Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Fashion 101: Kimora Lee Simmons of Phat Fashions
Name: Kimora Lee Simmons born Kimora Lee Perkins
Career: Former Model, Current Fashion Designer, CEO of Phat Fashions
Bio: Kimora was born in St. Louis Missouri on May 4, 1975. At the age of 13, her uniquely beautiful look and gazelle-like figure led to her discovery by Marie-Christine Kollock of Paris Agency Glamour,who had her flown to Paris where she was signed by Chanel soon after her 13th birthday. She worked under Karl Lagerfield ,the famed Chanel designer, and became known in the fashion world after he closed his couture show with her dressed as a child bride.Since then she has been on several runways all over the world, and has even appeared in a couple of music videos and TV shows such as America's Next Top Model and her own show Life in the Fab Lane.In 1998, she married Russel Simmons the then CEO of Phat Fashions, a clothing company, and began working as a fashion designer in the capacity of Creative Director of Baby Phat, a female centric hip hop clothing line. She worked her way to the top and eventually became the CEO of Phat Fashions. She has three kids, Aoki Lee, Ming Lee (whom she had with Russel before the divorce) and a baby boy called Kenzo Lee whom she had with Djimon Honsou, her new husband.
Reasons Kimora intrigues me :
She appreciates the glamour in her life, while remaining aware of the things that are really important.
She creates her own words and uses them regularly like the word Fabulousity.
She is a fashion designer with vision, artistic talent and a head for business.
She not only knows her brand but lives her brand.
She proves that you can balance motherhood and being a fashion mogul.
She knows what she wants and goes for it. She has drive.
She has a well defined personal style.
She isn't afraid to take the risks required to succeed.
She has a pretty cool sense of humour.
She has a show that lets me know about what life as a CEO of a fashion company is really like.
She is strong.
To find out more about Kimora you can visit her site.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
Photos from: Starpulse.com and Ok magazine
P.S. So let me know what you think. Who do you think is important in the fashion industry? What labels do you like? What do you think about Kimora? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Into My Fashion and Beauty Treasure Chest...My Top 10 Fashion and Beauty treasures
Photo from: Tumblr
Lately I've been looking to shake up my style a bit. I'v been Boho-Whimsical quite steadily for almost two years now and I feel like a change. I was thinking something with more of an edge and I know that a more chic style has been appealing to me too. But I can't totally leave bright colors alone either. Oh decisions! Anyway, I don't know why but lately I keep getting asked that really odd question about what you would take with you on a deserted island if you could only take 3 things. I still haven't come up with an answer but it did make me what the key elements of my personal style are and this list is what I came up with.
1. Cocktail Rings: I love all rings and own quite a few but I especially love cocktail rings! When it comes to jewelry on me I've discovered that bigger is better. My favorite ring is a big and beautiful gold flower ring I got from So Good Jewelry.
2. All up in your face prints: Polka-dots, stripes, florals, plaid, separately or all together I love them all.
3. Scarves- I must own about 10 and although I don't mean to perpetuate the European style stereotype I'm pretty sure this is something I acquired from the Swiss.
4. Anything in Purple and the Aqua Blue- Teal Spectrum: My room and wardrobe are covered in these two (three?) colors.
5. Vests: I think its amazing how these tiny pieces of clothing can instantly change a whole outfit.
6. Boots: I love boots so much if I could I would wear them everyday.
7. Cleanser: Although, I don't wear make-up most days cleaning my face with an alcoholic cleanser before I go to bed helps me keep my skin smooth and pimple-free.
8. Black mascara, and eyeliner: It's the gypsy in me that makes me love this.
9. Glossy lip balm: What I wear to balance the effect of my lined eyes.
10. Red Lipstick- If you are going to do something, might as well do it right.I rarely wear lipstick because I prefer to do my eyes but I just can't resist the chicness of red lipstick. It just screams style.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. What are your key fashion and beauty elements? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
If I Had One Wish... I would be a gypsy
From: DiscoAnimal Tumblr
Dearest Devotees,
Spinning silks in shades of light
Velvet dark as shadowed night.Whirling dancers with eyes like jet
Centuries have not tamed us yet!
