Fall Daily Essential: Suede Skirt + 3 Ways I Style It

Suede skirts are currently the "IT" Fall item of 2015. However, in all honesty, suede skirts are nothing new to Fall. During the colder months of Fall and Winter, suede skirts "have been" and will always be, a wardrobe staple.

As beautiful, and flirty as they look, they are equally warm; making them practical and functional. Over the past 10 years,  I have collected a small collection of my favorite suede skirts, and they vary in colors, shapes, and lengths. For me, they are classic pieces, that take all Fall pieces to the next level. I look forward to bringing them out each Autumnal season and styling them in new ways as I grow older and evolve.s 

If you do not own a suede skirt, it maybe interesting for you to add one to your Fall  wardrobe! I highly recommend searching vintage shops and purchasing real leather verses fake. Not only will you get more bang for your buck, you will also prevent the killing of more additional animals. Fake leather is not something I would recommend, simply because this is a "staple" piece and should be an item you can wear year after year. 

My Top 3 Ways to Style a Suede Skirt:

Top #1 : Chunky Knit Sweater

This is absolutely my top pick of how and why I love wearing suede skirts with ultra cuddly soft, warm, knit sweaters. The look is relaxed, and effortless. My hair and make up would be natural and soft, creating an overall vibe of comfort, elegance, and warmth. 

Top #2 : Light, Feminine Blouse

Light, feminine blouses are a wonderful contrast to the textures of a suede skirt. 

During colder weather, I would pair it with a V-kneck sweater, or sweater vest. The look is 

flirty and playful, and perfect for those days you are feeling feminine. 

Top #3 : Denim Top 

Pairing a Denim top to a suede skirt is the quickest way to achieve a more casual look. It is relaxed in attitude, and yet somewhat studious in structure. It is a look I gravitate to on my coffee dates with friends, or casual business meetings. 

Join me everyday for more Fall Style!

xo,

Maya

Locks of Love: (Update)

 

How to Donate Your Hair to Locks of Love

My Story: Cutting My Hair for Locks of Love

Back in August, I wrote about my experience with Locks of Love and donating my hair. 

Today, it came full circle, when I received a beautiful postcard notifying me that my hair 

would now be made into a child's hairpiece. It is honestly, surreal to think something like 

my hair, could make a difference in someone's life. 

Part of me selfishly wishes I could see the final outcome, but the mystery of not knowing 

where and who my hair will end up with adds a touch of "magic" to the entire experience. 

My entire experience with Locks of Love, from beginning to end, has been fulfilling, meaningful,

and beautiful. I would personally recommend the experience to anyone.

You truly receive more in the gesture of giving than receiving. 

Although, it may seem like such a tiny gesture to cut your hair and to donate it, it is in the smallest

gestures of love, that bigger changes are made.

xo,

Maya

Fall Daily: Style from Oktoberfest?

 Happy Oktoberfest!

When we think of Oktoberfest we think of beer. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and it attracts nearly 6 million visitors from all around the world. 

However, as I am not keen on beer, my focus is on the fashion. Specifically, the traditional Bavarian attire of Lederhosen, and Dirndl. 

                                         LEDERHOSEN

Lederhosen are traditional breeches usually made from leather. They can be found short or at knee length. The longer ones are usually called Bundhosen or Kniedhosen. 

They mimic the playfulness of overalls, while maintaining a nostalgia of bavarian history. 

Lately, I have been loving wearing brown leather shorts, with a chiffon, cream blouse. The look is "lederhosen inspired".

                              

                                                DIRNDL

A dirndl is a traditional dress worn in Bavaria. It consists of a bodice, blouse, full skirt and apron. While appearing to be simple and plain, a modern dirndl can be quite intricate and expensive. The look is playful, sweet, and feminine. 

Although, I do not go around sporting an apron, I am inspired by the beauty of a a full circle skirt, and a ruffled blouse under a fitted corset. 

Join me everyday for more Fall Style!

xo,

Maya 

Fall Daily: Seductive Style of Chocolate

Why is chocolate Sexy?

Lately, everything CHOCOLATE has been on my mind. It has literally, melted into my fashion psyche and infused itself into my daily style.

What is it about chocolate that feels so good?

Scientists would probably describe my slight obsession with chocolate as a chemical response to phenylethylamine (PEA) and serotonin found in chocolate. These are natural "feel-good" substances that mimic body reactions similar to falling in love.

However, how would they explain the fact, that chocolate itself, is quite seductive visually? Before even tasting it, the color, texture, and consistency oozes with seduction. The tiniest glance at a tub of melted chocolate or a box of mixed chocolates makes me immediately, lustful.

