Remember those days when summer was coming and you didn't have a care in the World when it came to what to wear and when? You were built like a twig and could throw on anything from last summer and it would still fit.
That was the 'high school' you. Now that you're a grown woman with a figure, preparing for summer isn't as easy. No it's not just you who feels like you're not gaining weight but your body keeps getting wider. This is happening to me too. Those hips we have, they're evil bones. Is it possible to get hip plastic surgery? I know you can get hip replacement but can you get them pulled in closer together like they were before your body decided it was ready to bear quadruplets at a moments notice? I think God should have made it illegal for your hips to spread until you were actually carrying child. That's just me though.
Enough about our flaws... you know what's fabulous about this summer's fashion trends? They're flowy, draped, and ruffly and leave room to a eat a 5 course meal, develop a food baby, and no one will even notice! Ooooh Summer 2011, how we love you!
Go ahead, eat 5 chimichangas girl... no one will know!
Much like the spring trends... nautical theme is going strong but it's not the only theme taking over our wardrobes. Tribal print is here and is hunting you down. Personally, not a big fan, but I think I'm in the minority. I do have to admit, it looks precious on most women and adds that extra 'flare' we're all looking for.
Rain dance anyone? Just need some face paint and spears!
Cropped pants are fab-u-lous... especially cropped skinnies. We all need a few pairs to go with any top on any day. You can dress them up or down; wear them with platform pumps, or flats. They're convertible, comfortable and stylish. The ones with the buttons at the hem line that crawl up the leg, are super cute...and they match well with your nautical tops.
Jeans rarely make the Summer 'must-have' list because they're thick, bulkier, and don't breathe well. This Summer may be a bit different however with the comeback of the wide leg pant. These lovelies tend to be thinner (more trouser like) and allow some room for air to reach your otherwise suffocated legs. Thank you Carole Brady for allowing us to bring the wide legs back from the 70's. Disclaimer: if you find that you have shorter and thicker legs, these jeans may not be a great choice for you because they may shorten your leg and draw more attention to your bottom half.
Paige Wide Leg.. Doesn't get much better than this!
I feel like we've discussed fashion trends quite a bit but what about the other 'trends' that will accompany your new fashion like hair and accessories?
Bangin' bangs, whether you like it or not, are here and popping up everywhere on women's foreheads these days. You saw Taylor Swift with them at the American Music Awards and then you saw Sandra Bullock with them at the Golden Globes (take that Jessie!). They're fun and trendy, but not for everyone. Our advice? If you want to give them a try, take a fashion leap. If you end up not liking them, give them a month or two to grow a bit and push them to the side as a funky side bang, or clip them up in a cute 'poof' (no, not like Snookie's) until they grow out to a more comfortable length. If you have a long lean face, these may be a great choice for you. If you have a strong bone structure or more of a round face, you may want to think twice before choosing blunt bangs. This is because they could leave you looking more masculine than you'd like.
Who wore it best?
Like many Summers before, beachy wavy tresses are absolutely in. Part your hair down the middle, add some spray gel to your damp towel-dried hair and you're on your way. Sometimes, by doing this, your hair can seem flat. To fix this just tease small sections of your hair around the crown, use your fingers to style it a bit, and you're golden. Need some extra body? Go purchase yourself some clip in hair extensions that are about the length of your natural hair, or a bit longer, and you'll have hair to be desired. You'd be surprised at how many women these days have extensions but hide them well.
Sarah Jessica shows us how you can dress up the hairstyle!
Much like, hmmmm, about 10 years ago, floppy hats are back in! They're so fabulous and functional and we will definitely be embracing this hat trend. Jennifer Lopez wore it best and first and we thank her for it. Now it's our turn to give this trend a test drive. Floppy hats look pretty stunning on just about anyone and they're quite the statement piece. Much better than Von Dutch trucker hats, right ladies? No worries, we haven't seem them making a comeback... yet.
No one wears it better.
What summer trends will you be welcoming into your wardrobe? If you're going o be rocking any of the looks above, send us a picture of you doing so and we'll show you off on our blog! Did you try the blunt bangs? Let us know your thoughts on the experience!
