Material Girls

[VALERIE ROSE MONTCLAIR]

Valerie was at home unpacking. Suitcases wide open on her bed and clothes scattered around. She felt weird being bad and she didn't know what the reactions of her being back would be, and if the reason she left was still at the school. She doubted it though. Valerie sighed and sat on the bed running her fingers through her hair. It's been two days since she returned but she was advised to stay inside and she agreed with that. She was in no mood for people to start gossiping behind her back yet. But today, the weather was so nice outside, so sunny and hot for November in New York and she couldn't bear being locked in the house. Valerie let out a breath and got up. She opened the door of her room and she walked out, descending the stairs and heading to the living room. She found her mother there reading a book, and she looked up when she sensed Valerie in the room. Valerie asked for permission to go out for a while, and after hesitating for a while Claire gave the permission to her daughter. Valerie hated that her parents were so suspicious towards her now and that she had to ask for permission to do something as simple as going out for a walk, or for shopping. She only hoped that she would get their trust back now that she was home though. Val returned to her room and she changed her clothes, after taking a quick shower, and walked out of the house, heading to her car. She unlocked the door and got in, putting the key in the ignition and starting the engine, driving away, as loud music filled the car. It's been a while since she was last able to drive. She preferred taking the chauffeur and the town car usually but she was gone for so long, and for the last days she wasn't left alone for long, and this was a chance for her to get some solitude.

A while later she was parking her car in an underground parking at the meatpacking district. She got out, locking it and headed to the escalator heading upstairs... When she finally reached the road she smiled. She walked to the nearest Starbucks, grabbing a Caramel Frappuccino and then walked out, looking around her, trying to decide where to go first as she started looking at windows.

Valerie was walking aimlessly around, looking at windows and thinking. She finally saw something that caught her eye and made her smile. Diane Von Furstenberg. It was one of her most favorite designers and she owned a lot of her pieces. She adjusted her sunglasses on her nose and walked into the store. She looked around and was immediately welcomed by a shop assistant asking if she could be of any help. Valerie said that she would call if she needed anything headed to a rack, searching through the dresses trying to find something for her. Shopping always made her feel better after all. She started picking clothes on hangers as she walked around the store. When she decided that those were enough she was showed to the changing rooms by the shop assistant, in order to try them on

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STATUS # done
FEATURING # Ceecee
WORD COUNT # 559
OUTFIT # HERE!
CREDIT # IRONICALLIZE_IT @ CAUTION 2.0[/center][/size][/font]

[CHARLIZE CECILIA RUTHERFORD]

Starting to work at a company, with a hierarchy, a certain way things were done and not being one selves boss was a completely new experience for CeeCee. First of all the petite brunette had never worked a day in her life. Secondly if she'd done it then only under her own reign. She couldn't exactly tell you what made her accept the offer to become an apprentice of the DvF shop concept interior designer Marcus Hamill but most definitely it served it's purpose. Finally the young woman was out of the stuffy lecture halls, away from the theory, the crafting of bird houses ... all she ever wanted was to create something ... and by that she never thought about nailing together a couple wood boards. True, it was not an ideal position, she made more copies than actual designs, spent more time at the coffee shop around the corner than any of the new store fronts, but it was a working progress and Charlize was more than certain she'd be able to make it.

Coming back from her usual morning run into the offices on the second floor of the former brick warehouse that Diane von Furstenberg owned CeeCee still had her light golden wool coat on though it was a rather warm autumn day. The Berkin-bag dangling from her hand she brought the coffee's into the design department where all her colleagues were already waiting impatiently. She wasn't proud or happy to be the errand girl albeit dressed much better than most women above her but she knew it was a step-stone she had to take. Walking back outside and across the upper walkway overlooking the flagship store underneath the offices CeeCee stopped at the conference room to talk to one of the media advisor's when she realized a familiar face downstairs being guided to the changing rooms. Mouth agape happily surprised for a moment the 20-year old quickly ascended the glass steps downstairs as fast as her plateau Manolo's allowed to catch up with an old friend. She hadn't seen Val in 2 years ... had heard about the gossip on the real reason she went away ... though CeeCee never had a doubt most of it probably was false.

Greeting Emily from the store staff nicely though being only grinned back at coldly the petite brunette didn't mind much. She had gotten the drift the industry was harsh and knew no mercy. Which wasn't a problem for the former queen bee. Walking into the back with the spacious dressing rooms and the fancy furniture Charlize stopped before a floor length mirror briefly, flipping her long, slightly wavy hair with a smile before knocking at Valerie's dressing room door.

[VALERIE ROSE MONTCLAIR]

Valerie kept walking around, occasionally stopping to glance at windows and after a while move away scoffing. For a weird reason everything seemed so low quality, and none of the clothes seemed to excite her so much! She was in the capitals of fashion for a good amount of times after all, and not only did she do a lot of shopping every time she traveled, she got the chance to broaden her fashion horizons even more, by often watching fashion shows and reading fashion magazines. She loved fashion! She loved playing with fashion, mixing and matching items creating her own unique style. A style that often girls tried to copy, well, not with much success, when she was in high school. She was a strong believer that the line between fashion follower/fashion icon and fashion victim was very thin. So yes, she did follow fashion but she made it personal by creating outfits that expressed her. Plus she did some modeling, well not runway and stuff since she was too petite for that, but printed ads, for a couple of her father's campaigns, and that taught her several things about dressing up. Well that and her involvement with theater. When she walked in DvF she smiled for the first time that day. The clothes there never were low quality and they had everything she needed. Shoes, clothes and accessories.

