stephanielegel-blog

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Valentine’s Day Outfit Inspo

Hi all! I love love and I thought it’d be fun to give you guys some style inspiration for Valentine’s Day by sharing some looks that really inspired me and work perfectly for the holiday! Whether you plan on going out with your significant other, your girls or staying at home by yourself ( #selflove )...you can still be on theme lol 

*not of these pictures are - of course - not my own*

Going Out/ Date Night

Pictured Above: Kehlani

Pictured: Rihanna

Pictured: Zendaya Coleman

Pictured: Ashley Marie @pinupdollashleymarie on Instagram

Pictured: Dove Cameron

Girls Night (Going Out for Brunch or Clubbing or Something)

Pictured: @fashioninflux on Instagram

Pictured: Emma Zoey Roche @emmazoeyroche on Instagram

Me Time/ Pamper Night

Pictured: Kylie Jenner and Hrush Achemyan

Pictured: @avanope on Instagram

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Katie AKA StealTheSpotlight

I discovered this very sweet and very stylish Australian’s videos because of her “Movie Characters Lookbook” where she recreated characters’ outfits from her favorite movies. I immediately fell in love with her editing style and unique taste (in both clothes and movies) and wanted to see more!

Check out that video here: 

Along with her very fun and psychedelic lookbooks, she makes videos about what inspires her style as it evolves and is very good at explaining where she gets her style inspo from. She also makes videos about current popular trends as well as trends from past decades, which are always accompanied by some pretty nice tunes :) You can tell she really cares about how her videos come out and puts a lot of work and planning into them!

And all of her lookbooks on past decades are like cool fashion history lessons which I really enjoy.

She also covers trends from Fashion Week runway shows.

See one of my favorite Fashion Week videos by Katie here:

She also loves thrifting and DIYs as well so I relate to her a lot in that way. If I was a YouTuber, I’d be dying to collab with her!

Here’s one of her DIY videos:

See more of Katie’s greatness on her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvkk9KAIk4KBXzJ9wi-II7w

Or on her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stealthespotlight/

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A DIY Wedding

Weddings. Almost everyone has been to at least one (except me, I think I went to one as a baby but that’s it) and they’re a beautiful way to celebrate one of my favorite things, 

love.

Even though weddings are great, they are also extremely expensive. A very creative and smart way to save money on the big day is to DIY some of the essentials for your wedding. Here are some great ideas to help any frugal, anxious groom or a thrifty, blushing bride.

https://www.theknot.com/diy-wedding-ideas

http://www.save-on-crafts.com/weddingcrafts2.html

And here’s a really unique wedding invite I saw on Instagram..I think it’s pretty hilarious. :)

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DIY Celeb Style: Look Like A Celeb For Less

A lot of people want to look like celebrities but not everyone has the funds to do so. That’s where YouTuber Tess Christine comes in! She came up with the great idea to recreate celeb looks but with less expensive items. My favorite thing about these videos is that she puts her own style into the outfits if she can’t find the exact same piece. She encourages people to find their own style through the people who inspire them which I’m 100% behind!

She calls the series “Get The Look” and she actually turned it into a blog as well. It’s called “Celeb-spiration”.

Here’s the link: http://www.celebspiration.com/

Here are some of the videos from the series:

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She’s Got Her Head in the Clouds

I think one of my favorite DIY home decor projects that I’ve ever seen is this glowing storm cloud lamp. A Facebook friend of mine made one for her dorm and I thought it was the most beautiful thing ever and the fact that she made it (with some help from her dad) made it even cooler.

(this isn’t the one my friend made but this one is pretty cool too plus her lamp didn’t have falling lights)

Here’s one of the most popular tutorials on how to create this very unique lamp:

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DIYs for the Inner Handyman In Everyone

I believe that everyone has an inner handyman inside them...

I really enjoy making things with my hands. I remember when I was taking Physics in high school and we had to make our own electric guitar using a wood head (we had a unit on electric currents). I found sanding wood extremely relaxing and oddly satisfying. I never thought I’d ever like making things out of wood or being “handy” so I really surprised myself and ended up learning something new about myself. I think craftsmen (and women) don’t get enough recognition in the world of style and fashion. Interior design is really important in fashion and people pay good money for interior designers to transform their homes, rooms, etc. into something completely different and craftsmen have a big role in the items that help to create these transformations.

I recently found this YouTube channel called, I Like to Make Stuff. It’s a channel dedicated to creating really cool furniture and other cool miscellaneous things by hand. It’s run by Bob Clagett, a former software engineer and father who has created a fan base of over 1 million subscribers. He made the decision to do YouTube full time almost 2 years ago. Bob took his passion and trusted that it would take him places and I respect that a lot.

