Things that Make Me Smile: Orange You Glad It's Friday?

In late-May/early-June of each year, the small town of Princeton, New Jersey nearly doubles in size as roughly 20,000 alumni return for Reunions.

Wikipedia claims that it's "the most well-attended college reunion in the world."

Campus is converted into a sea of ORANGE and BLACK as alumni, their partners, children, and, yes, even their pets, get into the spirit. Reunions are celebrated with themes, costumes, fireworks, and the famous P-RADE, in which alumni march along a parade route according to their graduating class and show off their finest Tiger gear.

Photo courtesy of The Daily Princetonian

(It's easier to wear these unflattering Halloween-esque colors when you consider that Reunions are allegedly Budweiser's single-largest order of the year...)

Princetonians take Reunions VERY seriously:

Photo courtesy of The Daily Princetonian

Many Princetonians admit that their normal reunions fears (needing to lose weight, not wanting to run into an ex) are exacerbated by the need to find the PERFECT orange and black ensemble. It's something that crosses my mind every time I see a shade of orange or a tiger print.

So here are a few ideas for what my friends and I might wear to show our Tiger pride.

J.Crew // T-Bags // J.Crew

Ralph Lauren // Loeffler Randall // Lilly Pulitzer

Nanette Lepore // Alice & Olivia

BAGS for DAY:


Clockwise from Top Left: Noah // Tory Burch // Kate Spade // Vineyard Vines for Princeton

CLUTCHES and WRISTLETS for EVENING:

Bottega Venetta // Kate Spade // Coach // J.Crew

And a few Accessories to add the perfect finishing touch.

Hermes // Emporio Armani (it's a men's watch, yes, but it's fun)

Celine // J.Crew crewcuts // Thread Social

They may be a bit tacky, but Jellies make me SO nostalgic for my childhood, and are wonderful for romping through the rain and muck that comes with every Reunions season.

See by Chloe // Tory Burch // Givenchy

In case that's not enough, you can bring out the big guns.

// Hunter //

Here are some more delicate options, should the sun decide to shine:

// "T" is for "Tiger"...and Tory Burch and Tod's //

Clockwise from Top Left: K. Jacques // J.Crew //Michael Kors // Kate Spade // Mystique // Juicy Couture

And it's important to have some dressier options in case your boyfriend treats you

to dinner at The Ferry House. (*hint hint*)

Clockwise from Top Left: Bottega Venetta // Vera Wang // Halston // Oscar de la Renta // Alice & Olivia // Camilla and Marc

Yves Saint Laurent (aren't these sort of awful?!) // Kate Spade // Yves Saint Laurent

RAH RAH RAH
TIGER TIGER TIGER
SIS SIS SIS
BOOM BOOM BOOM
BAH!

T-28 Days.
Cxx.

Hello sunshine

(Via Sartorialist)

For the love of all things kate spade

Courtney from Inside the Loop did a post on kate spade ad campaigns and I had to do one too. Every season I look forward to seeing what direction the brand will take with their visuals. They're always consistent with a classic/quirky theme, you really can't miss them when you're flipping through a magazine (I literally have a folder with KS ads that I have been collecting since high school from Elle's and Vogue's, seriously).

These are a few of my favorites:


And here are some from the new campaign:



So of course after all of the oohing and ahhing I was dilly-dallying through the sale section and found the Bah Hum Bug hat on sale! I really need this, I think it's a classic: