Fashion Star 04/26/2013

8 weeks in already!  Can you believe it?!  Today's challenge is to make 4 garments: 1 for a women in two colors, and 1 for a man in two colors!  Such a fun, challenging day!  Woo!

So, after Hunter's blip last week, and now her frustration with this week's challenge, I'm starting to second guess myself.  I've been rooting her on from the very beginning, but Daniel is growing so much since the beginning.  His designs are so great lately, and I'm starting to wonder if maybe it'll be Daniel that ends up winning!  We shall see, I guess...

I'm having a really hard time figuring out who is going to go home tonight.  Every single person left is really really talented, and I'm really nervous.  I don't want anybody to go home!!!

John's Team:

Cassandra's Pant
Express

Cassandra's pant was really cute--boyish, like her, sorta punk rock-ish.  Really cute.  Not a fan of Sylvia's top on either the man or the woman.  Huge huge huge bummer.  I wonder if she's going home today!!!  So sad, cuz she's had some really really great designs in the past.  Today was a bad day for her.

Macy's bought Cassandra's woman's pant, and Express bought her men's pant,

Cassandra's Pant
Express

which I'm super happy about, because she definitely had some cute designs.

Nobody bought Sylvia's men's polo shirt, but Saks did buy her women's top.  I'm surprised, honestly, because I didn't like either of them, and I was really disappointing in her designs, but I am happy she got bought though.

Nicole's Team:

Silvia's Top
Saks

Daniel is the only one left.  I loved his designs, and Express did too!  They bought his men's jacket, and his women's romper, which was so so so awesome for him!!!  And, he sold the most out of everyone so far, hitting $800,000.00!!!  Nuts!!!  So awesome, I'm so happy for him!

Jessica's Team:

Daniel's Jacket
Express

Hunter's women's jacket was...okay....but I wasn't a huge fan.  The men's jacket was a tad better, but I still wasn't a huge fan.  I loved JesseRay and Garrett's dress, in fact I might have to buy it (assuming it gets bought, which I'm sure it will), but the jacket was only alright for me.  I see why this was a challenge for these teams.

JesseRay and Garrett men's jacket didn't get an offer, which was a bummer, but the dress had a huge bidding war between all three of the retailers!!  So exciting!!!  Express bowed out, and they had to choose between Macy's and Sak's.  They chose to go with Macy's, to pay her back for what she did for
them last week.  So exciting!!!  Go JesseRay and Garrett!!!

Daniel's Romper
Express

Hunter's men's jacket didn't get any offers, and neither did her women's jacket.  I'm not surprised.  I'm guessing she and Silvia go up for elimination tonight....but I'm honestly hoping Silvia goes home, not Hunter.  Well.....I wish neither of them did, but there's no question that someone has to.

Nicole said it best "at this point, it's like....everyone's great, so..."  Yeah.  truth.  Hunter and Silvia went up for elimination, as I predicted.  Poor poor Express always has to be the bad guy.  She sent Silvia home, which was ultimately what I was hoping for, but it doesn't stop it from being soooooo sucky.  She's awesome, and I wasn't ready for her to go home.

JesseRay and Garret's Jacket
Macy's

That said, Hunter better bring it in the next episode.  She's been slipping.  I'm really excited to see what next week brings as far as designs, though!!

Fashion Star 04/19/2013

Sorry guys, Friday was all about them catching the kid from the Boston bombings, and Saturday was crazy busy, so I'm just getting around to watching Friday's episode now!!!

I'm kind of bummed about another team challenge...I know it's more industry-realistic, but it doesn't show their personal abilities as well.  Well, I guess it does, but...I dunno I'm still a little bummed about it.

So tonight's challenge was a Night Out on the Town with the Fiat and doing a photoshoot.  Should be fun, I'm excited!!

Daniel's Dress
Express

Daniel had the right idea--he wanted his dress to feel like the car--fast, sexy.  I'm excited to see what he and Johana come up with.

Sylvia's idea for leather is really great too--and so spot-on with what's been on the runways this season too.  I'm excited for hers and Cassandra's look this week too!!

