Something old, new, borrowed, and blue

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

No, I am not getting married - but this phrase is perfect for this ensemble! 

Behind-the-Scenes story: 

The dress that I am wearing for my New Years celebrations is actually a vintage skirt that my Grandma gave me. Last week my Grandparents brought over some of my Grandma's old attire and gave it to me! So I pulled up the skirt above my chest flipped under the waist belt and sashed it with a silk scarf! 

Photography by Arlina Rose Photography

Dress -  My grandma's vintage skirt

Bracelet: Caché (borrowed from my mom)

Elixir Necklace: Orig. Anthropology-I think (found at Curio)

Silk Sash: Curio

My new Steve Maddens!

  I decided they went with everything and splurged on them. They were on the clearance rack (+ a coupon) at Macy's and they are going to be a new staple item to my wardrobe.

(silly one for the shoot) 

Leaf Necklace - Forever 21

I hope you all are welcoming in the New Year with open arms and make the most of it! 2012 is a new year to change your style, attitude, outlook, and life. Don't waste anytime being someone you aren't

My fashion new years resolution: 

1. Hang up all my clothes 

2. Not care if people think what I am wearing is 'weird.' If I like it, that is all that matters.

Any New Years resolutions?

Adult Dress Up

1. Ladies Strapless Belted Midi Dress £20

2. Mid Brown Grecian Ruch Dress $50 (orig. 70)

3. Gold Hanky Hem Chiffon Dress $35 (orig. 95)

4. Bebe Shoes Cleo - Gold  $120

5. Skor Pa Nätet £399

6. Cream Puff Pumps  $930

  (made that last name up.. because it didn't have one & those shoes are expensive, but they are gorgeous *they better be super comfortable!)

I went on Polyvore today to put these "New Years" outfits together. I think that all three would complement any skin tone, and compliment almost every body type. The cinched waist will give every body type a more hourglass figure and the fabrics used are very elegant and classy and fun (so they are nice for any New Years Extravaganza you decide to attend.) Another perk of the waist lines is they will not show how much you have eaten and so you don't have to pull on those Spanx if you don't want to!

Tomorrow I will be probably sporting something that looks somewhat like #1 but mine is a darker; sort of a ashy blue. Another switch would be instead of wearing #4 shoes with my '#1 look-a-like' I will be sporting these:

( More details on these 'Pumpies' tomorrow)

Get some beauty rest, you all have fun nights ahead of you!

  What will you be wearing?

XOXO

Lately, I have been obsessed with lipstick! I think it adds the extra 'umph' to outfits! 

Today I wore: Artistry 'French Beige'

I absolutely love it! It is a wee bit darker than my lip color and it just evens the shade of my lips. 

I absolutely love Artistry lipsticks, they are great quality and last a long time! I probably own around 10 different shades. 

Sheer Jacket:  My mom's old night robe    Orange Coral Shirt: H&M 

Belt: JCPenny    Necklace: Forever 21 (it has a pearl design on it but I flipped it because I preferred a solid leaf look.)

Tips for applying lipstick:

1. Get a toothbrush damp (not a rough brush something softer) and rub on lips to take off dead skin
2. Dab on a primer -- I have been using a sample size of La Base by Lancome, and it is great! (also great for eyes)
3. Apply a chap stick, this keeps your lips from getting dry and your lipstick from getting flaky (I just use whatever chap stick there is around me at the moment)
4. Use a color that matches your skin, I will do a post on how to figure out your shades later!
5. Sometimes my lipsticks are very 'wet' I guess one could say, so they leave marks every wear! I don't want my lips to be my 'signature' on every glass I ever sip out of so I use a invisible powder. It is a white powder that I dab on with a foundation pad and it helps set the color on my lips and gives it a more matte look.It also prevents from those horrid moments when your lipstick decides that it would rather be on your teeth than your lips.  I use HD Finishing Powder; a little goes a long way. 
6. After this, don't forget to pack  your lip balm, lipstick, and powder with you for reapplication :) 
7. Smile big and proud!

