It’s a Photo Shoot!

Last weekend I was finally able to link up with a couple girlfriends that I haven’t seen in weeks.  We met for brunch at a French café, Café Henri, that was simply amazing and afterwards found ourselves roaming the calm streets of West Village.

Sunita and Christina are both fashion bloggers who take their industry very seriously.  When I suggested that we take a picture or two, I had NO IDEA that I was signing up for a photo shoot.   The next thing I know, they each whipped out their powerful Nikon cameras, found absolutely beautiful backdrops and began snapping away.

“Raise your sleeve a bit so we can see your gorgeous wrist accessories.  Yup, amazing!”

“Right there Ashley, in front of that door!  Yes!  It goes perfect with your outfit!”

“Look natural!  The pictures don’t work when you’re trying to hard.  Beautiful!”

Then after reviewing several photos, they exclaimed, “Yes, here it is!  This is the shot.  This is it!

Out of all of those pictures however, this one is my favorite.

XOXO.

Halloween 2013

I’ve always loved Halloween.  As a creative personality, I get immense joy from seeing how others put together their costumes and make their garb work for them.  I love the tradition of scary stories, crisp fall weather and fun Halloween parties.

As my father says, “You love it cause you like pretending to be something that you’re not!”

He may have a point, because this year you couldn’t tell me I was not THEE vampire of Brooklyn at a house party I attended.

One of my good friends, Maya, has recently explored costume makeup and I think she may have found her calling.

While she did a fabulous job on my vampire makeup, check out her own look below.

Wow!  I told her, “You look like a cast member of Law & Order: SVU.”

Movin’ On Up!

This past summer I found myself not fitting in my clothes the way I used too, namely my bottoms.  Everything was fitting tighter and I noticed a few additional stretch marks yet I wasn’t gaining any weight.  I couldn’t understand why suddenly I was splitting my size 2 jeans and shorts, especially since I’d been paying a lot of attention to how and what I was eating and had consequently become a healthier, more conscious person.  I was incredibly confused and it didn’t help that the guy I was seeing didn’t always make me feel the most secure about it.

When it was time to switch my summer clothes out for my winter ones, I finally had to face the problem when NONE of my blue jeans fit anymore.  I couldn’t get them over my thighs and knew not to force it because as experience had taught me several times this summer, I would surely split them.  After shedding a tear or two over it and reviewing a few possible work-out routines always abandoning them before I began because I don’t like to sweat, I decided to try out a larger size just to see what would happen.

While size 4’s were a slight struggle to get on as I had to shimmy a bit to get them up over my thighs, size 6’s glided on effortlessly!  There was no stomach fat or other things jiggling over the edge of my waistband and the slim figure I have grown accustomed to over the past several years suddenly revealed itself again.

Is this that troublesome “woman weight” I’d been hearing about since high school?  Are these wider hips, thicker thighs and bigger bum my womanly curves that have finally come to introduce me to womanhood?

Suddenly I had my “aha” moment!

While I had been dreading buying bigger sizes, I now find myself welcoming it.  I’m incredibly relieved to finally have an answer.  Life had been such a mystery for a second, not understanding or knowing why I suddenly, almost overnight, couldn’t fit into my clothes.

While many may say “a 2 or a 6 is still small and nothing to worry about,” and I would agree, it is still an adjustment, a dramatic one in fact for someone such as myself, but I’m welcoming the change.   I’ve never switched sizes that dramatically before (with the exception of shoe sizes in 5^th/6^th grade) and it’s nice being able to rock things like leggings more confidently these days haha.  Either way, I’m now in desperate need of jeans and dress pants (as I have to replace ALL of the ones I used to own) and am taking any/all tips as it relates to this search.

Feels good to be back in my happy space!

The Secret Behind That Tutu I Was Wearing On Instagram…

 

Over the weekend I wore this tulle skirt to a New York Fashion Week event.