Much like the Wizard of Oz, there's someone here who has been hiding behind the curtain helping run this crazy fashion sideshow know as Blake & Brady. Our Wizard isn't an old balding man with a raspy voice however, and it certainly isn't a man. Her name happens to be Sissa and you may have seen us mention her in previous blog posts. She's blond, vivacious, and bubbly, and we love her to pieces. Perhaps we're biased, but we have a feeling that if you knew her personally, you'd feel the same way.
Since the beginning of Blake & Brady, Sissa has worked behind the scenes with her co-owner and husband Chris. However, just last week Sissa made a huge change in her life. She quit her job of 9+ years in pharmaceutical sales to work full time at Blake & Brady. She's come out from behind the curtain to work at the store and help out with her quickly growing boutique. With the new upstairs expansion opening soon, she has much to do.
Because Sissa is taking on a much bigger role with the boutique (ya know, other than just being the owner, since that's no big deal right?), we thought it was time we introduce her to y'all, our growing clients turned friends.We sat down with Sissa today to find out her deepest darkest secrets for y'all. Like the fact that she accidentally locked herself out of her hotel room once in just her underwear, and the fact that she kissed George Clooney once in a bar, before he was super famous. Okay okay okay, that last fact totally isn't true, but wouldn't you be so jealous if it was!?
You're not from Anderson (which is the home of Blake & Brady), right?
Nope, I was raised in Alabama and Georgia but somehow fate or destiny brought me to the wonderful city of Anderson.
So, How did you actually end up here?
Let me try and make a long story short (Us girls say that and then it ends up being a long story because we just can't bear to leave out all the fun details! but I'll try my best to keep it short). Like I mentioned, I'm from Mobile, Alabama where I was born and mostly raised. It's a place I love and will always call home. When I was a sophomore in high school my mom and step dad, with me in tow, moved to Marietta, Georgia because of my stepdad's new job. After high school I ended up at University of Georgia where I was a cheerleader. Yep, I was one of those peppy girls with the big smiles at all times, hard to believe huh? *laughs*
Many years later, when I was almost 30 years old I was invited to attend a UGA game (I believe they were playing Tennessee). At this game, I was unknowingly set up with a man my age whose name was Chris. We hit things off but I wasn't quite sold on him yet. He was a bit of a nice guy, and we all know us girls like the bad boys. Eventually though, after about a year, Chris won me over. Fast forward to a few months or a year later. Chris helped me pursue a career in pharmaceutical sales. The job he found me just so happened to be in Anderson, South Carolina, where Chris was from. Eventually we settled into Anderson, together, got hitched, had a couple baby girls, and here we are today, loving every bit about our life together in the Electric City!
That's quite the love story! Now, why on Earth did you decide to open up a clothing boutique?
Well it was more Chris's doing than mine although I may have sparked the very intriguing idea. I've been enthralled by fashion my whole life but never dreamed I'd one day own my very own boutique. It all started with a simple conversation with Chris about how it would be great to open a franchise of a boutique we loved in Alabama, here in Anderson. Then we decided that it may be better to just open up our own unique boutique. We noticed that downtown Anderson had a need for a boutique for all to enjoy shopping at. From there, we decided to take the plunge. With a lot of hard work done by Chris, and my female touches, Blake & Brady became a reality about 3 years ago.
What are you most looking forward to with the future of Blake & Brady?
All the growth potential, most definitely! It is just incredible how much growth our store has experienced in the past year and it can only get better from here. We are shipping product to people all over the nation and even Canada! We hope Blake & Brady continues on this successful path so that one day our daughters, Blakely and Brady, can work at the store and maybe take over. How great would that be?!
Will y'all have an online store any time soon?
We'd like to have one eventually, yes. But for right now, we don't see a need for one. Facebook has been an incredible utility for us. Most of our sales come from fans of our page on there. For those of you who don't know, when we receive new items from UPS we immediately unpack them, price them and hang them up, and take a picture of them. We then email this picture out to our FastTrack Email List informing everyone about our new arrivals and letting them know when we'll post pictures of each new item individually on our Facebook page. About an hour or two after the email goes out, we post pictures as we just explained, of one of our employees wearing the new stuff we got, in a photo album on our page. Our friends can then comment under each picture to order or they can call us at the store. It's such a great system for us and it's fun to see all the enthusiasm that our friends exude when commenting on photos. We love to make our girls (and guys) happy!
How would you define your personal style?
