Walt Disney’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

Since Halloween is quickly approaching, I knew that now would be the perfect time to cover fashion inspired by my favorite seasonal movie, Walt Disney and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. I can remember my 4 year old self watching this movie over and over, and to this day, it never gets old for me. While writing this article, I was so inspired that I decided to separate it into two parts.
Like the previous articles in this series, the purpose of this article is to use childhood films as inspiration for outfits that you can actually pull off as a college student. All it takes is a little creativity!
For more Disney-inspired looks, check out our past articles on Walt Disney’s Snow White,

About The Nightmare Before Christmas

The story takes place in Halloween Town, a frightening place where life revolves around celebrating, you guessed it, Halloween. The most popular guy in town is Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King. Everyone looks up to Jack because he is amazing at terrifying the world for Halloween. Despite his fame and glory, Jack feels like there’s something missing in his life.
One day, while walking through the woods, Jack discovers a portal to Christmas Town, filled with joy and happiness, full of bright colors and beautiful decorations. This, he discovers, is what he had been missing. Jack rushes back to Halloween Town to explain Christmas to the townspeople. He decides that instead of organizing Halloween, Halloween Town will take over Christmas.
Preparations begin, and the most important job, creating a Santa suit, is given to Sally, a doll-like creation of the town’s mad scientist. Sally is secretly in love with Jack, and they have a lot in common – both characters dream of living a more fulfilling life. Although Sally loves the idea of Christmas, she warns Jack that she has a terrible feeling that something will go wrong. But Jack, consumed with excitement about Christmas, ignores her warning.
As Sally predicted, Jack’s plans soon start to go wrong. Although Jack thought it would be nice to capture Santa Claus so he could relax and not worry about his Christmas duties, Santa ends up being held by the Oogie Boogie, the most terrible man in all of Halloween Town. The Oogie Boogie plans on killing Santa, so Sally rushes in and tries to help.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the people of Christmas Town are horrified by the creepy presents Jack delivers to their children, and they put out a warning of a Santa Claus impersonator. Jack’s sleigh is shot down from the sky.
Rather than being upset at his failures, Jack looks on the bright side and is proud of himself for discovering something new and trying his best. Realizing people need to stay true to who they are, he rips off his Santa suit and declares himself the Pumpkin King once again. He rushes back to Halloween Town and rescues Santa and Sally from the horrible Oogie Boogie.
In the end, Santa Claus saves Christmas, despite the damage Jack had done. Grateful to Jack for saving his life, Santa gives the gift of snow to Halloween Town. Finally, Jack sees Sally walk out of town, so he follows her to his favorite hill in the pumpkin patch. There, they realize that they are meant to be together.

Jack’s Lament

After celebrating Halloween, rather than feeling accomplished with his great work, Jack Skellington feels like something is missing in his life and expresses himself through the song “Jack’s Lament.” For an outfit inspired by Jack, I chose a striped dress to match his suit, a form-fitting blazer, and purple shoes for a pop of color. I also added a spiky necklace, reminiscent of Jack’s collar.

Tights- Forever 21,  Dress- Topshop,  Necklace- ASOS, Shoes- Amazon,  Blazer- Jane Norman

What’s This?

When Jack discovers the joyous land of Christmas Town, he sings the song “What’s This” because everything he sees is so new to him. To make an outfit inspired by the scene, I used a long sparkly sweater, reminiscent of the snow, and red leggings. I also added some edgy earrings and boots, because even though Jack is in Christmas Town, he is still a tough guy.

Leggings- American Apparel,  Sweater- Oasis,  Bag- Spiegel,  Earrings- Betsey Johnson, Boots- Forever 21

Mr. Oogie Boogie Man

To me, one of the most memorable scenes in the movie is the one where the evil Oogie Boogie captures Santa Claus. It is wretched and creepy, but the colors are so vivid. With this scene as inspiration, I made an outfit with a very bright color palette.

