The Lumia 900 helped me capture, create and curate quite impressive images to integrate into StyleSaint for the Leivankash Mood Boards. It was such a pleasure to explore Dallas, searching for inspiration through my eyes and with the help of the gorgeous community and various kind strangers. Over the next few days, I’ll be unveiling each Leivankash mood board inspired by each of her beautiful jewelry collections. Today, we’ll start with my personal FABULUSH Street Style.
Who doesn’t love them a little bit of Lacroix? Start practicing on the pronunication because you’ll soon be seeing Desigual all over stateside thanks to their fantastic design and this upcoming capsule collection with none other than Mister Christian Lacroix. The Barcelona based company is bringing their Spanish flair overseas and sharing it with American fashion loving counterparts. Touted as the “More for Less” brand, it could very well be that Desigual will expand like wildfire through the U.S. much like Zara, their Spanish brethren of fast fashion.
Upon walking into WWDMAGIC, one could spot Desigual’s expansive booth from miles away and no matter where you turned someone was toting their namesake carryall. Champagne, cheeses, and fruits tempted palates while live art installations of painting on models and constructing a large gown from magazines were a visual treat. The booth was constantly filled with life and much traffic a buzz; not only about the Lacroix collaboration, but about Desigual’s gorgeous women’s and menswear in their regular line. Chunky knits, coats, and jackets lined walls as bags, jewelry, and accessories were a hot commodity to view. Even printed underwear were screaming to be donned, as fashion does begin from the inside out.
After speaking with Manel Jadraque, the Chief Operating Officer of Desigual, I learned more of the intricacies of the collaboration and inspiration that brought this dream collection to fruition. Lacroix is known for designing statement pieces that are dripping with glamour, drama, and intensity. The luxurious use of the well known and favored fabrics of velvet, satin, taffeta and collage of patchwork and striped patterns give the look of haute couture at prêt-à-porter price points. The capsule collection is to release Autumn/Winter 2011-12 with 40 garments beautifully designed by the famed French couturier. Due to the response and success of the initial debut, expect a Summer 2012 collection to release with even more strong and vibrant pieces.
After an up-close and personal view of the capsule collection of Christian Lacroix for Desigual that whet your appetite, prepare to begin drooling as you see how the collection drapes on the runway and in real-life thanks to Teen Vogue darling, Colby Jordan of Minnie Muse. Still dying over the velvet flocking, patchwork prints, floral brocades, and chunky knits… Dear Fashion Fairy God Mother, please find a way for this immaculate coat to make its way into my life.
Image Credits: Desigual and WWDMAGIC
Two friends from the Paris fashion industry, Laure Heriard-Dubreuil and Milan Vukmirovic dreamt of running their own boutique and followed that passion all the way to Miami, Fla. Located in a historical Art Deco building in the heart of Miami Beach, Fla., The Webster has become known worldwide as a multi-brand boutique devoted to luxury fashion with an exclusive selection of unique pieces.
The Webster at Target includes apparel and accessories for women, men, kids and baby with a Miami, Fla. vibe. Taking inspiration from The Webster’s décor, the shop’s iconic wallpaper is reinterpreted into the banana leaf print found throughout the collection, while the two-way deco print pays homage to the Miami Beach Art Deco district.
Ranging in price from $7.99 to $49.99, The Webster at Target collection will be available May 6, 2012 at all Target stores and Target.com. Kids, baby, along with women’s shoes and select styles in plus and petite are exclusive to Target.com.
First dates are treacherous enough, but the anxiety from trying to figure out the perfect outfit can make a girl crazy and leave her ripping a closet apart in search of “The One”. No, I’m not talking about finding Mr. Right in my walk-in, but “The One” outfit that is the perfect amount of sweetness mixed with an ounce of sexiness, toss in some romanticism, and of course top if off with some confidence and height boosting heels.
The moment I laid eyes on this Mink Pink Gypsy Rose Blouse, I knew the possibilities were endless. Sheer enough to keep a mind wondering, but still opaque enough to be demure (with the right undergarments, ahem!) The flowy silhouette is ideal for twirling around like the princess you are, but also forgiving enough for your fat days where nothing seems to fit. The poet sleeves make me wish for handwritten love letters and the gauzy top paints the imagery of hazy dreams.
