My Newest Edition: Tory Burch Mini Ella Quilted Tote

I am a huge Tory Burch fan so much to the point that I've started to build up quite the little collection (I already have my eye on this Tory Burch baby bag for when I have little ones down the road 3-4 years from now, don't judge). I already own a leather Tory Burch Neutral Color Block Satchel that I do adore, but after years of wearing it out, I finally decided to add a middle man bag that I can swap it out with on occasion. It wanted something sturdy, trendy, and that could hold it's own when fighting the 4 elements.

After a ton of searching I started to narrow my focus on the thought of a Tory Burch nylon bag. I am a complete nylon newbie and the only thing I had seen in department stores thus far did not impress me. My main source of hesitation was the possible "cheap" look of nylon bags I had the unpleasure of viewing in the past. As I do when I am about to make a significant purchase, I research, research, research! After reviewing several bags one finally caught my eye and I couldn't let it go. It was the New Quilted Mini Ella Tory Burch bag.

What originally sold me was the clean diamond pattern and after a few days of drooling I finally clicked the purchase button. Now that I have received my bag I am totally floored! This. Bag. Is. Awesome. The black gives a classy, mature appearance. The patent leather is glossy and sleek. I even love how the front logo is muted enough to be present but not shouting the designer logo (some things should just be admired in their quietness). It is the perfect size to carry life's necessities and then some. This tote really elevates my style and can be worn so many different ways. It does come with a $225 price tag, but I deem it worthy in it's value. Already receiving compliments and I'm excited to have a bag that can pack a punch and take a punch!

Selling the Unsellable

These are the jeans I sold on Poshmark

A while ago I had went through an entire closet clean out (will probably do one again soon with Fall around the corner). Well, I had done everything right, loaded up the clothes I no longer wanted and headed to my nearest resale shops among them being Clothes Mentor and Plato’s Closet. They were able to take back quite a bit of clothing, and pay me what I thought was a fair price. However, there was a pair of jeans that I was trying to get rid of and it just seemed like no one wanted to take them, not even the resale shops.

There was nothing wrong with the jeans, just that the leg flares and everyone is on that skinny jean trend right now. They are an authentic pair of Citizens of Humanity Jeans. I bought them some years ago at Nordstrom for $100 and I just do not fit them any longer. Rather than give away a pair of $100 jeans, I decided to try to sell them, but no one was willing to buy so far.

My last option was this app on my phone called Poshmark. This is an app where you can literally sell items straight out of your closet. Think of it as an Amazon for your unwanted/needed clothes. It was quite easy to list them. In the app you take a few glamor shots of the item, describe it with a little blurb, list the selling price and let it set until it sells. There are other tips and tricks they let you in on as part of the app experience, but I am not one to constantly sit and watch something until it finally sells.

The listing details I added to help sell.

 I had put these on the app along with a couple other items back in April; they were pretty much out of sight out of mind until recent. To my pleasant surprise, they actually sold just this month! Even though I am just now seeing my first sale, I was pretty happy with it. I made $28 (after Poshmark takes their 20% commission).

I encourage you to try it for yourself. You might find some really awesome deals and sell some things you never thought you could. Try the below link to download and also get a $5 Credit when you enter HFOSK.

Link: http://bit.ly/poshmark

Happy Shopping!

An Entire Outfit + Accessories Under $50

Dress: $25 at JCP on clearance
Shoes: $9 at JCP on clearance
Bracelet: $5 at Forver 21
Earrings: $5 Charming Charlie
Belt: Free: Came with a skirt I bought at Target
Hot Pink Wristlet: Free (I got it from an assistant manager about to throw it out due to damage. I gave it a little TLC)

Would you believe it?!! I got this entire outfit under $50! And when I say outfit, I mean the whole thing, shoes plus my little accessories.

Yesterday at about 4 p.m. I realized I didn't have a thing to wear to a wedding that was starting in 3 hours. Time was ticking away, but my fashion sense kicked into gear and I headed down the street to the mall. I went inside J.C. Penney to see if I could find anything from their clearance racks. Ten minuets into shopping, I found 5 dresses and headed to the fitting room for my process of elimination.

My journey was successful. I decided on a dress (pictured above) and quickly got back home to accessorize it with a bracelet, shoes, and matching wristlet (also pictured above). Less than an hour, less than $50, if that's not a shocker I don't know what is.