After getting into the dressing room and trying on several dresses, she ended up on a white lace one, she looked herself in the mirror and she decided that she was going to buy that one. Valerie let out a sigh and decided to head at a department that she knew would never, ever disappoint her! Shoes!! Shoes were her all time fetish. And she truly believed that even if the clothes weren't something special, a nice pair of high heels could upgrade and make the whole outfit pop! Like for example if she wore a nice racer back dress with a belt on the waist and a black jacket, she could go in two directions. She could either put on a pair of flats and have an everyday, casual, coffee outfit, or she could put on a pair of peep toe high heel pumps and immediately the whole outfit would be dinner/date appropriate! And you can never really go wrong with shoes now can you? That was the reason she normally did things opposite from what everyone did. Normal people first find the dress and then the shoes and accessories. Val did it the other way around. She first found the perfect shoes and accessories before finding the dress to match the shoes. Due to her dancing background she used to hate her legs, but now she believed that her legs were one of her strong points. She could really walk on high heels and they looked good!

She heard a knock on the door of her dressing room and she shook her head before she opened the door. I decided to take this one so far

[/color] she said thinking it was the shop assistant. She looked up and her mouth dropped when she saw who it was instead of the assistant Oh my god![/color] Valerie exclaimed before looking quickly around her. She felt like a sinner shouting like that in a "temple of fashion" as she often called her favorite designer stores[/justify]
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STATUS # done
FEATURING # Ceecee
WORD COUNT # 577
OUTFIT # HERE!
CREDIT # IRONICALLIZE_IT @ CAUTION 2.0[/center][/size][/font]

[CHARLIZE CECILIA RUTHERFORD]

Being in the DvF flagship store down here was almost a daily occasion for CeeCee. She loved the stuff Diane and her team created and even though she wouldn't want to walk around in only pieces of her and come across as a suck up she truly liked to combine a few pieces here and there with Miu Miu or Chanel ... which it went great with in the girls opinion. It was always the mix that made an outfit your own creation ... everyone could go to Marc Jacobs and buy a complete style off the doll, walking around like a billboard. Many girls new to the Manhattan high society did that and the more seasoned socialites would mock them shamelessly for it. In a city like New York the social hierarchy was much closer to that in a lions den than anywhere else in the world. There was always those first at the watering hole and those certainly had to know how to dress for the occasion. Nothing worse than blending into the crowds strolling the cities' sidewalks day in and out.

As the dressing room door opened CeeCee was certainly not as surprised as Valerie considering she had seen her walk in, but she was certainly just as happy at the view. Squealing all girly the two beauties hugged tight kissing each other's cheeks pretentiously but heartfelt. It had been also two years since the petite brunette had seen her shopping pal for the last time upon heading to the Westcoast. Of course back then saying goodbye to everyone of her friends had been hard but CeeCee had always known it was a decision she had to make for herself. Plus, she had always known coming back was still an option. The upside on Manhattan was ... it was always going to be there and it hardly changed. Actually, being back felt like old times ... the only thing different was CeeCee. "Noooo ..." the brunette cheered holding Val by her slender arms taking a good look. "... not god, just me!" Shaking her head lightly she realized the dress her friend was wearing. Oh she had seen it on the mannequin for fitting but on her it looked a lot better.

Taking a few steps back to have a better view CeeCee placed her handbag on the carpeted floor. "Turn for me!" she instructed smirking. Ever since seeing this gorgeous dress - though she had to admit the color would clash with her blonde hair right now - she had imagined how it could only be worn. "Splendid ... but hold on a sec!" Charlize instructed holding her index finger up for a moment before walking away toward the accessory section. She knew there was a satin scarf with a changeant effect that in her mind matched the dresses simplicity perfectly! Not to mention the two-thousand dollar gemstone clutch they had in this seasons' special advertising campaign. All those pieces usually found their way across CeeCee one way or the other and be it only if she had to come up with a plan on how the collection of the current season had to be displayed in the storefronts ... well, so far at least helped creating those plans. Picking the two pieces up carefully the brunette strolled back to her friend by the big mirror. "This will go great with it!" she smiled lacing the scarf over the crooks of Valerie's arms and giving her the evening clutch. "Perfect!" Looking at the slender figure in the mirror a satisfied sigh escaped the girl's sparkling lips.

