Prop Stylist Robyn Glaser

When I was in a fashion styling class during the winter quarter (cough, before I dropped it), I had a hard time finding stylists that really inspired me. I hate when teachers tell me to find something that inspires me and have it found within the next hour of class. That doesn't work for me, it seems that I have to stumble upon something for it to really inspire me.

I stumbled upon Robyn Glaser, a prop stylist, while reading Decor8 (which I'm obsessed with!). Now this is inspiring! If an image speaks a thousand words, the beauty of these images speak hundreds of thousands.

REVAMP

This blog will be going through a revamp soon. Now that my Fashion Journalism class (which this blog was a quarter long assignment for) is over and done with, I can now write about whatever I please. It's a good feeling to have.

My blogs will more than likely become about inspiration through all types of mediums, including but not limited to fashion, beauty, photography, interior design, crafts, and cooking. I'll also probably be shamelessly promoting some of my crap here and there.

Enjoy!

Natalie Portman's Vegan Shoes

I've known about Natalie Portman's vegan shoe line for a while now but have never actually seen a pair until today. Currently they can be found at Te Casan's website.

They are not extravagant or flashy by any means, but then again neither is Natalie. I'm not saying that in a bad way, I like Natalie Portman, but people will have to keep that in mind when they're shopping.

These are apparently much better quality than other vegan brands. This is a pair I like, a very cute flat, that goes for $185. Like I say all the time, if I weren't broke I would totally buy these.

Stolen for Fashion

Every now and then I'll visit the PETA website to see what kind of horrible acts are going on. Aside from Canadian seal slaughtering, I saw a video titled "Stolen for Fashion" featuring the voices of Pink and Ricky Gervais.

http://www.peta.org/content/standalone/StolenForFashion/default.aspx

I suggest you watch it despite how you stand on the fur war. It's a lot of PETA's other videos, almost over the top, but gets the point across none the less.

I personally don't understand why people would want to wear another creature's skin.
I think it's gross. The title "Stolen for Fashion" makes sense on so many levels, since wearing another creatures skin is not only stealing it, but it's stealing ideas too. Let's try and be original, okay?

What I want now: vintage patterns

You see this bird? I want this bird. I want him on my coat.

You see, I've been looking for a coat with a retro/vintage pattern, almost like something you'd see on Grandma's wallpaper. The most "retro" coats I find are those hideous Ed Hardy wanna be tattoo prints on various clothes at Target. No thanks, I want the real deal.

If I had the time, aside from school or work, I'd just walk myself down to the fabric store and do it myself... but alas, I don't have that kind of time. Hopefully someone will see my blog and either direct me to a place that does have the adorable creatures on their clothing, or just make me one.

Sunglasses: Your new best friend.

Do you wear sunglasses when you're outside? Do you want crows feet wrinkles around your eyes? If you said no to either of those questions then I suggest putting on some shades!

Wrinkles around the eyes are primarily caused from squinting or smiling. No one wants to be a grumpy grouch, and frowning causes fine lines around the mouth. Prevent crows feet the best way by applying eye moisturizers and wearing sunglasses when outside in the sun.

Lucky for us, we have a wide variety of sunglasses to choose from to help save our pretty eyes from harmful rays! So cheer on for sunglasses, and please wear a pair to celebrate both fashion and function!

Image is popular on the internet, and it you know the original source please tell me!

Swimwear Trends 09

Most people that know me know that I grew up on the coast with beach access at the tip of my fingers. Now I live in a city that only offers water to rich people with yachts on a man-made lake, so I feel pretty deprived whenever the warmer weather comes around. This brings me to swimwear and my picky love of what to wear in the sun and sand.

It seems that animal prints, patriotic colors, one shoulder looks, and boho/ethnic inspiration are in this year. I've also seen a couple of tie-dye and geometric prints, as well as lots of sheer swim covers over at Victoria's Secret website. These trends don't really seem so outstanding to me compared to last year. We've had the boho trend, as much as I love it, for quite some time now. The patriotic colors will no doubt tie in with the fifties trend of last year. I can work with both of these, but the animal prints is what I'm really tired of. If I see another leopard print bikini, and I don't care what color it's in, I'm going to retreat back to the city for the rest of the summer.

Images obviously from Victoria's Secret.

Review: L'Oreal EverPure Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner

Ironically enough, just after I wrote a blog mentioned my love/hate relationship with L'Oreal, my almost-supervisor at work comes up to me and gives me this L'Oreal EverPure sample kit to try. I used to use L'Oreal Vive line before I found out about the animal testing and loved it. I thought it did a great job at keeping my (then) damaged, blonde hair moisturized and soft. The sample I received was huge (a whole 3 oz!) and the product claims to be 100% vegan and cruelty free, so why not?

