who/what/wear

Name Maia Starr

Age I have been on this planet for one quarter of a century and then some...

Occupation  Freelance Writer & Nightlife Blogger

What's your major fashion weakness?

I have a really tough time buying pants.  This dates back to early childhood - my mother couldn't get me to wear anything other than a pink or purple skirt.  While I've progressed to wearing different colors, I can't seem to make myself wear pants.  There's always a skirt or dress that I'd rather buy.  Three months out of the year, this isn't a problem, but I live in New York.  December through February you can find me quivering in my boots and minis.

What's your favorite thing about Dress The Population? 

The wearability, and the versatility of many of the pieces.  Particularly this dress - I could wear it with sheer stockings and stilettos if I were going to a benefit or wedding.  In this case, I had about thirty different place to go - uptown and downtown - and so I needed to keep it chic enough for fancy-pants Midtown, but edgy enough to navigate Lower Manhattan post-Sandy.

Where were you going, exactly?

First I had dinner at ALTA with my friend Gatsby on West 10th Street because I was writing a focus piece on downtown restaurants in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy...Dining out downtown is a huge deal right now!  Restaurants lost a lot of money - and so did the people who work in them!  Then, I had to go to Beauty & Essex on the Lower East Side because I had to swing through for a friend's birthday.  Gatsby wanted to change so we headed to her apartment in the Windsor Arms.  It took her forever to change so naturally I took some pictures of myself lounging on her bed.  The bottom left picture is of me finding out they were - for some sad reason - not giving out free champagne in the ladies room of Beauty & Essex.  Usually they do!  We moved the party to the bar at The St. Regis all the way uptown, which is where you see me in front of a fireplace in the bottom right picture.  That dress went everywhere!

Tell us more about your styling...

It's not that unusual that a night out in New York will take you from a dive bar to a restaurant to a midtown hotel and vice versa.  Fortunately, you can wear vintage leather just about everywhere.  I loved the way the roughness of the leather worked in juxtaposition to the utter glam of the dress.

I added an ivory and silver clutch to lighten things up...usually I hate carrying clutches because I leave the everywhere, but this one just worked so well with the sparkle of the dress.

My lipstick is NARS Red Lizard.  It's a great red.  

My boots are Diesel from about four or five years ago.  I bought them with my Dad in SoHo when we were supposed to be picking out Christmas Gifts for my Mom.

The leather jacket is a vintage score...if I told you where I scored it, I'd have to kill you.

What are your favorite brands? 

Usually I'm partial to Marc Jacobs, or for fancier occasions, Ted Baker or Nicole Miller. and then other than that I shop vintage or online boutiques like NastyGal and Lulus.  There's nothing I hate more than Tory Burch flats. 

Party Time! Fabulush.

Don't mind me, I'm test-driving an outfit for a party tomorrow night.

It's never too soon to start building an outfit from the SHOES up.

You saw it here first - spikes can be dainty.

These colorblocked (super on-trend) wedges are available HERE on FLIRTNATION.COM.

So sweet.

The handbag also is from FlirtNation.com, and while they no longer have it in stock, you can find many other cute bags on their site under accessories.

Here's the whole look:

The dress was thrifted, but any black lace dress will do if you're trying to break some rules and mix black with brown as I did here...

Finally, I'll leave you with the biggest trendsetter in all the world.

HE MIXES BLACK & TAN ALL DAY EVERY DAY!

BJ Buford the Pug.  TasteMaker.  Innovator.  King of Cute.

xOxO

Brooklyn Brunch

A Brooklyn Brunch that lasted til 7 PM

My friends and I have no concept of time.

Needless to say, when I got home from Brunch I ate dinner...

My sunglasses are from one of the vendors on St. Marks, my jacket is Levi's 501.  My shoes (which are barely visible in this shot as they match the cement) are thrifted little booties.  I'll take another pic so you can see the detail.  The shirt under the jacket is another gem from FlirtNation.com.

You can see the shirt a little better in this instagram...It's really cute and it has a hi-low style that's so hot right now.  I paired it with thrifted red corduroys but I think I'll also try it with a body-con mini at some point.

The shirt is still available online - click HERE to shop the chiffon denim shirt...

Here's another view of my outfit outside, looking up at an amazing EAGLE mural that quickly became my obsession:

Hello, Mr. Eagle.

Lastly, I've included a detail shot of the boots (thrifted) since they blend in with the concrete, and a close up of my belt.  The Southern Comfort buckle belonged to my father in the sixties.  One day, while in a thrift store on a shopping expedition, the dude behind the counter offered me $100 for it - which means it is probably worth a lot more.  Yes, I am bragging. 

Ciao for now...

RED black & GOLD for San Gennaro!

Celebrating my Italian Heritage...by flirting with cops and eating street meat!

San Gennaro:  What's not to like?

Well, actually...a lot.  Streets overflowing with tourists (many intoxicated), weird old guys, and the excess roaming into SoHo and thus disrupting my shopping. But my girl Erica and I had a great time on Saturday.