I try and make sure I look fun and fashionable but comfort is also very important to me. I'm not quite a spring chicken anymore although I try my hardest to turn back time! I like flowy tops and dresses, that hide all my problem areas but accentuate my favorite parts. I feel those 'fun and flowy' tops match who I am as a person. I like to dress age and style appropriate. Many of the clothes I personally pick out for the store are chosen for women who are no longer in their 20's. Women who want to look cute and flirty, but appropriate. If I had the choice, I'd wear heels every day every where. But because I've had knee surgery, my poor leg just can't handle the heels so I tend to stick to flats these days.
What would you say is your biggest Fashion 'oops!'?
Funny you ask that. Just a year or two ago, while attending a Clemson football game, I decided to wear those pasty bra things. Ya know, they're not quite a bra but not just a sticker, but they do the trick. Well, the game was very hot and I ended up sweating in the wrong place. Needless to say my pasties (is that even the right word?) lost their stickyness and fell off into the blousy part of my top. How embarrassing! I ended up having to pull the suckers out of my shirt and hide them under the bleachers at the stadium. They were a great surprise for whoever cleans up after the games! Sorry about that! My advice to you, don't wear pasty bra things if you're going to be sweating or getting wet in any way, bad idea! Good heavens, i can't believe I just told you that story.
Which Celeb's style do you love?
Jennifer Aniston comes to mind. I couldn't pull off her style but I love it regardless. She's got that sleek yet conservative look going on. Without trying to be sexy, she just 'is' and that's rare in women these days. I also love Carrie Underwood's and Anne Hathaway's style. They dress conservative yet fun and classy all at the same time. I've yet to see an outfit on Carrie that didn't absolutely flatter her figure. She always look so perfectly put together.
What new fashion trend do you love and what can you live without?
I just love love love white jeans! Whether they're skinny, cropped, or bootleg, I love them. I think we should throw away the 'no white after labor day' rule. White is timeless and perfect for so many occasions. On another note, I'm not a big fan of parachute pants. They've been trying to make a come back for the past year and I'm just not jumping on that bandwagon. MC Hammer can keep his pants.
Give us some Fun Facts to finish up...
Many people don't know that we carry men's denim in our store. Men, once you go designer jeans, you'll never go back, that's a promise. Ladies, buy a pair for your man and see how quickly he falls in love.
What else, hmmm... I love to play tennis. When I'm not working or doing activities with my girls, I am playing tennis. It's my outlet and a great way to stay in shape of course.
Well there you have it y'all... everything you've ever wanted to know, or didn't want to know, about Mrs. Sissa Sullivan. Our Wizard of Blake & Brady.
Want to see Sissa in action? Here she is talking about her wonderful boutique and giving more information about the new 'Loft at Blake & Brady'! It took a while to get Sissa to sit down in front of the camera but once she gave in she did a great job! If the video doesn't work for any reason, Click Here for a larger version of the video if it will not expand below.
Fun facts are meant to be, well, fun! Like the fact that a hippo can open it's mouth wide enough to fit a four foot child inside. Next time little Tommy finger paints your walls with chocolate from his ice cream sundae, you know what animal to introduce him to at the zoo.
How about the fact that, like fingerprints, everyone's tongue has a unique print. Or, banging your head up against a wall burns 150 calories an hour. New exercise anyone? I wonder if Gold's Gym will read this blog and soon after start a head banging workout class. If so, we'd like credit for the idea and a small monthly deposit into our primary checking account from all money earned in these revolutionary head banging classes.
These are all interesting facts huh? Well we have some more for you. Facts about Blake & Brady and how they came to be! Don't you sometimes walk into a place of business and wonder "How did they come up with their name?" "Who runs this show anyway?" or in a boutique's case "Who decides what clothes they bring into inventory?". We have some answers for you straight from the horses mouths... errr... well the mouths of the people behind the name. Let's begin...
How and when did Blake & Brady get it's start?
The store made it's debut about two years ago in downtown Anderson. There was a need for a fun and fashionable clothing store downtown, so we filled that niche. Little did we know, we would eventually expand from just a simple local boutique in a small quaint town to one that ships nationwide and caters to women of so many ages.
Who is this Jennifer girl?
