Fashion

25 Most Stylish Awards

Photo Apr 13, 7 34 46 PM

Photo Apr 13, 7 34 46 PM

Saturday night I had the opportunity to get dressed up and go to Charlotte STYLES "25 Most Stylish Awards" (you know, since I write for them for free). It was hosted at Suite, which has a really great outdoor area with a decent view of the city around you.  Perfect for a warmer spring night.

I wore my awesome. sequined Tracy Reese for Target and Neiman Marcus shirt and these heels that matched perfectly, but were a hazard to the well-being of my feet.After a snafu at the front door/desk, where I was not on any list I was told I would be on, it was decided I looked trustworthy enough and knew all the right names so I could go on in.

Not actually knowing anyone there, since I do all my interacting with the editors online and through email, I sat down and made friends with some people for the hour we had to wait for anything to happen.  One pair of girls were social workers who knew one of the past members of the 25 Most Stylish and another pair were aspiring jewelry designers that I suspect made their way through the door because their friend was manning it. Totally acceptable in my book. This falls under Faking It Till You Make It.  I totally would flaunt their  work, but I think their card actually fell out of my butt pocket and off a balcony...

While we waited, we had different foods from around the Epicentre. Lots of them were not finger foods, but were disguised as such.  It's hard to daintily eat a "Roast Beef Bruschetta" when the roast beef is trailing more roast beef after you bite into it. Or ribs (enough said about that). The food was pretty delicious though, if largely not vegetarian.  I was 'forced' to drink a beer by the waiting around and about halfway through it a group of very talented girls from the EleKtriK Dance Company started performing to a mashup. They even customized their own white button down shirts for the performance, giving them leopard print cuffs and collars.

Sorry, I failed on pics and video.  I had a sneaking suspicion that my camera and my deeply uncomfortable heels would not get along.

After the dancing we were allowed to mosey on into Suite and stand about for another 10 minutes before the real show started.  I literally mean stand, my feet were so unhappy.

Photo Apr 13, 6 29 06 PMedit

Photo Apr 13, 6 29 06 PMedit

The show was certainly fun, with people cheering on their friends (You guys should totally nominate me for next years 25 Most Stylish). I would like to know the process after nomination though.  Is it a popularity contest or do you actually get evaluated on style and what you're bringing to the community?

One of the makeup artists that works with me got chosen.  YAY JAIME! She's adorable and incredibly nice, so go her!  She told me today that she doesn't actually remember walking down the catwalk.  She got off and was wondering if she tripped or smiled enough.

After the showing of the 25, there was a couple of fashion shows. The Impeccable Pig and Mae Vivid (which I wrote about here). The Impeccable Pigs show was definitely something every preppy southern girl wants to know about and something every other girl needs to know about so they can mix and match.  Mae Vivid was much more "out there" with his show.

Photo Apr 13, 8 16 01 PM

Photo Apr 13, 8 16 01 PM

It featured a legless bodysuit with large sculptural shoulder pads and a sheath dress that went straight down to the floor, forcing the model to do a nice little geisha walk down the runway. Then they had a Junior League of Charlotte fashion show with things one can find at their store.  Some of the proceeds of the night went to support the organization.

After the shows, my feet made me peace out.  So it certainly goes to show you shouldn't always go with fashion over comfort when going to supremely stylish events.

New Year's Styling Excursion

Anita came to visit me for New Year's and wanted me to take her out shopping and style her. Apparently, she has not gone shopping for four years and she threw out most of her clothes... Then realized she had nothing to wear. We went on a quick adventure and came up with a few different options before our adventure was cut short and we had to go fix my car. She got an AWESOME vintage sequined shirt (which she left here along with her shoes), some Free People black jeans (a staple) along with a shirt and sweater from them, two dresses, and a cream-colored silk shirt that buttons up the back. Not too shabby for a couple of hours of thrifting and shopping.

Paint it Red (DIY #1)

Being at home and mostly unemployed has afforded me the chance to do a bunch of DIY projects I've been thinking about for a while now. The first being the lovely (and easy) project of taking some old red jeans and turning them into new red shorts!I went about this in a pretty devil-may-care way. Laying them out and measuring at the outside seam about how long I thought I would want them. And then I added an inch. The extra inch was so I could roll the bottoms up twice instead of doing a proper hem. So far it seems to have worked out nicely, though I will say I haven't washed the shortened version yet.

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How do they look? What are some DIY projects you've meant to try and just haven't figured out how to do yet?

