2013 Rewind

Looking back at this past year and looking forward to 2014!

SWEETEST thing that happened to me this year: Last January this guy who I was interested in took me to see "Cinderella" on stage live in Nashville.  It was such a amazing experience and the best first date I have ever been on.  And no we did not end up together but we're still best friends.  Sometime the sweetest things are with people who were just suppose to be with you in that moment and you can create a beautiful memory.

WEIRDEST thing that happened to me this year: Last March I went to spring break in Gatlinburg with a bunch of friends and I received a fortune card from a woman who "claimed" to be a fortune teller.  The card said that in the near future I would meet my soulmate AND my future husband and apparently they're two different people.... (I cannot confirm nor deny if this has happened)

MOST DANGEROUS thing I've done this year: Traveled to NYC while I was interning during the summer and went down to Times Square and Central Park.  I walked 7 miles that day and went there all. By. My. Self...... sorry Mom you're just now finding out about this...

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Of course you already know the answer to this one... going to NY for my internship.  First time being away from home by myself. First time in NY all by myself.  Longest time being away from home.  Probably my greatest accomplishment of my life so far...

GREATEST PERSON I met this year..... sorry to get so sappy but while I was in NY I met this incredible amazing guy who really just made everyday special and he later became my boyfriend :) This is a story that deserves to be told but I think I'll save that for 2014.

I hope to see you in 2014, I'll be blogging A LOT more and have so many more ideas.

Make sure to follow me below:
twitter.com/rachelmarie1127
deviantart.com/missstyledesigner
pinterest.com/rmallison1127

2012/2013 I was just figuring it out... 2014, I hope to share my story.

Love,

Rachel

New Hair!

Hello Everybody, I have some exciting news to share with you.  If you have seen my previous post then you have seen pictures of me and my very long red hair.  I have been growing out my hair all my life and have never dyed it, highlighted it, or cut it.  I always liked keeping it natural because I didn't want to fuss with roots, coloring, going to the salon, etc.  Plus I'm proud of have my red hair because it's the rarest hair color and people ask me all the time if it's colored and I love saying that it's natural.  But last week I decided to have a small change done because I felt that since my birthday is coming on Wednesday it could be my own b-day present to myself so here it is:

   

I got swoop bangs!  I also cut about a inch off the bottom.  I'm so happy with the way it turned out.  It's a fresh new look and I love playing with it.  The second picture is a hair style I did today where I twisting my hair on the side of my head and pinned it into place.  It's so edgy and I think it fits my personality better.  It was good to take the first step into trying something new especially since I have never parted with my hair before.  Happy Early Birthday Present to me!

My birthday will be November 27th and I have a very special post so stay tuned!

Love
Rachel

Fall Favorites

Hey everyone,
Sorry I have been MIA and I'm probably late on this post but I have been extremely busy with finals and it was also the one year anniversary of my father's death last Monday so please forgive me.

Fall is my favorite season.  I love the change in the air and I was finally able to go on a shopping spree for warmer clothes.




This is probably my favorite outfit I bought.  I bought a cream sweater dress with matching brown belt.  I'm wearing my brown Ugg boots and I made a orange bow to put on the back on my bun.  We also went thrifting where I got the brown and polka dot purse for a dollar!

My favorite color combos for fall are most likely browns, creams, and oranges.  Warm colors are a must.

Hopefully I can do favorite fall makeup looks later this week.

Well, that all I have for now.  Stay turned for more fall/winter looks
'
Love,
Rachel

My Halloween Costume!

Hey everybody!  It's finally time for the reveal of my Halloween Costume. Look at the pictures below to see if you can guess what it is.

Did you guess it?  I am Vanellope Von Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph!

