What did I say last Friday?

They might as well rename it Denim Day.

Sophorn says she wears jeans almost every Friday, but still likes to wear heels with them. This particular pair is from Dillards.

In addition to her jeans — from Forever 21, one of the only stores that carry a size 0 — she paired a brown cowl neck shirt from Coco & Lily, and a striped wrap sweater from Old Navy.

"The clutch is a Gecko Traders purse made in my home country of Cambodia from old fish bags," she says. "I bought it locally from Delphinium, but I know it still helps those women in Cambodia support their families."

Socially responsible and stylish to boot.

While getting her architecture degree at Auburn, she did a design for Afghan refugees as part as of interior architecture thesis: "I included, with the interior architecture and furniture design, a redesign of the burka which I sewed and modeled. It was made more functional but still seemed avant-garde. I wish I remembered where I put those photo files," she says.

Me, too.

Sophorn says that Thursday nights seem to be her new night out: "I usually go to design networking events Thursday nights," she says.

For this particular day, she wore a ballet-inspired bubble skirt from Eye-Con Couture on Union with a scarf and a short-sleeved cardigan sweater that she got from her mother-in-law.

"She finds cute things, mostly at SteinMart, so I would guess that's where these come from," she says. "I love this scarf for the pop of color with all the black I wear but it's also very warm and soft."

Sophorn has about 8 scarves b/c her mother-in-law gets her a new one every year.

I get the sense that Sophorn is not a traditionalist with her clothes. Take, for instance, yesterday's bridesmaid dress turned balloon blouse. In this outfit, she's wearing the skirt high on her waist with a polka dotted belt she got at a boutique in Oxford. But she says she also wears the skirt below the waist if she's just wearing it with a shirt or a tank top.

And the high-heeled boots? Guess.

Also, Sophorn and Annabella were nice enough to send me a close-up, which shows the really great texture of the scarf and the sweater.

A few months ago, I stumbled across norococo, a wonderful little blog that had me instantly charmed.

In fact I developed a little bit of a blog crush on it. It is just so *pretty.* And the music — well, let's just say I plugged my headphones in and listened for hours.

Norococo is the online home of Formus Architects project manager and graphic designer Sophorn McRae. I didn't really know Sophorn, but I knew that anyone with a blog this stylish probably had some tips to teach us.

I don't like to brag, but ... I was right.

In this outfit, Sophorn is wearing what appears to be a lemon yellow balloon blouse with an Old Navy pencil skirt and a skinny orange belt from J. Crew. (Seriously, I am loving orange.)

Beside her is a white cardigan that she wears when it's cold in the office, and her shoes are from Shoe-Nami. (This isn't her office, by the way. This is in a vacant spot above her office, in the Tennessean Building in Court Square. I believe it is available for lease.)

But let's get back to that balloon blouse, shall we?

Three year ago, she was a bridesmaid and she had to find a dress that was yellow. At the last minute, she found one at Macy's on the clearance rack ... only it was a size 10. Sophorn obviously isn't.

For the wedding, she belted the extra material and used it to make pleats.

And now she's found that she can tuck it into a pencil skirt and wear it to work. She says she has to be careful the end of the bridesmaid dress doesn't peek out the bottom, but what a great idea! I love this sort of re-use.

How many of us have dresses in our closet that we never wear again? I would have never thought about using them as a blouse and wearing them to work.

Sophorn volunteered with Dress for Success for several years as a "personal shopper," putting together outfits that were work appropriate but stylish for their clients going to interview for a job or just starting work. Seeing this, I have no doubt she did a wonderful job.

This is Elizabeth's favorite dress. It's also from Martin + Osa, which you may recall is where the dress she wore at the "beginning" of the week was from.

"Unlike the tomato-soup-red number, this one looks good by itself," she says.

"It also looks good with everything in my closet," she says. "I paired it with a gray sweater — I have about four gray sweaters — patterned tights from Target, and my trusty black boots."

This week, I learned that Target has great patterned tights and, obviously, you can never have too many gray sweaters!

Thanks again to Elizabeth Alley and her photographer Shannon Dixon for participating in Fashion Week. Maybe we'll see some more of them later. Elizabeth has already asked me if she can do this again in warmer weather, so she can show off some of her cute shoes. I don't think I have to tell you what I said. I love cute shoes.

What did we say about suits yesterday? Three outfits in one? Here's another outfit that proves the math.

This pencil skirt is from Banana Republic and has a jacket that goes with it. Only that's not what Elizabeth is wearing with it.

The sweater is also from Banana Republic, and Elizabeth got it from Garbo's "for about $8!"

"The boots were an unexpected purchase for me by my husband, and the tights are patterned and gray, because as I have said, gray goes with everything," she says.

I have to say, Elizabeth wears orange better than anyone else I know. Orange, to me, is one of those tricky colors, like yellow or lavender, that people sometime shy away from. Elizabeth wears it often enough that I think of it as "an Elizabeth color" and it never looks garish or young when she does it. It always looks sophisticated.

Her advice for wearing orange: wear a slightly muted version — not UT orange — and wear it with neutrals.

"I only wear orange with black if I have a third color along with it to tone it down, such as the orange dress with black boots, also worn with a gray sweater," she says. "Also, try to be aware of the tones of colors that you wear — a less saturated orange (or lavender or yellow) will be easier to wear."

