My Advice to Recent Grads and Other Artists

     As Anna Wintour put it "Go get a job", so I did.  About 3 months after graduation from college my fiancee (then boyfriend) and I moved back home where I found a job at a local boutique.  Luckily for me, this particular boutique served as a springboard for my professional life as a photo stylist.  Although I took care of the store while the owner was buying and merchandising for the other store about 45 minutes away, I also received opportunities that opened alot of doors for me such as working with stylists from all over the east coast, antique/product knowledge, window and visual merchandising and some insane customer service skills.  Basically, you have to make your first job work for you, no matter if it's your passion or not (and if you didn't get to take business class in college, visual merchandising experience will save you lots of headache if you decide to freelance later in your career).  

Below are my humble beginnings with visual merchandising and displaying, which eventually lead me to styling

Enjoy.

xx

Fall/Winter 2013 Trends

                                 1.  BluGirl Fall 2013 RTW (Burning Mirrors)

                                 2.  Ralph Lauren Fall 2012 (Quite Continental)

                                 3.  BluGirl Fall 2013 RTW (Style Bistro)

                                 4.  Black and Cream Striped Fit and Flare Dress 

                                 5.  Anchors Away Striped Shorts (Daily Chic)

                                 6.  Bold Colored Striped Top (Styling On)

                                 7.  Floral Top and Striped Skirt (Obaz) 

                                 8.  Floral Skirt and Striped Top (Obaz)

                                 9.  Floral Dress and Plaid Coat (What Do I Wear)

                                 10. Cobalt Blue Sweater and Leopard Pants (Banana Republic) 

                                 11.  Polka Dot Shirt and Green Sweater (Anyway, It's Fashion)

                                 12.  Red Orange Sweater ad Collared Shirt 

                                 13.  Grey Sweater with Statement Necklace (Trendy Taste)

I've been prepping for Fall since early August and I decided to make a board of the most popular trends and trends I've been using for the season with work/models and my wardrobe :)  In short, this season is all about pattern mixing along with retro, of course (I can't wait for Spring if any of you have seen the highlights/photos from or gone to NYFW!).  Plaid and leopard look beautiful together (Ralph Lauren is a great example for this one), as well as floral and stripes (and floral and plaid- be careful with this one!).  Bold colors and black and white (high contrast) are also really big (refer to Kate Spade this season).  Luckily for me, this year has been all about the preppy look so collars are SUPER in (pair with a nice statement necklace to complete the outfit)!  What is your favorite look for this season?

xx