I had so much fun making this costume over the last few weeks. The jacket was originally plain white until I dyed it the appropriate color.  I used pink shoelaces for the strings attached and stitches.  The skirt was just something I found at a thrift store that was perfect for this costume.  The stockings were probably the hardest part.  They were plain white and I painted them with nail polish and Sharpies.  And now the best part of the costume: the hair.  I basically went to Walmart and grabbed a bunch of 98 cent boxes of candy and superglued them all the hairclips and bobby pins.  As you can see I used: peppermints, Mike and Ikes, gummy bears, Reese's, and Starburst.  I made the licorice bow out of some fabric and wire.  And I did not dye my hair, I just used black hair spray from the party store.

This was one of most fun costumes I have ever had for Halloween.  Comment below, what did you dress up for as for Halloween.  Sorry to cut this short but I gots to go.  Halloween dance to attend.

Happy Halloween

Love,
Rachel

One last thing.....

I met this guy during my Halloween festival in my home town.  I asked, "What does the fox say?"  But he didn't know....   Also, doesn't my dog Brutis look so cute?  He loved that hat.  :)

College Halloween

Hey everyone, so I thought I would share with you what I've been up to the last couple of days since it is Halloween week.   Last Monday my dorm put on our annual Haunted Dorm attraction.  We have it every year to raise money for future projects and since I live in a all-girls dorm we do a lot of arts and crafts projects!  Like most college dorms, our's has a supernatural story behind it so a lot of people claim that our dorm is actually haunted.  The leading story I have heard is that back in the 60's or 70's a girl named Johanna who hung herself in her dorm room and now apparently haunts the upper part of the building.  Whether this is true or not, I have no idea but they do say that Johanna's room is now the show room.  It does seem a little odd that the show room is on the second floor doesn't it?  Anyways, we did our annual haunted dorm and it went really well.  Here's what I did:

So yeah, not my usual makeup routine.  I did my look as a "Broken Zombie Doll."  I used white face paint and drew cracks on my face by using eyeliner.  For my lips I just used red lipstick with the same eyeliner and for my eyes I just gave myself raccoon eyes with grey eye shadow.  For my hair I just hairsprayed it underneath the layers and folded it over.

I had so much fun scaring people especially since I was in the boiler room in the basement.  I hide behind a corner and when people walked in a grabbed them by the ankles and laughed hysterically.  I think everybody is entitled to be a little scary during this time of year.

I also wanted to share this.  My roommate and I decided to add to the holiday spirit by decorating out door.  We finally got to put our Pinterest accounts to good use and found a bunch of paper crafts to try out.  I had so much fun putting this together and sharing that experience with her.  

Have a very safe and Happy Halloween

Love,

Rachel

P.S.

Follow me on Pinterest at: http://www.pinterest.com/rmallison1127/

Halloween Favorites

Hello my fellow Trick-or-Treaters

Since I am a aspiring fashion/costume designer you should know what one of my favorite holidays is.  Halloween is less than a week away and even though I will be posting on the that about how my day went, I thought I should take the time to share some of my favorite things and this day.

CANDY:

You CANNOT have Halloween without candy! This time of year starts the beginning of where I cave in and give in to all the unhealthy yet satisfying sweets that are always around me (which later leads to Thanksgiving and Christmas, where even more unhealthy food is which leads to my New Year's Resolution to eat healthier.)  After I grew out of trick-or-treating and it was time to pass out the candy, we actually didn't have alot of children come to our neighborhood because it wasn't a very busy street.  But that never bothered me because that meant I got to keep all the candy. :) Anyways, here are some of my favorite candies and sweets.

  3 Musketeers are probably one of my favorite chocolate bars and it's pretty obvious that I LOVE chocolate.  I really like the mini candy bars because they taste cuter!  Another thing I love about them is it reminds me of when my dad and I would walk down the railroad tracks behind our house to the drugstore and buy a 3 Musketeers bar to eat, so yeah, good times.  The fluffy chocolate will always be on my list for Halloween Must-haves.



