Fashion Blogging At Its Best

Fashion is a great outlet for individual creativity. But every once in a while we need a little bit of inspiration to allow for personal creative style. There are dozens of fashion blogs on the Web that offer great style tips and astounding fashion inspiration that goes beyond the runway. One of the best things of gaining fashion inspiration is learning new ways to incorporate different items in you wardrobe. Typically, we wear the same outfits over and over again when there are actually endless possibilities of ways to make use of each piece in your wardrobe. Buying new clothes regularly is not always financially feasible, so coming up with new ways to wear something is a great way to make an old article of clothing seem new. Fashion can be fun and realistic and finding new ways to pair things together is always exciting. Here are my top five fashion blogs that I look to for inspiration whenever in a creative rut.

“The Sartorialist” is one of the most famous fashion blogs online. It is updated almost on a daily basis and features photographs of people on the street. Drawing inspiration from people on the street is always a fun way to build creativity. The Sartorialist, who remains nameless on his blog, takes photographs of random, fashionable people on the street, celebrities, and those famous in the fashion world in some of the most fashionable locations including New York, Paris, Milan and Los Angeles and shares the photographs on his blog. Every fashion week, he also posts dozens of photos of all the fashionable people roaming the streets. It is almost impossible not to be inspired by the fashion displayed in his photos. You can check out “The Sartorialist” at www.thesartorialist.com.

Image via The Sartorialist

A personal favorite of mine was just recently created this year, but has so far yet to disappoint. “The Skinny,” a blog created by corporate headquarters for Forever 21, has an interesting combination of styling tips, trend alerts, runway coverage, celebrity or musician profiles and interviews, and of course, Forever 21 clothing suggestions. Although the articles are clearly for promotional purposes, they actually have great tips to offer. And while you do not necessarily need to buy what they are selling, you can be inspired by some of the outfits and use what you already have to recreate the look. I highly recommend checking this blog out because it has fun articles to read and be inspired by and it is updated daily. Visit “The Skinny” at http://blog.forever21.com.

Image via The Skinny

Another recently popular blog is “Who What Wear.” Created by Katherine Power and Hillary Kerr, this blog offers a great and refreshing alternative to celebrity stalking. This blog, as it states in their About Us section, does not cover the usual celebrity gossip, but strictly sticks to celebrity fashion and runways fashion trends. The blog covers fashion trends shown on the runway and then provides more affordable options and styling tips to be able to wear the trend realistically. They also provide great collages of celebrities to draw inspiration from and the pictures are posted to specifically help people get inspired. Kerr and Power both realize the need for fashion help and that someone will always be asking what bag a celebrity was carrying or who designed their dress, or even if you want to know of a more street friendly way to wear what a celebrity was wearing. You can view the blog at www.whowhatwear.com or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/whowhatwear.

Image via Who What Wear

Another blog that is similar to “The Sartorialist” is “Street Peeper.” But this blog asks one simple question, “What are you wearing?” The blog was launched in February 2007 by Phil Oh and is ran by several team members who post and photograph from places all over the world such as Warsaw, Paris, New York, Mexico City, and London. The team does just what The Sartorialist does and simply photographs people on the street who display fabulous fashionable style. The unique aspect of this blog is the fact that you are seeing real people on the street dressing in their own unique way and you cannot help but be inspired from some of these fashionable people. Many of those photographed are also young so it allows for younger people to be inspired by fashion appropriate for their own age, as opposed to the common adult audience on the fashion world. Check out “Street Peeper” at www.streetpeeper.com.

Image via Street Peeper

One of the most unique and definitely awe inspiring blogs is “Style Bubble.” This blog incorporates art, fashion, editorial work, graphics, text, window displays, do-it-yourself ideas, film and music. A young woman in the United Kingdom who has a serious love for fashion created “Style Bubble” in order to share her passion with the world. She often posts pictures of her absurdly outrageous outfits she wore for the day, displaying her colorful and rather unique style. Everything from her top to her shoes are interesting and inspiring. She also posts beautiful and dramatic images that some would call “out there” but then relates them somehow to fashion and then even incorporates it to fashion. It is truly creative and inspiring and no matter how ridiculous some of the things she posts may seem, you can only admire her artistic viewpoint and relate everything to normal fashion. You have to see it to believe it. Visit the blog at stylebubble.typepad.com.

Image via Style Buble

A Budget Friendly Halloween

Year after year, you see the same Halloween costumes on young women, generally overly revealing and incredibly inappropriate. This is the one time of the year they are able to dress “sexy” and they take full advantage of it. But my question is, what ever happened to creativity? Halloween has this special way of turning everyone into a costume designer, makeup artist, or crafter. This is probably why I love Halloween so much. It truly brings out the creative side in people that you normally would not see.