Hunter's Dress
Macy's

I'm worried that Hunter's idea is going to be too couture and it won't sell, though.  I guess I'll have to watch to see where it ends up, just because this idea of taking inspiration from the Met Ball....seems a little much maybe.  But, we'll see!!  As the episode progresses, her design definitely ended up not evening, not night on the town...so my original concern is now out the window, and now it's the opposite.  Is this the Hunter that I've grown to love??  Because I'm not excited about it anymore....and she's blaming a lot of it on JesseRay and Garrett, which
also makes me bummed, because it feels like it's more her fault than anyone else's right now.  I dunno.  This episode is definitely making me cling to my tv!

JesseRay & Garrett's Pant
Express

Also, fyi, in case it wasn't obvious to you guys, I write my blog while watching the episode, not after it's over.  It feels more like you're watching it with me as you read it, I feel like.

Anyway, so the photos and the runway show this week was exciting.

Jessica's team:

LOVE love love JesseRay and Garrett's pant!  I am so sad that all these looks are so cute, since I'm so stinking short and I can't wear them!!  Hunter's dresses were super cute, but not really eveningwear...I loved the print she chose though.

JesseRay & Garrett's Blouse
Express

Macy's ultimately backed out for the purpose of giving JesseRay and Garrett
the chance at having
their designs in all three stores, which was super super cool of Macy's--I'm way happy that they did that!!  Hunter's dress was bought by Macy's, but she said the same thing I did about it being very much not an eveningwear dress.   She didn't do the challenge, which is never good...

John's team:

Sylvia's Jacket and Skirt
Express

I love Sylia's jacket, but the skirt I felt like was a little shapeless.  But the
leather is perfect--right on for this season!!  Cassandra's top was so cute in the back, and the wrap was cute, but I didn't like it with the maxi skirt as much, the two individually were great but I wasn't a fan of them together.  Express went nuts with Sylvia's designs and just went all out with their bid,
which I wasn't surprised by at all.  Cassandra didn't get bid on, which was a huge bummer for her.  I kind of wonder if she's going to go home

Johana's Dress
Macy's

tonight....guess I'll find out soon!

Nicole's team:

Daniel's dresses were so hot I was so impressed with him this week.  He kept it simple but really showed his artistic-ness with the back of the dress.  I hated Johana's scuba dress though.  It was so hideous!!!  I mean I can see the red lace maybe selling, but that black and red wasn't hot at all. 
Macy's ended up buying Johana's dress, so good for her, but I still don't like it.  I know she got bought, but I still wonder if she should go home.  No...it'll probably be Cassandra, which is sad cuz I liked her.
Express went a little crazy on Daniel's dress too, which was awesome!!!  Sparked a bidding war between them and Saks, which was awesome!  I want his dress--so cute!  And it's now at Express which is very, very tempting....I really wish they were selling this stuff in-store so I could try it on.  But I still want it.  And Sylvia's jacket.  I really want Sylvia's jacket!!  Ahh!!!  Such a great week this week!

Johana and Daniel won the Fiat car which was so so so great for them!!  So exciting!  But they cut right to who was put up for elimination, which was like YAY oh nevermind sad face.  Lol.  Cassandra went up, and so did Johana.  The two I was wondering about.  I'm guessing Cassandra will go home, but I hope it's Johana. 

Express sent Johana home, which was sort of funny in a way, since she just won a car, but I definitely think she should have gone home over Cassandra.  Out of all of her designs, I've only liked...I think one of them, if I remember right?  So I definitely think out of the two, it was time for Johana to go home. 

Today's episode was crazy good, but I'm afraid for next week.  I officially like everyone left right now, and I don't want any of them to go home!  But, that said, the designs should rock socks next week, that's for sure!

Fashion Star 04/12/2013

I missed the first half of today's episode, so all I know is that it was Buyer's Choice tonight, but I don't know what the buyer chose unfortunately.  But I walked in just in time to see the looks from Nicole's team walk the runway.

Nicole's Team:

Johana's Blouse
Macy's

I was so surprised by Johana's looks--she's grown so so much in this competition.  The blue blouse and skirt were beautiful--I want them!!  Daniel's I wasn't as big of a fan of, but they were still cute.

