The purpose of this space is for me to give you tips on affordable fashion and beauty. I do my best not to steer the focus away from that. Just in case you were curious about me though, here are answers to a few questions that I often get.
How do I afford my extensive wardrobe?
Well, as of late it's not as extensive as it appears. I have a Rent The Runway unlimited membership that provides sort of an endless wardrobe. I occasionally fill in with pieces from fast fashion online stores. My current favorites are Asos and Shein with Forever 21, Zara, and H&M still being the OGs. If I am shopping, I shop cheap. When you shop cheap you can buy more. It's that simple.
Who takes my photos?
This wonderful amateur photographer named Brian, a.k.a. my boyfriend. I shoot with other photographers on occasion just to add really polished photos to my feed, but real talk shoots are expensive. I get that everyone needs to make a living so I don't expect photographers to work for free. That being said, it just isn't financially savvy for me to do be doing shoot after shoot when I am not generating the blog income to match it. I have a good camera and my boyfriend has a great eye. If ain't broke, right?
What do I use to edit my photos?
I use a free Google app called Snapseed. I have played around with a lot of different apps over the years where you have to pay for presets. In the end, it turns out that the free one was the best one. Le sigh.
It's pretty standard in comparison to other apps, but has one great feature - the ability to save your filters for future use. So, if I do a photoshoot I can edit one photo and use the same filter across the board so that everything is cohesive. It saves so much time.
How did I start blogging?
I played around with the idea of starting a blog for a year before I actually did it. Once I got over the self doubt, I took the plunge and launched Lex Loves Couture. It started as a creative outlet and has grown into so much more. One of my goals going forward is to tap into that over zealous passion I had when I launched 6 years ago.
Where do I draw style inspo?
Being 100 percent honest Instagram has been my biggest source of inspiration. I like runway style during fashion week, but I need to see it on a real person before I can fully appreciate. I don't have specific people that I turn to though. The inspiration is always completely random. It could be a fellow blogger, a woman on the subway, my sister/mom, or pictures I pull for one of my style guides.
Do I blog full time?
Ugh I wish, but alas I don't. I have a 9 - 5 job at a children's media company where I work as an executive assistant as well as a community manager on an Instagram account. I'm on the overnight shift when it comes to blogging (for now).
While blogging full time still a goal, I realized that I have been putting about 25 percent of the work needed to actually make it happen. So for now, I am backtracking. Rather than setting the goal to blog full time, I am focusing on being the best content creator I can possibly be. That means more blogging, fine tuning my Instagram account, etc.
I am taking wins day by day. Today's win, for example, is that it's my fourth consecutive day posting. While for some that's no big deal, for me it's been a long time since that has happened. By making broad goals I set myself up for failure. Small goals are more attainable.
Sorry for the long winded answer. In short, no I do not blog full time, but I will one day.