One Love

I'm a huge fan of statement tees because they add a little sass to an otherwise straightforward outfit, but they can also broadcast a good message if you're willing to showcase your beliefs on your chest. 

Anyone who knows me knows I am one thousand percent supportive of human rights. I believe that it doesn't matter who you are, who you love or what you believe in, a person is still a person no matter what and should be treated as such. I hope that one day gay marriage will be as common and accepted as interracial marriage and that another day not too far behind, they will both just be called 'marriages', without a need to specify who. That's why I was psyched when I found this American Apparel tank at Buffalo Exchange this week while probing the thrift scene.

My favorite thing about this shirt is the fact that it was originally sold at American Apparel. This casual clothing company has been around since 1989 when it was created by Dov Charney, a t-shirt specialist and an American culture aficionado. Now, the vender has since won "Retailer of the Year"at the 15th Annual Michael Awards for the Fashion Industry along with many other prestigious awards, and continues to be one of the fastest growing companies in the world. Not to mention that the company's target (young adults) is infatuated with the company because of the status AA has created for themselves. Companies like AA delivering social messages through their products (gay rights, immigration reform) tell teenagers who have not yet made up their minds about hot button issues that it's cool to support them. Status in the fashion world is HUGE and gives so much power to the people who hold it. I only wish more companies would use their influence like American Apparel does to help convince more people of what they, as humans, should be standing for. We're all here for the same reason, why make it harder for someone else on your team?

necklace: claire's

pants: bebe @ buffalo exchange

denim shirt: american eagle outfitters

sneakers: no name

hat: scoutmob.com

Easily paired casually or a little more sophisticated, this shirt is sure to make a pop not only with the words printed on it but also with the bright color of it.

shirt: reckless @ pac sun

shorts: sans soucy @ marshall's

boots: sm @ sear's

tights: t.j.maxx

bandana: michael's

Take the extra step of support and throw on a pair of heart printed leggings or tights to drive home the message of honest love.

skirt: forever xxi

cardigan: piazzitalia

moccasins: target

Express yourselves and your beliefs and think before you speak. You may not be able to change the world (or the government) but having an opinion matters. If your opinion is against someone's rights as a human, you're entitled to that, but reconsider before calling something 'gay' because you don't like it. If 'straight' were used a negative connotation, you wouldn't be too happy, so don't rain on someone else's parade just because they were born different from you. And for all you supporters out there, even if you just buy a t-shirt that says 'legalize gay' or get more educated on how far gay rights have come, it matters. Keep learning, and teach others around you about what they might not know. When it comes down to it, we're all in this together and I can't wait for the day that everyone realizes it.

- nali xo

Fashion AcaDEMIcs

Now that Halloween month is over, I'm back to spending my Wednesdays drooling over fashion icons and figuring out how to justly imitate their sense of style. Today, I happen to be drooling over Demi Lovato. 

Besides being talented and well-dressed, Demi has the it-factor everyone is dying for because of her ability to be 100% relatable to her fans. She has struggled with depression, self-harm and bulimia and has opened up about her battle so fans could understand and be inspired by her in their own trials. Demi may have gotten to where she is by being a 'Disney girl', but it's clear she has grown out of that image with class and now is a symbol of strength for teenagers and other age groups to overcome their personal monsters. 

Her style is very characteristic of the 'rocker' persona she now depicts through what she wears. In my opinion it seems she has three types of signature outfits:

The blazer & graphic tee combo

The sweater & shorts combo

Made in the USA theme

This is my way of pledging allegiance to Demi's one-of-a-kind sense of style

The blazer & graphic tee:

blazer: love culture

tee: ed sheeran official merchandise

pants: bdg @ urban outfitters

shoes: no name

Jacket & shorts with Demi-esque hair color top:

shirt: wet seal

jacket: sans soucy @ marshall's

shorts: vintage

tights: forever xxi

sneaks: converse

necklace: forever xxi

Sweater & shorts/Made in the USA:

shirt: bozzolo @ t.j.maxx

sleeveless sweater: mossimo @ target

shorts: forever xxi

boots: target

bracelets: forever xxi & h&m

necklace: macy's

Of course, if you want to completely snag her style, you'll have to get used to dyeing your hair...

