Love, Lydia - Notes from a geeky, plus sized artist.: February 2016

Saturday, February 27, 2016

My Top 5 Spring Fashion Essentials

Hi Friends,

I'm back with another fashion post, and this one if part a spring collaboration with my friends from the Geeks and Beauties Community.  So for other great top 5 lists please scroll to the bottom of the post!



My Top 5 Spring Fashion Essentials

#1 - Pastels

A classic springtime favorite pastels can work for anyone.  If you're not a fan of the traditional Easter inspired hues you can always try grayed down versions like old rose, sage green, dusty blue, and mushroom.  Personally my favorites are mint and lavender, but I've also been playing the trends and adding touches of this year's Pantone colors - Serenity (pale blue) and Rose Quartz (soft pink).  Here's a peek at some of the pastels I'm using in my wardrobe:

Sweater - Torrid, Dress - ModCloth, Leggings - LuLaRoe

#2 - Great Jackets

A good jacket keeps you warm through the last hints of winter, a great can also be styled for spring just as beautifully as it might November.  My military style jacket pairs pinks with with olive for the right combination that works for both spring and fall looks.  A light denim jacket does this well too, though I don't own one yet.  And for colder days a soft white coat flatters most anything you pair it with, but keeps you from looking too drab with colorful skirt peeping out!  Additionally a soft flannel shirt can layer like a cardigan with a touch more interest thanks to the plaid print.

White Coat - Target, Military Jacket - Maurice's, Plaid Shirt - Old Navy


#3 - Ballet Flats

As the weather warms these become a staple for their versatility.  A more comfortable pair with insoles can get you through a whole day on your feet, the floral ones certainly did for me back when I was working at Anthropologie!

Blue Shoes - Payless, Floral Shoes - Payless, Mint Shoes - Forever 21


#4 - Soft Florals

Speaking of florals what spring closet is complete without a bit?  Light or dark they can set a cheerful tone, or make a solid colored outfit perk up fast!  Florals paired with text can set a nice modern tone as well.  Floral shoes can soften a more somber outfit.  Or you can wear the floral with pastel for an ultra feminine look.

Skirt - Torrid, Sandals - ModCloth, Tee - Switchfoot

#5 - Pops of Bright Accent Colors

Finally, sometimes between all the gentle colors I want to add something bold to the mix!  Bright purple nails with lavender or mint work great.  Or let a bright floral print paired with all pale or dark colors shine.  Jewelry, bags and shoes can all let bold colors in to keep a more approachable feel at work too.  (See the cobalt blue flats pictured above!)  Dark floral prints often have a more edgy feeling as it is, and the brighter the colors paired with the dark color the more they'll pop.  Bright solids can also work wonders with pale or dark shades in the same color family for a monochrome style.

Nail Polish - Julep in Sherri, Leggings - LuLaRoe, Top - Torrid

I hope you've enjoyed my spring looks, and if you have more fun ideas for how I could work with these items let me know in the comments below!  Thanks for reading.










My Friend's Top 5 Spring Essentials



Starting off with a bit more about clothes there's Sadie By Design's Top 5 Spring Cosplay Essentials.




Next up is this fun video by Dusty Sabot!








Zainey Laney bridges the gender gap with essentials for men and women in this video.








Zombiieeninjja Beauty gives us a look at her hair essentials in the above video.




Jessica Forbes shows us some of her beauty favorites in this video as well.


A few more friends will be added too, so be on the lookout as I add their work to this post as the week goes on!

If you're a blogger or vlogger and would like to learn more about the great support offered through the Geeks and Beauties Community please click here for more information.  We create collaborations monthly and we'd love to have you join us!  Thanks for reading.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Styling with LuLaRoe

Hi friends,

UPDATE - June 21-July 4 2016 you can enter to win a new leggings giveaway here!


To let you all know this post is semi-sponsored.  My friendly LuLaRoe rep Nicole Fitts has agreed to do a giveaway when I told her I wanted to write about LuLaRoe here, which I will tell you more about along the way.  However today's post is all about reviewing some of my favorite LuLaRoe items and inviting you all to join me at this weekends LuLaRoe party!  (The party's over, but you can still buy from Nicole's shop, and yes she ship worldwide!)

LuLaRoe Company Overview


First off a bit about LuLaRoe.  They're a great brand that still fairly new.  They started out making all their items besides leggings here in the USA.  But in the past year they've grown a lot through their model of locally based consultants who do pop-up sales in home or online.  They now have 7500 consultants and have started sending some of their designs to overseas factories.  But the good news is they're committed to paying all their workers fairly and all their factories are certified through SGS (More about SGS here!)

The biggest draws for me besides their ethical work is their amazing variety of prints that come is a nice range of sizes including plus size options of course!  Most of their women's clothing is available in sizes XXS-3XL!  They even have some kids sizes too.  Secondly all their prints are limited edition runs of 2500 pieces in each cut.  Some days that's maddening if you see a design you don't snag in time, but it also means you have a fairly unique piece.  And lastly, their quality is fantastic!



My Plus Size LuLaRoe Review


So far I've tried the Nicole and Amelia dresses, the Madison skirt (purchasing a Cassie shirt this weekend), the Sarah cardigan, a Perfect T, and their famous, buttery soft leggings.  I hope to attend an in person party in the future to get a better feel for how some items fit as well!

The Nicole I own (pictured below) is a XXL and I love how it fits, though it's most snug in the arms, and then fitted at the bust.  The Amelia in the same size was too small for me, but Amelia also has a zipper closure and pockets, so it's a slight bit more fitted or else I got lucky with the Nicole I chose.  I included this dress as a late addition to my fall capsule wardrobe and in my December (Dressember!) mini capsule wardrobe.