The trailer for his channel:

Here’s one of his videos where he makes a really nice bookcase with a secret door (reminds me of the ones you see in movies):

And some wooden sunglasses:

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Cosplay

I’ve always found comics and comic book conventions really cool, interesting, and fun...my favorite part about watching videos about “cons” (since I’ve sadly never been to one) is the amount of creativity and hard work goes into the costumes that cosplayers wear. Many of the best ones are made from stratch and cosplayers put weeks and sometimes even months, depending on the costume, of sweat and tears into their costumes. It’s insane and you can’t help but respect the dedication :) Here’s some of the coolest DIY cosplays I’ve seen online [WARNING: There’s a lot because I’m indecisive and I like all of them]:

Also, I don’t know the names of every character. If you know, pls message me so I can know and fix it :) thx!

Let’s start off with Jessica Nigri, professional cosplayer. The Queen of Cosplay basically.

This costume is a unique take on the Pokemon, Jolteon (pictured below).

 This costume is based on the character Ziggs from the online game League of Legends.

This is her most recent cosplay. It’s a “gender bender” of Roadhog from the video game Overwatch.

One of my favorite cosplays is a mashup of the Disney Princesses and the stormtroopers from Star Wars. This is so dope!

Here are some miscellaneous cosplays from San Diego Comic Con that are pretty awesome:

Hawkgirl

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy as pirates

Maleficent

Steampunk Princess Leia

Kubo, Monkey and Beetle from ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’

Chun Li from the franchise ‘Street Fighter’ with the FOX Monday Night Football robot.

I’m a big fan of the channel SourceFed and SourceFedNerd (R.I.P. :( I’m really gonna miss those guys) and I started wanting to get into commics because of them...here’s one of the videos of them covering San Diego Comic Con 2014! I really liked the cosplays in this video.

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Nephi Garcia AKA DesignerDaddy

If you’ve been on Facebook recently (or you’re a fan of April Yang like I am), you probably already know who Nephi Garcia is. His Instagram handle is @/designerdaddy and him and his family went viral recently because of this transforming Belle dress that he made for his daughter.

Here’s a little overview of who DesignerDaddy is:

He’s a father of 3 and a really talented designer. I just started following him recently and I’m in love with the fact that creating costumes has become a family hobby for their family.

Mr. Garcia also makes costumes for adults that he sells on his Instagram through his DMs. His wife, Bethanie, is often the model for those costumes like this holiday Beauty and the Beast inspired gown.

Like any good father that has this much talent with a sewing machine, he also helps make costumes for his daughter AND her friends to wear. 

Here are three costumes he made based on the fairies from Sleeping Beauty.

Check out more of Nephi Garcia’s creations @/designerdaddy on Instagram.

:)

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Instagram Brands: Vintage Bleach

This brand upcycles really cool old t-shirts that have throwback photos of musicians, nostalgic TV shows, and famous wrestlers on them and they splattered them with bleach! They’ve really blown up since they first started using Instagram. Each piece is uniquely crafted and their website is sorted by musical genre and other categories. 

According to one of the articles I found on Vintage Bleach, you should make sure that your selection's description is marked as “vintage” since some shirts are new with a thrift-inspired look. "We want to stay true to our name and always stock up on rare vintage pieces, but with the high demand, it is almost an impossible task," Vintage Bleach explains.

Check out their stuff here: http://www.vintagebleach.com/

The article I found: http://fashionista.com/2016/05/upcycle-vintage-fashion-brands

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Twitter Brands: Hollywood Hunna

I am a huge supporter of social media queen and singer Rae Occhipinti and I love her style. I remember seeing her wear this ice cream cone necklace on Instagram or Twitter (it was probably both let’s be honest) and as a lover of gold chains, I immediately tried to find out where she got it. I found out that the brand is called Hollywood Hunna and was created by one of Rae’s friends. 

Hollywood Hunna has a website (linked below) where they sell very unique and cool items. Here’s one of the jackets they sell (the owner of Hollywood Hunna made it himself)!

and here’s a picture of the owner of Hollywood Hunna wearing the jacket.

Check out their other pieces on their website: https://www.hollywoodhunna.com/

I hope to buy something from them soon! They are pretty pricey but I think you can tell the massive amount of work that went into each design idea and piece is taken into account here.

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Drew Scott

I found out about 20-year-old Drew Scott through his collaboration with the YouTube channel, ToThe9s. Drew makes videos about fashion and is one of the only male YouTubers that is making fashion and lifestyle videos (i.e. DIYs, style tip videos and clothing hauls). He currently posted a video about DIY room decor and this isn’t his first one. He makes DIY minimalist room decor videos every few months. They’re pretty well edited & easy to follow. All of his vlogs and fashion videos are also well edited and have great production quality. 

I hope to see Drew’s channel continue to grow since not a lot of men are making videos like this on YouTube from what I’ve seen. 

FUN FACT: Drew attended Paris Fashion Week this year with his friend Chriselle Lim and vlogged while he was there. 

