CAMPing anyone?: 2019 Met Gala Fashion Highs and Lows

As we all know, every year on the first Monday in May, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and it's wonderful head curator of its costume institute, Andrew Bolton team up with Vogue's Editor in Chief, Anna Wintour to raise money to support the museum's various attractions and exhibits and make them available to the public. The theme of this year's exhibit and MET gala was "Camp: Notes on Fashion." The title of this theme raised many eyebrows as the interpretation of what 'camp' really meant in the world of fashion was quite loose and undefined by the description of the exhibition. In doing a bit of research, I dug up the true definition of what the word "camp"might describe. Camp is loosely described as an aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value. Camp can also be a social practice. For many it is considered a style and performance identity for several types of entertainment including film, cabaret, and pantomime. Where high art necessarily incorporates beauty and value, camp necessarily needs to be lively, audacious and dynamic

Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Serena Williams, and Gucci's creative director, Alessandro Michele were the co-chairs of this year's event; and alongside Anna Wintour, they were some of the true beacons of style and campyness of the event. Gaga however, took camp to another level with not only campy fashion, but an overly campy pink-carpet performance.

(Gaga's Performance looks pictured below. Each look was designed, and peeled off, and designed by Brandon Maxwell.)

Once Gaga and the co-chairs made their way down the pink carpet, the campy runway show began. Below are some of my choices for best and worst dressed (or least to theme) for this year's MET gala. 

Best Dressed

Starting with my ultimate favorite....!

Janelle Monae in Christian Siriano. (and yes, the eye blinked!)

Ezra Miller in Burberry. 

Michael Urie in Christian Siriano.

Ryan Murphy in Christian Siriano.

Katy Perry in Moschino.

Kacey Musgraves in Moschino.

Diane von Fürstenberg in her own Lady Liberty creation.

Florence Welch in Gucci.

Elle Fanning in Miu Miu.  

Lily Collins in Giambattista Valli.

Honorable Mentions

These are the stars who looked amazing, but the feel of campy-ness was not at its maximum potential.

Katie Holmes in Zac Posen.

Bella Hadid in Moschino.

Gemma Chan in Tom Ford.

Constance Wu in Marchesa.

Emily Blunt in Michael Kors.

Deepika Padukone in Zac Posen.

Worst Dressed

Make it camp, but cringe... or just forget the theme all together...

Serena Williams in 

 Lizzo in Marc Jacobs.

James Charles in Alexander Wang.

Priyanka Chopra in Dior.

Tracee Ellis Ross in Moschino. 

Halsey in Prabal Gurung. (Bad wig decision)

Kris Jenner in Ralph Lauren.

Kim Kardashian in Mugler. (Sorry, but you made him come out of retirement for this???) 

Gwyneth Paltrow in Chloé. 

Karlie Kloss in Gucci.

Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.

I hope you all enjoyed my choices for best and worst dressed at this year's ever-so-campy MET gala! Comment down below and let me know your choices for best and worst dressed and if you think someone should have been included in my lists (and tell me why)!

-The Sophisticated Shopper

Buying on Poshmark: A Review

With my first ever purchase on Poshmark being made, I felt it was necessary to review the website and its accessibility and relevance to today's styles, trends, and fashions. Poshmark is a website, with its very own app, that allows individuals to sell and purchase used and new clothing, accessories, and makeup. Looking to get some stylish, on-trend clothing all while being sustainable and eco-friendly? Then Poshmark might be the place to shop for you!

As someone who is plus sized, very picky, and is lazy with wanting to go thrift store to thrift store, searching for the next big fashion find, I figured I would give Poshmark a try. I plugged in my various sizes in clothes and shoes and desired brands into the app, and I was able to search for my desired items. My first search was for perhaps the most important thing in my wardrobe, shoes. I was searching for a pair of heels that I could wear to fashion events that wouldn't kill my feet and that looked as if they were hardly worn or brand new. After an hour or so of searching I came across the most beautiful beaded, slip-on mule heels; of which I happily purchased (brand new) for just $5 with $4.99 shipping!

 

After purchasing this first pair of shoes, I may have gone a little crazy, searching for items that I had not seen in stores for YEARS. And surprisingly, I managed to find one of these hard-to-find items on Poshmark for a steal! The item I was searching for was a Kate Spade holographic fuchsia wallet to match my Kate Spade Holographic Pink Quinn bag, and believe it or not, I found it!!! And for just $10 with $4.99 shipping, I got -the- perfect wallet/coin-purse to match my handbag.