Lately it seems that people have gotten lazy, so to speak, and are willing to pay outrageous amounts of money for a costume they will only wear once. However, there are many options and alternatives to buying expensive costumes that will bring out your inner creative side and will give you the opportunity to actually have fun putting together your look for Halloween.

One of the easiest things you can do to be inspired and get creative ideas is to roam the aisles of a Michael’s Craft Store. There are so many materials to choose from and you can come up with great costume ideas. With materials such as glitter, sequins, ribbon, feathers, foam cutouts, hats and masks, the possibilities are endless. Plus, in every Sunday newspaper Michael’s puts out a 40 percent off coupon so that you can save a few dollars. This store has everything to make your costume come to life and it is a lot more fun when you can create your costume yourself and know that it truly is original.

Another fun option is to utilize makeup. There are so many tools and materials to choose from that do not have to be expensive. Places such as Rite Aid, Walgreens, Target and Ulta sell inexpensive makeup with brands such as Wet ‘N’ Wild that have items for as low as 99 cents that work great. If you are not sure on certain techniques or you want to learn how to recreate a certain makeup look, go to YouTube online and type in the look you want to create in the search box. Hundreds of tutorials will pop up that have makeup artists demonstrating how to do certain makeup looks and they have recreated just about anything from Lady Gaga to Frankenstein. The best part about the videos is that even if the makeup artists use expensive makeup, there is always a cheaper alternative at drugstores that will essentially be the same item and work just as well. Everything in makeup has a duplicate. Check out the channels kandeejohnson and goldiestartling on YouTube. They have some of the most amazing Halloween tutorials and they teach you step-by-step how to recreate the look. Check out the videos below to get some great ideas.

The last thing you can do for a less costly Halloween costume is to shop at thrift stores. Thrift shops have dozens of clothes from just about every decade. You can find everything from a unique dress right known to the shoes and accessories, and all for around $10. If you are lucky you’ll find your entire costume all in one thrift shop, but if not, check out several as some are sometimes over picked than others.

Regardless which route you choose, be creative with Halloween and have fun. There is no need to go out and spend bug bucks on a costume that will only get one night’s use. Instead stick to a budget and create something to your liking that you will be proud to wear.

Fall fashion trends arrive

October is finally here, which means fall fashion is finally kicking up in high gear. Fall happens to be my favorite time of the year and always has the most promising trends to get us through the colder times. This year, there are many great fashion trends that were seen on the runway and will be hitting stores everywhere very soon, if not already. Here are my top five trends to look for this fall season.

The One-Shoulder Dress

Classic, sophisticated, and sultry. This dress can be dressed up, or dressed down, and adds a little flair to a simple design. It is understated enough to wear out for dinner, yet dressy enough to wear to a formal event. It looks great in just about any color and there are so many different styles to choose from this season. There are also many options in prices, ranging from $25 to $150 or more. So anyone can find a way to budget for this item. For the ultimate versatile dress, this is a real winner. Pair this dress with ankle booties and tights and you are ready for a night out on the town.

Leather

From dresses to jackets, to pants and skirts, leather is the biggest trend this fall season. Not only are there dozens of options in leather styles, but there are also several different materials to choose from. Those opposed to wearing leather have several options because many stores are now carrying faux leather, and at a much more affordable cost. Faux or real, this trend is making its way in stores offering styles such as a gorgeous strapless leather dress with zipper accenting, available at H & M for $34.95. Forever 21 even launched a selling campaign titled “Faux for Fall,” which focuses on faux lather and faux fur at reasonable prices.

Structured Jackets

The jacket is a key wardrobe piece and one particular style was seen on just about every runway for fall: the structured jacket. Angular shoulders, defined lapels and body conscious seams are all key elements to this season’s must-have item. The structured jacket is the statement maker for any outfit and is definitely a dramatic piece. It is meant to be worn as a separate, not part of a suit, and paired with skirts, jeans, or leggings and they look great when paired with boots. Expect to pay a little more for this item, but remember you are paying for quality and detail with obvious structure.

Ruffled Shoulders

The ruffled shoulder trend is the perfect way to transition from summer to fall. It has a bold structured detail which fits right in with the fall trends, yet it is still wearable for those warmer autumn days. This chic detail is can be found on dresses and blouses, and even cardigans. It brings dimension to a simple style and is a much less architectural interpretation of the structured shoulder trend. This feminine detail on a blouse can be dressed up with a tulip or a pencil skirt, or it can even be worn with jeans for a casual look. If wearing a ruffled shoulder dress, pair with strappy or open-toe heel s and for cooler days, add dark tights.

