inspo

mid semester blues

November 10, 2018Outfit of the Day, StyleKristenComment

flannel (my dad’s, sorry!). leotard. leggings. sneakers. sunglasses. perfume.

Hey cutie patooties! It’s been a minute! I’ve been complaining a lot about how demanding my classes have been, but now that my last semester of New Member Education is over with (don’t let me think about it or I’ll cry again), I have more time to breathe, sleep, and blog! I’m so excited for all the fun things I have coming up for you all. Make sure you stay tuned so you don’t miss a beat!

As you all know, I love a good bodysuit. I wore my leotard with my lighter leggings for a trip to Target! This was back when I didn’t need a jacket. I miss the warmer weather already. Fall is my favorite season, but it got cold so quickly I feel like I got cheated! I wore this blue flannel that I very rarely wear. The color is so beautiful that the dark side of me gets intimidated. But I should definitely show it more love.

I wore my hair in a pony to get it the heck out of my face, and my classic black Converse. I also wore these really cool sunglasses from Spitfire! They’re edgy and different, which I’m always a fan of. I topped it all off with Royal Revolution, yet another superb scent from Fragrance Goddess Katy Perry.

What color(s) do you wear most? Let me know in the comments!

Sucker

June 5, 2016KristenComment

Top (similar). Skirt (no longer being sold at Wet Seal). Shoes. (no longer being sold at Payless). Choker (I ripped the spider off!). — Top (similar). Skirt (no longer being sold at Wet Seal). Shoes. (no longer being sold at Payless). Choker (I ripped the spider off!).

Charli XCX is my spirit animal. I discovered her last year after I decided that I had to hear more than "Boom Clap," and I fell in love. Charli's no-fucks-given attitude appealed to me. It shines through in her music and in her presence in general.

Charli's style is similar to her music. It's very girly, but also a bit grungy. Some of her lyrics are sweet and sensitive, but others are brutally honest. Musically, she's like a mix of pop and alternative. It's the type of music that makes you want to jump around your room and sing into your hairbrush, but in an angsty, big-girl way.

So, when I was feeling angsty today, I got some of Charli's songs stuck in my head. I figured that there was no better way to channel my angst than to steal Charli's look!

I started with this cute schoolgirl-y skirt that I bought a little while ago. I love it because it fits my body type perfectly, highlighting my waist, hips, and butt! Then, I added one of my favorite black crop tops with some cutouts on the sides. It's a little ~risque~, but not too revealing. I added some black heels to make the look equal parts girly and goth and a choker because this is Charli, after all. I threw my hair in a small pony on the top of my head and left the rest down. I've only seen Charli wear her hair like this once or twice; usually she just parts her hair to the side and keeps it a little messy, but I thought this hair just went with the rest of the look.

I originally had my varsity jacket picked out to go with this, but I actually liked it a lot better without it. If I were to wear this outfit out and I needed a jacket, I would definitely go with the varsity one, but I liked how you could see a bit more ~skin~ without it.

Doing the makeup for this was so much fun I started with minimal concealer and foundation since Charli's face is usually very light. I added a bit of copper eyeshadow that was a little lighter than what Charli usually wears. Then, I piled on the eyeliner, something I never do. I clumped it up on the outer corners of my eye, which is how Charli does it. I sprinkled a bit of eyeshadow under my eyes, then used a Q-tip to smear the heavy eyeliner downwards into the eyeshadow. Then, I went back over the liner, making it super dark. It blended with the smudges perfectly. I only added mascara to the tips of my eyelashes, but generously applied it to my bottom lashes. I ended up getting some mascara under my eyes, but it went withthe look perfectly. To top it off, I used Charli's signature lipstick. I picked red!

I really love this look for two reasons: I look cute and I feel confident. As soon as I put this on, I knew that it would be a new look that I would try to wear more often. These were two of my favorite pieces, but I never thought to put them together until now. Even though these shoes are uncomfortable, I could add black boots or sneakers. I also felt like I could totally take over the world, which Charli sings about in her music. For the first time in a while, I felt hot. I stared at myself in the mirror and sang along with the lyrics to "Sucker," really feeling the part. I just felt like a complete badass. I was sad taking this outfit off.

I'm so happy that this recreation actually worked out, especially after what happened when I tried to recreate Him. I got another really cool outfit out of it, and it gave me a much-needed confidence boost!

EPIC FAAAAAAAAAAIIILLLLLLL

May 31, 2016Outfit of the Day, StyleKristenComment

Dress (no longer being sold at H&M). Bandeau. Fishnets. Shoes (no longer being sold at Payless). Earrings (no longer being sold at Claire's. Choker (I ripped the spider off).

Nine years ago, Hannah Montana belted those infamous words, "Nobody's perfect / I gotta work it / Again and again 'til I get it right." Well, today I truly understood Miss Montana's words. Let's start from the beginning.

As I watched he Powerpuff Girls today in an attempt to summon the good feelings of my friends from college (we'd always watch together), I paid special attention to one of the villains on the show, Him. I've always been really interested in villains, and for some reason I overanalyzed Him today. I realized that his suggestiveness and gender ambiguity may be a play on his lust for power. The more I thought, the more I realized that Him would make a really good outfit recreation.

So, I started with my adorably sexy lace dress and fishnet tights. Kicked the red and black out of the way, as well as the tights and the weird sex appeal. Since the back of the dress is see-through, I wore a black bandeau instead of a red bra like I usually do. I thought it would give it a little extra edge, and I needed more black in my look anyway. I put on my black heels (which are evil enough since they're so cute but hurt more than anything in the world), a black choker, and red earrings. I definitely looked interesting, but I thought it was kind of an intriguingly sexy kind of interesting.

