Bad Southern Belle is Back

Let me manage your expectations for a moment.  I will post once or twice a week.  But you need to know... 
Seattle has unexpectedly failed me.
I thought I would be inspired by the lush green atmosphere, several bodies of water, and muted colors, but that has not been the case.  I could say that even after 9 months of living here, I don't know how to dress for the weather (I do, kinda sorta), that there isn't good shopping here (there is), that I'm broke (I'm not).  These aren't the reasons why I've had a fashion block.

Here are my excuses for why I gave up on my fledgling blog that people have been asking about for two years:

1. PINTEREST AKA THE DEVIL.  I make amazing pin boards.
2. To be honest, I just stopped giving a shit.  When you create a blog, you are sharing yourself with the public at large.  It's weird!
3. Deciding to move from the DC area to Seattle, actually moving, and the aftermath took so much out of me.  I haven't been inspired for quite some time.  It was a 3,053 trip that I did alone in my beloved convertible (RIP Lulu.  You have been replaced by Dolly Jo, a white dodge dart with a backup camera PRAISE JESUS).
4. I gave up on fashion and personal style for awhile.  I look at my wardrobe and imagine all of the wonderful places I could have gone instead.  I COULD HAVE PAID OFF MY STUDENT LOANS BY NOW!
5. I was trying to get that money.  I worked two jobs.  It was really tough!  I had to make a choice and I chose to focus on my career.  
6. I lost the fashion award I won in 2008.  I don't know where it is.  I'm scared someone is going to ask for proof and I can't provide it because it's somewhere in the state of South Carolina.  Yeah, I know the letters are small.

Here are the reasons I'm going to start the blog again:

1. I find amazing shit.  I just do.  I'm good at what I do, and what I do is shop.  None of it is expensive either.
2. I'm at least 2,700 miles from 90% of my friends.  Do I have friends in Seattle?  A few good ones.  But the concentration is on the East Coast.  I miss them and this is strangely a way to feel close to them.  So, this is going to be more than fashion.  More like a scrap book with an emphasis on style.
3. More than 10 friends have asked me to do video updates.  I will do that, but I will twerk in one of them and I don't want to hear SNATCH about it.
4. I like ranting, but I'm tired of doing it on facebook.  So there...

Shantel's reaction to BSB news.

No worries!  I'm sure one viewing of Mahogany this weekend will solve my two-years long fashion crisis.  Allora (Italian for ok now), I'm cooking up a lipstick post so stay tuned!  Lipstick has been my savior in Seattle.  Worship at the alter of Wet N Wild lipstick.  Look at my beautiful, luscious, molded by the hand of God lips.  

Image of the Day: Adriana Lima

If this is what people will look like in the future, throw all of the racists out!  We can place all of them on the hundreds of arid, uninhabited islands in Greece, place 700 foot tall walls around the islands, and let them form their own inbred, racial monoliths.  We shall call them wildings.  That's all I have to say.  Also, Adriana Lima has really great skin.

Image of the Day: Sunny Harnett, Evening dress by Grès, Casino, Le Touquet, August 1954

Let me tell you something right here: there exists very few fashion photographers whose pictures are considered art.  Richard Avedon reached the upper echelon of photography, well-known for his strong black and white compositions.  Every picture photographed by Avedon can be viewed for at least five minutes because there is always a subtext to each one.  And by the way, as a youngster he worked with James Baldwin (JAMES FREAKING BALDWIN) and later collaborated on a book called "Nothing Personal" published in 1964 with Baldwin providing the text and Avedon providing the photography.  Steven Meisel and Terry Richardson, noted fashion photographers as Tyra would say, can kiss my butt with their mundane portraits of mundane fashion and beauty.  Boo dahhling boo!

Sunny Harnett, Evening dress by Grès, Casino, Le Touquet, August 1954