Jennifer was our first new hire at Blake & Brady and quickly grew from a basic employee to our store manager. She's one of the best decisions we ever made! She's in the store nearly every day we're open and is typically the one who answers the phones when you call. She is amazing at putting together outfits and serves as a personal shopper to all customers that walk through our doors. To top it all off, she models our clothing in the pictures we put on Facebook. Smart and pretty? She's got it all and we're lucky to have her.
So where did the name 'Blake & Brady' come from anyway?
Coming up with a name wasn't as easy as most would assume. We went through about 15 different options. In the World of boutiques, there are so many names that are overused. You know what names I'm talking about. We didn't want to be just another obscure clothing store with a name that blends in with everything else. We knew we wanted a unique name, and one that was family oriented. We thought about using our last name 'Sullivan' but it came off as a bit masculine, so that was thrown out. Then we thought about our daughters names which are Blakely and Brady. Saying 'Blakely & Brady' out loud over and over just didn't sound 'right', it didn't have that ring to it. It was about one syllable too long. Back to the drawing board we went.
But one day, Sissa was playing tennis when one of her girlfriends chimed in and said "What about just cutting it to 'Blake & Brady'? Genius! However, we had to run this past our oldest, Blakely, and make sure she was okay with her name being shortened a bit. Being the level-headed little girl that she is, she agreed that the name was fine and shortening it didn't bother her one bit.
So... there you have it folks! We arrived at our name 'Blake & Brady'! It's such a fun youthful and timeless name, that we hope everyone loves just as much as we do.
Now, where did you come up with this logo of yours?
An Anderson University student actually helped create our logo. We like to keep the community involved in our store, so having a logo created by a local student was perfect for us. The ampersand sign, the '&', was actually hand drawn which makes it very unique. Cool huh? We tried the logo in a few different color combinations and once we saw it in blue and brown, we knew it was perfect. Seeing our name in lights, aka on the awning of our store, was an exciting day!
What about product, how do you decide what to order?
Ordering product really is an art. It's difficult but fun all at the same time. We feel it's one of our biggest strengths, as a store. With Jennifer, Laurin, and Sissa combining all of their expertise and opinions, we're able to bring items into stock that many different age groups love. We have loyal customers ranging from high school girls to Mom's of high school girls! While shopping online for new fashion to bring into stock, we pay close attention to pricing. We make sure that we can provide our customers with affordable prices and that they'll be happy and comfortable with every purchase they make with us.
Do you only carry clothes?
No way! We try to cover the entire wardrobe. From shoes, to skirts, to tops, to earrings. We've got it! With so much new stuff coming in every day, it is exciting for our customers. We love having all the beautiful ladies coming by our store daily and helping them find what's best for their style and body. Also, with the great food and entertainment downtown, we love it when girls come park, shop and enjoy the whole downtown experience.
Tell us something that many of us may not know about the future of Blake & Brady.
Well how about the fact that we're expanding our store upstairs! Same building, same location, but it will be two floors soon instead of just one! We're hoping to open around the week of Easter if all goes according to plan. Once the upstairs is open we'll be able to bring in more inventory for all of our customers to oogle over! The new space is going to have a loft feel to it with tons of big windows letting in all the downtown charm. We're sure everyone will fall in love with the new space and all of it's contents!
How's that for some fun facts for y'all!? Did you learn something new? Blake & Brady has a strong reliable foundation built on fashion, fun, and family. This will always stay the same.
By the way, you fun lovers, if you can't get enough of us, become a fan on facebook (if you're not already), or follow us on Twitter, we'll tweet ya back! Click the cute buttons on the right side of our page to go to each page.
Now, get off our blog and go out and enjoy this beautiful weather! Or you can take your computer outside and read more of our blog at the same time. Perfection!
The time has come the walrus said to talk of many things, of shoes and dresses, and skinny jeans, of flowy tops and rings.... Wait a minuteeee That's not how 'The Walrus & The Carpenter' goes! But we certainly like the new version.
Like the walrus said... it's time to speak of what else, fashion, and SPRING BREAK! Time for teeny weeny bikinis, catching some much needed rays, and running around in your favorite new spring outfits. You know what's so awesome about this year's fashion?! It's flowy and blousey. If you haven't gotten your body into bikini season shape just yet, you're golden! Just throw on a baby doll frock and rock that boardwalk, girl! You know what else is great about this year's fashion? Many of the dresses and tunics can be worn as bathing suit cover ups OR you can dress them up with some chunky accessories, belt, and heels for a night on the town.
