SIA Snow Show

What better way to end the week than by going to the SIA Snow Show?! It's the snow sporting industry's most important event of the year and it was right here in Colorado! So while all of my friends are at the X Games, I got to check out all of the new trends that will be seen at next years X Games.. and oh my goddess are the winter collections for 2012/2013 incredible! Here's a sneak peak..

I had the most incredible day with some of the best girls I know.. I'm even more excited than ever to enter into this world of apparel design and merchandising! 

P.S. if your school has a Fashion Group International chapter, join it! You'll get so many incredible experiences (like this one!). Stay tuned through out the semester to see what else FGI has in store for me..

About Me: Philosophies

Since I'm still new at this I'd like to share more about myself. Here are my philosophies on..

Fashion: It doesn't matter where you shop or how much you spend. What matters is how you wear what you find. Sure, we all drool over the pages of Vogue. I'd be lying if I told you I wouldn't trade in all my worn in pairs of Toms and Nine West outlet sandals for a pair of Louboutins, but unless I'm willing to marry for money (and then divorce, obviously..) or sell my soul to the devil (not a terrible idea, except my father can't even sit through 'the exorcist' and I wouldn't want to lose him) I'm pretty much shit outta luck. So for the time being I'm going to take my clearance shoes and make the most fabulous outfits possible. You can too. The fun of fashion is that there are no boundaries. So here's my advice, go to Barneys just to search through the clearance racks and find the hidden treasures. Take the dress that was overlooked by every Gucci wearing bitch (no offense Gucci wearers, I worship you) and piece it together with all of your other lucky finds to make an outfit that will make them fall head over their Jimmy Choo heels.

Life: Do what makes you happy, and don't take no for an answer.

Love: Love yourself, it's the greatest love affair you will ever have. Love yourself enough to follow your dreams. Love yourself enough to not settle for anything less than you deserve. Love yourself enough to laugh at your mistakes. Love yourself enough to ask for help. Love yourself enough to let someone else love you.

Family: I'll let you in on a little secret, families are pretty much always f'ed up. Mine is. Each and every one of us is a complete lunatic. But I wouldn't love them the way that I do if they were normal, where's the fun in that? Besides, nothing gets my creative juices flowing quite like a rant from my father about the bitch who sold him the chantilly cream cake instead of the double chocolate cake (which he would end up loving enough to eat for breakfast for days to come, by the way).

Friends: My best friend might as well be my boyfriend. She knows more about me than any boy ever will. Except she's better than a boyfriend. I can tell her to go change when she looks like a moron or a high class hooker, and she can tell me when to slow down on the lemon girl scout cookies before I turn into Kirstie Alley pre weight watchers.. all without tears or some sad sob story about how we just want to be accepted for who we are.

Spotlight: Favorite Outfits

Every now and then I will post about some of my favorite outfits.. here's my first one! I spend every summer visiting my aunt in Connecticut and we always make our way into NYC. We usually spend our days shopping (the sale sections, broke girl problems). How could I pass up an opportunity to visit the trilogy?! The trilogy is Barneys, Bendels, and Bergdorfs, of course. But this past summer we were there for one of the best experiences of my life, the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. If you didn't get the chance to see it in person, I highly recommend buying the book "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty". It has pictures of all the garments displayed in the exhibit and they are truly breathtaking. Anyway, back on topic, this is what I wore to the exhibit. It's a navy blue dress with small white dots all over it which gives it the effect of interesting texture. The cut of the dress is young and so fun to wear.

Dress, Opening Ceremony; Sunglasses, J.Crew; Bag, Marley Hodgson.

Here's a way to recreate this look for way less money via Topshop (click picture for link to buy):

Accessorize!

Here's my number one tip, if you're going to spend a little extra on only one aspect of your wardrobe, let it be your accessories. Even the simplest outfit can be made more interesting by adding a colorful pair of earrings or a fun pair of shoes. Nail polish is the easiest accessory you can have. You put it on one day and it can last for a week (unless you're me, mine lasts about a day). Here are a few of my go to accessories:

From Top: shoes, Vince Camuto; bags (from left), Top Shop, Rebecca Minkoff, J.Crew, Marley Hodgson; earrings, Anthropologie; earrings, Kate Spade; necklace, Ann Taylor; necklace, Free People; nail polishes (from left), Ulta Envy, Essie Mod Square, Sephora Spark-tacular! Top Coat, Sally Hansen French White Tip (use on whole nail or mix with black to get a customized gray color), Revlon Vixen, Sinful Colors Aquamarine.

My Accessory Wish List:

1. Kate Spade City Lights Umbrella

2. Free People Two Tone Belt

3. Urban Outfitters Menswear Watch

4. Jeffrey Campbell 'Martini' Flat (green)

5. J.Crew 'Edie' Leather Bag (flame)

6. Top Shop Aviators

7. Kate Spade Statement Necklace (blue)

Accessories to Splurge on:

1. Statement Necklaces

2. Leather Bags

3. Well Made Shoes

Accessories to Save on:

1. Watches

2. Sunglasses (you'll either lose them or break them eventually, unless they're prescription) 

3. Belts

4. Anything Too Trendy

A Midnight Snack for the Fashionistas

It's one a.m. and I'm wide awake.. I'm not sure why, I live with 7 other girls and it could be that they're all slowly getting home and recapping their nights with each other. Or it could be that I actually got to nap today for the first time since the beginning of the new semester. Whatever the reason, I'm awake and I thought I would share a preview of what I'll post tomorrow. It will be about using slightly more expensive accessories as a way of making an outfit appear more expensive and put together. I got this Kate Spade necklace (it's made of gold chains that are knotted) as a birthday present last year. If I throw on a pair of skinny jeans and a white t-shirt, all I have to do is put this necklace on and the outfit is instantly better.

Spring is in the Air

After a few too many snow storms, we've finally had a few days of beautiful weather in Colorado! It's been near 60 degrees the last few days (thank goddess), and even though I know it's still only January I can't help but look ahead to spring. So for those of you who are like me and start to plan outfits months in advance, this post is for you. Here is one of the big spring trends that I'm most excited for..


A trend that comes back year after year, pastels. It's a fresh change from the blacks and grays that become winter staples. I figure that if you're going to buy something that's pastel, you might as well go all in. Buy something over-the-top girly like this lace dress from Topshop.

Here Goes Nothing..

This is my first attempt at blogging.. so don't judge me quite yet. I thought I'd use this first post to tell you a little about myself. I'm a college student studying fashion merchandising. I grew up all over the country, mostly on the east coast. Even though I'm in Colorado now, I've never let go of all the time I spent living near New York City (in my opinion, the greatest city in the world). I was mesmerized by the bright lights and the chaos of it all. But mostly I was infatuated with the presence of the fashion industry. Everywhere you turn you'll run into a 6-foot tall model strutting down the sidewalk or a brilliantly designed window display. When I die and go to heaven (fingers crossed!), I can only hope that the entrance isn't some big gate guarded by angels.. I want to enter through the glass doors of Barneys New York. Or, let's say that when we die we get reincarnated.. I want to be reincarnated as a mannequin in the window of Barneys. But for now, I can't even afford the clearance section of stores like that. So this blog is all about satisfying your inner fashionista while still being able to afford a lean cuisine for dinner.