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Co•ord•in•ating

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Hey girl hey! So, If you’re new here there’s two things you should know about me, One: I’m a suit lover…I am absolutely in love with suits! While I’ll always love a man in a suit there’s something about suits that make me feel so bad ass when I wear them in the most feminine way. Two: I’m a hat connoisseur, my absolute favorite accessory is a good hat (particularly fedoras). In this instance the two paired together worked so well to give me this cool/edgy kinda vibe, while not trying too hard. I purchased this beautiful green co-ord set from Shein and was super impressed with the quality. Let’s just take a quick moment to discuss how Shein has definitely stepped their game up when it comes down to the quality of their clothing. I remember my very first purchase from Shein had to be over 5 yrs ago…it was a tan, wool, knee length, trench coat, which I still own til this very day. Although the quality was decent the sizing was way off, LOL. I’m pretty sure I ordered a regular sized small woman’s coat but the coat I received was giving more of an extra, extra, small fit. I could barely fit anything underneath it the sleeves were so tight and when I raised my arms the sleeves hit my elbows 😂😂😂. It was super uncomfortable but it was cute and back then I chose cute over comfort all the time, LOL.

When I saw this set on their website I knew right away that I wanted to wear it with a cool pair of sneakers, I originally had a pair of Jordan 1’s in mind (Another fun fact: I’m by no means a sneaker girl BUT Jordan 1’s have my heart LOL) but I decided to wear these Nike blazer’s instead. Now, I’ve had my eye on these sneakers since around April but never really could 100% commit to spending my coins on them, LOL. I mean to me they were cute but something about them were off, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but something wasn’t speaking to the fashionista in me. If i’m gonna purchase a pair of sneakers it has to make sense for my wardrobe and at first…these simply did not.

That is until I started to see them EVERYWHERE…LOL. I was minding my business on Instagram one day and every fashion girl had them on while I’m frowning my face up like, “well damn, I know those aren’t the wrestling shoes I had my eye on months ago” LMAO! After going to the real style/fashion inspiration site (Pintrest) and seeing a couple more pictures I was inspired/sold. Quick Rant Moment: It’s 100% okay to be INSPIRED by people…some people would rather paint a house with nail polish than to admit that they were inspired by something you did. They’ll Swear they didn’t see what you did/wore but show up in an identical look. Its okay sis, we ALL get inspired and it’s perfectly okay to admit that. WHEW CHILE, LOL.

The only complaint I do have about the shoes is that they do run about a 1/2 size to big on me, I ordered my normal size and I definitely have plenty of space in the front of the shoe. Quick story time: I actually wore these for the first time to the airport recently and felt like Bozo the clown 😂 I swore these looked like boats on my feet, LOL. I flopped all through BWI and still missed my damn flight! Probably because my shoes were too big, SMH. But that’s a story for another day. On the other hand I don’t really have any complaints about the suit aside from the fact that it makes me look even shorter than I already am. For some reason I feel like the length of the shorts chopped of an inch & some change and standing at 5 2′ 1/2 I really can’t afford to lose any of my inches, LOL. Believe it or not I wore a bikini underneath and it actually worked to perfection. I’m not sure why Shein thought a white, clothe, ribbed, bikini would work in water but it did work perfectly fine underneath this suit/co-ord set. I plan on purchasing it in every color because it’s definitely the perfect lounge wear set. Speaking of lounge wear can you believe that we’re still in the middle of a pandemic 🤦🏽‍♀️.

Visual representation of me trying to figure out what the hell is 2020 trying to prove 😭

Can you believe I still can not get used to wearing a mask with every damn thing, SMH. And if the pandemic isn’t enough we’re right on the verge of the presidential election and wheeeeeewwwwww chiiillleeeeeeee 😩America is ghettoooooo baby! I’m not gonna get into politics here but I will say God bless us all because we’re gonna need all the help we can get 🥺. On a lighter note Fall is here and I am loving all the Fall feels! On this day it was a beautiful 73 degrees outside and I was loving it! I still haven’t had anything pumpkin spiced but I have ordered a shit ton of Fall scented candles and started to rearrange my wardrobe so there’s that, LOL. I am all for easy style aka suits and co-ord sets this Fall because if I’m being honest I haven’t really had the energy to put into putting an outfit together. We’re coming up on the holiday season and I’ve already started to think about what I’m gonna wear to the living room for Thanksgiving 😂. What can I say my family expects me to bring a “look” to the table every year and what kind of person would I be if I let them down, LOL.