[VALERIE ROSE MONTCLAIR]

Valerie squealed when she saw Ceecee and hugged her tightly. She hasn't seen her since Ceecee left for California to go to college, and well, Valerie wasn't here whens he returned since she was sent to France. After a year abroad and locked away in a boarding school being back to New York felt like bliss. She was in a school full of girls, that were all stuck up, well the majority of them, and were all looking down at her. Nobody would recognize Val if they saw her there. The usually bubbly and social girl, was usually quiet and preferring to sit alone outside with a book. OK she did make some friends, if you could consider them friends, but it wasn't as if she could trust them the way she trusted the friends she knew her whole life. So when her parents told her she could return home Valerie was thrilled. She had no idea what had happened to everyone the year she was gone, but she wanted to catch up with everyone as soon as possible. So seeing Ceecee there made Valerie feel genuinely happy. Especially since she met her practicing their favorite sport. Shopping. Valerie really appreciated Ceecee's opinion when it came to clothes and that's the reason the two girls used to go shopping together. The line between being a fashion follower and a fashion victim was thin, and they both made sure not to cross it, since there were already a lot of nouveau riche girls that were trying so hard to be "fashionistas" in order to "fit in", that they ended up being fashion victims instead. It was kind of sad to be honest

Valerie laughed when she heard what Ceecee said Haha. Modest as always I see

[/color] she said joking. Valerie watched as Ceecee took a few steps backwards and she grinned when she was instructed to turn. She did a small turn before returning to her previous position Look at you being all Anne Wintour like[/color] Val joked again. She tilted her head watching as her friend disappeared before she turned and looked at herself in the mirror. She was herself's toughest judge, and that was sometimes good and sometimes bad. She observed the way the dress was on her and she had to admit that it looked good, but it would look a lot better if she was a bit taller, her bangs were pulled back and her hair weren't so curly. Maybe with a make up at the natural tones, some nice earrings and of course the perfect shoes? She could play with it a bit and depending on the alterations she did she could either wear it to brunch, or at night, at some kind of event. There were plenty of those.

When Ceecee returned Valerie turned around smiling, to see her carrying a beautiful scarf and a clutch bag. She let Ceecee put the scarf over her shoulders and took the clutch turning to the mirror again tilting her head to look at the whole outfit Hmmm... Paired with the champagne colored Annees Folles Louboutins and maybe a pair of stud diamond earrings? Or... Instead of the earrings my gold DvF Talisman Hammered Gold Cluster pendant?[/color] she said turning around to see her friend[/justify]
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STATUS # done
FEATURING # Ceecee
WORD COUNT # 554
OUTFIT # HERE!
CREDIT # IRONICALLIZE_IT @ CAUTION 2.0[/center][/size][/font]

[CHARLIZE CECILIA RUTHERFORD]

CeeCee loved the comparison to Anne Wintour who was easily one of the most successful women in fashion and surely THE connoisseur when it came to style! Like a ancient roman emperor she could seal the fate of an aspiring designer or label with the favor or malice of her thumb. One word, one article of her decided over top or flop of an entire concept of design! She didn't 'make' fashion but she was one of the few who decided what was going to make it in the long run or not. Charlize had met her once, upon an introduction by her mother at Bryant Park during Fashion Week. She had only been 16 back than but was still inspired and driven by the way the VOGUE editor had complimented her fashion sense even back then. Still the petite brunette hadn't wanted to become a designer of her own like school friends as Ivanka Trump and Nicky Hilton thought themselves to be. Fashion was a rather solitary effort for CeeCee ... she liked it on her, liked to accessorize, maybe help her friends out with advice on occasion but that was it. Her true passion was more substantial.

She loved it when friends agreed with her fashion choices. There was nothing worse than talking something onto somebody who didn't want it but was too polite to say so. Despite the two years being locked up in a sorority that made the order of Mother Theresa look pale CeeCee was all for speaking her mind and saying so if she felt mistreated or misjudged. Even though Valerie was surely much more polite and settled than her she knew that if she hadn't liked the accessories she picked she'd said so. After all the French girl was pretty picky when it came to clothes ... every girl growing up on the Upper Eastside was somehow addicted to fashion. But only few were also masters in it ... most relied on shopping assistants who coincidently always picked the most pricey or simply copied the editorial pages of VOGUE walking the streets like a pile of unsorted designer labels. Probably it was part of why the two dark haired beauties had gotten along so well back in the day ... and it transported into the present day as well.

"Well you look gorgeous!" CeeCee admitted watching her friend in the mirror with a genuine smile. They were two totally different kind of beauty ... not that either of them thought they were the most gorgeous thing themselves. Which was a rather naive notion since their confidence was practically untameable ... at least for sure what Charlize was concerned. It was then that a cell beeped in her Hérmès bag which mad her role the almond shaped eyes. It could only mean one thing and looking up at the interior window-front on the second level above the girl already saw her colleague waving at her pointing to his watch. Shooting him a sarcastic smile the slender brunette took a deep breath. "Looks like duty calls ... I say either the Xerox machine or the coffee maker is not working according to plan!" Sighing pathetically CeeCee patted Valerie's shoulder before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek for good bye's. "You know you should wear this dress at the Met Ball! I'd love to see you there!" Already walking away with a glance back the leggy girl ascended the glass stairs again, slender hand trailing up the railing. "Call me bitch!" Perking her tongue out she teased, deeply glad to have one of her best friends back close.

FINISHED