Ever since I first watched Gypsy Girl when I was 10, and read all of the books in the series by Elizabeth Arnold about a young gypsy girl who lived with her gypsy family in their caravan at the end of a suburban street, I've been intrigued by the romanticized gypsy life. All the colors in their clothes and in their homes, their free-spiritedness, closeness to nature and artistic abilities, their inherent quirkiness and individuality, and familial closeness caught my attention. Our shared love of traveling and the fact that I have spent most of my life on the move, also attracted me and ever since then my style has had some romany (gypsy-related) elements in it. If you are like me and harbor dreams of being a gypsy, read on.
Fashion and Style
The easiest way to embrace this style is by channeling your bohemian leanings. The bohemian trend was largely influenced by romany style dressing. So think gypsy skirts, peasant tops, tunics, exotic prints, tons of jewelry and color (especially jewel tones).
Beauty
When it comes to the gypsy style beauty there are two ways you can go: natural or jeweled. The Natural look has to do with accenting your current attributes in such a way that you don't look like you are wearing make-up. The jeweled look has to do with jewel tone polish and eye-shadow, smokey-black eyes with black mascara and eyeliner and lightly glosses lips.
What to do
Try out palm reading.
Go thrift store and antique shop hunting. You can probably pick up some really fantastic unique pieces for your wardrobe.
Listen to "indie" type music. Think lighthearted, light-spirited acoustic style music e.g anything Iron and Wine, Blue glass by Furlough, etc.
Go horseback riding.
Take your favorite art supplies ( notebook and pen, sketchbook and pencil, paints, camera, etc) and go to your closest connection to nature. Spend an afternoon allowing nature to inspire you.
Lay in a field and watch clouds go by or if its raining feel free to play in the rain.
Have friends and family over, and have a bonfire/campfire night out. Dance around the campfire.
Go flower and/or fruit picking.
Explore a nearby town, a different neighborhood, or if you can't physically go anywhere try heading to the library and distancing yourself from reality through reading.
Don't forget to have fun on your own and with other people.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know know what you think. Have you ever desired to be a traveller/gypsy/Romany? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
P.P.S I am in no way an expert and honestly this is all for fun, and based off fictional gypsies. I do not intend to offend anyone and if you happen to know more about the subject I would most definitely love to hear from you via email at aury4eva@gmail.com.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Mirror Me: I love Teal and Leopard prints
Cocktail ring: So Good Jewelry
Earrings: Iam's
Vest: H and M
Dress: Tailored from African traditional material
Shoes: black thrifted pumps?
My Darling Devotees,
I have finally turned in my costume design project on the opera, Werther, and after having spent the whole week trying to complete it I can not completely explain the immense feeling of relief that overcame me. As soon as my Economics exam was over I was free!!! And after a day of traveling, I am finally back home now and able to carry out some of the plans I've been keeping on the back burner for the past couple of weeks. I will let you know more about each one as they come to realization, but most of all I'm just really happy to be back with you amazing people.
On the plane home, I watched 3 really interesting but really different movies. The first one was Percy Jackson, which was an amazing movie! It was seriously one of the best movies I've seen this year and one of the best based on books movies I have ever seen. It was quite true to the use of Greek mythology in the book but was still an epic movie in its own right. The second movie was It's Complicated, and I thought it was definitely a good romantic comedy but not really memorable. The 3rd one Leap Year and it was incredibly memorable and truly lovely. Although it was a romantic comedy too, it somehow managed to balance the hilarious comedic aspect with the sweet romantic aspect. Plus it was mostly set in Ireland and you all know how much I love Ireland. All in all, I totally recommend it.
Finally, I'm currently trying to catch up on all of my blog trawling and commenting so I can see what's good out there for this week's Seeking Inspiration post, and just to know how the blogosphere's been so if you have a blog and want me to stop by and say hi just let me know in the comments below.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. Does the dress I wore seem semi-formal to you? What is your definition of semi-formal?Have you seen any of the movies above? What did you think of them? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Mirror Me: I am not afraid to mix prints...
*Edit* i.e I totally forgot
Scarf: Clockhouse
Sweater: C and A
Top: Gift from roommie :)
Jeans: White House Black Market
Boots: Barnes and Nobles
Say hello to Mirror Me, my outfit post segment!
