VENICE CANALS PHOTOSHOOT, Venice Beach

Hey guys! QT Mariel here.

Last Friday we had a Q photoshoot in one of my favorite hidden gems of Los Angeles...the Venice Canals!
The canals are tucked away in a neighborhood just a few streets away from Venice Beach. They are man-made canals built in the 1940s that were meant to recreate the canals of Venice, Italy. Unfortunately, the original plans for the project fell apart, and in the 1990s the region was renovated and became a residential district.
It definitely does not get the popularity it deserves, but that's what makes it even more special and private. It's the perfect place for the artsy, photo-happy kind of people (like me!).

This shoot was intended to showcase Q's latest styles that are also perfect for the transition between summer to fall. Everyone in Cali and Arizona (where the majority of our stores are located) know that the heat still exists until late October!

We had so much fun shooting!
During the middle of our shoot, a nice gentleman/architect invited us to take pictures at the roof top of one of his $5million dollar house project that he was working on! We definitely made the most of that!
 Our models are so natural, fun, and brave (let's just say the models and the photographers have to take risks to get the perfect shot)!

Enjoy! If you like what you see, go visit our online store  www.fashionq1982.com. However, the clothing that the models are wearing can only be found in Q store locations and not online.
We just launched our store this week so it is ACTIVE but still under construction. Products and development are added every day! 

Models left to right: Kim C., Jackie S., Liz V.

Q MODEL: JACKIE S.

Jackie is pictured in a super cute Q floral jumper with a basic white crop top.

OUTFIT:

Q Floral Jumper is a production sample and stock arrives soon  

Q Basic White Crop Top: No longer in stock. 

Q MODEL: LIZ V.

Liz wearing what she likes to call her "classy housewife" outfit. 

OUTFIT:

Q Vintage floral black and white pattern kimono cardigan: $26.99 

Q White laced short dress: $17.99

Q Burgundy Wool Sunhat: $25 

 

Q Model: Kim C
This black hi-low flowy dress with daring back rib-cage cut gives her a strong, confident, feminine vibe while the billowing effect from the dress leaves her feeling like a queen. 

OUTFIT:
Q Black hi-low dress: $21.99 

Be sure to check in each week for my new photos!


XOXO,

QT MARIEL

MEEE-OW.

FASHION FELINE. 

picture source: www.likeabledev.com

                                                      

It seems like cats are making a huge statement in fashion. For cat dresses to cat shoes, cats are everywhere! This trend is simply adorable, of course only for those who are cat lovers.

Here are some current cat items that are perfect for any wardrobe!

                                            

RAWR loose fitted cat sweater from Fashion Q. Only $12.99

Cute kitty cat dress from Urban Outfitters. Available for $68

 

These Marc Jacobs cat flats are a huge splurge yet they will definitely make a high fashion statement. Available for $228!

More Q Products.... 

Green Eyed Cat Bodysuit. No longer available at Q. 

                                                    

Q Kitty Tank. No longer available. 

Kitty with a crown tank. No longer available at Q. 

Kitty orange tee. Available only at Q online store www.fashionq1982.com 

XOXO,

QT JACKIE 

Bottle Tree Ranch photoshoot

Q Models (and sisters!) Nicole and Tanya rockin' these edgy outfits in Bottle Tree Ranch of Oro Grande, CA. 

As promised from last week's preview post on the latest photoshoot! 

Nicole is wearing  Q tribal print strapless short dress. 

Tanya in Q Geo print multi colored bodysuit and black pleather skater skirt. 

QT Files: Jessica P.

Blog Designer. Graphic Designer. "Night Owl."

QT Jessica is our graphic designer. Any blog banners or social media flyers you may see, she's probably the one behind it!  She's beyond excited to be helping out in Q's expansion using her passion for design, as well as fashion.

