Monday's Muse: "The Bitch is Back"

First of all, I'd really just like to preface this post by explaining how I am not an avid viewer of The Hills---at least, not anymore. I stopped watching it around a year ago, during my first semester of college, when I found it much harder to find time to keep up with shows and the drama became much less interesting. Lauren, the media tells me, has just left the show this past season to move on to bigger and better things (...?) AND WHO BETTER to fill the void of beloved but boring LC than Kristen Cavallari? At least, that's how MTV is spinning the situation. I kid you not, "The Bitch is Back" is their tagline, not mine.

During Laguna Beach, I must admit, I loved Kristin, and I still do to this day. She may not be nice, but she is funnier, smarter, and often better dressed than all the other girls combined (Heidi contributing a negative factor probably doesn't help). She recently stepped out to an event in this ensemble and I had to give her credit. It takes a unique person to smile at the camera when your comeback to fame is engineered to remind the public how nasty of a person you are. But anyway! On to the much more interesting part: what she wore and how you can make it your own.

A red that saturated is often hard to pull off, but with her signature blond locks and sunkissed tan I think she executes it very well. My favorite part of the outfit (no surprise here) is her shoes. You can see the garish, gold gladiators behind her and they just pale in comparison. What is important to take away from this outfit, I think, is that Kristen is here executing what many of us find difficult: transition dressing. This billowy tunic is still breezy in the sun, but will keep her warmer than a tank top or sun dress when the event carries past sun down. At the same time, she helps keep cool with an unexpected pair of navy shorts, helping distinguish herself from the rest with such a brilliant red and uncharacteristic shorts pairing. I guess you can say there is a reason why she steals everyone's boyfriends... She might be just better at it, like she is with her outfit. I guarantee that no one else at the event was wearing a similar ensemble.

For my spin on Kristin's outfit, I found a brightly colored tunic with a bit of a pattern from stylesforless.com. The best part about this tunic is that the color palette allows it a lot of versatility, letting you work with several different looks. In the first outfit, I recreated Kristen's look, and the second two I made my own. What do you think of my looks, and Kristen's? And how would you wear a brightly colored tunic?

Outfit 1: Shorts-Charlotte Russe, Shoes-Modcloth.com, Clutch-Net-a-porter.com

Outfit 2: Skirt-Forever 21, Boots-Piperlime, Earrings-Modcloth.com

Outfit 3: Boots-Charlotte Russe, Shorts-American Eagle, Bag-Net-a-porter.com