Creative Styling Tips With Anya Sarre

Hey guys! I'm really excited about today's entry which is coming to us from Anya Sarre, who is a celebrity stylist as well as a stylist with ShoeDazzle, a new mom, and an all around awesome lady. Anya reached out to me (how lucky am I?!) and has some really great ideas about creative styling and wardrobe recycling. I was totally into the idea of sharing them on my blog.
Thanks for the inspiration, Anya!

  

• You don’t have to own a huge closet filled with designer clothes to look good. You can mix and match the clothes that you already have in your closet! Create a stylish looks that fits your personality. The most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to dressing is that no matter what the latest trends are, the outfits you choose should be a reflection of who you are. If you feel comfortable in your clothes, you will feel confident. A person with a confident attitude will look good in anything.

• The best thing about fall and winter fashion is that they involve more dark and neutral colored clothing. Most looks involve several layers of clothing. This is ideal because you can create new looks with items that you already have in your closet. One of my favorite looks for the colder months are a pair of dark colored jeans, knee-high boots, and an over sized sweater. If you want to update this outfit with the current trends then wear a Peter Pan collar shirt under your sweater. A huge trend this season is embellished collars. You can easily make a collar necklace out of an old shirt and embellishing it with beads and sequins. If you have button down shirts then you sew on a few beads to the collar and wear it under a sweater or blazer.

I've never met a collar that I didn't like.

• Don’t put away your summer dresses just yet. Think about how you can transition them into fall and winter. If you have neutral colored dresses, add some patterned tights, ankle boots, and a sweater or blazer over them. You can wear a chunky sweater over a dress so that it looks like a skirt. You can also use some of your summer skirts and pants by pairing them with cold weather items. If you fell into the colored jean trend this summer then pair them with darker colors and chunkier knits to go with the season. Another way you can save some of your older jeans or pants is by dyeing them. I have several pairs of white jeans that have turned yellowish and dyed them using fabric dye. Now I have pants for these coming seasons in trendy colors, such as hunter green and maroon.

Floral printed shorts with green tights and a sheer long sleeved top.

• Creativity can turn any closet into a fashionista’s closet. If you are lacking inspiration, follow some fashion bloggers for great ideas. This is a great way to start working with the items that you already have and after a while you will find that you no longer need to look for inspiration to bring life to your choice of shoes, apparel and accessories.
• You can be that girl that always looks good in anything they wear. The important thing is to feel confident about what you are wearing. Get creative and start creating new looks from the clothes that you already own.

Anya Sarre is one of Hollywood’s most influential trendsetters. A nationally recognized celebrity stylist, Sarre is known for her impeccable eye and ability to tie any look together with the perfect accessory. Named “Best Television Fashion Stylist” for her appearances on Entertainment Tonight, The Insider and countless other media outlets, Sarre is the go-to fashion expert for Hollywood’s biggest celebrities. 

Be sure to visit the ShoeDazzle blog for more tips, tricks and inspiration!

Absent Note

It's been a while! Lately I've been pretty busy. I work 50+ hours a week, explore my new city, write to my pen pals, watch a lot of Netflix and Hulu+ on the Apple tv with Andrew... you know, important tasks. Honestly, I don't think I will ever become a consistent blogger. I've been really enjoying my time away from the internet, and while I peruse my Bloglovin' feed almost daily, I like to keep that time to an hour or less to focus on real life. My blog is more like a journal, and at times my outlet to share more creative endeavors like crafts and favorite outfits and such. I don't think I'll ever have a blog routine, or scheduled posts, or a consistent weekly feature. But, whatever right? Who cares. I'm here when I'm here and that's what counts.

Here's some more of what I've been up to lately!

 

Hanging out with Melanie, Sam and Alex a few times a week has become one of my most favorite past times. I'm so happy that Melanie and I found each other. We're instant friends in the most genuine way. We call each other "kindreds", because we are kindred spirits. We like to work on projects, watch movies, drink fancy beers, and just hang. It's the best, and Sammy the basset hound is just icing on the friendship cake. 

