Fashionista Friday - young designers can get creative with Harumika

Santa was really on top of things this year and found the greatest gift for budding fashionistas...Harumika .

Harumika Design Dress Forms are big on fashion but the perfect gift for a small budget

Harumika comes with a small plastic dress form, fabric swatches, and even some accessories. The dress form has a slit in the back with rubber edges so when you press the fabric into the slit it stays. I'm sure that when Santa eyed this toy he knew it would be fun for the Twofer....and me.

Here are a few designs:

And this was one of Em's:

Expand your Harumika Wardrobe

It didn't take long for the girls to start asking about new 'outfits'. I realized I had a whole bag of fabric leftover from my more creative/ ambitious/ maternal days of sewing. I might think about getting another dress form and hitting the fabric store for some cord and other items we can use as belts, etc.

Want your own Harumika?

Let me know which one you buy and let's compare designs...I mean the ones our KIDS create ;).

Janine

Note: Santa delivered this product and paid for it himself. Any opinions about Harumika are my own and no one at Harumika or their PR company reviewed this prior to posting. And to be perfectly honest, I'm not even sure this review will rank high enough in their Google Alerts to even show up so they may never know what a fan of their product I really am. And if they are listening...feel free to contact me!

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Fashionista Friday - jeans and shoes with bling

Dress-up shoes and jeans? Why not? I'm pretty sure Jimmy Choo designed this shoe to be worn with a great pair of skinny jeans and a slouch shirt. Don't you?

This week Em's Fashionista outfit consists of her favorite red tunic sweater, a turquoise blouse, well-worn jeans, a knit purse from Guatemala and of course, dress-up shoes with lots of bling.

Why it works:

Red & turquoise color pops but faded, worn jeans bring it down a notch. And the shoes? Well, they just bring it all together. Mama's proud.

Janine

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Fashionista Friday - The One Hundred by Nina Garcia

What 100 items in your closet would be the must-have items to take with you if you have to leave your house?

That's the question answered by the book, "The One Hundred - A guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own" by Nina Garcia of Project Runway fame.

The One Hundred things we need to be stylish (at the very least)

You see Nina has a fabulous closet but she couldn't access it for about 2 years while her home was going through a renovation. Well, she did have access to it, but only here and there and over the months she would run in and grab the necessities...hence, The 100.

A List I Love to Check

What I love about this book (yet another great gift from my sister-in-law) is that it lists the items alphabetically so you can literally go down the list and check off what you already have, or circle the items you still need (and then leave the list lying around for your family to find for when they are looking for your next birthday, mother's day, or holiday gift).

And become I'm a list maker, this check-list is a list after my own heart! Start with the A's for Animal print (check) and move onto to the Ds for Denim Jacket, Diamond Studs, and Drive Moc (check, check, ooh - add that to my list!)

 List of the 100 fashion basics

Want to know how close you are to having all One Hundred? Get the book!

Then let's check things off together!

Janine

Fashionista Friday - style every day of the year with this calendar

Last year my sister-in-law got me the most fabulous calendar filled with handbags (see the 2009 calendar here) ...and y'all know how much I like handbags (see why here).

This year, she gave me 365 days of shoes...SHOES!

Shoes for every day of the year

Ahhhhhh, now if I could just figure out a way to wear them!

What I love about these calendars is that you can read about  each shoe so you know what year it was made and the designer, if known. It's funny to see how fashionable many shoes from the 20's, 30's, and even 1800s would still be if worn today!

Style that lasts: shoes from the 1920's right next to shoes from 2008

Want to buy your own shoes or handbag calendar?

Tell me, which one will you get this year?

Janine

Fashionista Friday - a great way to start the new year

Fashionista Friday off to a good start

I already have content for the next three Fashion Fridays and it's only January 1!

Today though I'm going to focus on Em. It's New Year's day and while the rest of the family lounges in PJs, Em is dressed for a second round of parties...

my little fashionista

Outfit Details

belted tunic, brown leggings, bronze leather handbag (Grandma's hand-me-down), dress-up shoes and sunglasses

Yes - the pose is all hers.

Why it works

The length of the tunic lends itself well to leggings. The bronze, well-worn handbag offers a bit of casualness to the dressier shoes (not shown) and sparkly belt buckle.

Her inspiration

The other day we went to the library and Em chose these books to bring home.

books on fashion from the library

One of these I had to sign out from the adult section because the children's section only had about 4 books on fashion. When someone asked her if she is going to be a fashion designer she said, "No, I'd rather wear the clothes than make them."

That's my girl.

Janine