How To Style: Casual Menswear 2021

As a child, my mother dressed me in plenty masculine clothes. Did I love it? Absolutely not! Ugh! I hated those baggy, brown plaid, squarely designed and patterned clothing. It was not me and I spent time trying to wear as many clingy pieces that I could when I got old enough. 

As an adult, I somehow always find the appeal in menswear. I style my husband and son quite often because I love the intricacies of suits and accessories, matching and contrasting colors, plaids and stripes. Once when my son had school pictures, I dressed him in a hoodie and jeans. I couldn’t be “normal” though so I had to add a blazer on the outside and a button up shirt underneath the hoodie. He felt so cool and I think I almost loved the outfit more than he did!

I was a bit inspired this time around to wear something inspired by what my son wears these days. He’s almost a teen which I can’t believe but I enjoy watching him put things together. It gives me inspiration to get put together on days where I feel like being frumpy. Since I still feel frumpy most days, I wanted to put an outfit together that not only reflects that but something of a outfit that I can go out for drinks in and still feel cozy. Maybe it’s just me, quarantine can really damper the desire to get all dressed up!

I grabbed what I had in my closet but with tags still on and created the look I was going for: casual menswear. One of the most comfortable things I wear are my husbands shirts and joggers. This time I wore my clothes even though I felt like I was wearing his…but in style!

Hat: Pretty Little Thing.

Boots: SOLD OUT.

Shirt: Calvin Klein.

Joggers (Green SOLD OUT): J Lux Label.

Blazer: Boohoo.

 

Hello Y’all, It’s Me Candace…

Man. It’s been an incredibly long time since I’ve been on here writing. Quite frankly, I was feeling ashamed at my unintentional absence. Days turned into a week…weeks turned into a month…months turned into over a year. Smh. Yes, I’m actually shaking my head. I’ve been uninspired almost the entire time I’ve been absent. Life really just has been a lot to tackle over the past couple of years. I could go on with specifics, but I’m sort of a private person and out of respect for my family I won’t indulge.

Otherwise, I’m truly excited to be back! I’m not sure if I’ve ever shared my name but by now you’ve probably figured out that it’s Candace. I just wanted to reintroduce myself but in a private, personable way. Look, plenty of influencers take breaks and I’m no different. I never thought I would NEED a break from blogging because I loved it so much but this time off has taught me a ton! As a matter of fact, that’s the reason I wanted to start off by telling you guys my name. I intend to exude parts of my personality more in this style blogging thing-a-ma-jig. Y’all ready? Set? Let’s go! Let’s see what I come up with! To be continued…

Why I Needed a Blogging & Social Media Break…

I swear I never thought I’d get back to the point of being excited about blogging again. Quite frankly, blogging had become more of a chore and pretty much a bore…no “bars” intended lol.

If you’re a blogger of any kind, I think you can probably relate to how ruthless the blogging world can be. Since I hate drama and am content in my own little bubble, putting myself “out there” got me more than I bargained for. I expected more comraderary from fellow bloggers but ya’ll competition is real out here…even if you’re not competing. I won’t spend much more time on that negativity but to say with real things going on in life, I couldn’t fathom letting trivial bits of pettiness and mean girl personas to move me in any way. I had to focus on getting me back to my best self.

In the midst of blogging, I think I neglected myself more than I realized. Truth is, I neglected myself a ton! I spent a lot of time researching info, growing my Instagram and social media influence and that left little time to really take care of me. I’ve talked about some health issues I have before and not putting myself first was having a negative effect on those pre-existing issues. The oxymoron of it all is that all you saw was me writing about what I was wearing, my skin, my self care solutions. Sadly, I let…myself…go.

As if my own self sabatoge wasn’t enough, our family suffered a few losses last year. One loss this year. Yes I said a few and then one. Mentally, everyone who loses a loved one needs time to reflect and gather themselves to be emotionally fit to move forward. That’s just reality. When you have children, you need more time because children need consoling and nurturing. Ours (hubby’s and mine) are at the age where they are “aware” and have questions, legit ones, about the situation surrounding the death. After they are “okay”, us parents need to usher into self care.

