Capture Fashion by Amanda Del Duca

The Helmsley Building is my absolute fave. I have a ridiculously amazing view of this historical structure from my NYC shower window. Every night the building is lit by a different color scheme and sometimes changes throughout the night. When darkness falls on the city, I love to gaze out at the skyline and see what color The Helmsley is that evening. It hasn’t been red since my first week here, I am hoping that the color makes a come back before I leave.

I made sure to photograph The Helmsley with David for CF over the weekend. It will be nice to look back on these photos when I return to my Miami stomping grounds.

Now – on to this Parker dress. Isn’t it just presh?? I am loving all things black and white these days. It just makes for clean, chic dressing. Add a pop of color through lipstick, accessories, or something like my new blue blazer – boom – outfit complete. xx

Dress c/o Parker NY. Sequin moto jacket, Zara. Shoes and bag c/o Kenneth Cole.

Eeee I love this new Parker blue blazer! You know when you find something that fits so perfectly in your wardrobe that you want to wear it with everything? Well this is that piece for me right now. It’s just too good.

I’m actually wearing Parker from top to bottom here. I scored these leather pants last fall and wear them more than I like to admit. Although, I’m not pretentious about rewearing. It’s your clothes, that’s what they are there for, right? The idea of wearing something I love once and then hiding it away in my closet just sounds so wrong. It reminds me of my sister when she was 4 or 5 years old she wore this frilly dress with a strawberry print every single day for a year. Every day. It was adorable.

Your clothes and accessories should work for you. You invest in them and chose pieces to express yourself. I believe in wearing a piece until it’s unwearable, or I’m over it. #MakeitWork

Now that I’ve properly showed off my new ICY hair…here are some behind the scenes pix of the process.

My mane man, Patrick Navarro, came over for a day of serious hair care and lots of laughs. For my transition from blonde to white, we started by bleaching the hair in sections to keep control over the process. Patrick explained that once product (bleach!) is applied it starts working (and itching) immediately, and because I have fine/thin hair we wanted to minimize the damage and really take care of my baby fine locks. Once I was all bleached I could not believe how much blonder my hair could go. I was Xtina blonde and it was super jaring to see on myself.

Next came the toner to take out the yellowish or brassy color from the bleach. I didn’t look at my hair after this process until it was blown out. THEN it blew me away completely. I love the new color soooo hard! I can’t wait to play with lavendar, teal and maybe even pink this summer. Now that I have an all white base, I really look forward to experimenting.

The final step was picking up Shimmer Lights to alternate with my normal Moroccan Oil shampoo and conditioner routine. Shimmer lights is super affordable and will help to keep the white/ashy tone in the hair. Oh, and it’s totally purple outside of the bottle. It’s pretty alarming actually. I squeezed a bit of shampoo out on my first wash and was momentarily shocked at how vibrant the purple appears. Then it foams lavender and is just kind of awesome.

Drop a comment if you have any questions for myself or Patrick Navarro on how to achieve the look. We will both be checking back to answer any needs. BIG thanks to Patrick for creating my new hair look and as always to my readers who give a damn and visit CF. x

You guysssssss…..what do you think of my new ‘do?!

Do you love it, or do you love it? I’m so happy with the final look. I had a vision for what I wanted and the final product is so close that I just don’t even really know what to say. For my shoots, I always find photos that I want to recreate or try to capture some aspect of it’s magic. My homage attempts usually morph into something very differnent from the orignal source of inspiration. Resources and new ideas have a way of changing what you thought you wanted into what you can actually achieve.

In this case, my new hairstylist Patrick Navarro  nailed the damn thing. Click the “read more” link and peep a couple inspiration photos I emailed to Patrick the week before my appointment. Let me know how you guys think it turned out. I’ve been hearing that it reminds people mostly of Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. I’m ALL GOOD with that! She has dragons and is an all around bad bitch. Did you SEE last nights’ episode? #Restmycase

So, here I am in the shower showing off my new Mikoh bikini. You all know I gotta keep it resort and a represent Miami style.  Swimwear is my first love, I’ll always show off something special I find even if my current weather doesn’t allow it. What’s special about this bikini is the mint color. I’ve seen this style of Mikoh in black and hot pink and loved both instantly. Seeing the pastel green, I took it home on the spot. It’s just so pretty and feminine.  Another thing I appreciate is the thickness of the fabric (also double-lined) and the string details are just fun.

