Fashion Me Fabulous

When I graduated from high school, I recieved several keepsake necklaces with the year or a little graduation cap on them. They were very sweet gifts, but I never wore any of them. They were given to me on the day of my graduation party. I didn't open them until the next day so I had no graduation-related occasion left for which to wear them. And when else do you where such specifically themed jewelry? I would advocate that cash is the best grad gift (college is expensive!), but if you want to give something more meaningful (or a trinket in addition to the money), these necklaces will offer inspiration and encouragement for years to come. This Girl Reaches for the Stars Necklace by erinpelicano Compass Necklace by SusiDjewelry Winston Churchill Quote Necklace by FragileEliteDesign Personalized Envelope Locket Necklace (Add your own message) by CaptureMyArt Emerson Quote Necklace by BookishCharm poll by twiigs.com

For our eighth wedding anniversary, my husband and I recently went to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium . Being so close to the fish made me absolutely giddy. So pretty! I loved watching them glide through the water and the way their scales would catch the light. Love! This is part one of a two part series inspired by the fish we saw at the Shedd. All of these fish and amphibians live in the Amazon. Piranha by fashionmefabulous Piranhas are omnivorous nibblers. They eat meat, but they also eat fruits and vegetables. They will not strip their prey in seconds. It's very rare for people to be killed by piranhas, but they may taste your toes if you're not careful. Arapaima by fashionmefabulous Growing over six feet long, the Arapaima is the largest fish in the Amazon. It eats other fish and occasionally small mammals that get too close to the shoreline. Even more remarkable, arapaima breathe with a lung, useful for low-water seasons when they live in swamps.

Shop: Palmy Collections Why We Love It: I'm frustrated with shopping at the moment. I can't seem to find anything I like, but one kind of shopping seems to never let me down--shoe shopping. I'm on such a shoe kick that I need someone to come over and hide my wallet. These adorable shoe creations from Palmy Collections are quite tempting. Price Range: $53 - $135 Favorite Items: (Click through the slideshow below to see our favorites). View this collection on Polyvore Etsy Shop Spotlight: Palmy Collections by fashionbeccafabulous on polyvore.com Pictured: Juliet Booties $124 ; Yellow Sandal Flats $99 ; Dolly Flats $110 ; Magen Heels $69 ; Alice Peep Toe Booties $110 ; Thara Heels $75 ; Maci Sandals $54 (also pictured above)

Remember how I was ranting about " nude " being used as a substitute for beige? Mod Cloth is not marketing this bathing suit as nude, but it should come with a warning: Midtone skin may appear naked on beach. If your skin tone ranges from Jennifer Lopez to Lupita Nyong'o, you could pull this off. In fact, Lupita is the only celebrity I could imagine making this work. She could even make that silly cutout look like a cute design detail. Cate Blanchett has a history of making things work, but her skin is so pale, from a distance it would look like she has a reverse suntan. (So says the woman who is so pale that a tinted moisturizer looks like blemishes.) But if you're in between Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lopez (then you're life is more fabulous than mine), let's say you're Jennifer Lawrence (see, sooooo much more fabulous), wearing this swimsuit is going to look like you are running around on the beach in a giant boob bow. Of course, if your goal is to

This year's round up of retro swimsuits is heavy on nautical. That seems to be an even bigger swim trend than straps that will give you weird tan lines. If you're not into buttons, stripes, and red, white and blue, buying a swimsuit may be a little more difficult for you this year. I did my best to include other colors, but there was no hope for yellow or orange. If you love nautical (like me), please note that nearly all the suits below are also available in a more nautical version. copper "old Hollywood" swimsuit, Pin Up Girl $120 blue nautical swimdress, Shabby Apple $64 pink gingham swimdress, Juicy Couture on Amazon $104 polka dot button bikini, Amazon $10 (Yes, $10. This suit is all over Amazon in a variety of colors and always crazy-cheap.) navy polka dot skirted swimsuit, Betsey Johnson at Mod Cloth $126 striped bikini, Esther Williams on Amazon $77 emerald ruched swimsuit, Esther Williams on Amazon $75 lavender polka dots, Esther Williams at Mod

This might seem like a slightly odd pick of the week--sunglasses from Five Below, the store where everything is $5 or less. But, hear me out. Sunglasses get expensive. If you want fun sunglasses, they get even more expensive. If you want designer, this is not the post for you. If you, like me, lose, break, scratch, drop or otherwise harm sunglasses regularly, you need to check out Five Below. The range of sunglasses in the store isn't quite accurately represented on their website . I see a lot of much more grown-up looking pairs in the store. They have nearly every style you can imagine. I have a pair of heart sunglasses from Five Below, only the hearts on on their side so they're not the typical heart sunglasses, which is really cool. They have cat eyes sunglasses, blinged out sunglasses, sunglasses like the ones from Breakfast at Tiffany's , sunglasses in every bright color and print. Most of them closely resemble their counterparts at major clothing chains (including

