personal branding

Meet Stacy – a real cool girl in the fashion industry

It is said that the world of fashion is a very cutthroat industry filled with not the nicest or even “realest” of folks. Those of us outside of its arena seem to have the impression that designers are demanding geniuses and models are fluffbrained little princesses. What I have found in my recent adventures in this so called fashion world has been refreshing however. It is a world that holds some very genuine people, just like you and me. They just happen to work with a lot of fabric – from the artists that are inspired to create beautiful clothing to the graceful girls that carry the vision on the runway.

I was fortunate enough to meet one such genuine soul during a local fashion show last month – and I’ve been very impressed with both her work, her attitude, and her sense of self within this frantic and often misunderstood industry.

Stacy Rabideau: (photographed above by Jeets Photography)- fashion model and proud of it!

Along with the height, the body, and the beauty this girl has a great head on her shoulders. And she just happens to love the work of modeling, probably not for reasons you would think either.

Reason number one – she loves meeting people. Already an astute observer she learned quickly how to be a savvy and charming networker . She’s the first to tell you how important it is to go right up to people and tell them “hey, what’s your story? what do you do?” or “I love your work”. The results of having those conversations have definitely paid off too. In just one short year since starting this whole modeling gig she’s got a ton of shoots under her belt and even a bit of runway under her feet such walking for local designer Kish Carter.

Reason number two – she enjoys working with artists and creative people. Photographers, makeup artists, designers, writers, videographers, even other models. She has an arsenal of awesome friends within the industry which gives her no shortage of work. This alone makes it such a fun activity for her and has rapidly added to her portfolio and professionalism.

Reason number three – she’s always learning something new. From ways to style herself, take direction, to how to talk to industry leaders she gets to digest a lot of great information that is more than just putting on a fabulous garment. Though she has been learning a lot about fashion itself and now finds it an exciting challenge getting out of her “jeans & tshirt” comfort zone (though she’ll still probably stay addicted to her favorite shop, The Buckle).

She’s also learned to stay cool under pressure during the fast paced ever changing scenes at runway shows, etc. Despite nerves, crazy heavy hair, and last minute changes in runway she’s learned to focus, improvise and rock it with genuine confidence and poise.

I hope she does super well and we’ll see more of her awesome realness in the future. In the meantime it’s great to see someone bring those lofty heights of fashion down home for the rest of us to be inspired by day to day.

photo credit: dr_vaibhavahuja

Girls let me tell you. It’s pretty damn difficult to copy celebrity style. The trouble usually begins with not having buckets of cash to plop down for whatever your little fashion heart desires. Also most of you aren’t oozing out your pores the fame that compels top designers to throw their most glamorous clothing at you every minute. And look, I know you want to look just as effortlessly gorgeous as Miley Cyrus, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce, or Katie Perry…or whoever you admire. But the fact is well, Angelina is Angelina, Beyonce is Beyonce, and so on. They OWN their style. So should you.

The good news is that you can copy and borrow from “Iconic Styles” that easily fit into your own.

What do I mean by Iconic?
Think easy to recognize characters:
The Rocker Chick
The Cheerleader
The Hot Librarian
The Sexy Secretary
The Goddess

Most celebrities are already doing this and actors get a lot of practice with the movie roles they are cast in. The awesome difference is they don’t just dress up and play one character all the time. They have their own fashionable little group of icons to choose from. And so can you! The additional beauty of it all is you can infuse each iconic look with your own unique flavor each time. Your own “Goddess Style” isn’t the cardboard cutout copy of Angelina’s! Your Rocker Chick won’t be the exact over the top duplicate of Lady Gaga’s.


photo credit: Facubeagle

So stay tuned and I’ll happily blog for you ways that you can pull off your own version of Sexy Secretary, Pop Diva, or Fierce Glamazon. You can pick and choose the elements that make up whatever iconic look you want – I’ll show you how on Wednesdays.

