Oh la la!

Bonjour, mes amis! 

As a student that is taking French as their language electives, finding The Cherry Blossom Girl blog was pretty amazing. 

What is really unique about this blogger is the fact that most of her blogs are in French! I know that might seem like a set back to most of you, but the great thing about it is that she puts an English translation proceeding her French (like in this post). I feel like this helps push me to understand "casual French" better as well as give me a glimpse at their coveted fashion.

I actually found her blog through spotting the Ladybug top on the internet. (Umm can we pause for a second and talk about how CUTE this top is? Maybe a little childish but who cares?? If it wouldn't break my bank, I would buy that cutie in a heart beat!) 

Anyway, this is just one of the MANY cute looks this Cherry Blossom Girl has to offer! I'll share some more of my favorites later.

Gary Pepper Vintage

While we're on the subject of Australia, how about another Aussie beauty? This lovely lady is the face of Gary Pepper Vintage and has a life that I unashamedly envy.  Her and her guy, Luke Shadbolt,  travel around the world capturing breathe-taking fashion photos that make you fall in love with clothing and your lust for seeing the world and experiencing different cultures and heritages all over again. I'll just leave you some of my favorite pictures and let you see for yourself. 

See what I mean?? So inspiring. If you are interest at all in fashion, travel and learning knew cultures, I would HIGHLY suggest following along on their adventures and live vicariously through them like I do. They even update regularly on instagram with amazing photos so you can follow them there, too (@garypeppervintage). Also, be sure to check out their shoppe where you can find some of the things this lovely lady models!

Hope you've enjoyed meeting a new fashion lover from across the globe!

  

A Styling from Down Under

Fashion inspiration can come from many different places, races and ethnicity. Looking at fashion trends from all over the world can not only broaden ones sense of fashion, but it can also broaden the way you think/feel culturally without having to leave your bedroom. 

One of my favorite Australian fashion bloggers is "Friend in Fashion." 

It's fun keeping up with her blog to see what the Aussies have to say about the upcoming fashion trends considering they're literally seasons ahead of us. 

I've noticed that a lot of Australian trends seem to be the same as American trends. I also see things that I want to turn my nose up at at first glance, but then wonder how I will feel about it if I see fashion icons in America putting "American twist" on it. 

This "photo-real" skirt is a perfect example. At first glance, I think, "Eww. Horrible 90's flashbacks." but maybe our friendly Australian fashionista is on to something that us American's just can't see yet! She is definitely making it more prep-à-porter than I would have ever thought imaginable if I would have just seen it hanging in a store. 

I'd also like to note the fact that she seems to have a high fashion beach bum feel to her. Does anyone else get that? She has that naturally beautiful "fresh from the beach" skin tone that Aussies have. 

Over these next few blog post, I hope to explore what the world outside of the great USofA has to offer and share it with you. It's time for us Mississippians to think outside of what Betty-down-the-street is wearing and even dare to wonder what beautiful things each race and ethnicity has to offer us fashion lovers.  

Django Unchained

Going into Django Unchained, I really didn't know what to expect.  

I knew that it was a Quentin Tarantino movie, so I expected there to be a lot of unnecessary amounts of blood spurts when someone was shot and I had been told that it was a fairly long movie (almost three hours long). Other than that, I really had no expectations. 

To me, Django Unchained was the Inglorious Bastards for slaves, and who wouldn't want to watch that? The movie brought you through so many emotions that you were left feeling tiredly triumphant at the end. I really don't want to give away too many details for those of you who haven't seen it...but I will say that it has a "happy" ending - Quentin Tarantino style. 

Being a white girl from Mississippi, the one thing about the movie that made me feel so ashamed I almost wanted to hide my face in the theater and publicly apologize for something I had no control over, was how the movie highlighted Mississippi in the worst possible way. *Hooray for Mississippi being where the worst slave plantations were* 

Candyland

Biggest/Baddest plantation in Mississippi 

Don't worry though, Candyland gets what it deserves. 

Overall, I feel like Django was an amazing movie. Yes, it did play on some touchy subjects, but I feel like it sent out a solid message with it. You can always change your future; there is always hope. Django was that "hope" to hold on to in this movie. 

Who Am I?

