style Archives - Page 3 of 3

2 In style

1 dress, 2 pieces, 3 ways

I was just tickled when Mary Olive and Co sent me this darling lace and floral Sherri Hill cocktail dress! Y’all know I love a coordinated set, but I often mix and match them with my closet contents as well. This twofer is exceptionally pretty, and super fun to wear, so I’m sharing three ways I’ve styled it recently.

The whole shebang was perfectly festive for a holiday party. Enamel cat-eye sunglasses, iridescent Kendra Scotts, and my heirloom wedding ring (similar) were classic accessory choices, but I brought a bit of pattern mixing to the party with striped, bow-adorned pumps.

The full satin skirt, covered in pink roses and complete with crinoline and pockets, put a little sass in my step. Headed to indulge in the warm weather with a Jeni’s date {brown butter almond brittle, always} I knotted my chambray at the waist. I added sparkle flats (similar) and a moonstone necklace I purchased from an artisan in New Mexico- I’ll be sharing that trip soon!

I paired the lace crop with my boa coated JBrands and kidnapped David’s cardigan for a busy day- a bunch of errands, assisting him on a shoot, then date night. These sparkle hightops were a Zara (kids!) clearance find, but I have to admit I felt a bit like I was trying to audition for a hip hop video when they sparkled in the sunlight.

David was shooting a photographer we’ve worked with and adore, and she turned her camera on me for these shots. You’ll see more of Nicole soon- we’ve got some fun stuff in the works for 2016.

But yeah, expand the closet potential! Treat your matched sets as your cutest separates and you’ll get way more bang for your wardrobe buck.

loveRavayna

January 1, 2016

0 In style

some seasonal sparkle

I truly believe that one of the secrets to a happy holiday is picking out your own presents- fortunately, David agrees! In an attempt to extend the holiday cheer, one of the things I choose for myself each year is a subscription service. I’m such a kid, but I love mail and getting something delivered monthly is super fun. In past years, I’ve chosen and loved beauty and stationery boxes, but this year, I’m jazzed to be accessorizing with Rocksbox, a company that sends you boxes of designer jewelry to borrow or buy with zero pressure.

Getting to build my wish list of pretties and specify my preferences soothed my picky soul. I’m into big earrings, so I added some Kendra Scott pairs, Gorjana ear climbers, and lots of funky ear jackets. Always about the arm party, bunches of cute bangles and bracelets made my wishlist, as did some statement, layered, and lariat necklaces. There are tons of cute options!

I was even more excited when my first box showed up. It was adorably packaged, but sturdy, and I love that the bubble mailer was to be reused with the enclosed shipping label- truly couldn’t be easier. I untied the coral ribbon to a few inserts and chevron striped tissue.

As I unwrapped the accessories, layered with bubble wrap and each in their own pouch, I continued to be impressed. My stylist Molly had chosen these Kendra Scott earrings from my wishlist, and added a gold Gorjana bangle and and a subtly fringed statement necklace for a complete look.

Off to do a little holiday shopping at the Americana at Brand, I wore the pieces with mostly black- a simple jersey trapeze dress, dotted tights, suede flats. A classic ivory wool coat and sunnies set off the golden tones of the jewelry perfectly.

Though festively decorated and beautiful, I usually try to avoid malls and their crowds during the holiday season. I do most of my shopping online, and I obviously think Rocksbox is a great gift- that’s why I chose it for myself! I’d recommend it for a lady of any age, since she can populate her wishlist herself.

Rocksbox has some holiday gift packages that are fabulous deals running right now. But let’s be real- even at the holidays, we all want to spoil ourselves, so you can use promo code RavaynaXOXO at checkout for your first month free! See for yourself, but free jewelry is sure what I consider merry and bright.

loveRavayna

December 21, 2015

0 In pageant/ style

throw what you know

They always say you can’t go home again, but I don’t quite buy that. My childhood home is long sold, but I feel like I’ve gone home lots of places: at my mom’s brownstone in New York, my best friend’s family farm outside New Orleans, my Auntie’s house in Trinidad, and funnily enough, at a large pageant host hotel in Anaheim. After 2+ weeks yearly for over a decade, you start to settle in.

When you’re in the same place, reuniting with the same people each year, it’s fun to have some sassy new stuff to wear. I was so glad to have Mary Olive & Co send me some adorable clothes for NAM Nationals week. I loved the heck out of this sassy polka dotted Sherri Hill two-piece dress.

I’m a big fan of the ornate pearl beading on the top, and it was surprisingly light and comfy to wear. I’m also a sucker for cutaway backs, and any dress with pockets is a smash hit with me. Especially running around at a pageant, I prefer to have the necessities on me rather than trying to keep up with a purse.

