EDITOR'S LETTER: March 2014

All through the month of February these items were my go to pieces when I wanted to feel fashionable without having to think about my look too much. I was on the go all month, so I hardly had anytime to be innovative about my look, so I needed pieces that would help me to be chic and modern no matter where I went. It was all so simple, classic, and practical, and said everything I needed it to say about myself. I especially loved my Aztec poncho and black fur vest because they added that extra bit of pizzazz and intrigue to my all all black Audrey Hepburn inspired look. 

This past month I was TERRIBLY busy! First off, I have to pat myself on the back for producing 20 posts within the month, a feat I haven't accomplished since November 2012 when I reached 27 posts! I'm a little disappointed though because even though I was able to post as much as I did, I wasn't able to produce a certain post I had been meaning to post most of all that would send the message home about my theme for #IMFblog these past two months, BE STIMULATED. Perhaps I will be able to bring that to you this month now that things in my life have slowed down a bit. There were a lot of happenings for myself this past month: I had multiple interviews, advances in my career, moving arrangements to deal with, and some out of town trips to see family, not to mention Valentine's Day and birthday parties to attend. Like I mentioned in my previous Editor's Letter, in such a short month, its a miracle I was able to conjure the amount of posts I did. 

As far as advancement in my career goes, not only was I able to muster a promotion at my employer of 3 years, I was also able to find employment as a Visual Assistant for Forever 21, where I am really able to put my styling abilities to practices dressing mannequins for the store's windows. I truly cherish this position because Forever 21 is one of my favorite stores with their affordable prices and innovative clothing  choices that really cater to the modernity of the fashion conscious consumer. I feel there is always something to find in Forever 21 with their vast assortment of clothing options, so its a little of a dream come true to be able to have all of their products at my disposal to create looks for consumers to be inspired to by for their sartorial desires. Hats, shoes, bags, dresses, accessories: to mix and match all they have to offer its exactly what I dream about doing with the rest of my life for Vogue magazine, and eventually a magazine of very own. 

On top of all that, it was my birthday yesterday! With all the stress of running around all month, you can imagine that having a really good "sit" was my greatest birthday wish. I know, I am such a bore, but sitting down with a good book in hand brings me such joy, it makes me smile right now just to think about doing it! Yesturday, I treated myself with a trip to Barnes and Nobel, and purchased the book "Nostalgia in Vogue", published by Rizzoli and edited by Features Director of Vogue, Eve MacSweeney. I can't wait to make my way through the book, for it is a compilation of, "the legendary photographs of Vogue and a collection of essays they have inspired. Drawn from the magazine's Nostalgia column of the past ten years, celebrities, designers, photographers, and authors choose images from Vogue's history  that have touched their lives in revealing and personal ways." The Nostalgia Column in Vogue is one of my personal favorite columns in the magazine because the various essays open new perspectives to life and how fashion and style play a part in making life stories. 

In my fashion, as we take time to open up a book, its amazing how books have a way of opening up ourselves and expanding our minds to so much more.

I find that for me, when I am stressed, the best thing for me to do is sit down and get lost in a book. Given the amount of stress I faced this past month, I made my way through a quite a few books including: Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington, Vidal Sasso: How One Man Changed the World with a Pair of Scissors by Michael Gordon, Secrets of Stylists: An Insiders Guide to Styling the Stars by Sasha Charnin Morrison, and Modern Manners by Dorothea Johnson and Liv Tyler. All these books helped me to think about styling in a greater sense. In my fashion, styling is about learning how to really trust your instincts and understand how to make the best decisions to bring out our best attributes. In regards to life, from reading each of these books, whether one is making decisions as to what to wear, who to befriend, where to go, and how to act, 

learning how to follow our instincts is one of our greatest tools, and there is something about styling that I feel we can learn a lot about doing so. This month will be about exploring THE SECRETS OF STYLISTS as it pertains to being successful in life.