Checkin’ For Me

Me… In my natural state: shopping!

There’s been a trend on Instagram over the last couple of months where certain Influencers have posted reintroduction dog themselves. Since the pandemic has place many of at home, we’ve had more time to scroll, leading to more follows, which I’m sure is what lead to the uptick in timeline intros. This prompted me to think about doing my own intro. Truth be told, I’ve accomplished a lot for someone with no formal training, but simply a vision. Time to dust off that resume of mine…

I have always had a love for fashion. Everything I’ve learned about it was self taught. From the designers and design houses, to their origins, pronunciation, and seasons, collections, fashion weeks and their schedules. I even know the difference between black labels and purple labels. With that said, I always knew that I wanted to be in that realm, even if I had to create my own. Which I did.
My first deep dive into fashion was my very first fashion brand: Fashion Week Mississippi. Yep. That’s right. I own a fashion week! Crazy, right? And in Mississippi, at that! I started it back in 2012, and at the time, it was unheard of. I did interviews with the New York Times, and was on many of our local news channels throughout the state. I developed an internship program with three of the major universities in Mississippi, along with college reps at each campus.

A few of my interns, college campus reps, and designers at a Fashion Week Mississippi Meet-and-Greet.

Fashion Week Mississippi, or FWMS, went on to have two events (and boy, was that a struggle, lol) before doing its first Bridal Fashion Weekend. ( I told you I am a visionary.) I created some of the best work of my career at that time.

One of my best creative moments to date. Even got a like and comment from THE Margaret Avery @margaretshugavery on Instagram!

But enough about that.
FWMS led to my next development, The Pruitt Agency. TPA was a modeling agency that started off as a school and developed into a full-on booking agency! We book music videos, commercials, runway shows, magazines, promos. You name it. I was even booking stylists and MUAs. These ladies, and a few gents, were afforded the opportunities to work with some of the reality stars you see on TV now (and some you’ve probably forgotten about, lol)! Sometimes I can’t believe I’ve done all of that myself.
I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you that it was hard. Really hard. I mean hard hard, y’all. One time at a poor event, I cried all the way home in the car for an hour straight. I mean ugly cry. Kim Kardashian cry. Snot and all. Because it was so hard and I felt like such a failure.
I didn’t realize it then, but all that was required to take me to the next level. It had to be done. It had to be hard. I learned some tough lessons. Such as you’ll never be able to please everyone. There’s always copy cats and haters. And the number one thing: you are going to fail. There’s no way around it.
As I reflect on this journey, and that time period, I can’t help but feel proud. That was a lot for a girl from Mississippi. The timing wasn’t quite right. But now, maybe it is. Fashion Week Mississippi has always had a shocking ring to it. 2021…? Until next time…

Yours in Style,

XoXoMo

Always walking into my destiny… Always wherever the sunshine is.

Bloom Where You’re Planted

You see that plant up there in the pic? That’s me. I’m actually more so the middle green leaf. The brightest one. The one that’s in the process of blooming. Spreading out even though my surroundings appear to be either dead or dying.
This struggling plant of mine is a Bird of Paradise. I’ve always wanted one. Her name is Pooh Pooh, and she sits in my bathroom. While in the bathroom earlier this week, I took a look at Pooh Pooh, and said, ‘Wow, we have a lot in common…’.
Earlier this year, Covid-19 shuffles all of us around, and ushered us all into our homes. It was during this time, that my former employer decided it was the appropriate time to terminate me. Meh. I was ready to cut ties anyway. I had began to dread going in, and interacting with the business owner was a nightmare. So here I was, jobless, with no backup plan. Everyday it appeared that the world as I knew was slipping away, into the distance. Practically dying. Yet, I was beginning to feel more alive that I had in years! I had more time than I had ever before to be with my kids. I was cooking, teaching via homeschool, cleaning, sleeping in. Being a mom! It was great. It was a high. But, as we all know, every high comes down, and I was forced to think about what was next. I had sat on my business for over a year, and done nothing with it. I was unsure of what direction to take it in. Yet, I knew I had to do something and move forward. But how? And to what?
That’s where Mattie James came in.
If you’ve never heard of her, she’s a self-made influencer guru. Her super power is making new influencers feel as though they can conquer the world, and then showing them how. I had joined her private Facebook group in May, just a couple of weeks after I was fired. I simply joined the group, and left it at that. The next several weeks, I found myself really trying to figure out what to do with my brand, Chicago Style Cult. As I was looking at my account on Instagram, and thinking what a shame it is to have an unpublished website for it that I pay for, and never have done a thing with it. It was at that moment that Mattie came up in my timeline. She was doing a challenge for the Month of July, where bloggers would have to post a new blog post Monday-Friday. It was my ‘Aha’ moment. Chicago Style Cult had officially become a blog.
That was nearly four weeks ago.
Today is the next to last day of the challenge, and I can’t believe that I made it this far in the challenge! My blog, in less than 30 days, went from my hobby, to my passion, to my business. Incredible! And as it appeared that everything was fading away around me that was familiar, things that I thought I needed and depended on, here I was, blooming. Imagine that.
So whenever I look at Pooh Pooh, I smile now. I even trim back the dead leaves. Because, as we all know, that’s the only way to grow. And not just grow, but bloom, and flourish. And that’s what exactly what I intend to do!