What's to like about San Gennaro?  The food!  And the refillable frozen drinks!

Sunglasses brought to you courtesy of five dolla sunglasses on St. Mark's Place.  You know how I do. 

AND MY OUTFIT!  I'm wearing a vintage school-girl style dress, and old Nannette Lepore kneesocks. For accessories, I added a FlirtNation.com belt that you can purchase HERE, which goes perfectly with my trusty Marc Jacobs bag.  Nothing goes better than black, gold, and red. 

There are tiny gold crucifixes in my ears, but since I was already wearing so much gold and the FlirtNation.com belt is such a statement piece I didn't wear much else in the way of jewelry.

And my shoes make me a little sad because I purchased them at Irregular Choice in SoHo, which closed.

Bye-bye Beach!

Sixties-Inspired Montauk Dinner Party Outfit...

This is probably the best background I've posed against yet.

This dress is my favorite vintage find of all time...I bought it for $5 at Aardvarks in Los Angeles and it fits me as though it has been tailored for me.

You may recognize my shoes...I rock them a lot.  They're Dolce Vita's that I purchased from FlirtNation.com a while back.

Here I am drinking a rose while I waited for the rest of my friends to get dressed.  I love this pic.  I feel like I look like a Stepford wife.

This final pic is ripped from Instagram.  My friend Kevan (who works for Marc Jacobs Men's!) and I are ready to go...You can see my sunnies well, here.  They're from Guess and I wore them in my last pre-Montauk post.

Next week I have some cool Fall posts comin' up...but this is totally a good transition outfit that I would be down with rocking through the end of September.

Roof Romp Pre Montauk

I'm finally escaping NYC for Montauk for the long weekend tonight after my friends finish their bartending shifts!!

Yesterday I was working out of my colleagues apartment on East 10th Street and since we were taking portraits of one another for our Company's website, I decided to strong-arm him into helping me with photos for my blog as well.

Here's my layered outfit since I constantly catch colds in the summer due to the way people pump their AC:

Let's break it down:

The adorbs chambray shirt on top is from my recent obsession, FlirtNation.com.  It's made to be tied like that (IMHO) but you can also just button it, too.  If you look at the model in the link below, she just buttoned it with a pair of white jeans and looks fly as all hell.

  I'm wearing a size Medium and I'm generally a 4-6 on top but I like my sleeves long and I can't stand stuff that's too tight.  

Get the CHAMBRAY CROP TOP here!

Here's another view of the top.  I layered a bralette from Free People underneath.

Yeah, the sunglasses are hot too.  My Dad bought them for me from Guess (how Italian-princess is that?) so they were seriously over eighty dollars which I usually don't do.

(I oft leave my sunglasses in fitting rooms because I have a shopping addiction.)

Plus, Guess is kind of tacky, but Daddy and I were in Midtown so I had to think quick about what I wanted and where I could get it before the money stopped burning a hole in his pocket.

Yeah, the skirt is poofy for days.  It's from Ted Baker's Womenswear Collection which I found in my "Happy Place," Bloomingdales SoHo.  

I bought it full price but I saw it on sale afterword.

And finally, what you've all been waiting for:

Shoes!  Marc by Marc Jacobs Resort Wedges from two years ago.  I don't recommend wearing these out at night if you plan on traipsing around the scummy sidewalks of the L.E.S. and you're as clumsy as I am, but they make good day wedges...

Off to 'tauk!

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Pretty please ;)

Fall Fashion Inspiration

Fall is my absolute favorite season for style!

It's the best time of year in New York City.  The cooler weather is always such a relief since the humidity is so absurd in August.  Walking through Midtown feels like walking over hot coals - I swear.

Sometimes I feel like I'm literally cooking.

Grossness.

But, by Mid-September (right around fashion week!) the heat begins to mellow, and I find myself spending hours, belly-down on my bed, perusing the pages of Vogue and flipping around on shopping websites on my iPad.

Here's a look I'm sure to be rocking this fall:

I'm looking forward to wearing long-sleeved mini dresses from FlirtCatalog.com (my new favorite website for sexy dresses) in a latte shade of cream...

...with bold red lips:

I'm also pretty excited about the recent resurgence of SEQUINS!  They were everywhere on the runways and now I'm seeing them in hot new ready-to-wear collections and I can't get enough.

Check it out...this Ginger Dress by DressThePopulation was worn by Ashley Tisdale at the Rock of Ages premier, but I like the way this model chick pulls it off on Lulu's website:

How cute would this mini look with some fierce statement stilettos like this studded pair from FlirtCatalog.com?

MEOW!

Actually, these heels get me excited for the most ridiculous reason: I love not having to worry about getting a pedicure every week or so during the fall and winter.

What?  I like having more money in the bank for my shopping habit.

As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing."

Lookin' Good, Losing Money

Hi, Monkeys.

I had a rough week last week.

Which meant a trip to Atlantic City was in order! 

