That Subtle Way

Details: Lace Top-LF, Bralette-Free People, Necklace-Forever21, Pants-American Apparel, Boots-Freebird from LF, Irish Cream Latte-Cafe Blue Door

WOW! What an amazing time I've been having lately. It's been a while since I've been this incredibly happy about everything that's happening to me and I'm so thankful to be able to share all my joy with you! First of all, I found out on Friday that I got into business school at Berkeley. The way that the business major works here is that you apply the end of your first semester as a sophomore and you find out the next semester if you get into the Junior/Senior program or not. I came to Berkeley because I knew how prestigious the Haas business program was and it was so scary not knowing for the past three semesters if I would even end up majoring in the thing that brought me to this amazing school in the first place. But as of Friday at 5:00 I now know what the next two years hold and I couldn't be more excited! 

Additionally, I really love my classes and the things I'm getting involved with this semester. I'm taking a lot of classes that talk about current events, politics, and things that I, as an American citizen and voter, should be aware of. Although I'm not taking anything to get me towards my major, I think that the classes I'm taking are very important and have made me so much more aware of the world I live in. I've also gotten involved with the Fashion and Student Trends club this semester as a blog writer. I've already published my first post (I'll put a link to it at the end of this post) and my second one, which is a video, should be up tomorrow. It's cool to be doing something more related to fashion and I'm meeting a lot of really lovely people with similar interests to me, so that's a bonus. 

Finally, I've met someone who has really made an impact in my life. I don't really want to go into personal details of my life here, but I'm sure that you'll be seeing more of him soon. All that you need to know is that things are going really well for me right now and I sincerely hope that you can all experience this happiness too! I know it's probably a stressful time for a lot of you if you're in school (midterms, ugh) but believe me when I say that surrounding yourself with the right kind of people and getting involved in the things that you want to do can play such a big part in helping you live a fulfilling life. Keep your head up, pour yourself a cup of tea, and let the stress escape you for just a moment each day. Please. Do it for me.

I've been listening to a lot of Bombay Bicycle Club lately; I find that during periods of optimism I tend to listen to a lot of "indie" music whereas usually I would listen to more grunge, shoegaze, ect. Anyways, I'm a big fan of theirs and one of my favorites by them is actually off their first album which I guess is sorta old now as far as modern music goes? It's called "Dust on the Ground" and it's gotten me through a lot of stress this week so please enjoy. Also, Jack Steadman is kinda a cutie? Is this just me? Please let me know.

Sorry this post was so long, I just have a lot of stuff to celebrate! Hope you all have a good week!

Karis the Baybonnet

Link to my post on the FAST blog: Click here

Boredom Makes You Creative

Details: Sweater, Shorts, and Tights-Urban Outfitters, Bra-Free People, Shoes-Doc Martens, Texas Necklace-Kris Nations Designs

Yesterday Caroline (who is now my semi-official photographer?) and I went and shot some pictures on her roof. I really like the view of the bay in the background of these pictures. It reminds me of what a gorgeous place I live in. I am so lucky for that. Today's outfit is relatively simple with neutral colors. I made a conscious effort to show my shorts in these pictures because there were definitely times today that I looked like I flat out wasn't wearing pants. This sweater really stretches a lot just in the span of one day. It was like I woke up definitely looking like I was in shorts in a sweater but by 2:00 I was somehow wearing a dress all of a sudden.

I had a really great week, and the concert I went to on tuesday was amazing. The picture above is the only really good one that I got, but I like it. Bad Suns were really great live and I urge anyone who is looking for a fun concert to buy tickets to their show in your city. Regardless of if you know their music or not, you'll have a fun time and you'll probably want to buy the album afterwards. Their second opener, Coasts, was also really good. I had never heard of them before and while they were playing I was being a little cynical about the Matt Healy wannabe singer, but that was definitely just because I was eager for Bad Suns to come on. When I got home I bought their EP (called Coasts - EP) and I really liked the four songs on it! The song that I've featured today is called "Wallow" and it might just be my favorite out of all of them. "Rush of Blood to the Head" and "Oceans" are also pretty good. I've been jamming hard all week.

Happy Tuesday!

Karis the Baybonnet

For Love of For Love and Lemons

I realize that it's been a long time since I've made a designer appreciation post, so today I'm going to talk about one of my absolute favorite labels: For Love and Lemons. It's extra fitting seeing as it's almost Valentines day and this brand makes some of the prettiest lingerie out there. 

