A Gold Dress and Golden Opportunities

It’s been a while since I’ve last spoken to you all and kept you updated on what’s been going on in my life so I’m going to take this post to cover just that. I can’t say that too much has changed but there are a couple things worth mentioning.

In late July I started my first job working as a cashier working at a local pizza place. I loved it when I first started working and I’m still loving it now. I’ve always been the kind of girl who preferred to be doing work over sitting at home doing nothing productive (although I’ve admittedly slept in till noon all this thanksgiving break; been a while since I’ve been able to do so). Through the time I’ve been working I’ve become really close friends with all of the other teenagers that work there and it can be a lot of fun since my job has a pretty laid back attitude about it.Another positive side is that most nights I do pretty well in tips on top of my usual pay. The only true downside to my job would be cleaning the bathrooms, you won’t believe some of the horror stories I’ve experienced trying to get those stalls looking nice. Don’t worry though, I’ll spare you some of those stories so I won’t strip you of your goodnight’s sleep. All in all though, it has been an amazing experience and I wouldn’t give that or the people I’ve met up for anything.

School wise not much has changed. I’m still taking honors and AP classes as well as my usual show choir class. I will say that some of my AP classes have been obstacles at times but none have been a greater obstacle than taking on a leadership position in show choir. I’ll just leave it at it’s hard being at the top no matter what method of leadership you use because it’ll never agree with everyone. I’ve had a hard time accepting that because I like to make sure that everyone is happy but I’ve come to find that that won’t always be the case. I still love the class, don’t get me wrong. I can never give up singing and dancing no matter how hard it gets, it’s just something that truly appeals to me and makes me happy. It’s hard to tell me that you would pass up the ability to perform to an 80’s hits medley if you were given the chance.

I’m going to stop rambling about my personal life now and tell you a bit about my homecoming outfit because it’s too good to not tell. I found everything I needed (really just the shoes and the dress) in one shopping day. My mom pulled out this gold dress out of the clearance section at Charlotte Russe and we both pretty much died instantly at the sight of the dress. We had multiple options in our head already but we decided to get the dress anyways because it said it was only $15, I wasn’t about to leave it for that price. When we went to check out the lady had told us it was marked down further to $5.90! I’m sorry but this was basically a steal! Our next priority then became searching for shoes in which we found a nice pair of gold heals at the JCPenny clearance section for $15. What I’m basically saying is yes, I did get a dress and shoes for homecoming for less than $25. I’m not gonna lie, I was a happy girl that day. Not only did I save a lot of money, but I felt like I was walking down the red carpet everywhere I went while at homecoming (it was far from the red carpet, it was more like a sweaty gym but you get where I’m coming from). In all I had an amazing night of just dancing and singing “Wrecking Ball” at the top of my lungs with my friends and ending the night with a sleepover that consisted of watching Legally Blonde and Clueless. Definitely a night to remember, now I just gotta wait for Prom to come around!

 

I’m Finally a Senior!

After three interesting years of high school, I am quickly approaching my final year at a pace I’m not too comfortable with. With being a senior comes a lot of responsibilities and tasks that need to be checked off the to-do list. There are campus tours that need to be done, capstone projects that need to be started, SATs to study for as well as take, applications to send off to colleges, senior dues to pay off, a GPA to keep up, a show choir to lead now that I’ve been appointed captain (I’m super stoked about this), and on top of all that, balance a job on my plate. I will say that trying to write this list down got me breathing a little heavier, but every senior has to go through this. I should be able to do it too.

From the list, I’ve started campus tours. I visited Kennesaw State University a few weeks ago. I didn’t take any pictures, which I currently regret, because I was like a kid in a candy store. The campus is super cool and KSU seemed technologically advanced and offers good programs. In a few days I will be visiting the University of Georgia and I’m quite excited to see what’s in store. Another exciting milestone is that I started working. My first official job! I work as a cashier at a local pizza restaurant and I’ve been loving it. I’m the kind of person who will take working over sitting at home watching TV any day! Plus as a cashier I also take in orders, so it’s been definitely helping me build confidence when speaking to new people and enhancing my customer service skills.

