True Story at the Pendry

As a fashion stylist, not all fittings take place in studios or at a clients house, most of the workload happens at hotels. This typically takes place when the clients are flying in town for an awards ceremony or red carpet appearance. You have logistical wardrobe moments such as unpacking, merchandising, prepping, replying to multiple PR marketing emails, monitoring incoming shipments and schedule fittings. Hotels are the most convenient way to get your client prepped and ready to be dressed because tailors, hair and makeup artist also normally have a room set up for the client as well. 

I’ve visited the Pendry hotel numerous times for personal and work reasons, however during the ESPYs 2024 I worked here for mostly the months of June and July. I was hired as the First Assistant Stylist and Market Editor for Serena Williams and my job was to ensure that the shipping logistics and tracking information was properly monitored and confirmed wardrobe pieces and shoe items were successfully delivered to the Pendry for merchandising and prepping under the Lead Stylist credentials. Proud to say I executed the job and every item successfully arrived on time with no delays per the requested estimated delivered date. 

However unfortunately I did not get to enjoy my time and experience at the Pendry Hotel due to a very tiring hostile work environment. As time went on throughout the weeks/months the job slowly began to consist of unappreciation, disrespect, verbal abuse, being antagonized, singled out, belittled and wrongfully accused of things that I did not do. 

Due to everything I encountered on the job I never imagined going back and visiting the Pendry Hotel due to remembrance and trauma responses. But after overcoming that situation, my amazing support system pulled me out of a dark space in my life and my family and I had a dinner night at Merois Rooftop Restaurant at the Pendry Hotel. The restaurant had a sophisticated dark ambience and I had been waiting to wear my all black long Skims skirt. The skirt paired so well with my Poster-Girl spandex long sleeve cut out turtleneck. This top was definitely designed to suction you in all the right places while giving a nice clean sexy look. A nice pointy toe heel and a pop of color mini bag were the perfect finishing touches. 

Fast forward to November, I'm truly blessed that I do not look like what I have been through!

90s New York

Can’t go to New York without embracing timberland boots. You really thought I was about to walk around the city in heels? Tuh!

I remember when timberland boots were made for hiking or mountaineering. Now these boots are a fashion statement. The classic yellow suede boot construction started its era in the late 90s from everyone to Tupac, Aaliyah and Cam’ron. Timberland boots are hard wearing boots with great style. These boots are surprisingly comfortable given their mere weighty appearance and New York natives have been trying out the unconventional classic boots for years.

In true 90s fashion, you would find the shoes almost exclusively worn with an extremely baggy pair of jeans and as a true 90s baby it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t pay homage. I styled them with a pair of dark denim layered jeans with boxers attached to the inseam and a simple white wife beater tee.

Just when I thought the key essential of this look were the boots, it was also the classic New York baseball cap. Very on brand! The hat brings out the character of the outfit. It’s some what tom boyish in a way and that’s what I like about it, dressing down but still very feminine.

Now lets get into this oversize brown trench coat! It’s not even cold here but anything for the look right?! I love any look which involves layering. The cost movement that it gives when walking is effortless. The over-sized coat draped around your shoulders and the boots will make its statement to show that you’re different, fashion knowledgeable and that your style is unique.

Happy Virgo Season! Happy NYFW! Happy Birthday!

An Iconic Night for An Iconic Day

Celebrated my birthday with the iconic Brand, LAQUAN SMITH.

My work schedule this year has been so intense that I didn’t have the desire to celebrate September 10th. My friends pulled me through and motivated me to make last minute birthday arrangements late August and Im so happy I choose to attend the city that never sleeps, New York for New York Fashion Week. What a better way to include work and leisure.