Daniel didn't get an offer, which I wasn't surprised by.  Saks called it "overengineered" and Express called it "lucy-goosy" which I think fit them.  I like Daniel, but this week he fell through...

Johana had bids from both Macy's and Express, who had a huge bidding war over it.  Macy's ended up with it, though, which is great for them (even though I will always be an Express girl at heart, and I was a little bummed they didn't end up with it).

Hunter's Romper
Macy's

Everybody's up for elimination this week, which is a huge stress I'm sure for all the designers.  I didn't get to see all the designs unfortunately, so it was hard for me to predict who was going to go home.  I thought last week that Amber will be going home soon; she doesn't really go out of her element ever, and she needs to be more versatile.  Honestly, I'm shooting

Cassandra's Dress
Macy's

for Hunter right now--I hope she wins!!  She's got great taste and she makes so many different types of outfits, they're fantastic.

Amber ended up going home tonight, which I wasn't surprised by at all though.  Like I said earlier, I was thinking last week she wasn't gonna last much longer, so I guess I called that one! 

I went back to the websites to see who bought what that I missed, and I wasn't surprised at all that I loved Hunter's romper, which Macy's bought.  Cassandra's dress was bought by Macy's too, but I wasn't a fan of that one.  And Saks bought Silvia's jumper, which was kinda cute....but not HOT.  The only things that got bought tonight I LOVED was Johana's blouse and Hunter's romper (but I can't pull of a romper--I'm too short and thick in the thighs, so I'd only buy Johana's blouse).  I was actually extremely surprised to see Express didn't buy anything this week!  That's crazy to me!!  I wonder why...

Silvia's Jumper
Saks

We're dwindling down to fewer and fewer designers, and fewer and fewer designs bought!!  What were the highlights of today's show for you guys?  Fill me in!!  Anything cool I missed?

Ipsy's April Glam Bag!

Oh I'm so excited!  My Ispy April Glam Bag came in the mail today!!  I had combed over tons of blogs and websites trying to figure out which Beauty Subscription I should sign up for, and I ended up choosing Ipsy.  I would love, love love to know which subscriptions you guys are signed up for, though, and what you love/hate about them!!  I might have to sign up for another one or two, I love this so much!!

So this month's idea was Pretty In Pink, and all the products were girly, pretty and as pink as pink can be (which some people I know might absolutely hate, so it's interesting to me that they chose to go with this anyway--but I don't care because I love pink!!). 

So I love these products, by the way!  So girly and glam and fun!!  I
can't wait to try to Big Sexy Hair Powder Play!!  It says it's volumizing and texturizing powder, which is cool in itself, but I'm wondering if it could double as a next-day powder to freshen up the locks instead of a wash?  Guess we'll find out soon enough!

I just painted my nails with the Sation nail polish in "Of Corset I'll Call You".  I have an interview tomorrow so I wanted to look my best for it!  The pink is very light--like even lighter than it looks in the bottle. 
Transparent, too, since you can see the whites of my nails through two coats of it.  It's very pretty, but it's so incredibly close to my skin tone, you hardly notice it (which will be great for an interview--but not if I want my
nails to stand out).

The Be a Bombshell Blush in "Beach Please" is so friggin electrically bright, I'm so excited to try it out!!  I have a feeling it's

either gonna be super hot, or it'll be too 80's for my tastes, but we'll see.  I love the name of the color, though!  I'll let you guys know how it looks and update later :)

The last piece in my bag was an eyeshadow duo by Two Cosmetics in "Heartache".  It's like a pinky-nude color and a shimery pink color, and it looks really pretty.  I'm wondering about the concept of wearing pink eyeshadow, since I'm worried I'll end up looking like I got punched in the eyes or something.  I've never worn pink eyeshadow before, so I'm definitely excited to try it!  Ipsy has a wealth of information about how to

wear this stuff, too, so if I get confused I'll look there.  If you guys have any suggestions, by all means, please share!!

