The Ugliest Dress..Ever.

Shopping today I found what has to be the UGLIEST dress I've ever seen....

And at a consignment price it's $152.00!

It looks like a multi colored sequined mermaid costume to me. Yuck! 

Biggest Loser Makeover Fashion

Fitness and Fashion = 2 of my favorite things.  This week on The Biggest Loser they had makeover week, which I was all excited about, of course. Here are the pictures of the final 5 contestants in their new looks.

Sunshine - lost 97 lbs so far.

 Notice the styling with the girls in the after pictures. They accentuate the waist, the smallest part of the female form with a belt, so they look slimmer. Also matching tights with shoes elongates the legs, and makes you look slimmer as well.

Ashley - lost 136 lbs so far.

Notice the cinched belt is done here as well to draw attention to her waist. They put Ashley in all black too to make her look slimmer. I love the black outfit with the brown belt, don't be afraid to mix it up a little bit.

Daris - lost 141 lbs so far.

Daris is one of my favorites, I think hes too cute. I love that they cut his curly hair, but still gave it a little bit of style. Dark jeans for guys are a MUST in my opinion.  You can dress them up or down, and the darker the denim, usually the more slimming they are.

 

Sam - lost 134 lbs so far.

Sam is so cute. He went home this week, because hes pretty much done loosing weight. Again, notice the dark jeans.

 

Koli - lost 159 lbs so far

Koli is Sam's cousin, and I love what the did with his makeover.  It's almost "geek chic" to me. (I totally made that up, haha)  In the episode they also had a cute pair of round glasses on him.  I love the blazer and jeans look. Very cool.

Mike - lost 192 lbs so far.

I'm so glad they cut Mikes hair! You cant really tell in the before picture, but he had a huge curly mop of hair that he never did anything with.  I love the layering they did on him, with the graphic tee, and the hoodie underneath the blazer. Notice the dark jeans again. He looks great.

In Designs by Mandi news:

I've been doing a lot of branding and tax stuff. Kindof boring, but it has to be done. The website is officially finished, and is realllly cool. I think you guys are going to like it! :)

photos: www.tvsquad.com

Flash Mob at the Ohio State Union - Glee Style

I live in Columbus, Ohio and to be a resident here it is almost imperative that you be an Ohio State fan. Here is a Glee style flash mob dance the students randomly preformed a couple days ago. Gotta love my buckeyes!

Oooh La La - Met Gala Fashion

These pictures are from the Costume Institute Met Gala Benefit last night. Here are my favorite looks from the event. Color themes I noticed here nudes and midnight blues. I love all of these, but Sienna is my favorite. The Pucci dress shes wearing is amazing, and the shoes! Shes defiantly best dressed in my book. Gorgeous.

Photos:

www.examiner.com

www.socialitelife.com

www.zap2it.com

Designs & Derby

Busy busy weekend for me! I did get a lot done with DBMB, all things considering.  I started my buying plan, and I'm really excited about some of the great accessories I'm going to be getting for my fall line. I've been doing a lot of research on 2010 Fall jewelry trends, and I think you all will be happy with the items I picked! I can't wait to show them to you guys. I'm still hoping to launch either mid June or early July...if everything is ready by then.  :)  

In Derby Spirit, here are a few celebrity pictures I found from the race on Saturday.

Marissa Miller

Nick and Vanessa

Ashlee and Pete

Jamie Presley

Rascal Flats

Mario Lopez

pictures: www.comcast.net

It's Official!

I got my vendors license today! The state of Ohio now recognizes Designs by Mandi Boutique as an official business! So excited! 

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Betsey J's Pretty Prints

Prints are one of the most popular trends this spring.  Below are pictures from one of my favorite designers, Betsey Johnson.  Betsey has said that since she spent her childhood in dance classes, a lot of her inspiration for her designs come from the costumes she used to wear when preforming.  (This is probably why I love her, being a past dancer myself.) She is known in the industry for her "out there" sense of style, and creative flair.  If you haven't checked her out recently, click here to go to her website. I really love the green cheetah print one with the cinched belt. Super cute :)

images: www.style.com

www.pwblogs.com

I need some SPARKLE with my iPHONE

So everyone who knows me, knows how obsessed I am with my iphone.  I've been looking for a new case lately, and I'm really excited to find this one on dinodirect.com. To check them out, click here.  They have them in pink, blue, black, white, red and purple. I'm going to go for the purple one pictured below. The best part about these cases- they are only $4.71!  Usually I'd be very skeptical of something so cheap, but they got pretty good reviews, so what the heck. I'll let you girly geeks like myself know how I like mine when I get it :)

Gimme some SUGAR :)

Fashionistas, if you haven't stumbled upon http://www.fabsugar.com/ you definitely need to check it out.  For about a year now its been my go to site every day for up to date fashion info.  Along with its fashion blog, on their website they also have links to:

 popsugar (celeb news)

bella sugar (beauty news)

casa sugar (home decor news and tips)

fit sugar (health news- one of my favs)

 lil sugar (mom and kids)

yum sugar (food)

savy sugar (money)

tres sugar (culture)

buzz sugar (entertainment)

*geek sugar (tech)

pet sugar (pets)

They update daily, sometimes a couple times a day and always have interesting reads. I could spend hours on there :) Def check it out!

