Suitcase Ready!?

Ok ladies, Spring Break and Summer vacations will be here before we know it...  and hopefully we will all be taking trips to the beach, mountains, mission trips and more! If you are anything like me, then you’re always over packing! Here are some of my best tips to give you on how to pack most efficiently and effectively for a most pleasant trip!

• Pick the right suitcase!  This is important especially if you are flying, because as we all know, those airlines will tack on fees left and right for an overweight bag!  It must be 50 lbs or under to avoid charges for overweight luggage!  My tip is to throw your bag on your scale before leaving to make sure there are no surprises at the airport! Next, choose a bag that is light weight and is easy to roll. I have a hard shell case one with swivel wheels on it. (TJ Max $69)

Here is my hard-sided suitcase, TJ Max purchase and I LOVE it!  It is so handy and easy to maneuver thru airports! Not to mention I don't have to worry about about anything inside getting damaged!

Here it is open, I like how I can pack things on both sides and then just fold the suitcase closed and everything stays in place just like I packed it!

• When it comes to clothing pieces, the key to being able to fit more in your bag is rolling up your clothing! You will be amazed by how much more room this will give you! Oh and it helps with the wrinkles too! It's super easy to do with my suitcase and there is plenty of room!

• Try your best to purchase travel size toiletry items to limit how much room your shampoo, etc takes up! Most items these days have smaller sizes for travel, but if not you can get a set of empty travel sizes containers (Walmart, Target, etc) you can fill with your own products!

Here are a few of my travel containers, I even found my hairspray in travel size!  I use this small Tory Burch cosmetic bag for travel as well, just keeps everything all together!

• Don’t bring your big bottle of perfume, try bringing a smaller tester or body splash! You don’t want your nice bottle to break and it is probably pretty heavy too!

Here is my guilty pleasure, Bond #9 perfume!  My friend Alicia at Maison Weiss hooked me up with LOTS of samples of all my favorite scents!  I have started a collection of the full sized bottles for home, but these tester sprays are the best for travel!  Go see her and she'll help you find your favorite new fragrance!

• Don’t forget your sunscreen! I have been looking and I am going to try La Roche-Posay Anthelios, I’ve heard it’s great for faces!  It has been chosen as best sunscreen for years now and has great reviews! So I will give it a try and let you know!

I've heard great things about this one, I'll let you know as soon as I give it a try!

• If you’re headed to warmer temps... you’ll want to work on the perfect tan you, so are going to need some tanning oil! I use the continuous spray kind in the metal canister and nothing lower than SPF8 (which is still pretty bad I know)!  I did, however, give up tanning beds almost 2 years ago, they are just so horrible for you! YAY! But I do tan in real sun! Hey, everyone needs a little vitamin d!

This is as simple as it gets, Banana Boat Dry Oil!  You better believe I have a can of this whenever I'm heading out to the beach or pool!!  I like it because it doesn't getting you all greasy like the true oil in the pump spray!

• SHOES!!! I am always taking way too many shoes! But who cares! Shoes make the outfit ladies! It is very important to have wedges, flats, and sandals/flip flops that  you don’t mind messing up in the sand!

Ok laugh it up, I know some of you are thinking that these are SO not like me, but I LOVE slipping these on at the beach, so cute with your denim shorts and a little tee headed down to the beach or shopping! Like I said, it's about practicality and you don't to mess up your cute sandals for a day at the beach!

Here is a new wedge that just hit the floor at Material Girls!  I am definitely keeping a pair of these for all my favorite Spring dresses & skinny jeans!

• Baiting Suits… a MUST if you are going somewhere WARM!!! I know I’m not the only one who literally looks everywhere each year to have “the best” bathing suits! My favorites so far this year are the fringe tops! (Sportique www.sportiquems.com $130)

Need I say more? OBSESSED!!!

• Cross-body bag!  My life is much more simple since the cross body bag has been put on all the must-have fashion lists! I can’t even tell you how convenient these are for travel... it frees up your hands and is much safer than something just over your shoulder. It's always key to have practical travel pieces, y'all know I have a slight thing for having a few nice designer pieces as I've mentioned before, but you TOTALLY do not have to go spend that kind of money, just find something that has the same use and practicality (just like my suitcase, only $69).  Here are my 2 pieces that I have found so helpful!