I saw on the side of the box for the Two Cosmetics eyeshadow that it's "makeup with a cause: you buy one, we give one to charity" which I definitely think is cool.  I mean, granted, if they're giving makeup to charity, there are probably better things they could be giving to charity, but still, it's definitely cool that they give anything.  I'll have to look into that more, though, because it definitely caught my attention.

So that concludes Part 1 of my April Glam Bag blog.  I'll update when I've gotten a chance to try all the products!  I'm super excited about it!!!

What does it mean to be "Successful"?

Alright, so you guys may or may not be aware of the fact that I'm currently in my second round of college, studying Fashion Retailing.  I'm in my last quarter of classes, and in the process of prepping for graduation.  My career adviser mentioned some "successful" students she's had in the past, and it got me thinking: what exactly is it that makes someone successful?

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I feel like defining the word is such an inexact science--as if it's almost impossible to define.  Mirram Webster dictionary defines success as

: favorable or desired outcome; also
: the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence

 So does that mean that I have to be rich, famous, and/or well-liked to be considered successful?  What one person might consider to be highly successful, another might think of as entirely unsuccessful.

I'm curious: what's a time when you considered yourself a huge success?  What happened?  Did this "success" last, or was it fleeting?

I know this post is sort of off-topic from what I usually post about, but I think it's relevant.  There are so many designers, artists, retailers, etc. that in one person's mind might be failing in every aspect--but maybe their goal was to fail?  Granted, I have no idea why someone's goal would be to fail, but if that were the case, would they not be successful in their goal to have failed?

Or maybe one person set out to start a small, cute little boutique, and they never wanted it to get hugely "successful" but to stay home-grown, small, the only location, and just as they would, one day it would die away.  Would that business not, then, be a success?  And what about if that very same boutique grows so huge, that the owner is forced to expand, open new locations, and it becomes so huge that it's sought out by people all over the globe?  Would that, then, also be successful?  Or would it not be successful, since the ultimate goal was never to be "successful"?

Such a strange way to look at this one stupid word, I know, but it's so hard to define such a seemingly unattainable goal, or undefinable goal as it seems.  

Can we even, then, go so far as to say each person measures their own success?  How can one person measure another person's success, without knowing everything about them, their goals, their life story, their thoughts and feelings, etc?  Is it really possible? 

Also, on a completely unrelated side-note: I signed up for Ipsy recently, and just got a notification that my April Glam Bag is on it's way!  I'm so excited to finally experience the amazing-ness for myself!  Don't worry, I will let you all know what I think :)

JewelMint.com, the key to accessorizing beautifully

My newest obsession: Jewelmint.com  If you haven't checked it out yet, do it!  Now!

Here's the concept: you tell them what you like by completing your style profile, then they set up a personalized showroom, just for you!  You have access to everything on the site, but the showroom is meant to show you what they think you'll like best.

Once you make a purchase, the site charges you $29.99/month, but it's not for them--the entire amount is a credit for you to purchase with, and you can skip as many months as you want.  Every single piece of jewelry (except collective pieces) is only $29.99!

But here's my favorite part: every so often (seems like it's at least every season--sometimes more often) they have this great promotion called a Mystery Box.  For the same price as one piece of jewelry ($29.99), you get at least four pieces of jewelry and a code for $5 off your next purchase!  I love these.  Every time they run this promo, I partake.  I can't help it!  There's always great stuff in there!!  And if there's ever anything I don't like, I just give it to my mom or one of my friends.  They always appreciate it.  It really is fantastic.


Once, I ordered a mystery box and got 3 rings, a pair of earrings, and two necklaces AND a super cute jewelry box to put it all in!  How great is that?!

And they have tons of other great promos going on all the time!!  Like, today for example: I got an

email that they're giving away a FREE London Butter nail polish with any full-priced purchase.  I just had a credit go into my account, so I was going to buy something anyway, so I figured...what the hey?  I got a super cute bracelet and a super pretty pink London Butter nail polish for only $29.99!!  How great is that?!

Oh, and, as if that weren't awesome enough, every  purchase you make earns you points, and every time you hit 3,000 points, you earn a free JewelMint Credit!  Who doesn't love FREE jewelry?! Seriously?!?! So cool!