Living in Los Angeles with Mississippi roots, I wanted to ensure that my New York looks were timeless. Blazers are a key essentials in my closet and its so important to choose to right one. Blazers add certain elements of polish, even in certain oversize silhouettes. Personally, I tend to prefer a blazer silhouette with broad shoulders that hits the hip or longer, as the proportion works well with how I tend to incorporate the mini skirt piece into my outfits. The mini skirt brings a fun and flirty trend while the Fall / Winter is still approaching. When the weather cools down further, the great thing is that mini skirts can be paired with tights or knee highs. Such a versatile combo right?!

A black leather pair of gloves, bag black and black sunglasses were the best finishing touches. Now if I’m being honest the shoes paired with this look were so hard to solidfy because a boot, a platform heel, or a loafer would have been spot on but I decided to go with a classic black pump.

Happy Virgo Season! Happy NYFW! Happy Birthday!

Fashion and Art 🔳🟥🔲

The relationship between fashion and art is not uncommon. Designers, Photographers and Stylist take their inspiration from the world of art. Whether it’s a motif or color palette, fashion houses and museums are always paying tribute to other artisans and craftsman. While most of us think of fashion as living art, what we often fail to realize is how the two are interlinked. The structure, the paintings, the installations, the drawings, etc.

While having a fashion career that can sometimes consist of a hostile work environment, there’s no better way to reset as a fashion stylist by gaining more inspiration at a art. Seems as if skinny leg jeans are fading, while wide leg jeans are trending and in season. Wide leg jeans are the perfect mix between flared and straight leg. Comfort has also been a key styling tip of mines, and these black jeans were amazing. Jeans are also perfect for work office attire, game day attire as football seasons approaching or even a casual date night.

A white tank can come off as basic huh?! But honestly is depends on how you style it. This perfect white tank had abstract graffiti print and it paired perfectly with the art at the museum. Red always go perfect with black & white, so my finishing touches were a red lip, red pump and of course a red bag.

Hope this brings light to all creatives to get inspired in your own individual way!

Mother's Day is Everyday 🌸

…And again I made a promise that this year I was going to be very transparent in my blogs. I wanted to ensure that they were raw and relatable. A way to let other women know that it’s okay to go through rough patches but also make sure you “CARRY IT WELL”. 

You’d be surprised if I told you that the month of August was the first month I smiled and felt at peace this entire year. Crazy right?! I know. My career has come with so many ups and downs. I’ve taken more Losses than Wins this year, which is technically what comes with being an entrepreneur. But how do you cope with scenarios when you’re in a city far away from home by yourself? How do you mourn your pain? How do you keep going when it’s just you? How do you carry the load when things become overwhelming? Aren’t you tired? 

I’ve been fortunate enough to have such an amazing support system during those rough patches and happy to call that amazing person, My Mom. I haven’t been able to travel home this year due to my work commitments so my mother and sister made arrangements to come to me. My mother being physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally present was the perfect reset. The love she gave me truly washed away all my problems, worries and doubts. For that I wanted to ensure that I celebrated and gave my mom her flowers beyond Mother’s Day. 

I had the pleasure of hosting A Mother Daughter Dinner where myself and other close friends and their mothers were invited and able to pour into their Mother’s as well. The ambience and color scheme of the restaurant was pastel colors decorated with beautiful flowers that hung from the ceiling. Of course I had to go with something that was flowy, cute and appropriate. My pink and purple one shoulder and back out dress was so comfortable and chic. One of the great things about this dress is even though it is a thin, flowy, spring-summer dress, it can be worn in cooler weather too! It would look great with heels as well. I wore sandals with a pop of color bag and silver jewelry when styling this dress. The options were endless with this beautiful piece. 

I hope this helps spark some inspiration for your summer wardrobe ideas ladies and remember to “CARRY IT WELL” despite your rough patches. Understand that it’s ok to put your pride to the side, create a safe space for you and your loved ones and pour into those who pour back into you!

Resilience x Anine Bing

This year I wanted to make sure that my blogs are very transparent, honest, and direct. I decided to incorporate both my personal life and work life within the fashion industry to give outsiders the full perspective of what it means to be resilient while staying humble. The month of April had its highs and lows. This month was very challenging yet rewarding.