Check back this week for street style pics. xx

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My favorite spot in my temporary NYC digs is in the shower. The view is epic and the sitting ledge has become my hidey hole. I have a spot like this in Miami on the ledge of my back door where I like to work from my phone and smoke a cigarette. I can’t smoke from my NYC perch, but the view more than makes up for my bad habit. I meannn the Chrysler building in all it’s Deco glory is just the most beautiful. I love watching out this window and just breathing in the city skyline. I wish I could bottle it and hold it close forever.

I figured I better capture the view and it’s perfect little ledge for a CF photo shoot. I just picked up this “YOU CAN’T SIT WITH US.” tee at Brandy Melville last week….and let’s just say I’m more than obsessed. Not only is it one of my favorite movie lines ever, but it’s also a crop top and the softest baby tee you can hope to find. Did I mention it’s $18? Brandy Melville is just out of control with the low prices. I didn’t realize. I went in and bought this tee, a silk crop top (that is so 90s Kate Moss it makes me smile wildly), and a pair of tribal printed sleep shorts for a total of $36. #Score

Next up is shower shots. xx

Tee, Brandy Melville. Bikini c/o Mikoh.

I’m so happy to finally share these photos. I’ve been waiting for my ear to heal and then David got a ring flash. We have been playing with test shoots and trying to figure out the proper light, so I apologize for anyone waiting to see what I got pierced from my Instagram teasers.

Now for the goodness! Introducing my latest obsession….NY Adorned and specifically J. Colby Smith. I’ve been following Colby’s work since my girl, Alyssa, posted about her latest piercing on insta. I immediately clicked over to Colby’s profile and was smitten by the subtle glamour of his work. I’ve always had two holes in each ear and never really thought about more. I freaking love earrings and am fond of interesting bling in general, so after seeing Colby’s work I couldn’t wait to come up here and do the damn thing.

I have always been fascinated with piercing culture. It started with me being a spectator, then a collector, and eventually a giver. I try to put myself in my client’s position, anticipating their individual needs. When it comes to jewelry I prefer subtle and elegant. Smith said to The Coveteur. 

I was here in New York a week before my appointment with NY Adorned. Alyssa came along for moral support and I came into the experience with little thought put into what I wanted. I really wanted to go for the “J. Colby Smith experience” and let the artist do his thang. The first hole we decided to pierce was my conch with a simple black diamond. This is my favorite new piercing, but also the most painful. The actual needle going through was super easy. I don’t know if it was Colby’s calm vibe, a testament to his skill, or the handful of advil I took beforehand….but I swear the pain was minimal. Now, afterwards is an entire different story. I still can’t sleep on my right side, but I think it’s doing wonders for my back. I’ve been forced to sleep like a vampire and my back hasn’t felt so good in years….

Moral of the story: the conch is still sore, but I love it and am willing change my sleeping habits for my new adornment.

Next up was my forward helix with a simple gold hoop and then a third hole on my lobe with one of Colby’s 108 back-drop designed pieces. These two were fast and painless. Both don’t give me any trouble now (2 weeks after piercing) and were sore for maybe 3-5 days after.

I have a few more piercings planned, but I’ll wait another couple months. It’s super addicting. Especially the combo of feeling like a badass but still looking simple and feminine.

In addition to getting The Coveteur treatment, Colby is totally having a high fashion beauty moment with his work featured on Into The Gloss’ NARS Lip Satin pencil ad. 

Check out Colby’s work here and here and NY Adorned here. xx

Helix, Conch and upper lobe earrings from NY Adorned. First lobe earrings c/o Virgins, Saints & Angels. Rings from index to pinky; David Yurman, Top Shop, onyx ring from my Mimi and signet ring also a gift from my great grandmother, Mimi. Acid washed jean jacket c/o Big Star. Lip color by OCC Lip Tar in Vintage.