A Diva State of Mind

Thank you all for entering the AiKan Bijoux giveaway for a chance to win the all black bracelet set.

The winner of the giveaway is…

Congratulations Khalilah! You will receive an email from me in the next 24 hours.

For those that didn’t win, no worries.  There’s still time left to enter the giveaway to win a hair/body products gift basket from Endless Touch. Click HERE to enter!

The legendary Fashion Director and style icon Anna Dello Russo has teamed up with H&M for her own Anna Dello Russo at H&M accessories collection.   In true Anna style, the collection is full of fun and bold statement pieces that you can use to easily elevate a look.   The collection includes earrings, bracelets, necklaces, clutches, shoes and sunglasses.

The collection will be available in select stores on Thursday, October 4th.  My favorite pieces from the collection are the bracelets and a coral and gold statement necklace (not shown above but listed online).  For more information about pieces from the collection, click HERE.

Photos: Because I Am Fabulous

In honor of the anniversary party and the fundraiser for Dress for Success Washington, DC that was held last week, Stella& Dot will be donating 10% of sales made between now and October 3^rd. If you weren’t able to make a purchase at the party or you weren’t able to attend and would like to make a purchase please click on the image below to shop online!  Stella & Dot has great statement pieces!!

Thank you again for supporting me and my charity efforts. Through the last three events I have hosted and the ones I post on this site, I hope you have been inspired to become more involved with the community.

As a personal stylist it’s my job to provide suggestions on what to wear, however I also think it is important to share with you some of my outfits. Stylist should inspire others not only by the advice they give but by the way they look.  I don’t think I do too bad when it comes to dressing myself

On Instagram I take photos of my outfits and other fabulous finds I thought I’d share. Hopefully these looks/finds will provide you with some inspiration! 

Laila Rowe necklace, Client Tiffany mixing her new striped top with color jeans, Beyonce concert, A day in the city!

Fresh hair cut, Mixing floral with neutrals, Elephant bracelet (gift), Don’t be afraid to mix prints!

Stripes and a bold accessory, Nine West pumps, Accessories from The Styleliner, With The Styleliner owner Joey

New skirts for Spring, Jazz In The Garden, #ImREDy, Update a plain dress with a bold accessory

I know Sangria isn’t fashion related, but the picture was pretty (and my dad made it on Father’s Day)!

For more fun fashion and lifestyle pictures, join me on Instagram @DivaStateMind.

If you want to know where I found any of the pieces featured, let me know.

Fashion readers are a very popular accessory trend.  They look great on everyone else, but I never thought I could pull the look off.   So this year, I purchased a pair to see if I could rock this trend effortlessly like so many others.

Courtesy of iam.beyonce.com

www.giantvintage.com

I found a pair of thick black framed glasses from Urban Outfitters and I LOVE THEM!  Fashion readers can be worn with anything, and are a great option for those days you don’t feel like wearing makeup (the thick frame brings attention to your eyes). As pictured above, they look great paired with a bright lip.

Stay Humble!

Brunch for Patrice's Birthday

Me and my sombrero on Cinco de Mayo!

To purchase fashion readers, check out the following retailers:

Urban Outfitters, Giant Vintage, RetroCitySunglasses, Forever 21, Hot Topic, Bon Look, and ASOS,

A post on Love, Cortnie clutches is long overdue!   I was introduced to Love, Cortnie clutches by members of CapFABB. Everyone had the ‘Ashleigh Statement’ leopard print clutch and I wanted one too!  The clutches are very stylish, made extremely well and reasonable price, ranging from $30 to $110.

What I love most about them is that they’re large enough to carry a wallet.   Sometimes when I’m going out, I don’t want to have to transfer my ID, credit card and cash to a smaller card holder just so it can fit into a small clutch. That’s how you accidentally leave your ID at home!

Cortnie Elizabeth started Love, Cortnie in order to address the need of wanting an oversized clutch:

“I’ve always thought of the type of oversized clutch I would love to buy. The only problem was that I could never find any. So instead of combing the internet’s infinite amount of websites, I decided to start making them on my own.”

