Summer fashion, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways. You welcome us with pale color palettes, soft prints and airy fabrics, and wrap us in your simple silhouettes and breezy sensibility. This season, fashion takes a look back, taking its cues from chic ’70s style and bohemian glamour. With these trends in mind, we combed Maple Grove stores to pick out pieces for our ultimate summer wardrobe. And it turns out, summer looks good this year.
Look 1: Sundance (Pictured left)
Dina Be trapeze dress ($44) and ikat print scarf ($18) from Francesca’s. Coral multi-strand beaded necklace ($95) and double strand brown leather belt ($55) from Bluebird. Jade, wood and gold bangles ($14.95) from Zida. Chinese Laundry strappy wood heel sandals ($48) from Hot Mama.
Look 2: Dandelion Fields (Pictured above)
Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent blush lace back blouse ($295), Trinity organic cotton tank ($20), Citizens of Humanity “Boogie” high rise denim short ($156) and DeVintage silver tassel necklace ($39) from Bluebird. Beaded head wrap ($12) from Francesca’s. Faceted bead bracelet ($24) from White House Black Market. Filigree bead bracelets ($12.95 each), silver and ivory bangles ($15.95) and filigree bauble ring ($13.95) from Zida. “Tori” wrap wedge sandal ($88) from White House Black Market.
Growing Up Before Your Eyes
When you’re an 18-year-old model, it’s easy to grow up too fast. Emily Valdez just finished her senior year at Maple Grove Senior High, and has been growing up in front of a camera since her first professional shoot at age 8. But nothing could prepare her parents for her most intense growth spurt—she appeared on cover of the 2011 Spring/Summer issue of Minnesota Bride magazine draped in a wedding dress. “They’ve seen me dolled up, but I think a bridal gown was something else,” says Valdez. “I’m like, ‘you guys don’t have to get all emotional about this.’”
Much like the pearl white gown responsible for her parents’ premonitions, Valdez has grown into her work as a model. You might recognize Valdez from a Star Tribune Variety section cover story on ponytails, the Fingerhut catalog or fashion designer Christopher Straub’s spring line.
Valdez wants to continue modeling as long as she can find work and enjoy it, but her future ambitions steer off into other avenues of the fashion realm, whether it’s as a creative director, stylist or even CEO of a fashion company. “Growing up in the modeling world, you really have a different taste for fashion, and you kind of see it from behind the scenes—how everything works, how it should look and what you should be displaying. That’s really cool to see,” she says.
The same can be said for Valdez, who continues to grow up in front of a camera—even if it’s a little too fast for some. —Bobby Hart