Recently, I had the opportunity to work for Coachella 2024. The job consisted of late nights and early mornings, lots of labor, merchandising, fittings, template slides, and marketing. Once my portion of the job was successfully contributed, I later discovered that I was going to be partially credited and was completely taken advantage of. Without going into further details, I want to say that I’m very proud of myself for not acting out of emotion or frustration. I kept things professional, did not match negative energy, and didn’t let anyone in any industry belittle or intimidate me. Overall, I learned the importance of advocating for yourself.

While being faced with this incident, I also had the pleasure of being invited to the release of the luxury brand, Anine Bing’s, 2024 summer collection. The strength and ability you must have to be able to pull yourself out of a dark space and keep going like nothing has happen honestly should be studied!

The resilience that I embodied throughout the night of this event was very much needed and allowed me to stay afloat. I was able to keep my head high, smile, and arrive with grace and class. While attending this event, I was excited to be able to wear my all black trench coat and a nice pair of sheer tights. This has always been a favorite combo of mine. I paired the look with a flirty pair of red leather shorts and a black turtleneck. This look gave NYC vibes while in LA! My Anine Bing sunglasses, oversized diamond earrings, black bag, and black pumps were the perfect finishing touches.

Finally, to anyone who is chasing a dream, pursing a goal, or trying to reach higher heights, I encourage you to keep going despite what life throws at you. Every lesson is guiding you toward a bigger purpose. Be proud of yourself for passing your hardest moments alone, while everyone believed you were fine.

Women's Month

WOW! Where do I start?! The month of March is starting to become one of my favorite months. I mean what’s a better way to celebrate yourself. To love yourself. To empower yourself. To embrace everything about yourself as a women. We as women carry soooo much weight and we deserve to be credited, validated and supported. There’s nothing that we can’t do. I hope we all chose to heal and give ourselves grace in every step we take. We are so deserving of love and embracing a soft life. We are beautiful. We are worthy. We are enough.

I had the absolute pleasure of being invited to MEFeater Magazine and Legion Record Label, Women’s Month watch list. The dress code for this event was pink and cream chic attire. I love me a dress code because it gives me more motivation to execute a look to its full potential. I wore this beautiful long sleeve sequin dress that also had the lower back out. You’d think that the sequin would be enough because of the glitz but the feathers trimmed around the hands and legs were spot on. So much volume took place when walking and moving around in this dress. Since the dress itself was a statement piece I decided to keep my accessories very minimum wearing a metallic pink heel, cream clutch and silver earrings.

To all the moms, the daughters, the sisters and God fearing women always remember you are that girl and this month we celebrate you!

💈x 🤍

Spent Galentine’s Day with my girls and it was well worth it. I’ve been very blessed to have such an amazing group of supportive friends that have helped me along my healing journey. With Valentine’s Day approaching it was only right to pour love into those who remind you to love yourself and God first.

So what do you wear to a Galentine’s Dinner Date and LA Clippers game?! Checking the weather in February first was important because I wanted to wear my pleated black skirt and I knew that my legs were going to be out. While pleated skirts are often thought of as being short and flirty, they are an incredibly versatile piece. I made this look effortlessly cool by pairing it with a chunky black platform boot. I decided to keep the rest of the look neutral by wearing a fur button up cream jacket and a black crossbody bag. I can’t wait to see you ladies recreate this look for your Girls Galentine’s Day. Remember self love is the best love 🤍

🪐

Lately my blogs have been a little bit more personal than usual. Although I can only speak for myself, I do feel as though women can benefit from my blogs from a more relatable perspective because when life takes a toll on you, it feels as if your only choice is to suck it up and keep going. For me, fashion is normally my outlet. Wardrobe gives me a way to truly express myself. It allows me to dress how I feel despite the occasion.