While the outfit felt incredibly obnoxious in the privacy of my own bedroom, once I was out walking the NYC streets, you couldn’t tell me I was anything less than fierce!  Folks’ compliments didn’t help-it seemed like almost every woman I passed was ogling over the exceptional tutu.  As a pranced along throughout the evening, I was nearly convinced I was a princess!  :p

I’m here to let you in on a little secret…  Would you believe me if I told you I made it myself?  Yes, it is a DIY project.  This past spring I sat down and made my tulle tutu.

I spent $20.  Yes, twenty dollars.

Blake Von D posted the tutu tutorial awhile back and after closely following her directions, I had a masterpiece of my own.*

As hard as it is to believe, it really is as simple as stated on her site.  The most difficult part of the entire process for me was deciding which color(s) of tulle I wanted!

Happy tutu-making ladies! XOXO

*While Blake ordered three rolls of black tulle, I thought I would make two tutus, so I ordered three rolls of wine tulle as well.  Unfortunately, when I started adding the black tulle to my elastic band (from an old pair of leggings), my skirt was still extremely sheer.  It was at that point I began adding pieces of wine tulle between the pieces of black.  My two-toned tutu took six rolls of tulle and I couldn’t be any happier with it!

September!

Can you believe it’s September already?  It’s so cliché to remark on how quickly the year seems to be passing but seriously, is 2013 not flying by?  When I think of other years, such as 2012, then 2011…I realize that all of them seemed to pass fast.  It makes me question, did the years pass quickly or is it now that I’m older time overall seems to move faster?   I’m going to go with the latter.

Now that we have a new month upon us, it’s a great time for me to check in with myself.  I evaluate past goals, reassess, then create new ones.  I also make a mental note of things I’m looking forward to within that month.

Goals of mine for the month of September are…

• Land a job I REALLY want-I need to assess what this looks like because I’m not sure that I even know.
• Continue to cut back and spend less-the lone exception is this pair of shoes I’ve been watching on ShoeDazzle.com  I may have to make something shake because I really need them.
• Finish all 30 days of the squat challenge-I generally find myself quitting halfway through because I’m satisfied with the muscle definition I see and I also don’t want my thighs to get too big (I sometimes have trouble fitting them into my bottoms already).
• Read a different business-oriented/self-help book each week-my aunt shared with me that the average business book is written based on 15 years of experience.  If I read four of them, that’s 60 years in a single month.  I’m down for that!

Things that I’m looking forward to are…

• Reuniting with most of my core group of girlfriends from undergrad-We are all getting together in about three weeks and I’m so excited.
• Enjoying the last few memories that Summer 2013 has in store for me.
• Continuing to draw closer to my family-the older I get, the more essential they become.  It’s now a major priority of mine to check in, in some way, with them semi-regularly.
• Playing September by Earth, Wind & Fire on repeat-It’s my favorite song by them, probably because it always reminds me of my younger brother Ty.  His birthday is in September.
• Ty’s 25^th birthday-I have many siblings, but Ty is the one who just “gets” me.  When I was experiencing my quarter-life crisis, he was there along with me (so much so, that he even shared tears with me…and Ty doesn’t cry.  That’s love!).  I am ready to step in and be a support for him for whatever he may be feeling.  I just really want to be there for him as he was there for me.

While the month seems so expansive, it will be gone before I know it!  What about you?  Do you make goals for the month?  Are there things that September will be bringing that you’re anticipating?  Share below!

“Say do you remember, dancing in September?  Never was a cloudy day!” -Earth, Wind & Fire

Wedge Sneakers? Perhaps!

I forget which store I was in when I first spotted them, but from day one I’ve always thought wedge sneakers were some of the ugliest, nonsensical shoes created.  If a woman wants to rock wedges, rock them.  If she wants to rock sneakers, rock them.  But combining the two?  Come on now…what sense does that make?

The photo’s of the wedge sneaker trend styled didn’t improve my outlook…

Even Beyonce couldn’t manage to make these things look attractive smh

 

…until I saw this photo of Eddie Murphy’s daughter!

Wow!  She’s killin it!

 

I am now a believer.  I promptly purchased my first pair within 24-hours.

I think I can rock with these…

 

Kobi Levi, Nod of Approval

Are these not the most unique shoe designs (that make sense) you’ve ever seen in your life?!?!