Friend art is the best art.

Oatmeal squares & Sabrina.

Pete Campbell, I can't hate you.

If loafing around my apartment with this boy and making hilarious videos with the VidRhythm app wasn't a notable activity before, it certainly has become one. It's yet another one of my favorite things to do. I've been nesting lately. Adding pieces (like free geometric shaped wall hangings from my store's last floor set, Halloween decorations, and cute baby succulents re-potted into thrift store glassware) to the walls and the table tops. I spent a good part of the weekend intensely cleaning, and last night as I was getting ready for bed, I took a look around the apartment. It's warm and cozy and reflects a lot of our interests and tastes. There are things like exposed wires and the lack of a kitchen table that I would change, but regardless, I love our home. Our friend James has been sending us some of his art, which I adore and we display it wherever possible.

Revived an old charm for a new necklace

 

I have been doing my fair share of shopping. Working for Urban Outfitters has a lot of perks, especially this month because of Employee Appreciation. Mel and I got drinks and pizza at Whiskey Kitchen on Friday and then did some shopping at Urban in The Gulch. I only needed a few pieces to spruce up my fall wardrobe (which has already been my favorite part of my closet). The temperature has dropped here a little bit in Nashville, and today I'm wearing tights and boots and a cardigan (last photo above was taken this morning), and my new favorite shirt which Melanie actually bought for me because I'm driving her to the airport next week. She's the cutest. I'm stoked on this entire outfit.

We're ready for fall at Free People too! All of the new fall items are so lovely.
It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Aside from autumn (and crisp air and falling leaves and pumpkin spice and Halloween and sweaters), I am also excited for: a new car come September 1st!, birthday season (my dads, my sisters, and Andrews), more hikes and bikes and kettle bells, a Nashville coffee shop tour, dog sitting Sammy while Melanie and Alex are on vacation, my Romwe mysterious universe skirt to arrive at my door, and my cousin's wedding in Manhattan! yay!

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with me! What have you been up to? And what are you excited for?!

My Fall "Must Haves"

It's August second, and already Michaels has their fall displays of artificial mums and styrofoam pumpkins and Halloween decorations out on the floor. Also some cute paper mâché fall shapes. I just picked up a skull mask to paint all Día de los Muertos style. It's the most wonderful time of the year! Granted, I'm looking at 90+ degree weather for at least another month or two in Nashville, but a girl can't help but get giddy over the arrival of her most favorite season.

These photos of Tavi Gevinson from the most recent issue of Bust magazine gave me that perfect fall feeling. When the sun is still kind of bright in the sky, but you can feel the change in the gradually dropping temperature and a cool breeze grazes your skin and everything just seems to look and smell richer and better. You just want to be outside all the time in a sweater, with a coffee, for no real reason except to just enjoy the beauty that is autumn. God, I love it. I'm so passionate about my love for it. Permanently inked falling maple leaves take up half my height! I can't wait. I can never wait.

(Side note: I think Tavi is the coolest girl in the history of teenagers and I'm really glad that little ladies these days have such an intelligent, driven and original role model.)

Every time I go in to work at Free People lately, there is always brand new fall shipment steamed and hung on our pretty floral hangers just waiting for me to try on, and walk around the store, and pretend it's mine for a half hour. Some things I know I'm going to need to own are:

Plaid Pullover - FP employees get a whopping 60% off of this item this month ;)

Kombucha Cuff Thermal - I'm always stocking up on new thermals, but this one is special. Look at those sleeves!

Poetic Verse Sweater Blazer - What they're describing as dark chocolate heather on the website looks more like a dark olive green to me in person. I am obsessed with this thing and I think it's going to become my go-to jacket for most of fall/winter.

Floral Mesh Lace Dress - I want every color. I especially love that the hem comes to a point in the front and the back. The black one feels very witchy. Very Lydia Deetz, who I've been known to channel the essence of from time to time. Though I may take the pink route because it's fun to dress super feminine with a boy's haircut.

