Model: Jill Farley Rankin (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1799655/)

Model: Bebe Jacobs (www.bebejacobs.com)

Model: Gisele Cabrera

Photog: Francis Specker (http://francisspecker.com/)
Hair: Steffani Tavanlar(http://www.thehairstudio108.us/)
Make-Up: Veronica Garcia (http://www.barebeautymakeup.com/)
Wardrobe/Styling: Corey Tess (http://www.tesslove.com/) with Vintage garment courtesy of Marie Laurin (http://www.etsy.com/shop/chiffonier)

We all met in the morning at Bluff Park in Long Beach, Ca and took over an area of the grass and started make up, hair and I opened the back of my SUV and started sorting wardrobe – we must have looked sort of crazy, but I was really looking to capture a chic/bohemian look as the main focus and then we threw in some MOD and Sexy Glam too… I am very happy with the results!

Model: Eva Gonzales modelmayhem.com/?1652405
Photog: Kevan Wilkinson kevanphoto.com
Styling: Corey Tess Trujillo tesslove.com
Hair: Steffani Tavanlar thehairstudio108.us
Make Up: Veronica Garcia barebeautymakeup.com

Our Day of the Dead project for Oct 2010 was a great day of collaboration and our biggest production to date at the studio. The core theme of a bride and groom was enhanced by the contributions from THS108 Stylists Kathleen andCandise. The twisted fishtail braid incorporated most of the model’s hair from hairline to approx 4? into the hair. Both red and dark brown artificial hair extensions were added for length, texture and color. The braid was then pulled out of place in several sections around the head and large barrel curls were added to the crown section for height and as a background for the headpiece. The bouquet, boutoneer, and 3-piece headpiece were designed and created exclusively for the studio collective by Julie@ FaithGrows and add another dimension of morbid beauty to the brides gorgeous makeup, designed by makeup artists, Veronica Garcia (Bride) & ZeBek (Groom)Our photographer Andreanna shot amazing images of the wedding couple and members of theDanzas de Aztlan on real film! (Thank You, Anthony for bringing the crew!) The contribution to set design from science professor, Rose gave the photos an authentic look.(Thankyou, Rose!!) Stylist, Corey Tess’s work with wardrobe and set design pulled together all of the many aspects of this production to create the perfect look for this concept. The result is an exciting collection of photos that are beautiful, melancholy and romantic at the same time. We are very grateful to have been part of this day! Thankyou to everyone who shared their talent!

Check out the photos!

Photog: BeBe Jacobs Photography
Make-up: E Gonzalez Va
Hair: Candise Sorensen & Kathleen Maressa
Models: Katie Ho & Eva Gonzalez
Wardrobe Stylist: Corey Tess Trujillo
Managing Director: Steffani Tavanlar
A Product of the Art Collective @ www.thehairstudio108.us

Working as a Photo Stylist is Fun!

I love fashion, I love accessories, I love photography, make-up and hair, so when I had the chance to do some styling for a photoshoot at The Hair Studio 108, I jumped at it. After a day of fun and fashion, I am thinking I will get a true kit together and do more of this..

The team responsible for these amazing photos are:

Photographer:  Kevan Wilkinson

Hair Designs: The Hair Studio 108

MakeUp: ZeBek of I Eat Makeup (also find her at http://www.IScreamGarbage.com)

Some Accessories I used are by: FaithGrows

Models:

Alex Pendygraft

Liana Piper (also a muscial wench)

Lil Steph (New to Modeling, but already a pro!)

