Gold Rush in Marrakesh

Our lovely friend Yinka Ajakaiye snapped these photos for us a few months back and I've been meaning to post them for the longest time but it kept slipping off my radar.

Still incorporating metallic for our Heavy Metal shoot we created a more ethnic inspired story that relied heavily on gold and some draped vintage finds. The gold paired with neutrals and jewel tones is reminiscent of the colors you might find at the Souks (Markets) of Marrakesh!

Now Wearing...

Over the weekend, my sister was in town and the weather was beautiful, so I took her to Highline Park to enjoy the sun and view of the west side.

I started out wearing a navy jersey blazer, but after less than five minutes in the sun, I was really hot! I'm bummed it's cold and gloomy again this week, but I'm just thankful the winter blizzards are over.

Cat eye sunglasses - no name
Black cowl neck - silence + noise, Urban Outfitters
Print shorts - Forever 21
Black roper boots - Justin
Charm necklace - Marc by Marc Jacobs
Rings - Forever 21 & Erica Anenberg

Last year, our good friend Errol gave us a couple charm necklaces - one to giveaway on the blog (hi, Karen!) and one to keep. I don't usually like to wear anything with big labels, but the color of this necklace is so fun and like nothing else in my closet.
Photography by James S. Rand

Now Wearing...

Blizzard gear! And red lipstick! This was my outfit from Wednesday night, quite possibly one of the busiest nights of my life and the worst blizzard I've seen since I've lived in New York. That white stuff in my hair, that's snow.

Six presentations and events... six! I still can't believe Erin and I made it to everything. We were literally running back and forth between the east and west sides. Knowing it was going to be a busy night and apocalyptic outside, I decided to be practical and wear my snow boots and bundle up! Snow boots are cuter than sprained ankles.
Navajo mom jacket - secondhand vintage courtesy of my friend Tran (1980's Liz Claiborne, it's totally a mom jacket)
White thermal - Gap
Skinny jeans - Uniqlo
Brown suede boots - Sporto
Yellow scarf - H&M
Metallic mini crossbody bag - Madewell
Cream woven hat - vintage, found in Brooklyn
Rings & bracelets - nOir, Forever 21 & secondhand
To avoid looking completely like a lumberjack or mom, I added some shiny accessories and red lipstick for polish. And lastly, I topped of with the cream hat and yellow scarf for warmth and pop of color.

Now Wearing...

Last weekend I DJed a fundraiser at Public Assembly in Brooklyn. The party was to help my good friend, DJ Morsy, replace his stolen equipment. The other weekend some punks at a Bushwick party stole his DJ bag, which had literally everything in it - laptop, Serato, headphones, mixer, camera, wires, everything!

The party was went really well. We raised enough money to help DJ Morsy get back on his feet, and everyone had a great time. The Beatards gave an awesome performance, and there was lots of dancing throughout the night, including my set!
Light blue furry vest - Pikko 1988
Black cage shoulder dress - Funktional
Ripped tights - Calvin Klein/DIY
Black lace-up boots - Justin
Bangle & rings - H&M, nOir and Forever 21

I started out wearing the cage dress with the furry vest for some warmth, but it didn’t take very long for the place to heat up. Since it was a casual Brooklyn party, I dressed down the dress with some ripped tights and flat lace-up boots.
As for makeup, I'm not expert, but I knew I wanted to wear a little lipstick for the occasion. I felt like a red would be too bold, especially since I wanted the focus of my outfit to be my dress, so I went with a slightly more subtle purple shade.

Lani Love in L Magazine

Do you see me? Bottom left hand corner.
Yesterday L Magazine published a profile on me, and it totally made my day. The title of the profile was "You should dress like: Lani." So cute! I'm totally flattered and honored! And I can't believe it. Is my face really on the L Magazine homepage right now?
I'm sure at least a few of you are wondering how it came about. A couple months ago, a friend from college shared a link to Sugar Rock Catwalk with a photographer at L Magazine, and he and his boss came over to my apartment to do a little shoot! Funny story about the shoot, they originally wanted to take some pictures of me in my room, but my room is so small there's no way we could all fit. That's New York living for you.

We did the shoot on my rooftop, and it was a surprisingly warm winter day. It was nice and sunny out, almost too sunny. It was really hard to keep my eyes open, but I prefer squinting to freezing.

You can check out the full feature and more photos at thelmagazine.com.

