic paint on plastic was insane. Thanks to modern technology and the aid of several girlfriends who have done this in the past, my process was relatively easy. It started out looking like this:
Standard Igloo $18.88 cooler from WalMart

Then progressed:
And again:
And again:
And again: (it's like a butterfly)
This was the finalized top!! I was SO PROUD! Shane and I often call ourselves "Team Maryland" so when I started painting my cooler I knew I was gonna take the Maryland to an extreme! What's more Maryland-y than Old Bay Seasoning??
This was my madras front. I was most proud of this side. I'd never seen anything like this cooler so I was really excited to be very different from the norms!
This was one of my small sides! For this side, paint pens were key!
This was the back, it was a MapQuest inspired map to where we were heading! 

So now that I have one cooler under my belt, I'm tempted to make a list of things I wish I knew. Anyone have any tips to add? What you painted coolers for?

xxKatie

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

This is in My Top 5 Lilly Prints Ever

The Multi Jubliee Patch is quite possibly one of my favorite Lilly prints ever. On the Lilly website it says: This is the largest patch pattern we've ever done. The idea just popped into our heads after, well, after looking at a Lilly wrap skirt in 8" patch from 1968. The washed down fabric with soft, faded colors "sews" the whole Lilly spirit together.

It's actually the cover on my laptop still:
I haven't gotten sick of it at all I think because there are so many colors. I'm seeing more and more of this print pop up different places:
If you're a boy and wear a 36 or 42, or any size between 30-42 I have two places online that these shorts are available! Click the numbers to find them!


Saw these on eBay! I wish I knew someone who'd wear them, they're so much fun for any guy who's a 38R! They're also online here! I have a pair of Lilly pants from many years back (circa 8th grade...) that I still wear. It was the same year as Elefrance because that print's on my pants as well as Bon Bon!
If that doesn't say Carolina Cup, I don't know what does. Now I don't condone wearing the pants and Charles Blazer together, but what a piece this would be to have in your man's closet. 

Don't you just love this print too! I wish I could get my hands on even more of it!!!

xxKatie

Monday, August 2, 2010

Late Summer Staple

Long Sleeve White T-Shirts

I love a great long sleeve white t-shirt. You can throw one on with just about any bottom and you look effortless and chic. I think white long sleeve t's look nice with plain shorts, printed shorts, skirts, summer capris, and whatever else you can think of. I often wear one with navy J. Crew 5'' shorts and a great necklace (which was actually broken one night but then miraculously fixed by a good friend...I have no idea how he did it...) and Jacks. If you see some of my Polyvore sets, you know I wear this look a lot, just like July 26. and June 14.

For awhile I thought that long sleeved anything in the summer was silly. It's too hot and looks out of place, right? Wrong. You can not only take a long sleeve white t-shirt from day to night with a few simple changes, but it's a great alternative to a sweater or cardigan (although, don't get me wrong, I do love a good cardi). 

I first got the idea to do so a few years ago from the Cape Madras website. They had some young girl models who all were wearing various madras bottoms (skirts, skorts, capris, or shorts) and different white tops. In a few of the photos (since I first saw it, all the photos have been re-shot) the girls looked so cute and effortless that I had to give the look a try. Here's a photo that was similar to the one I saw:

First of all, how adorable are they and second of all, how nice does the plain bright white long sleeve t-shirt look?

If you don't have a good white t-shirt in your wardrobe, I would suggest scurrying over to your closest J. Crew outlet and picking up 10 a few of their standard crew neck white long sleeve-ers. I also have a couple from Old Navy but they don't last as long or keep their shape as well. I also like the J. Crew scoop neck Artist T's, but sometimes they can be sheer so try them on before buying. 

Anyone else like this look especially as a transitional outfit as summer begins to wind down (althought we still have a VERY long time, so not to worry!)??

xxKatie

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Dressing Avery (I was a guest blogger!)

A few weeks ago I was asked to write part of segment called "Dressing Avery". Skip over at Alex Grant invites some of the preppy blog crowd members to suggest cute little outfits for his daughter Avery. She's kinda young, but I suggested an outfit made up of all CWDKids Clothing full of pink and madras!
I used a few of these pieces and blended them with bright pink Jack Rogers to make a cute, playful outfit for Avery! Definitely go check out the series!

xxKatie

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Lilly for Guys

This post is all about Lilly for the men in our lives! There are lots of great options for boys to wear some of their own LP! Whether it's a blazer or just boxers, there's always space for a little Lilly for a guy!
I love the Lilly boxers! I think that any guy can wear these without feeling too awkward or silly. I know that boys generally don't like wearing all the bright colors that Lilly makes, but boxers are great since they'll be covered by pants or shorts! Not to mention, these guys are 1/2 price at The Sale Shack! For those of you who don't shop at the Sale Shack, it is the "sale rack" of C. Orrico, another one of the fab Lilly stores!

