A Saturday spent with Dallas fashion bloggers? Yes please!

There are lots of adjectives I could use to describe myself: Eclectic. Introspective. Sarcastic. Scrappy. However, I do not consider myself a joiner. In high school I spent much of my time hiding in music practice rooms working on flute concertos, and exploring Manhattan with only my worn leather backpack and cup of coffee as accompaniment. While I cherish my time spent with friends, I'm not one of those women who needs to be with people all the time. I'm perfectly content shopping alone, or making a solo trip to a bar for a shot of whiskey (I must be the only person who nurses a drink while reading chick lit on their Kindle.) In addition, large group gatherings intimidate the crap out of me. Despite my tattoos, and bright red hair, I'm not as outgoing as you might think. I get crazy anxious before parties and events. I worry that I'm going to spill something in myself, be under-dressed, be over-dressed, talk too much, talk too little, or otherwise embarrass myself.

However, I squealed with delight when Kileen invited me to the DFW Blogger Meetup on Saturday. Despite my apparent social anxiety disorder, there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to socialize with other fashion and personal style bloggers in the Dallas area. I wasn't sure how many people were going to be there, but fifteen bloggers turned up! Thank God I changed 1423 times or I would indeed been painfully under-dressed.

Good lord is my hair red. I stuck out like a traffic light among all those gorgeous brunettes.

We began with brunch at Ristoranti Cibus in Northpark Center. Northpark is a fantastic place to spend a day, and even more so with fashion bloggers. Over brunch we introduced ourselves and described our bogs, exchanged business cards, discussed blogging techniques, and got to know one another over bottomless mimosas and bellinis. Brunch was absolutely delicious too - I dug into a plate of brioche with gravlox, capers and cream cheese. Yummo. As a relatively new blogger, it was really fun to be included in a group of such stylish, intelligent women. I learned so much and hopefully made friends I will keep in touch with for a long time.

I was too busy schmoozing to take many pictures, but here's a few from the day:

The epically stylish Angga of Reservade Fashion, wearing  a Forever 21 bag and spring's hottest color: coral! She drove all the way from Kansas to attend the meetup, and I was so excited to meet her.

Posting with Tina of T Minus T Plus, who gave me so many useful tips for promoting and tracking my blog. I really hope to stay in touch with her - she was so much fun to meet!

Posing In Northpark's courtyard in a thrifted J Crew blazer, Forever 21 top, thrifted J Brand jeans; Stuart Weitzman wedges, Forever black pyramid bracelet, and thrifted vintage bag

After brunch we attended a cosmetics consultation courtesy of Dior and Allure magazine. I was drooling over the color-rich, luxurious makeup available for us to try. We broke up into two groups and received lessons regarding moisturizers, primers and foundation, followed by instruction on eyeshadow blending and liner application. I'm a total make-up junkie - though most of my cosmetics come from Target (Loreal shadows are the bomb) - so this was a pretty amazing experience. It was like Christmas morning, my birthday, and a sorority road trip all mashed into one. But with better clothes.

Irene of Pink Hearted Princess served as the perfect model, though she was perfectly gorgeous before getting made up!

I had an absolutely fantastic time, and I'm really hopeful the other bloggers and I can organize regular monthly gatherings. It was a blast.

Would you ever attend a blogger meetup? Have you made any personal connections with other bloggers outside the internet?

March Favorites

I'm so excited to share my March favorites with you! And I couldn't be happier that Spring is right around the corner. The weather has been gorgeous here and I'm loving that I've been able to wear sandals and flip flops lately.

Y'all know that I love John Frieda products. I use their Brilliant Brunette line (since I'm a brunette naturally) and I love using their Sheer Blonde line when I get blonde highlights. I am loving John Frieda's Go Blonder Lightening Shampoo and Conditioner. It smells so good and makes my hair so soft. And it really does help to keep my highlights looking fresh and bright. I purchase mine at CVS and it is $6.99 a bottle.

