Fashiona's First Swapnista Event

As Fashiona gets to know people in Atlanta, she is invited to different places.  This past week, she went to Bam Art Space, 1540 Monroe Dr. NE, Atlanta, a beautiful spot that can cater to special events from weddings to fashion events such as the Swapnista event on Thursday night.

Keren Charles of FashionENVY, Marlissa Crawdford of Nikki Darling and  Co. and Valaira Smith of Vue Entertainment were the hosts of the evening.


Here were the rules:

1) Bring three (3) of your once-loved, new or gently-used fashion items to trade in for items in our fashionSWAP Closet. This includes clothing, shoes and accessories. (Fashiona brought a whole bag but she neglected to put them on hangers...oops next time. That was her black and red dress in the above picture and she hopes the new owner loves it as much as she did).

(2) Clothing should be on hangers. Brand Name, Department Store, Boutique or Mall Brands ONLY! For example: ABS, Aldo, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, BEBE, BCBG, Cache, Coach, Express, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Nine West, INC, Polo, Steve Madden, The Limited, Vera Wang, Zara and more.

(3) Check in your items and pay participation fee: $10 w/RSVP or $15 at the door.


(4) When swap begins, the first 5 ladies will enter fashionSWAP closet and choose 3 items. Then the second 5 and so on. (Fashiona was in the second round and got a slinky black top, maroon skirt and a tuxedo white blouse).




(5) When everyone has a turn, the fashionSWAP room will be open for everyone. Take as much as you can to fill your shopping bag. Items left over will be donated to a local charity. (Fashiona missed the freeforall and hopes the ladies behaved...unlike the divas at a high end sample sale in NYC).
 

In addition to the swap part of the event...there were clothes and jewelry for sale as well. Fashiona was drafted for a mini makeover by J.MONT...she did a great job but Fashiona was a bit camera shy that evening.
 
This week's events include:

• The premiere of Why did I Get Married II
• The 2nd Annual Chozen Awards

and Topaz coming in town....yay good times!!

Fashiona's Retail Venture Act II

Fashiona has been a busy bee in the last few weeks and today is her first day off in almost three weeks.  She is steadily working on her recession relief plan and is starting yet another job in less than two weeks. 

When she ventured into retail 6 months ago...she wasn't sure how she would do.  Yes the work is labor intensive...lots of built in cardio and dealing with lovely and evil not so pleasant clients but where else can you chat all day (without getting scolded), get amazing clothing discounts, golden material for blogging purposes and get paid for your efforts!!

The new store she is going to is BOTH dressier and higher end and adds a commission component which appeals to Fashiona's competitive nature as well as her bottom line.

Into all this work...Fashiona is (as Col Dad often reminds her)carving out some time for play.  Her bestie Topaz is coming for a visit next week...they haven't seen each other since August and have so much chat about...one topic on the table will be the 2nd date she is going on tonight...

Fashiona's Fall Wardrobe Updates via TJ Maxx and Marshalls

If you have been following Fashiona for awhile..then you know that she LOVES to shop but alas is on teeny weeny BUDGET courtesy of the recession and the mandate by Mr. Numbers (her ever nagging accountant). Today she had a reprieve due to her angel Victoria from RocketXL. The lovely Victoria sent shopping deprived Fashiona 2 gift cards a few weeks ago; one for TJ Maxx and one for Marshalls.

Fashiona did herself and Mr. Numbers proud. She found 3 great lovelies and had money left over to donate to TJ Maxx's charity Save the Children.

Photo Credit: Alicia "aka" Fashiona

Wallet and Scarf from TJ Maxx.


Photo Credit: Alicia "aka" Fashiona

Batik Dress by Lapis from Marshalls


Photo Credit: TJ Maxx


.... applause please!!!



Fashiona

Rachel Roy~Rachel Rachel Roy an exclusive Macy's Line

The lovely and uber talented, Rachel Roy has been making waves on the fashion circuit for a few years now with her publicized high end line sold at the likes of Saks Fifth Avenue and Berdorf Goodman.

Photo Credit: Expose.Com

Blood Diamond New York Movie Premiere - Arrivals
November 30, 2006 - New York, NY

While the ink is not quite dry from her divorce from Damon Dash, she is making major business moves. Her namesake line Rachel Roy is doing so well in an otherwise lackluster retail market that she is launching a recessionista worthy line exclusively at Macy's.

This new line is billed as a contemporary lifestyle line called Rachel Rachel Roy has Fashiona jumping in anticipation for the August debut. By then Fashiona will have memorized the layout of Atlanta's Lenox Square and armed with 10 years of NYC sample sales behind her, getting a first look will not be a problem.

But for now Fashiona, the kind soul that she is, found this little teaser for you:

Photo Credit: Talaya Centeno

Fashiona