A project that I’ve recently started is starting to take my senior pictures. I still have yet to sign up with a studio to get both my yearbook and cap and gown pictures. When it comes to the scenes my mom and I decided to do our own, ones that catered more to who I am and backgrounds that express the real Allyson. Like everything I do, I like to add a bit of a twist. My mom and I thought it would be a good idea to do some pictures at home since it’s where I live and spent my entire high school life in. We decided to do more of a high fashion shoot for my pictures, so we waited on a rainy day to take some cool shots. What I like about the pictures is that they have a range from almost playful to something a little gothic. I look like one of those chicks from horror movies who’s about to haunt someone (honestly those shots were my personal favorite). The rest of my senior picture scenes are still yet to be taken and ideas are still being brought to the table. Honestly, I think I need a scene surrounded by Disney characters. Those who know me will tell you that Disney movies make up my life. What can I say? I’m still a five year old at heart, despite the fact, I may need to face some responsibilities that require a tad bit of growing up.

Teen Fashion Blog: A Confidence Booster

Recently I have been looking at the outfits I have posted in the past and realized that I tend to stick to the cutesy dresses, bright colors, and comfortable shoes that minimize my height as much as possible. For years I have stuck to playing it safe in the clothes that make me feel comfortable and better about myself but I have never tried to expand my horizons in clothes that may push me to reach new levels of confidence. Ever since middle school hit, my confidence started to deteriorate (as any typical middle schooler’s would). I always tried to avoid making myself look any taller because I felt weird being taller than more than half of the boys in my class. I have been quite shy with my appearance and confidence from the very beginning of middle school to the beginning of junior year.

I don’t exactly know what happened but I just remember looking at myself in the mirror one day and finally telling myself to stop caring about what others would think. I finally wanted to wear heels like every other girl could despite the fact that it could make me taller than everyone in the room. I was more comfortable with wearing crop tops despite the fact that it may show a little bit of my tummy (which is weird because I’ve worn bikinis for years when I go swimming). I was ready to mature my taste in clothing and be proud of what I’m wearing.

The reason I’m sharing this is because I know that there are some girls who read my blog who are either in middle school or high school who probably feel the same way I used to feel. This is more of a reminder that this is just a small period of time before you truly gain the confidence to look the way you want without being scared or shy about it.

I can tell you when it comes to this outfit, I wouldn’t have even thought about wearing it two years ago. I would freak out about the fact that some of the skin in my stomach is being shown or that I’m wearing heels that will make me look taller than all of the guys I passed by. I wore this outfit to a friend’s birthday party and I’m 99.9% sure that I was taller than everyone at that party in those heels, but it didn’t even faze me, I was more concerned that the shoes would keep me from dancing the entire night (but word of advice, always bring comfortable shoes that match the outfit just in case your feet can’t take it anymore :).

Teen Fashion Blog: Coachella Inspired Outfit

Coachella 2016 is coming up in April and I’ve recently had a small dream of going and experiencing what it’s all about. Coachella is basically an art and music festival on steroids. I say that it’s a festival where all the hippies go to party and have fun. Now I’m a pretty uptight person but I like to be able to let loose and have fun as much as I can yet it can be hard. I think an environment like Coachella would allow me to let loose and have fun like the rest of some of the hippies there. I was looking at the lineup and some big names are going to end up performing at the festival. Some of the acts that will be seen include Sia, Years & Years, Zedd, Ice Cube, Disclosure, Ellie Goulding, Of Monsters and Men, Alssia Cara, Calvin Harris, and many other musicians!

Something else that I love about Coachella is the fashion! The style that you will find at Coachella is a lot of boho. This style is very relaxed and all about being carefree, kind of like the festival. When I think boho I think loose clothing, fringe, lace, and flower crowns! Me being my girly little self absolutely adores flower crowns. I had done a boho inspired look back in the summer and I decided that it would be perfect for a Coachella outfit. I’m wearing a blue jumper that is fairly loose. I paired it up with a nice headband that ran across my forehead the way a flower crown would. I also wore some fairly large earrings because the jumper’s top was low cut and I didn’t wear any jewelry around my neck. To match the large silver circles in the earrings, I wore a belt that had a large buckle. To finish off the look I wore some silver sandals to top the boho look off. I may not be able to attend the real Coachella but maybe I’ll be invited to a Coachella inspired party!