Let me know how you like to wear your lips! :)

Color Blocking - Red & Pink

I have been seeing lots of red/pink outfit duo's and had two pieces in my wardrobe that I thought would blend nicely. Today I decided to do my first ever bold color blocking!

Skirt - H&M  Shirt - Vintage Lucky Winner Made In USA  Shoes - BCBG Generation Macy's Clearance  

Bracelet- Omega Necklace wrapped twice, also used here  Earrings - Vintage Gold clip on's  

Nails - O.P.I Mermaids Tears

---x-x-x-x---

How hollywood wears it:

How did I do?

Nine Dollars Baby!

The reason the title is 'Nine Dollars Baby' is because -- that is how much this outfit cost me!

Sweater - $3 Thrifted (orig. Nordstrom's) Dress - Gift (orig. F21) Necklace - $2 Thrifted

(and although you cannot see my shoes, they are the boots from earlier posts that cost me $2)

I have worn this ensemble another time at school and used the belt from here.

I love it! Thoughts?

I cannot take 'model-esque' pictures without doing a few silly ones, so I hope they make you laugh!

--x--x--x--

These pictures were taken by Arlina Rose Photography in Texas over my Thanksgiving vacation.

Neck-Tie

I recycled today!

Using scraps from the skirt here I made a neck-tie!!

{I finally got some pictures taken by a real camera!}

Shoes - Carlos Santana

Neck-Tie - Homemade

{I think I am going to make it into a bow-tie sometime soon!}

Cap - La Mirada Theater Drive-In Swapmeet Bracelet - Caché

Christmas Clothes

So today I woke up and walked downstairs to see no presents under the tree this year.

We are awaiting my sisters arrival on Tuesday until we do anything -- I am dying in anticipation to see if my family likes what I got them.

So although we did not open presents today -- I did open up my sewing box!

My grandma and I hung out as she showed me how to do a quick hand stitch hem.

BEFORE:

Unflattery at its finest!

{super low quality picture taken on my old computer a few months ago}

Well 4 inches later and I am absolutely loving the result!

Skirt - Vintage {homemade I think} Black shoulder top - F21

Key Necklace - Nordstrom BP Owl Necklace - Wet Seal

Omega Gold Chain & Gold Bangles- some jewelry store {Austin, Texas}

Shoes - Rainbow Shops {Pennsylvania}

-x-x-x-x-

I hope you all had a Merry Merry Christmahanakwanzika

Christmas Eve Vintage

So today I finally got use of one of my Goodwill find

s of last year. It is this old 'victorian-age' looking blouse, I fell in love with it but could never quite figure out how to wear it!

Problemo Solved!

Vintage Blouse - thrifted Vintage Aqua Skirt - thrifted (hemmed shorter and waist brought in)

Belt - also thrifted and used here as well.

As excited as I was that I finally found use of my blouse, and that I got to wear my newly hemmed skirt, today I am more thrilled about my accessories!

Earrings - Antique Shop (the aqua blue matched my skirt perfectly!) Wedges - Love Culture

Head Piece - broken necklace (conveniently fit my cranium)

-x-x-x-x-

Merry Christmas Eve! Don't forget to leave cookies out for Santa!

What to wear Christmas Eve!

If your family is anything like mine, we eat a lot of food on Christmas Eve/Christmas. That doesn't mean I want to wear sweats.

I found this picture on pintrest, but loved the styles. I found a few dresses that look somewhat like them to help see what else you could rock this Christmas Eve!

1. Can be found here and here.

2. Can be found here.

3. Can be found here and here

4. Can be found here and here and here

Can't wait to dress up and celebrate with my family!

Merry Christmas to all & to all a good night!

(or day depending on when you're reading this!)

San Francisco Bound!

Went to the City (San Francisco) and layered up to be prepared for whatever the weather had in store for me.

This entire outfit was thrifted, but my 'purse' is actually a vintage jewelry bag!

I used each zipper pocket to separate gift cards, coupons, cash, and my credit cards.

(I felt like a genius for using this as a organization technique)

I took additional photos inside of my house because outside the colors didn't 'pop' in the outside pictures as much as I had hoped! I used two scarves to do this look and I will definitely be doing it more often.