When I first heard about Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow and Mood Boosting Blush I thought it sounded really interesting. I loved it enough once I saw the promo pics and really wanted to check it out. I know it sounds like a joke, but I really love this blush. The color is beautiful and even smells good! I works great for those with sensitive skin, but I would probably skip it if you are sensitive to scents. I personally love the scent and think it adds to the product. I purchased this blush in Rose and the color couldn't be more beautiful. It's a natural rosy glow that's so gorgeous and you are sure to get some compliments. I got mine at CVS for $11.99. It's pricey but will last a long time. It's so beautiful and totally worth the price.

With Spring and Summer approaching it's more important than ever to make sure your skin looks awesome. Looking soft and glowy is easier than you think! I'm a big fan of Bath and Body Works lotions and I'm really loving the True Blue Spa Tahiti Sweetie Body Lotion. Oh my gosh this stuff smells SO good and it is super moisturizing. It reminds me of strawberries and slightly of Hawaiian Punch. It's delicious and I think you will love it.


I seriously cannot do a manicure without my Seche Vite Fast Drying Topcoat and CND Solar Oil. I have used both of these products for years and they are the absolute best. Seche Vite is amazing and dries my manicure in no time flat. It leaves my nails super glossy and gives you that "just got a salon manicure" look. Solar Oil is so moisturizing and really helps with my dry cuticles. A bottle lasts forever too and it is so worth the price. Available at Sally Beauty Supply and Ulta.

Now I don't normally mention products like the one I'm about to talk about, but I love this hand soap so much that I wanted to share it with y'all. There is nothing worse to me than chopping onions or garlic in the kitchen and getting that nasty smell all over your hands. Normally I just use some lemon juice on my hands and then wash them and it goes away. But I do hate wasting my lemon juice in that way. So I found the most awesome hand soap the other day. It's Softsoap's Kitchen Fresh Hands liquid soap. This stuff smells so yummy and citrusy and it really works. I always keep a bottle on my kitchen sink and keep a big refill bottle on hand so I don't run out.

I hope that all of you have an awesome March! Happy Springtime and Flip Flops! And have an fun and safe Spring Break =)

black and white

I love a little black and white mixed in with light pastels...

nickel cobalt

Tina Turner – Still the Best!

Tina Turner received a riotous welcome at Milan Fashion Week last night. The crowd burst into applause when the singer walked into the Emporio Armani show!

Tina Turner

Ms Turner came out of retirement in 2008 for a 50th anniversary tour, but said she was definitely done with live shows. ‘I'm retired for the moment, just enjoying doing nothing’ she said, while hinting a ‘different’ project could soon see the light.

We’ll keep our eyes and ears open!

The Oscars: Fashion’s Big Night

The 83rd Academy Awards were held in LA last night. No big surprises re the winners – Natalie Portman won for Black Swan and The King’s Speech won 4 including the biggies Best Actor and Best Director.

Most of the actresses kept it safe in shades of red, silver and of course black. Having a celebrity wear your dress to an event as huge as the Oscars can do wonders for a designer’s career. Did you know about Elie Saab before Halle Berry wore, and won in, one of his gowns? Now he is a celebrated designer with a huge celebrity client list.

Halle Berry in 2002

See over for some red carpet hits.

Jennifer Hudson in Versace. Almost didn’t recognise her!

Rashida Jones (daughter of Quincy) in Valentino at the Elton John AIDS Foundation viewing party.

Rasario Dawson in Diane vonFurstenberg at the Vanity Fair post Oscars party.

Halle Berry, in a modified Marchesa gown, presented a tribute to late actress Lena Horne during the Oscars.  Does Halle ever look bad?!

Zoe Saldana in Prabal Gurung at the Vanity Fair post Oscars party.

2 pretty polish finish's that look good in dim lighting

I love how the light from the TV bounces of my nails when I am wearing chrome polish's. This is 2 coats of an older dis-continued Sally Hansen Chrome polish called SAPPHIRE which is a lite baby blue chrome. It is super reflective - I love these chrome polish's as 'underwear' for layering. I have amassed quite a collection and can usually match a similar chrome polish to layer over if I need to.