"Slingshot"

"Miao"

"Coffee? Porcelain Version"

"Chewing Gum"

"Elephant" (Oo-Oop my sorors!)

"Blow"

I came across his designs sometime last year and have been lurking on the Internet for an opportunity to purchase a shoe or two.  Yesterday I finally found a contact email address that will prayerfully lead to a success!  To view more shoes, click here.

New York’s Fashion Week S/S 2012!

This past weekend I had the amazing privilege of attending several shows during New York’s Fashion Week.  All I ever knew of fashion week is what I had seen in various media outlets so I was BEYOND excited that I would have the opportunity to actually attend.  Thankfully one of my friends up here works in fashion and beauty, so she was able to get me into a few shows.

That Saturday I woke up, not sure what I would wear.  I knew I would be attending Vivienne Tam’s show first.  I visited Tam’s site to get a feel for her-I noticed she had many simple, flowy pieces that weren’t too dramatic.  I looked at my own clothes and noticed an outfit that Shelby and I had considered just a couple of days earlier.  I realized this was my time to wear it, so I did.

Upon arriving at the venue, people were everywhere!  Most of the people didn’t have tickets to actual shows, so they were hanging around outside to see and be seen (back home it’s commonly referred to as “parking lot pimpin”).  Tons of photographers were posted as well and while majority were fashion bloggers who wanted to capture the moment, a few were connected to some bigger media outlets.  The entire scene was a bit chaotic-so much was going on at one time.  As I struggled to find the entrance to present my email invitation, I was pulled aside by an Essence photographer who wanted to snap a pic.  I was SO flattered!  I posed as he instructed, smiled on command and prayed I didn’t look like a deer caught in headlights (because that’s exactly how it felt).

Immediately after I rushed into the venue and quickly found my seat in the audience at Vivienne Tam’s Spring 2012 show.  The seats were filling up quickly and I was bubbling over with tons of nervous energy because I couldn’t believe I was actually there, in that moment.  Next to me was  a beautiful blonde woman who seemed nearly as awestruck as I was because she kept asking me who “important-looking” people were.  At one point she motioned towards a tall, Black woman.  “Who is that?  She looks really important.”  My mouth dropped open as I looked at who she was motioning towards.  “That’s Wendy Williams.”  I then looked at the woman.  “Who are you?  What do you do?”  She smiled.  “I’m Miss Teen USA.  I just won the crown in July.”  I just smiled back as I shook my head incredulously.  Only in NYC.

It was both of our’s first fashion show ever, so it was a relief to be able to look at the different looks and comment on them with her.  I didn’t have to act like I’d seen it all before and knew what to expect-neither did she.  The runway was a white piece of paper that was taped to the grown while a projector that was filming the show was aimed at the wall towards the back of the runway.  This made it so that f you were far away, you could still see the details.  Each model that walked was tall, beautiful and SKINNY.  I saw no major blemishes or bloopers (beyond the fact that the models were bra-less wearing extremely sheer tops/blouses…).  My heart especially leaped out of my chest when I noticed one, Black model among the sea of White and Asian ones.  Her walk was fierce, strong and determined-it was so inspiring to see.

The next show I saw was Venexiana later that night.  Venexiana specializes in coutoure gowns which was a completely different demographic from Tam’s.  I was able to attend with my friend which was nice, since she was able to give me insider tips/info since she’d been to several fashion shows before.  We sorted through our gift bags before the show started (which included an SPF for your hair and silver illuminating dust for eyes) and settled comfortably into our seats.  The show opened with really nice models rocking really nice gowns…then it had more nice models with prom-looking gowns…then more models, with more gowns, and then again, more models and gowns.  It was so repetitive that it got boring.  There must’ve been 50 dresses (way too many to hold the audience’s attention that long) and the models were freakishly thin-I was counting the vertebrae on their backs (seriously).  It wasn’t long before the models were stumbling over the trains of the gowns or swishing their bony pelvises too hard as they walked.  By the end of the show, I was laughing hysterically.  Was that show even real?  Lol.  Overall though, the gowns were beautiful-there’s no denying that.

