The Tiny Closet

When I go super casual, I of course try to balance it with a great hair style, a bright, fresh face and a pop of accessory of some kind.

 
What is it about luxury that makes it so elusive?  Surely, we can identify it once we see it.  But to achieve the look ourselves, to embody it in our own way tends to be a feat.  Magazines, television, department stores, they're all virtually prodding us endlessly to try to achieve this "look of luxury" by buying a product.  As if it comes in physical form.  And after sampling whats offered, for most of us, whatever we buy never quite pulls it off.  And if it does, you better maintain it by buying more!  

Yes, luxury, it seems, is for those who can afford it...  

Naaah, I don't buy it.
Maybe luxury is so elusive because its active ingredient is a feeling exuded.  Not a look.  
And true luxury is not to be confused with glamour.
No - today, I'm discussing "Luxury"!  
What is it made up of fundamentally?  
How can you make it apart of your daily lifestyle?
Ok, so take away the Gucci bags, the expensive shades, the Louboutin heels, etc - I've seen women in jeans and a tee, without a stitch of makeup looking gloriously luxurious.  What gives?

What do they possess that everyone else is trying to copy?  
I've studied this concept of luxury probably longer than I've been aware.  And then I'm reminded of my upbringing:  My parents!

My parents always had champagne tastes and an incredible work ethic to buy that champagne.  But it's not about the money.  I realize they never did much traveling or extravagant vacations.  They decided to spend their energy and interests at home in their daily lifestyle.

My friends would always say my parents were so fancy.  But really... they just took more pride in the quality of their daily life, their personal time, and their daily leisure.  

And that right there embodies true luxury.
So going forward with this theory, let us do some dissecting, shall we?  Luxury is simply the art of maintaining:

QUALITY  -  TIME  -  LEISURE

These 3 components actually umbrella many aspects of life.  

• Quality of the things you buy and the clothes you wear.  The life you lead and the friends you surround yourself with.

• Time management for yourself to exercise, therapize, and learn new things.  Time to dedicate to others.  

• Leisure to chill the fuck out.  Grab a coffee, go to the beach, have a 3-hour brunch with friends.  Because life is hectic and work can be intrusive of our space.

Last year, I decided to indulge in the creative, resort side of swimwear.  This year, the theme has been all.about.comfort.  In more ways than one.  I want to be comfortable in my clothes enough to forget about them and enjoy my life.  Especially when I'm at the beach. 

 dress: The Tiny Closet Collection / shoes: Converse

Craving a baguette from one of my favorite bodegas, I took a break to run out the door and grab one up to indulge in it all evening.  With this big ol' house dress, I didn't even need to change my clothes.  I think every gal should have a piece like that in her Tiny wardrobe, don't you? 

Now back to hair and sewing!  

More on all new happenings this Thursday

Over the Summer last year, Angel of one of my favorite blogs, K is for Kinky contacted me for an in-depth interview and I was absolutely thrilled to have her over for breakfast and a photo shoot.  I usually don't post interviews I've done with other bloggers but I only now realize there's really no reason not to!  

I've had some incredibly warm and fun interviews with some fabulous bloggers throughout The Tiny Closet timeline so after Angel hit me up again for another mini interview on hair and the importance of mornings, I thought I'd tell y'all to go check it out and read all about it :)

What's so refreshing about being interviewed by other bloggers is that I get to talk about things I usually don't get to touch on in my own blog...  

So I hope you'll jump on over to the articles and enjoy getting to know me better!

Photography by Angel 

With my newly sewn linen skirt laid out to wear with my maxi tee and favorite necklace, I stepped out of the shower preparing to head out to Grand Central Market for some shopping in my new ensemble (that I made to wear for such an occasion).... when Theo calls to let me know he already took care of it.

But.  But. But I was gonna wear my new grocery shopping skirt....  

And take pictures!  Shopping...  In my new grocery shopping skirt!

Thankfully, I will be hungry again tomorrow so we'll surely have a need to go grocery shopping again and I will finally be able to debut my ready to wear pieces appropriately :)  

For now though, let me just pose.

It's almost like an oversize tennis skirt.  I love it's volume!!  It's slouchy, just like my tees and it's mid length, which is nice because that means I don't have to sit like I'm holding a dime between my knees.  I can lounge, bend, move, kick back!  As though I were wearing pants.  That's why this skirt is perfecto for errands.

I also added piping along the bottom for a simple finish as I knew I'd be paring it with white a lot over the Summer months.  I'd like to make another with black piping.

And speaking of ready to wear, I'm so glad I finally figured out a way to finish a long drawn out draping project I started when I first moved to L.A..  

So excited to show and tell!!

During the day, I try not to eat heavy foods as I get tired very easily and anything heavier than toast will just send me to dreamland.  But I also don't really feel like having just a juice in the middle of the day either.  So, to keep my stomach from growling around 3pm (and to satisfy my demanding sweet tooth), I like to blend this quick snack:

ice cubes

20 almonds

1 tbsp flax seeds

small glass of almond milk

aaaaaaand...

Trader Joe's Midnight Moo chocolate syrup

And why am I wearing Skipper's undergarments?  

Well, I don't have a fit form.  If I did, my life would be a slice of amazing pie.  But I don't so, oh well...