In the meantime, would you indulge me a moment and list some characters you would love to dress up as? From your favorite movies and stories. Share those dress up fantasies! I bet I could help you make them a reality – just let me know!

Happy Styling!

After being accused of never wearing the same thing twice this girl has decided to actually prove it to the world, one day at a time.

One Girl
Jenny loves clothes, just like countless other girls. Also like many of us she not only enjoyed wearing and collecting clothes but also had big girl dreams to “work” with them in fashion. Her parents said it was a dumb idea – so she grew up and got a degree in journalism which they were fine with. Now, she can’t help but blog about her passion for the stylish arts.

She has quietly but purposefully joined the ranks of fashion bloggers. But, as you will see her Closet 365 project manages to set her apart from much of the rabble about “trend” this and “who’s wearing what” that. Just like another one of my fave fashion bloggers Alyson, I quickly and easy added Jenny’s Closet 365 blog to my regular “must reads”.

One Year
As of my writing today Jenny is in her 3rd month of blogging. A good girl, she decided to open up the project right at the beginning of the new year (unlike me and my random inkling to start around Halloween.). According to her photos her home town gets snow as well as sunshine so it’ll be interesting to see how her fashionable kung fu works with the seasonal shifts.

Just like me she has been inspired by 365 day projects in flickr as well as other daily fashion blogs. So far her posting has been consistent and strong and deserves props for both the content and the spirit of the project. It’ll be exciting to watch her progress as the weeks and months go by!

365 Different Outfits
One of the things that impresses me most is this girl’s layer skills – totally teaching me more than a thing or two about constructing an outfit. This is one of the true marks of signature style. Stylish girls do not merely get dressed day after day. They don’t simply match a top with a bottom and sprinkle w/ a handful of accessories. Jenny shows us how it’s also about artfully placing one layer over another layer to conduct a symphony of texture and fabric. This allows her to create an ensemble that doesn’t just cover her body but also says a few powerful somethings about her character.

Her photo documenting skills are also fantastic too – each photo of her daily style is crisp and clearly displays the whole outfit so you can easily take some note. Each outfit is distinct and she really owns her distinct style but readers can easily take inspiration from the way she puts pieces together.

So go visit her blog, say hello, and get inspired to transform your own everyday closet into a wardrobe of creative magic. Also leave a comment here – tell me what you are wearing today :) Would love to hear about it!

Ok my lovelies, I’ll see you next time for some 365daygirlness :)

Happy Styling!

Social Media + Makeup = Easy Access Beauty

Lets take Social Media giant Youtube for example: You know, the beauty of youtube, and the web for that matter is you can research the crap out of your next makeup purchase, find inspiration from photos with just a few keywords, AND learn step by gorgeous step in the comfort of your own home how to put all that stuff on! You don’t have to be set upon by the vultures that work the cosmetics counter. You don’t have to find a sister or a best friend to sit down with you. And you don’t have to subject yourself to hundreds of dollars of product and tools just to have your face break out in hives the next morning.

You just search and then press play.

God it’s glorious.

There is a lot to choose from in the big Social Media ocean however. So I’m here to pick out the pearls of wisdom and awesomeness for you. And to start I’ve got a makeup guru that kicks ass in so many ways: Justine Metz. She’s wicked, she’s willful, she probably thinks you’re an idiot and not just with your makeup choices. All these are reason to look, listen, laugh, and learn.

Alyson is doing just that – and it’s just one of the reasons she is so “neat”. Another reason of which I heartily approve of since I practice it myself is getting fashionably creative with her outfit styling.

I’d love to blog more about it but since I’ve got a lot of my plate this weekend I’ll just let you check out her blog so you can see for yourself! Just click on the photo below! See you next time for another Fashion Friday!

photo credit: Adam Foster | Codefor

Fashion, my dears is not just about wearing clothes. It’s a whole lot more.

