A Post-Op Post

If you haven't noticed, Mandy has been a little M.I.A. around the world of 20 Something Couture lately and there is a reason for this. On May 21st, Mandy had an open heart surgery to remove some nasty muscles blocking her heart. She is in recovery, home, and doing very well. While the recovery from heart surgery is anything but glamorous, it does give one a lot of time to lay in bed and fantasize about outfits to wear once walking and moving in general are bearable again.

That time has finally come! In small doses, at least. Today was one of those days when lounging around the house was no longer an option. You can imagine how difficult it is to "take it easy" for someone who gets cabin fever quicker than you can say it. So Mandy accompanied her mom to the movies to see the much anticipated Sex and the City 2. And of course, it is highly unacceptable to attend such a movie without a cute outfit to match the beloved Carrie Bradshaw.

It was a bit of challenge to arrange a summery outfit that suitably covered the still-healing wicked scar left from the surgery, but all things are possible when you put your mind to it - even in the world of fashion.



shirt: American Eagle; skirt: Lauren Conrad's line for Kohls; shoes: Target; belt: New York & Co.

Apologies for the poor picture quality. This photo was taken via Mandy's iPhone, as she stupidly left her digital camera in Columbia.

Until next time,
-Mandy & Karmen

And so begins our separation

It's happening. We're growing up. Karmen is staying in Columbia sending out resumes and going to job interviews while Mandy is home in Myrtle Beach working for the summer. And so begins our separation for the summer…

With summertime comes long hot days wasted by the pool, laying on the couch watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the occasional job interview, and occasional night out with friends.

The other night Karmen went out on the town with her two roommates Jess and Ashley. We know we're not walking the runways at New York Fashion Week or taking pictures on a red carpet in Los Angeles, but to us the dirty college bar streets of Five Points here in Columbia are our runway and red carpet. Here's what we wore:



Karmen wore a dress from Express, Steve Madden heels, and gifted jewelry from her mom.



Jess wore a top and skirt from Forever 21, Ashley's brown heels, Karmen's gold earrings from Charlotte Russe, and a gold men's watch from Target.



Ashley wore a sequined top from Express, skirt from Urban Outfitters, random jewelry of Jess and Karmen's, and Jess's favorite orange suede heels from Urban.

As you can see, roommates share everything. From milk and bread to jewelry, dresses, and shoes. Just another perk of being a 20 something girl.

In one week (is it really that soon?) Karmen and Jess are going to Europe for two weeks. Both have been running around town buying things for this trip. Expect a post soon about packing for overseas!

-Karmen & Mandy

An all about us and only a little about fashion post

We've finally done it. We are now officially alumni of the University of South Carolina. College has been the best four years of our lives and has flown by so fast. We both are excited and totally terrified to enter the next chapter in our lives. We have met the most amazing friends here in Columbia so leaving them feels like complete torture. We know that our friendship is strong enough to reach over many many miles, so wherever jobs and graduate school take us we will still be best friends.

Okay enough with the sappiness. You wanna see what we wore to graduation? Well we wore really big black robes and a sweet mortar board hat. What really matters are the shoes you wear:



Shown with her two roommates, Karmen wore brown heels by BCBG (to compliment her ugly brown tassel), Jess wore black suede heels by Kristen Davis.

Unfortunately our graduations were at different times so we never got to take a picture together. Here's one of Mandy and her roommate Avery to prove she too graduated:



You can't see them but Mandy was wearing awesome shoes as well.

The next step in our lives: FIND A JOB. Expect more fashion driven posts about what to wear to interviews, etc.

All our best,
Mandy & Karmen