Baltimore Style! StyleLifeFashion.com, A new blog to check out

http://www.stylelifefashion.com

Kimberly West is hosting one of the first international style & fashion blogs in Maryland, but that's still below the Mason Dixon line, so that's South enough for us to consider her a Southern writer and fashion blogger. Plus, she's an Alabama A&M grad, so she auto-qualifies!

Style + Life + Fashion is a uniquely sophisticated media outlet. A pure pleasure to look at, it glides with an effortless sense of chic across your screen. The aesthetic is pure gold for visuals and the copy is very good also. I think you'll enjoy Style + Life + Fashion  , so give Kimberly a look-see when you get a moment.

Style + Life + Fashion by Kimberly West

Last night I saw the cutest Sam Edelman pumps!

More later, but last night I saw the cutest Sam Edelman pumps, the ones with the spikes. When I saw them on the shelf at Saks I wasn't sure about them, but when I saw them in action, I was sold on the look!

TWO SHOPPER MOMS: Fall's Most Wanted - A Beautiful Blouse

TWO SHOPPER MOMS: Fall's Most Wanted - A Beautiful Blouse

These blouses are so beautiful!

Birmingham students from across the pond go vintage and unleash their creative talents to help UK’s leading veterinary charity

Birmingham students go vintage and unleash their creative talents to help PDSA

Talented students have unleashed their creative skills by organising and designing their very own fashion shoots to promote the great vintage clothing available from PDSA charity stores.

Twelve students from The School of Art, Bourneville, in Birmingham, produced their own campaigns - creating a stunning collection of images which delighted officials at the UK’s leading veterinary charity.

PDSA’s busy Aston Processing Centre welcomed the enthusiastic students, who worked with staff to select collections from a range of donated vintage stock. 

The centre collects and distributes vintage stock, which is donated to a number of the charity’s 180 stores nationwide including well known brands from bygone years. PDSA has a number of stores with thriving vintage sections, but the key area for selling vintage goods is through online sites such as ASOS.

The art and design students volunteered to help PDSA by creating show stopping photographs to sell the garments online. Inspired by the uniqueness of the vintage stock, the students were tasked with recruiting models and styling them, as well as and choosing amazing locations to capture the images.  The students had their pick of the rails of gorgeous garments to photograph in suitably luxurious locations, which included Netherstowe House, a Grade II listed boutique hotel in Staffordshire, and Canon Hill Park in Birmingham.

With graduate unemployment still high, experience with a professional organisation could make the difference as these students enter the job market. In return for their hard work for PDSA, the students have the photographs for their portfolio and the experience of working to a design brief for a large national charity. 

Kit Lendon, Volunteering Development Manager for PDSA, said “The students really embraced the project. They were excited about the fantastic vintage items that are donated to us and they had lots of great ideas on how to showcase the stock to ensure if appealed to customers online. It’s a win-win situation: PDSA gets some incredible images to help us reach a premium price for our vintage stock to support our work of caring for sick and injured pets while the students get valuable work experience and something to show future employers.”

Hannah Najjar, a student at the college, said that the project had been a great experience and had allowed them to demonstrate their creative skills. She said: “I heard that PDSA was looking for students to get involved with a campaign and I was really keen to do so.

“We visited the charity’s processing centre and picked the garments we wanted to use for our fashion shoots and we were given a deadline to produce the images. It was good because it felt like a professional assignment and we don’t get many opportunities to do things like this.”

Fellow student Megan Morrall added; “I joined the project because I loved the thought of playing a part in launching the PDSA's Vintage Clothing range as well as seeing it as a fantastic opportunity to showcase my photography skills. I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the project and feel that by being involved, I have not only built up my own confidence in my work but I have a new appreciation for the work which goes into generating public interest for charities such as PDSA.”

