Can I Get A Two Piece?

One thing I absolutely love about the summer is throwing on a simple two piece and heading out for lunch, or dinner or breakfast. (I’m hungry while typing this lol) This city seriously has some of the best spots to grab a bite to eat. Sometimes I wish getting dressed up, laughing with friends and spending unnecessary money could be my full time job. Vain… a tad bit but who wouldn’t want that lifestyle J On a more serious note, I grabbed this 2 piece from Zara recently and I love how versatile it is. I can throw this number on with sneakers or sandals and I can dress it up with heels. This will definitely be on repeat so don’t say I didn’t tell you so.

The Center

Hey my fashion lovers I’m back and on top of the bed of a huge truck! Why not!!! Live a little! Lately I have been sticking to very simple tones and patterns, white and black to be exact. I’m a firm believer you dress how you feel and as of late I guess you can say I’ve been wanting to keep things very simple. Why? Because you’re the happiest in life when you don’t have the dramas of the world weighing you down, whether it be work, relationships, and/or family. You have to always find your center in the midst of those stressors and do what’s best for you. Remember you will always burn yourself out worrying about everyone else’s happiness but your own! While everyone else worries about what’s beneficial to themselves.

 Often times keeping it simple can be very difficult however, anything or anyone that does not add value to your life or allow you to grow you have to cut it off and find your peace. That does not mean it won’t hurt but in the end it’s the best thing for you. Find what makes you truly happy, like ice cream on a hot day, finding money in your pocket when you’re broke, flowers from your secret admirer, a hug, a kiss, or simply snagging the last pair of shoes you’ve been wanting online! Simplicity at its best. 

Plaids

I love mixing patterns and prints. For today’s look I did it in a very subtle way, but still love how comfy and fashion forward this look turned out. Plaid has become somewhat of a neutral for me because the possibilities are endless when styling, which I love. What’s your favorite way to style plaids?

Simplicity

Keeping it simple in an all black fit today. With temperatures warming up it looks like New York will actually have a Spring season, which I’m excited about especially having temperatures in the negatives this past winter. Today’s fit was a no brainier sometimes it’s just easy to keep it easy . All black does just that. 

Dear New York

Missing home just a tad bit today. I promise you any transplant New Yorker would tell you the same thing. It’s like you love this city and hate it all at the same time. Some days you just need to take a quick break and press restart, if not the city will consume every bit of energy left in you. This is my new home and I don’t regret moving here for one minute I mean after all my life has been nothing short of amazing since moving, but home is where the heart is and some days you just miss it. I guess it all just takes some getting used to and in the year and almost a half I have been here I’m sure you could say I have a lot more things to learn. Here’s to New York!!!!

Code Blue

Checkered blues and gray hues what a perfect combination. I’m absolutely in love with this coat I recently scored from Forever 21. How classy and cute. I love its versatility. Can be dressed up with a dress and heels and dressed down with blue jeans and boots. Versatility is always an important factor when shopping. How many wears will I get out of this piece? Will it last? Is it a staple item or trendy? All important things to consider for longevity of your clothing items.  

Shun Melson

Shun Melson, celebrity stylist to names like Atlanta Housewives Kim Zolciak, Phaedra Parks, Kandi Burruss and many more. Last week I had the opportunity to sit and chat all things “Fashun”.

1.     What motivates you in an industry that can be so competitive and critical?

“Oh my gosh… I just love what I do, I love making people feel good, and look good. I got fired from Jeffries 10 years ago where I was making a ton of money. I was just so overwhelmed and I was like “what am I going to do” so I decided to just go out on faith and style people on my own. Now 10 years later I have never looked back.”

2.     What tips would you give to those that are looking to follow in your footsteps?

“Well, I have a fashion 101 class teaching stylists how to be a good stylist, and how to survive in this industry. The very first thing I tell them is to “Go The Extra Mile” because some of them just want to go half way and give up. But you have to go the extra mile, you have to network, you have to get out of your comfort zone, and those are just some of the things I teach in my class.”

3.     What trends are you predicting for Spring/Summer 2016?

“Of course floral! Neon prints, pink, burgundy will be big believe it or not, and fringe which is one of my faves right now.”

4.     What are some misconceptions about being a celebrity stylist?

“Everyone thinks it’s super easy. Everyone thinks it’s fabulous and that I’m around a lot of fabulous clothes, and I get to hang around fabulous people. But majority of the time I’m working like 18 hours a day. I sleep on the airplanes; it’s a lot of hard work. All they see on my Instagram is “Aww she has fabulous clothes and around fabulous people, and I can get there too” Then I hire them or bring them on as an intern, and their like “whattttt???”  And they last for maybe a week.”

5.     Name one person you wish you had the opportunity to style.

“I would love to style Rihanna. I love everything about her. She just looks like the type that really listens to whatever you say. If you ask her to dye her hair blue she’ll say “OK I’ll try it”. That’s like the ideal client. You never want to get a client that thinks they’re the stylist because it’s kind of like well why am I here?”

6.     If you weren’t a stylist what would you be doing?

“Something that has to do with clothing. Like I can play in clothes all day. So I would be in merchandising, that was my favorite things to do when I was at Jeffries I could stay in the store all night and just do the window displays.”

7.     What does style and beauty mean to you?

“It’s everything, it’s like my child. I get chills when I talk about it. It’s my world.”

8.     What’s next for Shun?

“After my classes, I definitely want to do a styling book. That’s on my to-do list and my tee shirts are doing amazing now. I started out with a tee shirt line because there was no place I could find tee shirts with African American women on them. The only thing I found was Kate Moss and Marilyn Monroe, so I decided to design shirts with African American women on them and people love them. Several celebrities have been seen in them. That’s just kind of like my passion project. I would love to see them in stores.”

9.     Describe yourself in one word.

“Fashun” F.A.S.H.U.N “Fashun”!

To check out more on Shun Melson, and purchase one of her tee shirts visit her website HERE