Here's a great example... This playful number can be thrown on, on your way out to the beach. It's more fun than just a simple ol'cover up and it's practical. OR you can throw a belt on (as seen below), a pair of your favorite wedges, and maybe pull your hair back into a scrunched beachy bun... and you're ready for a night out with the girls!
Packing light for the beach has never been easier since you can use the same outfits in so many different ways on one trip. Wait... who are we kidding, we're females, we never wear the same thing twice in the same week! Duhhhh.
Do you have a one shoulder dress or top you can't wait to wear on your spring break vacation? If so, be careful of awkward tan lines from laying on the beach or by the pool all day! If you're going to be rockin' a lot of one shoulders or even strapless tops, try wearing bathing suits that are strapless as well; like bandeau tops.
The best part of these one shoulder tops and dresses is that you get to be two people in one night! On one side you're sultry and sexy like Shakira, showing off a sun kissed shoulder. And on the other side, you're more covered up yet fun and flirty like hmmm what celeb actual covers up these days? Natalie Portman? Not to mention, you'll look super cool waving your left arm around while doing the electric slide on the dance floor at the beach bar. All the cool kids are doing it...
Here's one of our fav one shoulder tops that we sold out of super fast, but no worries, we've reordered and they'll be in soon! (We don't mean to brag but this babies are only $23!):
For those of you who do not get a spring break vacation... ya know us adults in the workforce, have no fear. You can still rock a bikini and a one shoulder top around the house. I'm sure your hubby would love it! He can thank us later for the idea. Cook some shrimp and crab for dinner, make a couple margaritas in the blender, turn on a space heater and a fan at the same time to get that 'tropical weather' feel in your home, throw on your favorite sarong, and viola! Spring Break at the *insert your last name here* house! Chug, chug, chug, chug! ...understand?
While we have you here, don't forget to 'like' your favorite picture in our contest on facebook! The four girls with the most 'likes' win some major cash to spend at our store and they could all use your help! Here's the two groups, you can vote for any one you want, or, heck with it, you can vote for all of them if you feel like it! Contest Group 1 (Blake) Contest Group 2 (Brady)
We have some pretty awesome new blogs coming up in the near future so keep reading and make sure you click 'follow our blog' over there on the right side of the page. Just scroll up a bit... a bit more... yep there it is! We can't wait to share with you. This is going to be an amazing spring AND summer here at B&B!
*Do Not Forget to sign up for our Contest! Go to the 'Contest' tab right up there, above this post, on the tool bar, and email your picture to blakeandbradyboutique@gmail.com. You could win $250, $150, $100, or $75 to spend at our store!*
Now back to our previously scheduled blog post... ZE FINALE (that's how you say 'the finale' in french)...
Onesies aren't just for babies anymore! Get out your chafing powder ladies because the bodysuit is making a comeback! We can all thank Beyonce and Lady Gaga for that. For many of us younger ladies, we were in elementary or middle school when body suits were first 'in'.
I don't know about y'all but I had a favorite body suit. It was white, with three buttons between the legs, and had the most magnificent sheer flowing blousy sleeves. I knew I had to put the flowy sleeves to work so I took a trip to the ice skating rink where I would twirl and do a double toe loop lutz finished off with a triple axle, all while my beautiful sleeves flapped in the breeze. Okay, maybe I just did a few rings around the rink and maybe one shaky turn.
Regardless, I knew that night, wearing that bodysuit, that all boys had their eyes on me and they would dream about marrying a girl like me. A girl with such grace and such a dreamy body suit. I'll talk to 'our' people and see if we can bring a few into stock so that your ice skating dreams can be fulfilled as well!
So what do you think? Care to 'snap on' or 'pull up' a bodysuit again ladies?
Jennifer Says: Love! It's fashionable and functional! People will have no idea you are wearing one unless you pull a Lady GaGa and go out without pants on!
Carly Says: Love! What better way to keep your shirt tucked in than to have it attached to your underwear? Wait do you wear undies under your bodysuit or just the bodysuit? hmmmm...