As you know, I'm not a fan of neutrals. Beige is my particular foe. (Can I just take this moment to rant about how much I hate using the word nude as a substitute for beige. Not everyone is the same shade when we're naked or even when we're clothed.) Be that as it may, it's still a good idea to have a pair or two of neutral shoes on hand. Much as I love my reds, purples, and teals, I know that sometimes I need to take things down a notch. Doesn't mean I need to be completely boring though. The collection of neutral shoes below has work in mind. I'd like to think they would elevate any pencil skirt-blouse combo from "I have to wear this" to "You can't kill my spunk." 1. Chelsea Crew oxford, Mod Cloth $60 (so getting these) 2. Mojo Moxy bow pumps, Mod Cloth $70 3. Miz Mooz "Callista" pump, Amazon $129 (People come in this shade, but it's listed as mushroom . Gah!) 4. Calvin Klein "Kathy" fish scale pump, Sho

Shop: goodbyefolk Why We Love It: A stunning pair of oxfords makes me weak in the knees. An adorable pair of saddle shoes takes me back to my childhood. Vintage-inspired high heels make me giddy. Beautiful boots bowl me over. And nearly everything from goodbyefolk has me saying goodbye savings account. Price Range: $210 - $320, with one outlier costing $950. These prices are less than many designer shoes of lower quality and blander design. Favorite Items: (Click through the slideshow to see some highlights) View this collection on Polyvore Etsy Shop of the Week: goodbyfolk by fashionbeccafabulous on polyvore.com Pictured: Baby Blue Booties $320 ; Blue Saddle Shoes $225 ; Black and Brown Oxfords $225 ; Flower Oxfords $225 ; Two-toned Booties $320 ; Buckle Heels $290 ; Polka Dot Boots $280 ; Ivory Vagabonds $225 ; Oxford Heels $320 ; Nude Braided Sandals $240 ; Mary Janes $240 ; Victorian Spats Boots $280 ;  Silver Oxfords $225 ; Bespoke Mens' Oxfords $225 (

Last year's punk theme ran up against more than one person who refused to deign to the night's honoree. This year's theme was Charles James, essentially the Christian Dior of America (a man whom Dior himself credited as his inspiration). If you love photographs of classic movie stars, chances are you've drooled over one of James' show-stopping dresses. If you have ever longed for a dress by Oscar de la Renta or Zac Posen, know that they owe a great debt to Charles James. Don't these ladies look like finely wrapped candies in their big skirts, elegant draping, and rainbow of colors? Did the celebrities in attendance pull out all the big gowns? It seemed like many celebrities wanted to play dress up this year. Click through the gallery below for the women who pulled off the theme the best. View this collection on Polyvore Met Ball Gowns 2014 by fashionmefabulous Check out the Met's exhibit page or Vogue 's article on James for more deta

Yes, this is Fashion Me Fabulous, but I understand why you checked twice. There's a sneaker on the page. Crazy shenanigans for a Monday. Sorry. becca's the sneaker head, leather sneakers in particular. Don't know what she'd think of these, but I kind of like these "Holden" sneakers from Sam Edelman . First of all, shiny. Second, I really like the color block with the metallic toe. They'd work with my jeans or my tutu. Or maybe I'm feverish. Tell me what you think of these sneakers while I call the doctor.

The two finale dresses from Iris van Herpen's show are made of silicon. The black one was 3D printed. This show focused on texture, so some of it gets lost without good detail shots.  The bumps in many of van Herpen's pieces are artificial fire opals seen through an embroidery mesh. As Nine would say, "Fantastic!" Van Herpen brought us probably the weirdest shoes of the season. The all white Threeasfour show looked like a reflection on sound waves. Thom Browne combined the Catholic church and Victorianism. Giles featured many lovely hummingbirds, but it was these beetles that show the most love and skill. I can barely hem a thing, let alone make 3D bugs out of fabric. Christopher Kane featured several dresses that were very structural, but they most reminded me of unloved books warping in someone's basement. Rick Owens made all of his coat sleeves extra long. They look like a cross between a child in an adult's coat and a str

A basic skirt is a wardrobe builder, a must have. But not every skirt suits every figure. Recently, I picked up with Old Navy skirt . It's just a basic black circle skirt, which would really help my wardrobe a ton. Last year when I tried on several similar skirts, they just didn't sit right on me. They looked offand hung poorly. This one, was perfect. I was shopping with a friend who also tried it on and loved it. We are rather different shapes. I have wide hips, full tights, junk in the trunk and a bit of a tummy. She is a slimmer, straighter build. We both bought one. Later that week, I showed my skirt to another friend who tried it on right away. She actually doesn't own any skirts because she has a hard time finding them to flatter her figure. She went to Old Navy the next day to buy this skirt. The skirts trick for hanging so nicely is the heavier material. It's heavy enough to wear in the winter, but not too heavy to sport to the office in August. Also, thi