How to dress like Chocolate:

1.) Color: 

Visualize a chocolate palette. The basics are dark, milk, or white, however, the vast color array of chocolate is endless.

2.) Think texture: 

Chocolate can be decorative and fancy, chopped, melted, etc. If you love the look of melted chocolate try a brown silk scarf, or satin dress. If you fancy a chocolate bar, think leather clutch.

3.) Are you Bitter-sweet?

In my opinion, chocolate is sexy because it is unnoticeably powerful. It combines the bitter flavors of cacao, with the ultra sweetness of sugar, melting two worlds into a blissful harmony. 

There is depth to its character and a quality that should be remembered when styling Fall outfits. There is no need to try too hard when wearing this seductive color. It is not within the color that is sexy but the mixture of wearing "bitter" and yet being sweet. The contradiction is what is seductive. 

Join me everyday for more Fall Style!

xo,

Maya

Fall Daily: Style Through the Eyes of Claude Monet

Saint-Georges majeur au crépuscule (Eng: Dusk in Venice, San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight or Sunset in Venice; 1908-1912; Oil on Canvas. National Museum Cardiff, of Cardiff Whales.

Did you ever wonder what Fall must have looked like through the eyes of impressionist painter Claude Monet? One of my most favorite works of art is his, Sunset in Venice, Saint-Georges majeur au crépuscule. 

Sunset in Venice, was inspired by a trip Monet took with his wife during the Fall season (October-December 1908). It features the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, and the glorious warm colors created by the sunsets of Fall. 

Monet often painted looking out from his hotel room; however, San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk appears to have been painted from the waterfront. San Giorgio Maggiore was painted in six various lighting conditions, and varies slightly by the ‘nature of experience.’

                  FASHION STYLE TIPS INSPIRED BY MONET

When I get inspired by anything, the main focus is on what I like, and why. 

Sunset in Venice, is therapeutic to look at, and warm in texture, and color. How can I infuse those positives in my style?

First of all, where is the warmth coming from? 

The soft textures of Monet's brush strokes, warm colors, and gentle shading of ombre transitions, make the entire piece pleasing to the eyes.

Adopting those features into your style, can be accomplished by infusing the same combination of color choices, and the selection of textures or materials that create a soft, warm effect.

Join me Everyday for Daily Fall Style Tips? 

xo,

Maya

Fall Daily: Style Inspired by Poetry of John Keats?

Fashion inspiration is found in unlikely places. Why not poetry? 

The beautiful words of John Keats, and his descriptive vision of an Autumnal walk, are filled with bundles of creative inspiration on the very essence of Fall. Like a sweet melancholic melody, let the words of Keats inspire you!

"To Autumn" by English Poet, John Keats, was composed near Winchester.  Ironically, it became his final work in a group of poems known as Keat's, 1819 Odes, and he passed away a little over a year after its publication.

To Autumn

by John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,

Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cider-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,-

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

WHEN POETIC INTERPRETATION MEETS FASHION:

"While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;" (To Autumn; Keats)

"To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,"

 (To Autumn; Keats)

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun" (To Autumn; Keats)

Join me everyday for more Fall Style! (Posting everyday in October and November)

xo,

Maya

Fall Daily: Harvesting Wheat Fields Inspire Golden Dreams

Vincent van Gogh. Wheatfield with a Reaper, 1890.  Oil on canvas, approximately 2' 5" by 3".  Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

If the sunset is the golden hour of the day, Fall is the golden season of the year. Harvest time is marked by the the final gifts from nature and the fields are painted golden.

Yellow gold is a mixture of sparkling golds and somber burnt yellows, and it continues to inspire Life in all of us. 

The climactic "Fall effect" of life meeting death, is somewhat appropriate to the somber shimmer of golden yellow. The color has even sparked inspiration in such Artists as Vincent Van Gogh, who often used the color in many of his most famous works. 

Vincent Van Gogh once wrote to his brother Theo the following message regarding his "Wheatfield with a Reaper" painting.

I then saw in this reaper – a vague figure struggling like a devil in the full heat of the day to reach the end of his toil – I then saw the image of death in it, in this sense that humanity would be the wheat being reaped. (...) But in this death nothing sad, it takes place in broad daylight with a sun that floods everything with a light of fine gold."

If there is one color to add to your Fall line up, try a bit of golden sun!

Join me tomorrow for more daily Fall Style! (Posting everyday: October, November)

xo,

Maya