For Love and Lemons is an independent label started by two friends in Jackson, WY. Since then the pair have moved their operations to Los Angeles - fitting seeing as it's home of all my favorite independent labels. The company has been around for a few years, but I noticed it in Spring 2014 around the time that they released a collection dominated by bold colors and lace. To this day the Antigua mini and maxi dresses are still the pieces that define the label for me. These dresses caught my eye because they were delicate but also incredibly sexy. The intricate lace patterns only cover the necessary parts of the body while the rest is made of a nude mesh material allowing for minimal body coverage while still being wearable. 

Today the brand boasts a collection of beautiful pieces with the same delicate and sexy vibe as the collection that I first fell in love with. However, my favorite part of the brand is their Skivvies lingerie line. Each piece is interesting and innovative and Skivvies can be seen on many influential fashion bloggers. Honestly, I feel a little sad knowing that their bras and underwear are meant to be covered up seeing as it's not exactly socially acceptable to parade around in your "skivvies". However, many of the pieces walk a fine line between crop top and bra or contain elements that can easily be incorporated into an outfit without flat-out refusing to wear a shirt. 

Take, for instance, the iconic Bat Your Lashes Bra. Made from the same beautiful lace as the aforementioned Antigua dress, this bra come down to about 2 inches above the belly button, making it a somewhat acceptable crop top, especially for music festivals or days at the beach. The She's a Knock Out bra is another example of one of these crop-top/bra hybrids. Additionally, the label carries some fun bodysuit designs that could be made into sleek and sexy tank tops when paired with jean cut offs or a pair of high waisted skinny jeans. For lovers of that iconic Antigua lace design, there's even a Bat Your Lashes body suit for those who don't like the crop top look.

When it comes to their bras that are far less acceptable crop tops, many designs still incorporate elements that can spice up an outfit without being too risque. The Wanted & Wild Bustier from their new Spring 2015 collection is an example of one such design. While the lace balconnette bra would warrant some stares if worn alone, putting a simple flowy tee shirt on over it would allow for the two front straps coming out of the center of the bra to accessorize your décolletage in a fun and unconventional way. The Skivvies collection allows for women to be adventurous and sexy while still looking cool and casual. Just throw on the jewel-colored Delicate Bondage bra and a thin white tee and you've got a peek-a-boo look that isn't too in-your-face. 

Overall, the For Love and Lemons brand is sexy but also feminine and casual. Rich colors and a diverse array of fabrics make every collection interesting and enticing. Their Spring Skivvies collection, called Wanderlust, and Spring 2015 clothing collection, called Pacific Escape, are on their site now. So if you're looking for a Valentines treat for yourself or a loved one go check out their website! The prices are pretty steep, but each piece is beautifully crafted and in limited supply, so if there's a piece that you're swooning after, save yourself the trip to your favorite coffee shop this week and scrape up those savings because that something big that you've been waiting for is here!

Below I've included pictures of all the pieces mentioned in this post and links to where you can purchase them on the site!

The Antigua Mini Dress

The Bat Your Lashes Bra

The She's a Knockout Bra

The Bat Your Lashes Bodysuit

The Wanted & Wild Bustier

The Delicate Bondage Bralette

Happy 1st Day of February!

Karis the Baybonnet

Language and Perspective Shape the Way We Live

Details: Jeans-American Apparel, Shirt-UNIF, Plaid-Urban Outfitters, Shoes-Converse, Bracelets-same as I always wear; "I have issues" from Kenneth Cole, "Bite Me" from Ryan Porter, Gold Friendship Bracelet is a gift

Today's pictures are from a lovely coffee date with one of my best friends Caroline who is now going to be helping me churn out pictures for the blog. She's armed with a nice camera and a desire to get more photography experience so I think we make a pretty great team. I've said this before and I'll say it again, but the hardest thing for me that keeps me from committing to this blog is the whole process of being one of those people who take pictures everywhere. I was talking about this with my roommates and Caroline this weekend when we went to San Francisco. I didn't really get a whole lot of pictures from the experience and I was disappointed in myself because I really want to start documenting my life more. My roommate Lydia then pointed out that people who have to stop and take pictures all the time aren't actually enjoying their life as much, and that really resinated with me. When I'm worrying about getting pictures for my blog or simply documenting my life I tend to let my anxiety overshadow the actual experience I'm having. Therefore I think I'm going to start designating a quick 5 minutes to take outfit pictures and such whenever I go out. This way I'll go into the experience knowing that there will be a time for documenting and a time for simply living. 

