For this week I decided to take a week off of fashion and focus on my other love.. music. 

Now I have discovered many things when it comes to culture and trends through the people I have encountered here at Penn. For the most part I think we can all agree when I say that sometimes in life you become so caught up with social norms that you begin to believe that everyone else around you obtains the exact same norms and if they do not then there strange. This ideology of social norms and your common everyday ritual, traits and interests that you may deem the same for everyone make me totally different to someone else basic on something as simple as region.

What I am trying to get at is.. dance and music is the urban culture varies tremendously basic on region and sometime we as young adults do not realize it. Example: the girl from Long Beach, California may not listen or dance to the same music played on the eastern coast. So in the case, I am going to highlight each region of the U.S

NORTHEAST- ( New York & ( the tri-state area), Pittsburg, Philly )

(( NY Native: Jay Z, Fabolous, Nicki Minaj, Alicia Keys, 50 Cent, Ashanti, Lil Kim ; PA Native: Wiz Khalifa, Meek Mills )

The South Dallas Swag is whats hot in the dance world right now, even the PSU basketball players and football players are doing it . 

Now the winter is coming and what better time is it to wear sweatshirts then now !? ( well probably the only time ) So here’s a easy quick fun way to make cheap sweatshirts to keep you warm on those very windy cold days. I will show you two different looks.

Supplies – All you need are:

1. A plain sweater in any color or in any style, whatever you prefer
2. printed fabric from any old pieces of clothing with any design ( for the first look)
3. fabric paint ( for the second look)
4. studs
5. scissors

Look One ! 

1. Take a plain black crew neck sweatshirt 
2. I used an old floral printed dress
3. And used it to cut out the shape if a cross
4. Placed it on the sweatshirt glued it and placed studs around the edges
5. Then to add more more of a design I placed more studs around the neck of the sweater
6. And then that’s the finish look !

Second Look ! 

1. I took a plain white sweater this time 
2. A sink filled with hot water
3. Poured salt into the water 
4. Then added blue fabric color to the pool of hot water 
5. I then slowly dipped the bottom of the sweatshirt into the blue water and let it sit for 2 minutes before I repeated the same dipping process again 
6. Let the sweater sit overnight and dry then rise it in the morning in cold water
7. For the last step I just added studs around the collar 

Okay I dont know about you guys but I love beanies when it gets cold outside. There so warm and fashionable for both guys and girls. Now, as you know I hate spending unnecessary money when I don’t need to, so instead I like to make a lot of my clothing. Recently, I just made this BOMB beanie and it took me less than 5 mins.. I’ll show you how.

1. First you need to find an old knit sweater, cardigan, skirt ( something made out of wool with a band ) or you could just buy a cheap one from a store with a cool pattern that you would like for your beanie.
2. You will need a pair of scissors to cut the fabric, a glue gun with fabric glue sticks, or if your really good at sewing you could use a small sewing kit
3. Now take the sweater and cut right below the armpits leaving about a foot from the band
4. Cut the seam along one side of the fabric, and measure it around your head for the correct size and cut off the excess
5. Now you need to fold it in threes and cut a dome shape at the top of the fabric
6. Open it up and then it’s time for BONDING… glue it in half on the side that is going to be on the outside showing and let it dry for 10 mins.

1. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION ! ..  Bond one side of the curve to the one next and so on and so on until the top is closed with a hole in the middle.
2. Glue the hole up and let it dry for ten minutes and turn it inside out 

 ((If you really want to be creative, you can use the sleeves of the sweater for leg warmers!))

With the changing seasons and all the holidays, new styles, trends and products come and go. So, for this month I would like to share my favorite items for the moment, at least until December comes (:

Number five: Freeman Clay Mask

I absolutely love this avocado face mask ! I use to use the cucumber peel off mask, where you spread it on your face let it dry and then peel it off. It left my face feeling refreshed but I mostly use that in the summer where I perspired and my face produces the most oil. But for the fall/winter this clay mask is the way it go. Once you put it on it hardens and works into your skin and avocado is the second best fruit to use on your face besides bananas and strawberries. One you rinse I promise you, you will feel your pores open up. Definitley recommend this products during the cold weather to restore the level of mositure balance to your skin .

Number four: Boots with high-knee socks

Wearing high-knee socks under your mid calf/ high knee boots are totally a good look, I adore it ! You can mix and match, or add an extra statment to your outfit and they keep your legs warm and thats a must.

Number three: Sweaters

All I wear are this grandpa, real old school sweaters and I must say there so comfortable and cozy especially when the wind is blowing non-stop outside. You can take a basicsweater and dress it up with cool leggins, some boots , and long necklace, cute earrings and some glasses with a side braid for a FASHION DO outfit. Sweaters are so cheap and come in a array of patterns and designs, so if your in to sweaters like me visit : H&M, Forever 21, Rue 21, Target and Charolette Russe for some cheap non expensive sweaters.

