Jessica McClintock: The End of an Era

While perusing the interwebs recently I found a shocking article. The title told it all; "Prom Favorite Jessica McClintock has Retired & is No Longer Manufacturing Dresses"

Sad but true. McClintock quietly closed her doors earlier this year. No press releases or fancy send offs, just a closing of all boutiques and the slow removal of her merchandise from stores.  Both Ashley and I wore her to our own senior prom. To say the least the article sent us both into a weird nostalgia, for high school and our prom. We had a fabulous time at prom and our dresses were key to our prom success. We decided to look back to our prom as well as pay tribute to this amazing designer.

My date and I always thought this pic should be in a prom magazine

One of the best/funniest photos, not planned at all. Our other besties just happened to be in the back posing for a pic

And I have no idea what I am doing here. Clearly something ridic is happening off camera

Check out the full article about McClintock here.

Some of McCLintock's other designs

Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more AKA goodness!

Who did you wear to prom? Tell us below!

-K

Interweb Goodies

Is it really Wednesday already!?

Why yes indeed it is, this week we have a crop of great links for you to check out. Enjoy and explore!

Image via Buzzfeed

• Oakland is by far one of the coolest cities ever! We may be biased but check out these 20 things about Oakland that just may surprise and entice you.

• Is anyone else way to into Google doodles? Check out the amazing student artwork turned in for Google's annual doodle contest.

• Here's some tips and tricks to stay healthy and easy on the wallet - def need both in our lives!

• A little wildfire didn't stop this couple from their wedding and may have even added to their ceremony, check out their amazing photos.

• And last but never least check out a beautiful new post on comfort & style from good friend and fellow blogger Amy!

-A&K

Nasville: Day

Hey ya'll I recently went to Nashville for a family wedding and it was great! I was there for a week and everything was new as it was my first time traveling there. A lot of time was spent with family catching up and going to and from wedding activities. I did however get to do a fair bit of sightseeing.

For my Nashville posts I decided to break it up by day and night. This post will include fun stuff to check out during the day while next week's post will fill you in on all the night time activities and hot spots.

Downtown Nashville is great. Busy and full of music. I would definitely suggest that you just wander around the city and check out the great boot shops, local and iconic music venues, bars and crazy souvenir shops. Its a great place to explore.

While visiting you should check out...

• The Hermitage: Home where 7th Prez Andrew Jackson lived. Beautiful grounds, home and garden and now I know a shit ton about him and his wife, he loved her so much!

Grounds at The Hermitage

• Centennial Park: Go on Fri or Sat when they have free music, specifically Musicians Corner. This was one of my fave things we did. Great park with a replica Parthenon, so random. Great free music and amazing food trucks!! Win-Win-Win

Deliciousness at Centennial Park

• Gayord Opryland Resort: Most people will tell you to go to the Grand Ole Opry but I'm not so into country music, so I went to this ridic resort next to it. So beautiful, must check out the crazy over the top indoor gardens and atrium. So pretty to walk around, you can shop, get ice cream, grab a meal and even take a boat ride on the river, did I mention this is all inside the hotel! 

Epicness at Gaylord Opryland

• Shelby St Bridge: Nice walking brige, gives you a good view of the down town area and the Cumberland river. 

• Cumberland Park: Once you walk over the Shelby St Bridge you can walk or take an elevator down to the park. Its really pretty, they have water fountain for you and your dog. A concession stand with Icees and a great water feature for you and the kids to play in because it does get hot!

View of Cumberland Park from the Shelby St Bridge

• Third Man Records: This is Jack White's ultra cool studio space and gift shop. Little outside the downtown area but cool to check out if your a fan.

• Cotton Eyed Joes: Great name, great souvenirs. Go ahead and pick yourself up something you could only find in Tennessee! I myself got an epic hat and shotglass here.

Eat & day drink here!

• Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant: Great food, well priced and excellent service. Almost half the wedding guests went to brunch here the day after the ceremony and they took great care of us. The breakfast buffet was on point. 

• Sonic: Ok maybe this isn't that exciting to other people but it was my first time having Sonic out there. Tator tots and a slush, what more could a girl ask for. 

Hair a mess, snacks the best

• The Flying Saucer: A zillion beers on tap, ok maybe more like 100 but its still a ton. Cool space and great beers and food. Best Pretzels ever, even the mustard was killer. 

• Nashville and Tennesee in general is home to many great breweries and vineyards, I definitely suggest you partake in a tour or two. We weren't able to go to a brewery but we did visit Beachaven a local winery that is family owned and operated in Clarksville. It is a beautiful little vineyard, take the tour and taste the wine, so good. 