For the longest time, there was a huge disconnect between the person I appeared to be, and the person I knew I really was, and this gap was only bridged through my personal style. Ever since I was 8 I think, I've had a huge investment in my style because it was around that time that I started to lose the ability to just be the outgoing, flamboyantly creative, whimsically free-spirited, predominantly happy person I knew I could be. I began to be more self-conscious, more reserved and more withdrawn. At first, it was just little things, like I would not like to be surrounded by people at parties, but would instead take my food and curl up in a corner with whatever novel I happened to be carrying around at the time. But it got worse, and with every additional unkindness done to me, or hardship I encountered, I withdrew even more until the difference between the way I dressed, (which was always really colourful, bright, bold and fun) and the way I acted (which was awkward and/or reserved at best and antisocial at worse) was comical. People would be amazed by my style, and they were shocked by how comfortable I was in taking what they saw as 'fashion risks' (i.e. anything that was different from the normal trends of the time) but what I saw as part of who I really was. I knew what I liked and no fleeting trend could change that, it could only enhance it.
The peak of this disparity was probably junior high and since then the gap has become a lot less evident. Today, you can barely see any resemblance of the girl I was in the girl I am today. College has sort of liberated me from the imaginary ropes I had myself in and allowed me to be the person I've always been inside. My style, which I describe as predominantly Boho-Whimsical in the summer and spring, and boho glam in the fall and winter (although it is going a sort of odd transition right now as can be seen above) is truly reflective of who I am. My friends describe me as always really energetic, bubbly, vivacious and cheerful but even though I know there are times this doesn't describe me all the time (nervous breakdown at 3 am working on english essay, anyone?) I think it's a pretty accurate description of me most of the time.
Anyway, this was just a little peak into my style history and explanation for why personal style is so important to me. My personal style spoke up for me when I couldn't speak up for myself. It told people there was something more about me than the shy, reserved girl I used to be. I decided to start doing outfit posts because individuality and personal style mean so much to me and seeing others' style can be a huge source of inspiration. I hope to elaborate more on the concept of my personal style and style history soon, so look out for that.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. What are your views on personal style? Do you get inspired by other people's style? What is more important to you, following trends or maintaining personal style? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Dreaming of the Show: Ophelia from Hamlet
My Darling Devotees,
I have found true love in the field of Costume Design and although Fashion Design will always be my first love, Costuming has quite literally swept me off my feet. Costume design is the art of creating a look that portrays a certain character or that helps a performer tell a certain story.
Costume production is the actual making of the aforementioned costumes. I find costuming is like a mix of fashion and literature and I think this is why it appeals to me so much. So some of you have expressed interest in the field and since I really want to work on my skills, I have decided to do blog posts on how I would style characters from different plays, movies and productions. Some of the productions may be popular ones you can recognise or they may be less expected or more unusual ones e.g ideas for a music video. Some of the posts will be more fashion history centric while others will be more modern and directly applicable to you if you want to add a bit of drama to your style.If you have any productions you would like me to do leave a comment about it below, or email me at aury4eva@gmail.com. I'm so excited about this and I hope you are too, my loves.
Ophelia from William Shakespeare's Hamlet:
Time period and place I would set it in:
Late 19th Century England
Plot summary: Can be found here, but basically Hamlet is a play about a young prince who's father is killed by his own brother, a brother who soon goes on to marry his late brother's widow and become king. Hamlet figures out the truth and proceeds to seek vengeance on his uncle, all the while losing his mind in the process and hurting people he loves, because of his high level of anxiety.
Character Summary: Ophelia is an innocent, naive and beautiful girl who is in love with Hamlet. She is hurt by Hamlet's sometimes rash behavior and is strictly obedient to her father's word. She lets him control her life and when he tells her to break off her relationship with Hamlet she does so, despite the fact she still cares for him. Then, when Hamlet in his crazed state kills her father, she is pushed over the edge and loses her mind. She begins to spend her days picking flowers and singing nonsensical songs until she drowns herself in a river.
Key words to describe her: sweet, innocent, young, naive, immature, delicate, unstable, crazy, in touch with nature, and broken.
Key elements to Ophelia's Style:
Beautiful pastel dresses
Frills, ruffles and lace
Floral and small polka dot prints
Flower headbands and flower-accented bonnets
Exquisite elbow length fingerless gloves,
Bows and sashes
Pretty fans and sun umbrellas
Slightly pale, natural looking make-up with emphasis on pretty pink/red lips except in drowning scene, when dishevelled hair with leaves and branches caught in it and deathly dull make-up are featured.
