by | May 13, 2011 | Fashion, FBFF |
Dress by Newport News.com
My fashion influences come from a variety of different arenas. My Mother and my Grandmother are my heavy influences. I have said this in previous posts; but if it was not for them, I do not think I would be as interested in fashion and beauty as I am today. I owe my deepest gratitude and thanks to them. Thank you Mother! And Thank You Ma!
My other influences are listed in the questions below.
1. What magazines do you subscribe to?
- Allure
- Elle
- New Beauty
- Harper’s Bazaar
- WWD (Women’s Wear Daily)
- Fitness
- Architectural Digest
- Cooking Light
- Southern Living
- Cooks Illustrated
- Prevention
The shoes
2. Do you watch any fashion TV shows?
I do not watch much television, but when I do, my favorites are
- What Not To Wear (When I have a chance see the show)
- QVC fashion, beauty jewelry shows when I have the chance.
- HSN fashion, beauty jewelry shows when I have the chance.
Believe it or not my fellow fashion enthusiasts, QVC and HSN are home to top fashion designers and lead make-up aficionados in the beauty industry showcasing their brands. Bradley Bayou, Isaac Mizrahi, Rachel Zoe, Bob Mackie and Marc Bouwer are just a few of the leading designers that you can find on QVC selling their couture-inspired items. Mally Roncal, Laura Geller, Smashbox, tarte and Bare Escentuals also sell their high-end makeup kits on QVC. I love watching an hour show with the latest Dooney and Bourke handbags and seeing Leslie Bloggett (the Bare Excentuals CEO) herself show me how to put the latest BE eyeliner or foundation on the correct way. It’s so great! Check their TV listings for shows you would like to see.
3. Beyond blogs, what websites do you frequent for fashion inspiration?
- Style.com
- Women’s Wear Daily
- New York Times Style section online
4. Advertisements play a huge role in forming public opinion about a product or brand… what ads do you like and why?
Coach.com
I enjoy collecting handbags and the Coach advertisements are so enticing I believe in my mind’s eye that I have it in my own hands. I have a coach bag in my hand in the picture above by the way.
5. Do you own any fashion books?
I have a variety of fashion books collected through the years when I studied fashion merchandising. I add to my collection regularly. Below is the list of books that I could get to easily for this post. I have others that are packed away in storage.
- The Business of Fashion: Designing, Manufacturing, and Marketing
- The Social Psychology of Clothing: Symbolic Appearance in Context
- Fashion Merchandising
- The Fashion Coloring Book
- Hollywood and History: Costume Design in Film
- Applied Visual Merchandising
- History of Costume
- Complete Guide to Sewing
- Sewing Made Easy
- Taking an online sewing class right now
My Outfit
Dress: Newport News
Shoes: J. Renee’ (Love them!)
Heart charm bracelet – gift
Watch – gift
To see what other bloggers are saying about their fashion influences, check out Katy Rose’s blog, over at www.modlychic.com.
This post is also linked to:
by | Apr 15, 2011 | FBFF |
Wow One year FBFF Anniversary! Congratulations is in order. Katy Rose from Modlychic.com started this wonderful fashion blogging community and it is flourishing abundantly. I joined the group by seeing KatyRose on LinkedIn, asking if anyone wanted to join Friend Friday and the rest is history. I have had a wonderful time and meeting some great people. The group is a great community and is a great resource of information.
1. When it comes to me personally:
-I get such a firm foundation in my faith in my Lord and Savior. I have to mention my faith because without it I would be lost. Having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ strengthens me and every part of my life and I am so elated about knowing that deep inside.
My husband: What can say! He’s my best friend and I love him with all my heart. He pushes me to be the best. Constantly tells me I am beautiful when I’m totally too hard on myself. Honey if you are reading this I appreciate you so much and God truly gave me a gift when he gave me you. Love ya!
– I owe a lot of who I am to my parents. My Mother and Father did everything in their power to give me a good life and upbringing and was always there for me so that unconditional love is priceless.