How great are these shorts?! They're even better if you've got the Worth Shift in What The Shell print too! Then you and your guy can match for some special occasion! These will only set your guy back $59.00 from Preppy Outlet (but he'll have to be a size 32 since they've only got 1 pair left!)

Considering I am a Maryland Girl at heart (who is feeling more southern by each day...), I love these shorts too. There are some crabs and lobsters throughout the patchwork and red and navy are always a classic combination! Snag these for your guy from Preppy Outlet too!


You all know I'm a girl who loves a good bowtie, and this one just continues that thought. Pink and Green paisley...it doesn't get much better than that! I'm sure one or two of these was spotted at the Carolina Cup for sure! 


I think that Lilly swim trunks are the best bet for any guy who is a little hesitant about buying Lilly. I actually saw a boy wearing the Resort 2009 Patch print swim trunks in my residence hall lobby last weekend and he looked fabulous! Since most swim trunks are a bit wild and out there anyway, why not make them printed and very colorful (aka Lilly in a nutshell) and very summery? These are from the Pink Pelican for $98.00! I love the hints of pink in this print so its not too overwhelming but still very cute!

I hope this gets your guys a little teeny bit more into wearing good old Lilly. Summer is the perfect time for them to start since everyone wears bright palette colors then anyway! Perfect timing...!

xxKatie 

Friday, February 12, 2010

Boy Lesson 2: Casual Wear

This is part two of my segment on what boys can wear! I'm not entirely sure how many posts this will have, but this one is devoted to casual wear (for warmer weather since it's snowing in many places now!!) since the last one was a bit more formal. Let's start with tops/shirts:

T-Shirts:


                                 

T-Shirts can be great for any occasion. They can be worn tucked in or not, and just keep them clean, both hygiene-wise and word-wise. No one likes your tacky beer shirt or the "I'm with stupid" shirt. Novelty shirts are just silly. Sports teams are also great! When I was in high school, all the boys typically wore either lacrosse t-shirts or sport teams that they played. Now that I'm in college, I think it's time for guys to depart with all their high school sports team shirt and move onto college--much more timely!!

Polos:

                                

                                  

Polos are a good alternative to t-shirts. They automatically look dressier than a T, but here it's all about preference. I think every guy needs a few colors: White, Black, Navy, Red, and Pink (yes, pink, you can pick the shade). With those 5 colors, the possibilities are endless, especially with white. A white polo is so crisp looking and I think when in doubt, a white polo always looks great!

Shorts:


                                  

                                    

                                     
If you're looking to go basic khaki is always great, even though not pictured. I think that nice khaki shorts are great in the spring through early fall and can be very versatile, coordinating with a button-down, polo, or t-shirt. All the other shorts options shown are great too. I'm a HUGE fan of madras as I said in the last post. I like both pastel (I'm actually more fond of pastels) and traditional, but I think guys are more likely to buy a traditional colored pair with deep hues like red, navy and gold. Either way they're a great choice. I absolutely ADORE colored twill shorts. I think these are the best choice out of all of them because of the color range. You can get colors to literally match anything in your closet. And last but certainly not least are seersucker. I think seersucker is the epitome of summertime since it's so light and comfortable. (The last 3 photos of shorts are all from VV, just a head's up because they've got a great selection for guys!) 


Accessories:

                                  
Croakies: I'm not entirely sure how I feel about them. If you take them out of context, they are extremely functional, although at school they have a rep as being "very fratty" (which I don't this is entirely a bad thing, but like I said, it depends on the context) because mostly frat guys wear them. I wear them, though and I'm a girl. I have a garnet USC one for gameday and I have a pink palmetto one that I like a lot! 

                                    
Sunglasses: They don't have to be aviators, but I think every guy needs a good pair of sunglasses that look good on them. Again, they're very functional, but only buy expensive ones if you know you can take care of them. Brands boys wear typically include Costa del Mar (in the South), Ray Bans (in the North), Oakleys (in the north), Von Zipper (in the North), and then most of the time cheap-o ones from anywhere. 

                                       

                                                  
Belts: I think every guy (and girl for that matter) needs a good leather belt. Along with a leather belt, maybe spring for a few funner belts like these from Tucker Blair and Smathers and Branson. These two companies are well known for their craftsmanship, and you know you're getting something great. At the store I used to work in, we sold S & B belts and keychains and the keychains flew off the shelves with women too! There was a boy in my high school who had a S & B 4-leaf clover belt that I LOVED. I never told him that but it was SO nice!

I hope the boys out there will appreciate some of these notes!! Just suggestions and chances are they probably have some in their own closets!! 

Have any of your own suggestions? What do you like boys to wear? Definitely let us know!!!

xxKatie