Manic Monday: STLFW VIP Blogger Lounge

Happy Manic Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend - mine was certainly eventful, to say the least! Eventful and RAINY which is why you are getting these outfit pics indoors! Friday night was another Saint Louis Fashion Week (#stlfw) event. A VIP Blogger Lounge soiree at Scape American Bistro located in the Central West End. As the name implies, the event was strictly for bloggers, and all that means to me is extra stress for the outfit planning!

I tried on a couple of iterations of this outfit for Gina while she helped me decide what to wear via text. I knew this skort (originally seen here) was going to make its debut this night, I really just needed to figure out what to wear around it. Similar to my outfit from Thursday's event, I decided to wear one of my moto jackets. This tweed and minus the leather combo felt just right as the finishing piece. I normally don't go all black for evening events, so it was a nice contrast in color to go with the light colored jacket. And this necklace is just my favorite. You've previously seen it here and here. I absolutely love how the jacket camouflages the ribbon ties of the necklace and truly makes it look like it's incorporated in my top. The tweed, the necklace, plus the asymmetrical hem of the skort made for a perfect combination of details that kept me from feeling like this was just like any other black evening outfit. 

(That beagle butt photo bomb would be Annie.)

Necklace: Stella and Dot (option, budget option) | Bag: Chanel (option, budget option)  | Jacket: Express (option, option, option) | Tank: Express | Skort: Express | Booties: Sam Edelman (option, budget option)

I was ridiculously nervous about this event in particular. This was an exclusive brand-to-blogger event, so we were not allowed to bring any guests - it was strictly invite only. Guys. I am not good at socializing with strangers. Put me in room full of people I know, and I'm completely outgoing and at ease. Put me in a room full of strangers, and I'm awkward and shy. Yes, liquid courage helps, but there's a balance because I didn't want to be sloppy drunk, obviously! Let me tell you though, it was 100% the best time! I managed to introduce myself to a couple of bloggers I had started following, and they turned out to be extremely friendly and easy to talk to. Then somehow as the night kept going, I didn't have trouble staying occupied - if I wasn't at one of the interactive booths, then someone had gotten my attention and captured me in conversation. This is a big deal to me, and I'm not only proud of myself, but I'm also so happy and grateful that the St. Louis blogging community is so welcoming and supportive!

Photo source: Here

With Jennifer from Isaiah Stylez

Photo Source: Here

Back L to R: Kate, Jill, Angie, Jennifer

Front L to R: Elena, Marisa

OK, so what did we do? Well, outside of pure socializing, light bites, and yummy cocktails, there were several brands/shops/vendors set up so you could check out their products, shop, and learn more about their backgrounds. 

My one purchase of the night was this custom Illinois necklace by The Foundrie. Then, they gifted me the adorable "C" charm just for giving them a shout out on Instagram. And yes, this is similar to the necklace I won at the Blogger Awards - I figured I had Texas stuff, Missouri stuff, so I should probably get some Illinois stuff - that is where my current mailing address is anyway!

There were tons of interactive activities - I tried a flash tattoo for the first time thanks to Glik's, which has been all the rage on Instagram. So many free giveaways - Well Dressed Midwest, Jamberry, The Foundrie, and Suzanne Lay to name a few. But I must say that my most favorite freebie of the night was this live illustration courtesy of the Regional Arts Commission. The artist was Noah MacMillan and I was blown away by his talent. He literally had a waiting list the entire night but kept pumping these out and the quality never diminished - just amazes me!

All in all, definitely a great night. I'm excited to have made some new friends and proud to be a part of such an awesome blogging community. Thanks for letting me share all of my fashion week endeavors with you! The two big runway shows are later this week, so expect a couple of more #stlfw posts to come!

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