Winter/holiday

Although you may already be seeing resort wear come into your favorite stores, I want to go through some of the winter/holiday trends being that it is December-and we all have those holiday parties coming up we have to dress for!

Lace is for every season, but for the holiday season it can be really great. It can be edgy, feminine, sexy or girlie all depending on the way you wear it. My favorite is to pair it back to a leather blazer or black bootie to give it an edge.

Velvet

Velvet is SO in this year! Crushed velvet blazers (theory makes an amazing one), Velvet lined dresses for the holidays (Alice and Olivia) or even a velvet skirt to put a holiday twist on an outfit. It is so nostalgic of the 90s, I remember I had these velvet dresses as a little girl I would wear for Christmas. This trend has taken that and sophisticated it circa now. It ads such a great texture to an outfit if done right.

Sequins

The sequin sweatshirt is a great way to dress up casual, but still be comfortable.

From Holiday parties to red carpet glam you can take your sequins to whatever level you desire.

This is the one time a year to go nuts for all that glitters! Find your best color and be bedazzled. Be advised that this look goes a long way, pair back with basics to balance the rest of your outfit.

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Sisters Catalogue

Hey Stylistas!

I finally got these photos back from a catalogue shoot I did back in May~

I am so excited to have gotten these back. We pit the shoot together in just a few days, and shot over 150 looks for their catalogue in one very long day! I am pretty pleased with the photos, but more importantly, so was the client!!

FINALLY FALL

YAY it is FINALLY FALL!

This is by far my most favorite season. I long for the fall season pretty much the whole year.

I love the weather (a slight season change for Californians, but nonetheless), the atmosphere of lights at night, pumpkin spice scents wafting through the air. Even the nostalgic feeling I can't quite place I invite with open arms year after year. To me, nothing is better than the snuggley feeling of FALL.

Which brings me to the next best thing about Fall: FASHION!

Fall fashion is the best season because it is starting to cool down just enough for fun layers. It's warmer than winter, so you can still go outside feeling great with just a few layers, and not have to be bundled up like an Eskimo. At that point, it's about warmth instead of the fashion.

Here are some of the trend highlights as well as my favs for this FALL SEASON:

1. CAMEL COLORS

This color is such a great rich and luxurious neutral. An update on the classic black peacoat.

2. BLUE/GREY COLORS

I love this color for fall! It's a bit warmer than just basic grey and it is flattering on all skin tones. LOVE LOVE LOVE

3. TEXTURED TIGHTS

These tights are a fun way to change up leggings, but still keep your legs warm. They pair back really well with tall boots.

4. KNITS W FUR
The perfect blend of a cozy knit sweater with the edginess of a fur lining. Harmonious. My favorite trend.

5. Intro to SEQUINS
Sequins are everywhere! They are starting to crop up into the late fall fashion, and are sure to explode into the holiday fashion this season. A little sequins goes a long way. Perfection.

6. CHEETAH and ANIMAL PRINT VESTS


Ah the softness of a fur vest. This is looks great paired back to leggings and a simple T. Totally revamps an outfit with a little flair. Amazing.

I say it all the time and I will say it again. I wish fall was all year long. Amen

Summer Trends

Hello Stylistas! I feel like I have been hibernating all summer, but quite the opposite. I have changed jobs and have been wrapped up in all things new in the industry!

Some top trends from the summer so far:

boyfriend/ex-boyfriend jeans

I personally LOVE this trend. Katie Holmes was one of the first spotted sporting a pair of these and I have been dying to get my hands on the perfect pair.

Rompers

These have been shown in so many different fabrics, styles and cuts. So versatile. I love the dressier version for nighttime style that is comfortable. Great with cute gladiator style sandals or a platform heels for some extra glam.

Hot Nail Polish Colors

All shades of greens, lilacs, yellows and corals. My personal favorite colors are carried by the Essy and Chanel lines.

Even though the summer season is long over in the fashion world, the weather has been to slow to catch up. It is still hot hot hot on the west coast and these trends will still continue well into October even early November. Now is the perfect time to snap up some of these trends in stores on sale!!

I am so excited for all the new Fall trends! It is my favorite time of year and I am loving all the previews of the new fall lines.

Next up will be a peek into what to look forward to for Fall Fashion! Happy September!~

Trend Alert: All shades of Purple!

Hey Stylistas! There is a NEW TREND ALERT- All shades of PURPLE!

You may have noticed different shades of purple popping up in stores whether it is in clothing, shoes, or most recently and my personal favorite: MAKE-UP.

I discovered this great trend myself a few months back by accident. Looking to buy a new eye pencil and bored with the usual browns and blacks, the other color I will usually pick up is green. As much as I love all things green, I wanted a more of a change, without being drastic.

For all of us brown eyed beauties, we sometimes fall into a rut when it comes to make-up that works for our eye color. My eyes can look darker or lighter brown, almost hazel with flecks of green depending on the colors I wear. My sister has enviable green eyes and I am always looking for ways to highlight the green tones in my own eyes.

Another color I picked up was blue. However, blue does not contrast as well with brown eyes as I would have liked. It works, but it is nothing new, and nothing great.

