Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to post on this wonderful day to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Let’s move on to a wonderful year, and leave the past behind us. Let’s make a point to be focused and improve upon what’s already there! Make your New Year’s resolution be one that will contribute to great health in mind, body, and soul! There’s a lot to come for Quinn Couture so look forward to great content from this site. Treat yourself to the best, because you’re definitely worth it! I love you all, and happy holidays :)

Hello again fellow readers,

I wanted to discuss this topic because I feel myself going through a change. I think that maybe, just maybe, others have gone through it too. So I find myself feeling like I’m slowly but surely drifting away from fashion. In case you don’t know, I’m a fashion journalist, and I write for various online media pertaining to fashion. Well, I’ve worked in fashion since 2003, and now I feel like I’m slowly getting board with it. I wonder if anyone out there has ever been working in a field they love for years, then all of a sudden feel burnt out. I think that maybe it’s me constantly working and seeing the same thing year after year, so now I’m board. Or maybe since I’ve worked in fashion behind the scenes, it just doesn’t seem that glamorous to me anymore? I’m part of the small group of people who actually went to school for what they do. You know, some people go to college, and then work in a field completely different from what they majored in.  Maybe what I want do now, could be ingratiated with fashion? The focus won’t be entirely fashion though. As you can tell from my site, there’s more I’d like to write about. I wanna make a difference in people’s lives. Helping people find confidence and teaching them how to love themselves is a more worthwhile goal to me. So, that’s why I ask:

Do careers have an expiration date?

Is it normal to feel this way about something you love doing?

Or are careers temporary until you get tired of them and move on to the next?

I’m still going to use my knowledge of fashion in my site; I do have a category for it. I can’t help thinking my change in career focus is also a change in my views on life. Maybe fashion isn’t everything…..Did I just say that?!!!

Anyway, let me know what you think by commenting below :)

Miss Piggy was featured in the November issue of  Instyle  Magazine to promote “The Muppets” movie.  I was shocked to see her wearing Suno, Parabal Gurung, Jason Wu, and even Brian Atwood.  It was cute, but I couldn’t help but wonder. Are advertisers now using our cherished childhood memories to get in our pockets?

M.A.C  even created an exclusive online collection called M.A.C for Miss Piggy. I never thought I’d see the day when people would pay money to look like a pig :P.  Christine Mielke, owner and editor of  the makeup site Temptalia.com did a review on this collection (see it here). She gave it a D rating and I’m not surprised.  I love M.A.C as much as the next girly girl, but the collection had an infomercial-ish feel to it. M.A.C is no stranger to the “cartoon” marketing approach.  They’ve had past collections featuring Hello Kitty, Wonder Woman, and Disney villains.

In the August Issue of Harper’s Bazaar Smurfette was featured wearing Lanvin, Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana, and Louis Vuitton. At the time “The Smurfs” movie was coming to theaters. It was a cute spread, but lots of questions ran through my mind. Like, who are they fooling? Adults aren’t rushing to the theaters to see the Smurfs; not without their kids. And the movie didn’t do the cartoon any justice …don’t get me started on that!

These companies know we’re not kids anymore.  They know we’re grown women with money they want. What they’re doing is either sneaky or genius! They know the Smurfs original audience is now 30 and up. They know how much we loved Smurfette and Miss Piggy, so they dressed them in high priced designer clothes hoping we would line up to buy it!  Come on Now! They expect us to believe  Smurfette could afford $940.00 special order Louis Vuitton boots? She lives in a mushroom for Pete’s sake! Did Smurffette boost their sales? Did Miss Piggy boost sales? What about Marge Simpson in Playboy?

Yes, Marge Simpson was on the cover of Playboy for their November issue in 2009.  A cartoon…Really? Did that fly off the shelves? I saw the pictures and couldn’t believe they actually did that.  I bet there’s a Video Vixen somewhere fuming, wondering how a cartoon got the cover of Playboy and not her. There are tons of women who would have done the cover for fee. I can’t imagine the money Playboy had to shell out to get the  royalties for Marge!

I love all my childhood cartoon diva’s, but I don’t know about using them like this? I know it’s all for fun…Or is it? You think designers  pay for expensive  advertisements in magazines for fun? There’s definitely a motive behind it. I’ve read other fashion/beauty blogs that spoke up about this marketing technique. Surprisingly, some thought it was utterly ridiculous. For example Modish Morgan author of  Lovelyish.com described the spread as weird(read  here).  Seeing Smurfette rock the latest Dolce & Gabanna bag, do you just have to have it? I wonder whats  next. Judy Jetson in Channel? The Snorks for M.A.C?  I know this much, my generation is too smart and money savvy to take this nonsense seriously.  But What Do You Think? Leave a comment :)

I must say, I’ve been wanting to do this post for a while now. Just trying my best to get my thoughts in order, so here goes. Is Beauty Overrated? Now I ask this because I happen to think the emphasis on beauty is ridiculous. People obsess over it, and some believe that’s o.k because we live in a superficial world and if you don’t look good then your not getting opportunities or a man or blah blah…Look beauty is subjective no matter what. One of my favorite models is Stacy Mckenzie, and I think she’s beautiful, but growing up people called her ugly. I’ve seen people who others may consider beautiful, but i beg to differ. I would never say who though, because being negative is not productive so I’m gonna be a good girl and keep that to myself! Any hoo, being beautiful is something no one can achieve especially if they’re relying on the opinions of others. So the key is to treat yourself with respect and take pride in the way you look. Before you walk out the door say frankly to yourself “Am I presenting myself the way a person who respects themselves would”?

Now, This is a great opportunity for me to practice what I preach because I never use to care how I looked and thought that if I did, it was vain and superficial. This is not the case, just because you want to look your best does not make you self absorbed. When I started to work in fashion I quickly had to change my tune. And this is really sad for me to say but I’m just now really realizing how interesting make up can be. Its fun to experiment with different looks, its a shame I didn’t start earlier. So this is the kick off point to what I call the “Blueprint” of style and so the first post in this series is called “Makeup”. And don’t forget to leave a comment :)