Love is a Place.

         

Though I have been living here for five years now I have never considered Ohio my home. California will always be my home. I came here for college and family, and during my time here I have made some of the best friends of my life and someone I consider the love of my life. I never excpected to fall in love with the place, but after years of being here, how can I not call this my home? I have been thinking a lot and discussing with my friends that I want to go home soon. But I kind of am home.
Ohio has a certain charm about it in it’s cities and in it’s people that I feel like you can’t find anywhere else. I have spoken to others who are not from here and they say the same thing, this place is home. It actually makes you feel like home. My time in Ohio made me recognize all the things I love most, it helped me find my love for fashion and style. It has inspired me.
Of course there are places and people here that would make you feel otherwise, but when you got to the right areas and find good company, it’s pretty obvious to me that this place has a lot of heart.  

(Dress Figleaf. Shoes Wet Seal. Purse swapped. Jewelry Aldo, Forever21.)

I was lucky enough to end up in Akron. I’m not saying that I will always be here, I dont know where I will be, but right now, I am so happy to have this as my home. If you live in Ohio and think other wise, slow things down and take a look around you at the places and people you love, and see how wonderful this place really is.


All Photos by Lindsey.

Getting Personal

My favorite thing about fashion is and always will be style. A piece of clothing, like a plain black dress, can be completely transformed depending on the girl wearing it, and how she makes it fit her style. Personal style is what makes one’s fashion sense completely unique to them. And when you are dressed completely to your taste, you generally feel your best and most confident. This is the power of someone individuality. As cheesy as this may sound, it’s true. and you know it it.

With that being said I was lucky enough to get this Brooklyn Canvas dress from Sugar lips to make my own and style as I please. When I received the dress, I had a completely different style in mind for it. I was going to wear it as more of a bohemian style dress with some black sandals and a jean vest with wavy hair. Obviously, I didn’t take that route. When I tried the dress on one night before taking photos, My hair was done up like this twisty, faux victory roll style, and I got inspired. It made me think of the blues in the 60’s. (Watch Cadillac Records, and you will see!) I decided to pair the dress with my wing tips from Urban Outfitters, and my vintage blue belt that I got at a clothing swap, and boom, I felt like I was ready to go see Muddy Waters play in Chicago. If only…I am going to Chicago this weekend, so maybe I can just pretend.

My switch from one style to the next with this dress is a perfect example of how a piece can be transformed. It just depends on your mood and what inspires your style. All of the different prints in the dresses and tops at Sugar lips really speak to me in creating a more retro-vibe in my style. What inspires your styling?






All Photos By Lindsey.

Stripes and Anchors.

I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th. Mine was the best in a long time. Mike is home and I got to spend the day with him and one of my best friends Sara. Hot dogs were had, as well as some beer, and tasty desserts too! The best part of all though was spending the day with friends, family, and Mike.



What did everyone do for the 4th?

All Photos by Lindsey.

Complemantary Colors.

                           


I feel like it’s starting to become old news for me to say that I like mixing colors. But let me just say it one more time, with feeling, I LOVE mixing colors. Exploring with different color combinations can really make an old piece shine like new again.


My new Favorite way to do colors is with the complementary colors. Here I use yellow and purples. It can also work with blue and orange and red and green. I know that a few things may be coming to mind with these pairings…sports, high school colors, Christmas. yuck! I too have the fear of looking like an obsessed sports or Christmas fan sometimes when doing this, but here is a little trick…try mixing different shades of the complementary colors.
Here I am wearing an obviously VERY purple skirt, but with the yellow and white striped shirt, not only is the yellow more of a pastel, but its also toned down with the shear chiffon and the white stripes.

Another color combo I am absolutely love is turquoise and coral. Its a nice was to do the blue orange with out being overly bright, and the colors are everywhere this summer, so it’s an easy combo to accomplish.






I did decide to style my outfit with ( what do ya know!) more colors! I promise that this wont be the only thing I talk about, but my next post will be obnoxious with a red, white and blue post. Whoops!
All Photos by Lindsey.

Summer Time. Show Time.

Tonight I am going to support Mike for the start of his tour with Empires in Pittsburgh. If anyone is in Pittsburgh they should go to The Smiling Moose tonight to see them. Since it's so incredibly hot today I opted for this 40's inspired romper (my roommates) from Forever 21. I love shows in the summer time and reasons to dress so summery!

What shows are you looking forward to and how do you like to dress as shows?

Mustard Stripes.

There is something about summer that makes me want to only wear dresses. Cute. New. Dresses. Lots of them. So that means I basically need to practice self control and not buy every dress I see. I may have splurged on a few here and there, like on this mustard striped dress I got from Forever 21.
It’s a perfect summer staple in my opinion. The structure of the shirt dress makes it not so girly and the colorful stripe was a perfect way to make it more appropriate for summer. Here I have it styled with neutral leathers in navy and brown to make the dress seem a little more masculine. It could be styled with a floral cardigan for a more quirky girly look too.





Photos by Lindsey.

Promise.

                        



This summer holds so much promise for me. Nothing too huge is happening, but I just have a really great feeling, ya know? The 330 Blogger collective already held an extremely successful clothing swap, I am going to Chicago in July with all of my good friends, and possibly Kelly’s Island, plenty of summer concerts, moving and of course spending time with friends and family.

I still have a full-time job, but since I don’t believe in summer classes, I am taking my free time for spending as much time with friends, family, and Mike. Mike just left to for a few days to Chicago to play a show with Empires, he will be back but leaves for tour next week. So we have been squeezing in as much “us” time as possible, and it really has been nice.

I also plan on spending as much time AS POSSIBLE with one of my best friends, Missy. She is moving to France in September to teach English for a year. So since I have basically seen her almost every day of the past 3 years(we live together) I am going to try to see her even more to get in all the friend time I can!

So this outfit post is kind of a kick off to a fun, promising summer! I figured a fun retro-inspired outfit would do the trick with my tied chiffon blouse and polka dot shorts(Forever 21), accessorized with striped cat-eye glasses(Wet Seal) and fuschia loafers(Target).






All Photos By Lindsey.