Top- Tilly’s,  Shoes- Forever 21,  Jeans- Uniqlo,  Vest- Alloy,  Bracelets- Tilly’s

Sally’s Song

Sally sings her song to herself to express her love for Jack and the anxiety she feels about his plan to take over Christmas. I drew inspiration from her outfit by including lots of different patterns, but ensuring they look put-together. I also chose a bag and necklace inspired by leaves, since Sally is stuffed with them, and added adorable cat earrings since she pets a stray cat in the song.

Bag- , Tights- Anthropologie, Dress- Modcloth,  Coat- Modcloth,  Earrings- Avalaya, Necklace- Amazon,  Boots- Urban Original

Grunge dirty decadence popular dress style

1990s-style motorcycle jackets, latex leggings and mitts, which are also key elements of a strong style.

They represent “a bit dirty the image of the decadent.” New York Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Andrew Bolton said garment points. At the same time, this “chaos dress” style, “will give people easy access to the feeling,” he said, “not perfect sexual attraction is the greatest.”

This new “sexy” and add more pungent than in the past, but also a little bit neutral, reminiscent of Patti Smith, not Fergie. The rebellious fashion statement has been gradually declining in recent decades, and now, inevitably, it was taken out of fashion again.
In addition to leggings, pants camouflage uniforms and bicycles outside, Mad Max era of classical liberal, or even worn T-shirt, hat, boots, and pilots are rapidly expanding T stage. Meanwhile, retailers are pushing to close the main jacket, waist coat and large, represented by the conservative dress casual informal clothing, as still appears in some of the T stage of the sweet girl Dress lace skirt and correction. Season, Topshop, Forever 21 high street brands have launched numerous different styles of motorcycle jackets, folders, and holes in jeans rock Pima.
For example, Yoda’s store had a more neutral fashion brand, its design looks all dirty, are artistic grunge (waste rock) style. In the Aloha Rag, although these clothes look a bit shoddy, but have obvious advantages – it makes note of those who have sexy parts: for example the back, forearm and collarbone. It also reflects the physical or psychological that young people are advocating willful mashup style

Fashion Color Trends

This fall, there is a diverse range of intricate colors. They all bear a shade of autumn. For the winter, khaki, beige and navy blue made ample exhibits. Let’s now run around the fall sheet and find what’s in vogue.
Most significant trend perhaps is the military print. Khaki naturally leads the pack. The Burberry’s and Etro’s are already singing its praises. Beige is doing well over camel. At Gucci, they are present in nude, deglamorized shades. At Chanel, they come in ivory whites. The same is the case for Calvin Klein. This fall, black has been substituted by grey at large.
Apart from colors, there are a lot many prints too. The ethnic ones and the leopard variations, made big by Anna Sui and Emanuel Ungaro respectively.

Colors trail more colors and if Lacoste is anything to go by, then colors are simply getting bigger. Lacoste plays with both sides of color. In its first avatar, a flamboyant, youth-based color pattern of red, green and yellow was used. The second one used daring whites, grey and other earth tones. Anna Sui has experimented a lot with earth colors. She has awed one and all with her natural shades and usage of elementary colors. She has evolved knitting to a different level.
Fall 2011 has a fetish towards military prints. While khaki and green are right at top, navy blue emphasizes upon an urge to get rigorous and coarse. The navy blue blazer is adorned by horizontal zippers in golden and is augmented by svelte tights.

Trend to Try Leopard

I have always been a fan of bright and colorful prints, but have kind of shied away from animal prints. If you just go a little overboard with animal prints, it could turn into a hot mess. Fortunately, I have discovered a way to incorporate animal prints in your look that is tasteful and chic instead of resembling a jungle creature – leopard-print bags! I have already described my love for Alexander Wang’s leopard bucket bag, but whether it be a clutch, hobo, cross-body or shoulder bag, I am liking the leopard-print trend.