I styled myself super-fast after a long morning of clients and headed out to the courtyard to get some shots of this MacDuggal dress, also from Mary Olive & Co. It’s made of a thin scuba material with some good drape, and gives some serious shape. It would have a been a bit much for me in my competition years, as I’m a bit of a modest mouse, but I’m grown now and it was fun to wear.

One of our clients is a Stella & Dot vendor, so I got to raid her inventory and play dress up with all her gorgeous stuff. With this striking cobalt dress, I chose the Eva ear jackets, Zinnia split ring, and gold Becker cuff.

A few of our clients were free, between rehearsal and competition, so we invited them to come down to join me for a few pictures. They came out so stinking cute I could barely handle it.

As obsessed as I am with these pictures, they’re bittersweet- I’m terrible about taking pictures while I’m working, and I wish I had such cuteness captured with all of our girls! But twelve separate competition schedules overlapped with my coaching/styling master, so we could only sync up with a few clients. And with less than a tenth of our total clientele on site at this pageant, there are sooo many smiling faces missing.

I so wish we’d have opportunities to shoot with our entire entourage of girls at once! But then I remember how hard it is to herd pageant girls into group pictures, much less keep all sets of eyes open and on the camera, and I’m good with what we’ve got.

We’ve been working with most of these older girls since they were tiny, and having gotten to watch them grow, it makes me feel old as dirt sending my babies off to college and the real world. I’m also really honored that their parents have shared them with us for so many years, and I swear on earth this #squad keeps me young and hip, and certainly always laughing.

As a former national queen, each year I attend a few alumnae events the pageant hosts for us. As one of the eldest, the meetings are always fun- I love seeing our ranks and the girls grow from year to year. This year, the pageant had some big name judges, and were kind enough to arrange meet-and-greets for us. Like with former Miss USA, Nia Sanchez, who is even more stunning in person.

Mary Olive & Co sent me this sassy striped MacDuggal as well, and I mitchy-matched my lipstick to the bodice, and collected compliments on it all day, even after I swapped my heels for flats.

We also got to spend a little more time visiting with last year’s Miss America, Kira Kazantsev. I remember her from her competition days, and she’s become a firecracker of a woman and a fab role model for young girls.

I took the opportunity to tell her about some of my little ones, and their immense (and rightfully due) cases of hero worship. They were falling over themselves in excitement to see her on their panel, and I couldn’t help but share a few of the best stories.

This is the last of the pageant talk for a while, so if you’ve come across this post in search of pageant and image consulting, you should just email me directly- we’re returning to posts about Paris soon. But the older I get, the more sentimental… I guess I should count myself lucky to have so many things to be sappy about!

loveRavayna

December 5, 2015

2 In style/ travel

WiW: Parisian lace and layers

I may not be Elizabeth Arden, but I sure love me a red door, almost as much as I love accenting my cherry red leather purse with a classic matte red lip. We couldn’t help but grab some pictures when we spotted this doorway as we walked to our morning croissant and cafe.

I stand firmly that leopard is a neutral- black, brown and tan all are! I adore this scarf for its compact warmth, cozy softness, and versatility. It’s not quite a blanket scarf, but plenty big enough.

This dress has given me its money’s worth- it’s H&M Conscious Collection from several seasons ago. It originally had sheer lace sleeves, but I tore one to shreds out one night. Once I had the dress tailored to sleeveless, I started wearing it all the time. Here, I layered with a light wash chambray shirt against the early morning chill.

I wore trusty black ankle booties on my toes, Nars Red Square on my lips. Rose gold aviators and a chunky Marc Jacobs watch added a little functional shine to the look.

And as the Parisian sunshine warmed the day, I shed my layers and was perfectly ready for adventures in the heat.

loveRavayna

November 5, 2015

1 In style

WiW: barcelona evening

In general, I dressed pretty casually while we were in Europe. As much as I’d love to be one of those bloggers twirling in a couture gown in the Palais Royal, that’s not realistic for my current lifestyle, or our vacation style. It’s more moto boots than Manolos. That said, we planned a few fancier outings, working on our Michelin star collection, and I was excited to take the opportunity to dress up and swan around.

My mom is a couture seamstress, and in weak imitation, I’ve been trying to teach myself to sew. Inspired by Degas’ ballerinas, I got a bee in my bonnet about the perfect shade of blush, and went to town with my sewing machine. I really should have just bought it rather than DIY, considering the literal blood, sweat, tears, and wine it took me to turn a dozen yards of tulle and a few more of silk into clothing. And frankly, don’t look too closely, as it’s a bit janky in places, but everyone has to start somewhere.

Even the fancies needed to work within my travel capsule wardrobe (working on organizing that post for y’all), so I paired the ballerina skirt with my chambray oxford. My black wool cape was the perfect topper when the chilly breeze blew. I only took one pair of heels to Europe, choosing these suede t-straps for their neutral versatility, surprising comfort, and walkability on cobblestone streets.