I’m currently on that journey of self care. I suffered extreme hair loss, skin flare ups of all kinds including hives, acne and eczema, headaches, joint and muscle pain and more things that I’ll not have to mention because the above is enough. I had to get these things in order and fast! To resolve these issues calls for more than just some sort of salve or serum. Deep research, medical help and just re-acquainting myself with my body again was essential. Now while I am still in process, I am discovering other fruits that need pruning or plucking from my life. Not that they’re necessarily bad but they provide no enrichment or “nutrition” to me as a person or to my life.

Folks…rid yourself of people, habits, so called goals, mindsets, platforms, loves and hates that don’t help you to be a better person. We grow physically but mental health and growth is just as important…actually more important. Social media is social. It’s not essential in order for us to survive. If IG was shut down for good, if YouTube was outlawed, where would that leave you? I had to ask myself if I was too deeply enthralled with something that encourages faux realities. I actually became a part of it. I looked like I took better care of myself that I actually did. That’s the long and short of it. And look, we all neglect ourselves from time to time but I was extreme. I saw problems and put them off making excuses of not having time. Buy out time. (I got that straight from the Bible lol.) It will cost time from something else but its worth it.

Where am I now? Well I am still a blogger and I have some posts that will be coming out but I am pacing myself. I don’t have to post a new look every day or every three days. I’ve decided on once per week. Maybe a lookbook in between. I’m working on my social media plan but it can not overtake my life. Perspective is important and I’ve put things in perspective.

That being said, I am working on some things that I will share a little later. Hopefully, you guys will be as excited as I am about them!

Blogging In Detroit: The Lip Bar Event

If you are from Detroit you know there were a ton of popping events going on this weekend. One of the best happens to be The Lip Bar launching at none of other than Thrift On The Ave (located on Cass Ave). I am too excited that I was able to attend. The event was AWESOME!! If you don’t know about The Lip Bar, let me give you a brief overview. The Lip Bar was created by a woman by the name of Melissa. She comes from a background of the corporate world where cosmetic creativity is stifled…among other things. Anyhoo, she thought that women should be able to create lipsticks they love without compromising color, quality or individuality. This company has been featured on the hit show Shark Tank. The Lip Bar travels by a mobile truck to accommodate clientele. To learn more about The Lip Bar, check them out on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram…all under the name @thelipbar (except for Facebook which will exclude the @). You can also get the ultimate experience at the company’s website: www.thelipbar.com. So now that you have been introduced to the company by a friend (me lol), let me describe my experience.

Thrift On The Ave was an absolutely a gorgeous place to not only shop but also to host this event. As guests, we enjoyed champagne, as well as the fine opportunity to get The Lip Bar experience through information and demonstrations. Lastly, we all got to network with other ambitious and driven, fabulous women. YouTube guru Chanda was there looking stunning and is just as beautiful on the inside. Side note: Thrift On The Ave definitely gave me an invitation to go back and shop because their clothes were calling my name honey!! Lol. I digress. Check out my pics below and definitely follow me on Instagram so you can see more candid pics and let me know what you think below. Be sure to check out The Lip Bar online as well as Thrift On The Ave the next time you are in Detroit!

My review on the lipstick:

I tried on the lipstick Sweet Shiraz and I loved the color so much that I bought it. The formula is between the Retro Matte of Ruby Woo by MAC and a “regular” Matte MAC lipstick.* The color is full on and wears for hours. I wore mine for about six hours and it stayed put regardless of my eating and drinking. The packaging is absolutely gorgeous and unique. The price point is $18.00/lipstick and you get 3.5 grams.* That’s about 0.5 more product than a regular MAC lipstick. All in all, I am very happy with my purchase and will make another in the future.

*MAC mentioned for reference, not comparison*