Additionally, I find myself looking at pictures I take for the blog and getting somewhat down on myself. They say the camera adds 10 pounds, and I don't know if that's true or not, but I do feel that often when I look at myself in the mirror I think "wow I look really good today, like I look in shape and hot and great" and then I look at pictures someone takes of me and I say "ok wait, when did my arms get that huge? And where is this double chin situation coming from? I didn't have that this morning". But I think it's really a two-fold process of learning how to pose better in pictures and really getting myself in shape, which I'm hoping to be more dedicated to this semester. I've been going to the gym every weekday after classes and I'm trying to eat better by simply not buying "bad" foods when I go to the grocery store and instead saving my extra calories for when I'm out and about with friends. If I really do end up committing to this and seeing a difference I'll definitely make a post about my exercise routine and diet plan, but for now there's no telling how this will go. I'm hoping it will be a positive experience though!

Today's song is "Salt" by Bad Suns. I've gotten really into them lately despite the fact that I knew about them in summer. I just heard "Cardiac Arrest" and thought "I like this" but didn't really look into the band, but then I heard "Salt" on Jimmy Kimmel the other night and fell in love. I went from 0 to 100 in about 5 minutes and I now have their entire album (and every song is amazing, not a bad seed in there) and I'm completely head over heels for their singer Christo Bowman. I haven't stopped listening to the album for the past 6 days and I bought tickets to their concert tonight about 10 minutes after hearing "Salt". Hopefully I'll get some pictures at the concert that I'll post on my instagram if not on here. But until then, I'll be jamming out to "Salt" and the rest of Language and Perspective. 

*The video and the content of the song lyrics is also really great and I'm so glad that someone wrote a song about the experiences of transgender people and depicted it in such an honest way*

Much love,

Karis the Baybonnet

Sinking into Sweet Uncertainty

Details: Dress-Free People, Boots-Aldo

Hello! So I realize that it's been ages since I last posted but I've been busy. *Kim K voice* Can I LIVE? Anyways, the other day I had some pictures done by a friend of mine from high school who I was in band with. She's a talented photographer and really knows how to use natural lighting. We shot at a park in our hometown, which was interesting to me because the only time I had ever been there was in high school when my friends and I would get taco bell and eat it there at night. Anyways, I chose to wear this outfit because it's one of my new favorite go-to's. First of all, I'm in LOVE with this Free People dress. Seriously, everyone should invest in one. At first I thought it was going to be too baggy on me (because contrary to popular belief, even to me, there is a point where things become too baggy), but I actually really love the way it falls on my body, and I imagine that it would look good on most body types. I paired it with my over-the-knee boots which I've been pairing with dresses and skirts a lot lately. I don't really ever wear them with jeans because I'm not a huge fan of the whole tall boots with jeans thing, but to each their own.

As far as life goes, since my last post I've endured a 10-page research paper on the Middle East, dead week, finals week, a finals-driven mental breakdown that involved a lot of pop-punk music, a statistics final that I thought for sure I would fail (I actually did really well thanks to all my early 2000s Fall Out Boy fueled studying), and the beginning of winter break. I think that at the end of the break I might make a little post with some pictures and tidbits about it. In short, I spent a week in North Carolina with my dad, step-mom, and two little step-siblings and now I'm back in Dallas soaking up that hometown goodness while also cringing at the locals a little bit. All in all, I'm super excited to go back to the Berk and extra excited because my lovely friend Caroline just got a new camera lens and said she would help me shoot for the blog (yaas)! 

Despite the fact that my pop-punk finals week breakdown is in the past, I never got to post anything about it while it was actually happening. So I'll end this post with one of the many songs I sang along to while doing copious amounts of statistics practice problems and sobbing a little.