(I had people stopping me in the mall asking me how I did it!!!)

I used a large square scarf (the green one) and a long rectangle skinny scarf (the orange one.)

Tomorrow I am meeting up with Clay Kerri for a photo shoot!

So with that being said:

~Professional Outfit Shots Coming Soon!~

Found Zara!

So, I have been a little under the weather lately so I have been spending my time doing crafts and sewing.

(I sewed a skirt today that will make its way into one of my outfits in the next week.)

But until then, I wanted to share a cool find that I came across in one of our local thrift stores.

The vest is Zara, and the skirt is.. well the brand of that was unimportant to me at the time.

If they had fit me I would have purchased this outfit and worn it on the spot with some great brown wedges.

{ These shoes can be found here, here and here }

But the skirt (that I would have worn as a dress, belted) did not fit around my rib cage

and the vest was too large to handle on me. *tear*

I still somewhat regret not buying it just because it was a great find; when I go back next week if it's there I will probably get it.

The weather outside is frightful! {But your outfits don't need to be}

A friend of mine who is studying at University of Idaho sent me little packaged complaints on how cold she was -- considering we are both California girls, we are not used to such frigid temperatures. I thought I would share how to stylishly pack on the bulky sweaters and not look like a pile of lumpy blankets!

I love the idea of belting some of the clothes together!

It's like "Oh, thats where my figure went!"

{My favorite part about this is 1. you can totally find a sweater like this at your local thrift store for 6 dollars and the fact that whoever this girl is, is using 2 scarves! Double the neck heat? Count me in!}

This may not look warm, but it could definitely withstand some Santa Ana Winds and around 50 degree's.

{Whenever I feel like wearing a sweater dress, or a normal dress in the winter, I always layer my leggings/tights. It makes them more opaque and keeps your legs nice and toasty! I learned about this tip at The Glamouri ((aka my blog crush right now))}

Now the reason I put this picture of a dress is because I personally live in Los Angeles, where it is cold-ish but not freezing. I pull this trick all the time; Maxi Dresses. they are not just a summer staple, but are a sneaky way of staying warm on a night out on the town! perhaps a date ;) I always wear leggings underneath because no one can see them! (and they keep you warm.) Also with a thick mid-thigh length sweater you can call it a night and go outside without a shiver in sight.

(Its almost Christmas time--excuse my need to rhyme every now and then.)

--x--

So today in Cali it was a brisk 65 degree's so I opted for a dress/sweater combo!

{Sweater Dress: H&M Clearance Rack, Leather Clutch, Shoes, and Belt: Thrifted, Jacket: My moms (I think from Nordstrom)}

I also layered my tights (aka: two pairs of brown tights) so my legs were nice and toasty!

PS: Sorry for low photo quality -- Its from my macbook photobooth because my camera was dead and no one was around to take a picture of me!

Scarves {Head scarves that is}

Browsing through magazines, fashion websites, and even pintrest I have come to the assumption that head scarves are the new hat. Me being a hat enthusiast, I decided to try the distant cousin.

I saw this which is a little more 'vogue' and couture than I usually go for my normal walk around our downtown, but hey -- if this is the way you like to wrap, I say go for it.

I prefer a more casual look;

{ minus the bull nose ring }

http://shopruche.com/

I used to believe that this was too 'hollywood glamour' looking, but I actually used this scarf technique when a friend and I were driving on the freeway in a Jeep topless (meaning, no roof.. I was fully clothed!) and it kept my hair in tip-top shape!

{Im lovin this outfit combo -- especially the skirt}

Pretty much, a scarf can be used for those quick morning do's, or those bad hair days, or even for a new way to spice up a button

up sweater!

On my journey to get these looks, I took a little day trip to my town's local thrift stores and bought a few!

(Cost me only a total of.......*drumroll please* $3.50)

{Two are courtesy of Curio}

I decided to wear the one on the left today!

{ Oscar De La Renta; 100% silk }

Dont Forget to Follow on Blogspot!
Follow my blog with Bloglovin