Much of her fashion sense is inspired by other artists who surround her & inspire her to express her overall simplicity & "awkward" (as she likes to say) personality! You'll almost never see her walk out of her house without one of her favorite oversized cardigans, & they're quite often thrown on top of a little dress or a simple top with shorts or skinny jeans. With fashion aside, she's identified herself as a night owl from the moment her parents told her she was one since birth. Late nights designing with mugs of tea by her side are what she lives for. In her words, she eats, breathes, & lives design as much as she can by constantly finding inspiration in the graphic design world that surrounds her; typography, branding & logo treatments, posters, advertising...name it. Her dream is to grow as a designer & eventually move to San Francisco to work for Pixar Studios. Besides her freelance work here at Q, she currently works for two graphic design studios that will hopefully push her closer to her dreams! Go Jessica!

Jessica hard at work rocking a simple floral dress, chambray shirt,
& her favorite mint Oxford shoes. Gotta make sure to dress work-appropriate!

Here's what she has to say about herself:
"Simple, trendy, & comfortable. Definitely the way to go for little old me. Enough to blend in like a normal person, but dressed enough to feel cute. I've never been bold enough to make myself stand out because attention has always frazzled me, but as a designer I do like to express myself through fashion. Fashion is almost like design. You need to figure out how to put different pieces together to create something entirely new as a whole. One of my favorite things to do is thrift shop & make pieces that you wouldn't think would work into something pretty awesome. I have an obsession with oversized cardigans, flannels, sweaters, you name it. Floral patterns, collared tops, mint & coral color schemes, cute sandals, & oxford shoes are always an "A" in my book. Growing up I have to admit, my fashion sense was pretty terrible. I was used to dressing up in hand-me-downs, but I didn't know how to make it work. & if I did go out to buy clothes, I definitely wouldn't choose the right pieces. As I grew older I learned to use what I already had & not care what people thought, which inspired me to start thrifting & shopping for more basics & unique pieces. Seems simple enough, right? My clothes range from a variety of styles. Whatever my mood is that day, that's what I'll put on. Fashion is what you make of it."

Jessica's Q Outfit

NYFW 2013: Trends, Part I

Fashion week is upon those of us here in New York, and for the next four days our streets will be a little prettier and a lot more exciting. Here are some of the trends that could potentially dominate Spring 2014, and don't forget to check out our other NYFW-related posts! 

Cropped

Looks like crop tops are here to stay -- everyone from preppy Lacoste to ethereal Monique Lhuillier to modern BCBGMaxazria are incorporating them into Spring. 

Left to right: BCBGMaxazria, Monique Lhuillier, Lacoste 

Via

A Shot of Orange

The go-to color to brighten up several clean, black and white palettes next season is a vivid, unapologetic, ostentatious orange. 

Left to right: DKNY, Rag&Bone

DKNY:  Via
Rag&Bone: Via, courtesy of Imaxtree and Alessandro Luciani

Wild Florals

Flowers can be sweet, but this season they're also a little restless. Prabal Gurung mixed them up with wild prints and modern silhouettes, Nicole Miller added a vintage edge, and Jill Stuart made them girly and dark. 

Left to Right: Prabal Gurung, Nicole Miller, Jill Stuart, Prabal Gurung again ;)

Prabal Gurung: Via, courtesy of Imaxtree and Alessandro Luciani
Jill Stuart, Nicole Miller: Via

Light Black and White

2014 is going to start with a new take on spring: black and white! The trick to making them work for a sunny day in the park? Lighten up the material, tie up your hair, and show some skin. 

Left to Right: Helmut Lang, BCBGMaxazria, Victoria Beckham

Helmut Lang, Victoria Beckham:  Via, courtesy of Imaxtree and Alessandro Luciani 
BCBG: Via

And there you go! Be sure to check out Part II, which we'll post at the end of Fashion Week (Sept 12). Designers showing this week are Zac Posen, Reem Acra, Tory Burch, J. Crew, Vera Wang, Michael Kors, Rachel Zoe, and Calvin Klein. 