Right behind 3 Musketeers are KitKat Bars.  I have always loved these things especially when you put them in the freezer. One thing that always made me mad growing up was that some people didn't know how to eat it properly.  Some people just open the wrapper and take a bite out of it! So I would be sitting there like, "Have you not seen the commercial?! You'll suppose to break off a piece!"  But either way you eat your Kit Kat bar, I won't judge.  I even read that Green Tea KitKats are a actual thing and they are in America now.  I've never really had Green Tea before but I would be willing to try it if it came in chocolate form.


Last on my list is Twizzlers.  Admit it, you never had just one at a time!  As soon as you have one, you'll always going back to the bag and getting more.  I prefer the classic Strawberry flavor but I especially enjoy the sour ones too. Even though I am a big chocolate fan, I love gummy candy as well.  And this stuff takes the prize for favorite gummy candy.



FASHION AND COSTUMES:

October is the time of year when it starts to get a colder outside which means it's time to put away the cute summer dresses and break out the sweaters.  When it gets closer to Halloween time it's more then to rock borderline costumes.  I love borderline costumes because if you'll not that big into dressing up or if you'll invited to a last minute party you can still keep the Halloween spirit alive.   So now I'll be sharing my favorite borderline costumes...
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Animal headbands have been a huge thing for me.  I currently have cat ears, Cheshire Cat ears, and now bat ears if you saw them a few post ago. They're so easy to slip on and get into character.

MAKEUP:

Halloween is the perfect excuse to put on crazy colored eye shadow and overly full eye lashes.  During Halloween, I think it's the perfect reason to try black lipstick.  Just like red lipstick I think every girl should try black at least once in her life.  You automatically feel more wicked after putting it on.  Don't knock it until you try it.

So those are just some of my few favorite things about Halloween.  Make sure to comment what are some of your favorite things.  I'll be posting a lot more Halloween themed post next week and then I will be revealing my costume.  I'm trying to keep my costume under wraps (no pun-intended) until the 31st for you all to see.   Tomorrow I'm actually going to a Halloween festival back home so I'll also be showing that Thrusday.

Have a safe a memorable Halloween,

Love Rachel

Denim Love

I'm sure you all remember my very first blog spot about my Denim Angel jacket.  Ever since, I have been in love with the fabric.  So when my boyfriend text me one day last week and asked if I wanted two pairs of his old jeans I couldn't resist!  I was on fall break last week so I spent to try out some much needed DIY.

First thing I did with one pair of jeans was transform them into a vest.  I received the jeans in the mail around noon and I made this and finished it around 4 p.m.  I cut the pockets and used the back of leg fabric for the neck piece and the back piece that wraps around my waist.  I also added a bow in the back with the left over fabric.  

Second thing I made was a denim skirt from the other pair of jeans.  I basically cut off the bottom half and found lace from a pair of old curtains and sewed it all together.  You can also the bow I added in the back of the vest.  I'm also wearing a pearl headband I got from Dollar General for about $3 and my shirt is from Studio Y but I got it for a $1 while thrifting.

I had so much fun doing this projects and FINALLY getting to warm up my new sewing machine.  Hopefully in a few days I'll have even more DIY projects if I can get more fabric.  In a few days I will have some fall and Halloween blogs.  Fall is here and it's time for fall fashion!

Love,

Rachel

Batgirl!

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na...... BATGIRL!!!

Hi everyone!  A couple of days ago was Superhero Day at my University's spirit week.  Of course I had to represent my favorite female superhero Batgirl.

I have been hooked on Batman: the animated series since last summer and I can't stop watching it.  This is the first time I've ever been introduced to the show (I know, terrible 90's kid).  Honestly, I didn't even know the Batgirl was a real character.  I thought she was a marketing camplain so girls could dress Batman related at Halloween.  But thankfully, Barbara Gordon exist and she is such a great character.