WWD Beauty said this about the new EverPure line: "EverPure uses five naturally derived surfactants that aim to create a rich lather experience, while masks and conditioners in the line feature UVA and UVB filters to protect color from the sun’s rays, said Talley. Formulas also contain silicones and cationic polymers for protection and conditioning, respectively."
I'm excited about the UVA and UVB filters since I'm all about some sun protection.

I currently use and swear by John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shine Release Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner. When I first started using that, my hair instantly became shiner, softer, and more manageable. L'Oreal had a lot to live up to in order to please me compared to John Frieda.

My hair was a little oilier than usual when I washed it with this shampoo, but it did a good job of cleaning it all out within two rinses. The shampoo is nice and creamy, but didn't lather up my hair as much as I'm used to. I felt like I had to use more product than normal to get a good clean. The conditioner came out about the same, only the rosemary mint smell was much more noticable. I left it on my hair for about 60 seconds before rinsing it out. The smell lingered, which is much more than I can say for other scented conditioners that I've tried.

I also received a sample of the Moisture Deep Restorative Masque, which I put on my hair next and then loosely tied up with a clip. The directions say to use in place of the conditioner, but I usually use a deep conditioner paired with another conditioner anyway. I meant to leave this on for three minutes, but due to my hot water running out, I was only able to leave it on for two. Rinse, leave shower, towel dry.

I never, ever, blow dry my hair. Ever. I only flat iron my hair every once in a while. So, if you use a lot of heat damage on your hair I don't know if the results will turn out quite as wonderful as mine did (I think your hair will still be awesome, though). I combed through my hair and immediately noticed the nice minty fragrance and much smoother appearance. The real shock was after my hair dried. My hair is very soft, very shiny, and hardly weighed down at all. My curls are actually bouncy and full instead of weighed down and flat. The shine is just as comparable, if not slightly more noticeable, as the shine I achieve with the John Frieda products. The color looks the same, though, but I think to achieve any real color protection results this will have to be used on a regular basis.

Overall, I am very impressed with this product. L'Oreal has won me over again, only this time I'm proud to use it. The price is about the same as John Frieda, but the results are much more noticeable. I'd definitely buy again and recommend to others with any kind of hair.

Try this! Alba Botanica

What's my obsession with coconut lately? Also, what's my obsession with beauty blogs lately? Not that either of those are bad things, I was just wondering.

I just wanted to rave about Alba Botanica for a minute. We sell this stuff at work and it's always smelled wonderful, but I've never tried it due to the price. (Okay, not that a $16 moisturizer is expensive, but I'm poor!) I'm particually talking about the Hawaiian line, in the pretty yellow and green bottles. They have skin care, hair caire, lip balm, gloss, cream shaves, spa treatments, and sun care.



"Papaya, passion fruit, pineapple, coconut, macadamia nut, kukui nut, guava, honeysuckle, hibiscus, hawaiian ginger... sounds good enough to eat!"

Indeed it does.

One reason I'm really psyched to try these products are because of the natural moisturizing ingredients. I'm cursed with dry skin, especially in the winter. It gets so bad that my cheeks chap. Yet, heavy mositurisers make me break out. I'm screwed, right? Well, the only thing that has really made me love my skin was Yes to Cucumbers facial mositurizing lotion (which is only available at Walgreens). It has natural cucumber extract and is comparable to Alba Botanica. The prices between the two are about the same. Since YTC worked so well for me, I'm really hoping the Alba Botanica does too, because let's face it... any coconut smell will always win me over!

Everyone loves chocolate.

I used to do crazy things with my hair, mainly through haircolor, that results in all kinds of damage. I wish I could take back all the experiential colors and peroxide and trade it in for just one of L'Oreal's new haircolor shades.

I have a love/hate relationship with L'Oreal due to their animal testing, and due to the fact that their products are always really over drying on me (both haircolor and cosmetics). But the colors! Oh, L'Oreal, you have such beautiful shades! Superior Preference and Feira have aways wooed me into the hair isle of drug and beauty stores just to stare at the shiny, glossy, gorgeousness that is L'Oreal. Their new Decadent Chocolate collection in Superior Preference is one more thing they've added just to make me jealous.

Right now, to give my hair that extra sheen without the damange, I use Clairol Natural Instincts. Oh, how I wish I could put my grudges against L'Oreal aside just once to try one of their beautiful dark shades.

Apparently, right now there are only four shades in this collection and they range from medium to dark brown (obviously). However, they all seem to have a very subtle tint of reddish pink, almost rose. This adds a lovely demension their mahagony brown shades that makes all the other color shades look flat.