-My husband asked me to please reconsider to show my face on my blog. I didn’t want my face shown. I am not a model and my cheek bones aren’t chiseled. He said, I want you to post all of you so through hesitancy I did it any way. I can say I am not fully comfortable even after two years, but it’s getting better. Thanks for helping me push out the lack of self-worth out the window.
2. When it comes to me professionally – I owe a lot of who I am to:
My mother because she always pushed me to be the best, she never let me settle. My Mother told me in grade school that I would be going to college and instilled in me that with hard work you can pursue your dreams. I use to think that when I was a child that it was tough because while the other kids were playing I was studying. I’m so thankful to them for putting that work ethic in me because it has helped me so much. My parents are with the Lord; but they are in my heart forever.
3. When it comes to the art of blogging, I’m grateful to these people for helping me through some rough spots trying to figure out blogville:
Bella from Citizen Rosebud: If there’s something that can make my blog better, Bella will tell me what I can do or what I need to fix. I appreciate that so much because she’s another fantastic person that’s great about having a community. Plus she is amazing with mixing patterns and prints, gifted.
Beautifully Invisible: When she moved to WordPress her tutorials helped me so much. Even though I moved from WordPress.com to WordPress self-hosted, I used a lot of her tips. Great Resource!
Vahni of Grit and Glamour: She has such a wealth of knowledge on her blog and she’s fabulous with her outfit posts as well. She is an all-around, great person who shares what she has learned and will show you what mistakes that you do not need to make so I am grateful.
Charee Lynee:
She is full of encouragement and I really value that about her. All around fashion fierceness with a lot of charm.
Awesome shoes!
Michelle of Radiant Skin:
She’s straight with you and will not cut corners. I love a person who tells it like it is and doesn’t hold back and that’s Michelle. She’s a wonderful person who is grounded in her faith. Her skincare advice is really on point and her tutorials are excellent.
4. One blogging challenge I’m grateful happened because it made me
stronger was really pursuing the love of community involvement. Not merely seeking followers but blog friends. Have a percentage of people following me with no connection is no fun to me. I am meeting so many fabulous people that if I didn’t really attempt to read a blog or comment there would of never been a chance to develop a connection. Connection is so important in the blog world because it creates a bond. When we help each other and comment on each other blogs we are giving gifts of encouragement to each other so I am striving this year to comment more than ever.
I want to thank all my readers and followers. I appreciate each and everyone of you. You are so special and I am honored that you would take the time to stop by Bubbling with Elegance Grace.
Smooches to ya!
This post is linked to:
Modlychic.com
Seasonal Saturdays at la Bella Vita
Saturday Stalker Remix
by | Mar 11, 2011 | FBFF |
Day 18 30 for 30
There needs to be a healthy balance for everything that we do in life. We can always say that there is never enough time; but we have to make time. I need to schedule my time for work and for fun, so that way my day is always productive.
It’s Friend Friday and it’s time to talk about balance.
Balance: being able to blog and to live life to the fullest.
1. When it comes to prioritizing your life, in what place does blogging fall?
Blogging is fun and I enjoy it; but it is not my life. I think that helps keep the balance healthy for me now where I don’t feel overwhelmed. The following is my list of priorities in the order of importance:
- Christianity
- Husband
- Personal well-being/Exercise
- Friends and Family
- Church Services
- My job
- Church commitments
- Piano Playing and Practicing
- Classes I am involved in
As you can see because I have other commitments, blogging is not high on the list. I blog because fashion sense is something that is just in my blood. I love to talk about it with friends here. I do not get paid for my blog, yet I have a full-time job. I want to say that even though blogging is not my bread and butter, I still want my blog to look like I get paid for it so I have to space out my time accordingly.
2. We all wish we had more free time to dedicate to blogging and all it entails. What are your tricks for taking advantage of the time you do have to be as productive as possible?
