Christmas Fashion

 

Dress from www.LuLus.com, belt from www.melissavelia.com

It's been one crazy month for me and I'm sure it has for you too.  It's been nonstop, from filling orders to events and gatherings.   I truly can't complain because it all has been a blessing but now, I'm just pooped!  And as much as I would love to go into a mental vacation mode, I just have so much more in store in the next couple of months.  With all that said, this gifted dress from LuLus.com was a life saver considering I didn't have time to make myself anything to wear for a family Christmas party. (excuse the picture quality, lighting was a bit of an issue)

 

 

I paired this lovely dress up with a black Slender Velvet Bow Belt (my holiday staple), black stockings and chunky black velvet platforms. I decided not to wear a lot of accessories and let my belt and red lipstick be a statement. Kinda the less is more motto.  Christmas fashion all around me consisted of stockings, dresses, sequins, velvets and lots of glitter.  Also a  lot of black, gold, emerald green and creams colors.

I had a wonderful time hanging out with family and friends.  I truly hope your gatherings were just as blessed.  Coming up later this week on the blog, that awesome gifting bag I got from the Snow Ball and all the goodies inside and what is a must have from the bunch!

Thanks for reading lovelies.

Snow Ball 2012

 

Couture, Hollywood CA

Take a little trip with me back to the late 1970's.  Although this wasn't a themed event, I felt like I was taken back into a disco a bit with all the sequins and silky fashion all around me.

 

As much as I wanted to make myself something lovely to wear for the party, I simply didn't have time.  So what did Cinderella do?  Why, visit her local "Fairy Thrift Store".  Yes, scored this vintage sequins mini dress for $5!  I just couldn't wait to wear it.  I matched this lovely dress up with some velvet ruffle stilettos, our black velvet Slender Bow Belt and our limited edition Platinum At The Opera Earrings.  

 

The lovely Jasmine from Glitter On The Ceiling.  Loved how she styled her dress.

 

The lovely Melissa from The Key To Chic.  How cute is her hair?! Loved it.  And yes, that's a Slender Velvet Bow Belt you see. Twins!

The evening was great.  Loved hanging out with friends and my date. The appetizers and desserts were delicious.  I didn't care for the sponsored beer to much but my martini was pretty fancy.  The gifting suite had a lot of fun stuff that I will be sharing with you on my next post, including the cute dress I got from LuLus.com earlier that day at the Styling Suite.  Which I wish I had taken more pictures at that event but I was kinda all over the place at the time.  Truly looking forward to next years festivities with Two Point Oh LA.  Thank you, Kelsi!

My date for the night...my husband.  Can you tell my lashes were a bit to heavy for me?! HA!

Give

 

About a week ago, I had the honor of sponsoring a  fundraiser for a kid's soccer team, Valley Crush.  The lovely ladies that hosted the event were very dedicated parents and did a fabulous job hosting.  Although it was another raining day, the turn out was good and they raised some money for their team.

 

A few of the guest, the two lovely host and myself (pic via host)

 

Guest instagram picture

Many don't know this but since I started my company some years ago, I've been sponsoring varies fundraiser and charities such as Relay For Life, cancer patients and other youth teams.  How it works is, when someone hosts a Melissa Velia trunk show, percentages of all sales go directly to the cause.  Sometimes, someone may choose to pick a certain item from our collections and sell them for a time frame to collect a percentage to go towards a cause.  As much as I would love to sponsor all the causes that I'm approached by, I can only do some many.  So through prayer and thought, I choose which causes to work with at that moment in time.

I've been asked in the past why a company that is just starting up, would donate profits to cause.  My answer, why not?!  That's what's wrong with people these days, seriously.  You earn a dime and you give a nickle.  If that's the way the world work, there would be a lot less people struggling.  Granted, it will probably take me longer in the end to establish my company but you know what, that's all in God's hand anyways.

So give this Christmas Lovelies, to someone you don't know, whether it be your time, money or even PATIENTS!!!

Xo.

Scary Rain

 

So I know your probably thinking what does rain have to do this picture above right?  Well let me tell you a short story about a time in my life when I realized I am TRULY from Southern California!

One day while I was living in northern California with my dear friend from Michigan it began to hail.   I looked outside and thought, "there's no way I'm driving to work in that."  So just as I thought this my friend asked me why I wasn't getting ready for work and I explained to her how scary it was to drive in the rain and hail.  She looked at me with a smile and said, "Missy it's not a blizzard!"  Moral of the story, we southern Californians are weather spoiled!

Granted, it can be dangerous to drive in the rain but I believe we So Cal folks can take it to the next level.  So with all that said, dear friends and customers I understand why some of you didn't make it to the Pop Up Shop a couple of weeks ago.  I've learned that rain in So Cal means, bad traffic, bad drivers and scared driver (like myself).  In the end, I wouldn't call this past Pop Up Shop a success but it was a good time thanks to all those who attended, sponsored and helped out.

