inspiration

Rome, Italy | 11/30/18 – 12/2/18

~ bellalightner ~ Leave a comment

Rome is by far my favorite city in Italy. I’m thankful to say that this was my 4th time visiting and I’m always ready to go back again for a 5th.

Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore

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Piazza Navona
Piazza Navona
Trevi Fountain
Trevi Fountain
Pantheon
Pantheon
Santa Scala (Holy Stairs)
Colosseum
San Giovanni

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If you are ever in Rome, you HAVE TO GO to Trattoria Luzzi for lunch. This place is so good and SO inexpensive. It is just a few blocks from the Colosseum and halfway to the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterno.

Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City

Unfortunately, we did not get to go inside the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel because it is closed on Sundays… important to know if you’re there on a Sunday :/. However, just standing in front of the church is incredible and being in this area feels like you are in a totally different place.

Plaid Purple Midi Skirt

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I purchased this skirt from a fellow student at school and am absolutely in love with it. It’s a wool blend so a bit too hot for summer but I wanted to make a summery outfit with it before I transition it into fall and winter. I pulled out the white tones from the plaid and paired it with all white counterparts. The white crop top and boots make it perfect for summer and give it a 60s vibe. Paired with a white Sandro jacket, this has become one of my favorite outfits yet.

I am really looking forward to wearing this statement skirt this fall and winter with all black pieces and tights.

I shot these photos with designer and fashion & lifestyle blogger, and friend, Audrey Lockwood. Check out her site here.

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photographer : Audrey Lockwood

skirt : similar | boots : Target | top : Etiquette (similar) | jacket : Sandro (similar) | sunglasses : Sunglass LA

The KC Creatives Meetup 2/3/18

~ bellalightner ~ Leave a comment

I feel as if I have been going to meet-ups left and right and I absolutely love it. It’s so refreshing to work with tons of creative people who all have their own individual mindset. I will keep updating this post as more shots roll in!

The theme of this meet-up hosted by the KC Creatives was Valentine’s Day. Molly Balloons (queen balloon artist of Kansas City) was there to create some fun things too. I decided to stick with the theme and wear the color red by throwing on my favorite red striped flare pants from AFRM. I wear these things so often I think I should buy a second pair for when these completely give out.

I have a short part 2 from this meet up coming soon! Stay tuned!

xx Bella

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photographer : EAILY

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photographer : Rachel Leigh

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photographer : Kenzie Shea Photography

shirt : Topshop (similar) | pants : AFRM | earrings : Forever 21

Tweed and Leather : Como Collabs Meetup 2

~ bellalightner ~ 1 Comment

This was such a fun and easy look to put together. I love the chic, European feel of the tweed and fur jacket mixed with the edgy rocker leggings and heeled booties; it’s almost Parisian inspired. I think it makes for something different and unique. Of course I am wearing my favorite black newsboy hat to tie everything together.

These shots are from the second Columbia Collaboratives meet up shot by Anna Tripolitis. Be sure to follow Anna on Instagram and like on Facebook. I also have part two from the meet up coming soon. I shot two outfits and wanted to keep them separated.

xx Bella

Como Collabs meet-up 1 – PART 1 & PART 2

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jacket : Dixie Firenzi (similar) | pants : Nordstrom Rack (similar) | hat : Target | boots : Rebecca Minkoff (similar)

photographer : Anna Tripolitis – Instagram and Facebook

LATE INTRO – WHO AM I? : VIDEO

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Hey everyone! For those of you who don’t know me / have never met me before, here I am, on video! Sitting down and talking to the camera is a very difficult thing for me to do. (I’ll keep practicing and hopefully get better!) As a tween, I had a YouTube channel and my classmates found out and I was so embarrassed that I took it down. Now that I am more mature and don’t care what people think, I am trying this whole thing all over again.

My goal as of now is not to become instantly famous, but is to get my name out there with a presence on YouTube. I will continue to post on my blog, bellalightner.com, must expand my content onto this platform as well. I plan on creating lookbooks, vlogs, fun fashion related videos, and just really sitting down and talking type videos. I am really excited to work on some things in this kind of different format and I am hoping for the best with this!

VLOG 3 : EUROPE – IRELAND, ITALY – WINTER 2017/18

~ bellalightner ~ Leave a comment

Hello and thank you for clicking on this video! I recently got back from a trip to Europe with my family. We went to Dublin, Ireland, Milan, Florence, and Rome, Italy. I decided to keep music out of this video because I loved the sounds of the videos too much. I wanted to give a realistic vibe on what I heard when I was there. From church music to honking cars to my family yelling at each other.  I had the most amazing time touring around these places and I am so thankful for my family for taking me here on my Christmas vacation from college.

