Archive

Tag Archives: style

Fashionable Fridays: Coachella Craze

April 12, 2013
My Style
2 Comments

Everyone has been talking about the Coachella music festival here lately. Although I don’t live in sunny California, I still love looking at the fashion that people wear to this infamous music festival. If I were going here are some of the  outfits that I might pair together for the event.

Coachella Craze
Of course the buck doesn’t stop here. There are so many ways to look chic and be comfortable enough to dance for hours to some of the amazing bands featured at Coachella.
Are you headed to Coachella this year? If yes, I would love to see your Coachella fashion! Tag me in a pic on Instagram @misscre8tivity or tweet me @misscre8tivity to share. If I love your look , I will feature you on my blog this weekend!
Not in the states or sunny California, no problem! Take a photo of an outfit you would wear to a music festival in your area and tweet it to me or instagram me! You never know, you could be featured here on Creativity Arise!
Happy Friday all :)
signature

Travel Thursday Vol. 4: Packing

March 28, 2013
Travel
3 Comments

When I first started traveling I always assumed that I needed a 50 lb suitcase to get me through a vacation. If the vacation was more than a few days, I would feel unprepared if I didn’t have an outfit for every possible occasion and weather situation. This thought process caused me to waste lots of money and time. Then one day I had an epiphany. It was probably at the exact moment that I almost fell down the escalator at the airport trying to pull my overstuffed extremely heavy checked bag that I realized how ridiculous it was for me to try to fit my life into a suitcase. Ever since that day, I try my best not to pack a checked bag. Besides who wants to spend $100 on luggage (RT) when you can put that money into something worthwhile during the vacation? I certainly don’t anymore. I did some research and took some tips from expert travelers to change my slightly obsessive compulsive ways. For the past few vacations I have gotten away with taking a carryon suitcase and an oversized purse for trips up to a week.

Here are some tips I found very useful for packing for a getaway.

  1. Check the weather at your destination. This will allow you to determine what types of clothing to pack for your vacation. Seems pretty obvious, right? Well you would be surprised how many people just throw items into a bag.
  2. Once you figure out what types of clothing you want to wear, pick a favorite item and create a color story based around that item. Your color scheme will help you mix and match items in your closet. It will also help you minimize the amount of clothing and shoes you need to carry.
Pack like a Pro
The color story in this example is blue and brown. All other colors & accessories can be used as an accent. Some travelers have suggested the 4-3-2-1 rule as a good guideline to stick to when packing. This includes 4 tops, 3 bottoms, 2 outerwear pieces and 1 dress. Shoes should be kept to a minimum. It is recommended to have 1 pair of very comfortable shoes for sightseeing and one dressy pair of shoes for nice dinners, shows, etc. I am a shoe fanatic so I usually sneak in an extra pair.  Also try to choose accessories that can be paired with every outfit. This will limit the amount of bulk in your suitcase. It may not look like much but in actuality you can make 16 outfits or more from this example. You can even pair the shirts over the dress to create a skirt and shirt look.
There are also various ways to get these items into your carryon. Some people prefer to use packing cubes to neatly organize the clothing and maximize space. Other avid travelers suggest using the rolling or bundling methods to fit all of their desired pieces into their carryon.
There is really no right or wrong way to pack as long as you don’t sacrifice comfort, style, and most importantly your hard earned money!
How do you pack for a vacation? Are you a chronic over packer or are you a minimalist? Let me know in the comments below! Also if you have any tips for packing, feel free to share.
Until next post,
signature

Current Obsession

February 1, 2013
My Style
3 Comments

I absolutely love the look of fit and flare dresses! They are so feminine and flirty. They are also very versatile. They can be dressed up for a fun social event or dressed casually for everyday wear. I plan to add a few of these babies to my collection very soon. Call me crazy but I would love to be able to transition to a dress only wardrobe at some point. I feel so beautiful in dresses. The hubby loves them as well. I just have to find a the perfect style of dress to suit my body type.

Current Obsession: The Fit & Flare Dress

Which look would you wear? Let me know in the comments below. Stay chic!