JewelMint is part of the BeachMint brand that includes JewelMint (Jewelry), HomeMint (Home Goods), StyleMint (Clothes), BeautyMint (Skincare), intiMint (lingerie) and ShoeMint (Shoes).  If you're a fan of shoes, I'm also a huge fan of ShoeMint, and the rest of the sites are fantastic too.  Check them out, you'll fall in love!  Each site has a celebrity designer, too.  ShoeMint's is Rachel Bilson, StyleMint's is MaryKate and Ashley Olson,  HomeMint is Justin Timberlake, BeautyMint is Jessica Simpson, etc.  Seriously, guys, go check this site out!  You will not regret it!

Fashion Star 04/05/2013

So sorry, guys, I know I missed last week!!  You'll all have to fill me in on what I missed!  I was in Florida and wasn't near a television, but it sure was worth it ;)

So, this week they're in teams, and only the pair with the highest sales is safe from elimination this week.  Stakes are high today!  They're going for a separates design, which is a really interesting concept.

Jessica's Team: JesseRay, Garrett and Hunter

Nicole's Team: Daniel and Johana

John's Teams: Amber and Sylvia,  Cassandra and Brandon

Brandon's Pant
&
Cassandra's Jacket
Macy's

These teams are so not getting along!  It's sort of sad, actually, to watch them get annoyed with each other.  Jessica's team seemed to flow well together, but Nicole's team are a couple of divas, and couldn't work together to save their lives.   Brandon was sort of whiney, too.  I felt like, yeah, jackets are your thing, but dude....show them that you can do more than just jackets.  Criminey. 

Sylvia's Pant
Express

Cassandra and Brandon's looks were great, I loved the colors they paired up and the simplicity of the suits.  The pants seemed a tad tight in the crotch on the models, though.  Macy's bought both the pant and the jacket, which was great.  They ended up with $120,000.00--good for them!

Amber and Sylvia's looks were great.  I loved Sylvia's pants, I would

JesseRay and Garrett's Sweater
Macy's

buy them actually except I'm far too short to pull them off.  The print on the one blouse was a bit too strong for the pant, but the solid blouses were fantastic.  Saks and Express had a bidding war over the gorgeous pants, and Express ended up with them, super exciting!! Saks ended up with the top, which was also great.  They ended up with $250,000--definitely a pair to watch out for!!

Amber's Blouse
Saks

Hunter, Garrett and JesseRay's looks were cute, but I actually didn't like the two slits in Hunter's skirt (which is huge, since up til now I've loved everything Hunter's made) though I love love loved the leather.  The two went together really well together, though, and I loved the print on the green skirt. JesseRay and Garrett's sweater was bought by Macy's, and Hunter's pencil skirt was bought by Express.  They had a combined buy of $105,000.00, which was definitely a surprise I think, I thought they'd do much better.

Daniel's Top
Saks

Daniel's top and Johana's skirt were beautiful, and coordinated perfectly.  I loved the sequin skirt, and the print, absolutely stunning!  They pulled their sh*t together so, so well!!  Johana's top was bid on by both Macy's and Saks--they even had a huge bidding war, which was awesome!  Saks ended

Hunter's Pencil Skirt
Express

up with it, which was really, really great, but a little sad for me, since Saks will definitely not make the sequin skirt in a price I can afford.  Daniel's top was bid on by both Macy's and Saks, and Saks went all out on their bid (probably to keep the outfit together).  Daniel and Johana had a huge amount of bids and ended up safe.

Brandon went home, which was a bummer, but was probably good.  I definitely didn't think any of his designs were good enough for him to stick around forever.  I'm super excited to see what next week brings!

Johana's Skirt
Saks

I have to say, once I saw Johana's skirt online on Saks' website, it looked like it fits not nearly as well as it seemed on the television, so I'm not actually as bummed as I thought about not being able to afford it.  Hunter's skirt is growing on me a ton, too.  I might buy it, we'll see.  What are your thoughts on this week's episode?  Anybody going online to purchase one of the pieces ASAP because you loved them so much?