The Bro at Beachaven

Obviously many of these places can be visited during the evening as well, these are merely my suggestions. Happy travels!

-K

Hair Care

The always talked about topic with women - our hair. We either love it, want to cut it all off, want to dye it, or a mixture of everything. I for one, have never dyed my hair - I have a natural - auburn, strawberry blonde, copper color. I like to keep it long so I can wear it in a variety of different ways. I think each of us has a few products, hairstyles, and hair accessories that we love, since Kira just  did a hair post I thought I would do one as well. 

There are a couple of products that I swear by: 

Garnier Fructis Brilliantine Shine - It is the perfect finishing spray. On my really good hair days I like to spray it on to just give my hair some extra shine. 

Tresemme Heat Protector - I lightly spray this on my hair before I curl it or straighten it. It smells great and really helps. 

Suave Dry Shampoo - The lazy girl’s go-to. I mostly use this pre-brunch (aka post drinking the night before) Saturdays. When washing/drying/styling my hair is going to take waayyy long before I’m supposed to meet friends. 

Kerastase Elixir Ultime - By far the priciest product I use on my hair, however one bottle lasts forever! It completely smooths out your hair of fly-aways and gives it a nice shine. 

Follow along on Twitter and Instagram! 

-A

Fashion Fridays: OutLook.Clothing

Ever thought about starting your own brand? Here are some graduating high school seniors who made it a reality. This week we talked with Mike, one of the founders of OutLook Clothing, about his inspirations for the brand. The other two founders include Alex, Ashley's younger brother, and his friend Oscar. We think today is an appropriate day to feature this up-and-coming brand since tomorrow these three will be graduating!

OutLook.Clothing is a street-style brand, they have a variety of apparel and merchandise. 

How did OutLook.Clothing start? 

OutLook.Clothing (OTLK.) is a Bay Area lifestyle brand created in the fall/winter of 2012 and established in 2013. The reason I created OutLook.ClothingSF was because I’m really into the street wear culture and I have good eye in design. I knew I could not do it by myself so I brought along two of my closets friends Alex and Oscar as co-founders.

How did you come up with the name? 

It took us a while to decide a name for the brand, but I had already made up a list with Alex, and one day I was thinking of what I wanted it to mean, so I chose the name OutLook. The three of us agreed to it, and we established it.

Where do you wish to see Outlook.Clothing go in the future? 
I want to take it to the top. In 10 years I can see us with our own flagship store in San Francisco, CA

Where do you gain inspiration for the company? 

Just the name of the brand says it all, reaching goals, and they just pop in my head.

How do you define street style? 
I define it a way to express your self with clothing. Being into the street wear game made me learn a lot, we all have different opinions but mine is just to express yourself.

Founders Mike, Oscar, and Alex

Check out OutLook.Clothing's website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more information on their brand and some awesome clothes!


If you are a clothing company, blogger, or fashion lover and want to be featured on an upcoming Fashion Fridays, please send us an email! 

Follow along with us on Twitter and Instagram for all of our favorite fashions! 

-A&K 

Hair: Cut More, Worry Less

If your thinking about cutting your hair, just do it!

There are always a zillion reasons not to. I myself had a huge list...

But fuck the list and do what you want. 

Its liberating. 

Yes it is scary but its worth it and guess what, hair grows. So worst case scenario you just grow it out. 

I just cut most of my hair off. Did I wake up the next morning in shock, yes but I've grown to like it more and more everyday. So much so that I think i'll go even shorter for my next cut. If the idea of going zero to pixie is too much for you then cut your hair in stages. Try out a few looks along the way, ease into it. However there is something very satisfying about a nice swift chop.

This is what my hair looked like before

I thought about this cut for way too long. I really thought to be attractive was to have long hair. I made my hair into a weird security blanket and didn't want to give it up. But I needed a change and don't regret it at all. 

So again if your thinking about it just dive in. Short hair is beautiful and fun and not forever. Have fun with your look and your style. Don't be afraid to be different or to try something new.

Happy Hair Day!

-K

Interweb Goodies

Loving this horoscope inspired nail art!

Ashley has been drooling over everything on J. Crew Factory recently!

If you haven't checked it out yet Goodreads is an awesome site for your inner book nerd.

Easy DIY centerpieces from Real Simple

Blake Lively's hair from the CFDA Awards is super inspiring for summer

Follow along with Twitter and Instagram for more finds throughout the week!!

-A&K