If you haven’t heard of Matchesfashion, you need to crawl slowly from under that rock and discover this online mega fashion paradise.  Matchesfashion.com held a three-day fashion residency in NYC at the fabulous World of McIntosh (WOM)  four-story townhouse complete with indoor swimming pool and a fantastic rooftop terrace!  Matchesfashion treated guests to brunch, cocktails, music, fashion and an up close preview of the Fall 2016 collections and vacation edit. As if this wasn’t enough to make any girl happy, you could also talk and interact with top names shaping the fashion and art world like Leandra Medine of Manrepellar, The Coveteur, Eugene Tong and Paddle8.

I found my #Happyplace by the indoor swimming pool. Pristine pools of water are magnetic  for nonswimmers.  Who needs pink swans and unicorns when I can have giraffes and zebras to cuddle with me? One of the giraffes told me that I should skip kissing frogs in search of my prince charming and kiss a few giraffes and zebras on my journey instead. Agreed!

Now let’s get to the interesting stuff.  The Q&A with Leandra Medine and Natalie Kingham (buying director of Matchesfashion) was informative and insightful.  They discussed how social media and blogs were shaping and changing the way we digest fashion information and as a result the way we shop.
Buyers have the difficult job of creating a shopping selection that has something that speaks to the style sense of every consumer. I learned that even though a buyer’s personal taste automatically influences their style, it’s important to try to disassociate from this natural instinct and think “is there a consumer for this item, even if you wouldn’t wear it?”

My favorite quote by Medine was “your closet shouldn’t look like the grocery aisle in a supermarket.” As fashion savvy as the author appears on Manrepellar, she does not recommend buying things simply because they are new, hot or trending. It’s hard for us not to give in to this urge of shopping “on trend” items when they are parading down our timeline and bouncing off the glossy pages of this month’s issue of InStyle or Vogue magazine and into your subconscious. I suppose my wallet, credit limits, and monthly bills provide checks and balances when my subsconsious starts to speak to me. When I tried to splurge on $605 Aquazzura raffia pom-pom sandals, my debit card  said “you have to pay taxes this month,” then my subconscious replied “but you’ll need them if you decide to go to St. Tropez this summer. Finally, the  $495 available credit on my Amex had the last word. Boo! Anyway, I had just as much fun  exploring the  pop-up shop as I would actually shopping.

It’s super easy to get caught up in the fashion frenzy when everyone looks so perfect and chic. Leandra was super honest in saying that even though Matchesfashion decorated her in a beautiful spotted Osman coat, the price tag, in addition to not being able to wear it a gazillion times during the spring, makes it impractical if you’re ballin’ on a budget. If you feel like you absolutely need it, then you can shop it here.
Not much to say about this look other than, everything I am wearing I’ve had for over three years, except for the shoes. H&M top and Zara skirt.

I would love to prepare a similar look for you to shop but unfortunately, it’s 70 degrees outside today and mommy wants to go out for a play date. Check back this post tomorrow and I will share some faves in order to GET THE LOOK!  Happy Sunday Lovies xoxoSB

Photographer : Ramone Henry

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