RVAfashionista.com

DRESS: Forever 21

BELT: Nordstrom (Bought it from the BP. department sometime in May when I was still working for Nordies.)

BRACELET: Forever 21 (Bought this one a couple years ago - actually from their For Love 21 store.)

EARRINGS: Vintage (Gift from my friend H from her grandmother's collection of vintage costume jewelry.)

SHOES: (Not shown but they're by Seychelles.)

Ideally, I would like to get in the habit of posting my favorite outfits or outfit ideas on a consistent basis.  I love the posts from The Coveted and from Lollie Shopping with their outfits and I'm inspired to do the same.  I was playing around with my tripod this afternoon and my Nikon point and shoot with the self timer.  I managed to get a few pics in and then *poof* I knocked my tripod down and suddenly my camera and tripod went down the back stairs of my apartment.  The tripod is OK but my camera isn't at all - the screen says "lens error" and the lens "cover" won't automatically close when I turn my camera off.  So if you're willing to donate towards me getting a new camera, that would be totally awesome.

Rocking out with MAC Lipliner in Magenta paired with Wet 'n Wild MegaSlicks lipgloss in Candy Apple.

I aim to maintain an upbeat and positive attitude on RVAfashionista.com.  I want to write about and review things that make me happy and would potentially make my readers happy.  Happiness all around, right?  It's a well known fact that I love shoes.  However, most of the shoes I lust over on a day to day basis won't fit my feet.  I wear a 6.5 W and most shoe designers don't make shoes in wide widths.  I can sometimes find a size 7 that fits but I often have to make some sort of adjustment such as adding heel grippers or putting some sort of padding in the ball of the shoe to make my toes "scoot back a bit.  I haven't bought shoes from Endless, 6pm, or Zappos yet but I'm surprised that they do offer a fairly wide range of styles that don't look too matronly.  I'm 28 - I don't want to wear shoes that make me look 78!

I wish more shoe designers offered chic styles that come in wide width!  I love the concept of these "shoe of the month" clubs like ShoeDazzle and JustFabulous but they don't offer any wide widths.  I am a member through Shoe Dazzle but I haven't bought anything yet.  There's been a lot of shoes on there that I really liked but fearing that they won't fit.  I like the price points and the personal styling of ShoeDazzle and JustFabulous but I'm not a fan that their sizes are limited to medium widths only.  What about my wide and narrow footed sisters - can't we have chic shoes for the masses?

PHOTO CREDIT: Shoe Dazzle

As much as I love wearing flip-flops almost every day this summer, I'm on the hunt of trying to find a basic black career appropriate pump that will look great with dresses, skirts, and for a job interview. I do love my fun and funky shoes (i.e., my magenta peep toe low wedges), I need a new pair of basic black pumps.  The VANELi Women's Lolly Pump is features clean lines, smooth leather, and a not quite pointy but not quite rounded toe.  The best part of this pump is that it comes in a WIDE width because there's nothing worse than stuffing your toes in a too narrow shoe.  The Lolly Pump by VANELi retails for $95.95 at Endless.com which is a reasonable price for a quality, all leather pump.

I've spent the last week scouring fashion blogs in an attempt to do my own fall fashion write up...  The 90-something-degree weather with a side of humidity makes the idea of wearing a chunky knit sweater a bit unbearable at the moment.  So crank that AC and let's talk fall fashion while dreaming of a cooler climate, shall we?

Retro-chic stylings are a major fall focus this year - think AMC's "Mad Men" mixed with 1950's and 1960's fashion refinery.  Sheath dresses, slim pencil skirts, and feminine details make this trend appropriate for both the office and the after-hours happy hour with friends.  This Merona® Women's Ponte Side Tab Dress is an affordable addition to your wardrobe with a price tag under $30.  Peep-toe pumps such as these Payless Fioni Lavish Ruffle Pumps would pair nicely for work or play.  Pull your look together with a cheetah print cardigan from Merona at Target and you're good to go!

In attempts to kick-start my brain for fall fashion, I spied these Women's Mossimo® Pembroke Snip-Toe Pumps - Black on Target's website.  I think these pumps would be a great summer-to-fall fashion piece.  Add some edge to a flowy, summery dress and then pair them with tights once the weather finally cools off.

Rocker girl chic meets girly sweet - what do you think?  You can't beat the price tag of $29.99 either!

"Oh, You dropped a bomb on me, baby... You dropped a bomb on me."

I've got another shoe crush...  This time it's the Nine West Bombazin Sandal which is available in metallic gold and silver. These lovelies are available in narrow, medium, and wide widths and retail for $59.95 by Nine West at DSW.  I'm loving the fact that they're available in a wide width and don't look like shoes my grandmother would wear.

ps. If anyone wants to buy me a birthday present, I will gladly take a 6.5 wide preferably in gold. Thanks!  :-)

Dear SEPHORA COLLECTION Buildable Cover Concealer,

I want to want you.  I want to like you.  You are *almost* perfect - good color, buildable coverage, creamy yet light texture, and a fairly reasonable $16.00 price tag (for "higher end") at Sephora.  However, you bring me to tears every time I try to cover up my horrid undereye circles.  I don't know how you do what you do but it hurts and I have no choice but to return you.  I'm sorry to end our short love affair... xoxo

-RVAfashionista

Concealer shouldn't make you cry.... Well, maybe if it's *that* good.  Either way, there's something in this concealer that aggravates the heck out of my eyes and turns them into a stinging, watery mess of tears.  Which kind of defeats the purpose of wearing concealer, right?  Tomorrow will be a field trip to Sephora to return it...  Hmm, at least I'll get my Beauty Insider birthday gift!  There's always a positive to a negative.

Richmond, VA summers equal two things: HOT and HUMID weather with a major chance of a makeup meltdown.  I'll admit that I'm totally not a low maintenance makeup gal. I've got my "routine" but I'm willing to switch things up a bit.  Lip and cheek stains always intrigue me in the makeup aisles whether at Sephora or CVS.  The product appeal is sheer color that stays but the application method of the product doesn't always deliver great results.  I reviewed CoverGirl OutLast Lipstain a while ago - I loved the convenience of a "magic marker"-esque applicator but later discovered the product dried up easily and the marker applicator acquired an odd, uneven texture.  I went back to my usually methodology of applying a bright lipstick and blotting to  create a lipstain of sorts but not every lipstick has enough pigment for that method.  So I went back to the drawing board and the beauty aisles to discover a great two-in-one product: SEPHORA COLLECTION Lush Flush Lip & Cheek Stain.  This little tube of makeup goodness retails for $12.00 at Sephora and easily fits into your purse or pocket.  This red wine color adds buildable yet sheer coverage on both lips and cheeks.  Lush Flush swipes on like a lipgloss for lips and I'll dot it on my cheeks and blend with my fingers or sponge for a melt-proof blush.  Bonus points that this lip and cheek stain contains Red Wine Extract and antioxidants so it's good for your skin too!