Chunky Knits

This traditional fall trend is even bigger and better this season with dramatic cowl necks and draped knit sweaters. The chunky knit in particular is a thicker more elaborate knit that comes in different styles such as dresses, over-sized sweaters and open-draped cardigans. Popular colors include black, cream, charcoal and burgundy. Old Navy actually has quite a few of these styles at very affordable prices including a cowl-neck sweater dress for $36.50. Pair the dress with flat boots and leggings for a comfy and chic look.

Forever 21 brings punk twist

When it comes to bargain fashion at truly unbeatable and unbelievable prices, Forever 21 always seems to come to mind. The retailer is always producing more and more trendy pieces daily and it is almost impossible to walk in to a Forever 21 store and not buy anything. Who could feel guilty when buying a ring for only $3?

Well now the popular fashion retailer has a new line of clothing called the “Twist” collection. The line first debuted on July 29 with the collection “Twist Circque 21.” The circus inspired collection compiled of dresses, skirts, tees and leggings mixing in lots of fun details such as ruffles, frills, lace and stripes completely sold out in stores and online only a month after its debut, proving to be very successful for the store. NBC New York even stated, “F21 Twist looks to be a promising solution to revving up your Saturday night without having to over-invest.”
The second “Twist” collection, which made its way online and in stores on Wednesday, is called “Fashion with a Twist of Punk” and appears to be very promising. With nods to Madonna’s “Material Girl” in the 80s this collection provides fun fashion with a punk twist. Gunmetal zipper accents, large safety pin graphics, leopard print patterns, black lace, and dark muted stripes are all details that give this collection attitude.
The particular pieces that stand out are a striped black and pewter grey zip-up dress, a lime green leopard cardigan, several graphic tees, a leopard print mesh skirt, a black sweater with a green safety pin graphic, lace leggings and knee highs. The dresses are all priced under $30, the sweaters are under $25 and the tees and leggings are all under $15. Quite the steal!

A rather impressive look book of 23 outfits are available to view on the Forever 21 Website and feature models wearing the “Twist” collection combining pieces of the collection with other items available in the stores. Layers of tees and sweaters are creatively paired with flouncy skirts, knee-highs or leggings and Dr. Martens knock-off boots that the company is calling “trooper leather boots,” along with loads of accessories from hair bows to chain necklaces, headbands and bangles.
While I would never actually call this collection “punk” I feel it pulls together the aesthetic of rough and girlie details that give the store’s typical playful fashion a little edge-perfect for fall. And while the line seems to be marketed towards the “tweens” and teenagers, there are still quite a few pieces that anyone could wear, within good taste of course.
Check out the collection available now in stores and online here, and hurry because this collection is limited edition and is only available while supplies last.

Anna Sui for Target Offers Affordable Fall Style

Fall season is almost here which means fall fashion is finally making its way in stores, and now more than ever it is easy to find fall styles on a budget. One particular store that seems to be leading in affordable fashion, and continuously getting better, is Target. Earlier this year the large retailer launched a new collection called Designer Collaborations having Alexander McQueen design the first collection as part of the designer series. The collections focus on bringing creations from established designers to the mass market at Target prices. The designers put together a line based on their own runway collections drawing inspiration from a muse. McQueen designed an edgy punk inspired collection and used British band The Duke Spirit’s lead singer, Leila Moss, as his muse. This collection created quite the frenzy in the fashion world and sold out in many Target locations rather quickly. Not surprising as many of the dresses in the collection were constructed beautifully and were very reasonably priced.

But now, Target is making even bigger headlines with their next designer collaboration: Anna Sui.

Sui, particularly known for her rocker chic style incorporated with bohemian designs, is using the characters from the WB hit series Gossip Girl as her muse for the collection. The quirky designer drew inspiration from each character’s, Serena, Blair, Jenny and Vanessa, individual style and will reflect their personality. Sui described her Target collection as a combination of elements such as art, punk and New York glamour all in an affordable collection.

The line features several dresses which are almost identical to those from Sui’s past runway collections and pull straight from the fall color palette using shades of deep blue, black, brown and orange, along with an interesting choice in fabrics such as lace, leather, chiffon and tweed. While this collection of nineteen looks is mostly dresses, there are also a few skirts and jumpers. Some of the items that are sure to sell out quickly are the cropped leather jacket, a blue and black patterned tunic, a cream colored lace dress and an orange and brown patterned wrap dress. Anna Sui dresses typically retail for around $500, so these Target dresses priced at $50 are definitely a steal, especially since some of them are almost identical to the higher end versions.

The collection will be available Sunday through October 17 and will only be online and in select Target locations. The closest locations to University of La Verne that will carry this line will be in the Upland, Rancho Cucamonga and West Covina Target stores. To purchase the Anna Sui for Target collection visit www.target.com/annasui.