Carrie Colbert has a passion for fashion. The Houston petroleum engineer breaks all the stereotypes about her techy profession with a unique sense of style and a uncanny ability to accessorize.
Colbert attended fashion week shows in New York and Milan a few months ago and had to revise her sartorial plans when the temperatures plunged to near-record lows. Now that it's much warmer, she has showcased colorful looks by J. Crew and edgy labels like Zimmermann and Self-Portrait on her style blog, Wear + Where + Well and on Instagram, where she has more than 18,000 followers.
Milan or Bust
Since she was attending Giuseppe Zanotti's fall presentation at Milan Fashion Week, Colbert based her look on a pair of Zanotti metal pailletes metallic leather sandals. Colbert became friends with the legendary shoe designer when he visited the Saks Fifth Avenue Galleria store a couple of years ago.
"Fashion should be fun. So, make it fun! Don’t take yourself or your style too seriously."
She picked a magenta and pink ombre Burberry Prorsum trench coat, which she had purchased a few years ago at the Burberry London flagship store, and paired it with a similarly shaded Alexander McQueen dress that friend, stylist Joshua Johnson, found for her at Tootsies. She accessorized the outfit with a pair of red Thierry Lasry sunglasses and Herve Van Der Straeten earrings from Net-a-Porter, a vintage Chanel necklace (which was a gift), and her signature Edie Parker bespoke clutch, with her name "Carrie" spelled out.
For her first Versace show, she chose a fabulous Versace zippered black leather dress, multi-color python pumps by Fendi, which she had picked when she was in Rome, and a rainbow-shaded clutch by Italian bag designer Elena Ghisellini.
New York state of mind
At New York Fashion Week in February, the unpredictable weather turned frigid, so Colbert bundled up in a Rick Owens leather jacket, a Derek Lam turtleneck, a Mary Katrantzou midi skirt and Saint Laurent suede knee boots – plus plenty of layers underneath. On another frigid day, she wore a Marc Jacobs fur coat, plus a Neiman Marcus turtleneck, J Brand jeans, Saint Laurent boots and hat (which kept blowing off in the strong winds), plus lots of layers underneath.
For the Delpozo show, she wore one of her favorite pieces of all time — a belted cape style wool and mohair blend coat in a pink and blue checked pattern by Delpozo designer Josep Fant. At the Ralph Lauren show, she started with some of the designer's basic black pieces and layered on colorful, textured pieces to keep warm.
"And I think that is what dressing for fashion week is all about," she explained on her blog. "Fashion week allows you the chance to push your own fashion envelope, to take some risks, to be daring. Keep in mind, all of this should be done while staying true to one’s personal style. But it should be done! Fashion should be fun. So, make it fun! Don’t take yourself or your style too seriously."
Warm weather looks
Now, in the warmer weather, Colbert has highlighted several colorful lower-priced styles that work well in Houston's tropical climate. She rocks a cool look in a J.Crew sleeveless dress in a colorful painterly print with Valentino rockstud sandals, a raffia Sensi clutch and Miu Miu sunglasses.
And she is obsessing on a couple of new fashion discoveries: A Zimmerman crepe print halter dress from Net-A-Porter, with Aquazzura sandals and Karen Porter sunglasses, and an embroidered black tulle and crepe jumpsuit from Self-Portrait, also at Net-A-Porter.
Carrie Colbert models an edgy Self-Portrait jumpsuit.
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