Everyday you get dressed you are affecting how well you get stuff done in the world, what you are saying about yourself, and showing others how much of a truly interesting person you are. Let me explain:

1) The Function of The Fabric
Of course clothing first has it’s function: Swimming suits for swimming, windbreakers for keeping out the chill, and hats to keep the sun out of your face on a bright day. Since the human animal gave up most of it’s protective furriness a long time ago it needed to layer itself in the skins of the critters it hunted instead. Eons later we’re still gallivanting across the world doing a number of things in a number of climates and environments if not so much hunting. However it’s not all about covering our bits from the elements. The clothing we choose to wear day to day must not only protect us but also enhance our movements, activities, and even the roles we perform right? Ballerina’s don’t leap elegantly in jeans. Eskimo’s don’t hunt in their skivvies. Navy seals aren’t stealth in orange tulle.

Same goes for you whether you are a receptionist, stripper, or housewife. The first order of the day when you get dressed is – “will I be able to [chase after a two year old in these shoes?] [walk down to the file room in this skirt?] [grip that pole with this feather boa on?]“. Usually this is all automatic and subconscious, which brings me to the next point:

2) Communicating Your Message
Your clothing is talking about you. Are you doing a good job of putting words in it’s mouth? Or are you just letting your outfit babble on about you to everyone who lays eyes on you?

When you are a single girl and on the market you want to show some leg, a little (or a lot) of cleavage, and accentuate as much of your bodacious feminine bits as possible. You don’t dress in a suite and tie and you don’t wear a ring on your left hand. Why? Because it’s sooooo much easier to let your clothes speak for you instead of shouting out to the streets “ATTENTION MEN! I’M A HOT, SINGLE WOMAN! COME TALK TO ME!”. You also know that men are visual creatures and are looking for the female in her most feminine form.

Conversely when you return to the office the next morning your best professional bet is to tuck that man magnetizing cleavage away and lengthen that skirt for decidedly less leg. Otherwise instead of seriously discussing that business deal with you your male co-workers brains will be scrambled with sexy static as they stare at your halter top.

What you wear is going to say things about you even when you just want to stay mum and get your work done. So get the message right. Then you may ask: “What do I want my clothes to say about ME anyway?”. Well how awesome you are for a start, which leads us to the final point:

3) Expressing Yourself!
This is where you can leave the obsession to follow trends behind – You don’t have to keep up with the mad dash of who’s-wearing-what-now. Why not? Because YOU are your own person! YOU have your own style. I like to call it “signature style” since it’s how you stylishly leave your mark on the world. Sometimes people won’t remember your name, or what you said, but their vision of your style and charm will be emblazoned on their memory if you are genuinely dressing for yourself.

You get to be you and expressing that with fashion is genuinely fun and satisfying way to show the world. What this means is wearing your favorite colors, shapes, patterns, where you want and when you want in a stylish way. Cause you know your body and what makes it look great. It’s you showing off your sexy arms in tank tops while your best friend accentuates her long legs in shorts. Looking and feeling blithely fabulous in high heels when the IT shoe is ballet flats. Or vice versa! Whatever YOUR style happens to be.

So, what are you wearing today?
Why?
What does today’s outfit say about you?

Leave your fashionable comment!

Also feel free to follow me on Twitter (@365daygirl) for more fashion fun! :)

-Apryl keepin it really Real :)

So, this hot guy is Curtis. Curtis Mock, Guru in the Business of Fitness (Summer, bookmark his site! You’re hot personal trainer boyfriend could learn a LOT from this guy). I am using him, or rather the “brand” of him as an example of awesome social media “practice”. It is an art form and a science, one of which every business owner and professional today is wise to put into habit. Get that? TODAY. Not yesterday, like your good ole dad’s day of cold calling.