If you love statement accessories, you’ll want to add a Love, Cortnie clutch to your closet.  These clutches are a great and easy way to infuse color and print into an outfit.  Every time I have my ’Ashleigh Statement Clutch’, I’m asked “where did you get the clutch?” And after receiving a text message that said “omg where can I order that girl’s clutches?” in response to posting a picture of the new ‘Tangerine Dream Statement Clutch’ I received, I knew it was time to share where these clutches can be purchased with everyone! :)

Check out a few of the Love, Cortnie clutches below: 

Ashleigh Statement Clutch

Tangerine Dream Statement Clutch

Mello Statement Clutch Statement Clutch

Genevieve Statement Clutch

Crayola Tweed Statement Clutch

Cotton Candy Button Statement Clutch

Britnie Statement ClutchPatsy Statement Clutches

To purchase your own clutch, visit www.etsy.com/shop/lovecortnie.  You can also follow Cortnie on twitter at @stylelustpages and check out her blog at www.stylelustpages.com

I was first introduced to La Mer Collections from Danielle of The Style & Beauty Doctor. After reading her post about them, I was on a mission to find one.  Thanks to a deal on Refinery 29, I was able to purchase a grey leather wrap watch with a silver chain. I love it! And what’s even better is that the watch fits my small wrist; you don’t know how much of a big deal that is for me!

Created by Martine Ilana in 2001, the watches are created using inspiration from South Africa’s colorful markets, Bali’s lush flowers, Italy’s leathers and Thailands clear blue ocean.  Each season, the color palette chosen for the collection is from these bright and colorful experiences.  There are so many color and styles to chose from; it’s hard to pick only one! 

Here are just a few of the gorgeous watches by La Mer Collections:

Arizona Tobacco Multi Chain Wrap

Pony Pink Wrap Watch

Sage Washed Jasper Stones Wrap Watch

Refinery 29 Exclusive! Neon Orange Gold Odyssey Wrap

White Black Snake Silver Bali Stud Wrap

To check out the full collection visit www.lamercollections.com.  The Refinery 29 “spend $50, get $100″ offer ends Tuesday, April 10th.  Click HERE.  You can also follow La Mer Collections on Twitter @LAMERWATCHES to find out when they are selling them on discount sites like Ideeli, Rue La La, Gilt Groupe, etc.

In February I attend the Mdurvwa Collection launch event. Created by Deborah Mdurvwa, the Mdurvwa Collection features a variety of bold pieces including color block earrings (just in time for spring), glitter earrings, gold chain necklaces and body chains.  Pieces from the collection have been worn by Love & Hip Hop Erica Mena, R&B singer Mya, Sunni from WPGC and many more!

Mdurvwa Collection

Sunni Wearing Gold Chain Necklace

To celebrate the launch of the collection, A Diva State of Mind has teamed up with Mdurvwa to give away TWO pairs of the Glitterazi earrings. That’s right; this time there will be two winners for the giveway!

Bev contacted me last week and asked:

I just have a quick question regarding how to wear a faux-fur collar I purchased from NY&CO.  Thy were on sale and I just couldn’t resist but I have no idea how to rock this particular accessory.  Any suggestions?

Bev, the teal and purple fur collar are a fabulous find!!  Now is the great time to find some great winter items on sale.  The fur collars you purchase will look great with a dress if you have to attend a special occasion.  The dress DOES NOT have to be black! The teal and purple fur would go well with a grey dress like the one below from Eloquii.  If you’re located in a region that has experienced mild weather this winter, you can wear this collar as outerwear instead of a jacket.

If you love these Steve Madden pumps featured, check out 6pm, Amazon and Macys; they are prices less than on the Steve Madden website.

Normally I’d create 3-4 looks to post in response to a style question, but for this inquiry I think seeing a picture of someone wearing a fur collar would help in terms of ideas of how to wear them. So for my second suggestion, check out these looks from two DC area fashion bloggers and Who What Wear. 

If you rather layer during the fall/winter season than wear a coat, style your fur collar like Jennifer from Comme Coco. Instead of wearing a coat, she pairs her fur over a blazer for a layered fall/winter look. I wouldn’t recommend wearing this look if it is 30 degrees (you need to bundle up in those temperatures!) but it’s great for mild weather.  This look below assumes the ribbon is removable.

During extremely cold temperatures, you can wear the faux-fur collar over a wool coat like Alison from Wardrobe Oxygen or underneath the coat so it appears you have a faux-fur scarf.  The faux-fur collar will add a nice pop of color to your outerwear look!

This third look combines the two looks above pairing a blazer with an open wool coat and faux-fur collar as the true statement piece.  In all three of these looks, the fur collar is worn similar to wearing a scarf; it just adds a little more flair!

Bev,  I hope these suggestions help you get an idea of how to wear your new faux-fur collars. If anyone is interested in purchasing the teal and purple collars from New York & CO, they are currently on clearance for $9.99. Click HERE.

Style questions? Submit them to keri@adivastateofmind.com