What's better to compliment your bodysuit than to sport a hot sleek new pair of colored denim! Spring brings flowers and color... but we never knew it would be taken to this extreme. Enhance your thighs with a big splash of color. Us ladies always want to draw attention to our thighs and butt right? No? When will you be purchasing an orange pair to rock at Clemson games? Up for a dare?
Jennifer Says: No thanks! These scream 'pay attention to me!'... girls should be classy and fabulous, two words that I would not associate with colored denim.
Carly Says: The 80's called... they want their pants back! My muffin top gets enough attention on it's own! What's next, white eye liner and jellies? I wouldn't doubt it.
This next spring trend, we are loving! The nautical theme we keep seeing at shows and in magazines is something to be desired. Nautical and horizontal stripes kind of go hand in hand. Friendly tip, wear thin horizontal stripes or oversized stripes. Anything in between can make you look wider than you are. Well, on some of us, stripes don't work at any width. Want to make your girls (you know which girls we're talking about) look bigger? Turn to horizontal stripes, they'll make them pop! When we think of nautical we think of navy blue or black, and white, and maybe a touch of red. Always classy and always fun. What do you think?
Jennifer in one of our awesome Nautical dresses!
Jennifer Says: Love it, of course! So flattering, flirty, and fun! It gets me excited for summer and my rapidly approaching honeymoon!
Carly Says: Love it as well! It's just plain fun. It makes me want to use navy terms like 'ahoy matey' and 'we're underway!'... ummm or something like that.
Here's some more spring trends we'd love to know whether you Love or Loathe... maybe you'll see some or many of these popping up in our store over the next few months!
White Leggings
Flashback to Easter Day when you were 8 years old. All you need is your hand made bonnet your mom made you with tulle and glued on peeps. There's a big difference between white skinny leg jeans/pants and white leggings, in our opinion. What do you think?
Cargo Pants
Not just any cargo pants, skinny leg cargo pants! These could be fabulous on the right figure and with the right shoes but for the women who have bigger thighs or hips, these could be all wrong. Another buyer beware.
Tiered Ruffles
We're seeing them everywhere, tiered ruffle tops and dresses! We think they're fun and youthful. Mix up your daily basic wardrobe with some ruffles! They also make it fun to shake your body like Charo! Don't know who she is? Look her up, you won't be sorry!
Crop Tops
You know when football players cut part of their practice jerseys off to look cool? Well this is the girls version. Make sure you have a flat tummy if you rock this look, or else you may get a lot of the wrong looks. Pairing it with a cami underneath can make it wearable by all. You like?
Whether you like it or not, spring is upon us. Actually, if you're one of the people who don't like it, what is wrong with you!? Time for Spring Break, Prom, Spring Football, the works! We can't wait for everything that will be arriving in our store that we'll get to share with you. Will we be ordering colored denim and body suits? You will just have to wait and see won't you?
Four Winners - All receive money to spend at Blake & Brady!
1st Place - $250 2nd Place - $150 3rd Place - $100 4th Place - $75
Wow! is right! This contest is going to be so much fun and we can't wait to get it started! Here are the details, read them carefully, and act fast!
Note: This contest will be held on Facebook. A Facebook account is needed in order to participate!
Announcing our March Madness, bracket style contest (yep, like College Basketball but the name of this game is fashion!)! The contest will begin with 32 pictures of girls who love fashion, love having fun, and love Blake & Brady! These photos will be posted to photo albums on our Facebook Page where we'll divide all photos into 4 groups of 8. We call these 'divisions'.
Each girl who has submitted a photo in the contest will ask her friends to 'like' her photo on our facebook page. The 4 girls, in each division, with the greatest amount of 'likes' by a certain date will move on to the next round of the contest, and the rest of the girls will be dropped (gently, don't worry, it doesn't hurt!). We'll continue doing this (cutting each division in half each round) until we get down to the Top 4 Photos.
We'll then start the contest from zero 'likes' and each girl will have to get as many 'likes' on her photo as possible by a certain date. Good news! All 4 girls will walk away winners! The girl with the greatest amount of 'likes' will be our winner and she will win a $250 shopping spree at Blake & Brady!!! 2nd place will win $150 dollars to spend at our store, 3rd will receive $100, and 4th place will win $75!!!