Having great editing software like picnik, picasa, photoshop.com eliminates a lot of time down when it comes to editing photos. I try to write during lunch or I schedule time to write three times a week in the evenings. Sometimes the schedule has to be changed up if I am working on a guest post or was not able to get a lot of time in during the week.
I start writing down ideas so I keep a journal when an idea strikes or write down interesting articles that I come across.
3. Have you discovered any short-cuts that makes blogging easier or more time efficient?
An outline is so important because I can visualize what I want to write about and from what angle I want to go at a particular topic. By having this I can list the type of photos I would like to have in the post and if I need to do anymore research. When I am finished with the outline everything is laid out for what I would need to do for a post.
Maybe I will only do a quick review that will not take me as long to write if I am short on time. Or I may post a picture that I will style critique.
4. Do you have an editorial calendar or something similar that helps you plan ahead?
No, I do not have an editorial calendar, but I use a google calendar. I really like having the google calendar linked to my phone because I can set reminders for myself to write, take pictures and edit photographs.
5. If time wasn’t an issue what would you be doing on your blog/for your blog that you aren’t doing now?
-I would like to have regularly scheduled postings on various different topics from fashion to haircare and makeup.
-More reviews of the different fashion week shows from around the world.
-Go in depth on steps for healthy natural haircare.
*If money was plentiful I would make sure that I had a home in the different places that I attend fashion week so I wouldn’t have to try and book a hotel room. I would rent out the property when I was not there.
Check out Katy Rose blog modlychic to see how other bloggers balance their schedules.
by | Feb 26, 2011 | FBFF |
This has been a busy week for me; but I had to share some blog love. I will submit my nominees; but I wanted to say a few words. I want to say that I think any blogger who takes the time to post on their blog and have it filter to the world deserves an award. No matter how many followers you have or if you just published your first post I congratulate you. I wanted to give each of you the Bubbling With Elegance and Grace Award.
I had to dress for the occasion. Where’s my microphone? Here it is, okay let me make sure I am standing up straight in these heels. Action!
The JTwisdom FBFF ModlyChic Nominees are:
1. Creative Juices – most creative
Nominee:Fabienne of the The House in the Clouds
The girl knits and she also writes poetry. Plus she’s really a nice lady. She has a very eclectic mix of colors that exudes style.
2. The Real Deal – authenticity
Nominee: Bella Of The Citizen Rosebud
Bella is such a cool person and a dear blog friend. I came across her blog and made a comment and I have been connected with her since. She is a genius when it comes to styling and remixing colors and patterns. No on does it like her. She has offered me advice, gave me words of encouragement. I couldn’t ask for a better blog friend. She really connects with her readers and that’s special.
3. Spark Notes – most helpful
Nominee: Vahni of Grit and Glamour
Vahni is so helpful and there for you if you have a question. I remember when my blog was in it’s beginnings and I had music playing. She told me like a big sister that I might want to consider not having music on auto-play because someone maybe looking at your blog at work and don’t want to here music blasting. That meant a lot to me that she would offer me advice on my little blog. Thanks Vahni!
4. Newbie – best blogger less than a year old
Nominee: Charee Lenee of http://chareelenee.com/
This girl started her personal blog in October of 2010 and she has an eye for style and I love how she puts her outfits together. She moved over to WordPress recently and her blog looks awesome. Oh! she has a beautiful shoe collection.
5. Can You Hear Me Now – most connected
Nominee: Bella of The Citizen Rosebud
She’s so connected with her readers and it shows because she has such a warm heart. That’s a wonderful connectedness. Congrats to Bella for making Links Ala mode on IFB this week! I feel honored to have been included with some lovely ladies in her post.
6. If I had a Hammer – best DIY
Nominee:A Beautiful Mess– I had to nominate a Missouri blog. I love her vintage shop photos and daily outfit posts and can’t forget the great DIY project ideas. Raise your hands in the air for Missouri!