The images produced by the students are now being used by PDSA on its ASOS page to sell its vintage stock to help raise vital funds for the charity. To view the collection, please visit:  https://marketplace.asos.com/seller/pdsa/collection#pgsz=200&pgno=1&pmin=10&pmax=45

PDSA is the UK’s leading veterinary charity, providing free veterinary care for the sick and injured pets of people in need and promoting responsible pet ownership. For further information about PDSA please visit www.pdsa.org.uk or call 0800 731 2502.

For media enquiries, please contact Russell Roberts in the Press Office on 01952 204 775, email roberts.russell@pdsa.org.uk, or visit www.pdsa.org.uk/mediacentre

Wonderful news! The Shops of Grand River adds two women's fashion stores & leather shop!

THE OUTLET SHOPS OF GRAND RIVER ADDS

TWO WOMEN’S FASHION STORES, LEATHER STORE

Regional Shopping Center Brings Affordable Fashion to Central Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, AL- The Outlet Shops of Grand River is pleased to announce the addition of LOFT Outlet, Motherhood Maternity and Johnston & Murphy to their already extensive line up of stores. The distinctive shopping destination that is located minutes from Birmingham looks to welcome the fashionable style of LOFT Outlet and the affordable fashions of Motherhood Maternity in August 2012. The style, craftsmanship and innovation of Johnston & Murphy will be available to shoppers in September 2012.

“The addition of these great brands, LOFT Outlet, Motherhood Maternity and Johnston & Murphy, provides shoppers with even more diversity at The Outlet Shops of Grand River as they come to shop for themselves and their family members,” states Christine Szalay, General Manager of The Outlet Shops of Grand River.

LOFT Outlet, Motherhood Maternity and Johnston & Murphy will be located in the front northern corridor between Talbot’s Outlet and Coach Factory. LOFT Outlet will offer versatile, accessible and affordable fashion with undeniably feminine appeal, special and unexpected details and a great fit. Motherhood Maternity will offer a complete selection of the latest fashions at amazing low prices. From sexy and sophisticated to bold and beautiful, Motherhood Maternity has everything the mom-to-be could ever want or need at the lowest prices around. As a pillar of classic workmanship and a beacon of American style, Johnston & Murphy will provide the highest quality products and set the standard for successful, professionals throughout Alabama.

For more information on The Outlet Shops of Grand River, please visit www.shopsofgrandriver.com or contact Jamie Robinson at 205-702-8363 or jrobinson@shopsofgrandriver.com.

What would you wear to meet First Lady Michelle Obama? Chanda Temple at the Birmingham News has the answer to that!

What would you wear to meet First Lady Michelle Obama? Chanda Temple at the Birmingham News has the answer to that thanks to some local Southern & Birmingham Fashion Bloggers!

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2012/07/what_would_you_wear_to_meet_mi.html

And thanks to Katie Frost at HemsforHer.com for bringing for the Curvy Girls!

She calls them "Bad Britches" but we call them cute!

Ariel is blogging about her snakeskin patterned pants and lovingly refers to them as "bad britches." We think they are just as cute as can be!

You know you have to really have it going on to carry those off, and Ariel does!  http://untitled1986.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/bad-britches/

Check out our neighbor to the north, and "Join Glam Hunt!"

Join the Glam Hunt!

Check out our neighbor to the north, and join Jenny Gyurova Hite on a "Glam Hunt!" Jenny is originally from Bulgaria but now calls the good old USA home. A graduate of UAH with a Masters in Management of Technology, Jenny is the Vice-President of a large bank in Huntsville.

In her spare time, Jenny founded "Join Glam Hunt," a place, as she says, "designed to promote women's fashion ideas empowered by local business finds." In other words, "Finding and sharing the GLAM in Huntsville."


Find Jenny and bookmark her blog! I think you'll enjoy her take on things.

Feeling a little blog love tonight, because it's too hot to get out in it. So I'm home reading about it!

What is this "it" I speak of? Well, it's fashion, and fun, and frolic, and even dare I say, fellowship! Just checking in with some very good bloggers and writers from across the South and seeing what they are up to in this heat!