One of the best things about buying suits is that you don't *have* to wear both pieces together. It's like getting three outfits out of one. (provided there are other clothes in your wardrobe, of course!)

In this picture, Elizabeth is wearing a dark blue sweater from Old Navy, with patterned tights, and a cute little skirt that is actually half of a suit.

During her tenure as interim director for UrbanArt, she says she went on a suit buying spree. She had to attend a lot of meetings at the time, and made a rule that she would never attend a meeting at City Hall without wearing a suit.

"I believe people not in suits are overlooked in those situations," she says.

But that left Elizabeth with a closet full of suits.

"For everyday wear, I found the idea of them better than the reality. It's just too matchy-matchy," she says. "I like pairing the jackets with jeans or other skirts, and the skirts with every top I own."

I have to say, none of my skirt suits are this cute, but at least it gives the rest of us (or, just me) something to aim for.

Elizabeth Alley recently ended her more than 10-year tenure at UrbanArt for a position in the corporate world.

Before she left UrbanArt, she wore this one recent Friday:

Along with Friday's ubiquitous jeans (Look down. Aren't you wearing a pair right now?), she paired a cute jacket from the Banana Republic outlet and a long-sleeved tee.

She also added a pair of cowboy boots.

"My husband's aunt gave them to me about 15 years ago. At the time, I had no interest in wearing cowboy boots, but luckily, I had the foresight to keep them for when I did," she says.

Just goes to show, some pieces you might want to hang onto for a while. Although, on the other hand [gratuitous plug], if you have pieces that are in good condition and professional, but you don't wear anymore, you might bring it to Style Sessions' Swap and Shop in April to celebrate Earth Day (and refreshen spring wardrobes)! More deets on that later, tho!

Artist Elizabeth Alley has been described as "Memphis' answer to Audrey Hepburn," and I think in the following week, you'll see why.

In fact, it's Elizabeth who deserves credit for the Fashion Week concept.

Elizabeth and I were on the same team back when we played for Memphis Roller Derby and we still get together for meetings of what we call the pizza buffet binge-eaters club. But no matter when I see her, she always looks chic and well put together. And she always has the cutest shoes!

Which always leads me to say, "Where is Justin when you need him?" (B/c I can't take a good picture for anything.)

The end result, of course, was this feature.

This particular day Elizabeth was wearing a dress from Martin + Osa, which she got online, on sale. Because she thinks it looks a little like a St. Agnes uniform by itself, she paired it with a gray sweater from Target.

"I bought it for the warmth factor, but it's gray so it goes with everything," she says. "When I button it up and wrap the built-in scarf around my neck, it looks like something an old lady would wear in a sci-fi movie."

I know Charlize Theron isn't old, but I couldn't help but throw this in there, from Aeon Flux. Just to give people an idea of what it *might* look like, buttoned up.

But Elizabeth obviously isn't wearing it the sci-fi way.

"When not buttoned up, the built-in scarf makes the sweater asymmetrical, which if you know me is weird," she says, "but then I don't have to worry about losing a scarf."

For starters, let's just say how cute that cat is, right? Now that that's out of the way ...

On this particular day, Amy was going to the Grizzlies Academy benefit at Boscos. She wore an FCUK blouse under a Banana Republic dress and tights. With yes, her boots from Crazy/Beautiful.

"Man, I wore those boots a lot last week," she says. "Oh, well, they're new."

I'm a fan of this dress and, given Amy's skill at layering, I'm thinking this is one that can be worn all year round. The bodice has a very pretty lace overlay, and she included a little roadrunner broach.

"I think that black dresses can be a little blah, and this one is pretty conservative, but popping a pin on there adds a little fun," she days.

Thanks so much to Amy Gregory for being my first fashion guinea pig to do the Fashion Week feature (and to her husband/photographer Joey Miller for taking the snaps). I think she really showed how different a person's style can be from one day to the next, even if some pieces, such as the boots, remain constant.

Also I think I may have to go into Crazy/Beautiful.

Amy calls this a typical work outfit:

She's wearing an American Apparel tunic over a Target long-sleeved tee, Chica stretch jeans, and her boots from Crazy/Beautiful.

"My job is pretty physical so comfort is very important to me," Amy says. "This allows me to move around and stay cool while working."

While the rest of us are grumbling over our coffee and cursing the Mondays were ever invented, well, I don't know what Amy's doing. But I know she's not working.

As an esthetician at Hi Gorgeous, she has Monday's off.

"Monday is my Sunday," she says. "It's my day to lounge around the house."

This particular Monday, she donned a Hello Kitty sweater, American Apparel denim tights, a scarf from Target, and Melissa jelly flats.

"This oversize sweater is comfy and cozy, and I added the scarf for a little color," she says.

For Fat Tuesday, Amy wore another dress she picked up at Crazy Beautiful.

(I posted it on Friday to give you ladies some inspiration for your weekend "going out" outfits.)

She paired it with a pair of fuschia peeptoe heels, which I think would definitely fall under "shoes that pop." I love the little tuxedo ruffle down the front.

I've also heard that short sleeves are the next big trend for dresses (look for them at the Oscars next weekend) and I love them on this vintage-inspired, belted dress. It has a classic feel, but with the chunky neckline and shine of the material, it also has a lot of visual interest. Plus, it's hot.