Why wear a hat. . .

The floral crown out in action

When you can wear a crown?! At least - that was my philosophy when putting together my outfit for Kentucky Derby this weekend.

Actually, I think that may be my philosophy for life. When other's are lacking headgear, wear a hat. When other's are wearing hats, make yourself a dang crown. Yes, make. Hot glue, a headband and floral flowers are all you need. Also, a lot of Lana Del Ray to inspire you.

And what goes better with a crown than a cape? Eureka. Seriously, could this outfit be any more royal? The moment I tried this graphic print dress on at the Nicole Kwon Concept store, I fell in love. With something that is pink - I know. But sometimes, we've got to eat our words for love.

Dress: Nicole Kwon Concept Store, Shoes: Prabal Gurang for Target, Bracelet: Chan Luu and random, Necklace: Madison

For more on this look (come on, you know you want to), follow the jump.

On Wearing Someone Else's Clothing

Vintage dress from Bess & Evie's, Kork-ease Flatforms, Acrylic Monogram Necklace, Vintage Bag 

I'm a self-proclaimed germaphobe. What I mean is, I wash my hands a dozen times a day, won't touch anything that looks like it could be "dirty" and cried once when somebody accidentally sneezed on me. So it's funny to imagine that I, of all people, love "vintage" clothing - which is honestly just a fancy substitute for the word used. But my love affair with 1950's clothing and shoulder pads seems to outweigh the fear of germs - I mean, that's what a washing machine is for, right?

In the spirit of David Letterman I'd like to share with you my "Top Five" reasons I love vintage clothing.

1. It's made for short people. Seriously - in this day and age, clothing seems be made for people 5'7'' and up. I'm 5'2'' and I haven't had to get a single thing tailored.

2. The classic shapes. Vintage shopping isn't what to do if you're looking for something edgy (okay, maybe the 80's were a little edgy) - it's what you do when you need a classic silhouette.

3. There's a history behind it. While it's always exciting to find vintage designer pieces for a steal, I love the little known brands. Through searching brands on the Vintage Fashion Guild you can find out when and where your dress came from. My a-line dress in this post is from the 1950's!

4. Old people always want to talk to you about your outfit. And I love old people - they are the cutest.

5. You're pretty much guaranteed that nobody else will have your outfit. While it is true that fashion repeats itself,  not unless your vintage dress has been straight up copied by a modern designer, your outfit will be free of copycats.

Oh - and don't forget - quality vintage clothing is less expensive than quality clothing by modern designers! Sounds like a pretty good deal, right?

Kendra Scott Turquoise Stacking Rings (separated), Vintage Owl Ring

Food Files: Snack Time Treat

Earlier this week my friend Christina and I were discussing our new hobby - dipping an assortment of foods in chocolate. I'm talking about pineapples, strawberries (duh), raspberries and gala apples. Sounds delicious, right?

When I came home from work today, to my dismay I didn't have any fruit left to dip in some chocolate! After a little Pinterest-ing, I found a recipe that fit my list of available ingredients, dried apricots dipped in semi-sweet chocolate. Feeling truly inspired, I decided to add a little salty to my sweet and fruity combination. I chose pistachios, but some other topping ideas include cashews, dried coconut, toffee or chopped dried pineapple. 

I like to tell mysel that these chocolate apricots are a guilt free dessert - I mean, there is a protein and a fuit in there - right?! Follow the jump for instructions a little how to on these sweeties. 

The Lazy Girl's Milk Maid Braid

Sometimes, I just don't have the time to fix my hair. Cue the milkmaid braid, which for me is the perfect quick fix for (gasp) dirty hair. But the thing is - I don't know how to French braid, or really even braid in general. So out of necessity, I've figured out another way to fix my hair in the milkmaid braids, without all the complicated braiding techniques. All you need to complete this look are bobby pins, hair spray and rubber bands - I prefer the Goody "Plastic Elastics" in black. Follow the jump for all the details. 

A Little Bit of Everything

Top: Nordstroms, Jacket: The Beehive, Pants: J. Crew, Shoes: Chanel, Purse: Vintage

Studs! I like studs (the metal ones, that is). And polka dots! I definitely like those too. What about some tweed? Or maybe a little (p)leather? All of those, please! The more the merrier.

That was my motto while getting dressed this morning - layer, layer, layer, along with a few fun prints, colors and accessories to match! While mixing so many textures and prints can be tricky, finding common threads (pun intended) in colors will tie your whole ensemble together. For this outfit, I looked to gold and white - using them to make the whole outfit, from my earrings to my toes, flow.

xoxo,

Instagram Lately

Life according to my Instagram feed lately has included more than a few "throw back Thursdays," photos of my cat, and yeah - that is the Man Repeller in the bottom left. Huzzah! Follow me now at margaux_polaux. 

Surfs Up at City Surf Fitness

I'll be the first to admit I'm a little (or more than a little) out of shape. My post-grad life hasn't involved a lot of exercise, but I'm working to change that. So when I heard that City Surf Fitness was opening surf shop down the block from my apartment, I was excited to try it out. For those of you who don't know the backstory ont this company, they were discovered on the television show Shark Tank and bought by Mav's owner Mark Cuban. But enough of the boring stuff - let's talk about the class!

I took the City Surfing class with my friends Madeline and Kirby - they had both tried the class before so I was the only newbie. The studio (above) had the similar vibe of a yoga studio except that there were eleven "surf boards" in the room instead of yoga mats. A video made by Billabong played on the screen, filled with toned beach babes in thong bikinis (seriously, people wear those?) and surfer dudes to inspire you. The surf boards felt like we were on large balance boards - the instability of them made it feel like I was floating on water. Our teacher warned us it would take 3 -5 minutes to get used to the board, but I'm not sure if I ever did to be honest.

The exercise class consisted of your typical cardio workouts like burpees, mountain climbers, squats and lunges, with the added on difficulty of balancing on the board. My favorite part was when we did squats while shifting our weight to either side of the board, simulating real surfing. We also did plank and typical ab exercises, along with some yoga poses to complete our full body workout. The music was definitely lacking - I am so sick of listening to "I'm sexy and I know it" during exercise classes.

Now on to the reflective part of the post, known as some thoughts I had during "surf" class. . . Okay, this sounds fun. . . Wow, this is kinda hard?. . . I have a feeling tortilla soup was a horrible choice for lunch. . . She wants me to do what?. . . Wow, this is a horrible cover of 'Call Me Maybe' and that's saying something. . . Wow the teacher has an awesome butt. . . Who smells like garlic, is that me?. . . I wonder how many surf classes I have to do have one like hers?. . . Jeeze I'm sweating a lot, it's making the board slippery. . . I wonder what kind of exercises Selena Gomez and Marni from 'Girls' do. . . Oh great that guy is looking at me through the window. . . How many of these thoughts am I going to remember to blog about?

This fifty minute thought stream was sporadically interrupted by fits of laughing, and at one point, Madeline completely wiping out off the board and knocking me off of mine.

This morning I woke up disappointed. I tried flexing all the muscles in my body, but didn't feel sore. I sadly texted my friends about it, and received the response "just wait."So I did - and let me say, she was right. It's now almost noon, and suddenly my thighs, abs, wrists and tail bone are SORE. But it's the good kind of sore - I feel like I really had a good workout yesterday. While I did like the class, I don't see City Surf Fitness becoming my regular workout routine - more of a fun class I do every once in a while to change it up. I'd definitely suggest trying a class - just to say you've gone surfing in Dallas, Texas!

Kowabunga dude?