I applied some french tip guides and added a coat of  TURQUOISE (middle bottle) which is almost the same shade as the Pure Ice blue glitter I added over the tips, \strapless which is a dense medium blue glitter. Even though this polish is packed with glitter and could be opaque in 3 coats, I applied 2 coats over a polish with a similar colour just so there wasn't any sparse areas.

I have used these same 3 polish's for another mani HERE

From CHROME NAIL MAKE-UP SALLY HANSEN

L-R = SH Sapphire, SH Turquoise, Pure Ice Strapless

.... and a mani with Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, layered over NYC Skin Tight Denim

I started with 2 thin coats of NYC Skin Tight Denim {or STD lol} and added a thick coat of hidden Treasure, followed by a coat of  Nailene TC. I have only worn Hidden Treasure once on my nails and once on my toes..... I waited and waited for this to come to my town and I rarely ever wear it.

My previous manicure photos of this polish are the most 'used' and re-posted of all my photos. Here is a link to that post, just in case you are interested in seeing it Layered over black. I appreciate polish's with finish's that are very apparent in crappy lighting like duo-chromes, and multi- chromatic polish's, as well as basic chromes like the blue Sally Hansen chrome make-up polish in the mani above.

I think I did a great job of getting all the colours in this photo below. This is outdoors under the patio.

From SPECIAL POSTS

Also I totally have to note =   I wrote last summer I predicted that their would be a readily and widely available multi-chromatic flakey polish available in North America in stores by fall 2010 and I was wrong. I was right about the matte-madness of summer/fall 2010 though....... Does anyone else find it bizarre that there is 6 extremely close dupes of the Charla/Teal of Fortune/Jesses' Girl Glee {and the other 4} but so few good DENSE flakies out there? And also why isn't there a real linear Holographic polish in current collections from SH, Wet n Wild or other dept store brand names?


anyhoo... here is a few more photos of Hidden treasure layered over NYC STD

in low/dim lighting, the multi-chromatic flakes really do their job

w/ NYC Skin Tight Denim

♥

Fashion at the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards

The Independent Spirit Awards are held, traditionally the day before the Oscars, to celebrate the best in independent film making.

Unsurprisingly, Black Swan won Best Feature, Best Director and Best Female Lead for a very stylish and very pregnant Natalie Portman.

We were rather keen on these ladies ensembles:

Kerry Washington in a floral Dolce & Gabbana dress, Sergio Rossi shoes and Roger Vivier clutch.

Rosario Dawson in a Burberry dress and Brian Atwood heels.

Zoe Saldana in a Dolce & Gabbana dress, Brian Atwood heels and a Bottega Veneta clutch.

Nouveau Cheap's Wet n Wild Giveaway!

On March 15th, Wet n Wild will put on display at the many drugstores their newest Spring polish collection, Bloom. I am really excited about this as it contains a shade of green I have been desperately seeking! So I come to you with some fab news!! Nouveau Cheap is holding a giveaway! She is giving away the entire collection to 3 lucky winners!!! Be sure to join this fantastic giveaway!!

Click the picture to see how you can join this giveaway! Ends on March 1st!

Week in review: February 19

Ah, Sundays. 

Time to sleep late, catch up on blogs, do 18203 loads of laundry, clean the bathrooms, browse through magazines that were delivered this week (hello, InStyle, you're looking lovely,) and scarf down some pancakes and bacon whipped up by my husband. Ideally, all of these activities would be accomplished in bed, if possible. I would make dinner in there is I could. I want a full-size stovetop for my birthday, jimmy rigged to my bedside table. That would be awesome.

I have the hardest time dragging myself out of bed on the weekends. I want to stay snugly cocooned under the covers, read the Sunday Times on my iPad and drink mugs of coffee from my ginormous Tulsa coffee mug. It's cheesy and huge and holds approximately three cups of hot caffeinated deliciousness. And I love it because my coffee mysteriously tastes better from it.

