HOW TO MAKE YOUR FASHION STYLE REFLECT THE PERSON YOU ARE?

The process of dressing ourselves is the direct link between our mind, body, and heart. If all 3 parts work harmoniously, your fashion style will give an accurate portrayal of the person you are.

How do you strengthen your fashion mind, body, and heart?

Mind: 
The mind/brain is like the headquarters of processing practical matters of fashion. This is the area of educating yourself on fashion knowledge, etiquette, and basic common sense. Study designers, collections, trends, history, and fill up your fashion bank with information. Know the difference between, such things as black ties, verses cocktail, and most importantly use your common sense.

Body:
Positive body image and a solid understanding of your body type is a crucial aspect of fashion style. You must feel good about your body naked or else the process of dressing will always be a strategic act of hiding, manipulating, or deceiving. If you have gained some extra weight then lose it, but learn what your "healthy" weight is and STAY on it.
My healthy weight is the same as when I was in High School, and I fluctuate + or - 10 pounds. Staying on this one size allows you to understand your body shape. I can look at a pair of pants, or top and know quickly whether it will fit.

Heart:
The heart is by far the hardest part for most people. If you are not naturally instinctual, you may find it difficult to form your fashion style based on what you feel. It requires emotional freedom and the ability to express it without fear of judgement or rejection. Strengthening your heart, will require surrounding your life with whatever you love.

           You will find your identity in everything and anything your heart decides to love. 

xo,

Maya

Fall Daily: "A Touch of Love"

Jewelry is often a simple fashion statement. However,  sometimes, if you are lucky, you will be gifted a piece that is a touch of love.  These pieces are magical, sentimental, and heartfelt. They touch you in a way that goes beyond fashion, and straight to your heart. 

My "touch of love" pieces, were gifted to me by my mother. She received the the ring from her mother, and the necklace from her father when she was a young girl. I loop the ring into the necklace, and wear them together, and something about it, fills my heart with magic. 

My mind is flooded with imagery of what it must have been like to be my grandfather as he went shopping around stores looking for this very necklace to gift to my mother. What must have rushed through his head as he debated which item to choose, and what she would like. I wonder what it must have been like to see my mother's reaction as she opened this very gift, and now to have it strung around my very neck, I cannot help but melt into smiles. 

Although, my grandfather is no longer with us, I still remember him daily. His relationship with my mother was a beautiful one, and something I admired greatly.  I am not close to my own father, and quite honestly, do not know much about what having a father is really like. Such love between father and daughter is a beautiful one, and although I may not have that in my life, I feel blessed to have a token of that love between my mom and grand-daddy. 

Join me tomorrow for more daily Fall style!

Xo,

Maya

Salvador Dali's Jewelry Collection

“My art encompasses physics, mathematics, architecture, nuclear science – the psycho-nuclear, the mystico-nuclear – and jewelry – not paint alone,” 
“My jewels are a protest against emphasis upon the cost of the materials of jewelry"
-Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali is infamous for his impact as a Surrealist painter, but it is interesting to note, his artistic genius did not stop at the tips of his drying paint brush. He was well known for his eccentric impact on avante garde fashion and innovator of the term "statement jewelry". All his creations whether paintings, furniture, fashion or jewelry, were all forms of a statement and no detail was ever overlooked. 
Each stone represented a deeper meaning. For example, rubies were used to represent energy, sapphires tranquility and lapis lazuli for the subconscious mind. His early attempts produced striking, bejeweled translations of his surrealist painting. Hearts bursting open and dripping blood, eyes weeping and melting, sensuous lips, are some subjects he used to recreated his art into forms of Jewelry. 

Eye of Time Watch:

Made of blue enamel, diamonds, platinum and cabochon ruby.

 “Man cannot escape or change his time. The eye sees the present and the future.” 

-Dali

"Honeycomb Heart" - made of rubies, gold, and diamonds.

“My object is to show the jeweler’s art in true perspective – where the design and craftsmanship are to be valued above the material worth of the gems, as in Renaissance times.” -Dali

In other words, it was important for Dali to emphasize ART above monetary value. Meaning over cost, he wanted the buyer or viewer to think, to appreciate the message behind the Art.

                Dali's 1949 Brooch inspired by Mae West's lips.

"Poets of the ages, of all lands, write of ruby lips and teeth like pearls."

-Dali

Before designing his own jewelry line, he was already a great influencer to avante garde fashion and costume jewlery. Elsa Schiaperelli was a huge fan of Dali and was greatly influenced by his works and the entire  Surrealist Movement. 

Dali's Starfish brooch was among the nine Dali jewels featured in “Surreal Things”  at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Made of pearl, diamonds,  rubies and emeralds the pin is designed to wrap around the hand and fingers!

The Dali Museum in Figuero Spain holds a permanent exhibition on Dali Jewelry.