See the rest of the Pop Up Shop photos here!

Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving, now it's on to Christmas and FALL 2013! Yes, samples are officially in production!

Interviewing the Dreamer - Vanity Haus

 

Make-up Artist Jessica Diaz

 Wondering what is Vanity Haus?  Well here's my interview with the lovely and talented ladies of Vanity Haus.  Read about who they are and what this beauty team can do for you!

What is Vanity House?

Vanity Haus is striving to change women's beauty routine, it feels like now a days it's more of a chore, we want to make it more of an environment of luxury and an enjoyable experience. Somewhere that we can bring back female camaraderie.

 Hair Stylist Bethy, working a photo shoot

How did you come up with name Vanity Haus?

We threw a lot of things around for a while but just couldn't decide on anything. We wanted it to feel cozy and comfortable, almost as if you were at a girl friends house. And we wanted it to be versatile enough where we can really take it anywhere that our lives and creativity lead us.

When did you establish Vanity Haus?

All three of us were working at a new salon at the time, we were all really excited about the change that we thought it would bring. It seemed like it was going to be more than just a regular salon experience. A few months down the line we started to realize that it was the same old salon routine. It was like any other place. We had all been toying with the idea of starting a blog together or something similar for a while and from that and our experience at this place we just thought bigger.

Who's idea was it to team up with each other?

We're all just really awesome and why not! jk

 Are you guys friends?

Sometimes … yeah, we're bffs

 Have you always wanted to be a make-up artist? Hair artist, etc.?

I think we all had different career plans when we were younger.  Jess wanted to be a vet. Only for dogs… (lol)  But none of us seemed to be able to get our creative needs met by any of those plans.  Life just threw us in this direction and we have never looked back!

What kind of training or schooling have you ladies had in your field?

Bethy attended Paul Mitchell the School.  She's worked at high end salons and does a lot of freelance work in print, runway and film.  Jessica graduated from the Make Up Designory and has also worked on set as a freelance artist, in major beauty retailers and in a salon setting. Her product knowledge is impressive!  And I Alex, am currently working on my marketing and business degree.

Do you guys travel? Are you willing?

Absolutely!

  

What look is your favorite to create?

Bethy:  We all have a different style, which is why it's so much fun to work with each other.

Jessica:  Alex likes to do crazy out of the box stuff, I like classic and vintage, really feminine looks, but then I like doing goth too! I just want to throw red lipstick on anything. And Bethy makes everyone's hair sexy.

 

Jessica working a photo shoot

Where do you guys see each other in 5 years?

In 5 years, we hope to be a household name.

Who would be your dream celeb to work on? And why?

Well Jessica has a MAJOR crush on Chris Hemsworth.

  

What is the hardest thing you've come across in your field?

Egos! Jk. We're very new in the business so we haven't been hit with anything too crazy, but I'm sure there will be plenty of make or break situations. 

 Bethy

What inspires you?

Everything and anything. Our families, our friends, color, texture, seasons… anything.

What has been the craziest moment in your career so far?

Realizing how much support and love we have around us while starting this whole thing. There is one person in particular who has taken it upon themselves to push us, encourage us and guide us. We love her and appreciate her more than we can express. We feel so blessed.

  

In your wildest dreams where do you see Vanity Haus featured?

Vogue, the fashion Bible!

Well Darlins, how would you like to get a complimentary mini make-over by these ladies?!  Join us on November 17th (2012) at Melissa Velia's 1st Pop-up Shop and you'll have the opportunity to get dolled up for your Saturday night affairs by Vanity Haus!  Time is limited so we recommend making any appt. to be seen by one of these talents gals.  Simply email us at m.velia@melissavelia.com with a time (11:00am - 2:30pm) you would prefer and we'll confirm it before the days end.  For all the other Pop-up Shop details click here 

If your interested in working with Vanity Haus or have a special event you'd like them to doll you up for, contact them at vntyhaus@gmail.com

Mini Model

 

Hello Lovelies, hope I find you all well.  As for me, I couldn't be busier.  About a week ago, I  had a photo shoot for our new Mini Bow Belts that had been previous postpone due to rain.  I had really been looking forward to this shoot because these Mini Bow Belts were my first pieces for little girls.  The Mini Bow Belts will come in black satin or in black, royal blue and red velvet.  Sizes from 2T-5T.  I think they'll be perfect for the holidays and after.

Anyways, before I show you the rest of the pictures from the shoot let me just tell ya, photographing children is tough!  Don't know if I could do it again. They sure like to wiggle and giggle!  Kyleigha, our mini model, was just so sweet and gorgeous but getting her to actually model was totally out of my experience.  Never the less, the shoot turned out perfect.  This girl's looks alone would make any shot, beautiful.  Her modeling career has truly just began.

