Winter Outfit Basics

Winter is typically a time where you can throw on some sweats and an oversize hoodie and call it good. But, if you feel like dressing up, it is sometimes hard because you cannot usually wear a skirt and tee shirt due to the climate. In this post, I am going to show you how to dress for winter while keeping warm.

For a feminine style, there are a few recommendations from Liliana Vazquez, the author of the previously mentioned book The Cheap Chica's Guide to Style, Vazquez mentions that a statement necklace and a cashmere sweater are a necessity during winter (Vazquez 134). Statement necklaces or earrings can be found for low prices at places such as Forever 21, Charlotte Russ, and Icing. A statement necklace/earring can elevate a look from basic to dinner chic with a simple piece of jewelry. Along with that, a cashmere sweater is a classic winter basic that is stylish while keeping you warm.

 In this picture, I styled my friend Emilee in black jeans, a black top and a statement over sized jean jacket for a winter photo shoot.

For the masculine style, the style can range from super high end to basic street style. Necessities for someone with more of a masculine style include dark blue slacks, a dark red button down collared shirt, and a quality down coat. Investing in a high quality down coat can save you money in the future. Think about it this way: would you rather buy a new $50 coat every year or invest in a $250 coat one winter and use it every winter for the next 10 years? investing in clothing that is essential is the smartest way to be a savvy shopper.

For both style types, I would recommend a black vest along with either a creme, navy or red quarter zip sweater. These two articles of clothing are staples in outfits when you have nothing to wear. They will also keep you warm during outside events or a nice dinner party.

I am wearing a creme cashmere sweater along with a black vest, ripped jeans and black boot heels for a holiday dinner party.

Winter colors typically include burgundy, dark navy blue, black and creme white. throughout the winter time, stores that sell apparel such as Target, Macy's  and Nordstroms advertise these colors, making them iconic colors that are fit to wear during the cold season.

This is an advertisement from Macy's winter collection, showing how the colors of winter can be influenced by marketers 

Overall, winter is a great time to express yourself in a new way and the only way to find your personal style is to experiment with new things and switching up the basics every once and a while.

If there is anything that sparked your interest, comment! What is your favorite winter go-to? When do you typically try new winter outfits?

Source: Vazquez, Lilliana. The Cheap Chica's Guide to Style: Secrets to Shopping Cheap and Looking Chic. Gotham Books, 2013.

Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: EQUIPMENT

    Hello, I'm Giselle Cruz and I decided to pick a makeup book because I love doing makeup but I never learned the proper way to put it on my face, half of the time I'm doing what I think works and experimenting. Sometimes I struggle with finding the right products to use on my face and how to use them. In the book Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, it goes over various tips helpful to beginners to professionals. It helps you with tips for your skin, face, eyes, etc. I'm excited to see what I can improve on and learn to further my understanding on makeup.


MAKEUP KITS: This chapter goes over the importance of organization and how it sets you up to be successful later on when doing your makeup. It also talks about the basic makeup you need and the right brushes to use based on your needs.



"Being well organized is essential. Whether you're a minimalist whose makeup kit holds more than lipstick and powder or a working makeup artist who routinely totes around a complete collection of cosmetics, it takes a plan" (Brown 10). 



HOME MAKEUP: 

         You should always have your makeup neatly organized, it should never be thrown and left around in random places, this could cause your makeup to build up bacteria which is horrible to put on your face after. Personally, I like to keep my makeup on my small vanity/desk. "Organize your makeup either in your bathroom drawer, on top of the counter, or in a box. Keep basics and items used only occasionally separate" (Brown 10).  From my experience, I tend to make a mess every time i finish doing my makeup and leave it all over my desk so I will definitely use these tips on organization. Here i cleared my desk so I could start fresh and use these tips.

Here is a picture of my makeup organized. Products that I use often (left) and the products that aren't used as frequently (right). 