Last night, Mulberry celebrated the launch of its fall 2010 collection at the Chateau Marmont. Stars like Cat Deely, Kelly Osbourne and Molly Sims were in attendance, but I was really interested in Alexa Chung and Kate Bosworth…and their bags. Bosworth paired a Fashion’s Night Out T-shirt, skinny black jeans and a Mulberry ‘Margret’ leopard-print chain strap bag. Chung wore a satin Mulberry blouse and jean cut-offs with her namesake bag from the brand in a leopard print.  Get Kate and Alexa’s look with a leopard-print bag (for less!):

How to Wear Cowboy Boots

“I’m subscribed to CF and read all the posts. I just purchased the cutest brown cowboy boots, but am finding it hard to find outfits to wear them with. Please help, How do I wear cowboy boots?” – Abby

I personally like the look of cowboy boots, and even though some hardcore Vogue readers will claim that they aren’t “in” right this second, I am a believer in wearing what you like, just making sure to wear it the right way! There’s no fashion discrimination here, except maybe against pajamas in public…
Read on to learn how to wear your cowboy boots while avoiding looking like you’re trying out for a part in the next Dukes of Hazzard… It’s not hard, I promise!

Cowboy Boots With Jeans
This is probably the most classic way to wear a pair of cowboy boots. There are two ways to do this, and which one you pick depends on your personal style and which type of jeans you prefer!
Under Your Jeans


Your boots will look like high heels, giving you a bit of height while still keeping your outfit casual. This look works the best with flared or wide-leg jeans, because cowboy boots are usually pretty wide around the leg, and could look bulky if you wear a more tapered jean. Also, make sure your jeans are long, because the goal isn’t to show off too much of the boot in this case.
This look is great because the toe of the boots peeking out from under your jeans will make your legs look super-long and thin, always a plus!
Over Your Jeans

Cowboy boots are perfect with the skinny jeans of last season if they’re still in your closet – it’s so easy to tuck skinny jeans in to any boot. If you don’t have any skinny jeans, regular straight legs can be folded over and tucked in to show off the boots. Try pairing this look with a leather jacket and structured bag to tone down the country-ness.

Cowboy Boots With A Dress

I love this look personally, even though it might not be the most “right now” way to wear it. This style has gotten a lot of flack recently because apparently Britney Spears loves to wear her cowboy boots with short dresses around LA. Don’t let Brit deter you though – it’s actually a super-cute way to wear cowboy boots if you pick the right dress and accessories.
With An Airy, Flowery Dress

One popular way to wear cowboy boots is with a flowery, loose and/or casual dress, as seen in the looks above. Go simple and white like Ashley Olsen or Jessica Alba, or for a more extreme look, pair boots with a colorful dress like Miley. (Disclaimer: Miley’s outfit is for the fashion-adventurous only!) Also, your dress should be above the knee, but not too short!
For some dress ideas, try Jovovich-Hawk for Target. I think their dresses would go perfectly with cowboy boots! Also, check out my article on Boho Chic for more dress ideas that work with cowboy boots.
With A Classic & Simple Dress

This way of wearing cowboy boots is my favorite of all! Rachel Bilson pulled this look off perfectly this past fall, when she wore bright red cowboy boots with a simple black dress. I love her look! Although Taylor Swift’s outfit was controversial in the fashion community when she wore the ensemble above (some loved it and some hated it), I think it was cute and showed her personality without being overly “country.” Both ways were cute and casual but still elegant.
To get this look, just wear your cowboy boots with a simple and understated dress. Keep the rest of your look simple: don’t wear too much other stuff or else you’ll risk looking too overdone.

Cowboy Boots With Leggings or Tights

Wearing cowboy boots with leggings or tights is a little bit more daring than the jeans or just a dress looks, but I think it can work really fabulously if you do it right and have the confidence to pull it off!
I like the look of brightly colored tights or leggings under a plain pair of cowboy boots, paired with a simple dress and possibly a cardigan if it’s a little cold out.
With Leggings

The above photo of Mary Kate Olsen circa 2005 was the best picture I could find of someone rocking cowboy boots with leggings. It’s one example of a way to wear cowboy boots with different types of legwear. An extension of this look that might work would be non-ripped leggings, cowboy boots and a tunic dress and cardigan. Remember to keep the colors in your outfit simple because the cowboy boots are a statement in and of themselves.
With Tights

I found the above photo of Flickr user iluvrhinestones on Wardrobe Remix and thought it was a great example of a stylish and unique way to wear cowboy boots. Tights look cute with boots and you can wear them with dresses for a cute spring outfit that doesn’t require bare legs! Take a cue from the photo above and try wearing your cowboy boots with a dress or tunic and bright tights.