For Day - Mink Pink Gypsy Rose Blouse: Paired it With some dark denim J Brand High Rise Skinny Jeans.
For Night - Mink Pink Gypsy Rose Blouse: Tucked it into a vintage high waisted cream mini with Alaia-esque detailing and threw on some “Single Girl Louboutin Shoes”.
My day outfit ended up bringing me luck with a group of three fine men from Australia and England at my fave sandwich stop. While I didn’t find a love connection with any, I did share the Welsh wealth with my single ladies. Just like in sports, no one likes a ball hog.
My night outfit was reserved for dinner and dancing, which you’ll get a taste of in my next entry about Red Light, Little River. Let’s just say, if only I could feel as excited for a man, as I do for fashion or food…
The lovely ladies from Moderne are offering FABULUSH readers 15% off all purchases with code: FABULUSH.
If you didn’t notice, I took a much needed blogging sabbatical. Everything I previously loved, I now proceeded to possess a deep hatred for. A part of me died… The passion and desire I felt was flickering out.
Work has kept me busy, different opportunities toying with my heart and wanderlusty ways. I couldn’t form the right words together, but why bother anyways when today, it seems all people care about are pretty pictures. The superficiality of everything irritated my moral fiber.
One day at work in Downtown Dallas, there was a protest about the DRC, war, and rape. The reaction was a knee jerker as all people could focus on was the fact that protesters were interrupting their last minute Christmas shopping. Then, a friend’s father passed away, and I skipped multitude of holiday parties to hold my parents hands and enjoy their company. I couldn’t fathom what they were going through as I provided my condolences. The times I put aside my fun-loving ways and chose to be work responsible and in seclusion; it apparently rubbed a dear friend the wrong way to the point of distention. Everyone has seemed to take our liberties and lives for granted. I don’t want to become one of those people. One of those vapid people that just have their heads so high in the clouds or so far up someone’s ass that you lose all sense of your surroundings and a grounded version of reality.
The love I held onto for so long finally floated away like a balloon that slipped from my fingers into the atmosphere’s reach. His pessimism and negativity were overbearing and our last conversation consisted of his usual over promising and under delivering. He always conveniently found a way to maneuver himself back into my life when I was on top of my game and happier than ever; only just to knock my life off kilter and spread his vitriol until I just didn’t feel a thing for him anymore .
Then I started to fall in love with someone else. A feeling I hadn’t felt in a year and a half, well let me rephrase… A feeling I didn’t allow myself to feel in years. He was chivalrous, intelligent, handsome, successful, uplifting… We had endless adventures, passion, and friendship. In the end, he made me a better person, even up to the day that I knew he was a cheater. So, my impenetrable walls became a little higher after the fact and I wised up to realize. I gave myself 2 days to sulk, bitch, moan, and cry. Anymore than that was just wasting time. So, maybe I am checking-in one emotional baggage these days, but that’s a lot better than the 5-6 overweight bags I was lugging around forever.
But the mean reds are out of my system, I’m back to business and back on track.
Fashion is a form of self-expression, and the personal attacks were just hitting below the belt. Do I mind? Most of the time, not so much; however, on those rare grey days where it felt like a page out of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, the naysayers slowly chipped away my desire to share. I write because I enjoy it. I write because others tell me they enjoy it. I write to connect with others, to relate, to inspire, and to find some similar ground in this crazy world. In the end, I just want people to be able to take away something. A style idea, some new hip place to check out, a recipe to share, a love story, a dating lesson learned, to laugh at my misfortune, or just some visual or verbal gratification that resonates for a bit. All I am saying is sure, some days you’re not going to agree with my sense of style, or perhaps my writing, opinions, or attitude. I’m human, I make mistakes; hell sometimes a few too many.
So thank you to those who have stood by, to those who have inspired and encouraged me along the way, and also thank you to the difficult ones that have pushed me to new limits and out of my comfort zone.