Leather and Lace

Leather and Lace


Lover scoop neck dress
$1,025 - shopbop.com

H M short sleeve shirt
£20 - hm.com

Alexander McQueen lace top
$891 - net-a-porter.com

Helmut Lang knit shirt
$423 - mytheresa.com

Anna Sui sheer shirt
$165 - stylebop.com

Giuseppe Zanotti high heels
$2,210 - luisaviaroma.com

Giuseppe Zanotti leather sandals
$895 - giuseppezanottidesign.com

Rebecca Minkoff evening handbag
$595 - rebeccaminkoff.com

Fendi leather bangle
€110 - pret-a-beaute.com

Sandy Hyun red earrings
$52 - endless.com

Let The Wild Thing Out

O my, It has been a while.  I should schedule this type of thing into my everyday work load.  Welllllll, let us start recapping.  I've done some great shoots since we last talked, though I probably have not been as busy as I should have been. We had lots and lots of great big storms this summer, which worked to my advantage at times and disadvantage at other times.  In this particular instance it worked.

A huggeeeee tree feel in my back yard in Charlotte and I immediately knew I wanted to take pictures of Rebecca there. Preferably before all of the leaves turned brown and/or before my father cut it into tiny pieces.  Which was a concern.  He was going to do it the day I scheduled the photoshoot, but I convinced him to postpone! He was all "Well hurry up and do it.  Don't take forever."

So we went for it basically immediately.  I called Becca, she dropped everything, well not everything, Becca took her sweet time, and we prettied her up and went to take pictures. It was midday basically so the light was pretty harsh, but we were working against the clock as Becca had to go to work.  And if I do say so myself, I think we ended up with some great photos.

Here is the one I am most proud of:

Model in the Wild

I was a ninja while taking this photo, literally.  I was balancing the reflector with my knee up in the air while trying to focus and frame correctly.  Becca was having a hard time being serious while that was happening.  Can't really blame her.  I think the photo turned out great!

Here's another one from the shoot:

You can see the massiveness of the tree in this picture a little better.  Rebecca was a good sport about getting all down in the leaves and sprawling out.  Even as she was being attacked by my dog, and bugs, and stray branches.

The zebra print dress was mine from Rue 21, but I ended up giving it to her as it clearly looks amazing on her.  She had to go find her own belt though.

Sadly, Rebecca has moved to New York to fulfill her modeling dreams, so I don't get to photograph her nearly as much as I would like.  But she is pursuing her dreams! So that's good! And I'm wishing her luck, and begging her to let me stay at her place when I come up.

See More Photos Here

Constructing Domesticity

I'm trying to get on an actual posting schedule.  I will! I know I will! Hopefully. Anyway, I did a shoot with my friend Rebecca the other week and it was an adventure in an of itself.

I got the idea for this shoot as soon as I realized there was a house going up on the lot next to our house.  I had Rebecca come over about an hour before the workers usually left and we got her all pretty and did her hair in little ringlets and we were ready.

The workers; however, had other ideas and it took them another hour before they all packed up to leave.  During this time, Becca, my mother, and I went out to the other side of the house to take pictures in the woods.  These did not come out as good as I would have liked them too, but it was a way to spend time.  Mum painstakingly held my reflector mad of posterboard and aluminum foil up and she was very proud of herself when she saw the results.  She told me she wanted accolades so here they are! Ha.  This little outing; however, did have the unfortunate effect of causing all of Becca's ringlets to wilt since it was about 95 degrees.  We finished taking pictures and still the workers were hammering and being on site so we were unable to sneak on the property and make beautiful art.

We went inside to cool off, wait, (have a nice beer), and spy on the workers through the window.  We made up a few stories for them to pass the time as well.   We were about halfway cooled off (done with beer) when they started packing up to head out so we got prepared, gathered up my mother, my reflector, and my camera and prepared to walk nonchalantly over.

Our plans were spoiled again! My dog made a mad dash out the door and I, my mother, and my father had to drop everything (carefully) and give chase! (Becca tried, one must give her credit, but she was in four inch heels and a dress from the fifties soooooo...)

Dekker's Pretense at Innocence

Now, you have to imagine this is the most fun Dekker has had in a while and he will not go back easily.  He dodges and weaves around me, or straight up uses his hundred and ten pound bulk to plow by me.  Needless to say, he led me on a merry chase and was only caught when he had gotten tired (he's a bit lazy) and a lovely, good samaritan neighbor helped me corner him behind a truck. He was still very proud of himself afterwards.

We walked back to Becca teetering on her heels at the end of the driveway and returned Dekker to his abode.  Then we went to take beautiful pictures.  I wanted to get up to the top floor, but stairs had not been built yet, and the ladder had been bolted to the floor.  I am not kidding, bolted!  The pictures still came out great through! Here's what we got!

I hope you enjoy them!

Here's a link to my flickr as well!