While most of Nashville rocks their boots this fall (they're rocking them now in the summer! Nashville is like boot capital of the world), I think I'm going to make a pair of these Dr. Martens mary janes a standard. I can't decide which pair though!

The top pair has basically my name, subtract two letters. They're simple but cute and extremely comfy. It felt like fate, but the bottom pair has that 90's Dr. Marten mary jane feel and I think they'd look especially cute with socks. Help!

And finally, I've decided that I really need this ring:

It's the Dena fingertip ring from Lush Jewelry. I think it is so pretty and unique. Most of my rings are silver so the brass would be a nice change.

Can you tell I'm SUPER excited?! If you love fall as much as I do, tell me. Let's talk about it. And share your fall wishlist here with me :)

What I Wore

Here it goes, my first ever outfit post. I'm really into the idea of keeping up with this for a variety of reasons. One being confidence. I fell into an early winter slump of wearing jeans and hoodies to work and covering my messy (not in a good way) hair in hats. I got the idea from Meredith's "Blogging For Confidence" series. At first I just applied it simply to my daily life, dressing up more and wearing some eyeliner for a little boost throughout the week. Then, upon expanding my collection of photo equipment, I had an a-ha! moment once I conjured up the idea of a tripod, a remote, and me wherever I'd like to be photographed lookin' pretty (I have a mental list of so many great spots already!). I don't need to nag Andrew about angles or composition or making him retake photos all together, I can do this myself! Unless he'd like to help sometimes ;) More inspiration for this came from my love of clothing. You can ask anyone who knows me well enough and they will tell you that a really large portion of my monthly income goes to shiny, pretty new things. I have a closet and drawers full of outfits I haven't even styled yet, a lot of pieces I've never even worn. Now I can get really creative and share! It'll motivate me to keep on keepin' on, learning more about my personal style and dressing expressively, and saving my hoodies for snug time on the couch.

I talked Rob into running outside in the 27 degree weather with me to snap a few shots of this outfit. I had just bought this dress over the weekend, and the boots were an incredibly awesome Christmas present from Andrew. I felt pretty and also kinda bad-ass, to be honest. I thought it'd be a nice introduction to my personal style. We took these in less than 10 minutes, one shot of each detail, and ran back inside because it was FREEZING. I've been blessed to have such a rad office buddy, always helping me out.

( Dress - H&M, Tights - Target, Dr. Martens Pascal Boot in Shiraz)

Phew, the whole process has been virtually pain free (aside from frozen fingers!) and I'm really excited to share this very simple, but very me outfit. More to come once the aforementioned tripod and remote arrive at my door!

Thrift Haul

Yellow tags were half off today.

Dreamy Fall Wardrobe Wishlist

As you can see, it's been a riveting weekend over here in Corinne world. I'm purposely staying in tonight, Stephanie is having a double birthday party for her and her dude Kyle, but I think I need the time to relax and recuperate. Nothing wrong with that, right? I hope everyone in attendance has a ton of fun though. As I wait for the bathtub to fill, I'll share with you some really pretty things I discovered during my brief internet window shopping adventure today. Drawing up some inspiration for my new fall wardrobe. I love clothes, especially cold weather clothes. ESPECIALLY cardigans, as you're about to find out. Enjoy!

1: Shirley's Heron Cardigan, Modcloth
2: Acorn Locket Necklace, Madewell
3: KG Suki Lace Up Hiking Ankle Boots, ASOS
(Free shipping all the time on anything? Can't beat that!)
4: Stay Golden Tunic, Modcloth
(Somebody recently told me that they love me in yellow, and hope upon my arrival that I'll be wearing yellow. Thought that was so sweet. Yellow is a happy color. Psychologists everywhere agree!)
5: Clear Eyes, Wool Hearts Cardigan, Modcloth
(My dream "piece". Fashion lingo is so silly. So are overpriced sweaters, but I can't help it. I'm in love)
6: Nautical Knot Ring, Madewell
(Growing up on an island, it's really hard to resist any and all things nautical)
7: Three Quarters Past Cute Cardigan, Modcloth