Number two: Energy mix

So with finals just around the corner, you need all the energy you can get without crashing ! On my busiest days I use this energy supplement to help me and I must say it works miracales, your take a dropplet of the mix and place it under your tongue and within mintues I promise you will feel the difference.

Number one : All Black Everything 

Time to announce my favorite, monthly fav.. ALL BLACK EVERYTHING ! My new thing is wearing all black at night time for some reason and I love it, espeically with a high ponytail, some red lipstick and some orginial earring it just makes you stand out. I recently just bought this two items for when I go back home next week and I can wait to wear them. This past weekend, I realized that I am starting to like the theme of being in the matrix with all black leather so I threw this together tell me how you like it !

Until Next Time..Peach, Love && Fashion Baby !

So originally for Halloween I wanted to a female superhero with my friends (possibly Storm) , but then last minute I decided to take a totally different route. How many of you guys, seen a cartoon character come to life ? Well I think I perfected this task this Halloween by being the infamous:

Jessica Rabbit  

To start recreating this look your..

1. First step is to apply primer to cover your for long lasting wear especially your eyes ( thats wear majority of the makeup is going )
2. Take an elmer glue stick and cover your eye brows with it since your going to create new brows
3. Then cover those babies up with your concealer, foundation and powder and whatever else you need to make them vanish

1. Then take a white eyeliner pencil and trace where you would want your new eyebrows to go as well as where you will be applying your eyeshadow
2. Now its time for purple! , take dark purple and apply it starting at your outer corner above your crease almost to your natural eyebrow. Just apply it all over your lid
3. Then take a lighter purple/ white and gently blend it on top of the darker purple
4. Where your natural brows are take a light brown and contour and shade to make what seems like a natural crease.
5. Next, take a dark brown pencil and draw on your new dramatic eye brows

1. Time to apply lashes.. instead of apply these “falsys “ the regular way you want to apply them on an angle to the end of your eye then apply liquid liner to the exposed lid underneath
2. Apply a white/cream for an highlight and apply it underneath your new brow. Dont forget to apply mascara to your upper and lower lashes

1. For lips apply a deep red and line your lips with a brown, add gloss on top and your all done !

** Don’t forget green eye contacts and a can of orange hair spray for the hair**

Until next time..

 Peace..Love & Fashion Baby.

Fall Make-up Looks are finally here! I love when the season changes because new themes and trends arrive, it’s like opening up a present on christmas. So I’ve been stalking the runway and I found 3  make-up looks that are my favorite, their “poppin” on the runway for the fall right now.

( BTW there all very wearable promise 🙂 )

My first trend that I am absolutely loving right now is the mulberry/black cherry dark lipstick.
 

1. First apply your foundation, concealer,blush and bronzer ( in that order )

** Keep this in mind, this look is very wearable if you DO NOT put a lot of makeup on your eyes just keep them as natural as possible **

 2.  ( optional: apply lashes if you need them or see fit) Apply white eyeliner to your lower lash line- this will make your eyes appear larger.

 3. Then apply mascara to the lower lash line as well as black liner to your lop lashline

 4. Add concealer to your lips- this acts as a primer/ base for your lipstick, making it last longer.

 5. Line  your lips with a deep brown – this will give you the appearance of the “perfect” lip shape

 6. Then take your mulberry lipstick and start filling those lips in baby. ( If you don’t want to use lipstick, a dark lip stain works too )

** Just remember to clean up the inner lipstick inside your lips to prevent getting it on your teeth**

My second favorite is Brown Earthy Eyes. This look is the complete opposite compared to the first, dramatic eyes with a tone down lip.

1. First, apply black shadow matte to the lower half of your lids and take a brown matte color and blend it on lop of where your applied the black. ( TIP: drag out the brown in the form of a cat eye )

 2. Apply a peachy color above the brown, so it blends from black to brown to peach. Then lightly apply a dark brown to your lower lash line to add a more dramatic effect

 3. Gently apply gold eye shadow on top of black. Then apply a highlighter under the brow

 4. Optional : Apply black eyeliner to the upper lash line.

 5.Finally, apply a light pink lipstick to create a natural lip and your all done !

The last look is a more bold, in your face, high fashion Dramatic Cat Eye. ( that takes less then 5 mins)

1. First, take some black eye shadow and apply it all over your lid from top to bottom.

 2. Then with some liquid black liner heavy apply it to your upper lid ( don’t be bashful) and make a extended cat eye

 3. Optional: apply white liner to your lower lash line and that’s it !

So here are my top 3 fall makeup looks..

Let me know which one you like the most. Until next time.