Thankfully I am blessed with long red hair to match Barbara's.  I wore a black dress with a black lace shirt.  For the belt, I used a sequins belt that I flipped over so the shiny side is hidden.  You can't have Batgirl sneaking around Gotham with her belt reflecting everything! For her ears, I used my cat ear clips and wrapped black index cards around them to make them more bat-like.  I wore my low-cut black boots and my fishnet black gloves.  For the arm spikes I used cardboard and index cards.  I used a tutorial on Youtube for the arm spikes.  The tutorial was by Wesley Chan from Wong Fu Productions (who is one of my inspirations).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1551kvybJs

I had so much fun dressing like Batgirl for a day. I truly felt powerful.  I think that's how we should dress everyday.  Dress like your wearing a superhero costume and you'll feel you can do anything.  Without their costumes Batman and Batgirl are still Bruse Wayne and Barbara Gordon, but its their costumes who tell the world who they are.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this experience. Until next time

Love Rachel

Arts Round the Square

Arts Round the Square

Hey everyone, so last weekend I went back to my hometown to take part in a our annually "Arts Round the Square festival." I was there passing out my business card to theater groups and support the arts.

Here is my morning vlog:

After I arrived to the square I started visiting all the exhibits and I received a lot of compliments on the outfit I was wearing.  Look familiar?

My university later performed that day with songs from popular Broadway shows like "Wicked", "Rent", and my favorite "Les Miserable." 

The beautiful clock tower in the center of the square.  Fun Fact:  My father use to work in the clock tower so I've always loved looking up at it in remembrance of him.  No matter where I go in life, West Tennessee will always be my home.  Until next time, keep calm and be creative.

Love,

Rachel 

10 facts about me!

Hi everyone.  This week I thought to myself that you guys don't really know me that well and I thought maybe I should connect with you on a more personal level.  So here are 10 facts about me!

1.) My name is Rachel Allison.
2.) I live in Tennessee.  Born and raised Southern Girl!
3.) I'm currently in my second year of college.
4.) My major is theater but I'm focusing more on costume design.
5.) I learned to sew when I was three and continue to learn today.
6.) I recently learned for to machine sew and I love it.
7.) I just came back for a 2 month costuming internship in New York (best two months of my life!)
8.) While I was in New York, I had my eyebrows professionally done by the same makeup artist who does         Lady Gaga's makeup!
9.) I currently have two costuming jobs as well as being a full-time student.  One is for a Children's Theater        group and the other is a adult theater group.  So, hopefully I can blog about those upcoming shows.
10.) I love shopping to do point where I treat it like a sport but I absolutely HATE shopping for jeans.  It's just so depressing to me

Okay there are my 10 facts.  Please follow me for more costuming/fashion blogs and vlogs!

Back to School!

Hello everybody!  I hope you all I had a fantastic summer.  I know I did.  I spent the last two months in New York for a costuming internship but now I'm ready to begin my sophomore year of college.  I thought I would share with you what I wore to my first day of classes.  Growing up, my favorite part of back to school time was picking out my first day outfit. It's your chance to tell the world (or at least school world) who you are.  And college is no exception!  Above you can see I'm wearing a black dress that I layered with a ruffle purple shirt, a black waist belt, pearl earrings, a purple flower hair clip, and a sashay skirt made by my very talented mother.  

Also I thought I should give you all some Back to School fashion tips!

1.)  Make sure you understand your school's dress code.  When I was in high school our dress code was so strict, I couldn't wait to go to college so I could express myself more freely.

2.)  Make sure you have a comfortable pair of shoes.  I wore a pair of heels on my first day but kept a pair of flip flops in my backpack for when I was walking long distances on campus.  Also if you choose to wear heels, be wary going down hard floored hallways.  You don't want to make a lot of noise during class!

3.)  Try not to wear anything that will distract you in class.  I actually had to stop wearing bracelets to class because I would be distracted and would start playing with them when I should be listening.  (Curse you A.D.D.!)  Just remember that it is school and we actually have to pay attention.

