September Re-membering you!

September Re-membering you!

 September Re-membering you!   Believe it or not but Southern California does have seasons! I feel the changes in the wind, the sea, and in my thoughts. Of course, our seasonal changes here are not as dramatic as they are in the mid-west, east coast or southern states. Perhaps California…

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Retracing the cobblestone steps of my ingénue dreams.

I’m running away to Europe my friends, retracing the cobblestone steps of my ingénue dreams.

Only this time in John Fluevog ruby red slippers!

What is she up to now you may ask? In my recent blog posts I’ve been sketching my past and sharing the process I went through as I followed my dreams to become a model and travel the world. I spent ten of those years living out of a suitcase, chasing the runway collections around the globe and gaining the utmost stylish inspiration from the geniuses – those designers’ I had the fortune to amuse. Those icons who have set the bar each designer must follow in the world today. And I have been forever touched and motivated by their dedication to the craft of creating beauty and gifting fashion to the world. I had no idea those curious and innocent experiences would lead me to where I am today – with a fashion apparel line of my own on the horizon. With my Runway RunAway Collection® line of samples nearly complete and ready to be delivered this Thanksgiving weekend – I am feeling simply marvelous- retracing the cobblestone steps of my ingénue dreams, blessed and grateful for this miraculous life I am leading.

If anyone would have told me that the result of my book Runway RunAway A Backstage Pass to Fashion, Romance and Rock ‘n Roll, (my second year project in the Master’s program in Spiritual Psychology at University of Santa Monica) would be an entire brand- that would turn into a collection, and lead me to producing a fashion film, that would be viewed worldwide- I would have said, “yeah right!” But guess what? Here it is and here I go…

Now don’t get me wrong – I am not naive…just because one designs a collection and produces as film doesn’t mean it will be and easy road ahead. In fact, this dream I have been working on has been a challenge over the past seven years since I graduated. When I say I am following my dreams – you better be sure that my dreams are sometimes “18 hour a-day-dreams” and that includes weekends too!

The reason is because dreams evolve. They have lives of their own and that is why they are not for the faint of heart. Whatever you do while following the road to your dreams, just know there will be detours, ditches, confusion, a sense of feeling lost, lonely and sometimes even at a dead end. But if you just keep on going along the curvy road – you’ll find a beautiful, magnificent field of flowers; otherwise known as “Rumi’s field” where everything is exactly as it should be… in full bloom. You see Spirit doesn’t care if I become a fashion designer or make a fashion film – Spirit just cares that I did it – how I did it – and how I treated myself and others on the way.

Dreams have timelines of their own too…so you won’t be seeing my collection until the summer of 2016 – but, in the meantime I will be producing this fashion film “Peau sur Peau ~ Skin on Skin,” with the award winning director, Robert E. Ball Jr. In fact, thanks to our sponsor’s: YBF Beauty CEO Stacey Schieffelin, Betty Badd Couture JewelryFelice Art Couture & Luxury Lingerie, Diamond earrings by Jewelry by Rosalina and executive producer Mr. Kent Cooper- we have already begun shooting the teaser!!!

Peace in Paris

Peace in Paris forever!

This weekend we will fly to Paris where Mr. Ball’s recent fashion film will be screened at the fashion film festival – A Shaded View of Fashion Film – ASVOFF-8. I will be reconnecting with the festival’s producer Diane Pernet, whom I haven’t seen in over 25 years. I modeled for Pernet’s couture collections in New York in the late 80’s and now her own “designer dream” has led her towards creating an international venue for fashion films at the Pompidou Center in La Marais. I can’t wait to see her again, and to connect with these talented filmmakers from all around the globe. And while we are in Paris we’ll continue shooting our fashion film –Skin on Skin where I’ll be following my own footsteps back in time… wearing a beautiful pair of ruby red slippers supplied by another one of our film sponsor’s – John Fluevog Shoes. Americans- shooting a fashion film in Paris…Another dream coming true!

I hope you will join me as I continue my journey back to the United Kingdom too. As many of you know I spent those whimsical younger years, living in Chelsea with my long lost love Steve Clark. Steve came from Yorkshire and so I will make the trip to the north and visit his grave at The Wisewood Cemetery. It’s been nearly 25 years since our beloved Steve passed over – so it will be my tribute to him. Maybe some of you will meet me there and we’ll raise a pint at the Admiral Rodney Pub where we used to go with Steve’s family at Christmas.

So here is what lies ahead on my Red Slipper cobblestone footstep return to Europe:

December 1-10th Paris, France attending ASVOFF and filming the fashion film “Peau sur Peau – Skin On Skin.” 

 December 11, 2015 | BBC Radio Interview 2:00 pm GMT –  Radio Show interview for BBC in Leeds, UK with British Journalist Martin Kelner. Stayed tuned!!!   http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p037yb55

 December 12th, 2015- at 12:PM: Sheffield England –Community gathering at Wisewood Cemetery. Come raise a pint for Steve at the Admiral Rodney Pub to follow: 592 Loxley Rd, Sheffield S6 6RU, United Kingdom

In Memory of Steve "Maynard" Clark

In Memory of Steve “Maynard” Clark

December 13, 2015 | MY BIRTHDAY! Runway RunAway Author & Book Reception 4:00pm – 6:00pm at the Mercure Nottingham City Centre Hotel in Nottingham, UK.Runway Runaway Book Signing

I hope you will join me over the next couple of weeks as I am retracing the cobblestone steps of my ingénue dreams, remembering from where I came and observing where I am today as a result of my dedication to the dream.

I encourage you to follow your dreams! I support you in cherishing and beholding the qualities of love, perseverance, strength of heart and courage to never give up – because you never know where the yellow brick road will lead you.

Remember…Spirit doesn’t care whether you reach your goals or not…just that you had the gumption to try. To give yourself the permission to go for it and express yourself. To live your life beyond your wildest dreams.

Happy Holidays ~ Love Always,

Lorelei

“Don’t let your dreams runaway from you!”

 

Travel Tote Tip #4 Goddess Survival Kit

Travel Tote Tip #4 Goddess Survival Kit

Have you ever been on a plane, train or in a hotel and chipped your fingernail polish only to discover you don’t have any polish remover? Out of frustration you begin to try to scratch it off just because it looks worse half on – than completely off. Or, you get a run in your stocking, just down at the toes and you wish you had polish to stop the run. Or maybe you catch a cold on the flight and you can’t sleep at night because you are in some strange place and you are all alone. You ring the hotel concierge and they direct you to the pharmacy just a few blocks or miles away, but it’s late, you are tired – or worse you are in a hurry to get to that special event you flew there for. At times like this, you wish you had a valet, a nurse, a personal assistant, or even your mom!

Travel Tote Tip #4 Goddess Survival Kit will take care of you when you least expect it.

If you have been following my tote tips all along here then you already know I was a runway model who traveled constantly, following the collections around Europe and North America. We mannequins had it made backstage once we arrived at the shows because the hair and make-up team came with their rolling carts and plastic bags full of everything a girl could possibly need to transform themselves into living dolls. We were prepped, patted and perfected in every way possible and so we didn’t need to bring anything at all!

Fast forward to my life “on the road” with my fiancé Steve Clark. Steve was the lead guitarist, song-meister, and riff master of the band Def Leppard whose album Hysteria instigated a two year, international world tour. Because both of our careers took us far and wide, Steve and I created a pact: we would never go more than two weeks without seeing each other.  This required one of us to pack a bag and travel to the other one’s working location. We were blessed to be able to do that and sometimes we found ourselves in very far away, foreign places. Nonetheless, Steve and I experienced the term, “living out of a suitcase” to the extreme.

But again, rock stars are pampered to the max and Def Leppard was no exception. Backstage the band had Robin Lemon, the adorable nurturing wardrobe mistress for the entire “Hysteria Tour.” Robin had also worked on the band’s previous “Pyromania Tour,” so she already knew what the band wanted and needed. Robin had road cases filled with the necessities to take care of any situation. From muscle aches to hangovers – from split jeans to big hair 80’s style hair products, to a washing machine, a dryer and even a sewing machine that prompted Steve to give her the pet name “Bobbin!”

I learned a lot from Bobbin those days on the road –especially on how to take care of Steve…but back in our hotel rooms there was something that our beloved Bobbin could not deliver; a place that felt like our own – which led me to this idea: Travel Tote Tip #4 Goddess Survival Kit

Many of you who travel for business may already know the adrenaline that comes with all the unexpected surprises that may come to be. It can be hard to relax in a generic, sometimes cold environment, no matter how “boutique” your hotel may be. Steve and I both had problems calming down after our shows. A day literally “on the run” getting from runway to runway…that would be a private plane or a fashion show in our world, could put our nervous systems into over drive. Hence, the drinking, the sleepless nights, even the loneliness caused by being away from home for months on end. So I began to decorate our rooms. I traveled with candles, incense, matches, scarves, flowers and love.

Steve used to tell me I was a goddess when I would recreate the ambience in our room to make it feel more like home. I’ll never forget the night Steve proposed to me in our hotel room at the Milford Plaza in New York City… I wrote about that night in my book “Runway RunAway: A Backstage pass to Fashion, Romance & Rock ’n Roll. Looking back, I guess you could say that Travel Tote Tip #4 Goddess Survival Kit was a welcomed gift.

If you think you could use a few tricks of the trade check out the video called: Travel Tote Tip #4 Goddess Survival Kit, and “Don’t let your dreams runaway from you!”

Travel Safe and Bring YOUR Style to Life!

Lorelei

 

La Jolla Fashion Film Festival or HSN? by Lorelei Shellist

La Jolla Fashion Film Festival or HSN?

Where do people find their style,  at the La Jolla Fashion Film Festival or HSN? The world is changing at a rapid speed. Anything that crosses our palm pilots can grab our attention and steal away with our most private moments. Our attention spans are limited and so we work fast, eat fast, dress fast and even sleep fast. The Millennial generation today spends much of their time looking down into their phones for everything from music, to food, to fashion. Parents are worried that their kids are missing the beauty of a natural life. Network television is worried that they are not watching their TV shows, while name brands are worried they won’t wear their labels as they gobble up fashion like fast food. The only people who are not worried are the advertisers. With everyone staring at their phones – advertising is literally in their faces!

The greatest quality of life is love. The next best thing is beauty. Beauty represents love in a more physical form. We see love when we see beautiful things. That is why Eckhart Tolle, best known as the author of “The Power of Now,” encourages us to stop and smell the flowers; to be present with ourselves and find the beauty within. That is an experience no one, not even a millennial’ can find in their phones, tablets, or iPads.

La Jolla Fashion Film Festival aka: LJFFF is the largest gathering of fashion filmmakers in the world. It is so exclusive that you have to be invited to attend and you won’t find “in your face” advertising there either. Why? Because Fashion Films were born out of beauty. Fashion for the sake of style. These films represent the beauty of subtlety, and the impact these films have on the viewers subconscious is far more potent than the advertising industry could have ever dreamed of. The founder and producer of LJFFF Fred Sweet knows this, and so do I.

La Jolla Fashion Film Festival or HSN?

When I was a young model living as “an American in Paris,” one of my favorite past times was to go to the cinemas on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. As I struggled with the French language and my American accent, the cinema was my safe place. I could go there to watch movies in English with French subtitles and see images of home. But, they had something more, something different, something special at the movies there…. something we did not have at home. They didn’t show advertising before the films. They didn’t try to sell you coke, cars or candy. They showed beautiful, stunning, glamorous short films made for the fashion houses and perfumeries like Cache, Lolita Lempicka, Cacharel, Guerlin, and other brands that have long since disappeared. They were slow, romantic, and almost dreamlike. They told stories without words and they took the audience on a journey to a place inside themselves. It was an experience to have – but not to hold. Those vignettes drifted away in front of my eyes but remained in my consciousness to this day. What the French did was connect the viewers with their brands through beauty. It was elegant, sophisticated and priceless.

After ten years of living in Europe I became more refined. The American edge I had gone there morphed into a more graceful and sophisticated sense of style. Working as a couture muse in front of the iconic designers Yves St. Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Christian LaCroix and others, taught me to be more conscious of what goes into fashion and what separated the men from the boys. As far as image and branding was concerned it was all about beauty.

I learned so much standing there behind the scenes in those ateliers in Paris, Rome and Milan being pinched and pinned into those glamorous gowns. I lapped up everything I saw from the” tailleurs,” (tailors) to “le petite mains, ” (the one’s hand stitching fine fabrics) to the ones who did the embroideries, the shoes, the hats the accessories…like a thirsty little kitten. I was enthralled at how everyone paid such attention to every detail of beauty and magnificence. It was no wonder these garments were selling for thousands of dollars a piece. Everyone who touched them – blessed them with their presence. There was dignity, dedication, and life, sewn into every single creation. I left Europe completely nourished by the art of fashion and style, as if I had been to the grandest banquet of all.

The nutrition guru David “Avocado” Wolfe is quoted saying, “The subtle energy of your food becomes your mind. The ultimate conclusion of “you are what you eat” is that everything you put into your mouth is going to affect your mind, body & spirit.” Well I say the same thing about fashion: “You are what you wear. The way you show up in the world expresses who you are on the inside – and sends that message to the world outside.”

So what are you feeding yourself and what are you buying into? Is it fast food and fast fashion?

In this blog you will see my own review of LJFFF. I share this with you because it is special to me. One year I was honored to be asked to host and emcee the three-day festival. There I met directors, producers, stylists and make-up artists from around the globe. I enjoyed hearing their personal stories of what brought them to this unique métier. This year I interviewed Linda Comer, director of San Diego Model Management and right hand to Fred Sweet the founder of LJFFF. Linda is a hard working, dedicated, and beautiful woman who started her career in fashion as a perfume model. Comer knows the sweet and sensual scent of the the sweaty fashion industry inside out.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Simone Cipriani, CEO of the Ethical Fashion Initiative which is the operational arm of the International Trade Centre and the Poor Communities Trade Program (PCTP). EFI’s mission is to empower the women who live in third world countries earn fair wages in safe, dignified working environments’. Brands like Stella McCartney, and Vivienne Westwood, are partnering with EFI and having their designs manufactured in this more caring way. It is the only answer to the global problems created by fashions made in sweat shops. When a shopper marvels at a soft cotton T-shirt selling for $3.95 – I hope they ask themselves how a company can they make and sell something for that low a price? You will be surprised at what the answer to that question is. What is the cost to all of us…really?

I love fashion and I love to express myself through the way I dress in the best way I can. I also love to design minimal items that encompass all one needs to live a life of luxury sparingly. The luxurious life I lived meant traveling to the “collections” in runway of fashion. Literally living out of a suitcase jumping from taxis to metros, and from trains to planes. It’s not as glamorous as it sounds – carrying those bags yourself -so I learned all I really needed to be presentable was a few select items. That is why I have created the Runway RunAway Collection (®) and The Dream Dress (®) for the entrepreneurial woman on the go! The Dream Dress (®) will take you anywhere. With your RRC(®) Travel Totes in tow, you’ll have all you need. The unfortunate thing is here in America we don’t have the cinematic Champs-Élysées subtle style of selling fashion. So, my intention is to launch my Runway RunAway Collection (®) at LJFFF in full fashion film form next year. Next, I will air it on the Home Shopping Network (HSN) where you’ll find it on your phone!

From the La Jolla Fashion Film Festival to HSN …in this day and age, that is where fashion seems to be!

From fashion to film to you!

Love, Lorelei