Red Rocks and the Moon

One of the great things about Colorado is all of the incredible backdrops for outfit photos. Since I’d taken a break posting outfits to Instagram this summer, Ben said he missed taking them for me. Probably one of the greatest things someone could tell me, tbh. So we headed out to Red Rocks Park (a MUST if you’re ever in Colorado) for a mini shoot. The sunset and weather were unbelievable. *drools*

jacket: Vintage (Goldmine Vintage), jeans: Madewell, shoes: Converse,
tee: Luella

These jeans are the most expensive piece of clothing I own. Earlier this year I finally splurged and bought the 10″ high rise crop and I LOVE THEM. They’re my new favorite pair of jeans! They’re on sale right now, too. If I had a job I’d get another pair. 😂

Also, happy Monday! I’m back on the blog, baby. Figured while I’m job-hunting I can use at least *sOmE* of my time wisely. 🥴 Let me know what you want to see on here because I’m rearing to go!

xx

I Bought From SheInside and Here’s What Happened

SheInside

SheInside order review

If you’ve ever looked at any style hashtags on Instagram, you’ve probably seen something about SheInside. It’s probably more colloquially known as SheIn, or that’s how I knew it anyway. If you are anything like me, broke but loves fashion, your eye widens at those incredibly low prices and wonders, “Is this even legit? How could this be?! HAS MY DREAM REALLY COME TRUE?!” The styles on SheInside‘s website are trendy and up to date and there are hundreds of options. But I’m a skeptic, okay? I’m wary of websites boasting free shipping on any U.S. order no minimum and super cheap prices.

A few questions I had about SheInside before I ordered:

Is this legit?

How long will the shipping take?

Where is this even coming from?

What is the sizing like?

Will what I ordered show up how it shows on the website?

Seriously. Is this legit?

Okay, so that’s more than a few, but I told you I was a skeptic. Romwe is a similar site to SheInside, but I haven’t ordered from them. (The girls over at A Beautiful Mess seem to have great luck, though!)

So Melody, what exactly is SheInside or SheIn?

Well fren, let me tell you. SheIn is an online only clothing, shoe and accessory website founded by a “group of passionate fashion loving individuals” from North Brunswick, New Jersey. *SHOCKED FACE* Surprised? So was I. By the looks of it, and by the language and wording in the emails and newsletters sent from this company, it seems that it could be run by a child labor sweatshop in China. (No offense, China.) But alas, according the ‘About Us’ page it’s just a bunch of Brunswick hipsters that have somehow grown their company to be able to sell out of one of their (probably hundreds of) global warehouses.

So if everything seems alright, why is everyone so skeptical?

Again fren, let me tell you. Nothing fantastic can ever come of dresses and tops that only cost $8. Is it sustainable fashion? No way. Are these clothes probably made in sweatshops? It’s possible. (Hence the super low costs.) Are the clothes what they seem to be? Well, keep reading for that.

 

The “Beach Blanket”

Sheinside donut beach blanket

Let’s start with this supposed round donut printed beach blanket. 

The Pros: 

It’s round!
It looks like a donut!
The price! ($10)

The Cons:

This is a scarf, 100% 🙁

Sheinside donut beach blanketSheinside donut beach blanket
Here’s the thing about this “beach blanket.” HEAVY ON THE AIR QUOTES. It looked adorable online and looked way bigger than how it showed up. It’s honestly like a silky, round scarf. I used it as a tablecloth for a hot minute because I couldn’t return it as it was categorized as ‘beachwear.’ *eyeroll* So what will I do with it now? Idk, how does one wear a huge, round scarf?

 

The Pink Scalloped Dress

SheInside pink scalloped velvet dress

The Pros:

Showed up just like it did on the website
The COLOR
The scallops are adorable
It’s actually suede (esque)!
The price ($12, I think?)

The Mehs:

Sizing is okay.

