rockTREND: Animal Print

RAWR! Oh, sorry, I got a little carried away with all of the animal print I’ve been seeing lately!

In case you’ve been living under a rock, animal print is back this season and it’s huge. There doesn’t seem to be a specific print this fall, although I have been noticing lots of leopard and snake skin (my personal favorite).

Concerned about wearing animal print and drawing too much attention to yourself? No worries! Luckily, the prints are very natural this season – meaning you won’t be trying to figure out how to mix and match a neon pink zebra striped top with a green leopard print bottom – whew. It’s also become very minimal. I would not recommend going about your daily life in head-to-toe leopard print. Instead, maybe use it as your accent piece. Not sure what I mean? Here, let me show you.

Animal Print Collage on Polyvore – Click for Item Information

As you can see, it’s very easy to tame the wild animal inside of you…by showing it off with your clothing! The snake skin look gives you a perfect everyday outfit to go out and hang out with friends. The leopard look gives you a classy work outfit that will make your coworkers envious of your style. Lastly, the subtle zebra print with less-subtle neon yellow shoes is a perfect match for a night out on the town (without the hat) or a weekend hangout (with the hat)!

There are so many ways to rock animal print! How do you like to style it?

Sandal Splurgin’ for Summer 2014

Schools are letting out, the weather is getting hotter every day, swim suits are going on sale, and lemonade stands are popping up everywhere. It is summer time and that means it’s time for some new shoes! Well, to be fair, any time is the time for new shoes. But we’ll just use the weather as an excuse. However, with so many styles and colors and shapes and heel heights it’s hard to know which ones to wear! No worries my fashionista readers, that’s what I’m here for. No matter who you are or what you like, there’s a shoe out there calling your name, just begging to be taken out in the summer heat.

For the daring fashionista:

GC Shoes Raise-N-Nuts Gladiator Sandals
Sold at DSW $44.95

YRU Oasis Flatform
Sold at Nastygal $68.00

For the Girly Fashionista:

Audrey Brooke Walta Wedge Sandal
Sold at DSW $59.95

Shoe Cult Delphone Heel
Sold at Nastygal $98.00

For the Comfort Savvy Fashionista:

Sanuk Yoga Sling Flat Sandal
Sold at DSW $39.95

Teva Original Universal Printed Flat Sandal
Sold at DSW $39.95

For the Color-Loving Fashionista:

Phase Out Heels
Sold at Tobi $60.00

Ditto by VanEli Mabila Sandal
Sold at DSW $59.95

For the Beach-Bum Fashionista

White Mountain Seascape Wedge Sandal
Sold at DSW $44.95

Roxy Mirage II Flip Flop
Sold at DSW $26.95

Jenn Jones’ Fashion Show – Future First Fashion

Dear Readers,

This last weekend I was blessed enough to help out local Flagstaff designer Jenn Jones. She is an awesome person and a real inspiration to me and I’m so glad I was able to participate.

On Saturday, Coconino Center for the Arts hosted an Eco Fashion Show. All of the dresses were made out of recycled materials like plastic bags, newspapers, magazines, and various computer parts. It turned out really cool. I decided to shoot most of the show, especially behind the scenes. I also was able to go to her studio last week and shoot some awesome photos of a model fitting. I’m currently creating a multimedia project out of this that is still in progress. I just need to interview Jones and I will then be able to finish it and post it on here. Until then, I will post a few of my photos from the fashion show.

Stylist Tommy puts the finishing touches on a model’s makeup

Jenn Jones fastens a recycled necklace onto a model

Model puts on finishing touches

Assistant Audra helps put on shoes for a model

Three models pose

Nerves before walking out on stage

Jenn Jones watching from backstage

Models being…models

Preparing to walk

One of many photos taken during show

Model fitting a week before the show

The dress has to be just right

 

 

For more photos, check out my Flickr that I will be constantly updating with new ones.

Love,
Ash

Let’s Talk Colors

Dear Readers,

I want to apologize for the two week hiatus. I was on Spring break and since then I have been dealing with a lot of personal stuff. However, I’m back to talk about the fashion show I was at for Phoenix Fashion Week and some things I observed that I wanted to share with you guys.

Last weekend, I went to Phoenix to work the MIM Fashion Show, the second biggest fashion show put on by Phoenix Fashion Week. It was a blast and I had so much fun looking at everyone’s clothes and meeting the people in charge of Fashion Week as well as some of the designers. The clothes were as gorgeous as the night and it was definitely a show not to forget. It took place at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix right on the border of Scottsdale. It’s a gorgeous museum with a great courtyard where the show was staged.