7. Tribe Leader – blogger who leads others and brings bloggers together
Nominee: Modly Chic
This is a given, because she created Friend Friday that brings bloggers together to form a community and that’s wonderful so kudos for doing that. I met KatyRose on LinkedIn and she asked if anyone wanted to join Friend Friday and I sent an email to join and look at the community now.
8. Practically Perfect – most fashionable
Nominee: Tanvii.com of The Fabulous Life of Not-So-Rich and Infamous!
I love her style because I relate to her style. Do you feel me? You know what I am saying? Basically, I would wear a lot of items she wears, so that’s cool to find a blog like that. What can I say, she just dresses really stylish so I nominate her for this award.
Fashionable mention: Leia’s Delights: I love her style so much too. Her saris are beautiful. She makes me want to go out and buy one.
9. Paint by Numbers – best beauty blogger
Nominee:Afrobella
This blog is a great source for woman of color when it comes to beauty. Also good hair advice for us naturals. I have been without a relaxer for two years and it’s been wonderful to know what products to use for moisture and hydration.
10. Renaissance Woman or Man- best all around blogger, fashion, beauty, lifestyle
Leia’s Delights
Leia cooks, dresses well, writes well, awesome nail posts (love the designs), arranges floral arrangements; she does it all. When I go to her blog it makes me smile.
Fashionable Mention
11. One of my favorite photographers
Lee Oliveira
His photos are professional and the street style photos are excellent.
When I go to his blog, it feels like I should get my map out to see where I will go to next on a cool adventure. Very Awesome!
by | Feb 18, 2011 | FBFF, Inspirations |
I am special and there’s no need to compare
No need to look over my shoulder asking am I good enough
Is her hair longer prettier than my hair
No need to to compare I am beautiful
No need to compare I am Unique
No need to compare
She has a much prettier face than mine
No need to compare
No need to compare because God made me for this point in time
I am a priceless jewel.
I wanted to start with this poem because body image is a big thing with women because pictures are constantly shown in magazines of what you are suppose to look like. Suppose to look like mind you not what you should look like which is the face you see in the mirror everyday.
Katy from Modlychic had some interesting questions on body image this week so lets get to it.
1. Since you started blogging has your image of yourself changed?
My image of myself is better in that I will actually take pictures of myself. I am a very private person so for me to take pictures of myself and post them live for the world to see is a big stretch for me. We can all talk a big game and say what ever we want, but that was a monumental feet for me.
2. Are you self-conscious about any aspect of yourself? If so, do you go out of your way to avoid it or do you post it/talk about it anyway?
Yes, I am self-conscious about my hips and thighs. I am admitting this because
it’s true. I do not talk about it because being negative does me no good. That is the biggest part of me and no matter how much weight I lose it still effects me at times. My whole outfit can go up in smokes if my hips and thighs look big. So what do I do for a confidence booster?
JT
With my husband, we pray and we continue to work out together. I have been working out four to five times a week for the last five years and it has helped me so much. Do I like working out for 45 to 60 minutes at a time with beads of sweat running down my face. Not all the time, but it feels so good inside and out. The adrenaline keeps going strong. I learned that weight and what I eat go together and if I find that happy medium I can achieve my goals. I have since last December lost ten additional pounds and two inches off my thighs, so I should be happy? Well sometimes I am not if it’s a certain outfit that doesn’t fit right like this one.
JT
Is this from an Episode of What Not To Wear?
Well in this photo above, the palazzo pants I am wearing on the left do nothing for me. The straight leg pant on the right gives me length and my height back. It’s all in how you know what looks good on you.
Well it’s not me I now realize it’s that the outfit doesn’t fit me right so I need to find something else to wear. It’s not always me; it’s the clothes not fitting right. I had to realize that God made me and he didn’t make a copy so I have to be happy with myself first. Self-Love is not narcissistic; in order to love others I have to love me for that inward love to flow.
3. Based on how you are feeling now, what do you think the future holds in the evolution of your body image?
I think the future is bright and it’s not because I am wearing shades. It’s because I am feeling relaxed in my own skin and I am thankful for where I am in this point in time of my life. I will continually be prayerful and shut down that negativity.