I’m just honestly ready for this year to be over at this point, I’m not gonna set the bar to high but 2021 gotta be better. Like seriously what else could possibly go wrong?? Oh God let me not say that LOL seems like this world loves a challenge 😩. Until next time…

Xx Quita

Elegantly Edgy…

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If you’ve read my blog before then you should already know that I enjoy street style, a lot, so much that I incorporate it into my style often. There’s something very intriguing about a woman (or man) who takes the streets and make it their own runway, showcasing their personal style with that certain “Je ne sais quoi”. I’ll let you in on a little secret, while I was coming up with names for this blog “Elegantly Edgy” was the name I was gonna go with…I was set on that name pretty much up until I launched but for some reason it didn’t quite fit. I felt like it was the perfect title for my style but I later went with Storiesxstyle (for multiple reasons but we’ll get into that in another post). When deciding on a blog name I thought about longevity and I felt like Elegantly Edgy kinda placed me in a box and I don’t do boxes.

Although I chose to go with Storiesxstyle the name Elegantly Edgy still holds true to my style today. I like the idea of pairing items that you wouldn’t normally think about wearing together (whether it be biker shorts with blazers or sneakers with ball gowns) coordinating opposite pieces gives off that effortlessly cool girl street-style vibe. Not only does it challenge your creativity but it also enhances your personal style setting you apart from the crowd. With these photos I chose to use my location as the “edge” I needed to pair with this pretty, girly dress. I thought the railroad tracks would be the perfect backdrop with the right amount of grit up against the flowers and frills of the dress. Like an unexpected twist or a juxtaposition, you wouldn’t expect to see a woman in heels and a dress on the railroad tracks.

But wait, let’s take a moment to appreciate these shoes because baybeeeyyy they’re THAT GOOD! The square toe trend has been everywhere and I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon. Little Ms Square Toe has sashayed her way right through all four seasons only switching up the type of shoe for each season. From square toe sandals like the ones pictured here for the Spring/Summer; to square toe booties/pumps for the Fall/Winter, the square toe is here to stay and I am so here for it. Although these particular shoes are an actual nightmare to walk in (especially on those tracks and rocks) I think they’re worth the discomfort, LOL. If the event provides maximum sitting room then these are your shoes! I’m pretty sure I’ll be giving these some more wears before I put them up for the Fall. Speaking of which…Fall is right around the corner and I am super excited!

I have already started my Fall vision board while browsing through Pinterest, if you ever need inspiration (for anything) Pinterest is your go to app. I’m a fairly new Pinterest addict but I’m addicted nonetheless, LOL. Y’all know how I feel about Fall, Summer is fun and all but Fall is bae. Fall is like the beginning of the end (of the year) and it always gives me this fresh feeling of starting over. Everything starts to change, the leaves, the weather, the moon and sun cycle, Starbucks drinks (LOL), it’s the start of the holiday season but most importantly your wardrobe starts making major adjustments. Fall is every fashion girl’s favorite, it’s literally the season for Style. Although i’m wondering how much of a “Fall” we’re gonna have considering the pandemic and quarantine guidelines that are still in place. I guess you can still get all dolled up & take photos BUT as far as going out & showing those fly Fall fits off idk sis, I know where I live they have started closing stuff down crazy early…even on weekends. I was out recently and girl everything was closed by 9:00 pm LOL, everything but the casinos & yeah…not interested. I’m not sure whats going on but I feel like something is gonna happen soon 🥴. Either way I’m STILL gonna curate my Fall wardrobe even if I gotta be fly in my living room.

I’m so ready to pull out my boots, sweaters, faux furs, suits & fedora’s…I can just smell Fall on the horizon. The last day’s of summer are here and although I’m 100% ready for Fall I still want to savor these last days of summer. Summer 2020 was the summer of outside everything! From picnics to brunch (and hella Zoom parties) we made the best of the circumstances we were under, Summer 2020 was spent socially distant while still connecting with friends & family. What are you looking forward to the most for Fall? Are you a Fall lover like me? Or does Summer tickle your fancy/? Or even worse, is Winter or Spring your favorite? LOL Let me know down in the comments.