I gathered my hair into the highest ponytail I can manage and slicked it back completely (one of my favorite styles), leaving the actual ponytail wild instead of setting it into one big banana curl like I usually do. I braided a strand of hair around the ponytail holder to give it a little something extra. Like I said, I looked different, but at this point, it was kind of okay.

Then, the shit hit the fan. I have no clue what I did. I looked in the mirror and a multitude of thoughts ran through my head. "Tacky." "Trainwreck." "Toddler who found her mother's makeup bag."

Allow me to explain: Him has very dark features that I thought I could incorporate into the look by giving myself a smoky eye, some liquid eyeliner, lots of other eyeliner, and defined pink cheeks. The only issues were, I have never successfully completed a smoky eye, never accurately used liquid eyeliner, don't wear eyeliner because I look terrible with it, and I don't have blush or a blush brush, just a finger and a Sephora palette with a passable pink shade. I knew things weren't going to work out when my eyeshadow started falling off of my face. Then, my eyeliner dried up, even though I've used it a grand total of two times. The application of my favorite lipstick color that perfectly suited Him's aesthetic successfully set this pile of shit on fire.

Honestly, I don't think my makeup looks terrible. If I wore this makeup with something else, maybe it would work. I think the clothes I was wearing would have looked sexier with a more natural face. Everything together was just a mess, which I guess kind of fits Him, but not a normal person.

Though I sat in front of my mirror for a good while telling myself to just write an article about something fashion-y, I realized that the whole purpose of this blog was to take risks. Here I am, the first time writing without an editor, making my own choices. Some of them are bound to be bad ones. Half the fun of fashion is taking risks anyway. There are so many outfits I wear that wouldn't exist if I didn't push myself to try something different. Most of the time, we learn from our mistakes. I'm gonna make a ton of mistakes on this blog, and I'm going to document every single one of them. Fuck-ups are fun! And I just want to have fun.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be scrubbing this excess amount of makeup off of my eyes.

Inspired by Meredith Grey

May 23, 2016Outfit of the Day, StyleKristenComment

Dress (similar). Stockings (from CVS). Undershirt (similar). Sneakers.

Today, I wasn't doing anything except binge-watching Grey's Anatomy. Then, I remembered that now I have a blog to keep up with! So, I decided to create a look inspired by the one and only Meredith Grey.

Disclaimer: I'm only on season five! If Meredith has made any major changes to her appearance in the coming seasons, I'm not aware of it, so I didn't include it in my look.

I'm completely aware that Meredith does not dress like this at Seattle Grace, but this look was just inspired by what she wears to work: usually blue scrubs and a long-sleeved shirt underneath. I love this dress and it was the same color as her scrubs, which was perfect! This dress is very near and dear to me because I wore it for my sorority's initiation. Ohh, memories.

I also love the shirt under the dress. It's Underarmour which makes it tight, and I love tight clothes. They just make me more comfortable. I wear this shirt under sweaters in the winter and under some sleeveless dresses, but I've never worn it under this one before. I loved it!

I paired the dress with some white Converse. I'm not sure exactly which shoes Meredith wears, but I figured white sneakers were a safe bet, and they looked super cute! If I were wearing this on a normal day and I had to wear sneakers (I'm not sure why that would be an actual situation but whatever), I probably wouldn't even think about wearing white. I would automatically think black Converse because of the black undershirt, but I'm really happy I went with white. I also wore nude stockings because I feel naked when I don't wear stockings with a dress or skirt.

I took a nice amount of risks for this look, at least for me. The makeup was really different for me. I studied Meredith's face for a while (which was pretty easy because why wouldn't you wanna stare at Ellen Pompeo?) and figured out that she wears eyeliner on her top lid. I used to wear eyeliner all the time, but it makes my eyes look super small and for some reason it always bleeds! Even when I just put it on my top lids, it looked good for maybe ten minutes until it started spilling onto my lower lid, then below my eyes. Usually, I wear a crapton of mascara so my eyelashes are long enough to kill a man, but Meredith's a surgeon, so she doesn't have time for that. I brushed a little bit on the ends of my lashes and that got the job done.

Usually, I wear a nice amount of foundation, but since Meredith has a very natural look, I wore a lot less, and I really liked it!

I'm definitely going to be wearing less from now on. I didn't know that I could! I don't have any problems with my skin, I just like the polished look of my face when I wear face makeup. Apparently, that look can be achieved with a smaller amount.

It also seems like Meredith wears some sort of eyeshadow, so I put a nude color on my eyelids, which I really liked too! I finished off the look with a pink lip color since Meredith has very pink lips. I used a very pale pink lipstick and dabbed a little bit of a brighter pink gloss, which created the final color after I blended them together with my lips.

The only jewelry I wore was my earrings, even though Meredith doesn't even wear earrings. I don't think I've ever seen her wear jewelry.

I really loved the look of my hair, but I don't think I would wear it if I was going out and actually doing something since it was delicate. I felt like if I turned around too quickly, everything would fall apart. Obviously, Meredith just throws her hair in a ponytail, but because I needed to create my own sidebangs, it was a little more complicated. I gave myself a side part and then dipped my hair near my cheeks. I secured them with bobby pins and then put my hair in a ponytail above the absolute bottom of my head, but a little below the middle of my head. That's a weird way to phrase it. Then, I wrapped a section of hair around the ponytail holder to make it a little more classy.

I guess this was more of a ~classy~ Meredith Grey look than an actual recreation, but either way, I really love the way it turned out. I would totally wear this outfit again! And I definitely learned some lessons about my makeup.

Onto more binge-watching!