I loved this comfortable yet ladylike look, and it’s so fun to wear something you made with your own hands. With all the elements being repeatable, it was the perfect outfit for a vacation date night, and I couldn’t help feeling like una princesa.

Shein cape | Old Navy chambray | similar skirts | VIctoria’s Secret suede heels | Kate Spade glitterbug clutch

loveRavayna

October 24, 2015

0 In style/ travel

WiW: barcelona daytime

We did a LOT in our time abroad (let me know if you’d like me to share our itinerary), which made for several early mornings and long days. And some days, that meant temperature changes of 30 or more degrees within a single outing. Hellloooooo layers!

I’ve got a ‘shape like a Coca Cola bottle,’ as Mr Killa would say, which can make layering and dressing warmly tough. It quickly goes from cute to dumpy, and then I start looking like Randy in his snowsuit in A Christmas Story.

But snug layers lay smoothly, and that’s what I used to still look fit and feminine as I kept warm. Two pairs of opaque tights paired with warm socks kept my legs and toes cozy. A thin thermal shirt went under my sweater, and despite its ladylike styling, this coat is well-lined and really warm, while compact enough to toss in the backpack when temperature rose.

I’ll rewear this outfit this fall- it’s just comfortable for a long day, so well-suited to the temperature swings when going in and out of the cold, and still looks polished.

loveRavayna

October 14, 2015

0 In style

WiW: a little bit of lilly

One of the “benefits” of being on the road as much as I am is that I’ve acclimated to minimal sleep. I think it’s the perpetual time changes, but my body just wakes itself up. It helps with my crazy-early mornings, which are most of them on the road. And on occasion, like when you want to book European dinner reservations or be at the front of the line when Target releases a limited-edition collection, it’s clutch.

I was wide awake the morning Lilly for Target was being released, so headed out to the fracas. I met a pair of darling girls in the line and made friends, so we shopped as a team once people went running in. I was grateful for their kindness- there were some crazies and some super rude eBay sellers in the crowd. But I got in and out with everything I wanted and then some, so I considered it a win.

These floaty little shorts were one of my favorite scores from that day. I had to put a stitch in to keep them from being curtains to a little skinshow, but they are so comfortable. The pattern has some sass, but is remixable. And I have to giggle at myself, for sharing yet another crop top look, and one with short shorts to boot- I promise my navel’s not always on display.? I actually was really opposed to wearing crop tops for a while, since I’ve already trended through them as a teen, but they are just everywhere, and LA’s hotter than Hades, so I relented. This is about the maximum skin I can show and still feel like myself though. #sobasic.

I obsess over espadrilles, and these were a souvenir from Barcelona, along with the white graphic sunnies (trip recaps coming so soon!) I loved them so much I bought Erin a pair too (thats’s how we roll). When we got dressed for lunch during our Palm Springs trip and found ourselves twinning, we cracked up.

loveRavayna

September 3, 2015

0 In style

WiW: matched gingham

A sweet pageant mom I know opened a precious online and mobile boutique this summer, Polkadot Pineapple. I ordered this darling two-piece outfit pretty much as soon as I spotted it, and was actually one of their first orders. I’m so into coordinating outfit sets- I love the versatility they bring as seperates and the matchiness soothes my OCD soul.

I should probably have it taken in, or give it a go myself- the fit’s a bit roomy- but I was too excited to wear it to delay. I wore it to a double dinner date with a great girlfriend from high school who was visiting LA. It was so fun getting to visit and catch up and for our husbands to get to know each other! We had an amazing meal at Terrine, chatting till closing.

A few of my accessories are treasured gifts, new and old. The bracelet was one of too many birthday treats from Erin in Palm Springs, and I received the delicate pearl necklace as a bridal tea gift. My sapphire ring and hoop earrings are beloved heirlooms, inherited from David’s grandmother and mine, respectively. And the shoes were definitely a gift from the sale gods- I found them on ridiculous clearance, at Burlington of all places.

loveRavayna

August 12, 2015

0 In style

WiW: transitional neutrals

Every so often, I’ll be sharing a recent outfit as a part of this series. I’m not trying to paint myself as some avant garde, fierce fashionista, but I love looking cute without going broke, and often it comes together nicely.

Getting dressed in LA can be tough this time of year. It’s been chillier than it seemingly should, which is inopportune- I want to be wearing summer sundresses with bare limbs. But with leftover June gloom spilling over into July, it goes from sweltering to bracing in a gust of wind or the passage of a cloud.

This outfit satisfied my need for the whites and lights of summer, with enough coverage to keep the shivers under control. It was perfect for a busy recent day- pulled together yet comfortable for a day of meetings and client consults.