Teen Fashion Blog: Celebrating Wolves

I am pretty excited to say that this week will definitely be an eventful, but good week. Today is the two year anniversary since Cardigans and Necklaces was officially created. I’m ready to begin adding a second year worth of content to the blog! Another year of creating pretty outfits sounds pretty great if you ask me!

Another thing I’m pretty siked about is starting a brand new semester of school tomorrow. Last year I had an accelerated pre-calculus block class that I was not very fond of, but this semester I won’t have it any longer! I’m ready to meet new teachers and make new friends in my classes. This semester I will be taking a block physics class and a block Spanish 3. I’m not big on physics since it’s a mix between math and science (not my favorite subjects), but I’m ready to give it my best.

For those of you who don’t personally know me, I am probably the biggest Teen Wolf geek there is around. I mean, who else would binge watch all five seasons of the show in four days or learn all of the ages and heights of the actors in the show? Okay, I may have quite a bit of an addiction for the show going… but I promise you I’m not crazy (that’s a lie, I’m pretty crazy). All I can say is that a girl needs her fix of super attractive mythical creatures with crazy cool butt kicking abilities. Tomorrow season 5b of Teen Wolf starts and let’s just say that I may have cried a few tears of excitement this morning, #FanGirlAlert.

Speaking of my quirkiness, we all have learned from the past that I can be quite the mixaholic. A Mixaholic is a person who loves to mix and match different patterns and colors together quite a lot to the point where loved ones worry for the person’s well being and wonder if they will ever give up this addiction. Well for you loved ones, the answer is a big no, I will forever play around with patterns. The outfit above is a perfect example of my mixaholia (that might not be a word). A floral purple crop top with a grey and blue striped cardigan is quite a pattern mix but it definitely works. Since I’m not big with exposing too much skin, I always try to pair up crop tops with high waisted bottoms (in this case a high waisted blush pink pant). Since I already had so much going on in the top I kept the shoes and pants a light neutral color. The buttons in the pants were a rose gold color so I made sure to tie in rose gold earrings. Other than that, the outfit required little jewelry and looked pretty great. Remember young grasshoppers, sometimes less is more.

Teen Fashion: Summer Lace Elegance

The Bohemian style has been quite a popular look this summer. Every store I go into I end up seeing tribal like patterns, fringe, loose clothing, headbands that wrap around your forehead, and lots and lots of lace! I have always been a fan of clothes with cute little lace details because to me it screams girly. Just this spring I stocked up on some lace shorts for the summer because they were comfortable, good to keep cool, and super cute. Now lace isn’t only associated with the bohemian look, you can style it any way you want. It’s just that now with the bohemian look being in, it is easier to find clothing with lace on it.

I decided to style up my white lace shorts in a more elegant way this time. I took a nice light grey sheer top that is very simple but has a small lace detail around the neckline. Too much lace can over power so that’s why I had a simpler shirt with only a tiny bit of the lace accent at the top so that the look was simple yet elegant. I also paired it up with some white sandals which is perfect for the summer even though there have been a few times where I got really bad sandal tan lines. I also paired it up with a necklace that consist of white, black, and grey beads. These are fairly basic colors and not a lot going on but my mom always tells me that sometimes less is best. In this case the simplicity of the outfit is best and elegant at the same time.

It’s also a nice light outfit for the summer, especially when death comes knocking at your door in the form of 100 degree weather. When I went to take these photos I sat down on the concrete wall and my thighs were super red after the shoot because they were burning. It’s even worse when you have to sit in a car with leather because not only do your legs get burned, but your sweaty thighs start to uncomfortably stick to the blazing leather. I think the North Pole is starting to sound pretty good at this time of year, don’t you think?

Style Cravings: Fanny Packs?!