Apart from his rockstar “personal brand” Curtis is real and genuine about interacting with his audience, his fellow business colleagues, and I’m sure his clients. Do you notice how his authentic concern for YOUR success effortlessly comes through? You just want to eat this guy up don’t you? He’s informative, takes time to explain something, and he’s damn funny to watch and listen to. He shares his realness, his story, and his desire to help YOU be awesome. You WANT to leave a comment because he wants to read it! He wants you to share YOUR story. You WANT to ask him a question – cause you see him answer others questions. He is actually taking the time and interest to “interface” with you via the media at all our fingertips.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been on a blog and wanted to be part of the discussion, be heard and answered and then get nothin. Or even a youtube video. The “I don’t have time to respond” is not an excuse if you want to build a business or be a personality on the web. In fact it’s total bullshit. Social media is there to facilitate conversation and hopefully start the foundation of a relationship, be it friend or business partner (actually it’s usually both!). The beauty of it is you can use it to reach customers, business partners, and real friends, across miles and miles of land.

Curtis does not live anywhere near me, which could have been considered unfortunate a little while ago (and perhaps a little now since I can’t like pat his butt or anything physically flirty *nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink*). But thanks to the internet I get the pleasure of both receiving his awesomeness as well as sharing my own in the form of actual real communication. This is both because we are awesome at employing these tools and networks.

He is a perfect example of why it pays to jump into this whole social media ocean. In in we will either sink or swim. For those who have said there are not real connections to be made in this day and age, in business or personal, I say you are letting yourself sink. For the rest of us, we are happily learning how to dog paddle ;)

Exhibit A: amusing spam comment this very blog! Click on the photo for the full size.

Click play on the video below to “lemme esplain”:

Meanwhile in other social media adventures….
my facebook and unused @catthegirlguru twitter profile was gettin spammed by my auto news tweets. *sigh* I turned them sh*ts off for now… They were putting like stock quotes on my facebook…*sigh* that’s not very friendly.

I am really enjoying twitter now! Thanks in part to this chick and @silran666 aka “The Magical Mexican”. We are going to have a pow wow at her lovely little cookie shop next week! I’m so excited!

-Happy real life and web-ness!
Aprylcat

Numbers…data…numbers…letters…comments…posts…tags…spam…tweets…email…letters…numbers…Oh. My. God! There’s that fried brain feeling again :P

So I’ve been learning a ton about social media, personal branding, even tweeting! It’s fantastic! But…still a lot of work.

My flickr account has fallen by the wayside recently as I answer emails and make comments, upload my videos on youtube for 5 hours, record videos for my dragon boss and my “working projects”, and sleep.

And then today, I check my blog and lo and behold I’ve got 83 new comments! 90% of which are total gibberish. Into the trash with you! Perhaps there is a better spam filter out there but I don’t know where to find it. Recommendations?

It’s been AWESOME talking with REAL people on the web. Especially women on the web. Right here in town too! Such as Summer and Stacy and @Ghennipher and Tami. As well as getting questions about my 365daygirl adventures from real folks in interent biz.

Meanwhile the Magical Mexican and the Russian Photo Babe are still super fans and keep poking me to see if I am okay and still producing content for them to ingest ;) Love you guys!

I’m curious, how do ya’ll keep up with all this stuff? I’d love to hear your blogging/posting/tweeting/vlogging/facebooking strategies and how you keep it all in check with your real work!

-Aprylcat

Blogging about something actually interesting in the first challenge, day to day. I mean, if I treat this thing like twitter I could ramble on about just anything I do in way more than 140 characters.

However, I’d rather not bore every friend I have on the planet, real or virtual, with what I had for breakfast each day.

So, then it is a matter of choosing a topic of interest, and that, takes time to think about. Which then brings us to the second challenge: Time to produce.

Strangely in this Information Age of faster than light communication, the time it takes to produce something may still be about the same. Then there is the time to market the piece or the time it takes a person to find it, read, and THEN decide if they want to comment which also means some of us must take a moment to think up just want we want to say right?

*Phew* sometimes I am actually tempted to type about my cheerios…

Meanwhile, I am reading about Tigergate and how mr. Woods let his own personal brand go to utter crap. I feel almost superior to that guy in my newbie personal branding skills, even though I totally blow at golf.