Peace..Love & Fashion Baby.

During our library visit last week, the topic of hairstyles arose in the conversation between a couple of classmates. Some of the girls then proceeded to youtube easy up-do hairstyles to achieve. When scrolling through the results, my favorite was spotted.

So for this week I’m going to highlight the artist : Lady Gaga 

Now, when thinking about Lady Gaga the terms .. original, unique, one of a kind, creative come to mind, she transformed from the typical teen girl into a “unpredictable glamazon.”

Lady Gaga’s Style Evolution over the years:

Now lets’s highlight my favorite hairstyle : THE BOW

This look is achievable in 4 easy steps:

1. Section your hair.  section off your bangs, and decide if you would like a half up half down look. You can ethier have the bow on top and hair over shoulders or just a bow, which in that case you need to put all your hair in a ponytail. 
2. Take the pony tail  and tease it, if you have thin hair. (optional)
3. Fold over you pony tail from the back to the front to create a loop. In this step you have decide how high you want the bow.  Just take bobby pins and pin down the hair in front of your head.
4. Fan out your hair and pull the hair you just bobby pinned down in the center of the fan to create the finished bow . 

This look is great to wear during the holiday season or any other day for a matter of fact. Its casual and fashionable at the same time without drawing too much attention, if you are not ready to stand out and stop traffic as yet.

When I wear this look I tend to wear it with little jewelry, keeping it simple with studs, and putting a cute shiny clip by the bow to capture attention. I take to the next level by wearing a crew neck with minnie mouse’s bow on it as a parallel, along with glasses, shorts with tights and some combat boots.

Next week I’ll explain how to dress up your combat boots… until then

Peace..Love & Fashion Baby. 

Girls ! Girls ! Girls ! It is getting cold out especially in the morning on your walk to class. But what do you see other females wearing when you’re on your way to that 9 am class?  Think hard.. it seems as if every female on campus has one of these.. ( a northface)  right ! Now what goes hand in hand to complementing that jacket to keep those feet of yours from freezing? The winter shoes of all shoes! UGGS.

UGG’s  the Australian/ New Zealand brand has earned the title of becoming a girl’s best friend during the coldest of days throughout harsh winters. They come in a variety of choices ranging from:

1. Classic Short( the original)- What I call “a keeper”, never goes out of style. So if your thinking of a way to keep up with the every changing trends, classic short’s are always the way to go.

Now, since I explained the three types of major Uggs I would like you to scroll up once again and take a good look at those pictures and remember them as Uggs.

FASHION DON’T # 2

For all the money Uggs are worth you should never let your Uggs get to this point, take care of them and get your money’s worth. They are not WATERPROOF, INDESTRUCTIBLE, EVERYDAY SHOES, RAIN BOOTS, SUMMER BOOTS, or to be worn in twenty feet of SNOW. When worn under such conditions turns your Uggs from fashionable to a big NO NO.

The exterior is composed of sheepskin with an internal fleece tanned into the leather that gives thermostatic properties to the boots.You can expand the lifetime of your Uggs with proper care that consists of knowing when to wear them and using cleaners/protectors, because they will smell if abused ( and who wants that). Insoles are sold to replace used ones, along with a waterproof protector to avoid stains on the outer surface.

So to all my ladies and even some gentlemen please take care of those Uggs this winter to avoid becoming a fashion victim.

How can this lightweight, rubber sole, canvas body shoe, never become extinct?  Converses have been around for a little over a century now, and yet people still wear them (the more modern version that is). Starting out as a basketball shoe, in the late 70s to 80s, these little shoes have now transformed into skateboarding, causal and even dance shoes on a global scale. The world seems to love there Chucks.

In the music world, rapper/ songwriter Wiz Khalifa has become the new face for Nike Converses. This 25 year old, Pittsburg native has taken the plain average converse and transformed it into so much more by creating a personal label based on this sneaker.  His record label Taylor Gang derived from his previous high school Taylor Allderdice High school has fully embodied this stylish phase. They formed a collaboration with the common Converse shoe with a record label therefore resulting in a successful clothing line.  If you every run into a picture of Wiz or see him in concert a pair of chucks are always on his feet. 

 He made wearing red Chuck Taylors a fad worn by inner city teens everywhere, representing Taylor Gang.

Now besides chucks being a popular shoe, have you ever thought what makes them so popular?  I have come to the conclusion that it is a result of its versatility. These shoes come in every color, pattern high-top or low-top, or  size you can think of and if they happen not to have the right cheetah print on the left side you can customize it yourself. There so easy to match with any outfit, whether it is something causal to a punk rock theme.

Converses are an all-around shoe benefiting nearly teen. So the next time you slip on a pair of chucks ask yourself how you can make them original. Have fun and be creative!