The duffel is great for weekend trips or a long weekend off to the beach! The shoulder bag is our must-have for market week, it's great to fit everything we need while working, invoices, etc.

•  Shrink that wallet size! I do not like traveling with a large wallet! Sorry HOBO Lauren wallet lovers! I use a small credit card id holder with a hook, also great for safety reasons! It makes your handbag lighter and besides, you don’t need all that “stuff” in your wallet for travel! Lighten that load ladies!

Here's my little LV one that I have found to be such a necessity when traveling!

Here's another option that is in stores now from Hobo, it's the Cali & it's $52.95!

• Jewelry is another thing that is very hard to pack! Everything is so small and can get lost or broken! So it is important to have a good jewelry holder or bag! I like hard shell ones but you can do draw sting soft bags. Just don’t just throw it in your make up bag or toiletry bag this will definitely not help the life of your costume jewelry!

• These days we all use our phones for EVERYTHING, including our cameras! Which is a lifesaver and so much easier for traveling! For those of you who have an Iphone 4 make sure you update it because if you do you will have almost all the features of the Iphone 4S. Which is  including being able to EDIT photos! YES that’s right you can crop, red eye, and fix coloring! What more could you need! I love APPLE!

So ladies, I hope you enjoyed reading my tips on packing!  Please feel free to share if you have any other ideas or tips when packing too! Hope everyone has a GREAT Spring Break! Thanks for reading!

LOVE,
Whitney

Fashion with a Focus - Blair E Batson Hospital

POSTPONED

We have postponed our entry and giveway until further notice.  We want to make sure we give everyone a fair chance to enter to win our prize pack!  If you would like more info or have questions, please email us at sales@shopmaterialgirls.com  We are VERY excited to launch Fashion with a Focus and 2012 will be filled with opportunities to partner with Material Girls to give back to our local community! Please check our blog and Facebook regularly for more info!

 

Welcome to our newest initiative, Fashion with a Focus.  We're launching with a sponsorship teamed with The Radio People for The Blair E Batson Hospital Radiothon!  We wanted to do MORE, so we want to hear from our fellow Mississippians on how you or your child has been touched by our state's only hospital for children!  Read the instructions below to enter!

1.       Submit your child’s story to Material Girls via email to fashionfocus@shopmaterialgirls.com - story must be 500 words or less.  A friend or family member can nominate someone else and their child.

2.       The entry should tell that family’s story and how they were touched by Batson Hospital, the special care they received, and/or how their child had a special experience with the doctors/nurses/staff

3.       We’ll take entries via email from Thursday, Feb 23rd thru Thursday March 1st.

4.       After entry submissions – the Material Girls staff will narrow down to our favorites, the most touching and inspirational stories. 

5.       Material Girls will post top stories individually on our Facebook page

a.       The story with the most likes/shares/comments will WIN!

b.      Material Girls will allow “voting” for 1 week

6.       The winner, parent or guardian and child, will win a prize pack including Material Girls gifts and various other gifts from around our community (details posted closer to deadline)

7.       Winner will be announced on Facebook on 3/8/12

Live an inspirational life..

Hey girls! I just wanted to say THANKS again for reading our blog! I wanted to just make this a high spirited blog and give you a few of my favorite quotes in the hopes it will brighten your day. These are sayings or quotes that I have tried to instill into the heart of Material Girls and I wanted to give you a view inside Material Girls heart & what we stand for! 

Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Wednesday!

Love,
Whitney

 

Gorgeous Gifts under $40!

Ok readers, we know there are LOTS of upcoming holidays and special occasions this season that will require little gifts here and there!  We've got Valentine's Day, birthdays, Easter, Mother's Day, GRADUATION, etc.... Material Girls is here to help you start planning NOW so it doesn't all creep up at once!  We've gone through the stores and ALL the new merchandise to pull some of our favorite gifts.. and the best part? They're ALL under $40!  So here are some of our favorites, and we'll be adding more pics throughout the season and make sure to find us on Facebook because we're always posting pictures of great gift ideas! Hey... you can even forward this blog on to your father, boyfriend, hubby, etc as a little hint hint!

Here are the fab finds under $40

We just got a HUGE new shipment in of Sadie jewelry! All handmade in Mississippi! You know we love LOCAL!

These earrings are gorgeous and we have several new colors!

LOVE these sweetheart earrings for Valentine's Day

Statement jewelry is SO IN this season so make sure you send your sweetie this way!