As I’ve been venturing through this healing journey, I can honestly say it has taught me to me to become more aware and take control of my emotions; to relax and not wear your heart on your sleeve despite what life throws at you. These cargo style denim oversized jeans were the perfect way to express myself and my mood for a cute art night in LA. It’s definitely giving comfortable, casual and relaxed of course. I added my black turtleneck and leather crop jacket because we’re definitely not trying to get cold but the fur gave it a cozy and chic feel. I finalized the look with my silver tone accessories, a black crossbody. and black pointy toe pumps. I hope this look inspires you ladies as well to pop out, be cute, comfy and RELAX!

Xo

This year I wanted to pivot my direction towards my personal looks. Im normally in heels or in some sort of dress but for this occasion I attended a retro style Speakeasy in New Orleans and decided to be cute yet comfy. Even when in heels, my aura and personality is always a chill and laidback. So why not express those vibes through wardrobe?! Biker jackets are always the perfect essential to go to for a edgy look. This oversize black leather biker jacket was a must have especially with the red and white pop of color. What made this look even more trendy is the matching mini skirt. I was able to show some skin and still be comfy with my sneakers. I wasn’t going to wear any eyewear because my makeup was so bomb but I couldn’t resist adding this perfect finishing touch. When its your turn to pop out ladies be sure to add your favorite accessories and a cute black bag for your versatile chill night!

VirGoat SZN

Lately, my blogs have been focusing on uplifting black women, encouraging one another, and reminding us to be confident within ourselves. Who do the strong people go to when they begin to feel weak? Who’s there to motivate you when you can't motivate yourself? For the past 8 months I took a personal social media and fashion blogging break to focus on emotional damage and my mental health. 

Entrepreneurship starts from within. It requires self motivation and being dedicated towards something you love and have a passion for. Once those distractions start to kick in, it can throw us off a little, but it’s important that we realign ourselves and remain focused. During this healing journey fashion was no longer an outlet for me.  It was no longer something that I could turn to for happiness. I'm not afraid to admit I was in a very dark place in my life these past 8 months and God was my only strength and savior. 

After a lot of praying, fitness therapy and being surrounded by loved ones, I’m so proud to say that I am finally back to MYSELF! I personally contributed three looks to this specific blog. Each look was catered to defining me. I started off first with an all black lace print tights and top. After adding the gold waist belt, this look could honestly pass as a jumpsuit. I not only finalized this look with my pointy toe black pumps, but my makeup was also a main focus as well. The cat eye and red lip definitely set the bar. This look was definitely grown and sexy for my birthday. 

My second look was this beautiful and effortless one shoulder cut out blue fringe dress. The material was very comfortable, allowing me to freely move around. The movement when walking gave so much volume. This look was definitely giving “feeling blue” The use of the term blue to mean “sad” from the late 1300s. 

My third look was this flowy yet very bodycon dress. This cream fitting dress was also long sleeve and revealed no skin, causing it to be conservative yet sexy.  This look was giving private, low-key and modest.  

To every woman who may be experiencing emotional damage, mental issues or lack of internal confidence… This blog is specially for you. We are beautiful no matter what life throws at us. We got this. I see you. I feel you. I uplift you. I'm with you. Now go slay!!!!! 

Winter Nights 🌺

Your typical winter nights comes with snow or icicles but finding out about this restaurant called CATCH in LA was definitely a different winter view for me. The floral arrangements and lighting was absolutely gorgeous. For this cute dinner night, I decided to wear my burgundy patent leather cropped puffer jacket. The setting of this restaurant was dimmed so wearing dark shades were perfect. I completed this look with my grey utility cargo skirt, lace up booties and black bag.