How Not To Wear Cowboy Boots

Here are a few examples of what NOT to wear with your cowboy boots.
Don’t go “cowboy themed.” You aren’t trying to wear a costume, you’re trying to incorporate a pair of shoes into an outfit. Leave the checkered tops, fringe and super short Daisy Dukes for other outfits to avoid looking cliche and over-the-top.
Don’t wear them with a loud outfit. Keep the rest of your look simple if you’re going to wear cowboy boots. They make a statement on their own, so let them be the focus!
Don’t wear them every day! Cowboy boots are better as a once-in-a-while thing. While you may love them like crazy, switch off with your other footwear to avoid being branded “that girl with the cowboy boots.”


These are just some of my ideas on how to wear cowboy boots. Feel free to improvise with your own and be creative in your outfit choices!
What do you think? Do you like cowboy boots or do you think they’re so five years ago? If you like them, how would you wear them?

The cycles of fashion

A thicket of tweed chokes the alley near Eighth and H streets NE. Men in newsboy caps and knickers crunch over shards of glass in their leather hunting boots, looking like they're on an urban fox hunt. Ladies twirl parasols and tug at their full-length silk slips, which are growing clingy in the insistent November sun. They wipe their brows and mind their 1970s bicycles and snap self-portraits on their cellphones in a queue that stretches down to I Street.

Bike bells jangle. Crispy red leaves fall from backyard trees. A gray cat perches on a fire escape, keeping a yellow eye on this clash of eras, this queue to the starting line of the District's first-ever tweed ride, in which dapper cyclists will sally forth across town simply because it promises to be a jolly good time.
Is this mere dress-up? Folderol on wheels? Another hipster stab at spontaneous coordination, flash-mob conformity in the name of pretentious originality? The motive, the purpose, the paradox of it all -- such cogitation furrows one's brow, dislodges one's monocle. Zounds. Perhaps there are answers in this alley.
Heather Guichard, 24, sits astride her silver '71 or '72 Gitane cruiser, wearing a cardigan, tweed knickers and a flapperish hat. She says our hyper, sloppy, postmodern society has begotten a longing for the classic elements of any era, for purposeful fashion and polished behavior.
"I miss the style," she says wistfully, then catches herself. "Well, I can't say I miss it because I wasn't alive then."
No matter. A mash-up generation has mash-up tendencies. We steal the tailored vests of the Victorian era for our office wardrobe, we play Gatsby in whatever neo-speakeasy has opened around the corner, we add a tie clip to evoke Don Draper and we hop on our mustard-colored vintage Schwinn for a tweed ride. It's the inaugural recruiting event of the District's newest social club, Dandies and Quaintrelles, which materialized in the blogosphere a week and a half ago and attracted hundreds of people to this alley on short notice, as if everyone were sitting at home with their outfits already laid out.

Obama Fashion Fever Rages On Post-Election (PHOTOS)

in a story titled Obama Fashion Fever In Paris, we asked if Obama inspired wears, like the looks presented on the runways of Sonia Rykiel and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, would still be popular post election. The verdict is in: Obama still rules the runways!
In Rome, on Februrary 1st, a model wore a dress featuring an enlarged portrait of President Obama, hemmed with the word "CHANGE", down the runway of Italian designer Gattinoni's show.

Other international shows displayed clear Obama influence. In Milan, Donatella Versace dedicated her collection to Barack Obama whom she called "the man of the moment". In Paris, Dutch fashion designer Lucas Ossendrijver used a model with an uncanny resemblance to the Commander and Chief to lead off his 2009-2010 Fall/Winter Menswear show for Lavin on January 25th.

Will Obama continue to capture the fashion world? With New York Fashion Week, The United States' biggest biannual fashion event, starting February 13th, do you expect to see clear Obama-influence coming from the tents at Bryant Park? Tell us!