Style Cravings: Fanny Packs by allyson-gabrielle-dollar

Some of you probably looked up at the title and thought I was completely out of my mind…well I promise you I’m not so please bare with me. I’ve been looking back at a few runway pictures and styles and something that I saw reoccurring a few times were stylish fanny packs. This caught me by surprise because I never thought a fanny pack would ever get into style. When I think of fanny pack I see a male tourist wearing sunglasses, sunscreen on his nose, a striped polo, cargo shorts that go higher on his waist than supposed to which is held by a belt, high socks, sunburned skin despite the fact he has sunscreen on his nose, and of course a fanny pack that holds his camera and perhaps even tickets to a certain place. I always told myself I would never be that person who wore a fanny pack everywhere, at least that was till I saw a few of these cute little packs that can not only compliment an outfit, but it can even enhance it!

What I love about these Fanny Packs is that they don’t look like your typical fanny packs. These have cute little belts that hold the pack up instead of some ugly strap. Also the pack isn’t some odd shape that is kept in the front, these look like adorable wallets that are often put off to the side or dangling. I really wouldn’t mind wearing one of these fanny packs because they can conveniently hold things, can make an outfit look cuter, and you don’t have to worry about losing it or getting it stolen if it’s around your waist at all times. I really do hope these kind of fanny packs start coming into style and I start seeing them in stores because I will definitely jump up on this trend. The only thing I don’t like about the fanny pack is the name itself, it just sounds so weird. How about Style pack? Waist purse? I may need to work on a better name to call them.

Teen Fashion: Bohemian Glitz Outfit

Recently for Chorus I had to go to graduation and sing as part of a mandatory assignment. I wasn’t too happy that I had to stay till around nine at night on the last day of school but then it resulted on a shopping trip to get the outfit we had to wear. My chorus teacher asked that we wear either khaki pants and a white shirt or we go with a nice simple white dress. We were aloud to wear any shoes and accessories we wanted so that allowed me to have fun and play with making an outfit. I always hear about how hard the hunt for a perfect white dress can be but I was able to find my dress within one day after looking in two stores that didn’t have the dress for me. Almost my entire outfit came from Rue 21, the shoes came from Marshalls. I was kind of glad that singing at graduation resulted in me getting an absolutely beautiful dress which is also perfect for this amazing upcoming summer.

When you look at this outfit you may not see much bohemian because of the jewelry. The dress alone is sort of Bohemian because of the flower print lace and because of how it flows. It’s loose and free and if I paired it up with a dream catcher necklace or a head band that ran across my forehead you would be able to see the bohemian. Instead of going that route I went with a more glitzy side because I love my shiny things. I went with this necklace because it was long and brought in a lot of attention to the top of the dress and kind of added a surprising element since people wouldn’t really expect to take a dress such as this one in that sort of direction. The earrings match the necklace perfectly but what I love about them is how they look like they are floating and not connected to my ear! The bracelets had to have some white incorporated into them because then it would be too much gold. I did the same thing with adding white to the shoes because it added more attention to the outfit and jewelry rather than the feet and it didn’t over power the outfit with more gold. These shoes were very comfortable for having a small heel on them. I was able to walk around all day without feeling any foot pain! I was able to look glitzy with a dash of bohemian without walking around as if I was a new born horse trying to stand up for the first time.

Under the Sea Costume

About a year ago I did a post showing everyone my outfit for my first spring concert in high school. We danced/sang to “Anything Goes” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and I got the chance to dress up as a flapper but add some of my personal style at the same time. Well this year I got another shot to sing, dance, and create a lovely outfit that goes along with the theme. I was super excited when my chorus teacher told me that this year’s theme was Disney! Disney literally made up my childhood and still makes up a lot of the things I watch. I mean if we want to be technical, I would say that 79.9% of the movies I watch are Disney movies. Mrs. Rhoades assigned our class the Little Mermaid Medley. When I was smaller Ariel used to be my favorite princess. Since I was born an island girl, I came to become very fond of the beach and all I wanted to do was turn into a mermaid so I would never have to leave the ocean and so I could befriend some friendly dolphins. I would watch the Little Mermaid and wish that one day I would turn into one too. I had a fish named Elizabeth and I would like to think that she once swam with Ariel and then became my pet.