To Sum It Up: Submit a photo, get people to 'like' your photo the most, and win! :)
How to Enter: If you would like to participate in our contest please submit a picture of yourself to blakeandbradyboutique@gmail.com ASAP! Make sure the picture is of YOU (only you!) in either an outfit you got from our store or wearing something you love, out and about having fun. Photo must be of more than your face. Photo must be fun! Please shy away from submitting model photos. The first 64 girls to submit their photos are entered into the contest, so hurry and submit before it's too late!
You will have a few days to pick a photo to submit, but like we said, the sooner the better because only the first 64 will be entered!
When:
The contest will begin very very soon! We'll give you a warning of the exact date when we have all 32 contestants! Keep checking our blog, facebook, and/or twitter for updates. Need a quick link to our facebook or twitter? Just click the buttons on the right of your screen and they'll take you to each page.
We can't WAIT to get started! Wishing y'all the best of luck!
Hello Ladies (and gents), let's take a short intermission from discussing Spring Fashion and switch topics over to Online Shopping! We all do it, it's an epidemic.
You know the drill. You find something you absolutely love online, place an order quickly without your husband (or parents, or whoever watches over the finances) knowing and you anxiously await the package to arrive (because it's exciting and because you need to make sure you intercept the package before someone else sees it). It's like Christmas without a big fat hairy man and cookies. Well, we don't know what your FedEx or UPS driver looks like, but ours isn't big and hairy; and he's never asked for cookies! And thank goodness, because we don't bake.
Many of us, when shopping for clothing online, don't pay quite enough attention to the way the clothing fits on the model, the fabric the piece is made out of, nor do we take into account that model may be built much differently than we are (and this is true in most cases, if it's not, then you have been blessed by the skinny model Gods!). We have three tips for you to keep in mind when online shopping for clothing. We like to call them the three 'F's!
Let's talk Foto (it's spelled with a 'ph' normally, we know, but then that ruins our three 'F's, plus it looks cute spelled with a 'F')...
For those of you who have never worked in clothing retail, you probably don't know about the tricks stylists and photographers use when photographing a model in a piece of clothing. Their big secret to make, let's say, a baggy dress fit tight on a model is using a clip. Yep, a clip. They pull the fabric back and clip the dress in a way that makes the dress appear like it's fitted and it flatters the model's body. Sometimes, when stores really want to get crafty they use their other secret weapon, their hands! They have the model pose awkwardly with one hand behind their back pulling the dress tight. To the untrained eye, you may think the model is just making another one of those weird artsy modely poses, but really they're pulling a fast one on you.
Here's a great example (for those who learn visually):
Such a sweet innocent pose, looking all model-ish and stuff... BAM, you've been fooled! This girl doesn't have a bad back, she's no granny. She's pulling that dress back with her hand. Perhaps she's too skinny for it or perhaps it blouses awkwardly on the sides and she's trying to hide it. We added the back view as well so that you can see she's doing it at a different angle as well.
Buyers beware. Watch how models are standing! Don't say we didn't warn you! You can't always detect a clip but you sure can detect the 'hand pull'.
When we post pictures on our Facebook page of Jennifer in a piece of clothing, She always stands 'normal'. We want to make sure you know how the dress will fit just by looking at the photo so that you can be confident with your purchase.
Speaking of Jennifer, want to know why she's such a great model for our clothing? Because her body is just like yours! She's in shape and slim but she has curves and she looks great! She's not another skin-n-bones model who makes a pouty face just to make her cheek bones appear higher. She's the real deal Holyfield! When you see Jennifer modeling clothing, what you see is what you get. Which brings us to discussing, THE Fit.
A BIG mistake we women make when shopping online is assuming that dress we love will look the same on us as it does on that 5'10", 100 lb model. First of all, these lovely underfed (that's a guess, not a fact!) ladies do not typically have large chests, or any ta-tas for that matter. They also, typically, don't have big hips or big booties. Their legs go on for miles and they have no arm fat that jiggles when they waive 'hi'! They're not like you and me. They make clothing look fantastic, true story, but they don't reflect how the product looks on a real woman. When online shopping, make sure you keep this in mind. If there are reviews under a product, read them! If they have measurements, jot those down too. There's nothing more dissapointing than getting that gorgeous ruffled front dress in the mail, only to try it on and it doesn't fit or it's unflattering.
Here's a comparison, Twiggy vs Jennifer:
Okay Twiggy, if the dress is that tight on you, how on Earth is my junk in the trunk (and the dashboard) going to fit in that dress!!? Get the point?