For those you who don't know what a "fit form" is, it's a mannequin form usually of the neck to butt portion of the body.  In the sewing world,
it's made for draping and tailoring commonly for formal wear.  Which I am doing.  But without a fit form :(  wah, wah - you get the picture.

So since I am sans fit form for now, I have resorted to draping and measuring pieces on myself, which means that instead of wearing drapey, comfy clothing,
I have to wear second skin pieces while sewing so I can measure and place fabric with ease.

It's not my first outfit choice for the house but it makes my projects much easier and...

Sometimes I catch myself in the mirror walking by and I have to say, the simplicity of this look is kinda chic no?

Anyway, I wasn't really wearing anything interesting on Sunday but I thought I would just show what I was wearing anyway!

I'm out ladies!  Off to watch my Khaleesi kick some butt in Game of Thrones!!

We still don't have curtains in our bedroom.  Or in our entire apartment for that matter.  Ah, but we love the light!  

When it comes to editing video, photos, and generally using a computer however, we're pretty much blind between the hours of 8am and 3pm.

So, Thursday we finally (begrudgingly) decided it was time for some curtains.   I don't care for curtains.  They tend to look messy no matter how you hang them or what material you use and over time, the pattern or color can make me feel stir crazy.  I love beautiful bare windows - especially against brick, which is coincidentally what we have - 

so if I have to cover them up, I decided to make my own.  

Being only a few walking blocks away from the garment district and a world of options for, well, anything - Theo and I set out to shop for some chic, simple curtain fabric.

Of course I got super distracted by all the street-side tulle and fabrics for costumes and Quinseanera dresses.  Siiiigh!

I also had to pick up the final fabric for a gown I created for a friend.  I am tremendously excited to see how this special project turns out.  

And of course, I will be showing it here soon!  

Eeeee!

There's been a lot going on lately as I'm bringing more designs together for Spring.  I took a break from  all the sewing and planning to see a dear friend perform at a Bobby McFerrin concert last night at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  The concert was amazing and truly special because for one, I absolutely adore Bobby McFerrin and two, my friend played drums and sang backgrounds.  Singing backgrounds for Bobby of all people!  I died.

Before our evening stroll to the concert hall, we took some shots of my highly improvised outfit.  Leggings, a waterfall skirt worn to the side and a maxi tee.
Casual with a bit of modern evening formality...  But mainly casual.

top: Tiny Closet Collection / leggings: F&F / skirt: Forver21 / heels: Zara / cuff: RiaRia

Thanks for visiting!

There's something about a crisp white tee with jeans on a woman.  So American.  Classic American.  Jeans and a white tee is one of the few American fashions I favor and feel great wearing.  There's an effortless, rugged, natural beauty about this style.  So I guess it's no surprise that I love it.

I snatched up these Dr. Suess-like sandals instantly while in Zara last Summer.  I don't think I'll ever let them go.  These sandals are such a nice surprise to any ensemble and I also wore them with a denim dress here.

And a side note...

I've been getting a lot of questions on how I style my hair.  Some of you already know my thoughts on natural hair: 

I wash it, I dry it, I go.  Nothing more really.  It's hair, you know?  I let it do its thing.  I don't twist, braid, set or do anything to my hair other than wash it.  But I do make sure to detangle it every other day while washing.   

On that note, I do want to say, my hair had recently become near to impossible to detangle and felt overall, rough and stiff.  Yikes!  As I scrambled to figure out the problem, I quickly realized my Tangle Teezer brush that I'd been using for months was wreaking major havoc on my curls.  I stopped using it immediately, picked a restructuring conditioner by Dove at Target and literally, in a day, my hair was back to normal.

So, while I don't have the most involved hair routine, I have discovered some pretty cool secrets:

1.    Do not use the Tangle Teezer 

I guarantee it works for no kind of curly hair

&
2.    Dove Hair Therapy: Intensive Repair Conditioner works.like.magic.
on the bottle it says "95% fewer split ends" and "hair renewal within first use".... they are frickin right.  All the heaping damage my Tangle Teezer caused (as well as my neglect) was practically reversed within one wash.  Now my hair is shinier and more curly than it was originally.



So now that my hair is healthy and back to it usual tricks, I can get back to what really matters... clothes!  Ahhhhhhh.

 dress: Tiny Closet Collection / shoes: CMG / earrings: thrifted

Until yesterday when I was feeling severely unmotivated after eating an entire block of Beechers cheese that morning and then passing out for six hours.  Waking up again around 3pm from my cheese coma, I asked if there was any more cheese left Theo to pick out my outfit for the day.  Of course he took full advantage of the task and put me in this.

90s camp counselor meets hip hop rockstar.  But I did feel a retro cool coming over me.  It's surprising how much you can turn your clothes around to make
a wardrobe fit for someone else completely.

Yes, The Tiny Closet did it again with it's versatility.  Having someone else look at your closet for a change is very interesting.  This look is signature Kanye and yes, the waist-tied jacket is a borrowed fad, as well as the multiple necklaces, the draping tee, the blazers stint and leather pants but who taught me how to put this craziness together?

Yeezy taught me.

top: Asos / skirt: T by Alexander Wang / sandals: Nine West / sunnies: RayBand Wayfarers / bag: Rebecca Minkoff / necklace: Heavenly Couture

Thanks for reading!