recycled shirt

^^I know this isn't the same outfit but we forgot to get pictures of my adorable wedges!^^

So today I tried something new, I recycled my top without having to alter the original dress in any way! The top I'm wearing is a dress! I flipped the top of it inside so the top of the shirt is actually the waist of the dress! I love this print, it's fun and bold. My shorts are my faves, they are my go-to item esp with a crop top it's perfect. I also recycled these from an old pair of jeans from Gdub! My favorite item would have to be my wedges, I got them on sale at Tj Maxx for $15 at the end of last summer, they match my skin perfectly and will get a LOT of use this summer. 

Tonight is the night, Steve James will be opening for Pusha T and Fabulous at Nokia in a custom vest made by me! I'm so excited and blessed for this opportunity! Pics of the vest soon! :)

breakfast at Roscoe's

Today my friend Mel and I went to go grab lunch at Roscoe's, after she told me she has never been there I was obligated to take her lol. Lunch was great as always, we also had time to chat about lives, our jobs, and our future plans out here in Cali. We took each others blog pictures after lunch so forgive m ate way too much, next time pictures before lunch lol. If you love food and fashion be sure to check out Melanie's blog called Chicken & Cardigans!  This Friday is a big day for me, I'm super excited for my clients performance in his custom vest, I believe manny door will be open after it :)

Oh yeah, my outfit! I'm in LOVE with my tee, it's actually from the men's department at Forever 21, why do guys get all the cool tees? It was only $14, I bought a few others as well. My shorts are also from F21, on sale this past winter for only $6! My blazer is my baby, I'd been looking for the perfect white blazer and here it is! Special thanks to Hope's Boutique. My clutch is from DSW, I saw it about a year ago for $50 and decided not to get it, then a saw it a couple months ago on sale for only $12!  Gotta love a good deal.

summer skirt

So I'm like obsessed with this outfit! My most expensive item(s) were my shoes, $20 Jessica Simpson on sale at Ross! It's not officially summer but it sure feels like it out here, I definitely do not miss Georgia or it's humidity. What girl can resist bright colors, bold prints, or crop tops? When you find one let me know! This week I'm working on a vest for my client opening at Club Nokia this Friday for Pusha T and Fabulous, I'm super geeked for the opportunity and the performance! Please excuse my band aids  I a pair of shoes from a friend that def rubbed be the wrong way. Hope you all having an amazing week so far! Xoxo 

leopard crop top

Bright pointed toe flats are also a huge item for me this summer, I found these adorable color-blocked flats downtown in Santee Alley for only $20! I also found my leopard crop top in the Alley for $12!

So I'm officially done with Zara *Jumps for joy* lol. I've been making more and more custom shorts and vests for stylists' clients for shoots and appearances. I forgot how much I love revamping items and making them look awesome. I'm glad my job didn't work out because I got see that I'm meant to do bigger and better things. I also got a chance to see that I want to be my own boss and make a living off of what I love doing. I've decided I will be relaunching my online store shopcarmenalexandra.com but this time it will only display custom orders that I have made. Custom orders will never be remade by me and this way everyone can have something unique and their own, it will be more like an online display.

printed bomber

I told my friends the other day I'm going to be the crop top queen this summer. I'm not sure what it is about them but I've been obsessed lately. Printed, flowy, fitted, spaghetti strap, I love them all. The black crop top I'm wearing above is from a boutique called Love Melrose, I like their clothes and they always have good sales. I found my jacket a few months ago at a g-dub in Brunswick, and I distressed and bleached my shorts. They have the marbled distressed look and I love them, I taught myself how to marble denim on accident but I love it! I'm glad the sun came back out today, yesterday was overcast and rainy.

 People in southern California seem to think the world is going to end if it's not sunny and above 70 degrees lol.

Melrose graffiti

I should be finding out if I got the new job sometime this week, if it's meant to be it will be! I'm kind of considering just attending events and shoots in my spare time, networking and making connections, instead of an internship. That way I'll have a part-time job and blog, style, and network part-time as well. I'm also going to start making custom vests (mostly men's) again, I have some killer designs in store. I've been getting a lot of questions regarding my recycled denim shorts, I will also be making them again but mainly made to order.

I thought this background might be a little much with my dress but I ended up loving it! This is the same dress featured on my latest Seventeen Magazine video blog from Forever21, I got it like 2 years ago and surprisingly it's still holding up. I usually wear it as a swimsuit cover up but sometimes I wear it as a dress because it's kinda short (esp with wedges) but I love it. My "belt" is actually scrap fabric from a tank top I have, I felt like it needed another pop of color. I've been wanting a cute pair of black wedges for quite some time now, these aren't all black but I really like them. I forgot to get a close-up but the wedge has little gold flakes in them.

vintage denim dress

I don't know about you but I had an awesome weekend! Friday consisted of going out with a few blogger friends to chat our latest ideas and events. Saturday was amazing, my friend Major Williams had a video shoot for his newest song/hit there I was able to assist with styling with my friend Jesse J (Hot LA stylist) and network for my blog, styling, and recycled clothing line.There were good vibes and good people on set, everybody is out here trying to make it in LA and it was great to meet people working toward it instead of waiting for an opportunity to just fall in their lap. For more details on the video shoot visit my friend Zella's music blog iiVibe.com.Yesterday, Sunday, I beached it all day on Venice!

Today I'm hanging out on Melrose once again, picked up a few new crop tops and bandeaus I can't wait to wear or style this summer. My denim dress I found at a Gdub (Goodwill) back in Georgia for only $5! I decided to belt it with my favorite belt and add black pumps, of course, the red lip will always be the perfect accessory to almost any outfit, Alyssa changes her lip just about every hour lol, I love it.

Have an awesome week, Happy Monday!

melrose ootd

Lyss and I were on a time crunch today, we had to take each others blog pictures before she had to go to work at 1:30 we decided to meet in the middle which ended up being Melrose. I've never noticed how many good scenes they have! We're def coming back here again next time. I have two recycled items on today, My shirt was a dress I got on sale at Old Navy for $7, and my shorts were bell bottom leopard pants (lol) from Gdub aka Goodwill for $3. My shoes were on sale last summer at Target for $10, I got a turquoise pair as well. I got my necklace at the FIDM Scholarship store, they sell items made by students and the money goes to them, I think I'm gonna go back for the pink one too, only $4!

My interview went well at Wild Style, had a second interview the other day and I'm waiting to hear back. Check out their dope style and clothes on Instagram @wildstylela

bright and tribal!

I can't get enough of constantly sunny skies and a good breeze! I love California. I've been getting a lot of questions about how I like my job at Zara, to be completely honest, I can not stand it lol. I actually put in my two week notice today. It's way too corporate and anal about everything . I'm working on getting a new part-time job along with a internship as a stylist, or assistant stylist. LA has been good to me so far, yes it's true that it will chew up and swallow anyone but to make it out here you have to be determined and ready and willing to put in work. It feels better to work for things rather to have them handed to you.

I found my top for just $5 on a Saturday morning sale in Downtown LA, everything is uber cheap at them, all wholesale prices. I'm simply in LOVE with my bright tribal shorts from Hope's (my job back in GA), I told my boss I liked them and she sent me a pair! They have tons of adorable new arrivals daily for all styles :)

Have a fabulous weekend!