Until next post, Brittany

Fast Forward to Spring

January 23, 2013
My Style
6 Comments

We are still having some very warm weather here in my area so I decided to fast forward my outfit for today to Spring. I am a little excited that one of this spring’s fashion trend is STRIPES!  I love stripes. I have been obsessed with them since childhood.  I came across a black and white striped blazer in my closet that I have only worn 1x (it’s so sad I know) so I decided to give it a little TLC today. After pulling out my blazer, I had to figure out what else I could pair it with besides the basic black pants I usually wear it with.

I stood there and  started to think of my favorite colors in Spring, the pinks, blues, yellows, and greens. And then I spotted it- a simple yellow tank in my closet. I just love black and white and yellow together! So now all I had to figure out was what type of bottoms I was going to wear. I didn’t want anything to dressy, nothing “safe” but I am still a little nervous about being too “over the top.” Then I said what the heck as long as I’m not wearing my birthday suit I think I will be ok. So I headed over to my handy dandy color wheel and decided to give it a whirl. And decided to pair the items with a vibrant pair of cobalt blue pants. Here is the look.

technicolor

Outfit Details: Shoes: Fioni Black Pumps- Payless

Pants: Cobalt Blue Skinnys:I have no idea

Shirt: Yellow tank: Macy’s

Striped Blazer- Nordstrom Rack

Bracelet: Kate Spade

Earrings & Necklace: Charming Charlie

 

It’s fun to mix and match pieces that I’ve never worn together. The color wheel has given me a lot of inspiration.  It’s like looking at my closet with a new pair of eyes! Hope you all are having a great Wednesday!

 

Until next post, Brittany

CW Challenge: A warm winter day

January 20, 2013
My Style
2 Comments

Whew! Seems like I haven’t been on here in forever! I guess an entire week is a long time to be separated from something you love :) I have been battling a respiratory infection and I am finally now feeling about 75% better. I said I wanted to lose a couple of pounds in the new year and it looks like I accomplished that involuntarily LOL! I’m not complaining though :)

Today is a rather unseasonably warm day. The temperature here in my area is currently 72 degrees. My hubby and I figured we would be crazy not to take advantage of this great weather so we are taking this opportunity to cook out on the grill. I decided to go for a more casual look today since we are just chillaxin’. I decided to create an outfit around the colors red purple and yellow green. They are complementary colors on the color wheel. Here is what I came up with.

grape 1

I paired the red purple shirt and green cargo skinny pants with leather accents for a bit of edginess. Honestly I don’t need the jacket but I thought the outfit looked much better with it. Can you believe I have never paired these items together?  I think this outfit is so cute. It is simple yet stylish.

grape 2

grape 3

Outfit Details

Shoes: Madden Girl by Steve Madden- DSW

Cargo skinny pants: I honestly have no idea! They are OLD!

Shirt: Forever 21

Necklace: NY & Company

Faux leather jacket: Ross

Handbag: No 7 Satchel from Henri Bendel (Christmas gift from my honey :) )

Earrings: No idea

Well I am about to head back outdoors before the sun sets. Hope you all are having a great Sunday! I am praying that these little pesky germs will go away so I can really get into this challenge :) It’s so much fun shopping in my own closet and I have only just begun.

Until next post, Brittany

30 day Color Wheel Fashion Challenge!

January 12, 2013
My Style
2 Comments

As I looked back through some old pictures from last year I realized that my fashion sense is well…a little “safe”. I was a bit disappointed because I am such a creative person and I love fashion! I have always admired those who could think outside the box and were bold enough to experiment with fashion. As you guys may have read in my goals for 2013 post, my ultimate goal for this year is to live my life with no regrets. So I figured why not try out some bold outfits for myself? I rushed to my closet excitedly but to my dismay there were no items that screamed “bold fashionista” in there. So I just stood there trying to figure out how I could pull off a bolder look with the pieces I currently own. I have decided that I am not shopping for a while.  I have another goal to limit my shopping to 2x a month max and save more money. That means no shopping spree for me…so I had to come up with a solution.  I have some great pieces in my closet, I just have to figure out how to wear them.

Then it hit me. The biggest problem with my fashion sense is that I don’t really have a clue about what colors complement each other. I wear the same colors together over and over again. That just makes things a little dull and boring. So I did a little research about color theory. I discovered that I could wear bolder outfits by just incorporating more color. Don’t worry I don’t plan to look like a bag or skittles or a box of Crayola crayons. I want to be a little more stylish not make people think I have gone mad. So I am challenging myself to use the color wheel to create outfits of the day for the next 30 days.