Ophelia to me:
Pictures from google images and we heart it.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. Have you read Hamlet? How would you style Ophelia?What period would you set the play in? What elements of her style would you/do you incorporate into yours? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
My Top 10: Personal Style Rules
Photo from: hatehandles
Dearest Devotees,I was talking to my roommate earlier and discovered that over the years, I have developed a lot of rules that help keep me within the realms of my personal style. Some of these rules are quite flexible and may vary according to my current style inspiration but others are rules that I anchor myself to, much like Sir Thomas More anchors himself to his principles :) . They include:
- A wardrobe full of cotton, or even just one fabric, is not a wardrobe. There is so much variety out there. It might just be me but I can't help but it reminds me strongly someone in a boarding school with a uniform.
- Patterns and prints can be mixed. I agree it is a challenge and does require a certain amount of confidence and joie de vivre to pull it off, but if fashion didn't challenge me I wouldn't care about it anymore.
- Comfort and style can go together. I will never understand why or how people can wear pajamas to class. I mean even sports clothes can be useful and at least semi-cute.
- Accessories can make or break an outfit. I have believed in this rule for years, even gave a talk about in English class when I was 11. The right accessories can take an outfit from plain to dazzling.
- You do not have to show skin to be sexy or stylish. Sexiness comes from self-confidence and knowledge of what looks good on you. Also, even if the trend is about showing off your limbs, there are several ways to indulge show them off without exposing them to the elements.
- Do not care about what anyone else might or might not say. As long as what I'm wearing is appropriate for the occasion, and makes me look and feel good I should not and cannot go out worrying about little details like if I will look like everyone else. The first time I was criticised for my style was in 4th grade. Some girl said my wearing blue and black was tacky. I was a little upset at first but later I thought "who died and made her queen of all things fashion" and since then I wear whatever I like with total disregard for people's desire for me to blend in and look like everyone else.
- Strive to represent who I am and what I like in all that I wear. I am told I have a very energetic, vivacious and bubbly personality. I am generally very outgoing and like to claim that my life motto is " I don't do unhappy" . It makes sense that I am attracted to bright colours, and patterns and prints, and unafraid to take fashion and style risks because of who I am.
- Unless it is a matter of wearing a ball gown to a baseball park (or some other similarly ridiculous circumstance) I can not understand the concept of having clothes you can only wear to one place i.e. that lovely sapphire top with the beading in your wardrobe apparently only sees the light of day, when you are eating out at your favorite restaurant, every once in a blue moon. It's too dressy, to wear to work or to class, you say. Months later you give it away. Why? You never tried to dress it down. This is a sad but true story.
- Scarves can be worn anytime of the year, not just in winter. This is coming from a girl who spent six years of a secondary school in a country where 40 degrees celsius (104 fahrenheit) is an absolutely normal temperature for half of the year. Trust me, all you have to do is find the right one.
- Personal style is about emphasizing your beauty, both internal and external beauty. It is all about playing up the best parts of you. It's supposed to make you feel good and look good. If it doesn't do that its just not personal style.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. What are your personal style rules? What is your personal style? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
If I Had One Wish... I would save the world
I'm not a superhero.
I can't fly, lift large objects or see through walls.
I don't have superhuman powers, but that doesn't mean I can't help save our world.
Fashion and Style
I want to save the world by aury4eva featuring Kuyichi jeans
I love eco fabulous clothing lines. You can look good and feel good knowing that what you are wearing will not harm the environment should you decide to get rid of it. Also I am a big fan of looking stylish all the time. I really believe its possible because style is very adaptable and really varies depending on the event. The hoodies, combat boots and jeans above are all eco-fabulous and perfect for building houses for charity or volunteering at soup kitchen.
Beauty
To contrast Spring 2010's all about pastel clothes theme, the make-up colour scheme is really bright. All the make-up above is mineral make-up and if you don't already use mineral make-up darlings I must ask why. I love it so much I may write an ode extolling it's eco-friendliness, it's smooth and soft textures and its ability to not clog my pores. My personal fave is Aromaleigh.
How to save the world today
Donate your time, skills or money to a charitable organisation or charity event close to your heart.
Sponsor a disadvataged child, animal, or grassroots organisation or business.
Visit an orphanage, an elderly home, a hospital ward. Spread the love.
Recycle : get a recycling system going in your space. If you set it up now, it will make sticking to it a lot easier later.