Being able to get to sing the Little Mermaid Medley was super exciting for me because it brought back some memories from my childhood and all the times I used to do karaoke to my Little Mermaid CD. So naturally I knew most of the lyrics already by heart and was ready to start dancing and shaking my little fish tail. Those few weeks of singing and dancing were some of the funnest times I’ve had in chorus because everyone had energy and everyone was happy. We all were super ready to get on stage and show everyone the little fish within us all. I will admit that I had fun getting to show a little bit of sass while dancing and singing along to “Under The Sea.”

There were so many different songs performed by the groups and it was like we brought Disney World into our own high school. We had groups singing “When you wish upon a star”, a Beauty and the Beast Medley, a Tarzan medley, a Hercules Medley, an Aladdin Medley, a Hunchback Of Notre Dame Medley, a small Lion King Medley, a Mulan solo, a Pocahontas solo, a Princess and the Frog solo, and a Sleeping beauty solo. In the end the seniors came back dressed in their caps and gowns to close the show. They sang “I can go the distance” from Hercules and it literally pulled at the audience’s hearts. I was doing okay until I looked over and I saw some of the girls crying on stage while holding hands and the guys hugging each other during the song. I’m not even ashamed to say that I cried like a baby and I will really miss the seniors especially since I’m friends with a few of them and look up to them as singers.

As good as the girls did singing the Little Mermaid, I would have to say that the Hunchback of Notre Dame medley had us beat! They were so good that my mom even told me that it sounded like it belonged on Broadway. The voices were so powerful and angelic! They were so good that I would look down at my arm and I could see goose bumps. I would definitely say that this Spring Concert was the best concert we’ve had so far and I am looking forward to many more.

I should probably stop ranting about the show and get to talking more about the outfit. Our teacher told us that we had to dress as if we’re from under water if we’re playing the role of a fish or mermaid. As you may see in some of the pictures there are girls dressed as sailors, but this is all for the purpose of Fathoms Below which involved prince Eric and his crew. I knew a lot of the girls would be focused on dressing up as mermaids or little fish so I went a whole different direction… I decided to be a coral! Yes, it sounds like I’m playing the tree part in a play but I thought it would be fun to dress bright! I found this beautiful dress online that would flow as I danced and was super comfortable. The head band and the cuff my mom and I worked on. The cuff was quite simple, all we did was find a cheap cuff bracelet, glittered a sea shell, and glued it to the bracelet. The head piece was much more complicated than the cuff. What we did was we took a cheap head band from Charming Charlie’s and tore off the black stones, then we took a kitchen sponge and tore it apart to make the base of the head band which is the blue shiny part under the gold embellishments (cool right?!). Then we took a sea shell necklace from the clearance section of Charming Charlies and took out all the charms which included anchors, shells, and star fish.We glued the little charms onto the head band and noticed we had excess space. So we then took gold sequins that we bought at the dollar store and glued them down so they looked like gold fish scales on a blue fish. I absolutely love this head piece and I have my creative mother to thank for such a gorgeous idea. In the end, I looked like a piece of bright coral with a beautiful rare golden fish swimming above me. I would have to say that this outfit was my favorite compared to the flapper outfit because I love bright colors and shiny things! Also it was a lot of fun dancing in the dress because it would float at every movement and it looked so pretty when I would spin. Maybe it’s not so bad playing the tree…well I mean coral.

Teen Fashion: Denim Weather

 

Something that has really sparked my attention lately is how many endless creations can be done using denim. I love how there can be different shades and how they can come either in pant, shirt, or even shoe form! Last year I got these denim shoes and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played around with them. Something else I love about denim is that they can go with just about anything. You can even do denim on denim as long as you play with it right. I looked into how the weather is going to be this week in Georgia and it ranges from sixty degrees to eighty degrees. You can never really tell how hot or cool it’s going to be so I thought back to this outfit. It will sure be convenient for the week because the skirt will keep you cool but the vest will keep you warm depending on the temperature. Something else I would like to point out in this outfit is pattern play. I always hear about people who are afraid to mix patterns such as polka dots and plaid but as you can see in this outfit it truly can work out as long as you do it right. I think it’s always best to push some boundaries and mix it up a little. Sometimes when you experiment with clothes a little you can end up with something super stylish and fun.