Now, here's a simple tip all of us can understand easily, always try to examine or find out what Fabric a piece of clothing is made out of. Typically you can tell from looking at a photo what fabric the item was made out of, but when in doubt, ask! Some of us look great in knit or cotton, while others of us prefer jersey or a poly blend. We all have different bodies and our bodies look better in different fabrics. Personally, I choose items with more 'give', fabrics that stretch a bit so that when I eat too much and have a food baby, I don't feel like I'm suffocating! Come on, you all know what it's like to overeat and about pass out at the table!
So there you have it, three great tips to keep in mind when shopping online. You can thank us later, or just come in the store and do it in person! :)
We're slowly but surely inching our way to Spring. Wouldn't it be cool if seasons lasted half as long and occurred twice a year instead of once? Whenever we got sick of a season... BAM... there's a new one. No one would complain saying "ugh I am soooo ready for scarf weather!" and others wouldn't be able to say "I got these super cute flippity flops that I've been waiting all winter to wear!". I don't know about y'all, but I think this idea is genius. I'm thinking about calling a meeting with God, Mother Nature, and The Fashion Queen (Gwen Stefani of course), to negotiate the seasons. I'm sure we can figure something out. I'll keep you posted.
Anyway... No offense Winter but we're over you. I know harsh, but it's the truth. Spring fashion has made it's debut and we're ready to embrace all of it, even the new shoe styles coming back into style. Our toesies are ready for some pampering and pedicures... oh and to see the light of day again. Poor little fellas, always stuck in socks and suffocated. Pale toes are not cool.
We're super pumped about the early 90's Miss Bliss (throw back to Saved by the Bell, the early years for those of you who watched) kitten heels making their return! Wait, scratch that, kitten heels are a no-no unless you're over the age of 40 or want to be modest about your height.
Don't know what they are? Here's a peek...
For those women who never stopped rocking the kitten heel, more power to ya, your time to shine has finally returned. Now we ask... Love or Loathe? We want your opinion as well!
Jennifer: Loathe, I prefer my heels to be at least 2"! Carly: Loathe, except if Suri Cruise is wearing them, she pulls them off well, but she's also what, 5?
Not to leave kitten heels in the dust or anything but a bigger, badder, and... clunkier shoe is back in town. May we present to you the CLOG *dun, dun, dunnnn*
GOEDE DAG! That's 'hello' or 'good day' in Dutch. That's the language of the clog you know... if clogs could speak. These bad boys showed their wooden soles on the runways of designers like Chanel and Louis Vuitton, recently. Their clunky goodness is making a mark this Spring... will you be stepping out in a pair?
Jennifer: Love! So cute and beautifully reinvented for 2011! Carly: Love/Loathe - leaning more toward loathe. I'd rather be light on my toes!
Speaking of clunky...boots are typically a heavier pair of footwear, wouldn't you agree? Well not when they're OPEN TOE BOOTS! Say What?! Ladies & Gents, allow us to introduce to you the new trend for Spring, open toe boots. They're so hip that even Victoria's Secret is selling them.
There's really not much to say about these. They speak volumes for themselves. Sooooo... what are your thoughts? Love them, or Loathe them?
Jennifer: Absolutely not, Loathe! I don't think boots are okay in the spring, or summer for that matter, in any form, closed or open toe. No thanks! Carly: They're like leg warmers and hoochie stilettos in one... a stripper's delight! But for me, I'm going to have to go with Loathe.
No worries y'all, along with the above mentioned stylish Spring shoes, cuffed sandals as well as wedged sandals are still in this Spring. We've seen wedged sandals for a few years now, and cuffed sandals last year. Which ones will you be wearing the most?
You can find these lovelies in our store!
Jennifer: Love them both and will be an 'equal opportunity employer' of these two types of sandals this spring and summer! Carly: I don't understand the whole 'keep the ankle warm' campaign this spring. Between the open toe boots and cuffed sandals...my ankles will be losing lots of water weight! Love the wedge sandals of course, always adorable and flattering to the calf muscle!
Which Spring shoes do you love or loathe? Are we off our rockers with our opinions? Should we bring some kitten heels into inventory?
Check us out HERE for some Spring Shoe Fashions that are starting to arrive in store!
