Sugar high meets high fashion. Hundreds of folks crammed the North Club Level Lounge at M&T; Bank Stadium recently to sample dozens of chocolate concoctions at the Chocolate Affair fund-raiser. For floral designer Carole Langrall, the Chocolate Affair also provided an opportunity to let her creative sense of style fly high.
Age: "40-something, and that's all you're going to get."
Residence: Paradise, a neighborhood in Catonsville
Job: Owner of A Garden of Earthly Delights Artistic Floral Design Studio
Self-described style: "Ridiculous. Just me. Eclectic. Bohemian vintage."
The look: Brown, teal and sea mist rayon dress. Blue Monarch butterfly necklace. Brown leather corset-style belt. Teal and copper bangles. Teal suede boots. Green ruched leather handbag.
Where it came from: The dress came from Forever 21. The Nature Depot necklace was created by insect jeweler Michael Soukup. The belt and bangles came from Nordstrom Rack. And the teal ("That's my favorite color") Faconnable boots she got about five years ago at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Social butterfly: "I have three of these butterfly necklaces. [Michael] and his wife, Cindy, actually fly them in and raise them. And then when they die, he presses them and makes them into jewelry. It's humane. I made sure. This one is my favorite."
Working from the ground up: "I usually start with the shoes because I'm a boot fanatic. I have a lot of boots, probably about 50 pairs. And they're expensive. And then the jewelry: I always have a chunky piece. I like something masculine or outrageous. Then I go from there. ... I try to match a couple of really expensive accessories with something that might not be as expensive. Today, the dress is the cheapest thing I have on. ... Forever I'm not 21. But I just found myself mesmerized by their colorful retro-looking dresses in the window one day. I went in and lied when I bought two, saying they were for my daughter. I don't have one."
1960s flashback: "I am a total '60s child, very influenced by the bravery and modness of it all. ... I even have '60s style bangs. ... There are two [fashion icons] that I love. Marianne Faithfull. I think she had an amazing sense of style. ... And Emma Peel [actress Diana Rigg]. I like The Avengers. I like that kind of clean look. I wear a lot of black, kind of form-fitting stuff. But now I have on something floppy. So I just contradicted myself. ... I've taken a lot of styles and thrown them together. And I guess it works."
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