Until next time…

Xx, Quita

Go hard or go home

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Hey guys! I hope everyone has been well and healthy during these crazy and unprecedented times. I don’t have to state the obvious in saying that 2020 has been INSANE, like absolutely nuts on so many different levels. From a worldwide pandemic (which forced the entire world to shut down) to the truly tragic events that has happened to African Americans across the country, its been pretty hard to wrap my mind around any of it. I haven’t really been in the mood to blog let alone get dressed up and take photos…with everything going on I just felt like there were much more important things to do & talk about.

The only problem with that is once I stopped doing what I enjoyed I became a bit discouraged, like my energy levels were extremely low. The current events had sucked every ounce of creative energy I had left in me. I thought what little energy I did have should be used in trying to make a difference doing my part to help with the senseless acts of violence ( by the hands of the very ones who swore to Protect & Serve), to showing up to work every morning at 4:30 am to care for extremely ill patients….all while trying to stay safe and COVID-19 free. I was going crazy trying to stay sane 😩 & not to mention the fact that I’m an em-path so add that to the mix and I was a complete mess. I felt like I was losing myself trying to stay connected to what was going on around me, I needed to get back to me ASAP. With all that we have going on in the world I think it’s very important to find your piece of peace, to stay connected to what makes you you and for me that is obviously fashion/writing.

I mentioned in an earlier post how fashion/writing has always been my creative outlet, something I turn to whenever I felt stuck. After four months of not writing a single blog post I knew that when I did it would come effortlessly. Sometimes all you need to do is unplug and give yourself some time to recharge. I had this idea to shoot on a basketball court since last year sometime but never got around to it, for this particular post I knew I wanted to do a sporty/chic kind of look with a suit and sneakers. Although Boohoo sent me the wrong color (I ordered a hot pinkish/red suit) I made this color work but when I saw they sent me this pastel pink color instead I was pissed😒.

I wish I could’ve seen my face when I opened the package lol I was like, “The hell am I supposed to do with this Easter pink suit…?!” 😂. Add that to the fact that I hate pink and well I was beyond annoyed, however I was not about to go through the whole process of sending it back to the UK after waiting damn near two weeks to receive the package. So, I coughed it up as a loss and kept it moving. If you’ve got true style you’ll make a garbage bag look good 😉.

I threw on the sports bra, fanny pack, Cortez Nike classics & Nike socks for a little sporty razzle dazzle and viola the look was complete. On this day it had to be at least 90+ degrees in the middle of the day so imagine how hot I was during this shoot! I was so irritable and wanted to get it over with ASAP, then after roasting in the hot sun I looked at the pictures and couldn’t find a single one I liked, lmao. I think I was just over it that day because I looked at them the next day and had a change of heart. After damn near passing out from the heat somebody was gonna see these pics…lol.

While I don’t know when/if things will ever go back to the way they were I’ve still done a little summer shopping. I’m not sure where I’m headed to but I’ve got a slip dress(s) on hand just in case, lol. I know where I live we’re considered to be in phase two of reopening which does include outdoor dining. I’m the girl who loves a good brunch situation that includes endless mimosas with my girls. I’m all for being home by 9:00 and sleep by 10:00 lol…what can I say I’m in my mid thirties 👀. Oh yeah I forgot to mention I turned a year older during my absence, although I was supposed to be barefoot on an island sipping frozen margaritas while dancing to reggae with somebody’s son my bday weekend was an absolute blast! A few hiccups here & there (I lost my phone in an Uber, literally tracked the Uber man down to retrieve it, my bday picnic got completely rained out and I had a complete meltdown) with the help of friends & family I really did enjoy my weekend 😆.

Although 2020 has been an absolute shit show thus far I haven’t cancelled this year! Pressure makes diamonds and I’m not ready to throw the towel in & neither should you. We’ve spent a lot of time sitting home which I believe is prime time to complete any goals you may have had. We complain so much about not having time to do things and now more than ever all we have is time, so why not use it wisely. I’ve been in an uncomfortable space as of late but I think it’s all because of growth, growth always feels uncomfortable in the beginning. I can hardly believe we’re already in the last half of the year, time has flown by so fast! What have you done with your down time? Let’s all commit to those goals and finish up the last half of the year strong. I don’t know about you but I’ve got a couple things up my sleeve I’m working on and I don’t plan on letting myself down. I’m not sure when I’ll write another post, could be tomorrow, next week, next month or next year but I will be back lol. In the meantime lets keep showing up for ourselves & one another….I think more than ever we need each other to get through these wild ass times. Let’s keep our foots on their necks and our minds on our goals. Until next time…

Xx. Quita

P.S. Justice for Breona Taylor