As tempted as I am to let that photo speak for itself, I suppose for my grade sake I'll try to do something that I have never really been that good at: bios.

My name is Kayla Gates and the purpose of this "first" blog entry is to tell you a little bit about myself. I'm sure you'd be able to get a better sense of who I am by reading previous post on this blog, but I'm going to try to sum myself up in this post. I am a full time student at the University of Southern Mississippi majoring in Public Relations and minoring in Fashion Merchandising. I once thought that I wanted to be a Fashion Merchandising major and a Public Relations minor, but the ridiculous math courses and the advisement from elders convinced me to swap the two. I realized that I wanted to be more on the "public" side of fashion than stuck behind a computer screen picking out clothes that would hopefully sell in some store that I never stepped foot in. So, here I am hoping to one day be part of the Ruche or Modcloth Public Relations team.

I would like to think that my major/minor gives you a glimpse as to what my interest and hobbies pertain too. I am a sucker for lusting over clothes that I can't afford, an aesthetically pleasing magazine or blog, and trying to come up with something new to create. In the summer of 2011, I started my own handmade company called The Fancy Fox. I have sold my creations at numerous local craft fairs and The Fancy Fox has been featured in Click Boutique and Dolce La Vita. I have also designed pieces for high-end photoshoots with Daniel & Steph Photography and BlackBird Photography. I am really proud and humbled by my little business and I hope that the skills that I learn while at USM will help me to further my passions.

New News

For those of you who still follow me on here, this post is for you.
I do realize that I haven't posted on my blog in over a year, and going through and reading my previous post has made me very nostalgic!Almost to the point that I miss blogging once a week (or how ever often I use to post). Anyways, I thought I would give you all a heads-up about what the next 12 post on here are going to be about...

In the past year I have graduated from one college and started another (JCJC to USM), moved to a different city, and started my own business venture. I'm sure I'll go into more detail about all of those things in my next post. Since starting USM, I have declared my major as Public Relations with a minor in Fashion Merchandising. In one of my journalism classes, I have to write 12 post on a blog. I am going to use this blog to save myself from having to create a new one. So, to my followers, you are more than welcome to read my "homework" over these next few weeks if you, for some reason, find that interesting!

I'll end this post with a million pictures trying to try to catch you up on the past year of my life. 

xo

Rhode Island

It has been forever and a day since I've posted on my blog! I've missed you all and I have so much to catch you up on. I'll first start by showing you some pictures of my adventure to the North East portion of the United States.

A few weeks ago me and my very best friend, Josie, took a trip to Rhode Island. I've never been to any New England states except for New York City, New York and boy is Rhode Island super different from New York City.

Unfortunately the only pictures that I have from the trip are from the one day that we were in Boston, Massachusetts touring Fisher College and Bay State College. The story is kind of long as to why I only have the pictures from day one of our trip, but in a nutshell they were stolen out of my luggage on the flight back home. Yes, I was completely devastated when I found this out and no, nothing can be done about it. All I can do is save up my money for a new camera. Sigh. Everything happens for a reason though! Most of the pictures above are from the Boston Common Park...such an amazing place!

(Fisher College // Boston, Massachusetts)

I think the thing that I loved the most about the North East is the weather. It was absolutely perfect. It was so weird to me that I got chilly a few times when the sun went down and it was July. Down here in south Mississippi it never gets chilly in July. Also, the food was so awesome. We really didn't eat one bad thing while we were up there. Clam chowder, lobster scampi, swordfish on rice pilaf, fish and chips...I could go on and on! I never was a huge seafood fan until I got a taste of what real seafood is. So good!

As great as Boston was, Rhode Island wins my heart. I wish I had more pictures to share. The only ones that I have are from my phone and this is my favorite out of the bunch. I'm at Castle Hill Lighthouse. This was probably the most perfect, peaceful, and serene moment I've ever experienced. I think I could have stayed right there perched on those rocks forever. The sound of the crystal clear waves lapping on the beautiful rocks with the slight smell of salt water on your skin and sailboats there to keep you company...can't get much more perfect than that!

If you ever get the chance to go to the North East, please do yourself a favor and go! You will not be disappointed. Rhode Island might be small, but there's not one part of it that isn't picture perfect and amazing! So go explore it!

xo