A LOT (;

- nali xo

SamZARA of a denim shirt

First off, happy Halloween all you little ghosts and goblins! I hope you get enough candy today to rot all your teeth!


Samsara: (n) Buddhism  the transmigration or rebirth of a person.

All thrift stores have a Buddhist style to them don't you think? Each item of clothing that has some kind of story to tell is passed from person to person, each time being reborn and given new stories to tell from the people who wore them. Someone may have had the best night of their life in a pair of jeans that they eventually give away, one day becoming someone else's favorite pair of jeans. In my opinion it's quite magical all thrift shoppers are so closely connected without even realizing it.

For my thrift find of the week, I ventured into the men's section again and was lucky enough to stumble across an item of clothing from Zara. Not only is 10x cheaper than it would've been in the actual store, but it's something so simple that it can be worn many different ways, and yet so ornate in the casual design of it.

tank: forever xxi

pants: bdg @ urban outfitters

boots: de blossom collections

pants: target

belt: vintage

boots: sm @ sears

socks; christmas tree shop

 NOTE: Halloween 'trick or treat' socks should only be worn today and no other day. Side effects of wearing Halloween socks on days that are not Halloween may include, but are not limited to, pointing and laughing from strangers and a feeling of low self-esteem.

suspenders: macy's

pants: one clothing @ marshall's

boots: target

 Denim and corduroy, united in perfect harmony. Not too much corduroy that it overtakes the simple button-down denim design, but just enough to make it so the shirt isn't just another denim button-down design. How many more reasons do you need to start shopping for men's clothes?

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                      @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@         H A L L O W E E N
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(taken from http://www.chris.com/ascii/index.php?art=holiday/halloween)

- nali xo

Anything boys can do, girls can do better

Before this post's title starts world war 3 between all the men and women who read this blog I want to clear up that this line is only in reference to fashion (for right now). Any smart man will take a woman shopping with him to pick out clothes so he knows he will look good, and any man able to buy stylish clothes for himself is even smarter, more on a woman's level of intelligence. But separate from stereotypically having good taste in clothes, women have the ability to take a man's wardrobe and wear it themselves better than he can. I often find some of my favorite articles of clothing in the men's department rather than the women's, and that's exactly what I did for this week's thrift find.

A sweater is a sweater for the most part, but it is up to you and how you choose to wear it that determines how good of a sweater it is. If you find a gorgeous vintage Benetton sweater and wear it with plain jeans all the time, that's officially considered a waste. If you find a simple solid color sweater from the Gap or Old Navy and dress it up with shorts, leggings, tights, boots, jewelry, etc. etc. you're giving that simple sweater royalty status. Take this Buffalo Exchange recycled Hugo Boss sweater for example. It's just a basic two-faced green and navy sweater, which on it's own is already more original that a solid colored sweater. But pair it with the right patterns and other colors and instead of being the only focal point of an outfit, it becomes one of many charming aspects of one. 

collar: forever xxi

pants: target

shoes: wanted

pants: jennyfer fr

shoes: steve madden @ marshall's

beanie: michael kors

necklace: forever xxi

earrings: forever xxi

ring: forever xxi

skirt: forever xxi

scarf: collection eighteen @ macy's

boots: italian flea market

bracelet: macy's

See what I mean? It's a beautiful day to hang out your dirty laundry along with your disinclination towards subtle cross-dressing. Ladies, give the men's department a try and gentlemen, who knows, maybe man skirts will come around one day too.

- nali xo

"Are wild strawberries really wild? I will not be blamed if your wild strawberries can not be tamed."

- Shel Silverstein


Attempts to find a Halloween costume still fruitless? Orange you cutting it kind of close? Lucky for you I've matched up the perfect pear to ensure your costume is peachy.

Have you had it with the bad puns yet? I for one am just getting started (;

If you're really struggling this year to come up with a simple and creative Halloween costume, have no fear, I've got one a-peel-ing fix to open the door to a million new ideas: the tutu.