Ana Wilkinson (The Sophisticate)

ENJOY – WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Buy Your Tea Party Shoes Here!

you will inevitably be confronted by someone deeply different from yourself at least once every day if not more often… and it is wonderful…

When I got here.. (to Charlotte, NC)  I walked around for a while with my jet black hair, blunt bangs and red lips feeling a little pang of the old High School fear… I DON’T FIT IN HERE… and for some time, allowed myself to be watered down to create a more palatable version of myself for the Southern Gentry…  Let me tell you, there seems to be a huge favoring of the no bangs, center-parted, dirty blond to light brown bobbed above the shoulder haircut here in CLT…  I realized this when  I kept mixing girls I met up in my mind, they all had very similar hair-dos.. My over-the-top style was deemed a little too much by several critics of the South who regularly confronted me about my Jewelry, Make-Up, Hair Color and choice of lipstick…  I was actually asked if I was a witch by someone who is now a good friend (apparently this was about the black hair) and told by another friend “just wear jeans and a top to go to the club” as in, don’t break out the “Irregular Choice Boots” and fishnets anymore… (at a Gwen Stefani Show, I rocked my IC boots with the big pink bows).

It took me a while to find the support and friendship of other transplants who were going through a similar acclimation process and that helped quite a bit, but after a while I began to miss myself… I began to miss not having to think about what I put on in order to avoid the looks and the comments.. and then something odd happened…  I saw a photo of one of my cousins on facebook… we hadn’t seen each other since childhood.. i was shocked by how similar her style was to mine… her look, her coloring, her lipstick! It made me jealous of my old self, to think of someone existing in that skin without the constant pestering thought of not being familiar to the established landscape…  just being herself.. and rockin it.. the way I used to…

The next day I dyed out the highlights I had added to make my hair look less jet black.. spread on my NARS Ruby Woo lipstick (total matte finish) and donned a charcoal pencil skirt with large white buttons on the high waisted bib, added a pair of braces, a mans dress shirt and a funky 1970′s tie..  and rocked it out with my footless tights and a pair of scrunchy leather peep-toe booties… tossed my Patton leather zipper hangbag over my shoulder and headed to work…  during a meeting with executives I noticed an old white haired man (very cigar old school type) starring at my boots with the look of a confused buddha…  i leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs…  a smile graced my RED lips as I realized he didn’t like my statement… and I really didn’t care…

Whatever your style is… ROCK IT…  define yourself and don’t let any kind of environment stifle your passion for fashion!

I have a sickness. Something that has plagued me since I was a little girl. A sort of cloud that enters my mind whenever I pass the shoe department of Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus… and don’t even talk to me about Bloomingdales! I have come to the conclusion that some of us are born this way, we simply cannot control our affinity for Italian leather, satins, bows, silks and ribbons when arranged as a beautifully designed piece of art made with the contours of the delicate female tootsie in mind!

SHOES seem to be an obsession for many women, so much so that movies and books are now created around the strong relationship between women and their shoes. The Devil Wears Prada, Sex in the City, Confessions of a Shopaholic… etc etc etc…

Men don’t understand, although I do have a friend who is as attached to his Ferigamos as I am to my Marc Jacobs…  so there are a few boys who are susceptible to the disease, I suppose.

The reason this is on my mind is because in preparation for my move from North Carolina back home to Southern California, I had to examine my SWAG, LOOT, um…  belongings…  and I discovered that four closets filled with shoes were going to cost practically as much to ship and store as they cost to buy in the first place. I also realized that out of the 200 or so pairs of shoes I owned, I wore about 20 favorite pairs over and over and the others simply sat on the shelves looking as cute in my closet as they had on the display levels at the store. I also began to take stock of my credit card bills, yes- just like in that book/movie about the girl in the green scarf (Conf. of a Shopaholic), it was painfully clear that I had buried myself in a mountain of debt and under a mountain of shoes.  You think I am kidding, but a month or so ago, I was organizing my closet and had an actual SHOE AVALANCHE that buried me quite literally under my purchases!

Still, after GIVING AWAY some of the cutest pairs to friends and sending the others to charity (Dress For Success is a good cause), I kept about 50 pairs of my closest friends/shoes… and arranged them in a large tub for relocation to my new, much smaller, domain in Los Angeles…

The other day, after preparing my clothes and accessories in tubs as well, I grabbed a catalog to use as packing material and opened to a page showing the most gorgeous pair of red ribbony sandals on sale!  One more fix for the road????