4. Do you photograph yourself for your blog? If so, how do you feel about the experience when you’re having your picture taken? If you choose not to post pictures of yourself, what prompted that decision?
I use to not like taking pictures at all. I would rather put pictures of models on my blog at one time then of myself. My husband takes a lot of my pictures and he always builds me up too. I ask him to hold me accountable if I say anything negative about myself and he does. I appreciate that very much because it’s such a help to me.
5. What would you want every person who struggles with body image to take to heart?
No matter what size, shape or color that you are, you’re beautiful. God made all of us for a purpose and we all matter. We are all unique in our own special way.
This is one of my favorite scriptures:
Galatians 6:4 (TLB): “Let everyone be sure that they are doing there very best, for then will they have the personal satisfaction of work well done, and won’t need to compare themselves with someone else.”
This means that I don’t have to try to compete with others. All I have to do is make
sure I am doing my personal best. That’s freedom for me. So whether it’s my
weight, my dreams, whatever I don’t have to try to look over the fence because
it’s not necessary because I don’t need to.
Positive Affirmations
Someone told me about these positive affirmations that set the course of the day. Try it.
I know this may sound corny but it works. Stand in front of the mirror and say.
It may take some time to feel comfortable in front of the mirror.
I am going to have a great day today.
I am beautiful and loved.
I have so much to be thankful for (start naming what you
are thankful for).
I am talented and a good friend.
Repeat them if you need to or add in your own.
by | Feb 4, 2011 | FBFF |
1. With all the blogging events out there how do you determine which ones to participate in and which ones to avoid?
I have not joined a lot of blogging events. My first event was 30 for 30. I joined because it intrigued me and felt like a challenge. I see quite a few events out there; but I can’t join them all and I won’t because I don’t want to spread myself thin. Also, if I can’t do my 100% best, it is not a good fit for me at that point in time.
2. Be honest, have you ever jumped on the bandwagon of some blogging movement/event for the wrong reasons? How did that turn out?
No, truthfully I have only been blogging since August of 2009. I didn’t know what a blogging event was until last year. When I started blogging I was trying to find my voice. I didn’t post regularly and didn’t know that there was a big fashion blogging community out there in cyberworld. 30 for 30 what is that?
3. How do you give your own flair to a blog event while still maintaining the general mission and purpose?
I keep it real, what you see is what you get, like it or not. I’m not going to put on something or say something that I don’t believe in. It’s great to have readers and I have to be true to them because my reputation is out there.
4. When determining the best content for your blog what criterion do you keep in mind?
Determining Best Content
-I’m I discussing this because I want to try to get more readers or because I really love this particular subject?
-Can I do this topic justice?
-Do I even like this fashion designer’s line? What angle will I take on this topic?
-Her blog looks awesome should I try to get mine to look like that for inspiration? Inspiration not try to look just like someone else’s blog.
– This blog is to build people up and give good information that they can use for life.
-Integrity- sticking to what I believe in.
5. While everything will not suit your blog, how do you try and support your fellow bloggers who are participating in something worthwhile but not your style?
I will comment, comment, and comment. Or if they are running for some contest I will vote for them. I don’t have to be a part of a particular event or contest to offer my support.
I go through the cool long list now of bloggers on FBFF and try to give as many relevant comments on at least seven or more. If I happen to see a blogger link that I’m not familiar with that does not have any comments on her post, I will offer my support that way by commenting on her blog.
Sometimes I wish I could get to all one hundred and whatever on Friend Friday to leave a comment. I know that’s not possible, but I make sure that each Friend Friday I make it a goal to give support to my FBFF readers whom frequently comment on my blog, but I also make it a point to find a blog or two that doesn’t have any comments because I can show my support that way.
Please check out Katy Rose at ModlyChic to check out other lovely links on this Friend Friday topic.
Follow!