For less than $10 a box, how can you say no?

Does fashion kill movements?

So, I just finished watching SLC Punk. I remember I first got into punk fashion when I started listening to the Sex Pistols in high school, and then the New York Dolls, and so on and so forth. That's when I discovered Vivienne Westwood. I had never really cared about fashion designers before I discovered her. I guess you could say the Sex Pistols are who got me into fashion, oddly enough. An anti-fashion, anti-conformist band influenced me into fashion. I guess that makes me a poser? Anyway, I looked at Westwood's collections and studied her earlier influences and whatnot. Good stuff. Vivenne Westwood worked with Malcolm McLaren, who was the Pistol's manager for a while, and they opened a store to sell clothing geared towards this punk rebellion crowd.

This is where I open a debate in my head. If punk rock is "a youthful reaction against older generations, considered oppressive and outdated, as a product of the newly recognized and influential youth culture," why would punk rock anarchists, partically punk rock bands that are there to spread the anarchist word, want to create this subculture? Anarchy is chaos, and chaos does not mix well with subcultures.

<sup>The answer? To make money. That's where fashion comes in. If entrepeneurs, such as a young 1970's Vivienne Westwood, can make a killing off of selling punk rock clothing to an up and coming subculture of people, why wouldn't they take advantage of it? I'm not saying that I don't adore Westwood's designs any less, I'm just saying she was part of the reason that punk rock anarchy turned into punk rock fashion, thus no longer allowing it to be anarchy.

That's what happens when fashion gets a hold of any kind of political, artistic, or cultural movement. Look at the 1960's with the hippie movement, the civil rights movement, and the Native American movement. These all influences fashion trends that we see today, such as tie dyes, peace signs, natural black hair, fringed boots and feather earrings. These are great trends and all, but are the followers of these trends wearing them because they like what they stand for or just because Vogue told them to?
I wear moccasins because my father is Native American, and my good friend wears her African American hair natural because she wants to embrace her natural self. What's everyone else's excuse?

Quote from: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vivw/hd_vivw.htm
Sex Pistols image from google images
Fringed boot from Bestey Johnson</sup>

What I want this moment: Floppy Hat

Last summer, I really wanted a floppy hat. The huge kind that keeps the sun off your face but is worn more for fashion than function. I never got that hat, and now I keep seeing it everywhere this spring and I still want it!

American Apparel has a wool one that is darling and perfect. If it wasn't $40, I'd march down there and get it. The stats from AA are:

100% Wool construction

Diameter: 16" (40.6cm)

Circumference of brim: 50 1/2" (128.3cm)

Circumference of crown: 21 1/2" (54.6cm)

Height of crown: 4 1/2" (11.4cm)

Made for American Apparel by Baron Hats

For now, because of financial reasons I will just admire from afar and continue to search thrift stores for the perfect floppy sunhat.

Deseo

As someone who only somewhat got into the Jennifer Lopez fragrance franchise, I was wary of her newest product, Deseo. Whenever a new fragrance hits our beauty counter at work, I have to sample it as part of my job. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don't. Since most celebrity fragrances are geared more towards teenagers and young adults, I was expecting the flower notes, but not the woodsy notes. That's when I read the information packet from Coty.

Deseo is inspired from "a midnight walk in Lopez's garden moments before a thunderstorm set in." Apparently, Jennifer Lopez called some representatives from Coty to her personal backyard garden and said "I want a perfume that smells like this." The notes used in her perfume are the watery bamboo leaves, yuzu, bergamot, freesia, star jasmine, pink geranium flower, orange blossom, mimosa, warm amber, oak moss, musk, sandalwood, cedar, patchouli and mineral accord. The first note to hit the nose is a citrus smell, sometime that can be recognized in most of Lopez's perfumes. The scent fades to a heart of floral notes which have a sweet, but still woodsy, scent to linger on the skin.

The bottle is a real beauty, too. It's meant to resemble a diamond in the rough. The top was a little tricky to open at first, but maybe it's just me. (It's a twist off, not a pull of top.) I'm also in love with the advertising, but that may be only because I think this is the prettiest Jennifer Lopez has looked in a long time.

All in all, I adore this fragrance, and if I weren't a broke college stuent, I'd buy it. It retails at about $50.

Long necked ladies have it easy.

If you have a long neck, I envy you. No, really, I wish I had a long neck so I could wear big earrings without it looking weird. I have a really short stature, short arms, short legs, short waist, short fingers, short neck. I love big earrings, though. Big, bronzed, dangling earrings, or long feathery earrings, or long strands of beaded earrings. It doesn't matter, the bigger the better.

