Sunshine

This is going to be super short: I am loving the weather today (& yesterday)! It's sunny and warm and everything is beautiful. I wore shorts today- a nice pair of pastel baby blue ones. I am so excited for shorts weather. I look forward to breaking out the cute summer dresses and the floral skirts. Good-bye essentially black wardrobe & Hello brightly colored clothing.

Recycle & Reuse

I am all for shopping and I love that feeling when you find the perfect item to add to your wardrobe, but I also enjoy finding ways to incorporate items I already use into my wardrobe more.
I keep all my jewelry & I love trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. Soemtimes I find things I have forgotten I owned, then it's like shopping in your own closet- fun!
Another thing I enjoy is borrowing and trading with friends. I'm sure everyone has that one friend that you would share almost everything (jewelry, shoes, bags, etc.) with.
Also, if you ever want to permantly get rid of something and your friends have no interest in them, it never hurts just to donate them. There are alot of places that will take gently used items and either give them away or sell them at really low costs for those that need them.

Favorite Designer Quotes

Sometimes when I'm stuck in the middle of sketching a dress and I need a little inspiration I look to my sketch books, where I have filled several pages with quotes from designers, poets, artists, actresses and more. It's a great way to create sparks & have wonderful ideas.
My favorites are ones involving courage, France, and intense movie quotes or lyrics. Everyone should go and find at least one quote that really inspires them to be themselves and sparks a little creativity.

Here are some pictures from one of my sketch books:

  



"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself.

Aloud."

-Coco Chanel



 



"You have to be unique, and different, and shine in your own way." -Lady Gaga



"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." -e.e. cummings



Inspirational People #1

I have decided that I am going to try to post at least once a month on someone who really inspires my wardrobe and styling decisions.
For March, and my first post of this "collection," I would like to write about Amy Winehouse.

A picture I took of a picture of Amy W.

First off, if you want to know anything about her, such as songs or bio information, just type her name in a search engine and there is a website all about her.
Before she passed away I had never really gotten into her music. I liked it but all I knew was her song "Rehab" and it's not one of my favorites. But when she passed away her music was played on the TV and there were a lot of posts about her all over the web. I decided to look up some of her music videos and I loved them. I love her voice, it's jazzy and raspy, but so pretty. I love that she has her own sense of style and didn't care. She developed her own style as well. In the first videos from the beginning of her career she wears her hair in loose waves, doesn't wear heavy make-up, and doesn't have alot of tattoos. You can see her style progress as you watch more videos. She gets a few new tattoos, wears heavier eye make-up and then goes retro with a beehive. I for one love the cat eye, thick eyeliner look she has and the beehive is just cool. Then, a whole fashion line was based on her style, down to the beehives and make-up. She's inspiring to me because she created her own look and went with it without a care in the world.
I think my favorite song of hers is when she sings with Tony Bennett called "Body and Soul." When I sketch designs I like to listen to her songs and sing along, it's really fun to belt out her music.
I encourage everyone to listen to one of her earlier songs, she truly was an amazing artist and definitely talented singer.

Astrology Lipstick Colors, Who Knew?

I was browsing the web and came upon an article about lipstick colors that match with your astrology signs. I don't know about you, but I love reading my horoscope in magazines and seeing what "might happen." I'm an Aries and I got matched with an orange-red. I love red lipstick so I think I will go ahead and try it. It's something new and different. Who knows, maybe it will turn out to be an amazing color match.

Has anyone else tried something completely new because of a horoscope?

Part of My Wardrobe

I've been collecting some items for my spring wardrobe and I thought I would post a few pictures of my favorites pieces so far.

An upclose shot of my rose clutch, cheetah flats, & hot pink peep-toes.



Part of my spring wardrobe choices.



Colored Denim

One of the latest trends I want to try is colored denim. I own black jeans and I own a pair of white jeans, but I would love to try and rock a pair of red or bright blue or  pastel jeans. I think colored denim would add that touch of pizazz to anyone's outfit.
I think red jeans would look great with a black & white striped top and classic black ballet flats.
Pastel colored denim, maybe coral or light blue, would look pretty with a lace top and a necklace that has lots of strands of pearls. Also, hair in a messy bun with pink or coral lipstick/lip stain would add that special touch.
I hope everyone will try a pair of colored denim, whether jeans or shorts or capris. :)

More Chanel, Because Really, You Can Never Have Enough

So I love Chanel and have already posted about her, but I figured I'd let everyone know I would be posting way more than just once. Be prepared to have about 1 chanel post every month or so.

I like to flip through my magazines and either mark or tear out the pages of ads or pieces I find inspiring. My most recent find is a Chanel ad on the back of Instyle's March edition.

Chanel from Instyle

I like how simple and chic Chanel ads are. It's like the background is a blank canvas and everything baout the girls is so simple that the clothes can really shine in the ad.

Pastels

I am estactic that pastels are a major idea for spring. I've been browsing through my magazines and I love the Louis Vuitton ads. Here's my favorite, from Instyle:

A Louis Vuitton ad from Instyle

I like how everything is in pastels, not just what they're selling. By having the background essentially be one solid shade of pink the girls' dresses and purses really pop even though they're soft pastels. I think that I may have to incorporate more pastels into my wardrobe for this spring. I'm a big fan of black but I love when spring comes around and I can break out all of my flowery dress and bright colored shoes and fun flowy tops.

Spring: Romance in the Air

A Dolce & Gabbana floral dress featured in Instyle

Spring is coming and so is the return of florals, pastels, ruffles, and peplums!

For the new season I would go with one major key piece for a bigger impact overall. I would keep the makeup soft and not overwhelming. The jewelry & other accessories should be subtle or not over powering- unless of course that's your key piece. I would go with pinks, pastels, whites/creams for nail polish choices. Shoes are strappy, sandals, or wedges.

A lovely floral dress featured in Instyle

I would have to say that a floral dress, solid sweater, pastel bag, and pink lipstick is probably going to be my favorite outfit for this coming spring.

Black and White

I have completed my first collection in my new sketch book! It's 7 different looks that include pants, shorts, tights, skirts, and a dress or two. The collection is based on 7 black & white photographs of places in Paris.

I have one of the Louvre with the glass pyramid, a cafe, a carousel and church, a long staircase, men fishing in the river, and a boat going under one of the bridges. All my looks have shades of black and grey with white and touches of bright red or maroon. I tried to vary my outfits by including pieces you could wear with each other- like the shorts & other tops.

As of now I'm not sure what my next collection will be based on but that's why you find inspiration anywhere. I'll probably do something with bright, vibrant colors to spice things up.
If you have any ideas just let me know.