Smile: Greet everyone with a smile. I smile all the time. It makes me feel happier and the people around me appreciate it too :)
Pay a compliment: You never know how it could impact someone's life or what kind of day they might be having. It could brighten their day.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Dear Devotee:My Top 10 Spring 2010 Must-Haves
Photo from: strawberryblueberry
A while ago, I put up a post asking you all to feel free to contact me with suggestions, questions and advice and ellie commented:
...So have you found anything out there that is a must have this spring? I did see some scarves that might brighten what I have, but then I thought..I'll get hot in that or spill something on it...
A while ago, I did a post highlighting the major trends for Spring 2010 here, but that was just giving you a general idea of what to expect ( and what I thought was lovely). But as the weather gets warmer (barely) and the time for intense spring shopping nears I realise we will all need a more definitive of what would be good to get, so I've put together this spring 2010 must-have list below:
Key outfit pieces
1. A Chambray shirt: The Americana take on the classic white men's shirt, this piece is a definite spring 2010 favorite. Through it over your cute floral dress or digital printed playsuit (see below) to reinvent your outfit.
2. Brown cargo pants.
3. 80s pop slouchy tees
4.White jeans with blue wash: I tend to favor dark washes because they are easier to dress up and down, but I must say that lighter washes have definitely stolen the show for this spring. Styles to look out for are the ripped and patched jeans.
5. Lace, lace and more lace: Lace details are definitely a must have for this spring, and they are a big enough trend you should shop around for a major clothing item that is part lace. Go for lighter shades for a dreamy day look and darker tones (like black) for a rocker chic/boudoir reminiscent night look.
So those were 5 of my spring major item favorites but since spring is mostly a period of transitioning I sometimes feel that the key to creating an on trend spring look that still reflects you is through your accessories, which is why it was so difficult for me to narrow it down to five. That being said, here are 5 spring 2010 accessories that no style maven should be without:
1. Floral print fringe scarf
2.Navy blue military style jacket or vest with gold details.
3.Patchwork print and light blue tote.
4. Spring leather jacket: This jacket has a warmer tone and is lighter in weight than the its autumn/winter version. Think carefree indie girl at woodstock festival instead of hard-rock chic.
5. Brown cow girl boots: Channeling your inner Americana.
Finally here is my hodge-podge mix of Spring 2010 hits for those who are in search of concepts to work with:
1. Polka dots
2. Chambray (shirts most especially)
3. Bows of all sizes
4. Pastels and blush colours
5. naval strips and military details
6. warm-toned spring leather
7. lace
8.spots of bright colours
9. light blue denim
10. Florals and digital prints
Ellie don't be afraid to get those cute scarves. I know that this season seems to be all about the pastels but if you are worried about taking care of them, this season's floral and leopard prints as well its "spots of bright colour" are definitely the way to go. Hope this helps.
Don't forget to enter my Abazias Diamonds giveaway by leaving a comment under the post darlings.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. What are your spring 2010 must-haves? How will you transition your wardrobe into spring? Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below.
Gallant Giveaway: Abazias Diamonds
Photo from: april182deviantart.com
Darling Devotees,
I believe Miss Monroe said it best when she declared "Diamonds are a girl's best friend, " and years later females everywhere are still naturally drawn to the exquisite, classic beauty of a diamond.Diamonds are my birthstone, but alas I do not currently possess the funds to acquire such loveliness in any form.The hefty price tag that accompanies such gorgeousness does not discourage my desire, nor does it make me doubt my theory that they should be a part of every complete wardrobe. Thanks to Abazias Diamonds, one of you lovely people will be getting that much closer to the holy grail of a complete wardrobe. They have been so kind as to offer to giveaway a stunningly beautiful sterling silver, diamond accented antique style silver key pendant on this blog! (see here)
I know darlings, I know. How can you get your hands on this gorgeous trinket? Well...
- for one entry follow this blog and state so in the comments below.
- for two entries follow this blog and tweet the giveaway and or announce it on facebook.
- for three entries, follow this blog, tweet it and announce the giveaway on your blog/or tumblr.
On Monday the 15th of March, I will announce the winner so get all your entries in by Sunday. I am so excited for the potential winner and I'm so honored to be hosting this giveaway. Make sure you check out Abazias to see the prize and let me know what you think in the comments below.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
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