I do this kind of thing all the time. I love spending next to nothing and looking great!

Summer Closet TLC

I love organizing my closet! I always find a new outfit. #shoppinginmycloset

Sseko Sandals: Fashion with a Great Cause

Let me start off by saying Sseko sandals are AWESOME! I ran across them at Mardel and before then, had never heard of such an item. They are so versatile and fun, I cannot imagine ever needing another pair of sandals again (believe it or not lol).

Sseko’s are a flat leather sandal sole that has little preset hoops in-laced a the toe, front and back. That sounds silly until you see they have long fabric ties that you can use to interlace the sandals and create a design, so to speak.  The sandal ties come in a variety of colors and fabrics that can be used interchangeably. Not only that, they show you a variety of ways these can be tied to make the sandals look different. I got mine yesterday and already learned how to tie them 3 different ways.

The best and probably most favorite thing about the Sseko’s is that their basis for existence is to help the women in Uganda get a college education so they can go on to lead productive lives within their community. They provide employment and scholarships that match 100% of the savings the women put away to use toward school. This in turn helps eliminate poverty and provides a future for these ladies.

This was such an awesome product I just had to talk about it. Check out the website below to read more about them and if you are interested your local Mardel is carrying them. I know I love mine. Check me out below :D

http://ssekodesigns.com/

My very first try. I did my own thing

The Arrowhead

The Arrowhead side view

Bohannon's Best

Little by Little: I Guest Blog on Kelly Olivares Photography

So a while ago I went to a networking event and had the pleasure of meeting Kelly Olivares. She is a local photographer and does themed photography every once in a while. After some conversation she asked me if I would be interested in helping them out with their themed photography that they hold on a quarterly basis and of course I said yes! So much fun working with costume and just being imaginative.

She was kind enough to let me be a guest blog on her website this month. I am so excited about it! Check it out: http://kellyolivares.blogspot.com/2013/05/meet-kimberly-griffin-from-shock-your.html

I look forward to many cool ways to expand my styling skills :)

Close Encounters With the Fake-Kind: Real vs. Fake, Why You Should Care

One of the factories we visited while in Mainland China

Recently on a trip to Clothes Mentor, I couldn’t help but notice a sign at the front counter stating that “all name brand items brought in and requesting to be bought by Clothes Mentor would need a proof of authenticity”. I can only imagine that what may have spurted that notice was some poor sap’s attempt to bring in counterfeit goods because until now I have never seen that type of sign at a resale shop. Seems that counterfeits are virtually everywhere; online auction sites, apps, even new places like clothes mentor are at risk of filtering in counterfeits without knowing. But is this really that big of a deal? What am I hurting getting an exact replica for a fraction of the cost?

In my opinion it is a huge deal and a even bigger “no”. When I was over seas in China, we got to visit outdoor markets with tons of counterfeit products. Exact replica look-a-likes from various name brands: Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, the list was endless. Unfortunately to say, at the time I did indulged in a replica Marc Jacobs bag and a Fendi bag. At the time I didn’t understand what I was doing.

Counterfeiting is a huge business that profits billions of dollars in illegal activity. Even worse than that, there is a high chance that the working conditions of the people in those types of environments are very poor. We got to see the factory campuses where legit legal products were made in China. Even though conditions were probably much better than that of factories producing counterfeits, it is hard to view it coming from an American culture as “great conditions”; so I can only imagine how much worse the conditions are than those I had seen in a good factory.

Illegal activity to make counterfeits can also involve slave or child labor. The other day on the Kelly Couric show, the topic was slave labor and how it is still very present today. Can you imagine some poor 10 year old kid working like a slave to produce counterfeit goods? Places that produce these kinds of goods don’t have the same regulations and laws that the actual brand owner will go through in order to be 100% compliant and authentic.

So while that bag or pair of jeans you have may be so close to real that no one will ever know the difference, think more about the behind the scenes of how it was made and came to be present in your wardrobe. That is a pretty big difference. Keep it real-KG

P.S. Try out this quiz. It shows, based on your lifestyle, potentially how many slaves work to make your lifestyle possible and how to help fight slave labor.

http://slaveryfootprint.org/