Vietnam Vacay Wardrobe Recap

I'm back! It feels great to sleep in my own bed again, but not sure it's good to be back. It was in the 80s when I left Vietnam and in the 70s when I left California; currently it's 19 degrees in New York and feels like 9.

For my Vietnam trip, my wardrobe criteria was:
- hand washable & relatively wrinkle-free, a 3 week vacation and I wanted to pack light
- versatile & layerable, the agenda was to start in the north and work our way down to south, meaning I needed clothes for a weather ranging from 60 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit
- plain & practical, when I'm on vacation I don't like to stand out too much and I think this is a well-accepted travel tip

So in a carry-on bag, I packed:

a pair of sunglasses



a oversized gray tissue tee
a pair of black shorts
a swimsuit


a reversible 4-in-1 tank, so handy
a pair of straight leg jeans, skinnys would not fly in the heat
Any time I needed a new shirt, I would (wash and) flip it around or inside out and ta da! I had black, pink, blue and green to choose from.



a black long sleeve shirt


a blue cropped cardigan, for in between weather



a hooded nylon jacket, for rainy & windy days
a hooded woven sweater, for chilly days
On the coldest day of my trip, I layered the two for extra warmth!



a dark blue jersey day/evening dress
I packed this just in case, and I'm glad I did because I had two occasions where I was asked to dress up at the last minue. Thanks for the heads up, Mom and Dad!
I don't have too many pictures in this dress because one event was was a Christmas Eve gala, where I got sick, so we had to leave early and the other was a 30-year reunion for my dad and his old friends.



a pair of nude jelly shoes
I ended up wearing everyday even though I packed a pair of flip flops. Being waterproof, they were perfect for beach and rain.

You might have noticed that I didn't have a handbag on me. Pickpocketing and theft in Vietnam is really high, especially for tourists, so for my trip I rotated between my pockets and a belt bag. And that, my friends, is what I wore on my Vietnam vacay!

I'll do a post later this week recapping my purchases. I will tell you now that I didn't have much time to shop, and pickins were kind of slim.

Holiday Tinsel

We shot this a few weeks ago before we got caught up in a Holiday whirlwind with our good friend, the lovely, Yinka Ajakaiye.

It's part of our new photoshoot series, Heavy Metal. Basically, we noticed one of the biggest growing trends in recent history has been metallic heavy, but not over the top gilded, kept modern by simple/classic shapes and made edgy with graphic, geometric detailing. We scoured our closets to see what we could come up with for a Holiday look.

Given the cold weather it was our first attempt at an indoor "studio" shoot! Hope you enjoy!

Erin

Necklaces - Dominique Cohen for Target
Sequin Dress - Luxe, Urban Outfitters
2 Tone Tights - Sparkle & Fade, Urban Outfitters
Lucite Wedge Sandals - Stuart Weitzman
Rhinestone Bracelet - DIY, Trim tied with Ribbon
Flower Pave Ring - Marc Jacobs Special Item

Lani
Animal Sequin Dress - French Connection
Metallic Thread Quilted Blazer - Betsey Johnson
Geometric Tights - Calvin Klein
3 Tone Necklace - Vintage
Zip Front Sandals - Pour la Victoire
Rings - no name, Forever 21

Wishing you and your families a warm, safe and very Merry Christmas! xoxo

Now Wearing...

Striped blazer - XOXO, from high school... haha
Black jersey dress - H&M
Ripped tights - Calvin Klein/DIY
Purple/maroon suede ankle boots - Marc Jacobs
Black woven bag - Gryson for Target
Multi-color tie-dye scarf - vintage
Jewelry - secondhand, no name & Forever 21
It's so funny how this blazer has stayed with me for so many years! I bought it back in high school for leadership conferences, and I contemplated throwing it out on numerous occasions but kept it every time because I loved the texture and fit of this jacket.
I've also debated parting ways with these boots in parring down my closet, but I decided to keep these because they're my only ankle booties and have a lot of sentimental value.

I bought them three years ago with my friend Stephy at a random discount designer shoe store in Orange County. I believe the clientele consisted only of older women, so these booties were on super clearance. There were exactly two pairs left, a bright purple pair in her size and a subdued purple in mine, and the next day, after an 8 hour day of school work, we drove up in the dark of night with our new shoes to San Francisco for grad school/job interviews. Every time I wear these shoes I feel a little nostalgic and I reflect on how much my life has changed. Wow, all this from a pair of shoes.