4.)  Accessorize!  Any outfit can be jazzed up with a scarf, a headband, a necklace, etc.  Don't be afraid to try out different looks.  

5.)  Have fun!  It's a brand new year and a brand new start.  

Love,

Rachel

Black dress from Peebles

Ruffled purple shirt from Cato's

Sashay scarf by Mom!

June 2013 Haul

June 2013 Haul

Hey Everybody!  Sorry I've been gone for a while.  In the last month, I moved to New York for the summer for a internship in costume design.  I'm having so much fun and learning so much.  Anyways, I was able to go shopping a few weeks ago.  I actually went to Hudson on my day off and went to the Salvation Army there.   I spent hours there browsing and I happened to go on a Wednesday where the prices are all half price!  I bought 3 great items for a grand total of $6.  You cannot beat that for the quality!  

I think I was in the mood for a purple and silver theme when I went shopping as you will see.

This first item is a purple/silver top that is satin and so comfortable!  It has rope straps that connect in the back and it is too cute.  I actually wore this top when I went to visit Times Square and I think it really shows off my fashionista self.  I think this top was around $2 at the Salvation Army.  A great value.  The designer name is Charlotte Russe.

The next item is this purple dress.  This dress was around $2 and I bought because I'm always looking for solid colored dresses to hopefully build onto and design.  It's a little short for me for so I think I would like to wear some silver leggings with it.  I might end up replacing the straps but it was a great find and maybe I'll be able to add to the design if inspiration every hits me.  The designer is Rue 21 (one of my favorite stores!)

This item above is a silver studded purse I also found at Salvation army for a dollar!  It is so cute and stylish I had to get it.  I'm not a big purse collector but I knew there were certain outfits I would love to match this with.  It actually goes great with the purple top that I also purchased.  It does not have a tag so I do not know the brand or designer unfortunately but I'm still so happy I found it.

That's all I got at the Salvation Army.  For those of you who are a little uncomfortable about shopping at a second hand store or thrift store I encourage you to try to over come that because you can find some amazing items at great prices.  I also suggest that you look for Salvation Armys or GoodWills in more wealthier neighborhoods because you can find some brand named clothes at such a great discount

I also went to Fred's before I left for New York and found this amazing product:

This is now one of my favorite eye shadow pallets.  I love the purple and grey/silver combinations and the colors really stay put on your eyelid and last all day.  The best part..... it was a dollar!  That is such an amazing deal.  Another great thing is that the pallet has a built-in mirror! I'm so happy with this pallet and I hope to find more from the brand.  The brand is Profusion and the pallet name is Twinkle Twinkle so go check it out!

I hope you enjoyed my monthly haul.  I wish I had more to show you but I'm working so much I don't have a  lot of time to shop.  Make sure to follow my blog for more about New York, fashion, styles, makeup, and my own designs. My next blog is about the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York city which I was lucky enough to visit so catch you later!

Love,

Rachel  

Cheshire Cat Heels

These are my Cheshire Cat heels that I designed.  The inspiration comes from...well... The Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.  Alice in Wonderland is one of my all-time favorite movies and I wanted to show my love for my favorite character the Cheshire Cat.  

I decided to do a purple base with a hint of pink because I felt if I did it the other way around it wouldn't express the character enough.

And to finish off the design I added a pink and purple curled tassel at the back of the shoes to represent the tail.

I love how this design came out and that I was able to express my love for such a whimsical character.

"Haven't you noticed?  We're all a little mad here." 

Another Fashion Rant.  Rant on Mustaches (for teenage girls)

Haul Video- May 2013

Modern Gypsy Inspired Outfit

This is an outfit that I designed about a year ago but now it's finally come together!
I have a deep love for the Gypsy culture and I design a lot of outfits inspired by their spirits.

I designed the shirt, armlet, and headpiece.

Fashion Rant - Rant on Fashion Labels

My first vlog.  Doing a fashion rant on labels