how much leg is too much leg?

Skirt, Bare Edit

My dear neglected blog, 

I'm sure by now you're used to my hiatuses. Work, holidays and life got the best of me. 

But I'm here now, dressed up in a silky skirt with extra leg. Forgive me?

Now, can we talk about the Venice skirt? The skirt that's a mini skirt disguised as a maxi skirt. Still following? Good. 

I wanted to design a skirt with a slit - a slit as high as I could get away with. But quickly realized that wouldn't work, as my collection would be made in silk... one gust of wind and your assets would be on display for the world to see. Since I couldn't seem to part with the idea of a high slit, I decided to add a tie right around the slit. Tie it for more coverage. Untie it for more leg leverage. It's also a wrap skirt - aka eat as much cookies as you want. Bare Edit, fully looking out for babes everywhere.  

x, B 

slip into something silky

slip dress, BARE EDIT

I credit a lot of my career to this blog. I started this blog 6 years ago with one thing in mind: I wanted to work in fashion. I had a degree in Business Admin from a decent college and zero fashion experience. (Good luck, right?) I knew it was going to be really hard. Actually, I was told by multiple people that I should do something more "realistic." At the time, those words didn't really phase me, probably because I was young and had that attitude of "I don't have to listen to anyone, Imma do what I wanna do."

For years I documented my personal style through this blog. I had no idea what I was doing. It wasn't about impressing my friends or peers, as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure all my friends and family thought I was weird. I only cared about getting my foot in an industry that had this massive lock on it. I learned to shoot with a point-and-shoot camera. I picked up Photoshop and basic HTML. I hated it, but I did it so I could create my content the way I envisioned it. 

Fast forward a year later, I landed an internship at ELLE Magazine. And six months later, my first job blogging for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. I never disclosed that to anyone except my closest friends and a few curious ones that asked. But this was my DREAM job. I got paid to blog and create beautiful editorial images. I thought it couldn't get any better, until now.

Fast forward five years later, I started a business.

My very own brand, BARE EDIT. A highly curated online shop with basic, effortless and minimalistic pieces that are meant to be eternally wearable - all seasons and every season. 

This blog still means a lot to me because none of this could have happened without this blog as a platform to showcase my vision. So much so that I even named my brand after it.

So I thought it only made sense that I share a little background on BARE EDIT right here.

A L O H A

 all photos taken with my iPhone. 

I spent my Christmas in Maui - the island of perpetual rainbows. 

I now fully understand the term "island life." In a nutshell? Tropical wind, slow pace, no worries, shells around your neck and drink in your hand. 

We were in Maui for 4 days, which was plenty. Here are a few DOs for Maui: 

We spent our first day boating around the island. If you can, DO hire a skipper (we also did this in Croatia) to show you around the island. They took us to the best snorkeling spots, where we HEARD whales underwater. YEAH, I KNOW. On the way back to the island we also ran into our whale friends. 

DO the 3 S of Maui - Skimpy clothing, snorkeling and shaved ice. When in Hawaii, you really only need one thing - a bikini. Go snorkeling. Then find the best spot for shaved ice. The one we went to was called Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice, which was the number one rated spot in Maui.

DO visit a fish market. It's crowded, small, smells like fish, and SO worth it.

The only thing that really sucked about this trip was the wind. But as Hawaii only has two seasons, dry and wet, it was kind of hard to avoid. December is the wet season, so there was a small drizzle every few hours. If you can, avoid going during the wet season. DO your research on where to stay. We quickly found out that the more south of Maui you go, the less rain there was. 

Lastly, if you love R. Kelly as I do and love island vibes as I do... 

t o p s h e l f i e

I stick to a pretty minimal beauty routine. Besides moisturizer and SPF, I prefer a bare face on most days. But for the moments I'm feelin' myself, I turn to these three products. All of which I highly recommend, obvi.

On my nails

Dior nail vernis in Blue Label

During the cooler months I wear 3 colors on my nails and 3 colors only. Red, burgundy and this dark blue. This blue is elegant, sexy and a bit angsty. I mean... who doesn't want Dior on their nails?

On my cheeks

Nars Illuminator in Copacabana

I've done a hefty amount of research on highlighters and this Nars illuminator came in number one. It's definitely sparkly, and I am NOT a sparkle girl, but when it comes to this product I'm fully drinking the kool-aid. The slight shimmer makes me look all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Dab it around the eyes, on the top of the cheekbones and watch it work its magic. Trust. 

On my lips

Nars lipstick in Dress to Kill

Here's the deal - I hate lipstick on myself. It looks great on everyone else, but on me it's just... blah. However, if I were to pick one lipstick to wear for the season, this is it. I love this color because it's so buildable. One swipe of it and it's like you've got wine-stained lips, minus the wine-stained teeth. Two swipes of it and you've got yourself a serious lip statement. xx    

high on neck, higher on slit

 

Dress, nastygal

It's that time of the season... the temperature's dipping and Friendsgiving invites are rolling in. Now you need something to wear. 

I'm going to suggest we chill on the sequin and velvet until December, instead I'm going to make a case for the turtleneck dress. Well, specifically this turtleneck dress. There's just something about the contrast of a high neck and a high slit that has me fully invested. I'm always on the hunt for items that lengthen. This dress is it. The ultra high slit elongates the legs, and the high neck stretches the torso. This killer dress will have every one calling you for a hotline bling, kidding! ... I think.
Hotline bling or not, turtle up and let's up the temperature.

As for the hair, I tried 3 styles: tucked, un-tucked and ribbon-tied. My vote is for it tucked under (scroll to photo 1 & 3). You won't have to worry about your hair going flat halfway through the night, and it adds extra warmth - bonus! 

ripped.

Levi's, by Re/done

"Are you that broke you can't afford to buy a new pair of jeans?" 

My father asked me that a few weeks ago, and to be honest, I'm not sure I want a new pair. Because nothing really compares to a pair of fully lived-in jeans... rips and all. The ones I'm wearing are from Re/done. Re/done is a really rad brand that's taking vintage Levi's apart and repurposing the fabric to make "new" jeans. All the pieces are hand stitched, making each pair that much more special. But I'm not going to lie, this rip is getting bigger and bigger. Either I need to stop eating cookies or go up a size, both of which I'm not willing to do. IDK.
 

b l u e : from sunset to sunrise

Night: Blazer, Alexander Wang. Shoes, Chloe. Choker, H&M.

Day: Dress, Vintage from Jet Rag. Shoes, Chloe. Hair tie, random ribbon.

The thing about having blonde hair is that you get to experiment with all different colors - blue, pink, purple, grey... If you didn't already know, supernatural colors on hair are all semi-permanent. Which means they don't stay in for long. Two weeks max. Which also means, I'm banking as many selfies as I can before this blue peacock hair thing fades on me. 

Here's the thing with wearing colored hair - You HAVE TO rock it. Colored hair can be a little tricky in that it sometimes comes off a little cheap, but I strongly believe that it can easily be elevated. So here are 3 things I've learned as I continue tasting the rainbow. 

1. Black. Pair your hair with all black and immediately watch yourself go from zero to a hundred. I will forever be team blazer, and by that I mean just the blazer, nothing else. 

2. Match it. I've been doing this thing where I match my outfit to the color of my hair. Surprisingly, it doesn't look as tacky as you'd think. If you don't want to do full color on color, then wear something that has just a tad of the same color as your hair.

3. Simple makeup. The hair is a lot. So keep the makeup minimal. A little lip stain is sexy, especially for the day time.