Edie Sedgwick, who I've mentioned before, was infamous for wearing larger-than-life earrings. She was a petite girl, which means her neck couldn't have been very long, but somehow she pulls them off with ease. They look great with her short hair. I have long hair, and on the days I wear it up I feel like I need the big earrings to make up for the lack of hair.

Despite the earrings not always looking right on me, and despite that they create an odd feeling when I tilt my head only to be stopped from tilting all the way by my earring, I still like to wear them.

I'm not too crazy about Target's jewelry selection right now, but they occasionally have cute earrings for a low price. This pair featured is only $9.99 online. They're not my favorite, but for the price I'm sure I could find something to wear them with.

What annoys me...

Don't you hate when you start wearing something random only to find out a few months later that it's mainstream? I do!

I remember when I could pick my boyfriend's flannel western shirt up off the floor and put it on without trying to be fashionable, just trying not to freeze! And then I'd run to the Harris Teeter in it and pull it off fine. Now, everyone has one of those red or yellow flannels from Urban Outfitters or Forever 21, or whoever else is selling them. Now I can't even wear them out in public without being just one of the other "trendy" girls. What's worse, they're wearing it like it's supposed to be a boy's shirt. Go get a shirt from a real boy, not a mannequin!

Same thing with the hippie headband. Not that I sported it, but I would occasionally do the braids, creating the same effect. I technically could still rock the look, but I don't even want to anymore.

This is different than my being excited about flared jeans coming back. I don't care about that because jeans are a basic item. These shirts and headbands, although they are just examples, are more underground items that have no place in the mainstream world. Maybe I'm overreacting, but it just aggravates me.

(Both images from that annoying urban outfitters, grr!)

Handbag search continues.

I am not an easy shopper. I can't just go into a store and find something. Yes, sometimes I have my impulse buys, but most of the time I have a whole list of criteria to go through before I buy something. One of the items that suffers this list the most? Bags.


Prada handbags - by Norma M on Polyvore.com

I love a good bag, I really do, but you wouldn't know it if you met me. Right now I have this granny looking low-slung braided brown bag that really looks like I wove it together myself. I'll admit I'm tired of it, but right now it's just so perfect for all my needs, and I haven't been able to find another to replace it.

For one, the strap is long so when I wear it over one shoulder, it hits right there my hand does and I can keep a nice grip on the opening. It's really easy to reach in and get my keys or cell phone. There's a smaller inner pocket that can stay open or zip closed which is perfect for storing the smaller items (keys, phone, flash drive) and I can clip my school badge onto it and never worry about losing it. It also has a snap closure on the inside which makes it easy to close and open, no annoying zippers. Another reason I can't give up this bag is the space inside. It's a rather small bag in comparison to the huge monster bags that some girls carry around, but I can still fit my wallet, checkbook, a bottle of water, a bunch of crap, and a snack in it without it looking bulgy. Perfect fit.

Right now I think the only other kind of bag I'd get is a nice fringed hobo. I thought I saw one I liked at Target, but when I went back to give it the ol' critique it totally failed. So now I'm still searching, and still using my granny bag.

Woah, Charlotte Russe!

I remember going into Charlotte Russe about two years ago, looking around, and not really finding much that interested me. Although the prices are great, it just wasn't my style. It was just too "high heeled and tight shirted" for me. So, imagine my surprise when I go onto their website (out of plain curiosity) to find a totally different look. Hippie beads and boho skirts?! In Charlotte Russe?! Now they're starting to look like their main competitor, Forever 21. Coincidence?

No, not a coincidence. I read an article in WWD yesterday that stated Charlotte Russe has just redone their merchandising for spring to a more "boho" trend. This was meant to increase sales (since not only the economy sucks, but apparently their sales sucked to begin with) and attract a new crowd. Hmm, could that be the crowd from Forever 21?

Looking deeper into the website, I found that not all their merchandise has changed from teenage cocktail dresses to boho just yet. I doubt that everything in their store will make the switch, which is good for keeping the customers they already have. I'll have to keep an eye out to see just how many of these boho items do grace their sales floor. I might even have to make a trip out to the mall!

(Image taken from front page of Charlotte Russe's website.)

Copycats.

A lot of girls I know look stupid celebrity magazines to see what's in, what's popular, and what they should rush to buy next. I think this is horribly, horribly, stupid.

If I look to something to get inspiration for clothing, I either look to editorial spreads that are rather avant garde, or look to some of the real "it girls" of the past decades. Edie Sedgwick is an example of one of my favorite real girls.

