Designer of the day: Valentino

About the designer: Valentino Garavani is one of the most sought after designers in the world, he is a household name, and has changed the fashion industry. At the young age of 8, he was captivated by fashion and had the eye for perfectly tailored blazers, and intricate design. In an interview he says "I used to go to the cinema with my sister and her fiancé to see those beautiful stars, and this made me start to think about design and fashion.". By the age of 12, he was sketching designs on his schoolbooks. After Valentino finished high school, he announced he wanted to be a couturier. His parents sent him to Milan and he studied preliminary courses in fashion design. He visited Barcelona to see an Opera and saw a women in a red velvet dress, it made an impact on him, Valentino says  “She was unique, isolated, fiery—the perfect heroine, I told myself that if I were ever going to become a designer, I would do lots of red.”. At 17, he set off to France and studied at École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture (Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld also attended this school.) In 1951, Valentino began contracting the major fashion houses for apprenticeship, Balenciaga and Jacques Fath rejected him, and he began sketching for Jean Dessès. Nine years  later, he moved back to Italy and his father hired Valentino a business associate to help him. In 1961, he receives his first client, Elizabeth Taylor, and in 63' he gets his dress is featured on the cover of Vogue. His designs have been worn by some of the most iconic women in America: Elizabeth Taylor, Jacqueline Kennedy, Diana, Princess of Wales and many other fabulous ladies. Valentino truly worked for his success, and is not just a fashion designer, but a genius. His work is magnificent, and you can see the dedication and love that is poured into every piece he has designed. Valentino is a legend, and is timeless. For fourty-five years, Valentino was the head of his brand and in 2007, he retired and sold the brand. At his last ready-to-wear show, he said  “I wanted to make this collection happy. I want you to be happy and I want you to never forget Valentino.”

Why I chose this designer: Simple, he is timeless, he takes risks, he knows what women want and he knows how they want to feel in his designs. I obviously admire him, he has paved the way for so many talented designers. Without Valentino, would lace be as popular as it is today? Think of how many people he has inspired, he is influential. 

 

"A woman with taste. She must know what she wants, because it’s very frustrating for me if somebody says, “Listen, I’ll let you do what you want; I’m there like a piece of glass and you have to do something nice for me.” I think it’s better if a woman comes and she discusses with you and she has personality so you are more attracted to her to make clothes. This is the kind of woman I love."  -Valentino, on who 'is the perfect Valentino woman'

Valentino Garavani virtual museum:

I found a virtual tour of the museum y'all! 

Valentino original designs:

The finale of his last show

Valentino designs today: 

XOXO, -T

Designer of the Day: Temperley London

About the designer: Alice Temperley is a British based fashion designer. She launched her first line in 2000, and has been a success ever since. The designer's pieces are feminine, classic and modern. They exude class, and her pieces have been worn by Catherine Ducchess of Cambridge, Pippa Middleton, Demi Moore, Heidi Klum, Reese Witherspoon, and Emma Roberts. Temperley has launched 3 stand alone stores in London, Los Angeles, and Dubai. The designer launches 13 collections a year, and has expanded to launching the sister brand, ALICE by Temperley,Temperley Bridal and lifestyle with Temperley. Temperley has plans to move into homeswear, menswear, and childrens-wear. Alice Temperley's design philosophy is "Appreciating what women want with creations that exist outside of the trend of the moment and always flavoured with a sense of Alice's individual style." 

Price Range: $95 to $6575 

Temperley London has recently been a favorite of mine ever since I saw one of her dresses on Polyvore. It was one of those moments when I knew that I just loved everything about this brand, from her collections to her philosophy I just fell in love with the dresses, and I just knew that I loved everything about the collections she produced. This was the first designer that I just loved every piece that came out of the collection, it wasn't just a few pieces it was everything. When I look at a Temperley piece, it reminds me of my personal style, and I just love everything she designs. It truly is a work of art. I chose this designer because I wanted to pick a designer that that I admired, and someone that inspired me. Her dresses are the epitome of brilliant, classy, feminine and modern. Every piece has so much detail, and is so intricate, I can't help but admire her collections. 

Pictures: 

XOXO! -T

Closet Transformation

I have been recently ranting to my friends about how messy my closet is, and I finally have done something about it! Here's the deal, my closet is not big enough for all of the clothes I have managed to hoard throughout the years, so I have taken over the guest room closet with everything from winter clothes (light jackets, remember Texas has no Winter) to things I need to consign. I took it upon myself to organize all my shirts shoes and dresses. I started by taking out all my shirts, and color coding them. I    put the whites in one pile and put the whitest white on top, and the ivory on the bottom of the pile, moved on to the greens, continued with the oranges, reds, purples and the few yellow shirts. Then, I moved on to the worst and hardest colors to organize, pink and blue. I have written before that a lot of my clothes are blue and pink, but until you have meticulously thought if coral should be in the middle of the pink section or at the beginning of the red, you do not know how hard closet organizing truly is. 

I had piles and piles of colors! At first, it seemed fun, but the deeper I organized through the color spectrum, the more exhausted I got. But then, I remembered how organized the closets on Pinterest were, and I carried on with my organization, and made a mental note that I needed to 1.) a bigger closet and 2.) limit myself on how much blue I purchase and 3.) get a better organization system so I don't have to do this again anytime soon. Here is the final product of part 1 of the finished product: 

As you can see, my closet is still a hot mess, and still teeny tiny. The thing I hate about my closet is the fact that I have to push a whole rack of hangers just to get to one piece that is in the very back. Now, let me show you the shoe section. 

This was a before. Please excuses the rollerblades in the corner, I don't even know why those are in my closet. Unlike the clothes section of my closet, I actually do organize my shoes, but over time I just didn't organize at all. Like my clothes, I color coded my shoes, and I actually ran out of room and had to stack shoes on top of each-other (another sign I need a bigger closet). Here was what the end result looked like: 

There's one rack 

And another. By the time I got to this section, I was stacking shoes. The ones on the bottom are shoes I haven't worn in a long time, and probably should consign. 

My closet also needs lighting. Badly. 

The neutrals

The not so neutrals. 

The heels, obviously the YSL's got all the space they needed, and the LUCKY and Vince Camuto's were a little squished. I have most of my heels in the other closet. 

The finished product. 

Now, onto the dress side of the closet.

Forgot to take a before, but here is an after. 

Tips on how to organize your closet: 

1.) If you are color coding your closet like I did, rotate the colors in the back with the ones in the front. For example, in a couple months, everything will be reversed so I am not just wearing what's in the front, and to switch everything up. 

2.) At one point, when I was extra organized I used to have all my clothes on pink hangers, but hangers accumulated and the hangers are all mixed up now. Having color coordinated hangers makes everything look pretty put together and gives your closet a cleaner look. 

3.) For pants and slacks, there are hangers that allow you to hang multiple items, I have these for belts, and I do recommend! 

4.) Every summer, I put the fall items in the back and bring in the bright cheery summer colors! Switching it up will keep everything seasonal! 

5.) IKEA has some pretty awesome storage stuff, it's at a pretty good price. 

XOXO! -T