Thank you, Kyleigha and mommy!

 Shop the new Mini Bow Belts at our upcoming Pop Up Shop! Details here.  Or, the belts go on sale at www.melissavelia.com on Nov. 18th!

Coco Chanel at Fashion Fright Out

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel - Clothing Designer

Friday I attended LA Fashion Council's Fashions Fright Out at the W Hotel in Westwood.  I honeslty don't celebrate Halloween but when fashion meets costumes, I had to be apart of this.  It was quite easy for me to decided what I wanted to be for this event.  It just popped into my head and I went to town making my dress.  I honestly look and look for the best detailed pictures of Coco Chanel but they were hard to come by.  So I did my best in putting together her iconic picture outfits.  I hope I made my costume designer friend, Glinda proud ;)

This woman was a huge smoker, making it almost impossible not to incorporate a fake cigarette into the costume.  With that said, I do NOT APPROVE of smoking, considering both my grandfather's died of lung cancer way before their time I think.  Anyways, the evening was so much fun. Loved hanging out with the lovely gals of TPOLA.  Here are the rest of the pictures from that night. (had to do these in black and white)

Audrey Hepburn (aka Carly from Lipgloss and Crayons ) and I

Rosie the Riveter (aka Jasmine from Glitter On The Ceiling) and I

Marie Antoinette (aka Kelsi from Dedicated Follower of Fashion ) and I

LA Fashion (Pic via Kelsi)



Xo, Kelsi Smith, Wendy Bendoni, Kiara Schwartz, Jasmine Duarte, Marla Verdugo, Carly Brydon, Mary Cathryn Hall and Lisa Tran

Good Times.  Coming up this week, my latest project a mini look book and I MEAN mini!

Upcoming

 

The NEW Slender Bow Belts

Video!  Find out what else is new from my world, plus a little show and tell.

#LAFW

 

  Los Angeles Fashion Council - Spring 2013 Collections

Well hello Lovelies! You guys still out there?  Once again it's been a month to the date since my last post.  I am one crazy busy person with a huge broken laptop that I can't take to bed anymore to blog.  Therefore my blog timing is really off.

Anyways, enough of my little guilt trip.  As some of you may know we are still in the middle of LA fashion week. As much as I would love to attend all the shows and events, duty (work) calls here at the office/ studio.  I was fortunate though, to attend a couple of shows hosted by  Los Angeles Fashion Council .

 

The events were held at the Carondelet in Los Angeles, which seem to be a beautiful old mansion with it's creepy details.  Sorry, I'm the biggest chicken that ever walked this earth.

 

Ummm..creeeepy. (ha)

The event seem to go on without a hitch.  Granted some delays are only excepted at a fashion show but I must say from a designers view point this was one of the best fashion shows I've ever attended and trust me I've attend plenty of different fashion shows in my hay day.  From Smash Box to Gen Art (when it was on a popping).

Jen Awad

 

 Bohemian Society

Other highlights.

 

With Melissa from The Key To Chic

 

My full outfit (dress/ H&M, skirt/ Melissa Velia, suede booties/ Andrea)

The following day I was suppose to attend other events like RAW and Project Ethos to watch my lovely friend Marialia present her Spring 2013 collection but thanks to the rain, the 10 fwy, and not knowing

how to use my iphone map app., I never made it to those shows.  I ended the night with Los Angeles Fashion Council after party at the W in Westwood.  Over all it was great hanging out with new friends and old, surrounded in this great industry that is fashion.

 

Coming up from my world, video details about my last casting call and my upcoming Pop-up Shop in Los Angeles.

Xo, Lovelies!

Opportunity

Wow! It's been over a month since my last post.  I know I do this about 3 to 4 times a year, when I just fall of the face of the earth.  Whether it's family obligation or business, taking the time to write or record a video blog just falls of my completely  full plate sometimes.  I ask for your forgiveness, you faithful readers.  Although you all don't leave many comments, I know your out there and I appreciate your time. Now on to the good stuff!

 

Recently, I was given an amazing opportunity from the lovely people at SIMPLY STYLIST to "gift" their event with our At The Opera Earring for NYFW about a week ago.  Although I wasn't able to attend the actual event, it looked to have been a one of the MUST be at places for NYFW.  

 

Yeah, that's Catt  Sadler from E!

It was truly fashion at it's best and I was so grateful to be apart of it even in the smallest form.  A big thank you goes out to Sarah Pollack Boyd, Jackie Chambers and the rest of the SIMPLY STYLIST team.

 

Melissa Velia At The Opera Earrings at the event

pics via Soul Brother and SIMPLY STYLIST