I see girls looking at Mary Kate Olsen and swooning over her "original" and "vintage" style. First off, a style cannot be original and vintage at the same time, that contradicts itself. Sure, I like the Olsen's for being brave and going into the fashion industry when all the high designers pretty much laughed at them, I think that's swell. However, please remember that nothing is new, everything has been done, and being original is a difficult task to master. If you look to ANYONE for inspiration, no matter how creative you are, you are looking at something that has been done before and not gaining anything completely new and untouched.

Mary Kate Olsen has listed Edie Sedgwick as one of her style inspirations. End of story. Please stop idolizing celebrities, no matter if they are designers or not, and basing your entire wardrobe off what they wear each week.

The super flare is super exiciting.

I'm very excited about the return of flared jeans, now with even more flare. Heavily influenced by the bell bottoms of the 60's and 70's, the new "super flare" is supposed to be the "it jean" of spring/summer this year. I, for one, and thrilled.

You see, I never stopped wearing my flared jeans. Oh not, not me, I wasn't going to give into that skinny jean crap that everyone else was wearing. Not a hippy girl like myself. (And by by hippy, I don't mean hippie, but as in my family was blessed with child bearing hips.) Sure, the skinny jeans look cute on select (skinny!) body types when tucked into cute boots. Skinny legs look good in skinny jeans. Short, rounder, stumpier legs like mine do not.

I just ordered this pair from Victoria's Secret, because I love their London Jean brand and I still wear my pair of (flared!) highly worn out distressed jeans from them that desperately need to be retired.

I was going to splurge on a pair of shoes this season, but I've done it on a pair of jeans instead. Welcome back, flare leg, I've missed you dearly.

I always through Ariel was stylish.

I remember walking the seashore with my sister early in the morning and seeing who could find the best seashells before the beach crowds came and scooped them all up. Growing up on the coast of the Atlantic really made me partial to the smell of the saltwater, the feel of sand between my toes, and the look of seashells strung around my neck. Real ones, of course, not that fake Panama Jack hemp surfer-wanna-be costume jewelry that they sell in Wal-Mart.

I stumbled across this website, Oceanic Splendors, and it immediately took me back to the sunrise shoreline of home. What the actual website lacks in creativity, the jewelry makes up for in elegance and beauty. A mermaid would be proud.

Just thought I'd reminisce of the good ol' days of childhood summer. Oh, what I'd give to leave the cold snow in trade for a warm, sunny day at the beach...

Spring 09 Trends, Economic and Cultural Influence

The farther I progress in my degree, the more I notice about clothing, trends, and overall fashion and style. I guess this means I'm learning stuff, right? While looking at the trend report on style.com for Spring of 2009, I noticed some of the influences that designers had and expressed in their collection. Style.com names these trends as the following:

Depression Chic
Geometry Lessons
Goddess Worship
Marrakech Express
Sporting Goods
Trash and Vaudeville

Right off hand, I was biased after looking at the first few showcase pieces for Geometry Lessons, Sporting Goods, and Trash and Vaudeville. Seen it before, overly done, or just not plain interested. All-American, despite who the designers may be, came to my head with some of them, and that's just not what grabs my attention in clothing. Goddess Worship I can deal with because I'm hoping it means maxi dresses will still be in style (although I doubt it, I've already read that they weren't going to be... sadly), but it was Marrakech Express and Depression Chic that really grabbed my attention.

I'm glad to see that the ongoing wars dealing with Iraq, Iran, and neighboring countries has began to influence more than just our television. The Marrakech Express is full of vibrant, flowing fabrics that would made Aladdin go in for a makeover. While style.com more emphasised on the Moroccan and "Ali Baba meets Ralph Lauren" side of it, it was the model wrapped in a turban that sold me. The women of those waring countries are just as beautiful as any other, and just to know that they're being noticed enough to have even the slightest influence on a runway made me kind of smile. Why shouldn't we be exploring other cultural dress, even if it of a restricted religious type?

Now, my personal favorite and the one I think everyone should take special notice of this season is the 20's and 30's inspired Depression Chic. I'll admit, when I first saw the title I assumed that more of those annoying Emo-goth-chic trends were continuing (and worse, taking the runway), but after taking a closer look I was glad to see that I was wrong. These peices are heavily influced by the very similar economic age of our nation's history, the Great Depression, and showcase the flapper look alongside the modest, almost reclusive, rebuilding of the 1930's. Sound similar to anything happening in our country right now? The image displayed is from Burberry Prorsum, and accurately displays what our Nation is going through right now.

I could go on and on about why that is, but maybe I'll save it for a later post.

Information and image from Style.com.