This weekend was extra-fancy for me, because I was able to attend the DFW Blogger Meetup - an event that gave me the opportunity to shop like a mad woman for the perfect outfit, lipstick and heels, only to revert to wearing stuff that was already languishing in my closet. Huh. What did you guys do this weekend? Anything interesting?

Okay, onto more productive matters. This week on Dress With Courage, I:

• Explored the shoes versus bags debate, and firmly established my allegiance to handbags;
• Talked about the awesomeness that is the flea market;
• Questioned the idea of sentimentality regarding clothing, and how to determine what to give away and what to keep;
• Continued my Thrifting 101 series with part 5: How to shop for vintage at a thrift store;
• Gave my nominations for Fashion Beauty Friend Friday's blogger awards; 
• and wondered if women's fashion is man-repelling or merely absurd. 

I want to take a moment to welcome my new followers (wave!) and thank everyone for your continued support and thoughtful comments.  You have no idea how much this means to me. If you're visiting my blog for the first time, please consider becoming a follower, tweeting with me on Twitter, or becoming a Facebook fan. As a relatively new blogger, I get embarrassingly, ridiculously excited when reading a new comment or gaining a new follower. I appreciate you all so much!

My Most Favorite Tank Tops (Bonus - they are on sale!)

There are so many different brands of layering tank tops out there that it can be difficult to choose which ones are best. Many are very inexpensive, yet fall apart so fast. Maybe you picked up a tank top for $3 on clearance and it's an awesome one and it's great quality. Or you are like me and sick of buying cheap clearance tank tops at Old Navy that fall apart faster than I can talk. Well my friends, let me introduce you to my most favorite tank tops in all the world.

Mossimo Micro Rib Tank Tops at Target are the absolute bomb! They are such high quality for the price and they last longer than any other tank tops I have ever owned. They are super soft and stay that way wash after wash. They fit so well and I also love the neckline. It hits at the perfect spot so they are not too low cut and not too high cut either. These tanks do not pill and I've never had any trouble with the hem coming undone or unraveling. And they do not shrink or lose their shape. They are just about perfect in my book.

These tanks retail for $9 and Target always carries them in a nice variety of colors. Right now at Target stores and Target.com they are on sale for $7 each so it's a great time to stock up. I picked up a new white one and black one tonight while at Target. You can find these neatly folded on a table in the clothing department.

With spring and summer rapidly approaching, it's almost tank top time. Next time you are at Target and need tank tops check these out. Once you pick one up and feel how soft it is you will totally see the quality I'm talking about.

SIDE NOTE: Mossimo also makes tank tops called Long and Lean Tanks. They are also folded and lay on tables just like the Micro Rib Tanks. I'm sure the Long and Lean Tanks are nice, but they are not the ones I am referring to and I wanted to point that out. They are easy to get confused until you touch them. The Long and Lean Tanks are ribbed and feel more like a regular ribbed tank.

Wet n Wild Blue wants to marry a Millionaire

2 coats of Wet n' Wild Blue Wants to be a  Millionaire, layered over Sally Hansen Turquoise Chrome. On it's own BWTMaM is a very sheer baby blue polish with holographic micro-glitter. It is girly and dainty and perfect for layering. I have seen many photos of this at 4 to 5 coats and it is beautiful, but I took the easy route and layered it over a discontinued SH Chrome polish. I added 2 coats of Top Coat as I found it had alot of texture to it.

It has a normal looking brush but it is not the same as other WnW polish's I have. The brush is very stiff and I am tempted to pour this into a 'normal' bottle of polish. Even though I have heard bad things about all the Fast Dry brushes it isn't going to stop me from acquiring all of these Fast Dry polish's; even the sheer ones, because they are all really pretty♥

I did not realize that my lead photo in my last post was my mummified finger, sorry, that wasn't supposed to be like that.

Also; how hard did they laugh when the name 'Hannah Pink-tanna' was actually labeled on the bottles and ready to ship to stores? Hannah Pink-tanna is the sheer magenta version of this polish. I think there should be a resource page on MUA for polish company's to reference when thinking up names for polish's.

the Brush = It looks normal but it is on the almost un-manageable side.....