The Cons: 

It’s SHORT AF.
Like, I’m short, okay. 5’3″. BUT THIS SHOWS MY BUTT.
No pockets 🙁

SheInside pink scalloped velvet dress SheInside pink scalloped velvet dress SheInside pink scalloped velvet dress

This was the one item I ordered that I was actually excited about. Those scallops! The blush color! I tried it on and while it fit, it wasn’t as loose as the model online portrayed it, nor the cute girl flaunting it on Instagram underneath the product photo. If I’m honest, her photo was the reason I bought this. We seemed to be similar heights and sizes but boy howdy did it fit us differently. I’ve worn this once as a top and a skirt over it. It’s even too much of an odd length to wear with jeans or tights or pants. I’ll keep working with it and who knows! Maybe it’ll show up in an outfit post someday.

 

The Glasses

SheInside faux glasses review
The Pros:

Just like what is shown on the website
The quality
Each comes in its own hard zippered case (!)
The price!

The Cons:

Nada!

SheInside faux glasses review SheInside faux glasses review SheInside faux glasses review

 

Sorry to all you legit glasses wearers out there, but my 20/20 vision can’t see you with these cool a$$ glasses on. I was super surprised to find that each pair of glasses came its own, granted cheesy, zippered hard case. I’m not, ahem, the most careful human being so this was something I’d actually needed for some of my vintage sunglasses. I don’t have any complaints about these glasses, only that I wish the tortoise shell print was a bit more realistic.

 

What was the shipping like?

SheIn offers free shipping on all US orders–no minimum! Which is a big, fat bold tick mark in the ‘Pro’ column for me. The big, fat bold tick mark in the ‘Con’ column? The wait. I ordered my items 3/21 and got them 4/4. Which is only two weeks, but that’s a long time considering the typical 3-5 business day most retail sites can manage. For a company this large and with as many warehouses as they claim to have, why should it take this long?

 

Was it worth it?

If I had to rank this from an ‘Absolutely!’ to a ‘No way in H-E-double-hockey-stix’ I’d give it a ‘Meh.’ I don’t think my first order could give me a complete picture of what SheIn really offers. Which, I guess, is pretty telling for a brand, right? If the shipping sux and a couple of the five items I ordered don’t live up to snuff, a normal person would probably choose the H-E-double-hockey-stix. But I’m not normal people. If you’re looking for a retailer specializing in sustainable fashion keep walking, Betty. If you’re looking for a cheap fix for your trend wants, look no further. SheIn gotchu.

 

So there you have it. My first ever and probably not my last order from SheInside. Did I answer all of your questions? Anything I left out? Would you order from this company? Have you? What’s your experience? Is that too many questions?

 

 

xxbyyyyeeeee

#WhatMelWears: Donut Bench

Follow me on Instagram!

A few weekends ago my family came into town to celebrate my youngest sister’s birthday. The big 1-8. She got a fancy new tattoo that my mom drew (#trendsetter) and we spent the weekend eating and thrifting and being together. It ruled.

One of the days I was responsible for taking approximately 7,834 photos of my sister in approximately 47 outfits for “graduation.” I forced her and her boyfriend to take some of me though. It was only fair.



crochet jacket: local boutique, top: Forever21, jeans: American Eagle, shoes: Converse, necklace: DIY

This bench is my second favorite thing about Glazed Donut Works. Their donuts obviously being the first. They changed up their menu and I could probably only eat their donuts for the rest of my life and be set. Do we have a deal, Glazed?

What’d you do this weekend?

xx

Family Photos

 

Bet you thought I meant my human family, lol. NO. THIS is my family. Dogs. If it makes you feel any better, we took these after we took human family photos over Christmas. Notice I’m not wearing a sweater because Texas decided it would just kinda gloss over winter this year and head right into what it thinks is “spring.” Which, I mean, is fine I guess if you don’t own 62 sweaters and velvet leggings you want to show the world.

This was pre haircut in February and it was having a DAY. I could NOT get that turn out to tame and it was flat and weird and ugh. Even with short hair I still have issues.

You wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to get these girls to hold still for a minute while we took some photos. They were too excited to not be in a fence and wanted to get loose and play with my family. Crazies.

I’m wearing: jeans-American Eagle, booties-Shoe Carnival, shirt-stolen from Shelby, velvet kimono-local boutique

HAWT FIRE. My mom is adorable.