Unfortunately, I have yet to find any clothing on Poshmark, likely due to being plus sized and my insecurity of how clothes might fit without trying them on. However, I will continue my search for the perfect Poshmark-esque piece of clothing. With the few purchases I have made, I highly suggest having a look at their app or website to find yourself a wonderful second-hand steal!

Wishing you successful shopping,

-The Sophisticated Shopper

A New Year, A New Me

Hello my fellow Sophisticates, and Happy New Year! I hope that 2017 treated you well and that 2018 will bring you happiness and health. My 2017 was perhaps one of the most stressful and difficult years of my life. Working three jobs, going to school full-time, and the lack of free time definitely wore me down but now that it is a new year, I am embracing all of the new possibilities that may come and cannot wait to leap over life's new obstacles. I typically do not make any New Years resolutions, but I figured that this year might be the year to tackle one or two. My first resolution for 2018 is, do what you haven't allowed yourself to do before. This includes going out on a school night, saying no to stressful opportunities, and allowing myself to work towards a career I will love and be happy with for the rest of my life. Although it does not sound like an interesting resolution, I feel that it will allow me to live a happier, healthier, and more stress-free life. My second resolution is not a very foreign concept at this time in a new year: to allow myself to become healthier and happier (in both my mind and my body). As someone who is new to creating and completing resolutions, I figured these two would be good ones to start with.

In addition to my resolutions, I have goals that I would like to reach when it comes to my blog, YouTube channel, and for you guys! I would like to be able to post at least one blog post and one YouTube video each week for the entire year. This goal might be forgotten or abandoned by the end of 2018, but I figured it might be a nice thing for me to attempt and stick to throughout the year. Staying true to my goal, I have posted three videos to my YouTube channel for you all to enjoy in this first month of the new year.

Hopefully you have enjoyed all of my past content and will continue to enjoy the content I have planned throughout the new year. Let me know if you have any goals or resolutions that you are planning on sticking to in this new year and if you will be finding new ways to hold yourself accountable! Hope you all are having a wonderful start to 2018! Until next post x

a.k.a. The Sophisticated Shopper

Festive or Faux pas? Decorating for the Holidays

Hello my fellow fashionistas, I have (yet again) returned from a rather long hiatus and am trying to get back into writing, blogging, and getting connected once again to the social-media world. I have been awakened by what might just be the most controversial issue of the moment: to decorate or not decorate for Christmas...in November (November 3rd to be exact.) Is the idea of decorating early considered festive, or is it a major faux pas? In my various social media accounts, I have taken to asking you, my beautiful followers, whether or not I should decorate for Christmas early, or if I should be deemed criminally insane for simply having the urge to do so. The polls are still running, and my mind is still tossing and turning with the idea of sprucing up my world with a little Christmas cheer, however, I can't help but wonder, is this even important? Does it matter if I have tinsel and ornaments dangling from every nook and cranny in my room before we even carve the Thanksgiving turkey? Should I care about what the world deems seasonally correct? As I am writing these very words, I am fighting the urge to set up my new Christmas tree and deck the halls with boughs of holly. So should I feel guilty about these urges? Isn't decorating for the holidays meant to bring joy? Or does it just bring anxiety? Personally, I feel that the month of November is perhaps, the most stressful month of the year. And what better way to release this stress than decorate for a holiday that is a whole month away? As most would say in any time of dilemma, "do what makes you happy." Whether this includes adorning your home with twinkling lights and tinsel or hanging stockings by the chimney with care, you're sure to find joy in any of these acts of festivity. The polls are still going, and I, although am stricken with curiosity, will not be swayed by the answers of others. In the end, decorating is fun, it brings me joy, and it isn't hurting anyone (except for the Holiday Police...those people can stuff it!) so why not just do it? Let me know what you guys think! Is it festive or is it faux pas to decorate for Christmas in (early) November? Also, I'm curious to know, when (if you do decorate) you will put all of your festive decor out? From one Christmas lover to another, don't let anyone take your tinsel and tell you what you can and cannot do! Happy decorating, and have a great weekend my lovelies! xx

-Kayleigh 

a.k.a The Sophisticated Shopper

Verge-in To Fashion: Entering the Fashion World For the First Time

We all wish that our debut into the world of fashion would be something out of a Sex in the City movie, however, we all know that no matter the budget and how determined we are to look fabulous, we are bound to have some fashion moments that will go down in the book of "things to never ever wear, or mention, again."