♥

N.Y.C. Park Ave

Park Ave is one of the polishes I reviewed this past week. I decided to wear it on all my nails seeing how Gray is supposed to be the shade that is in for this season.

Park Ave is a nice gray that looks like it has a brown hue to it in the shade.

But while in the light, it looks like it has a purple hue to it.

So as you can see from the pictures it is a very neutral shade of gray. But if you would like a full review on this polish, be sure to take a gander at the reviews section.

Outfit Post: Is women's fashion man-repelling or merely absurd?

What is the point of fashion? Self-expression? Creativity? Individuality? According to one blogger, fashion is about repelling men. Oh. Okay. Darn.

The blogger in question is named Leandra Medine. Here is her fashion "thing", as described by the New York Times:

Since April 2010, Ms. Medine, 21, has been publishing photos of herself on her blog, the Man Repeller, as well as shots of similarly challenging recent runway looks: fashions that, though promoted by designers and adored by women, most likely confuse - or worse, repulse - the average straight man. These include turbans, harem pants, jewelry that looks like a torture instrument, jumpsuits, ponchos, furry garments resembling large unidentified animals, boyfriend jeans, clogs and formal sweatpants.

Medine's blog is a tongue-in-cheek chronicle of her adventures in these bewildering articles of clothing. A quick examination shows her in suspenders, argyle socks with pony hair sandals, and drop-crotch pants, posing for photographers with other slovenly-chic high-profile fashion bloggers. She argues that now, more than ever, designers are producing clothes which push the boundaries of fashion so far that they turn off (and repel) the average man.

The fashion world has taken notice. Medine's blog won top honors in last month's Bloglovin' Awards. And fans have begun to use her blog name as a verb, as in, “I am totally man-repelling today.” (Warning: This might have to become part of my vernacular from now on. I think I'll start today. My belt is totes man-repelling. Uh, yeah.)

On first glance, The Man Repeller seems very similar to other blogs I read: a young, coltish woman mixes thrift, discount and runway pieces in a haphazard way that somehow looks chic in the end (while these pieces would transform me into a schizophrenic hobo.) However, I truly believe that this girl doesn't understand men. On average, men do not care what you wear. If you're that concerned about repelling men with your outfit, ask yourself these questions first:

1. Have you showered in the last 24 hours?
2. Do you have a vagina?
3. Are you single?

If you can answer yes to any or all 3 of these questions you will fail to repel men. An outfit composed of six types of material might confuse them, sure. Bizarre as they might be, most of the clothes Medine wears only underscores that she is slim and elegant, albeit in a quirky, offbeat sort of way. Even in a homemade dress constructed from office supply paper and a body stocking, Medine looks charming and sort of cute.

Furthermore, I don't believe women's fashion is about attracting men. As far as I'm concerned, fashion is about self-expression. There's freedom in being creatively attired and wearing pieces that communicate your individual sense of style. Shopping for the perfect heels, the sharpest tailored blazer, and the ultimate red lipstick is a uniquely individual, personally rewarding experience. Choosing an outfit is even more so. When I get dressed in the morning, it's always from the perspective of what I want to wear, what I find comfortable and appealing, and what message I want to send to the world. I really could care less about what men think.

Despite its name and the running joke Medine has about not getting action because of the ridiculous things she wears, The Man Repeller isn't really about men. It's about the absurdity of 'high' fashion - stuff that is just plain ugly and confusing. Medine is funny, and her advice regarding how to be featured on fashion blogs like The Sartorialist was totally accurate and literally made me chortle out loud. Hint: wear as many different types of fabric as possible in multiple clashing pieces. Add heinous lipstick, an affected snarl, sky-high clogs, and you're in.

According to my husband, I am not man-repelling in this outfit today at all. Actually, he described it as "hot". So I suppose I need to work on my skills a little bit more. Maybe if I added a turban, leg warmers and suspenders I'd make the cut.

Thrifted Gap sweater; thrifted Loft skirt; Target belt; We Love Colors tights; Kate Spade boots; thrifted vintage crocodile bag; Fossil earrings