National Jewelry Day is March 13, 2020. Come celebrate with me at Kendra Scott, Santana Row! There will be sips, sweets, and a whopping 20% off your purchase during the event. That’s an amazing deal on brand new, spring 2020 jewelry!! I’m in love with this event!
You can RSVP by clicking here. If you forget to RSVP, show up anyway!
The event will be inside the Kendra Scott store at Santana Row from 5pm-7pm. The discount is only valid during the event, so don’t miss it! If you cannot make the event, or you don’t live in the San Jose area, you can still shop the event. Feel free to call in your order to the store during the event by calling 1-669-231-0300.
This wall was designed by the architecture students at West Valley College. It was inspired by the color palettes, and fabrications, from the runway collections designed by the fashion students.
It’s always exciting when I learn about local fashion. It’s even more exciting when I learn about fashion happening within walking distance of my house. Our local community college, West Valley College, has an fabulous art school which offers students certificate and associate degree programs in many areas of art. The West Valley College Cilker School of Art and Design is an extremely creative learning environment which helps transform students, and prepare them for careers in visual arts, performing arts, and design.
The fashion design and apparel technology program is an amazing program which prepares students for modern careers in fashion design, and apparel production. West Valley College is a recognized leader in technology training for the apparel and manufacturing industry. This is an exciting and affordable way to learn the ins and outs of the ever-changing fashion industry. Love that!
I was invited to attend West Valley College’s annual fashion show named “Alchemy,” by Content Magazine. Content Magazine is a chic, local magazine which highlights Silicon Valley’s creative culture, local arts and events, and our innovation. It’s a great way to learn about everything you need to know about Silicon Valley’s art industry. I was honored to be a guest of Content Magazine, and also to be introduced to West Valley College’s fashion program!
The designers from West Valley College’s Cilker School of Art and Design are extremely talented. I could easily see many of the designs on the runway make their way to department stores such as Nordstrom, and then end up being well loved on the street. There was a variety of daily street wear, athleisure, vintage inspiration, multi-cultural inspiration, and red carpet ready couture. The design and quality of workmanship rivaled what we see on the New York runways, and in many cases, surpassed it! All of these designers should be proud of their work; these collections could easily grace the runways of New York and become highly coveted in an instant.
West Valley College’s student designers are Britney Bliven, Lina Egutkina, Peter Esparza, Rita Hernandez, Natasha Khanna, Maria Lee, Wing Hung Lo, Nicole Markelz, Lorrie McPheeters, Dipti Nichani, Lakshimi Uma Rachakonda, Grecia Rivera, Jonathon San Juan, and Hiroko Widlow. The special guest designer, show producer, and creative director of the evening was Joseph Domingo who is a local, San Francisco designer who has shown at LA Fashion Week, and is an alum of West Valley College.
To learn more about the West Valley College Cilker School of Art and Design, please visit WestValley.edu.
Welcome to my Chico’s trip recap day two! If you missed day one, you can read all about it here.
The second day of the Chico’s 35 Years Bold trip was jam-packed with activities. We started our day out at Chico’s headquarters. Their headquarter’s is so dreamy! It’s Florida, so they had a beautiful pond near the gate to their campus, and the buildings were designed in nostalgic brick. It looked like a pretty place to work!
Chico’s gave us a tour of their campus, and filled us in on the history of the founders, and the company. There are beautiful antiques and a beachy vibe when you walk into the reception area of the building. There is nothing cold and corporate-like about it! What a fun place to work!
Our tour included backstage access to their entire design process from start to finish. You can see an artist designing a new print for a future collection, which I am not allowed to name, in one of the above photos. It is incredible to know that Chico’s prints are all hand-painted, in-house, by real artists!!
After getting a sneak peek at several future collections, forecasting mood boards, the fit process, and a couple of top secret collections, we were treated to a catered brunch. The brunch was delicious, and when we were done, we chatted with Chico’s executives about everything from marketing to design to shopping. It was so much fun to give feedback and share ideas with Chico’s decision makers!
Brunch eventually came to an end, and Chico’s brought us out to Sanibel Island where the very first Chico’s store is located. It was incredible to see the first store in it’s original location, complete with original fixtures and antiques. The store was incredible; and two stories!
So, what happens when eleven bloggers are armed with gift cards in a Chico’s? Well, a whole lotta shopping, that’s what! I came home with a black and white dress, and two belts. My new dress will make an appearance on the blog in the near future-so stay tuned!
Outfit I wore to Chico’s headquarter’s and shopping:
After shopping, we enjoyed a yummy lunch and then headed back to the hotel to rest and freshen up before dinner.
We started the evening off with a beautiful dinner inside the hotel’s ballroom. I found Tonya from The Real Chic Life had chosen the same dress as me for the evening. She looked fabulous! I love how she paired it with this necklace. The beads in her necklace really captured the colors in the print and looked amazing. Hmmmm, ideas for next time I wear it!
It was really fun twinning with her, after all, great minds think alike; amiright?! This dress is amazing, and it’s part of Chico’s pre-fall collection, so I plan on styling it differently as we move into the fall season. I am going to wear it with western style boots at fashion week in September. It’ll be a fun look!
Outfit I wore to dinner and the sunset cruise:
After dinner, we all walked across the street for a beautiful, ninety-minute cruise around Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island. The cruise was so pretty, I sat on the top level of the boat the entire time drinking in the beauty of the area. The sunset was incredible, and there were dolphins swimming along with our boat!! That was SO COOL!
One of the big takeaways from the trip was that we should always be living our best and boldest life. Chico’s is all about being bold, and enjoying life. When I was in my 20’s I always wore professional black ensembles and went for a conservative look. The older I get, the more I realize life is too short to follow fashion rules and blend into the background. It is time to shine; and be bold! So let’s raise a glass and cheers Chico’s on 35 years of living bold!