My verge into fashion was very similar to that. I have a mental book of outfits and various trends that have been tried and simultaneously, failed. In junior high, printed Bermuda shorts and hot pink eyeshadow was my go-to look. High school, it was feathered hair, short shorts, and blush, LOTS of blush. Today, I am more careful about what trends to trust or not trust and which ones should simply be tossed out the window. After all, trends are just touch and go. They are just temporary and are put in place simply to allow us to explore our options and figure out what suits us and what will allow us to open up to ourselves. In a way, entering the world of fashion is like loosing your virginity. Your entering something that will break you out of your comfort zone, something will make you laugh and make you cry, and something that will allow you to see another side of yourself and allow you to grow into the person you are supposed to be. I know that romanticizing virginity and fashion is cheesy and over-done, but in my experiences, in experimenting with fashion and with life, it holds true.

I am currently enrolled in a course in Fashion in Society, and being enrolled in this course has allowed me to further explore who I am, determine the trends I am willing or not willing to try, introduced me to various cultures I have yet to consider and acknowledge, and allowed me to properly enter the world of fashion. I encourage everyone to do something outside their comfort zone that might allow them the access and entry to the world they wish to explore or belong to. Read a book, or two, do some research, start a blog, try a new trend cut your hair, ANYTHING that allows you to learn something new about yourself or about the world we love and live in.

I hope you all take my advice, and try or learn something new to learn more about yourselves. Until next time...

-The Sophisticated Shopper 

2017| Real Talk & Resolutions

Hello my fellow Sophisticates, and welcome to a new year. As you may have noticed, this "time to reflect" that I have taken has consumed almost a half of a year. Although my thoughts have not yet completely been reflected on, I feel that this time away from blogging and other forms of social media has allowed me to make goals for myself and resolutions that I so hope to keep. I hardly ever make new year's resolutions that I stick to, so I have decided that for 2017, I am only going to make resolutions and goals that are not on a deadline. In a way, it is an excuse to continue to learn about myself and "take time to reflect" without completely abandoning my blog and social media.

A great part of these resolutions have to do with finding out who I really am and if I'm capable of discovering my true self without changing any part of myself. I want to be able to endulge in the joys of life without giving anything up. I want to delve into cultures that I have yet to explore. And I want to find happiness in the grueling tasks of day-to-day life. This all sounds so great and so easy, but I know it is going to be a great challenge. One that I cannot wait to accept.

I find that unless I make an outline of my goals, it is difficult to keep myself to them. So, the (very rough) outline of my path to happiness and self discovery is written below.

1. Step out of your comfort zone.
2. Enjoy the variety that each day brings.
3. Find something positive in each daily task.
4. Define who I am without allowing others to define me.
5. Delve into foreign cultures.
6. Learn something new every day.
7. Learn to accept challenges and to not run from them.
8. Try new things.
9. Declutter my life: of materialistic goods, harmful people, and unneccessary worry
10. Don't forget to tell yourself every day that you are good enough and that you don't need anyone to prove that to you,
*BONUS: Allow yourself to be HAPPY!*

This outline, I'm hoping, will bring me all that I hope it will and that it will allow me to be the best version of myself that I can be.

Until next post, my lovelies. Just remember, resolutions do not need to have a deadline. You can't rush the journey to finding yourself. 

-Kayleigh 

Time to Reflect...

Hello my fellow Sophisticates. I greatly apologize for my absence over the last few months (the last 5 months to be exact.) I have been taking some time off to focus on school and graduating, work, and reflecting on who I am as a person. These past months have been filled with regret, fear, consciousness, disbelief, and the constant questioning of who I am as a person on the inside and the outside. Recently, I've had to deal with some stressful events that have caused me to look at myself and my life and evaluate the people and things in my life and determine which of those should be cast away in order for me to become a better person and to have a less stressful life. Upon looking at every element that makes up my life, I've made some very cutthroat decisions and important changes that I hope will influence me to live a happier and healthier life. One of these changes directly correlates to my blog and YouTube channel. I've found that my passion for blogging and vlogging has been severely dimmed (hence this rather long hiatus) by all of the stresses and negativity that has once had a great influence in my life. So, with this negativity being removed, I intend to return to blogging and allow myself to enjoy the things that make me happy. I know that this all is rather unclear and vague, and it is all still quite new to me, but I hope to display my happier life and reengaged passions in this blog and its corresponding social media platforms. I can't wait for us to enter this journey towards happiness together! I know that it is out there, and that it is available to all of us...<3

Best wishes,
  -Kayleigh (a.k.a. The Sophisticated Shopper)