 

30 day color wheel fashion challenge

Since I wear uniform to work 2-3 days a week, I will only have a few days a week to play dress up in my closet. So here is the challenge:

1.  Use the color wheel to construct and outfit from clothes already in your wardrobe. This will be an incentive for all of us trying to save a little cash.

2. Photograph and share your outfit each day either on Creativity Arise’s Facebook page, send a picture via Twitter to @brittanmichelle using #30dayCWfashion, or post it on your personal blog let me know so I can check it out.

 

Simple enough right? Well join in on the challenge! Here is a link to an interactive color wheel that I will be using to help me figure out color complements. Some awesome bloggers have also written posts about color theory and color complements. You can find those posts here, here, and here.

I am hoping by the end of this challenge that I will fall in love with my wardrobe all over again. Are you up for the challenge?

Until next post, Brittany

 

Catalogue of Style: Party Central!

December 19, 2012
My Style
4 Comments

As you guys know, it’s that time of year…party time! Everyone seems to be having parties for holidays, birthdays, graduations, etc. I attended not 1, not 2, but 3 Christmas parties just last week. One of the gatherings was an event my husband and I hosted at our home. I called it a Happy Hour Christmas Social because we served appetizers and drinks from 5-7 for his coworkers after work. It was loads of fun. We attended Christmas parties hosted by our employers as well. Of course the first thing I thought was what am I going to wear to all these parties?! They all had different themes so I couldn’t wear the same thing (and of course I didn’t want to)! So here are 2 of the 3 looks I came up with.

Party #1 (Super Casual!) Happy Hour Christmas Social for this party I wore a gold and white sweater with some dark washed jeans and boots. I was too exhausted to take a picture in this look :(

Party #2 (Office Party Chic)

This party was hosted in a faculty member’s home.  My employer is an esteemed university so of course my outfit couldn’t be too avant garde or I may have been shunned! So instead I chose to put together an outfit that I like to call “office party chic”. Not to flashy but with enough glamorous elements to get heads turning. The outfit actually received lots of compliments especially this lovely thrifted black velvet blazer that I lovingly refer to as “the Hef”. It gets rave reviews every time I wear it out. Here is a photo of that look.

party2-2 party2

Party #3 was my husband’s company Christmas party. The theme for that party was “Putting on the Ritz”. It was supposed to be very glamorous and fun to dress up for. Apparently some people at the party didn’t get the memo LOL! I had 2 fancy dress options in my closet but I ended up deciding to go with old faithful-the LBD (little black dress). I absolutely love this peplum dress. I have probably worn it at least a dozen times since I got it from Macy’s in 2011. It is so versatile! The only thing I do jazz it up is add different accessories and a statement belt. In this look, I paired it with a bold red belt from my second dress option and beautiful red and silver chandelier earrings. Later I added some swag with a faux fur shrug for some added interest and texture. This look also got lots of compliments. I wish I could dress up everyday. I enjoy it but I know I would get the stank eye for wearing this type of ensemble to the grocery store or while running errands. But my mantra is everyday that we have life is a celebration so why not dress for the occasion?

party3

party3-2

PS: This look is currently featured in the Naughty or Nice contest sponsored by Chictopia.  I would love it if you voted for me! Here is the link: http://www.chictopia.com/photo/show/782044-Putting+on+the+Ritz-peplum-dress Thanks for your support :)

So how many parties have you gone to during this holiday season? Have you dressed super glamorous, avant garde, semi casual or comfy? What was your favorite moment from the parties? I have several but I will narrow it down to one at my husband’s company party. One of his coworkers had gotten a little lets just say… intoxicated. He yelled out at another one of my husband’s coworkers “Hey buddy, I think you need to slow down on your drinking. You are getting drunk! I’m starting to see 2 of you” LOL. Needless to say we took him home that night.

Hope you guys are enjoying the season so far!

Until next post, Brittany

 

Guide to the $10 Gift Exchange

November 28, 2012
Life, Uncategorized
9 Comments

Hello my lovely readers! As we all know Christmas is quickly approaching. It’s that time of year where we all stress out and try to figure out what to buy our significant others, family, friends, coworkers, etc. Well do not fret! Not to toot my own horn but I consider myself to be a very savvy shopper! So I have decided that I will create a mini series to help you choose some nice gifts for that special someone in your life this Christmas season.

