Lost River, WV

Lost River, West Virginia

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Carolyn Thombs Fine Art & Photography

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Snow White

Outfit Details: 

sweater: Bobeau via Nordstrom Rack

top: Bcbg MaxAzria

pants: Kensie via Macy's

shoes: White Mountain via Macy's (still available in Dust)

necklace: 14th & Union via Nordstrom Rack

lipstick: Underage Red by Kat von D 

I am not of the mindset that you can't wear white after labor day, of course I just pair it with different pieces to make it a more weather appropriate. As in this outfit where I wore my amazing new sweater I got from Nordstrom Rack a bit ago that is so so soft and warm. For my shoes I paired these warm, sturdy White Mountain booties to keep my toesies warm and to keep from slipping. The dark components help to winterize the outfit, even though the whole time during this shoot I was imagining myself in warmer weather because the wind was so cold and biting right through my clothes. 

Some quick shopping advice: If you have never shopped at Nordstrom Rack and don't mind a somewhat cluttered and crowded shopping location then you must start! I find the best pieces there when I have the time to look and always at very low prices. I get a lot of my wardrobe staples there; like my black shirts for work, blazers and fun jewelry. So next time you need something try out Nordstrom Rack and see what you find! I always prefer shopping there earlier in the day during the week and find those are the times when the stores are almost deserted so you won't get claustrophobic.

What are your thoughts on wearing white in the winter? 

Think warm thoughts everyone, Spring is close!!!

photos by me 

Removing the Clutter

I reached a point recently when I had to ask myself: "Why am I writing this blog?". The answer was lost to me for awhile because I follow so many blogs, most of whom have a much larger following than mine. For some time I have been trying to figure out what has made them so successful. This process made me question every post that I was doing, instead of just writing about what I wanted to or staying true to myself. 

I got lost and stranded from the reason why I started Lipstick & Chiffon because it became clouded and mysterious to me.

 I recently went back to some of my older articles, preparing a writing portfolio, and saw myself in them. Not a version of myself that I thought people wanted to see, but I heard my voice in all the writing. 

For sometime now I have felt that mental block on my mind in finding the words to feed this blog. The photos have improved, but I have noticed that my writing took the hit and was becoming pointless. I wasn't necessarily offering a funny/relevant anecdote to go along with the the outfit I was posting or offering styling advice or shopping or makeup tips. I started trying to obtain a version of Lipstick & Chiffon that was robotic and void of my personal touch. 

After some soul searching, I am back and I thought it would be quite fitting to explain my reasoning for the title " Lipstick & Chiffon", I may have touched on its meaning before but I wanted to elaborate even more on it and why it embodies what I love and what pushes me to work harder for my dreams in this world.

Lipstick & Chiffon embodies all the aspects of the creative world that drive me to build my own business and that feed my soul. Lipstick is firstly for the fact that I love lipstick and find it a vital part in my makeup wardrobe. In a larger meaning it pertains to my business as a makeup artist and how much I love applying my artistic skills to the world of makeup! Chiffon pertains to the beautiful world of fashion. I love shopping and everything about clothes so much (too much for my own good/my wallet)! Chiffon is also one of my favorite materials and is used to create such gorgeous pieces of clothing. In a more whimsical sense of the word; chiffon is a sheer fabric that can be composed of a few different materials and represents a view of how fashion can be a sheer barrier between your personality and the world. The fashion you choose to wear represents who you are without even having a conversation with someone. It is that thin veil between your true self and the world around you. How you choose to ornate that veil is entirely your choice.

How do you bloggers out there stay true to your muse and yourself?

Yellow

 Outfit Details:

jacket: Cabi
top: H&M
pants: Rachel Roy via Macy's
clutch: Danielle Nicole via HauteLook
shoes: DressLily
necklace: 14th & Union via Nordstrom Rack

I got these shoes a while back as a spontaneous purchase from Dress Lily. When I got the shoes they were not as magical as I had imagined, they felt pretty cheap to be honest. But, what can I expect from getting shoes for 20$! I wasn't disappointed though, because once I put them on they looked so much better! I mean its not like someone is going to come up to me and bend down to touch them, the appearance is the only thing that mattered to me. They are also surprisingly comfortable.

For trendy pieces like that I prefer not to spend a lot of money, because I'm not always sure if I will still feel the same about a piece 2 years down the road. For trendy pieces I rarely purchase them, but when I do, I prefer to make as little an impact upon my wallet as possible.

My investment pieces are usually things I spend months, even years searching for the perfect one and by the time I find it, I am either over joyed and still as excited about it when I first set out or the fire has fizzled and then I move on.

At times a trendy piece that I purchase I may fall in love with and then in becomes a classic piece for me. Only then I will I look into preserving the piece so it will last longer or find its investment counterpart.

How do you keep yourself in check with the ever changing trends?

photos by Margaret Thombs

Enagaged!

If any of you follow me on social media, then you should know by now that Jon and I are engaged!!

It happened while we were on our mini vacay in Lost River, West VA (photos coming soon). It was so perfect and I couldn't be any happier!

We decided to take a few weeks before we  dove into planning so we could enjoy it. Especially getting used to saying fiancé instead of boyfriend (still forgetting sometimes oops).

I was lucky enough to have met this amazing man online almost 3 years ago! By the second date I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life with him. Sappy I know but I swear its true! By the time I went online to see who I could meet I knew what I wanted and what type of man I needed, Jon happened to meet every single one of the criteria I had set in my mind. Yet I couldn't have ever known how much better he was in reality than just in my mind.

Don't worry this blog won't turn into another wedding blog, but I will be sharing my planning process with you all here and the amazing vendors I choose to use. I hope you enjoy following along and maybe this will be helpful for some of you other brides-to-be out there!

Here is one person we have definitely decided upon, our photographer is going to be the amazing Megan of Megan Chase Photography.

Can't wait to share more with all of you!