We have several colors of these cuffs, white, coral, turquoise, and yellow!

We're loving this new necklace, it's got that tribal feel that is also a must for Spring 2012

Another gorgeous take on a statement piece, these colors are HOT right now!

Simple Joys by Ginny are our newest obsession in hand-made local jewelry!!!!

She has such a unique look in her designs! These birds have been a huge SELLER in stores!

More gorgeous Simple Joys! We can't keep enough of these in stock!

You know when it comes to great gifts, Alex & Ani is ALWAYS a sure bet for any age!  We just received a huge new shipment at all stores! Come check out all the newest styles!

We are LOVING scarves this season!  All stores have a HUGE selection of scarves from bright & funky to soft and subtle!

Another Material Girls' must-have! Emi Jay hair-ties make THE perfect happy for any girl!

Colored clutches and handbags are also very big this season! Make sure to add that punch of color to your look this season with something bold like this turquoise chain bag!

Last but certainly not least is Deux Lux!! Here are 2 great gift ideas whether she's going off to college or getting her first car.... we're loving this cosmetic bag and ID holder keychain and coin purse! 

We hope you LOVE all these gifts as much as we do and we KNOW that special girl in your life will be thrilled to see a present from Material Girls, and remember, when in doubt, buy her a GIFT CARD to her favorite store, Material Girls!

Happy Shopping & Love,

 

SEASONAL COLORS! Who decides what?!

Ever wondered how each Season's colors are chosen???

I remember when my love for fashion began. I would always have a color I was obsessed with at the moment! My love for that color would come from seeing it in magazines, TV shows, and in stores exactly as you see it in Material Girls. It was almost like the fashion world would force us to adore what color was the "IT" color or print for the season. BUT... where and who was predicting these colors??? Why were all magazine showing the same color combos, prints, and trends??? These are things I was questioning myself years ago...so I did my research and found out.

It was just recently I was asked this question, and as I explained it hit me that this would be my next blog topic! I wanted to give you all a little knowledge on how the colors for the season are chosen! So here we go in Whitney terms as I like to say! haha

The process is known as a "color trend forecast."  The most well known company that majority of the top fashion designers and manufacturers look to is The Pantone Color Institute, which has been in the color trend business for over 45 years. As of today they have over 2100 color shades! They are not just the color forecasters for Fashion, they are influncial in the worlds of textiles, home decor, graphic designs, cosmetics and much more!

Choosing the colors of the Season is a pretty neat process that incorporates mood, feelings, lifestyles, economy, and needs of consumers. Ex. Organic has been a HUGE trend right lately, so that means they could use this trend when forecasting by choosing a color that coincides with organic. Maybe like a fresh, light, green earthy feel to resemble the word organic. Ahhhh I get it!!! Interesting right?!  Well if you're like me in the least bit, it is definitely interesting!!

Just like eras and decades that come back in style the colors do as well!

There are definitely other companies that do this process this is just the one I hear about the most in the fashion world! I am sure that every designer has their own method of choosing.

Color Forecasting is predicted up to 24 months in advance. So that means that the colors for 2014 are already chosen! WOW! I don't know about yall but I can't imagine thinking that far in advance when it comes to fashion! HA! So lets just focus on Spring 2012!!!

The Top 10 colors of Spring 2012:

Tangerine Tango (orange color)

Solar Power (bright yellow color)

Bellflower  (purple color)

Cabaret (pinkish/red color)

Sodalite Blue (light blue color)

Cockatoo (turquoise like color)

Margarita (light fresh greenish color)

Sweet Lilac (light purple color)

Driftwood (neutral color)

Starfish (neutral color)

This Season's colors are a mix of pastels and neons! Which are definitely some of my FAVORITES! =) So I am so excited for you all to see the pieces I have chosen for Material Girls! There are some beautiful pieces and there won't be a day that something new doesn't go on the floor! I wanted to leave you with a few quotes and pics of some of my favorite color choices and sayings of Spring 2012! Have a COLORFUL week girls and hope you enjoyed reading!

"Consumers look to spring for renewed energy, optimism and the promise of a brighter day," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®.

For over 18 years, Pantone, the global authority on color, has surveyed the designers

of New York Fashion Week and beyond to bring you the season's most important

color trends.

Here's Material Girls' COLOR Preview!