Flower Dress ideal for all four seasons

Over Valentines Day, I went to Las Vegas, NV for the Magic Fashion Convention and decided to have a few photo shoots with our offerings. It was so much fun and I am now addicted to traveling and shooting and networking and getting out and meeting everyone and sharing my love for vintage and fashion. I will be sharing various looks over the upcoming weeks and I hope you enjoy them.

The model we used for the shoot was Kayla Kalisz who is a wonderful dancer, model, aerialist and actress based out of Vegas and California. You can book Kayla at kaykaykalisz@yahoo.com The Photographer is Carrier Pollard and she creates some amazing work. You can contact carrier at carrie@carriepollardphotography.com

This dress is great. It is form fitting and has the cutest flower pattern. When I saw Kayla in this dress, my heart melted. 

This dress can be styled year round. You can wear knee high brown boots in the fall, low white sneakers or boho sandals in the summer and ankle boots in the winter and spring. In the winter you can also toss a cute sweater over top of the dress to stay extra cozy. 

 I hope you enjoyed this look. 

How would you style this look? What hair would you rock and where would you wear this dress?

Chat with you soon.

XOXO

Renee 

The leaves have fallen

Its a beautiful day in Chicago, its estimated to be a high of 55 and sunny. Walking around this morning, I noticed that all the leaves have pretty much fallen off the trees. So, in honor of the final falling of the leaves, I am going to share some photos of this super cute vintage skirt I found while visiting Milwaukee.

The pattern is abstract so I am pretty sure not all of you will see leaves but this skirt 100% reminds me of falling leaves. The skirts ankle length with a tapered waist with button closure. It has pleating in the front and back near the top to create more of a figure. This skirt is just so super cute and I am so happy to be sharing it with you. 

We paired this skirt with a white tank top and suede vest with wool lining as it was 85 the day we took this photo. You could however pair this with a blouse, turtle neck, t-shirt, boots and lots more. It's super versatile so its all about being creative and playing around to discover new looks. I would also wear this skirt for work, girls night, shopping, date night and pretty much anywhere else.  

I hope you enjoy this skirt as much as I do. What would you pair this skirt or vest with?

 - Renee -

P.S. don't forget, most items in my blog are for sale in my boutique. Email for pricing and sizing 

Rock Star

This entire outfit makes my heart melt and leaves me wanting to hug my family. I know you are probably thinking...okay weirdo this outfit makes you feel like that!? So let me just elaborate a little.....

This Rock Star outfit has bits and pieces of wonderful memories from my childhood and honeymoon. AWE LOVE.

This amazing faux leather puff jacket was purchased in London on my honeymoon, 7 years ago. I took one look at the puff on the shoulder and just had to have it. The vintage red gloves and purse were my mothers from the 80's and I remember her wearing them with some killer red boots. The black oversized sunglasses were a super sweet Goodwill find along with that amazingly bold vintage scarf....just imagine the creative ways to wear that scarf...we will save that for another blog post. AND...the black sequin dress was a dress that my older sister Brianna wore to one of our family Christmas vacation dinners when we were young teens. 

I grew up in a small Illinois town, made up of 3500 people and my parents felt that it was important to take trips each winter to the BIG City...aka Chicago, to help make sure that we understood that there was more to our future than a small town. We would get 2 rooms at the Palmer House and live like princesses for a day or two, walking all over Chicago and trying new types of foods and go to the theater dressed up like we were going to prom.  I believe this was the best thing they every could have done for us and it created wonderful memories year after year, after year. And because I love my family so much...watching Meisha model this outfit, just melted my heart.

How amazing are those EXTRA tall heels!? If you were in an environment where heels are not the best option or you are anti heels, I would pair this outfit with black suede wedges, sequin boots, combat boots or a cute pair of black or red flats.  

For Meisha's make up, we decided to keep it fun and bold. We drew attention to her beautiful eyes with gold liquid eye shadow around the outside, which highlighted her amazing bone structure and paired well with her bold purple hair.  

We also went with a smokey eye with black and a bright pink eye shadow and created even more of a rock star look by giving her a little wing with eye liner.

Because her outfit, hair, and eyes were so bold, we decided to keep her lips and cheeks neutral. With a model this beautiful, we could have done just about anything and she would have looked like a Rock Star!

The dress, jacket and scarf are available for purchase through our Etsy shop and Instagram page. Or just shoot me an email and we can chat about what you are looking for.  

XOXOXOX - Renee

Girl Boss

While wearing this outfit, I felt like the pimpiest of pimps...pimping out my vintage wears that is.  Add a walking stick with a gold hawk on the top and BAM, I'm the most bad ass Girl Boss in all of the lands!