As fun as the event was, I wanted to talk about some of the fashion trends I’ve been noticing lately; starting with the fashion show.

I’ve discovered a secret recipe for this Spring’s fashion trends – Mixing hot and cold colors together. For example, some awesome mix-ups are mint (cold) and salmon (hot), blue (cold) and yellow (hot), and green (cold) and orange (hot). Let me show you what I mean.

Blouse by H&M
Necklace by Nasty Gal

In this half-outfit, I’ve got a gorgeous light orange blouse with a mint necklace. Both colors just seem to pop when put together which is something I love, especially with these amazing Spring colors.

Dress by Tobi
Shoes by UrbanOG

Here’s another example using the blue and yellow combination. This is more of a bold look, but I still think it’s super cute.

Feel free to mess around with different colors! Try some fun color-blocking combinations and challenge yourself to not buy black next time you’re out shopping! I recently did that and got a lot of cute colorful stuff out of it. Have fun with this, and show me your mix-ups!

Love,
Ash

InStyle Challenge – Alexander McQueen Jacket

InStyle asked us how we would style this magnificent Alexander McQueen jacket.

Well, InStyle, this is my answer.

Alexander McQueen jacket

Neiman Marcus pant

Shoes by ModCloth

Michael Kors bag

Pretty Little Liars – Spring Fashion – Hannah

I put together a quick outfit from Nasty Gal that reminded me of Hannah’s style. What do you think?

Temperature Tuesday – 3/12/13 (45)

Dear Readers,

Today was a beautifully gorgeous day in Flagstaff. With the temperature being in the high 40s and low 50s all day, the sun shining, and melting snow, I had to somehow take advantage of the beginning of this beautiful weather. So I slapped on a new pair of faux leather pants, a light blouse, and some heels to celebrate the weather. Take a look for yourself!

Blouse by Jennifer Lopez (Kohls)
Pants from Kohls

 

Heels from Payless

I’m very excited for this weather to last throughout the rest of the week! Have a good one. 🙂

-Ash

Trend Alert: Women’s Oxfords

Dear Readers,

Lately I’ve found myself to have this sort of obsession with women’s oxfords. To me, they are very chic and classy and can go with any outfit depending on the style. There are so many different kinds out there, especially as they get more and more popular. These shoes aren’t just for rich or hipster men anymore. Ladies, this spring is all about looking powerful with tuxedos and oxfords. Let’s take a look at a few of my favorites.

School-astic Heel in Black

First, let me introduce you to the Oxford heel. They usually come in a bootie/ankle-boot style with a shorter and wider heel. They are extremely chic and this one from Modcloth is just gorgeous. I love the classic black and white (in this case, ivory) look of most oxfords. However, it’s always fun to expand color and style-wise.

Poppy Oxford Flats

These are a pair of oxford flats that I actually own from PacSun. I wanted to show them to you because this is an example of extremely comfortable and more casual oxfords. Most of the time, these types of shoes take a little bit of breaking in before they are semi-comfortable. However, for me, these are very comfortable and didn’t need much breaking in. They are also at a great price, but beware of the faux-suede because it gets dirty very easily!

Fore! Shoe

These are adorable mint-green oxfords with white lace details that I stumbled upon on Pinterest. I absolutely love the chic spring-time feel that these give off. Just another example of a different style of oxfords.

Tuxedo Open-Toe Pump

Talk about rock ‘n roll…these are currently my favorite pair that I am justifying buying to myself. I just love the unique tuxedo look featured in these. Definitely my favorite shoes of the week!

Anyways, you guys have a beautiful weekend. I will see you on Tuesday for Temperature Tuesday!

Sincerely,
Ash

Temperature Tuesday – 2/19/13 (39)

Dear Readers,

Happy Tuesday! Today is about 39 degrees and the day before a snowstorm is supposed to hit Flagstaff. However, Spring is still somewhat right around the corner. Lately, I’ve been in a very minty mood, wanting to wear any sort of mint every day. Unfortunately, I don’t have much mint. But, I found this awesome scarf and decided I had to wear it today with this outfit. So, without further ado, this is today’s outfit:

Ross blouse; Payless scarf; Rue21 jeans

This outfit will have an addition of a leather jacket I purchased from Charlotte Russe (not pictured) when I leave for class in a little bit. I’m very excited about this outfit and can’t wait to wear it out.

What’s the weather like in your region? How are you dressed for it?