First up is Ariel Clay. She's out in it! Out in the heat and out in her fashion, check her out at the Art on the Rocks event. Isn't that dress great? And the Vince Camuto shoes? Delish! Ariel has a rare quality for a Southern Fashion Blogger. She can be out and about in our "warm" weather and not look the slightest bit effected. She also manages to do that during her live news reports at a local news station. I must remember to ask her secret! But check out her blog, because it's very fresh and very Birmingham.

Then how about the girl who puts the GLAM in BIRMINGHAM? Alexis Barton and her Same Chic, Different Day blog never fail to inspire. She writes with wit and clarity, and some of our favorite posts from Alexis are the "No sir, no mam!" posts! Alexis also keeps her finger on the fashion pulse outside of Birmingham also and we LOVE to read her fashion reviews on big Hollywood events. It makes us feel all the more fashionable to see how often we agree with Alexis' take on a look, she just writes it better than we ever could!

The ArtBelles are on a very temporary hiatus during a recovery period, but trust me, their blog is great for reading and meandering through while you sip some lemonade and think cool thoughts. You'll enjoy reading about these floral cuties http://artblt.com/2012/06/11/shoe-attack-floral-cuties/, or perhaps one of their TV spot reports is more your speed? Or better yet, what about one of their famous food post? Whether it's a fab & festive meal they've made themselves, or their review of a DELICIOUS and trendy Over the Mountain eatery called Johnny Brusco’s New York Style Pizza, you'll be pleased that you stayed a while with the ArtBelles. It's like visiting family.

Or maybe you're up around Charlotte and wanted to see what's shaking in the Queen City. Check in with T. Strong. She's a well known columnist with Creative Loafing, but she also runs her own visually interesting and verbally exciting fashion blog, "StyleMayvin." T. Strong has it all at her blog. Hot looks, big names and big fashion news, local events to keep you in the know and her own personal appearances on Fox Charlotte to keep you interested. If you need a Charlotte Fashion Blogger, T. Strong is the one you want!

Maybe you really just need a good enough reason and the inspiration to forget about the heat and embrace summer in all it's sun-filled glory? Look no further than Erica's D.I.Y. Style blog. Her summer yellow dress is just eye-poppingly gorgeous, I kid you not. And all the more so because she MADE IT BY HAND. But fear not fellow fashionista, Erica always tells us where she finds her fabulous shoes and accompanying purses that are always an important part of her total look. And she looks GOOD!

I had a chance to introduce myself to Erica a few months ago. I almost gushed. Ok, I did gush. I couldn't help it. "You look so pretty on the blog, but you are so gorgeous in person!" And she is. But best of all, she's so kind and sweet and showed me the most adorable pictures of her grandbaby. Awwww. It was my favorite part of the day.

To cap things off, you might be in the mood to take it easy and drag your fingers through a cool deep stream of running water to beat the heat. The kind of stream that flows merrily in places, grows quite in others and springs back life when flowing waters cascade down mossy rocks.

Check out Hem's For Her, by Katie Frost. High School English Teacher by day, fashion blogger by afternoon, and mom by night. She's a mom alright, but not a mommy blogger, unless you count the times her adorable son is featured in mom's fashion shoots.Katie is what I call a "girl's girl" blogger. And that's a compliment. Because most of us girls don't have the perfect body. And Katie knows that. Struggling  with a little baby weight? No problem. Katie shows you how to dress fashionably in clothes that flatter no matter what the situation. A little curvy up top? Check out Katie's solutions to that common problem. And more than that, read about Katie embracing her body and dressing it well, and not breaking the bank. And then when all the fashion reading is done, dip your fingers in the cool, slower moving pool of Katie's thoughts and musings on life. She's entertaining and interesting, I always leave Katie's blog with a smile on my face.

Isn't that how it's supposed to be?

So check out a few bloggers see what Birmingham Fashion Blogging is all about! (And one Charlotte Fashion Blogger.)