The final show I saw was Sunday’s Custo Barcelona.  I’d heard that his style is a bit “out there,” “extra” and “fantastical,” and figured it’d be a fun show to see.  The buzz surrounding it was that his would be a 3D show (whatever that meant).  After arriving I realized I didn’t have a seat-I’d have to stand in the far back and watch.  While I was kind of salty about that, I was still appreciative because in reality, I could’ve been stuck outside and not even been granted standing room.  I don’t remember much about the clothes other than I found them to be ridiculous.  All of the models (male and female) looked alike and it wasn’t long before everyone looked androgynous.  Finally, the models were again TOO skinny.  It was disturbing.

After experiencing NY’s fashion week, I’m left with the feeling that I’ve crossed something else off of my NYC Bucket List.  It’s nothing that I see myself breaking my neck to attend in the future, mainly because my interest in coutoure fashion doesn’t run that deep.  Truth be told, when Spring 2012 actually hits, I will definitely be picking up magazines to discover what the trends will be despite the fact that I attended the shows for the season.  I’m still as clueless as I was before I saw any of the shows.

And lastly, remember when I mentioned that an Essence photgrapher photographed my outfit?  Those photos have now been published on Essence.com

http://photos.essence.com/galleries/street_style__fashion_week_s_s_2012#946703
http://photos.essence.com/galleries/street_style__fashion_week_s_s_2012#946733
http://photos.essence.com/galleries/street_style__fashion_week_s_s_2012#946723
http://photos.essence.com/galleries/street_style__fashion_week_s_s_2012#946713

NYC: The Biggest, Small City EVER

In a city like NYC, everyone understands the importance of “networking.”  It’s vital to your success to know people.  Unfortunately, “networking” doesn’t come naturally to someone like me.  While I am quite social and love to talk (lol), engaging in lengthy conversations with random people I’ve never met is intimidating to say the least.  I hate doing it.

Thankfully, in this city I have been able to get away with no networking (meaning I’ve yet to show up to an event and “try” to network).  On the flip side, EVERY SINGLE TIME I step out for fun, social gatherings I’ve found myself connecting with people in new, interesting ways.

For example…

Earlier this summer I attended an anniversary party for BklynQueens, a women’s vintage clothing store.  I’d heard about it back in Ohio because Azure’D, my sorority sister, attended high school with Keira, the founder.

While there I bumped into Jessica, my sorority sister who is also my ADP (she was the assistant to the dean of my chapter’s 2006 pledge class)!  Would you believe that Keira and Jessica are best friends?  They are all from Columbus, Ohio!

"You had me at hello!" lol

So yeah, I’m at the anniversary party and this woman comes in with the TALLEST.  HAIR.  EVER.  Like, I’ve never seen anything like it.  She definitely stood out because of her hair’s awesomeness.  There was SO MUCH one had to question it’s authenticity, like “Is that even real?”  She and I chatted for a few and I learned that she’d been natural for five years (if my memory serves me correctly).  We later became facebook friends and I discovered she has her own vintage and natural-hair inspired blog, http://urbanbushbabes.com/.

It wasn’t until several weeks later I was watching television when I saw her in this KMart commercial…

Wow!  I’m telling you, it’s a small world out here!

Go SHOP!

My e-store is now up and running!  As many of you are aware, I have some natural lifestyle-inspired shirts that I’ve created (with a little help from @nudy) that I sold out of back in June 😦

I’ve re-uped and am now ready to go!

http://fancyayancey.bigcartel.com

I am introducing two new color options.

Tri-blend blue

Organic Pomegranate

I have also expanded the style options to include a crewneck tee for the men.  The unisex v-neck is still around.

The sizing has expanded as well.  Ladies, you will now find XL.  Men, we’ve got up to a 2XL for you.

So go look around, browse and *gasp* SHOP!  Lol.

http://fancyayancey.bigcartel.com

There is also a page on this blog, “SHOP,” that will link you to my e-store.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to hit me up 🙂