Yours in Style,

XoXoMo

Diamond Princess

Diamonds are forever…

Pressure bursts pipes or makes diamonds. I have heard this many times in life. It wasn’t until my 30s that I actually began to fully understand its meaning. As I quickly approach 40, I can’t help but reflect on my past, my future, and life itself. I’ve been fortunate to witness great miracles, and also live through some really tough times. And with today’s environment, sometimes I wonder, which am I? The pipe, or the diamond?
As everyone else does each morning, I look in the mirror, and question what I see for a few short seconds? Am I making my momma proud? My kids? Myself? How am I going to make through another day of local, national, global uncertainty? What am I wearing today? Sometimes it can just seem overwhelming. And in the worst of it, it can be downright depressing. Almost to the point where even the thought of getting out of bed is too much. It is in these times that I come to value pressure.
You see, for some people, pressure is needed, or more like required. Without it, they wouldn’t move. Wouldn’t live. Without pressure, you almost can’t truly learn who you are. Since the age of 17, I’ve always lived under pressure. That was the age that I had my first son. From that point, until this day, I’ve felt pressure.
At first, it broke me. I burst. And chile, I was all over the place. Through the years, I learned, no less the hard way, of how to pick up all those beautiful pieces, and put it back together. It took great trial and error to learn how to adjust to being a mom, and adult, at the same time. Not an easy task, I tell you. With my son, I learned that I was much stronger than I ever imagined, ever thought I could be. He taught me that I could give my last, and not even miss it. That I had patience. And that if he spilled something on my clothes, washed it with the wrong cleaning agents, or broke the steamer, I was actually going to be ok. (Because truth be told, at those times, I was not ok.) And most importantly, he taught me that there is something that Incould be more passionate about that fashion: him. As a 17 year-old, I had never thought that possible.
The pressure of being a mom, and a good one at that, forced me to make solid, hard, good decisions. Decisions that I would likely have not been able to make had I not been a mom. And yes, several of those decisions bust my pipes. But, I’m here today. Standing tall and proud with some of the blessed, most humble, well-mannered, successful children walking this earth. And for that, I’ll forever be grateful to God. It is my motherhood journey that has taught me exactly who I am, and what I’m made of. And I’m proud to finally say, all of that pressure made me a diamond. Diamond Princess, that is!

XoxoMo

Dream Designer Dupes

I never took myself for a knockoff girl. I always thought it was pointless to spend hundreds of dollars on a fake. I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it. I even have it a try in my early 20s by purchasing not one, not two, but three dukes of Louis Vuitton. I wore them a couple of times, but mostly, I just kept them on my closet shelf and stared at them. I really would stand there and stare. Crazy, I know. But that was just how disgusted I was with them. In the back of my mind, all I could think about was everyone looking at me carrying my designer fakes. Judging me. Laughing at me. That was then.
Fast forward nearly 20 years. Now, I still can’t wrap my brain around spending and ungodly amount on a fake. And to be honest, I really can justify spending the big bucks in the real thing either. However, my shopping skills have developed quite maturely, and I can spot quality a mile away. Especially when it comes to handbags and leather goods. And, if I’m blessed enough to find both in one product, it’s heaven. That’s exactly what happened a few days ago.
As a resell shop owner (LeRevival Haus, shameless plug), I take weekly shopping trips in order to source for inventory for my boutique. It was on this glorious trip that I found my newest beauty, a vintage dupe of the Chanel Boy Bag. Yaaaasssssss, girl! I couldn’t believe it either! But indeed, there it was. In all of its splendor. I was drawn to it, like a moth to a flame. Could it have been because it was red? Oh no, I actually don’t even like red. Yet, I couldn’t stop looking at it until I got it in my hand. And ohhhhhhh, when I got it in my hands, the leather, real leather, was so soft, supple. Like butter. Immediately Lil Wayne’s song “Leather so Soft,” began to play in my head. That was it. I was done. Game over.
I did make sure to inspect the interior before I ran off into the sunset with it. Clean, no peeling. Check. Interior pocket for my credit cards. Check. Label? Nowhere to be found. But that’s ok. I knew from the heavy gold chain it was from the late 80s/early 90s. This bag was what dupe dreams were made of. And it was all mine!
As I sat in my car gleaming with pride at my newborn coming home for the first time, I could help but wonder… What have I done? Who have I become? Am I destined for a life of dupes? Who am I? Well, if they are all this good, and it’s wrong, then I don’t want to be right! And the price! Imagine paying $2.50 for a bag that could have easily cost $4900.00! Yep. Only time will tell. Stay tuned…

Yours in Style,

XoXoMo