The $10 gift exchange seems to be a common trend during the Christmas season.  I have gone to many Christmas parties where the host would ask everyone to bring a $10 gift to the party in order to play fun gift exchange games like Dirty Santa, Chinese gift exchange or white elephant.  I have also participated in many $10 gift exchanges at work, church, etc. Sometimes the gifts I received were great and other times….well we all know how bad those gifts can sometimes be O_o. So here are a few gift ideas to help you choose a great gift this year without breaking the bank.

A manly gift list for the perfect $10 gift:

  1. a skinny necktie like this red tie very festive for the holiday season or a quirky tie based on the man’s interests like this for the piano lover or this for the edgy male. If you don’t know their particular style a solid tie is always a safe option
  2. iTunes gift card for mp3 downloads or Amazon credits to download an album
  3. restaurant voucher to their favorite establishment
  4. a book or Kindle/ Nook voucher for a book
  5. iPhone case (Amazon has a slew of these under $10 so you could probably buy several for $10) Here are a few options: cassette tape inspired for the music lover , football inspired for the sports lover, gameboy inspired for the video game junkie or for someone you don’t know that well I like these chrome plated cases
  6. tool sets for the handy man like this screwdriver set from Sears
  7. sports themed hats
  8.  a bottle of alcohol is always a winner  according to my husband’s coworkers LOL
  9. wallet 
  10. For the gadget lover, the possibilities are endless. Here are just a few ideas I found very interesting! A 5 in 1 pen found here, a spinning top found here  , iPad protective case found here and if you are willing to spend a few extra bucks my favorite item is this coffee warmer found here!

A $10 gift list fit for a queen:

  • If you are willing to pay a few cents more you could score a designer iPhone case like this.
  • personalized stationery: Vistaprint has several options to allow you to customize stationery, notebooks, photo journals, etc for under $10
  • a perfume gift set like this set from Justin Bieber (currently at Walmart for $10)

  • a pair of earrings or some other costume jewelry
  • restaurant voucher to favorite establishment
  • book or Kindle/ Nook voucher for a book
  • iTunes gift card for mp3 downloads of an album
  • candles from Bath & Body Works. I personally love these especially in cranberry pear bellini fragrance. P.S. I am so happy I just realized that they now make it in the wallflower fragrance!! I will be going by there by this weekend!
  • fancy travel size essentials like hand creams or mascaras or lip balms like this or this. I don’t know about you but I am a sucker for fancy packaging on simple products.
  • makeup palette from a brand like Elf or this gift set from Stila found at Sephora or this Beauty Gems palette from Ulta Beauty
  • nail polish gift set like this OPI set at Sephora
  • coffee warmer aforementioned in manly gift list
  • pashmina or scarf like the ones at Charming Charlie

I could go on and on but I think I have given you all a great start! What great gifts have you found for $10 or less? I would love to hear about them. If you found this post interesting and informative, feel free to like and share with your friends!

Until next post,

Brittany

Catalogue of Style: a casual affair

November 17, 2012
My Style
1 Comment

On Thursday evening my husband went out to a going away dinner for one of his coworker’s and his wife. We went to one of our favorite restaurants in the area. We had a great time!

It was breezy but not cold so I decided to just dress casually for the occasion. It took me a while to figure out what to wear especially since I seemed to have a developed a love/ hate relationship with most of the items in my closet LOL! Do you guys ever feel that way? Maybe its because I have had the majority of the pieces for a few years and I have styled them over and over again. I don’t know why but I am so tempted to purchase an entirely new fall/winter wardrobe because mine seems so drab and boring!  Let’s see if I can talk the hubby into it ;-)  Here is the look:

Cardigan: Forever 21

Black camisole: Thrifted Goodwill

Jeans: Levi’s (thrifted)

Booties: Some random boutique

Hoops: Beall’s

Necklace: Kohl’s

Belt: Macy’s

P.S. I never really noticed how double jointed I was until I saw this last picture! It almost looks like I broke my leg.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 379 other followers

%d bloggers like this: