MONSTER BLOG POST ALERT….SO BE SURE TO READ TO THE END!!!
With Slice of Lime Seniors, fashion and style has become synonymous with the type of senior photos that we create. Our seniors are fashion forward and what they wear, how it looks, and how those outfits make them feel are an integral part of their senior portrait experience. From consulting with us on what to wear before their shoot, to the pinterest boards we have created for our seniors to seek out inspiration, to the What to Wear Guide we send out to each senior…style is important to help each of our seniors tell their story.
Stephanie, was the original Slice of Style, and she provided an exceptional service to our seniors during the time she was our in house stylist! However, as you may or may not know, she is now living life as a wedding and family photographer! Throughout her time with Slice of Lime, Stephanie was also nurturing her love of photography in addition to rocking out her skills as Slice of Lime’s in-house stylist for our seniors and fashion file features.
Last year Stephanie had the opportunity of a lifetime when she connected with the lovely and talented, Harmony of Philter Photography. After mentoring with Harmony for the past year, Stephanie is now the woman behind Philter Photography as Harmony has passed the Philter Torch on to her. As such, Stephanie is getting to pursue and live out her dreams capturing couples in love, itty bitty babies, and families of all sorts. I am beyond ecstatic for her and miss her energy and creativity here at Slice of Lime, but coffee dates, text messages, and some upcoming collaborations ensure that our friendship is still as strong as ever!
Throughout my three years shooting seniors, I have had the chance to connect with some amazing young ladies. There are a handful of girls, that when I was just getting my toes wet in the “senior photography pool” believed in my whole heartedly and told anyone and everyone that would listen about Slice of Lime. So it makes my heart just want to burst with excitement to be able to introduce not one, but TWO of those beautiful ladies as the new faces of Slice of Style. Welcome back, Claudia and Alexa to Slice of Lime.
If these two look familiar, it’s because they are all over the portfolio pages of this site. Alexa dancing it out is the opening image on my website. And Claudia graces the pages of our What to Wear Guide as well. Besides that, these two lovelies joined us on our spokesmodels shoot last year and were the ones behind the feather head pieces you see some of the girls wearing.
These two will be managing and curating our Slice of Senior Style Instagram account and be bringing you fresh, hip, Fashion File Friday posts to keep our Slice Seniors in the know with what’s hot and how to style yourself for your senior sessions. In addition, they are spearheading the design boards for our Two Editorial shoots in the Spring with our Class of 2017 Street Team and will be joining us on those shoots as well!
But rather than me go on…I’ll just let them introduce themselves. I am beyond stoked to have them on our team & well…to get some updated photos of them too, ha ha ha. These are a bit old. :)
CLAUDIA
What have you been up to since graduating in June 2015?
After graduation, I was lucky enough to spend a week in one of my (new) favorite places — Sayulita, Mexico. Known for their surfing beaches and handcrafted goods, you can’t help but be inspired by the rich artisan culture. The atmosphere of Sayulita is a bright, colorful scene with a relaxed hippy vibe. The streets are lined with hand designed, and crafted, clothing and accessories that reflect the atmosphere itself. After Mexico, I finished out my summer working as a henna and face paint artist at HersheyPark and assisting Emil with a couple of shoots! Now that I am in college, I find myself constantly making mock-up concept boards for new designs and trying my best to find an excuse to make my way into new york city to explore.
What are you currently studying in college?
I am currently double majoring in Fashion Merchandising and Business with a concentration in product development. Apologies for the fashion talk… I am essentially studying the process of buying merchandise, forecasting trends, product development, and much much more with a few design courses in between. Fashion merchandising covers the A-Z process that any large scale retailer uses.
What special projects or internships are most looking forward to in the coming months?
I am most excited for the next two weekends — I get to intern at both NYFW and Market Week in the city. Although I am only a model dresser, I get to experience both runway shows and show rooms in full effect. I also applied for a few internships/job opportunities with the URBN corporation that I am waiting to hear back from for this upcoming summer (fingers crossed)! & Last but definitely not least, this project! Working with slice of lime to inspire, create and assist both current and future seniors is both exciting and amazing in itself!
What does STYLE mean to you?
Style means a mix of things to me. After almost a year of fashion school, my opinion of “style” has changed immensely. One of the most fascinating aspects of style is trend. Being “on trend,” “off trend,” “fashion forward,” and any part of the fashion cycle all play a role in my day to day outfits and inspirations. As much as feel that trend deems what I wear, I always try my best to base my style off of my forecasted trend. With my sense of style continuously growing, it is hard to get new clothes all the time. I believe that its not where you get your clothes, just how you put them together to form your own personal style.
How would you describe your own personal style? How has it changed over the years?
Obviously my personal style has changed immensely considering only a few years ago my go to outfit was a Hollister logo tee with plaid shorts and ugg boots… Clearly it has changed for the better. I have one of the most complex personal style ranging from all black and sophisticated to bright prints and patterns. During the winter months I tend to stray towards a monochrome look with bold lips and colored accessories. Then on the other hand, during the summer you can always find me in a boho outfit with a large stack of bracelets and my never ending collection of turquoise jewelry. Over the years I have kept key aspects of my personal style but it is endlessly changing and I can never predict where it will go!
What are you most excited about now that you are joining Slice of lime as the Slice of Style feature editors?
I am most excited for the influence that I will have on future & current seniors and the feedback that I will receive from it. I am hoping that my contributions will not just help seniors for their shoots but also their every day style. Having style inspiration and concepts are extremely helpful and easily noticed when someone puts effort into their outfits. I also hope that my style pieces help seniors develop a styled approach to their senior shoot. Your senior photos will last you a lifetime and the last thing you want is to look back and think “WHAT was I wearing?!!” Styled shoots have the possibility to look straight out of a magazine, and I am hoping that with my conceptual blog and instagram posts I will have that type of style influence on you seniors.
What are your favorite places to shop?
I don’t even know where to begin! The obvious places are urban outfitters, free people, zara, topshop, nordstrom, and nasty gal. I also love my thrift store finds… nyc has some of the best vintage shops with amazing numbers — some of which have online stores! Score!
What was important to you when you were choosing a senior photographer? What’s the best piece of advice you have for any senior in terms of fashion or style as they prepare for their senior sessions?
When I stumbled upon slice of lime, I immediately knew it was for me. I wanted senior photos that were not just taken in a field, or a studio with cheesy backgrounds. Having a senior shoot specifically styled around my ideas made it so that it was impossible for it to not be original. When looking for a senior photographer, I think it is really important to look for someone who has a knack for both style and detail. I also think it is a pressing need that the photographer focuses on you for the shoot. Its a good sign if the photographer wants to get to know you through a consult before your shoot! Fashion wise I think that a key theme throughout all of your pieces is important. Even if it is just having a color scheme for your outfit choices, it really pulls the whole shoot together in the end. Putting thought and concept into your shoot is reflected in the final photos that you will keep forever.
ALEXA
What have you been up to since graduating in June 2015?
After graduation, I carried out my summer as usual, taking on two full time jobs but always saving space for traveling with friends and family (especially day trips to Philadelphia to adventure downtown with my sister, Claudia.)
I’m now in college at Franklin and Marshall in Lancaster, PA which quite honestly is never a place that I saw myself attending (given that it is so close to home.) I have to say, that if you’re reluctant to apply somewhere, just go ahead and do it because (trust me) you might unintentionally fall in love like I did. Weekend city trips to both Philly and New York have been a great getaway throughout the first semester and I can’t wait to study abroad in the coming years.
What are you currently studying in college?
I applied to F&M with the main goal of being accepted into their Business, Organization, and Society major but quickly realized that one of the perks of attending a liberal arts college is the ability that I have to create my own major, so I did just that – I titled it “Business for Marketing and Merchandizing: Fashion” I’m now able to fulfill my Major requirements under three departments (Business, Art, and Sociology) rather than just one that would lock me into a “generic degree”.
What special projects or internships are most looking forward to in the coming months?
I applied to a few summer programs, but more importantly I could not be more excited to officially be a part of the Slice Team. After working with Emil the summer before my senior year I felt so connected to her and everything that Slice of Lime stands for as a whole. Emil makes you feel beautiful and proud of the way that you shine differently.
What does STYLE mean to you?
Although artistic otherwise, for me style is a way for people to express themselves. The way that I often describe my personal definition of style is that clothing and accessories serve as a medium, like a paintbrush, and the person that you are dressing serves as the canvas. When given an image that a person wants to reflect, you can project that image onto them by turning a concept into a look.
How would you describe your own personal style? How has it changed over the years?
Well obviously I had my Hollister stage in middle school too but ever since I hit high school my style has continuously broadened under two main categories: grungy and bohemian. By looking back to my senior shoot a few years ago, you can see that I made sure I featured both the Urban and Natural looks. Honestly, all I’ve done since then is really enhance & refine those two styles. While the fashion cycle is always rotating new styles into the mix, I personally still stick to my gut and express myself through “lights and darks”, depending on my mood or location.
How do you hope to enhance the Slice Seniors Experience with your Style Contributions? OR What are you most excited about now that you are joining Slice of lime as the Slice of Style feature editors?
I am SO excited to see how style has evolved for high schoolers since I’ve graduated, as well as the different ways that people want to express themselves through clothing. I love being given a concept and being able to make that concept materialize, especially given the direction to do so. Running an Instagram and blogging account has always been on my hit list of things to do, but I’ve never really found the right outlet for it. I think that by working with Slice I’ll definitely be hitting the perfect target group. All-in-all, my favorite thing to do is shop and style, so to be able to do so often, and help give girls direction in creating specific looks is going to be awesome.
What are your favorite places to shop?
This question is hard but all at once the easiest question I’ll ever be confronted with… As most of my friends and family know I am a Free People junkie, but I’m also a huge fan of Nordstrom Rack, Topshop, Urban Outfitters and Revolve. If I had expendable funds I would live in stores like the LF boutiques, Rag and Bone, expensive vintage thrifts, and especially For Love and Lemons.
What was important to you when you were choosing a senior photographer? What’s the best piece of advice you have for any senior in terms of fashion or style as they prepare for their senior sessions?
For me, it was really important to find a photographer that seemed to understand the concept that I was looking for; knowing that no one girl that was photographed by Emil, had portraits that looked similar. The fact that her photography has the ability to bring out every single person’s natural untouched beauty and reflect who they are through pictures is really something that everyone should consider as yet another amazing thing that she does.
In terms of style I think that every senior should choose an outfit that she would not necessarily wear every day, as well as something that makes her feel like she is expressing her fullest self. Nothing is going to look bad because Emil always knows what will work with the image that you are trying to achieve. I’d also remind them to not forget that everyone is different. So, if you really liked one person’s outfit but know that it doesn’t reflect you, don’t force it — you’re going to look great in whatever you think truly represents you. One last tip is to always keep an open mind. While some ideas may sound strange definitely try them, because Emil knows all and trust me, you should trust her.
Leave some love for the girls in the comments below and be sure to follow along on Instagram at
@SliceofSeniorStyle and on Snap Chat at
sliceof-style!!