📌

I’m a sucker for a nice bustier and a wide leg pant. I’m actually surprised that I didn’t add a blazer with this look. Never the less, the fit of this look is what I love most. Everything is evenly tucked and tailored. This black well cut leather bustier  gave me the perfect hourglass. What was even better about this look were the plaid tailored pants that came with a lower built - in corset. Talk about a bomb combo. I decided to add a pop of color and accessorize with my purple earrings. Hope you enjoy wearing this look to a successful 2023 meeting or networking conference.

Add Layers with me

What’s the Weather like in your city this fall? Is it snowing? Is it below 10 degrees?

Either way, now is the perfect time to bundle up but make it cute by adding as many layers as you’d like. In this instances I started off with a cozy turtleneck and balloon pants. As the temperature drops I added my super soft scarf and my fur trench coat. To add my final layer I paired my knitted beanie and decided to wear sneakers instead of boots for even more comfort when walking.

Hope you’re staying safe and fashionably warm this fall as well!

Happy Halloween: Part 2

This is the first time where I didn’t know where to start with a blog, because whew this Halloween costume was different. 

I was indecisive between Harley Quinn or Ruby Rhod from Fifth Element. Since I already channeled Kylie Jenner Cosmetics costume I figured why not narrow it down to Harley Quinn. 

This one was not only sexy but so much fun. This custom costume came with so many pieces to attach, from the bodysuit, to the gloves, to the thigh highs down to the head piece. 

Did I nail this one too? Happy Halloween again: Part Two

Happy Halloween: Part 1

Honestly I took these photos for my 30th birthday this year. After taking them, I realized that this look was more of a costume so why not save them for Halloween 2022. 

This shoot was inspired my Kylie Jenner 2020 Kylie Cosmetics launch. What caught my eye was the cheetah print glare across the face. However instead of doing cheetah print I decided to replicate the leopard print version. 

Did I nail it? Happy Halloween Part: 1 

God's Grace

Taking the time to dedicate this blog to Life. We all have those moments where we feel claustrophobic,  distracted and unmotivated because life happens. It’s okay to take a step back to regroup and recuperate.

As many of you know Ivory is my favorite color because it symbolizes elegance, calmness and God’s Grace. This color was perfect for this blog during this moment in time. This beautiful simplistic feather sleeve dress fit perfect for a nice refreshing dinner night. The stomach key hole was definitely giving less is more.

I finalized this look with my silver diamond necklace, earrings and strappy white pumps. I was skeptical about the black mini bag, but black is always a safe color to turn to when in doubt.

Belated Baby ✨

I originally had plans to go to Napa Valley for my 31st birthday but I ended up getting an amazing call for work. No better way to spend my birthday weekend than styling my favorite muse, Angie Thomas.

However I still catered to my birthday by shooting in this beautiful crystal embellished gown. Pairing this gown with my silver lace up sandals and diamond earrings was super easy because it didn’t require much styling, especially when less is already more.

Beyond Blessed to see another year!

Ombré 🧡

The gradient hues, when done well, can create a polished look. Playing with light and dark already adds texture to your look, and makes you stand out due to the contrast. And the the best thing about it? You can “ombre” anything.

Wearing this dress to dinner on the beach in Punta Cana was the perfect statement piece. This endless beautiful crochet dress was also comfy and cute. I added my brown sandals and yellow bag to give a eye popping finish touch. The best part about this look was my simple accessories. Less is always more.

Punta Cana 🤎

Have you ever had a dinner night in Punta Cana? Yea.. me neither! Lol. However, Dinner in the sky was such an experience. The food, the music, the vibes and overall eating dinner in the actual sky was definitely top tier. 

The weather here is really humid and hot so I actually wasn’t sure if wearing this long sleeve silk and sequin two piece set was a good idea. But fashion has no limits right!? While on vacation I was able to pair my black underwire swimsuit. This gave a seductive illusion. I was a little indecisive about the Chole bag and shoes because I’m not a huge fan of mixing prints. But after accessorizing with silver jewelry, I’m not mad at this look at all! 

Cheers to the Dominican Republic!!!