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…

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

New Normal?…..

I’m sure I don’t have to state the obvious in saying that the world has been under some intense stress over that past few weeks, while everyone was tuning in to the news/social media keeping up with current events we all were still very optimistic. I think everyone reached their peak when the nation went into a mandatory quarantine requiring everyone to stay at home. Now I am an introvert so staying at home is not punishment to me, however, it has some of you guys going ape shit crazy LOL….While staying indoors is kinda my thing I have to admit that being told to stay inside is different, closing everything down has been weird, all these restrictions has had me in a whirlwind all week. It’s one thing to stay inside voluntarily but staying indoors because it’s not necessarily safe to be outside is wild af. I literally feel like we’re living right in the middle of a movie right now.

I work in healthcare, which by the way has been TRYING AS HELL this week, so the quarantine doesn’t really apply to me all that much. I am still required to be at work by 5 am sharp and stay my full shift, thankfully I only work 3 days a week so I guess it’s not all that bad. Being an “Essential” employee during a worldwide pandemic has really been eye opening, in all my years of working in healthcare I’ve never been required to be at work regardless of the state of the nation, aside from snow storms, this is new. Even during inclement weather I still have been given a pass to stay home because 98% of the patients won’t even show up :-/….Not so much with COVID-19 aka Coronavirus. I’m happy to be of service at such a fragile time but it has had its moments of pure stress.

I don’t think this time spent inside have to be a negative thing, aside from the obvious benefits of being safe, I believe we all could benefit from sitting still. As adults we’re always on the go, busy with work, life, being a spouse, a parent or simply adulting….sometimes it could feel impossible to find a moment of stillness. There’s always something that demands our attention making it difficult to sit still and just be in the moment. I too can relate to this 100%, it sometimes feel like downtime will never come :-/. Use this time to do all the things you have been putting off simply because you haven’t had the time, below I’ve listed 5 things you can do to use this time wisely.

• Self Care…this could mean different things to different people but whatever makes you feel good is self care.
• Read a book. I’ll admit I’ve been slacking BIG TIME on my book reading but I plan on getting back into it ASAP
• Finish or Start that thing you’ve been postponing for God knows how long.
• Find a new hobby…for me I’ve always wanted to get into painting. Find something you’ve been wanting to try and get on it.
• Write/journal…writing has been my own kind of therapy for as long as I can remember.

On a lighter note the first day of Spring came and went without a peep LOL, everybody has been so wrapped up in the Coronavirus that nobody hardly noticed. I’m not really a Spring person but I do look forward to wearing less layers and lighter fabrics. I had a specific fit and shoot all planned out for my “First Day of Spring” post but this virus had other plans for all of us. These were taken about two weeks ago when life was a lot less hectic and chaotic. I froze my entire ass off during this whole shoot but at least I was allowed to be outside LOL. It’s crazy how we take the smallest things for granted not even realizing that they are actual privileges. I don’t think there’s been an official date for the quarantine lift but I do hope it’s sometime soon, while I do enjoy being home all I want right now is to get all cute and go out! I think it has more to do with the fact that I can’t because if I could my ass would be right in the house…LOL per usual.

What have you guys been doing to stay busy during the quarantine? Have you been told to work from home or are you an essential employee like me? I’m not even gonna lie I’ve been eating, drinking wine & sleeping all damn day…nothing outside of my usual activity LOL. But in all seriousness I hope you guys are following the proper protocol and keeping yourself & loved ones safe, I know this has probably been a lot to process but I have hope that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. I find that seeing all of the news about the virus 24/7 is mentally exhausting, especially for an empath like myself. If you need to cut off the news and log out of social media for a day or so DO THAT….your mental will thank you. In the meantime we all need to focus on staying safe and not going crazy from being on lockdown, if I see another challenge or Tik tok video on Instagram I’m going to actually go nuts LOL. Stay safe & sound guys!!

Thanks for stopping by and remember, whatever you do, always do it with style.

And wash your damn hands!!

Xx, Quita