Fashion Week Outfit, Feat. Qi Cashmere and Craft & Culture

With February's New York Fashion Week just around the corner, I thought I would show you my favorite outfit from last fashion week. I was lucky enough to work with two amazing brands to pull the outfit together (Qi Cashmere and Craft & Culture), and the result was one really excited me. Check it out!

The sweater from Qi Cashmere is beautiful. The material is lightweight but very warm, and the knit and fit are perfect. It's great for dressing up or hanging out in a pair of jeans in, and it's something I'll be able to wear for many seasons to come.

The amazing necklace is a one-of-a-kind piece by designer Meghann Sommer. I saw it online and I wanted it instantly. What it didn't expect was that it would weigh a ton (it has a leather strap that goes around your neck instead of a chain), but getting to wear something so special was worth it!  I love statement pieces, and the ones Meghann makes are incredible. I really hope to buy some of her pieces one day.

The lip color I used is really cool product from OCC Cosmetics called Lip Tar. I love it because it can be applied as light or as heavy as you want, and it wears for a long time. The product comes in the tiniest little tube, but it lasts for months because very light application is encouraged. The rusty red color I used is called Starling. 

Craft & Culture also let me borrow this beautifully simple necklace from designer Fail to wear. It's such a sweet little piece! It's so comfortable that you forget you're wearing it. 

And, of course, bloopers. 

Amazing Jewelry Elizabeth Patterson and Meghann Sommers (That I Get To Wear!)

 What could be inside the fascinating brown box? Why, I'll show you...

THIS. In all it's amazing glory.

As I mentioned in my last post, the fantastical people at Craft and Culture were kind enough to lend me some of their incredible items to wear during NYFW. I really love the idea behind Craft and Culture because it focuses on showcasing and highlighting new designers of all kinds. The talent that they have on their website is stunning and I highly recommend that you check them out. This necklace is from &c. by Meghann Sommers, and I fell in love with it the very moment I saw it. The quartz cluster is HUGE and it totally claims the title of being the heaviest necklace I have every had the pleasure of wearing. I really need to be careful when I'm wearing it. That thing could be used as a weapon. The crystal is enormous, cloud-like, beautiful, and a fantastic centerpiece for an outfit. I love how natural it looks-- like it was plucked straight from some mind-blowingly incredible mine and placed on a chain to be worn as art. You can read more about it here. Something I didn't realize until after it was sent to me is that this necklace is one of a kind. So, basically I have the only one. I don't mean 'well, duh, every crystal is different." I mean, I have the only one of this style.  That makes me feel rather special.

The second necklace is this stunning little gem from Elizabeth Patterson. I loooove this one, you guys. It's light, it's a great accent to so many outfits, and the color and tone are gorgeous. You can read more about it here. Something about this piece is really personal to me, due to the fact that it was hand crafted, and Elizabeth's initials are stamped into it. That little detail really means a lot to me, because I think today we have lost that connection between artist and buyer. The quartz is a little jagged, giving it that 'perfectly-imperfect' feel. It's a really beautiful stone, and you can see right through it. This is also a 'one-of-a-kind-I-have-the-only-one-in-the-world-gee-I-feel-super-cool' piece.

 Can you see the initials?

Huge thanks to Craft and Culture, &c., and Elizabeth Patterson for being kind enough to let me borrow these wearable works of art. I'm so excited wear them this week! I'm planning to work the &c. necklace into my outfit today, and I can't wait to show you the result. 
PS. Craft and Culture, &c. and Elizabeth Patterson all have pretty rad blogs (see here for CC, here for &c., and here for EP)

Away To Fashion Week We Go!

(I think this picture perfectly expresses how I'm feeling right now.)

I'm soooo excited for Fashion Week, you guys!!! It feels like I have spent the last month getting ready for it, and here it is the morning of the 9th and I feel so unprepared. Ah. Such is life. I still don't have my outfits planned. I think for most people, that's the first thing they think of. For me, it's the last. Heck, I just finished shopping yesterday. My heels aren't even broken into yet! But something always works out. I'm really excited because I have been lucky enough to get a couple of my outfits/accessories sponsored from some awesome companies like Ainsley, Qi Cashmere, and Craft and Culture. I can't wait to show you the pieces-- they're amazing!  

Today I get to attend presentations from WHIT and M.Patmos, which I'm happy about. Both are brands I deeply love and I can't wait to see what they have in store for fall 2012! 

I feel like this is something that I have been waiting for for a very long time. Instead of a show or two, I have been invited to about 20 presentations-- my most to date. I can't wait to get out there. It's been really testing, though. I promised myself and my family two things-- one, that I would not go to fashion week on Sunday, due to my beliefs in keeping the Sabbath day holy, and two being that I would not go to fashion week on my little sisters 12th birthday, which is the 15th. Because of this, naturally, it's like every single show is on the 12th and 15th. How unfair is that? Due to this, it has cut my shows in half, which is something I have been a bit sad about. But I believe what goes around comes around, and I hope that something good comes of my choices to honor my commitments. I still get to attend four whole days of fashion week, and I'm determined to make the best of them!

With that being said, I'll talk to you all later. I need to go get my outfits together.

 Happy New York Fashion Week!