a note on costumes

I’m having withdrawals… from costumes. One of the worst things about summer is that there are no themed parties and/or date parties. I love dressing up. My favorite thing to do is to wear a costume because its an opportunity to get away with wearing things that would not be acceptable in daily life; for example- tutus, fake eyelashes, glitter, hair extensions, face paint, craft foam, bling, etc. College is a theme party paradise, so over the past two years I’ve gotten to decorate, bedazzle and paint myself weekend after weekend. I’m proud to say that I’ve learned a few things about myself along the way:

1.     I need to start getting ready at least 2 hours before my friends want to leave the house.  That’s not frivolous it’s realistic.

2.     Don’t wait till the day of to buy fake eyelashes because I will forget.

3.     Put on more bronzer.

4.     When in doubt, wear a tutu.

5.    Tease more, hairspray more, and use more bobby pins.

6.     If I don’t absolutely love what I’m wearing, and feel completely confident that I’m the best-dressed person at the party, I will have considerably less fun.

7.     I’m happiest with my outfit if I could be confused for a Toddlers in Tiara’s  contestant; embarrassing, but it’s the truth.

So in anticipation of the fall and date parties to come, here is a round up of my favorite costumes from my favorite date parties this past year…

This is from Halloween freshmen year and is one of my all-time faves- I went as the San Diego Zoo. Yes, the whole zoo. Dress and belt are vintage from mother, zebra print bracelets from Forever 21.

This was my first date party of sophomore year – Hooties and Harleys. Fav part? The temporary tattoos. Red bandana from Hobby Lobby, T-shirt from Goodwill (Kid’s section), glove and tattoos from Party Galaxy, jean shorts from Goodwill (stud work and scissor work done by myself), vintage black cowboy boots.

One of many 90’s date parties I’ve been to, the best part about these is the throwback music you get to blast all night. Jumpsuit from Goodwill, black sports bra from Target, vintage belt, mother’s socks, Keds, scrunchie from American Apparel.

Halloween – the costume free-for-all. My dad never let me cheer because he wanted me to play sports instead, so I’ve been left with a large, toe-touch-shaped hole in my heart. I made the bow, earrings from a boutique, borrowed uniform (thx Brookie), Keds.

There’s a reason toga parties are a college classic that never gos out of style. Plus we’re all Greek, so it’s like, ironic. Everything I have on is from the Hobby Lobby floral and fabric departments.

This country-themed date party was the most fun I had all spring. It was in a field, at dusk, with a cover band and we two-stepped all night long. Top and shorts from Goodwill, boots from Durango.

This was a day time jungle-themed date party and I pretty much only agreed to go so I could be a flamingo. Swimsuit from Michael Kors, crop top from Hobby Lobby (the flamingo I cut from craft foam), wind shorts from Goodwill, sunglass strap from Lilly Pulitzer, sunglasses from Nordstrom’s.

 Who doesn’t want to live the glory days of high school? Well the freshmen, but that’s only cause it’s still #toosoon. Whatever sorry freshmen. Button-up from Gap, belt from Dillard’s, shorts from Goodwill, shoes from Sam Edelman and my favorite HS tradition – my homecoming mum.

This is the last date party of the year and the theme was country white-trash. I went for country white-trash doll and was happy as a clam. Plus I looked better than my ex who also attended so that was double bonus. Hair ties from a bandana, Lorac lipstick, crop top is a t-shirt from Hobby Lobby that I painted ‘Y’ALL’ on, shorts from Goodwill. And that’s my little, isn’t she the cutest??

a note on Ellie

Since I’ve been away at school, my room has been given to one of my brothers. So I moved home for the summer and found myself relocated to our office, a set of bunkbeds and a large blank wall. Luckily I’ve had plenty of time to dedicate to filling that wall. My mother put navy, aqua, teal and subdued lime peacock printed curtains in the room, so I decided sticking with a simple, two-color painting was a good choice. I love elephants and wanted to keep with the animal theme so I Googled “elephant” and combed through images until I found three that I really liked.

Then I used an online photo-editing program called Luna Pic (www.lunapic.com) to make the images monotone and then picked my favorite from there. 

Then I went to the motherland- Hobby Lobby- to use my 40% off coupon via the Hobby Lobby app (if you don’t have it, get it now) on a 20”x30” canvas. I came home, sat down on the couch, turned on Netflix, and about seven hours later Ellie was done. It’s not my first painting and won’t be my last, so if you have any questions about the process just leave a comment below!

xoxoso

a note on starting this blog

Oh the irony.

I've always been a little wry of blogs. At first they were a new, confusing platform for thoughts and ideas, then the blog industry began to develop, and now it seems like everyone and their mom (and their mom) has their own blog. So why me? Why now? Me because I'm an English major who wants to do things with the written word other than be a teacher or lawyer. I want to dive into the fashion industry and for that you need experience. So this is the fastest way for me to gain that oh-so-valuable experience. I'm doing this now because it's summer, the only time of the year I actually have free time. And this summer I'm living at home and honestly have too much free time. I'm painting murals and sewing dresses for goodness sakes. I needed something productive to do, and this is it. 

I'm not sure if anyone will read this blog, I sort of realized that it doesn't really matter. I realize what I have to say is probably earth-shatteringly important, but at least it's entertaining. This is a hobby blog, light reading, cute pictures, fun times. That's what I'm all about. 

So thank you for reading my very first post, and if you just skimmed it, that's fine too. It's the thought that counts, right?

xoxoso