Facebook Fan Page - Check it out!

Designs by Mandi Boutique's official Facebook Fan Page is up and running! Check it out and become a fan!  Here is a sneak preview of the kind of merchandise we will be selling once we get up and running. Let me know what you think!

Tweet Tweet!

Tweet Tweet!  Designs by Mandi Boutique is now on Twitter! Follow me! :)
@designsbymandi

Zac Posen for Target!

Today is a day I have been waiting to come for a while now.  One of my favorite designers (Zac Posen) has designed a ready to wear line for Target.  I've been looking forward to this day for weeks! I had my day all planned out.  I would go early in the morning and bask in the glorious spirit of Zac Posen ready to wear designs for hours, trying everything on that they had in  my size.  Finally... a sense of style in this drab little town!
So I skipped into Target on cloud nine, ready to do some hardcore shopping.  I skipped, and I skipped and I skipped...all through the store..but Zac was no where to be found. There had to be some mistake. Today was THE day! THE day everyone has been talking about for the past few weeks. Zac's day! But no....there was no Zac anywhere. 

I was convinced there was some kind of mistake. So I went up to the first sales person I saw and asked them where I could find their Zac Posen line.  I must have just missed it somewhere. The sales lady, an older, heavy set woman looked at me like I was a complete idiot.  "Sweetie," she said. "I have no idea what your taking about." And she walked off.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

Sooooo..yeah. I never did find out why this particular Target didn't have Zac's line today. Needless to say,

me = extremely disappointed.

If you didn't get to experience Zac's line in person, like me, here are a few of my favorite looks I found online..

images: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/blogs/the-thread/THREAD-First-Look-Zac-Posen-for-Target-81711177.html

Easiest Spring 2010 Trends to Pull Off

Sexy Spring Dresses

My go-to item in the spring/summer. They are comfortable, fashionable, and easy to wear. Pair with sandals, gladiators, or a cute pair of cowboy boots.

Tie-Dye .. yes its back! But in a trendy way. (Maxi dresses, and subtle details). Notice how these items are not in every color of the rainbow tie-dye was in the past, but more subdued colors that work together nicely. Don't go all 1972 on me please- that's not cute on anyone!

PRINTS!

This particular VERY short dress is not for everyone, but I love the print. Make sure when your sporting your print you match the size of the print to your body. Smaller girls wear smaller prints, bigger girls bigger, etc.

Boyfriend Jeans

Comfy and cute! Pair with heals or wedges like Megan Fox did here to create a more feminine look.

Military Inspired (my favorite)

Military doesn't have to be a dress, like this one. A cool blazer with structured pockets and

metallic details paired with jeans would be fab as well.

Sources:

http://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/

http://www.demiblog.com/

www.trendland.net

www.jbandme.com

www.thecharmchat.com

DBMB Logo!

Designs by Mandi Logo - designed by me of course. I'm working on incorporating it into this blog.. I'm still figuring out this whole website..

First Blog!

Ahh, my first blog! How exciting! Well let me start out by telling you guys a little bit about me, and Designs by Mandi Boutique. Essentially, DBMB doesn’t exist in internet world yet. (There are LOTS of steps in developing your own business, and I’m working hard to get the site up and running!) I’m looking to launch the site the first week of July. The main thing that’s holding me up right now is waiting on my vendor’s license. The department of taxation takes care of vendors licenses and I sent my form in at the end of March. (Which was probably a bad idea, being tax season and all) As soon as I get my license I can start buying merchandise, and then, ta-da! DBMB will be in full service!

Ok, so let me tell you a little more about me. I’m 25, live in Ohio, and obsessed with fashion. I graduated from the Art Institute of Charlotte in 2007 where I studied fashion marketing and merchandising. I’ve worked in ecommerce, merchandising, and marketing but it has always been my dream to have a company of my own. (Woo Hoo DBMB!) Also, I have to admit…I’m a little bit of a technology geek. (I’m addicted to my iphone, and the internet) I have a little Jack Russell named Izzy who is absolutely crazy, but I love her anyway. I’m pretty much your average mid-twenties girl, trying to live her dream. Anyway the whole purpose of this blog is to keep you guys up to date about DBMB. I’ll be blogging about upcoming events, sales, merchandise, industry trends, and of course, my day to day life as well. The first couple months of this blog I’m going to be writing a lot about my experience opening an internet business, which should be interesting.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ll be updating regularly, so stop by again soon!

xoxo

Mandi.