Karis the Baybonnet

You're My Medicine

Details: Dress-Reformed by the Reformation via Urban Outfitters, Sweater-Nasty Gal, Boots-Aldo

Whew, it's been such a busy week for me! I had Tuesday off for Veteran's day but I ended up spending 70% of the day working on homework in my favorite cafe.  I had a lot of stuff to catch up on after not really doing any schoolwork this weekend, so that free day was certainly welcome. Anyways, today was a pretty busy day since I have the most hours of class on Wednesday. I also attended a protest that one of my friends helped put on to raise awareness about rape culture, so that was just a super Berkeley thing I added to my schedule for today. Thankfully the weekend is in sight! Also, the weather has been lovely here lately (and by that I mean that it's feeling a little cold), so I had to put on some layers today. I wore this dress a few posts back in the summer and I commented on how I never really know how to wear it since the top part is a bit impractical. Well, I finally found my solution! It goes really well with a sweater, and the leg slits worked perfectly with my new pair of over-the-knee boots! Speaking of, I'm so excited about these boots! I had been searching for a pair of super tall boots but it was really hard for me to find a pair that fit over my calves, but these actually zip up all the way. I got them at Aldo and they were pretty reasonably priced. They have a lot of styles of tall boots too, so definitely check them out if you have bigger calves.

Today's song is a good one; it's the 1975's new single, "Medicine". I have NO IDEA why I didn't know about this sooner (I'm only like a week and a half late), but I'm glad that I've realized it's existence now. It's so beautiful, almost as beautiful as "Me", which is their most beautiful song in my opinion. And I really do mean beautiful - not cool, good, or anything else, but genuinely beautiful. I'm in love. 

Have a great week

Karis the baybonnet

Seattle on my Mind

Details: Dress-Free People, Jacket-UNIF, Shoes-Docs

Hey, hi, hello, wow, what a weekend. As you may have noticed, I dyed my hair! It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and I finally told myself that this is really the only time I can do it. Soon I'll be applying for jobs for the summer and (hopefully) be constantly networking if I get into business school next year. Thus my dreams of having pixie hair needed to be fulfilled right now at this exact moment in life, so I went for it. My roommate Mackenzie did the actual dying and I must say that she is a pro. The ombre actually turned out really nice and the break between the purple and blonde isn't harsh at all.  The mixture was more conditioner than dye and it's already started fading so it should probably be gone in about a month, but I'm happy to have it while it lasts.

Anyways, this weekend I went to Seattle to visit one of my best friends from high school, Jack. It was a really special trip for me because besides missing my friend, I also really the city. I started going to Seattle about twice a year to visit my dad when I was 12 and instantly fell in love with the city and surrounding areas. The trees were vibrantly green and orange, the weather was gloomy in the most wonderful way, and the city was a perfect mix of urban and natural. I spent my high school years wanting to go to UW, and I toured the campus more than a few times. Then one summer I brought Jack along for one of my many campus tours and he fell in love like I knew he would. And just like that he ended up a Husky, but I chose to be a Berkeley Bear (a choice that I don't regret for a second, but I really do wish I could spend every day in Seattle if I could). Sadly my dad moved away from Washington earlier this year, but thanks to Jack I still have an excuse to visit! My trip was brief, but I had a lot of fun meeting Jack's lovely friends, going to Pike's Market (my favorite place in the city despite going there countless times), being a Husky for a day at the UW vs UCLA football game, hitting up my favorite vintage shops on the Ave, and taking a walk to Gasworks Park to look out over Lake Union at the city skyline. I even had fun at the airport! I went to the Sub Pop records store and spent about 15 minutes contemplating which grunge-related book to purchase. Then I had a really awesome conversation with the store clerk who complimented my Smashing Pumpkins shirt and went on to talk about how he was from Aberdeen and had the same art teacher as Kurt Cobain in high school (a small reward for living in Aberdeen I suppose).

 Seattle is a truly beautiful place with an amazing history and culture, and I encourage anyone who has not been to pack their bags right now! It really is my dream to live there after graduation, so for now I've gotta get back on my grind and do everything I need to in order to get myself there! I'll end this post with some pictures from my weekend, and I hope everyone has a wonderful week and a relaxing Veteran's Day if you are off school or work!

The Seattle skyline as seen from the Ferris Wheel on the coast of the Sound

Jack and I at the UW game. I'm wearing a hat that my dad got me a few years back that Jack then inherited when I decided to come to Berkeley.

The brand new Husky Stadium! Just look at that sky; so much purple!

The city as seen from Gasworks Park

Til next time!

Karis the Baybonnet