My friends El and Michelle (yes, seriously) had a room booked at Revel in Atlantic City and they invited me along.  Revel is a new Casino and it's smoke free, which was AMAZING!  I hate leaving a casino and smelling like one for days.

Plus it's super unhealthy to be around 2nd hand smoke, kiddies.

Nothing makes me feel better about life than turning my money into plastic chips, and then giving those chips to a stranger in exchange for a few minutes of card-play!  Bye, clothing money!  See ya!

Bah.

At least I looked good as I lost a cool $200.

Here I am posing in the living room of our suite.  There were a ton of quirky toys and books for me to pose with so I took advantage of the situation and decided to blog.

Here I am lookin' for trouble in one of my all-time favorite pieces - a FlirtCatalog.com fish-tail dress. 

I love this dress because it is like an all-inclusive resort for you body parts.  That sounds strange, but straight talk:  there's a bodysuit/leotard inside, so you needn't worry about how you're going to stay IN the dress.

Seriously, I wear a 32 C and there were no awkward boob situations.  Sure, there's a little side-cleavage going on but I like that look.  (Don't you?)

On my wrists I'm wearing a Citrine By The Stones gold-plated bracelet (those bangles are actually one slinky-like bracelet!) and a bone bracelet that my mother purchased for me in St. John, USVI.

I love hi-low hemlines!  And martian guns!  BTW, I'm wearing the same Dolce Vita wedges I wore in my last blog.  I'm obsessed with them.  Sue me!

Here I am on the couch guarding all of the money I'm about to lose, which I kept in my brown and beige bag from FlirtCatalog.com.  Again, I wore this in my last blog but the two pieces are SO versatile.

That's all for now!  Hopefully I'm going to be able to post again soon.

For now, I'll leave you with this instagram of me, El, and Michelle laughing as we fritter away at our savings...jk.

XO

MStarr

HOT CHILD IN THE CITY!

Hot Child in the City

It is hard to be this adorable all of the time.  This is my version of business casual.  You dig?

Dress from Atlantis Attic - it is a vintage jumper with tiny bows that I like to leave simply knotted.  

Only cost me $5!  SUCH a FIND.

This purse is from FlirtCatalog.com and retails for just $48.00.  I carried the purse with a different outfit to my parent's recent BBQ and all of the older ladies were shocked when I showed them the price online.

You do NOT need to spend upwards of $200 on every freaking handbag you own.

Variety is the spice of life.

Necklace?  Also FlirtCatalog.com.

Shoesies?  DolceVita, baby.

Here's another shot of my new favorite brown baby...is that my iPhone or am I just happy to see you?

Swangin' Chainz.  Drankin' Ice Coffee.  So gangster.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, pumpkins!

Because we can't do anything in a normal way, my family celebrated Father's Day tonight...well...it is Midnight right now...so I mean, last night.

My parents live in Westchester, which is a suburb of Manhattan.  Picket fences, no houses for BLOCKS, all that good stuff.  See below:

Indeed.  That, friends, is my mom's petunia-filled flower box.  #j'adore

For the occasion, I kept it casual.  You can't see cuz I wore my hair huge, but I only wore some simple vintage gold studs in my ears.  Other than that I was jewel-free, which is RATHER unusual for yours truly.

But I couldn't be heel free.  I'm a short little Italian girl (5'5" but I live in downtown NY I'm practically surrounded by statuesque models, people.)

Wha-bAm!

These lovelies are from FlirtCatalog, my most recent addiction.  They're still in stock in coral and black, I think.  Click on the link to buy these Cut-out Platforms.

Here's the full look:  This is me by day, kind of conservative, but you can see I'm still rockin' the sheer. There's something about summer and sheer that's synonymous in my mind...

Werq!

And here's a picture of how I usually stand:

Welcome to the most honest fashion blog on the interwebs.

In any event, this shot of my poor posture actually shows off how cute those lil' green shorties are cut!  (Also from FlirtCatalog, and linked above.)

My top was a hand-me-down from my old college roomie before she left NYC for Swellay.  I'm going to visit her this week so hopefully I'll have time to blog with her as she works for one of my FAVE designers...

Happy Sunday!  I spent Sunday Funday frolicking around lower Manhattan with my friend Janie.  We  went to brunch, then had some cocktails at our friend Erika's house, and wrapped up the evening by getting dinner at the pretty L.E.S restaurant, Ten Bells.  Needless to say, I'm going to be running at least five miles later.

In these fabulous pix I'm wearing my trusty MARC BY MARC bag
my bralette from FlirtCatalog
my sweet new white woven top from FlirtCatalog
sunglasses from FlirtCatalog
black skinnies from Citizens of Humanity
and Dolce Vita wedges (most comfortable wedges EVER) from FlirtCatalog, too.

I guess I was in a rather flirtatious mood.

~maia starr

Short skirts.  Color.  Lollipops and red lipstick.  Frills give me thrills.  I am going to make so many cutie-pants outfits you are going to just die.  (Well not really, duh!)