                                                                                                           

   

  BASICS/MAKEUP CARE

As Bobbi Brown states the basic makeup products include concealers/corrector, foundation, powder (two colors), eye shadow (three to four basic colors), eyeliner, mascara, blush, and lipstick/lip gloss. (10). In this picture I pulled out my basics to put on one side of my desk, because this is the makeup I use most often. This will help me reach them easier rather than leaving them wherever. You also want to make sure you don't keep makeup for too long! They have expiration dates. "Liquid/cream foundation (2 years), concealer (2 years), mascara (6 months), lipstick (12-18 months), eye shadow (2 years), and powder blush (2 years)" (Brown 20). Make sure to check your makeup often and throw out your old makeup, it could be harmful for your face and cause breakouts. 

ESSENTIAL TOOLS

        Brushes are essential to getting amazing and unique makeup tutorials. There are different brushes used for different makeup techniques. Most brushes that come with makeup compacts or kits are too small or they don't work efficiently to create various makeup looks. I personally like to shop for synthetic brushes as pictured because they tend to give me more control since they are more stiff. In this book there is also a tip to use your fingers because nothing beats the warmth to create an easier blending application (15). 

Do you think keeping makeup for longer time than the expiration date is okay? Do you tend to keep everything in order and organized or do you just leave everything wherever and don't care to keep everything in order?

Bobbie, Brown. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for everyone from beginner to pro. Springboard Press, 2011.

Getting started: Drawing materials and Basic Techniques (Advanced concept drawing)

Getting started: Drawing materials and Basic Techniques (Advanced concept drawing)

Back in the day, I used to spend all my free time drawing, in the dark ages before I had access to electronics and never-ending entertainment (which is just up until the end of 7^th grade). Let’s take a journey back to those days and draw concepts from the mind to paper. Using a book from my favorite artist, Scott Robertson, I started drawing.

(Robertson, 12)

But wait! step one is to get the materials, basic materials for concept art as stated by the book calls for fancy pens, sweeps, dividers, and all kinds of other weird things that my broke self would never be able to afford. But I managed to dig a few musty looking artifacts out of my closet. A few drawing utensils, a metal straight edge, an eraser, and two templates for basic shapes.

None the less, read on! Because I'm gonna start drawing now. "Before you start drawing, clear some space and time to fully commit to the drawing. Have a clear work surface with tools at the ready" (Robertson 14) looking at my room, which looks like a tsunami had gone through with it, I decide it’s better just to pretend this step isn’t in the book. “Let’s look at the body mechanics that are necessary to achieve a consistently straight line, you only need to learn how to draw one straight line. After that rotate the paper to change the line direction. Without this technique, keeping the paper in a fixed position would lead to having to learn to draw an infinite number of straight lines”

(Robertson 14).

         Well that's a little strange, considering the fact that every other artist i had read up about have advised against the "rotato potato" technique (rotating the paper to draw lines in every direction) I start practicing lines, and only one direction because that's all I'd need. The book shows some techniques that I used here, drawing with the whole arm, drawing slowly, and ghosting the line.

Question: What is your opinion on rotating the paper instead of mastering all kinds of different angles of lines? 

Football passing: Basics of being a quarterback

Football can be a very complicated sport with all the rules and fundamentals. Although one of the most basic things in football is passing, or that's what everyone thinks. The passing game in football is much more complicated as it seems, as shown in this book Teaching the Modern Passing Game. This book is written by Dan Gonzalez and he shows us the basics to the passing game. He first describes concept based passing and shows us what a quarterback should do. The way Gonzalez defines this as is "The specific coordination of the quarterbacks feet and eyes in regard to certain spots on the field" (Gonzalez 10) This is just a basic understanding of this concept, after he describes this concept he shows us a diagram.

I sat in my room with a ball just visualizing this. I would hold the football in my hand and get a better feel for it.

He also includes two more diagrams for us to look at and observe.

In these diagrams Gonzalez stated that each concept have the following characteristics

• A feature of consistent rhythm
• An advantage player or conbination
• A pressure outlet in the quarterbacks face
• The ability to adjust to multiple formations

(Gonzalez 11)

These are just the basics to being a quarter back and where you should be looking when you throw the ball. Have you ever been a quarterback for a football team and used this concept based passing? If not then are you ever going to start try or use this method of passing?