Then, I went to a color that I tend to favor in all areas of my life. PURPLE. As a february baby, I have always loved this color in any shade. And what is so great about it is that there are so many great shades of this color that can work for ANYONE.

I snagged a few plum color pencils and shadows and have not lo

oked back.

I have had friends and strangers ask if I am wearing purple eye liner. It's so genius! From far away this color works like a brown-great for everyday and n

ot too bold. But up close it provides more of a pop than your typical black. It's a pleasant and fun surprise! I have been rimming my eyes with purple liner since. One caution on smudging the liner underneath: tread lightly to avoid looking like under eye circles or worse-bruises. Other than that have fun exploring what shade of purple works for you!!

Trend Alert: Keys!

Hey Stylistas! I am going to try out a new segment in the blog. There are so many great things going on in the fashion world. It is always changing by the minute-fashion never sleeps!

One trend worth exploring are KEYS. Trend Alert! Now, to some this trend alert is not exactly brand new. But, they have been popping up everywhere.

I remember about two years ago my roommate went to Italy for the summer. She came back with key on a long thin chain as a necklace. I immediately thought-genius! I had never seen this before. I loved it, and knew that I had to entertain this look for myself as well. Although her key was a but different than the ones that are on trend right now, the idea and the look is still the same.

My parents were taking an Italian vacation about a month after my roommate got back from hers. I asked them to keep their eyes peeled at local vendors in Italy for these keys that I could put on a chain. Well, they had a heck of a time trying to locate these keys I was looking for. Even the Italian family they stayed with questioned my sanity and asked my mom if I was "Perso" (lost). My poor mom, determined to come back to the states with keys finally went to a local hardware store in Italy and bought old fashioned real keys. Which are exactly the same looking keys that are in fashion now-mine are just a little bit heavier on the hardware.

Then, a few months later, I had the opportunity to travel to Barcelona, Spain. While I was browsing La Rambla street during a vendors market I saw one silver key all by itself with the other jewelry charms. I snatched it up immediately and have been alternating between my Italian and Spanish keys as necklaces ever since.

Trends are funny that way. Something that seems to just appear and catch on over night usually originated from somewhere. Maybe this key trend didn't originate from Venice, Italy a few years ago. But then again, maybe it did. Just remember, you heard it here first!

Here are some of the old fashion keys, as well as the newer looking keys that can currently be found at Tiffany and Co.

What are your thoughts on the key trend? Love it or hate it?

Peacock Palette

Happy Tuesday everyone! I wanted to share a photo shoot that I styled over the winter holiday. The theme was centered around Peacocks. We did everything from a white, soft palette to an extreme jewel tone of electric blue and deep green palette. The model was great because she was like a canvas we could completely transform-an artists dream. The photographer Andrea LaBarge Mills was equally amazing and extremely professional. Some of the angels she was able to work from took the shots to a whole new level. Below are some of my favorites from the shoot.

Black/White Widow Shoot-Fall 2009

Hello! As promised, I am staying on top of my blogging! I think that I will start from the bottom of my last post and work my way up. The style project was a concept of a Black and White Widow. The Black Widow was supposed to appear dark and depressed while the other widow-the White Widow was supposed to be happy and fairy-like. When I first heard about the job, I was unaware that the styling would require-wedding dresses.

Now my first thought when I found this out (after I accepted the job) was where in the world and I going to find wedding dresses that someone is going to let me- here comes the crazy part: BORROW. Most stylist borrow and return the items that they merchandise/use. This is anything from the clothes, to the accessories, even the shoes!

Luckily for this project, I didn't need shoes. At the time of this shoot I was living in Fullerton, but working for a celeb. stylist in LA. I hadn't been working for the stylist up in LA long enough to borrow any clothes from her contacts, so I was on my own. And I needed to get resourceful, fast. First thing I did was venture over to downtown Fullerton. There are a couple of great Bridal stores down there as well as tons of vintages stores.

I walked up and down into every store introducing myself and getting to know store owners. It is not easy to feel out a store owner you just met and try to borrow there merchandise for a shoot that will most likely not be published-bc for the store owners, there is nothing in it immediately for them. And I can appreciate where they are coming from. However, that wasn't getting me anywhere either. Majority of the Bridal stores won't let you go near their gowns-they are thousand dollar gowns that could easily be stained or ruined. Part of me didn't want to responsibility of their gowns either, I knew I couldn't shell out the money it would take should anything go wrong.

Then I came across a vintage and costume store that was a true gem. They had a bunch of vintage wedding gowns to choose from, and even better, they were willing to let me borrow them for a few days for a very reasonable fee. Phew! I found wedding gowns for my first shoot on my own. I had already accomplished half the battle. To be honest, I am not sure what I would have done if I had not found this great little vintage store StrayCat & Costumes.

Here are some of my favorite images from the shoot:

The shoot went off without a hitch. I even got to do some Art Directing and play with some of the props and posing of the models. The gowns were unscathed, and most importantly my photographers were blown away by the merchandise I found for them to photograph. We all lucked out to have two beautiful models to work with.