My Smashion Interview

 Hey guys! I was really excited with the fine folks at Smashion reached out to interview me.  My interview feature went live last weekend.  You can check it all out here.

 Thanks to Smashion for the feature!

 

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Exclusive Interview with Lisa M. from The Bachelor

Hi All! I'm so excited to have Lisa M. from The Bachelor on here today for an interview about fashion from the show and her experience!  If you haven't seen my Bachelor Fashion Posts, you can see them all here. 

Besides being super fashionable, Lisa happens to also be a friend of mine.  I got to watch all the episodes that she was in with her. Her last episode was last Monday 1/31, episode 5.  She left gracefully, a little emotional and speaking highly of all the ladies.

It was fun to see her on National TV, but also frustrating at times, as we didn't get to see her enough!  I found it disappointing we didn't get to know her better on the show. So, you may or may not remember her that well...  How about getting to know her a little bit more now?

Chasing Davies: How many suitcases did you take with you to film The Bachelor? 
Lisa: Two and a half!

Chasing Davies: I love that you wore a mixture of new dresses and oldies, but goodies.  I also love that the dresses you wore were reasonably priced!  Did you feel pressure to buy new and/or expensive dresses for the show?  Or were you happy with being able to rewear great dresses you already had?  

Lisa: Before going out to LA {to begin taping}, I was on the hunt for great colored dresses for the show. It was actually pretty tough finding the right dresses and decent prices. I found a few new ones that ended up being great, but thankfully I had a couple hanging in my closet I knew I needed to take with me.

Chasing Davies: What was your favorite Rose Ceremony dress you wore? Why?

Lisa: The BCBG green dress because it was different than any of the other dresses the other girls were wearing that night and the color looked so great on TV!

 
Chasing Davies: Of the other girls on The Bachelor, in your opinion, who was the most daring dresser (most unique, or bold, or trendy)? 

Lisa: Madison had great style. Loved everything she wore. And probably Keltie. She had a unique, bold style and always looked cute.

Chasing Davies: Who was the most similar in fashion taste to you? 

Lisa: Probably Emily or Michelle. We all shared a room together and noticed we shared some of the same things. Definitely same taste!

Chasing Davies: What girl's suitcase did you want to raid the most? 

Lisa: Michelle. Mainly because she had 6 suitcases full of fun, fashionable accessories, shoes, and clothes. Holy Cow!

Chasing Davies: What dress was your favorite worn by one of the other girls on the show? 

Lisa: I loved Michelle's dress the first night.  It was beautiful, long, sexy, and I loved the bohemian look.  Again, I wanted to raid her suitcase!

Chasing Davies: Did you all help get each other ready?  If so, how? 

Lisa: Yes, believe it or not, all the girls were so nice when it came to figuring out which outfit to wear, doing hair, and doing make up. It also helped that we had a hair stylist in the house {Michelle}!

Chasing Davies: Where are your go-to shopping stores (for real-life)? 

Lisa: This is a tough one because I love shopping, I love fashion, I love stuff. Half my closet is Urban Outfitters, so I'll go with that. Urban Outfitters is my go-to!
 

Chasing Davies: What is your favorite thing to wear/buy?

Lisa:  I love love love shoes. But I am on a kick of buying great jewelry right now. Favorite thing to do is where a chunky guy-watch with bracelets layered with it. I'm digging gold these days.

Chasing Davies: Overall, as much as you can say, how was your overall experience doing this show?  

Lisa: I am very happy I took the opportunity to go on The Bachelor. My overall experience was so cool and unique, honestly no one would even fully understand what it's like doing something like this, until they do it themselves. I met some amazing girls, did activities I never thought I'd do, and even learned more about who I am and what I am looking for. So happy I did it!

After talking to Lisa throughout the season, she echoed my disappointment in not getting to see much of Brad and her connection. Obviously it's a TV show in a 2-hour time frame for a limited number of weeks - and she wished viewers could have seen Brad and her's conversations together more on TV! At the end of the day, it's probably best since this season is dramatic!

Huge thanks to Lisa for answering some questions. If you have any additional ones, please leave them in the comment section - or email me {ChasingDavies(at)gmail(dot)com} and I'll see if she can answer them - but no guarantees. :) 

To learn more about Lisa - you can follow her on Twitter here.  And my other good friend, Lulu, is Lisa's roommate - she has some "in real life" photos and behind the scene stories over here.

An Interview with Kate Spade

Creative Fashion was very lucky to have the chance to interview Kate Spade, the fashion designer behind the chic handbags - Kate Spade brand.

♥ Young people aspiring to break into the fashion world as fashion designers usually start with going to fashion school. How has your start been different?

I think that my journey to fashion designing was different in a way that I did not go to fashion school. I arrived in New York in 1986 from Kansas City and was working as accessories editor for Mademoiselle Magazine. While working at Mademoiselle I noticed that the market lacked stylish and sensible handbags, so I decided to create my own.

♥ How exactly did you start designing your bags and how did you market them?

I started designing my handbags in my apartment and I had six samples made in satin-finished nylon. I displayed them at trade shows but they went unnoticed at first. Later I started getting orders from some of the leading stores Fred Segal, Bergdorf Goodman. I realized then that my bags were being noticed by the fashion world.

♥ What do you think made your bags famous and how are they different from other designers’ bags?

I created my bags from the notion of developing a well-edited line of fashionable, but not "trendy" handbags. By designing styles that will be as relevant tomorrow as they are today, my brand has established itself as a modern classic. The colors and material are modern and chic and the designs are very eye catching. The bags consistently maintain a high level of quality at a palatable price.

♥ Right now Kate Spade bags are being distributed around the world. But where did you first open your shop?

The first shop was opened in New York City’s Soho in 1996. Kate Spade then opened its doors in Boston in 1998. Boutiques were opened in Chicago, San Francisco, Greenwich, Connecticut and Manhasset, Long Island in 2000. And it’s true; Kate Spade bags are now available almost anywhere with 46 boutiques in the United States, 32 in Japan, 6 in Hong Kong, and 4 in the Philippines as well as 2 in Jakarta.

♥ No matter how high-end or how functional a product is, there would always be criticisms. In what aspect was Kate Spade ever criticized?

Well, at one point it was pointed out that Kate Spade bags were easy to fake. But now the immense selection would even take fake handbag makers ages to replicate.

♥ How important are handbags as accessory for women in your opinion?

I believe that accessories should bring color and texture to an every day wardrobe based on each individual's sense of style. a handbag is only one item to be worn with a complete outfit. Add a peony pink leather handbag to a charcoal gray suit, for instance, and the impact is chic with a touch of wit. In the same way that men wear ties to add personality to their clothing, so too should women wear their accessories.