The blog has undergone several changes... check it out at the new location:

A Cuppa Fashion

See you there!

Change in the fashion world is inevitable. Trends come and go as often as the seasons do. This blog will be going through a major change as well.

Let me start from the beginning.

I started this fashion blog almost two years ago under the name The Fiery Fashionista (as it is right now). At first it was just a quick post about an item I found that day, with a weekly summary of all my finds that would sometimes culminate into a coordinated outfit. Several months later, I found the onsugar site, and decided to revamp the blog into something more...to reflect more of what I enjoyed seeing in fashion. But as I began to explore my interests more, I realized last year that this blog still wasn't what I wanted it to be. It wasn't truly reflecting what I loved so much with fashion. Between real life and trying to figure out what direction I wanted to head with this blog, I stopped posting in the spring.

I had considered starting all over again, with a new name and a new focus altogether. But I am stubborn, and didn't like the idea of starting from scratch even though my reader base is pretty small (although I do appreciate those of you that have taken the time to read). The Fiery Fashionista, while well representing me as a person, wasn't representing me in my blog. I am a natural redhead, and a fiery personality kinda comes along with the job. But my posts and writing aren't really reflecting that, nor do I want to come as some jerk who just rants in her posts. I love fashion, and want to share my finds and observations in a way that people can relate to...not in a way that turns them off. But still, I kept the name.

Then the post mishap took place yesterday. A post I had spent time working on was marked as spam when I attempted to edit it. When I tried to wade through all the links here and there for this web host, I discovered that while the host is open and being maintained in terms of merely running, the support is nonexistent and no one is really doing anything to run the site as it once had been. In fact, the parent company doesn't even list onsugar on their main page anymore. I can tell you that this host was very different in its support for fashion bloggers and the like when I first signed up with them a year and a half ago. It is such a disappointment to see it turn out this way. But after all my frustration yesterday, I came to the realization that this is just what I needed to get the blog in the direction that it needed to go. It was a chance for a fresh start, without feeling like I was obligated to maintain the persona that was expected of me just from the name alone.

So with that, I want to tell you that change is coming. I have already picked out the web host I will be using and a domain name has been secured. The name will change. While I may always remain a fiery fashionista in life, my blog will no longer be called that. The new name, however, will remain underwraps until I am ready to reveal the new site.

I apologize for all the mess and confusion through this. I appreciate your patience and support and just ask you hang on just a little bit longer while everything gets sorted out. And I hope you will join me as The Fiery Fashionista makes a fashion change of its own.

Remember my resolution where I said I would only buy pieces I really love? Well this post is going to explain that a bit more in depth.

Back in early spring 2012, one of the online boutiques I regularly check out had a llama print dress on the new arrivals page. I wasn't completely crazy about the dress, but I did think it was cute. It was the name that did me in: Bolivian Adventure. I am half Bolivian and you just don't really see much of that country anywhere, especially in the fashion industry. But here is where my excitement overclouded my judgement. Indie dresses that pop up on one online boutique will not share the same name as another online boutique. What was known as "Bolivian Adventure" on the site I was looking at was known as "More Llama, Less Drama" on another. The designer does not choose these names, the boutiques do. Boutiques rarely share the designer name. That, combined with a dress name exclusive to themselves, makes it near impossible to do any price comparison shopping. Normally, I am really good about hunting down all the online boutiques to get the best price if I see a design I want. This was the exception. Even though I wasn't crazy about the dress, I was crazy about the name. The fact that online boutiques all give different names, and that it something I already knew, should have been enough to tell me not to buy it for the name alone. But before I knew it, I was the owner of a llama print dress.

Photo source: ShopRuche.com

Holding it in my hands didn't make me like it any more than when I saw it on the site. I tried it on. I had purchased the small, yet it was way too baggy. And yes, I know the picture indicates it is not fitted in any way, but trust me when I say this is much worse in person than in the picture. The belt was huge, and the only way to get it to fit nicely would have been to punch more holes. I wound up ditching it in favor of another brown waist belt I already owned. Sense would have dictated to just return the dress. Nonsensical logic determined I must own a dress with "Bolivian" in the name. A name that the website just made up, mind you.

I wore the dress literally only once. I might have liked it a bit more had it fit me properly. But that's just it, I might have liked it only a bit more. Not definitely. Not love. Not a lot. I regret purchasing it. I regret skipping it in favor of something I know I would have been in love with. It was a cute dress, but it wasn't me. And I knew it when I saw it, but the name grabbed my attention.

Word to the wise: don't travel in the Land of the Maybes. Don't buy something because it is kinda cute, or because the name appeals to you (they choose those names for that purpose!), or because you think its appeal will grow on you, or that maybe it will work for you, or for any other reason except for love. Not long after I had purchased the dress, I heard a wise saying when it came to clothes: you will never love the clothing item more than when it is on the hanger at the store. This is 100% true. Merchandisers know how to put things in a certain way to make their appeal even greater. So if you aren't in love with a dress, top, or anything else while it is on display, you will not love it on yourself when you are at home. Fashion isn't just what you are wearing, but how you feel when you are wearing it. If you aren't feeling comfortable with what you have on, physically or mentally, that will come across in how you are wearing it and the vibe you give off.

So it comes down to this...
Only buy items you truly love. If you don't really love something in the store or on the site, walk away.