Vintage Naeem Khan Beaded Top

         Whenever I move to a new place, it's important that I find the nearest thrift store. Not only is half my wardrobe thrift and vintage, but I love the thrill of finding old pieces I can make new. Even though my family's been living in western New Hampshire for a couple years now, it's taken me this long to discover Go Lightly, a consignment shop in nearby New London. Among a large inventory of old lady clothes and early 2000s trends, they have a surprisingly wide range of vintage and designer pieces.

          I found this gorgeous, beaded top hidden in their vintage racks and was stunned by its detail. Then I looked at the tags -- silk, Naeem Khan, Neiman Marcus, and less than $30! I couldn't let this steal slip from my hands!

          Now to be clear, the top is vintage Naeem Khan. This may be confusing to those who know the designer for his red carpet gowns that launched him into popularity only a few years ago. What many don't know, and what I didn't know until I researched the label on the tag, is that Khan created the Riazee Collection in 1981 and it lasted for fourteen years. He didn't begin designing purely under his namesake until 2003.

          With such an elegant top, there aren't many places in New Hampshire worthy to wear it. But I didn't care! My family took a trip to try The Revolution Cantina in Claremont and that was a good enough excuse for me. I paired it with distressed jeans, a gold shoulder bag I found on another recent thrift excursion, black caged heels, and a beaded collar necklace my mémère gave me for Christmas. I finished my look with copper eyeshadow, inspired by makeup in a Roberto Cavalli runway show.

Left, makeup at Roberto Cavalli. Right, my copper eyeshadow rendition.

Welcome Back!

          Happy New Year and welcome back to my blog! I've been on quite a hiatus lately. After the holidays, I visited my boyfriend in Albany for New Years and only a couple days later we were off to New Jersey for a film shoot. Andy directed and I was there to do hair and makeup. Those eight days were a combination of fun, boredom, frustration, meeting great new people, and above all, a huge learning experience. Once we got back to NY, we spent a day exploring in the city. Our last stop was NH, where he brought me home and spent a few days relaxing with me.

 

On New Years Eve, Andy drove me to see the Lights in the Park in Albany, NY.

Celebrating at midnight!

A wedding hairstyle I did for Andrea on the first day of shooting. 

In my little makeup corner where I chilled for a lot of the shoot.

The special effects makeup I did on Jake for one of many boxing scenes.

Working on Andrea's gunshot wound!

That's my boyfriend directing!

Spraying blood on Liam for a gruesome scene.

I helped with the set design in this scene!

At the Met with Andy!

The Egyptian exhibit was one of my favorites!

I can cross "Go to mood" off my bucket list!

I fell in love with a lion at FAO Schwartz.

Just being kids in a toy store!

He took me to see the windows at Bergdorf & Goodman.

We got dinner at an awesome sandwich shop called Num Pang.

I loved the underground, graffiti theme.

We both got really yummy fish sandwiches, mine with catfish, his with mahi-mahi. 

My Photoshoot with Tricia Cromwell from Trust in Tricia

 

          This fall, I won a contest that Tricia Cromwell posted on her Facebook. The prompt was to showcase an outfit incorporating fall trends, so I submitted the outfit I wore to the MFA a couple months ago (leather skirt and sneaker wedges). She picked my outfit and I won her Total Makeover prize, complete with a day of shopping, hair and makeup, and a photoshoot styled by Tricia!

          I didn't have much money to spend due to my Christmas shopping budget, but we had a fun time window shopping. She introduced me to some stores and boutiques in Hingham, Mass. and I gathered a bunch of DIY ideas for my clothes and jewelry.

           The best discovery of our day was this amazing top made out of can tabs, by Waleska. I've never worn a shirt made entirely out of metal, so I had to try it on of course!

            After our shopping trip, we headed to Cloutier Photography's studio to start our photoshoot. We took some "before" pictures with a plain tee and then I got my hair and makeup done. It felt good to be pampered for a change, since I'm usually the one styling the model. They curled my hair and gave me a rosy, smokey eye. It was such a pretty, daytime take on a typically nighttime style. 

            Tricia styled me with my own clothes and accessories that I brought, along with some of her own jewelry from her spectacular case full of bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. She put together four looks for me to model. Then came the pictures! Take a look at them below!

Thank you to everyone who made my photoshoot so much fun, including Tricia, Lauren, Maryjo, and Stephanie!