bright young things

This girl gives new meaning to the term "young sophisticate". She seems about high school age and she makes the girls of Gossip Girl look like frauds. Her style may not be how I would personally choose to dress, but it has great flair and personality. AND she has those amazing Ann Demeulemeester lace-up boots I covet. Check her out on her blog at Sea of Shoes

This leads to a digression.

Young folks seem so much confident and comfortable with individualism than I ever was when I was a teen. My younger sister is 20, just four years younger, but she and her friends are stylistically-speaking way more developed than mine ever was at their age. Unlike me, she doesn't read fashion blogs or magazines very much. Her style is entirely influenced by what she sees in the shops and online stores, what she sees people wearing on the streets, what her friends might be wearing. I somehow find that so much more authentic. She might be following a trend she's seen on the streets, but it wasn't prescribed or anointed "the one". She's just buying and wearing whats she likes. She bought a large a little while back that I immediately ID-ed as "Lanvin-inspired", but she had no idea what a Lanvin bag looks like. (She was a bit ick-ed to find out that she's carrying an almost-knock-off).

I would like to shop like that, just buy stuff without being under the influence of what's in the magazines, the blogs, to shop without the feeling that I'm subconsciously imitating someone or a look I've seen somewhere.

So, I love it when I encounter looks that really stand out from the rest.

Images from seaofshoes