 

Anyway, happy finally Friday! I’m going to the enormous Round Top sale with friends for a girls’ weekend. I AM SO EXCITED. Sometimes I look back on my life and say, “God, no wonder I was depressed. I had no friends!” And then I think about all the cool stuff I get to do and the people I get to love in a healthy way and just get the warm fuzzies. Life is cool and hard and weird! That should be the tagline of this blog.

Did you see my collab post with Infinity Jars? Check it out!

 

Love you!

xx

 

All My Tattoos

If you know me IRL, sometimes I get an idea in my head and obsess about it for literal years before I take action. This is true in my move to Dallas (ask anyone I went to college with), buying a Honda Civic and now true of tattoos.

I think I started wanting a tattoo when I was seventeen, but thank god I didn’t get one back then because surely any idea I had back then was total hot garbage. (AHEM, LITTLE SISTER RUDY. I’M TALKING TO YOU.) Anyway, I’d been bouncing ideas off of my mom the illustrator and bugging her for months to draw me something. I told them leading up to my birthday in September that all I wanted was tattoo money. One day my mom randomly texted me and asked how much people tip for tattoos. And because I’m as dense as a fruitcake I was completely oblivious. ADOY. On my birthday, they gave me all the money I’d need for my tattoo AND AN ORIGINAL DRAWING OF THE DALLAS SKYLINE IN MY MOM’S SIGNATURE STYLE. I think I died.

I already knew which tattoo artist I was using so I made an appointment for mid October. My appointment was on a Friday and I lucked out that my sister could come up from Waco and go with me! I hate going places alone and having someone there relaxed me.


Oh, did I mention I made the appointment at historic Elm Street Tattoo that just happens to be seven minutes from me? Because I did.

Josh Arseneau was my artist of choice and he did not disappoint! He was kind, patient and talented. This was obviously my first tattoo and he indulged in all the photos I wanted and snapchats and video. Good thing the shop was pretty empty that day. THANK YOU, JOSH. You rule.

All healed up. I couldn’t love it more and I’ve already commissioned my mom for several more tattoos. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take six months like the last time. >.<

A couple months later Elm Street was having an anniversary tattoo event and I decided to randomly get this awesome rose piece on my arm. This also happened to be my third date with Paden. He was a good sport and came to the shop with me and even bought me tacos after while we looked at my arm wrapped in plastic slowly turn into what looked like a pack of bloody meat.

 

One of my other favorite artists from Portland, Tyson Arndt, just happened to be doing some appointments at Elm Street that week. When he introduced himself to me I said, “I know. I love your work.” He should’ve been completely freaked out and rolled away from me on his stool, but instead he said, “Oh cool! Thank you.” And then I got another cool tattoo.

 

So THANK YOU to Josh and Tyson for putting up with me and all my videos and photos and flinching, because now I have some permanent art on my body.

 

 

Do you have any tattoos? Where’d you get them? Who are some of your favorite artists? I’ve listed some of my faves that I follow on social media!

  1. JENNIFER TROK TATTOOS
  2. WONDERLAND TATTOO IN PORTLAND
  3. TEA TATTOOS IN BROOKLYN
  4. BLACK MEDICINE TATTOO
  5. BRITE IDEA TATTOO

 

List some of your faves below because I am now tattoo obsessed. <3

 

xx

Granny Shades by the Water

See? I really did add more dresses to my wardrobe! A few weeks ago, Old Navy was having an $8 sale on dresses and this is one of the three I snagged. I don’t normally go for brighter colors but I’m glad I jumped on this one. It’s one of the more flattering dresses I now own! It also has adjustable straps. Very cool.

I was entirely too hot for anything other than the thinnest dress imaginable. We took the water taxi over to Charleston and walked around a bit to get a feel for the town. When I tell you that my entire body was covered in sweat, I mean my entire body. Okay? 

dress: Old Navy, booties, earrings: Forever21, sunnies: thrifted

I’m eternally grateful to my past self for buying these flat booties. They’re pretty masculine and I love them. They’re also fuede*. Have you ever been to Charleston? I’d love to go back with a much smaller group and explore the city more and learn all its history. What were your favorite places?

xx

*fuede: [fwaid] fake suede.