BLOG POSTS FROM THIS TRIP

DUBLIN, IRELAND

MILAN, ITALY

FLORENCE, ITALY

ROME, ITALY

MILAN, ITALY 12/30/17

~ bellalightner ~ 1 Comment

Next stop on our trip was Milan, Italy! This was the place I was most excited to go to! I’ve been here before but I was so sick I had to stay at the hotel where I watched Italian fashion TV for like 10 hours. Now I’m feeling great and was so ready to take on the fashion capital of the world!

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Milan – Bella Lightner
Milan – Bella Lightner

top : Forever 21 (similar) | pants : AFRM (in black) | boots : H&M (similar) | sunglasses : Muse (similar)

We flew in from Dublin early in the morning and immediately ate and then headed to the Duomo. I have wanted to see this in person for as long as I can remember and it’s so beautiful that it doesn’t seem real. Unfortunately we didn’t goninside or to the top because of how insane the crowds and lines were and we only have a day here. Needless to say I’ll have to come back.

Milano Duomo
Milano Duomo
Milano Duomo

We walked through Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II where a ton of high end luxury designer stores are; Gucci, Prada, Versace, etc. Everything was so gorgeous. I have an obsession with window displays.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
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Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

Of course we shopped and went to my favorite store, Zara, and some others. This Zara was the best and prettiest Zara I have ever been to in my life- and I’ve been to a lot of them.

Zara
Zara

Like I said before, it was insanely packed because of the holidays we couldn’t do a lot of the main sightseeing attractions so we literally just walked the city all day. I love this city so much. Everyone is extremely well dressed but all so differently. I could people watch for hours.

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top : AFRM | jeans : Lee Jeans | earrings : Forever 21 (similar)

Ciao Milano, I’ll be back!

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Dear 2017

~ bellalightner ~ Leave a comment

Dear 2017,

Thank you for being so amazing and for giving me so many incredible opportunities and experiences.

This year has been THE absolute best year of my life so far. There were times when things got really hard and it was difficult to stay motivated but overall, I would not change anything that happened this year.

In 2017, I covered two seasons of Kansas City Fashion Week as official media and one of those seasons I worked as a stylist – pulling 18 looks for the runway and 2 looks for a window display at the Oak Park Mall in collaboration with the Kansas City Chiefs. I was invited on the first official KCFW cruise as media and a model. In February of this year, I covered a collaborative photoshoot for my blog and my article was published in Kansas City Fashion Collaboratives Magazine. Throughout the year I continued to work part time at Etiquette Boutique as a sales associate and started working part time at MOD On Trend. At Stephens College, I modeled in the 73rd annual fashion show. This Summer, Lee Jeans invited me to attend the music festival Boulevardia in KC as a blogger. Also this summer, I had an internship with Melanie Knopke, previous editor in chief of Simply KC Magazine, where I learned a lot about the industry and got a more up close look on how things really work. Throughout this year I collaborated with brands and designers such as Jord Watches, BootayBag, Rich Apparels, Lee Jeans, and L’Occitane. I also attended other various fashion shows and events such as Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week in Bentonville, AR, Flyover Fashion Fest in Iowa City, IA, Travis Kelce’s “Walk the Walk”, and the Kritiq in Kansas City.

Kansas City Fashion Collaboratives Magazine Shoot
NWA Fashion Week
JORD Watch
KCFW F/W’17 – Media
KCFW F/W’17 – Media
KCFW F/W’17 – Media
KCFW F/W’17 – Media
BootayBag
Stephens College Fashion Show
Flyover Fashion Fest
Flyover Fashion Fest
Rich Apparels Event
Rich Apparels Event
Etiquette Boutique x Walk the Walk
Lee Jeans
Lee Jeans x Boulevardia
Lee Jeans x Boulevardia
Summer internship
Summer internship
L’Occitane
Summer internship
Summer internship
Summer internship
KCFW Oak Park Mall Window – Stylist
KCFW S/S’18 – Stylist
KCFW S/S’18 – Media
KCFW S/S’18 – Media
KCFW S/S’18 – Media
KCFW S/S’18 – Stylist
L’Occitane
KCFW Cruise
KCFW Cruise
KCFW Cruise
KCFW Cruise

2017 has been incredible and I am so grateful for everything that I have done and every opportunity that I have received. In 2018, my goal is to increase the quality and quantity  of my content, rebrand my entire website and aesthetic, work and collaborate with more photographers and brands, attend more fashion related events, and much MUCH more.

Thank you so much to every single person and company I have worked with this year and to everyone who follows me and reads this blog. This has taken over my life and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Happy New Year and stay tuned!

xx Bella

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