For this look, we paired my jumpsuit, which I found on Groupon, with a vintage perfume necklace from Avon, which now holds my good luck crystals and stones. A vintage all black hat and faux fur coat with beautiful copper colored lining and collar, which was a Goodwill find.

We also decided to go big on the arm candy, by pairing a cluster ring, which used to be my mothers, with a copper color similar to the jackets lining,  A really neat vintage XXL ring with the most interesting detailing and the most chunkiest bangle I have ever owned. I felt like wonder woman while wearing it. Both the ring and the bangle were a Goodwill find. Yes....I spend many hours sorting thought Goodwill Bins.

I also have another addiction I haven't told many about, but you will find out soon anyway, so why not hear it from me. I am addicted to vintage American Tourister Bags. I travel with them, use them for my laptop, take to the gym...they are bright, leather and stunning. I just LOVE them. So guess what....we decided to pair one with this Girl Boss outfit.

One of my favorite parts of owing a Boutique, is coming up with the look, the hair, the make up...everything...its what keeps me ticking day after day. So, for this look we were blessed with two amazing artist from Jean Marie Salon www.jeanmariesalonandspa.com Check the salon out! @hair_by_richelle on instagram or ask for Richelle at the salon.  

We decided to go with a more BOHO vibe with two fishtail braids which were pulled and tugged to create this carefree hairstyle, with ringlets surrounding the face.

Being that the outfit made me feel mega bad ass, we decided to go with bold make up. I rocked this same makeup at a few music festivals this past summer...fun times. For the make up, we used basic scotch tape to create a design and then add color where needed. We outlined the lips in a darker red and utilized a light pink lipstick, to create more drama. I love this look, just love love love it!

The jacket and some accessories can be found on our etsy page. We also have some vintage jumpsuits still listed at this time. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach on out. www.etsy.com/shop/DiscoverMelange

TGIF - Have a wonderful and safe Super Bowl weekend!

xoxoxox - Renee

Blue Skies Smiling At Me

When I saw this Amazing Blue Vintage Jumpsuit, I fell madly in love and had to have it. Not for myself....well kind of...I HAD to wear it once...ya know...make sure the quality is up to par. LOL. All joking aside, I had to have it so I can share it with the vintage community. I love finding vintage but it is not always my size, style or color but I still buy it. I think I may have a vintage shopping addiction. I truly hope to find this bad ass jumpsuit the perfect home.

This jumpsuit can easily be dressed up or down. It can also be used for many different styles. For this outfit we made it more late 80's early 90's by adding this bold pattern jacket with oversized shoulder pads and collar. This jacket will have a blog post all to itself. I just love it. but lets save that for another day.

If the jacket was removed, you would find two front breast pocket with snap closures as well as two front pockets over your thighs. I'm a sucker for pockets so this is kind of a big deal to me. The other big deal when it comes to jumpsuits is that is gives a good shape. This Blue Jumpsuit has an elastic waistband. Yes you heard me...ELASTIC WAISTBAND!! To me this means two things. 1) Because the band is elastic that means it will fit a wider range of sizes and 2) you will have a nice tapered waist. Which is important when working with a vintage jumpsuit.

If you haven't worn a jumpsuit before, its worth giving them a try. It may take a minute or two to find your ideal jumpsuit, but its worth the search. Jumpsuits can empower you while still making you feel femanine. You will feel like you can conquer the world and take on whatever it is life throws your way.  

For more information please visit my Etsy Shop https://www.etsy.com/listing/469566700/blue-1980s-jumpsuit?ref=shop_home_active_41

XOXOX

Renee

And so it begins

My name is Renee and I am the owner of Discover Mélange; an online vintage and vintage inspired boutique

 I was raised by two amazing parents both with a passion for family, food, The Arts, being "BOLD" and being "YOU".  I truly couldn't have asked for two better people to gather genes from.

Like most children of the 80's, we were the poster children for bad trends. I know I am not the only one to fall victim to French rolled jeans, teased hair, applying WAY too much Aqua Net or the dreaded oversized shoulder pads! I think it is safe to say that we had to learn how to own, rock, and survive our childhood wardrobes.

Throughout my childhood, I saw my mom getting dressed in modern bright bold colors and patterns while paring them with her vintage hats, shoes and accessories. I always found it so fascinating how she could mix, blend and mingle different eras and trends and come up with this one of a kind style that seemed to make everyone gravitate towards her. She was truly the first #melangegirl and inspired what I like to call #melangestyle

Mélangestyle is about being BOLD and being YOU. Taking your favorite trends from the past and blending them into present day life, resulting in a Mélange style that you can call your own. The purpose of my blog and Discover Mélange is to provide exciting recipes, vintage fashions, home furnishings and entertainment, creating the synergy needed for a happy, healthy, well balanced soul.  

I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you! Keep checking back for more Melange Tips.

XOXO - Renee