Pick any color, your favorite color, a color that makes you happy, a color that makes you sad, any kind of connection will work grape. Now, google said color and see what kind of random objects come up. Kinds of signs, flowers, candy, or fruits and vegetables. You're half way to a sublime costume. Once you have your color and your tutu of that color, just accessorize accordingly. I chose to go with the classic strawberry. Here is the fruit of my labors:

tutu: claire's, party stores, amazon

shirt: h&m

tights: forever xxi

boots: target

bandana: a.c.moore/michael's

Some kind of red shirt and tights with a green bandana ensures you'll have the sweetest costume anywhere you go this year! (Ok I'll cut it out with the bad puns) And if you want to take this costume a step further, why not go for the wild strawberry look? Tease your hair, put on crazy makeup and rip your tights. It's inventive and cute, what else could you need? 

Orange you glad I gave you this idea???

- nali xo

Every week's the same

We can all try to deny it, but laziness is in human nature. Even the most ambitious of people procrastinate and become trifling sometimes. My own personal downfall of laziness is dressing myself during a long week of school. My intentions are always good, but by the end of the week, negligence gets the best of me. I've created a #shoesdaytuesday timeline with a week of shoes, depicting the rise and fall of my urge to impress via my feet. Lucky for you guys you get to see what I see and think every day from my not-so-tall point of view. (hold your applause) Try to read these thoughts as if they were your own, will you?

MONDAY:

booties: jennifer lopez @ kohl's

leggings: just one @ marshall's

"I'm excited for the week. I know this week is gonna be different from last week. I'm gonna get dressed up really cute every day and put a lot of thought into what I'm wearing. It's gonna be great!"

TUESDAY:

boots: alma en pena

tights: forever xxi

shorts: urban outfitters

"Still putting in the effort. These boots are cute and my outfit isn't too casual... I'm doing pretty good this week."

WEDNESDAY:

moccasin booties: target

leather pants: target

"My feet hurt and it's cold out and I think it's raining and if it isn't then there are leaves everywhere I don't feel like wearing heels and these are still cute too ok"

THURSDAY:

sneakers: pom d'api

pants: bdg @ urban outfitters

"Is it Friday yet?"

FRIDAY:

booties: free lance

jumper: cache cache fr

"OMG I'm so excited it's Friday yay yay yay I have to get all dressed up so I'm motivated for the rest of the day I have a great weekend ahead of me oMG"

SATURDAY:

heels: free lance
leggings: pink @victoria's secret
sweater:   liz claiborne @ savers

 "The club can't even handle me right now"

And then the cycle starts all over again. If you don't consciously do it, pay attention to the way you dress yourself this week and I'm 73% sure you do it too. Or you will now once you've read this. May all your days be Mondays. (;

- nali xo

Big or Small, Save Them All

As I hope everyone already knows, October is national breast cancer awareness month. Beside skin cancers, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in America. The statistics are way too high, with 1 in 8 American women diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. In 2013, 232,340 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed and 39,620 women will die from breast cancer. That's way too high a number of mothers, sisters, daughters and wives being lost to a disease that develops genetically, without missteps from the patient. Although it is possible to treat breast cancer through radiation, chemotherapy and other kinds of therapy, there is no surefire way to prevent it before it starts. Organizations like The National Breast Cancer Foundation and Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation raise hundreds of millions of dollars each year to research new ways to fight breast cancer. Someday I hope the geniuses working in medical research will find a single, simple way to successfully cure breast and other kinds of cancers, but for now all we can do is donate our support and money and pray that the cure is close by. This week's manicure Monday is a nod to the American Cancer Society and other organizations working to find a cure, along with all the women and their families battling with this disease. For more information visit http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/index or http://www.nbcam.org.

 Pink for breast cancer and cheetah print for all the strong fighters battling their way through life. Each patient is a brave warrior and deserves to be seen as such. My lovely sister, Monica, models a pink accented outfit to match the breast cancer theme.

sweater: say what @ marshall's

pants: 1st kiss @ marshall's

bow: forever xxi

leg warmers: target

boots: target

purse: forever xxi

Show your support this month & every month.

Sources: http://www.nbcam.org, http://www.cancer.org/index, http://www.nbcf.org.au/Home.aspx, 

- nali xo