Plaid Purple Midi Skirt

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

#KCFW F/W’19 Wednesday Night Runway Show

I can not believe how much I have slacked off with blogging. I am usually one to post event coverage hours after it happens but sometimes life gets in the way. My sophomore year of college has ended and I am about to start the summer hustle before I study abroad in Florence, Italy but, before I get super busy, I figured I should write up my 2 month late Kansas City Fashion Week Recaps.

This season, KCFW was held at the Grand Hall at Power & Light (one of my favorite venues) for the F/W’19 collections. I am thankful that I got to attend these events as media for my third season.


My Outfit :

This season of fashion week I stepped out of my comfort zone and incorporated bright colors! I am usually one to stick with all black or neutrals but wanted to try something new. I found this hot pink coat at Topshop and I knew it was the right piece to kick of KCFW!

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coat : Topshop (similar) | shirt : Karl Lagerfeld | skirt : Missguided (similar) | boots : Rebecca Minkoff (similar)

photographer – Jason Atherton (Facebook)


DESIGNERS :

 Fey Chavez

The very first collection to be shown at Kansas City Fashion Week was one of my favorites of the whole season. If you know me, you know I love menswear a LOT. These pieces were so well tailored to the models and look as if they are 100% ready to be sold in a retail setting. My favorite piece was the knitted boatneck sweater. Texture is so important to me so this really stood out but stayed true to the collections aesthetic with similar colors.

 

Cierra Marie McMichael

This collection, so I was told, was inspired by superheros which is so badass! Only a few colors were used, as you can see below, but each piece was so different. The leather and silver combination was extremely powerful and the movement on each garment was amazing.

 

Sew Unrelaxed

Red has been my favorite color for a while now and I got so excited about this collection. My favorite piece was the red velvet cape. Very powerful vibes here.

 

Schyline

I met the designer of this collection, Schyler Slaven, a few years ago when we runway modeled together. I am so happy and proud to see how far she has come since then. I want every single piece from her line. I almost want to call it “elegant loungewear”. The colors and fabrics were sheer and simple and I fell in love with everything about it! Keep it up girl, you’re killing it!

 

Candace Callahan Wolf

Candace Callahan Wolf’s collection was so diversely chic. There were gowns, pants, dresses, and jackets- so much variety; and all in white! The pearl detailing on some of the pieces was such an elegant surprise. My favorite piece from this line was the button up bomber jacket, so cool.

 

Em’s Trends

Em’s Trends’ line somehow brought me back to my childhood. As a kid, I was a princess and fairytale fanatic. Between the floral headpieces and embellished gowns it was like a dream come true. I wish the models could walk down the runway hundreds of times because I really wanted a close look at the detail. Really, really beautiful.

 

Sewrissarenee

This collection was to show that a modest and conservative woman can still be fashionable and chic. It was an entire denim collection and the tailoring was incredible. Denim will always have a special place in my heart and I have a love for the reconstruction of it. I can see myself wearing a lot of this collection.

 


 

Again, I feel so terrible for how delayed this post is but as I said before, life gets crazy and it’s healthy to relax and sometimes not worry about anything at all. The next three nights of KCFW will be posted within the next three days in chronological order so stay tuned.

xx Bella

***all runway images taken by me, feel free to repost them as you will but remember to give me credit**

The KC Creatives Meetup 2/3/18

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

LATE INTRO – WHO AM I? : VIDEO

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

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

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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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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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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