Music Spotlight: Us

Photo courtesy of michaelalvarado.tumblr.com

These last few weeks, I've been absolutely obsessed with the husband-and-wife songwriter duo, Carissa Rae and Michael Alvarado, together known as "Us". They first caught my attention with their nostalgic TV Show Medley video incorporating tons of shows from the 90s that put a smile on my face instantly. If you crave ear-candy that's fun, fresh, with a touch of soul, you've hit the music jackpot with this couple. Some have even compared them to sounding like the "female Bruno Mars"! But if you're not a fan of Bruno, don't let that turn you off. They have a wide array of tracks to appeal to whatever mood you're in. They've covered favorites from Carly Rae Jepsen, Rihanna, Linkin Park and even The Beatles! What I find even more entrancing is their original music. Tracks like "Make You Love Me" and "Take Me Home" from their self-titled album are just the comfort you need after a long day. If that isn't enough to sell you, as a couple they are absolutely adorable to watch. They've even video documented both the marriage proposal and the wedding! Let us know what you think of 'Us' or of any more artists who you think should be featured here! Hope you've enjoyed our first music spotlight post and check in weekly for more!

xoxo, Nicole 

Check out their Mumford & Sons-esque cover of Call Me Maybe

If you want more from 'Us'! Check out their Wedding video!

Disclaimer: It's a tear jerker!

Q on Route 66

Happy Labor Day! Hope everyone had a fabulous 3 day weekend! We QTs sure did!

It's QT Mariel here! My QT File (profile to get to know each blogger) hasn't been posted, so you guys probably don't know much about me just yet..but one thing to know is that I absolutely LOVE to drive and explore new places around SO-CAL!

To put more "order" in my fervor to see new things, I decided to research a list to follow. So sometime in the beginning of 2013, I found a list of 12 of the best unusual things to see in SO-CAL. Since the start of this year, I've been to 8 locations (see link below for full list)!

12 Unusual Things to See in SOCAL

So yesterday, September 1st, I decided to combine both work + fun and have a Fashion Q photography session at another place on the list!

Bottle Tree Ranch in Oro Grande, CA.

This place is a hidden gem, LITERALLY. If you're heading on your way to Vegas, this is a definite must-see! It is located on route 66, off the 15 N near Victorville. It's about 11 miles past the exit.

Bottle Tree Ranch is literally what the name reveals. It is a ranch made out of over 200 bottle trees in front of a man's home in the middle of the desert. From colorful bottles to beer bottles and old soda bottles, the collection is endless and you can't help but want to wonder the stories behind each of his findings. Along with bottles, the trees on the pipes are decorated with windmills, tires, old traffic lights boxes, antique guns from World War II, old surf boards...EVERYTHING.

The 4 of us with the artist himself, Elmer Long. 

 Elmer Long, the owner and artistic genius behind the hidden attraction is a quirky old man in his late 60s or early 70s with a lot of history and passion for what he does. The 4 of us (Me, Joanne, and 2 of our models) had the opportunity to talk to him personally since we were the only ones on the ranch. After all the positive reviews that I read about him on YELP, it was easy to trust him. He invited us inside his eco-friendly and incredible resourceful home and for an hour he told us stories and showed us old pictures of himself and of California back in the 1950s. His memory is endless. He can recall individual pieces of his collection and tell us everything about it...with some items tracing back to when he was 3 years old, or objects he found along the way in Arizona while migrating to California.  But most importantly, the story behind the ranch in front of his home is a father-son tale. Elmer's dad was an aviation engineer and was fascinated with the desert, ghost towns, and mining. When Elmer's father, whose name is also Elmer, passed away, Elmer did not know what to the thousands of bottles his father had collected. Elmer is a natural and he isn't afraid to use anything he finds in his daily strolls through the desert. I can't stress enough how cool Elmer is. If I wasn't on a time crunch, I wish I could listen to him for days. ...

There isn't any fee to roam through his ranch. So make sure to consider visiting Bottle Tree Ranch and feel free to bring all of the empty bottles from your party to him too! Elmer doesn't ask for donations, but this man would be very grateful!

From left to Right: Models: Tanya & Nicole then Bloggers:  QT Joanne & QT Mariel 

Look out for a full blog featuring pictures from the  Q photoshoot at Bottle Tree Ranch featuring the latest Q fashion in a few days! 

XOXO,

QT MARIEL