Here's a shot with an Amelia, two Nicole's and a second Amelia:

Modeled pictures thanks to my LuLaRoe consultant Nicole Fitts

The Julia dress

Next up is the Madison a great little a-line skirt that unfortunately I've only seen go up to a size XL.  I tried the XL and the one I tried would fit a 14/16 as a low waist skirt or an 18 as a high waisted skirt.  I'll be trying the Cassie in a 3XL, though I might also be able to fit an XXL, I just liked a print in 3XL better.  I really like how versatile the Cassie is, I've seen it used as a top and as a scarf as well as the intended skirt!  Below are examples of each:

The Cassie I'm getting

Madison and a Lindsay kimono 
Cassie

Next up is the Sarah cardigan, which brings back the duster sweater with lovely colors!  Mine is a XXL, but I could have also gone with a XL since it has lots of stretch and is fitted most in the arms.


I also had good luck with the Perfect T, believe it or not I went with a size L, and would wear that to a XXL in most of their tops such as the Irma, Classic T, and Randy.  I'm trying a XXL in a Classic T soon as well.

My Perfect T

The Classic T I'm trying

A Randy and a Maxi

Irma top and leggings (leggings as pants? yes!)
Ah and finally the leggings.  I love the two pairs I have and purchased a third in the Pantone color of the year Serenity!  The fit is a bit variable, mostly in terms of where the waist hits.  My 8-bit hearts fit low on the waist and the floral print can be worn high beautifully.

Outfit of the day 2/20/2016
I love these!
A perfect match for Serenity right?

Hopefully this has given you a taste for what LuLaRoe carries and how well they might fit you.  Feel free to contact me if you have more questions, I'm happy to help in any way I can.  And now that you've had a peek at the great selections please enter my giveaway below for a chance to win a pair of leggings in your choice of size and print.

Thanks so much for reading!



UPDATE - Missed this giveaway? Go here for another chance at LuLaRoe leggings June 21-July 4 2016!

LuLaRoe Leggings Giveaway

Monday, February 15, 2016

Valentine's Day Celebrations, Beauty Swap, and Card Exchange

Hi Folks,


Update

I've been busy this past week and fighting off a cold.  This winter is just a tough one for my body apparently.  But there are lots of good things to appreciate as well.  I've been filming a bunch of videos, mostly unboxings of fun beauty and lifestyle boxes.  I also have that darn winter capsule wardrobe post nearly ready to post.  I know I keep saying it's coming, but I keep running into snags while putting it together.  It'll be here soon, promise!  (Maybe today!?)

MuteMath

Friday I headed out with my brother in law Michael to see MuteMath at The Cat's Cradle.  The last time I saw them live was back in 2006...the last time they were at the venue with Switchfoot actually.  While I don't think they allowed SLR cameras at the show I did take some reasonable phone shots and a little video I thought I'd share.  The show was just amazing, MuteMath is one of my favorite live bands hands down!



02-12-2016 Mute Math


Hopefully you can get a feel for their energy!  I think I was dancing almost the whole time!

Valentine's Day Celebrations

Next up is the real reason for this post - I wanted to share a pair of videos I made for Valentine's Day!   I did a card exchange with some fellow bloggers and YouTubers from the Geeks & Beauties Community.  And I also participated in a beauty swap challenge where Zainey Laney and I bought each other the makeup for a Valentine's Day date look for under $10!  These were both loads of fun and if you hop over to the videos on YouTube you can see links to other folks from the group joined in as well.  Part 1 has the cards and me opening the items for the beauty look.  Part 2 is putting on the makeup and chatting about life!




The cold I've had also made me have to take off the makeup almost immediately after putting it on....my eyes were just so itchy.  It made me sad.  And things stayed that way for our actual Valentine's Day date as well.  So I went with some extra bright lipstick and a couple doses of medication to help me make it to our double date with Bryan's parents.  We decided to see The Force Awakens again, and went out to lunch once we realized we'd have to catch a slightly later show than planned because the show we wanted was sold out.  It gave us a chance to go eat at Chili's together, and do a bit of shopping before the movie as well.  We oogled some board games at Game Theory, a great local gaming shop.  There may need to be some board game review posts here in the future!  We also discovered once we arrived at the theater that it was newly renovated and had super nice reclining seats.  We had a wonderful time watching Star Wars a second time and came up with more fan theories (you can hear some of my initial ones in this post) and discussed what we'd observed since we listened to the Hello Internet podcast on The Force Awakens this past week as well.  Here's a parting shot of us!



Thanks for reading, I'll see you all again soon.

www.lydiadickson.com

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Unboxing Ipsy's January Bag

Hello everyone,

Another day, another video here.  Soon I'll have all the January ones up, and then I'll...get to do the February ones.  haha  However we'll have some non-beauty content for tomorrow's post!  I swear I'm not trying to overload you all.

January's Ipsy Bag



Ipsy is one of the best bargain subscriptions out there at only $10 a month.  You can find out more and sign up here - https://www.ipsy.com/new?refer=1pict.

Thanks for reading, and if you haven't already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you're enjoying my videos.


Tuesday, February 9, 2016

January's Enchanted Beauty Box!

Hi friends,

It's been a while, but I have a lot of new things to share with you this week.  First up we've got this unboxing video:

January Enchanted Beauty Box - Frozen!



If you'd like to find out more or subscribe just go to http://www.enchantedbeautybox.com/.  Use code GEEK for 25% off!


Thanks for reading!  I'll have another new post very soon.