Ashley's Bio

Hey guys!

I realize that I do have a short about me tab right on the top of my page, but here I have decided to get a little more in depth about who I am and what I love, that being fashion.

I was born in Miami, Florida and lived there until I was in 6th grade. From there, my family and I moved to Fort Lauderdale so that we could be closer to my sister's university. Much of my ideas about fashion and style come from my mom and sister. When I was younger, my mom did not allow  me to just sit in my pajamas all day, she would make sure that no more than an hour after I got up that I was fresh, clean, and dressed for company, as we usually had family or friends come to visit randomly and she wanted us to have our best foot forward. Now, it doesn't take me hours to get ready, I am pretty low maintenance as it only takes me (after showering and teeth brushing) about 5-20 minutes to put on make-up (if you read one of my prior blogs, you know that I don't even know how to use a lot of make up), but even if it's just something as little as going to the store to pick up some milk, I take a few minutes to put together a sundress and cardigan or cute shorts and an awesome pair of sandals because you never know who you are going to see.

My style sense came from my sister. I own a few pieces that are really bright and loud, but for the most part, my clothes are earthy, darker colors, with calm patterns. That way it is easier to create a variety of different looks with limited amounts of clothes. If you can't afford to have the world's biggest closet, you biggest friend is to stick to earthy color, solids, and calm patterns because when you re-wear them and style them in different way, it is easier to make it look like an entirely different piece of clothes. Like on one blog I wrote, I could easily re-wear all of those pieces of clothes in different ways because they easily go with a ton of other things. Nothing there is too busy and too crazy to wear multiple times a month. Having a closet like this, is also a huuuge budget saver!

As you know, I am all about the deals. I love finding cute clothes for low prices and some of my favorite places to shop are Sandy's, Plato's, and thrift stores in general. Not much feels better than to put together an amazing outfit from head to toe, and it costs you no more than $15.

On top of clothes, I love accessories and playing around with nail polish. Little do some people know, that sometimes it is the smallest things like a cute belt, earrings, or purse that can put an outfit together. I hope one day to be a on-air correspondent on E! where I get to talk about fashion, style and people's fashion all day. It literally would be a dream come true, so if you know Giuliana Rancic, let her know I say "Hey!"

Thrift haul: Finding great deals while staying stylish

Hello my fellow thrifters!

When it comes to fashion, style, and shopping, we all want to look our best, express ourselves, and wear clothes that we love without breaking the bank. This my friends, is what thrifting is all about. Thrifting allows you the thrill of getting a bunch of clothes and adding to your clothes, without the mall or department store prices.

To get ready for a great cruise to the Bahamas and to just get a some new clothes for our fashion forward lives, my best friend and I went to two of our favorite thrift/consignment stores yesterday: Plato's Closet and my ultimate guilty shopping pleasure, Sandy's, as seen in a previous blog posting.

Clothes-wise, here I have:

An orange chiffon dress with gold beading along the neckline that I will be wearing to one of the dinners on the cruise

A nude high low skirt that goes really well with...

A Forever21 daisy crop top

A mustard yellow high-waisted pair of shorts with a tribal printing and bow-tie belt

A black and white stripped body con dress

A sheer floral print top that will be great to wear on a beach day in the Bahamas

And my favorite piece, a Forever21 chiffon maxi dress that has a slit that comes up to my mid thigh

As for the accessories I have:

Dangling gold earrings with pink beads

A pair of nude suede wedges from Charlotte Russe

And my news favorite shoes, strappy black heels with gold beading from Carlos Santana

Looking up the shoes alone, Carlos Santana heels run from about $60 to $110 a pair. However, this entire shopping spree was under $90. Had I bought all of these pieces for their original prices, I would have spent well over $200. Can you say, deals?

Out on the town... with a chill.

Hello!

So, last night a few friends and I decided to go out to help a friend of mine celebrate her 21st birthday. It was a Tuesday, and just about everyone around here knows that 101 Downtown Techno Tuesday is the place to be.

Only problem was, it was a bit chilly out, with the low being about 45 degrees!

It felt more in the fifties so it wasn't too bad, but it was still is a bit cold for your usual club attire.

 

In my opinion, the best thing that you can do when it gets a bit cold out, but you still want o enjoy a night out with your friends is to:

1. Find cute ways to layer up.

or

2.  Take advantage of tights!

I, the girl on the far left, decided to layer up by just adding a fitted blazer to my outfit. I have on a cream and pink crop top with a black body con skirt and tan heels. Just by adding the blazer, I warmed myself up and added a new element to the outfit that made it look more complete. Leslie and Katy, the two girls on the right, took advantage of tights by pairing them with fitted shorts and a skirt that also added warmth while also styling up an outfit that was already cute before.

Keep in mind, that once you get into whatever club or bar, you are going to, it will get really warm, really fast, so try to just not layer up with a parka... unless of course, you are partying in the North Pole with some polar bears.

OOTD: 1/22/14

Hey guys and gals!

Ok, I am sure that most of you know, but just to be sure, OOTD means "outfit of the day" and since I am a day late (my apologizes) this is my outfit of the day for Tuesday, the 22nd here in good ol' Gainesville.

Yesterday had a high of 69 degrees Fahrenheit with a low of 47 degrees Fahrenheit. I was out when it was a bit on the warmer end so that explains why I am in shorts. Also, my legs tend to have a higher resistance to the cold, so for the most part, here in Florida as long as my arms, feet, and hands are warm I will probably be in shorts, a dress, or a skirt.

  

So yesterday I was only out for short while, but I still like to put together a decent outfit because you never know who you may run into.

It was a bit cold out, with dark clouds scattering the sky so I almost went all black and grey to reflect the weather. However, I instead chose to add a a flash of red to spice up the outfit. So as you can see, 

-loose fitting black high waisted shorts

-a red tank top

-black scarf

-black flats

-light grey sweater

The most expensive part of this outfit was the scarf. I can't remember how much it was, but I got it at a department store so you just take a guess.

I could have worn just a white tank top, but imagine how less visually pleasing that would have been compared to this vibrant red one. Just remember, it is really easy to spruce up any outfit, not matter how casual!