As a sports + travel + fitness writer, I pride myself on being fit, but sometimes, I could use a little extra help. Thankfully I was recently introduced to Rachel Zoe’s new line and partnership with Jockey and the Skimmies Sliphort. I’m not going to lie, when I first got them, I thought it was just a new advanced version of Spanx and it kind of scared me off.
I didn’t think I needed help squeezing things in, but I’m glad I tried it.
Since it’s summer, I’ve been rocking maxi dresses quite a lot, and these slipshorts are the perfect thing for underneath, to help smooth some of my “stuff” out. I drink a lot of Bud Light, so having these slipshorts, which cover like a slip but fit like shorts, work really well. They are anti-static and a wicking material (like my workout clothes, odd comparison I know), but truly are a new part of my wardrobe.
They are also running a contest: #CarpeSkimmies – so check it out and see if you can win some fun prizes (like a $5000 Visa card towards an adventure of a lifetime!). Expand your comfort zone, I did.
Majestic Pleasures tank top and alice + olivia pencil skirt from Tootsies
Photoshoots are part of my job these days as a sports + travel + fitness writer here at The Blonde Side, and no matter how incredibly awkward I am behind the camera, I still love it and have a great time doing it.
And I’m super lucky to have an amazing team behind me – for this particular shoot I had a new’ish team, but it was a blast. Since I’m no model, by any stretch of the imagination, just like my sport’s column, it’s always a work in progress.
My photographer this go-round was Oakley Almberg – she’s kind of new to the photography game and does a lot of fun personality shoots (my favorites!) – I’ve seen her work with the gals at lululemon here in Houston so we decided to partner together and have some fun. She definitely brought some good ideas to the table and we had fun attempting to use a hair dryer as a fancy smancy “wind blower” like all the models have on the beaches, haha.
Needless to say it didn’t work out quite as expected, but I’m always up for trying new things.
My hair and makeup was from my trusty and faithful Andrea Simmons over at FaceForward Weddings. I keep telling her that her business name suggests she only does hair and makeup for weddings, but she does all kinds of stuff and is always willing to work in the confines I set forth and always makes me look better than I ever do on my own. It’s definitely an art what she does. Andrea rocks out hair and makeup for any kind of photoshoot or just a special day, definitely look her up.
Heart tank from alice + olivia & Rachel Zoe varsity letterman jacket from Tootsies
Styling was a combo effort with my weirdly sporty style paired with the likes and expertise of the lovely Kim Dunn with Luxe Style Labeling. Kim works on shoots all over Houston and puts together some of the most awesome outfits, but she lets (and suggests) you keep your own style.
I wanted to rock my USA Olympic jacket and she let me – she just paired it with something a little more fancy and added in some jewelry and voila – she made it look better than if I was on the medal stand in Sochi (well, almost). I’m always amazed at how easily Kim can create an outfit that I already owned and would never have thought of and make it look brand new and top of fashion. She’s definitely into layers and jewelry. Thanks to her, I’ve learned those are the two main keys to fashion success.
And the styling helped quite a bit thanks to my favorite Houston store, Tootsies – a full line specialty store in West Ave. They have anything from wedding day fancy to a casual bar night – and I love to take some of their more sporty clothes and dress them up and do the exact opposite with their dressier shirts and take them down a notch by wearing them with a pair of pink chucks.
Trina Turk sleeveless shirt and pink Converse
Check out this heart tank top from alice + olivia – I also wore this to a Rockets game – the red hearts were Rockets colors and it was my subtle and cutesy way of saying “I love the Rockets!”
For the shoot I paired it with an incredibly amazing Rachel Zoe varsity letterman jacket – that pairing was actually thanks to Kim’s suggestion, you know, since that’s her job and all.
Probably my favorite outfit was paired with the simple olive green
Majestic Pleasures tank top and the alice + olivia camel colored pencil skirt (the top picture)- it kind of showed off just how hard I’ve been working out and pumping iron at Sculpt Fitness!
And of course I loved the gold and flowy Trina Turk sleeveless shirt – and the pink chucks just really set it off, just my style.
Thanks to my entire glam-squad for making me feel oh-so-pretty! xoxo to you all!