If you’re interested in learning more about what Paris Fashion Week is like, check that out in the link below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRd28vyLWlM

Here are some of his other videos:

His collab with ToThe9s:

Check out his channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/DrewDaOne

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TheSorryGirls

If you want a really fun hodgepodge of DIY fashion and home decor and cooking tutorials, check out Canadian best friends TheSorryGirls (Kelsey and Becky). They have very well edited videos and their channel has a ton of variety. They’ve been making videos for over 6 years. Sometimes they;ll make “DIY-able” versions of trendy items such as Christian Louboutin boots, lace bralettes, and more! I found out about them because of the lovely and smart Shannon Boodram, another Canadian YouTuber (They did a collab together in July of 2016).

Here’s that video:

This is another video that caught my eye and seemed like a really fun idea!

Here’s the link to their channel!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSJWlswfVUgyVliZaEFoaBw

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Dresses Made Out of Other Things (Part 3)

Here are some really cool dresses, made out of real flowers, that I saw online. (:

This wedding gown is made of 1,725 real flowers (15 Carmen roses, 200 chrysanthemums, 75 gerberas, 300 carnations, petals from 150 Purple Power roses and 1,000 Naomi red roses). It was designed by Asda and took over 170 hours to make. 

SOURCE: http://www.fashionlady.in/dresses-made-up-of-real-flowers-you-didnt-know/1411

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Dresses Made Out of Other Things (Part 2)

I found this DIY site that created a post about this woman who made a wedding dress out of 80 plastic cups. It’s really beautiful, creative and innovative. There is a visual breakdown of the steps she went through to make the dress (pictures and video*) and the final product on the model.

Link to article: http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-wedding-dress-made-out-of-80-plastic-cups/

*NOTE: The text in the video is in Spanish so you could do what I did and use an online translator to translate the steps and materials needed.

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Dresses Made Out of Other Things (Part 1)

Recently, April Yang (@/coolirpa) made a video where she made a dress out of a real nice white-and-gold curtain for the 50th episode of her “Thrifted Transformations” series. This video was the inspiration for this week’s blog posts.

I thought that this dress was very cute and perfect for the spring and summer.

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Down to the Bone

Do you ever find a picture of something really beautiful on your (insert any popular social media platform that you use often) feed and wonder where you can purchase that thing so you can just physically see it and hold it and if you’re lucky, own it? Same.

That’s exactly what happened when I saw this necklace on Twitter. I immediately went into the replies under the tweet to see who made this gorgeous handmade necklace. About two or three minutes later, I found out that the person who tweeted it eventually tweeted the link to the Depop (a mobile, social shopping app - similar to Poshmark) page where the necklace was being sold. At the time, it was unfortunately sold out. However, the owner of the page and BettyBones, Co., Savannah Bree, had updated the caption, saying that the necklace would be restocked very soon. 

This necklace can be purchased om their official site at:

http://www.bettybones.com/

You could also go check out their official Instagram page. 

Link: https://www.instagram.com/bettybonesco/

Savannah Bree started Betty Bones in October of 2011 in Los Angeles, California. They carry a mix of new, handmade, and vintage accessories and apparel. They have a nice selection of fun and beautiful items for different subcultures. On their site, they say that they cater to the underserved subcultures of today's youth, including modern pin up, macabre, cyber, lolita and kawaii.

Here are some of my favorite things from the site:

‘La Sirena’ Necklace

Dagger Earrings and Dagger Necklace

‘Please Do Not Touch The Artwork’ Crop Top

‘Amelia’ Hoops

Gold ‘Natalia’ Rose Necklace

‘Suzy’ Choker

I’m defintely a fan of Betty Bones and can’t wait to see what else they come up with as they grow. Follow them on Instagram or you can also follow them here on Tumblr @bettybonesco <3

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A Real Piece of Work

Before I even get into writing about this artist...can we just look at how cool this choker is? SHE MADE THIS BY HERSELF!

This photo is what made me what to follow Rachel Sears on Instagram. I found out about her choker because of YouTube (shocker, I know). I found HelloKaty on YouTube while looking for college advice and I was watching one of her recent videos where she was promoting Rachel’s brand as a friend. After seeing some photos of her pieces in that video, I knew I wanted to support this brand and see what else her talents have to offer.

See video below:

Rachel’s Instagram is the main place where she conducts business. She advertises and sells on there. She models most of her pieces herself, but a lot of her friends and sorority sisters can be seen sporting Rachel’s work as well on her page. The link to her page is below:

https://www.instagram.com/pieceofworkcollection/

Some of her chokers are pretty reasonably priced but honestly, they’re just extremely unique and cool to look at. I definitely recommend checking her brand out and following her if you want to see her continue to grow like I do :)

Here are some of the posts you’ll see on her page:

Rachel in Charleston, South Carolina wearing one of her favorite chokers.

A very cute and colorful choker for the stylish girl on a budget.

Rachel recently started selling wire chokers.

One of her friends wearing a lace POW choker on ZTA (Zeta Tau Alpha) Bid Day.

And here’s another one of her more recent pieces, that she named after her roommate, Fia.