Monday, February 20, 2012

Lulu's Style Studio

So apparently there are perks to being a quirky musician who wears crazy clothes and sometimes blogs about those clothes...I mean, aside from the obvious perk of just being that kinda gal. I was lucky to attend a fabulous Lulus.com Fashion Week shindig on February 10th. I couldn't stay for too long because I had to rock out Bar East that night, but I had a great time during my short visit.

I was greeted at the door by an incredibly friendly staffer who immediately gave me a cute little canvas tote filled with goodies. Directly behind check-in was a table for Cravebox.com, who set me up with a free mini sample box of stuff, including some fabulous skin care products from Amore Pacific. Cravebox is great, 'cause if you sign up (for a very low monthly fee, $10/month), they will send you a box every month filled with deluxe-size samples of fabulous luxury health and beauty goods! And these samples are huge. Often samples are tiny little one-or-two-use dealies, but I'm not even halfway through that delicious Amore Pacific eye cream.

Hypnotiq Vodka was next in the queue of fabulous vendors, and they gave us all little goody bags full of brightly colored candies and mints as well as delicious free cocktails. And anyone who's been to one of my shows knows that I'm a sucker for a free drink.

lulus style studio
Fancy shoes and lip tattoos.


I kind of had to breeze quickly through the room, but I picked up some fabulous treats from CorSilver, Mereadesso Woman (amazing lip balm!), Tenatura (via Etsy, also delish lip balm), Pop Beauty, NYX, and a variety of others. They even had a few racks of fantastic clothing pieces from which each guest got to select and take home a free piece! Unfortunately I had to leave before the giveaway, but in my canvas goodie bag was a variety of coupons for free or discounted products also sold through Lulus.com!

lulus style studio 2
Spin the wheel for even more amazing prizes!


I had a fantastic time mixing and mingling with other fashion bloggers and sampling all the lovely pretty girl treats. You can check out the official recap here.


When I got home, I perused Lulu's to see if they had anything that would work for playing gigs. I consider what I wear to be an important part of the whole performance package. I think a lot of musicians are the same way. Even if they look like they just rolled out of bed and came to the show, there was usually some thought put into picking just the right t shirt. As I was window shopping, I put together some fantasy performance outfits with pieces from Lulu's and other online retailers.

Coffee Shop
Angie Coffee Shop Gig


The first is for a coffee shop gig. These shows are usually acoustic and very laid back. They also often happen on a weekend afternoon, so it's a much more casual atmosphere. I usually dress like I would if I were meeting someone at the coffee shop for a date. The dress and boots from Lulu's are a great mix of sweet and rugged, and I added some fun items from across the pond, including an Alexander McQueen leather jacket that costs about as much as my rent. But, these are fantasy outfits, so a girl can dream big, right?


Dive Bar
Angie Dive Bar


While I love doing a little acoustic jam at a coffee shop, I think my favorite places to play are dive bars. The drinks are cheap and I get to rock out with a full band, getting all sweaty and ferocious. Everything in this set is from Lulu's, except the t shirt, which I already own, and the jacket, which I really wish I owned. I'm also really craving those faux leather leggings.


Lounge or Club
Angie Club


Lounges and clubs give me a chance to go all out and add some real drama to my performance clothes. I'm very much drawn to the Victorian aesthetic, but also, as a girl raised on Madonna, I sometimes like to just perform in my underwear. This outfit features a bustier and sequin shorts from Lulu's. I consider sequin shorts to be a potential staple in my performance wardrobe, but haven't quite found the perfect pair yet. These look like they'd fit the bill. Again, another fantastically expensive Alexander McQueen jacket makes an appearance, alongside some equally unattainable Fluevog boots.

Overall, there were a lot of cute things at Lulu's that would work for my performance wardrobe and for every day wear. (I'll talk to you guys about the art of layering eventually.)

Hopefully Lulus will have another event in the fall...if so, I will definitely be there, and hopefully won't have to leave so quickly!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

OurStage Update

Ukulele Love Song Art

April here! Just wanted to give you a quick update on last month's competition at OurStage.com, and how you can help out this month.


The video for Ukulele Love Song finished 58 out of 123 Country videos in January! It was 18 slots shy of moving on to the semifinals, so we're confident that we can make it this month.

The prize is $100 if it wins the Country Videos channel, and $1000 if she is number one across all videos in the finals.

OurStage is a unique competition site, in that it's not just about sending your fans over to vote for you. It's not a popularity contest. You have to listen and judge a variety of songs within a genre. It's not only a great way for emerging artists to gain exposure, it's a great way for fans to discover new artists.

If you've got some time to kill and want to listen to some new music, give it a shot. If Angie is in the top 40 by the last week of the month, she'll move on to the next round.

Here's how it works. Go to OurStage and register as a fan. Once you're in, go to Angie's profile and become her fan. This is not necessary, but it can make judging easier. I'll explain how in a bit.

Now you're all ready to judge. You'll want to click on the "Judge" link on the left hand side under "My Apps."

This month, "Ukulele Love Song" is entered in Country Videos and Folk. We also entered my favorite Angie song, "Just by Being You" in the Female Singer/Songwriter competition. Just click on any of those channels and you're ready to go. You can choose to judge two songs head to head, or stack rank four songs at a time. Being Angie's fan on OurStage means that her entry will come up sooner in the judging. I'll usually do a little judging while I'm randomly browsing or reading blog posts.

Another cool feature is that you get a Judging Influence ranking. This is based on how much time you actually spend listening to the songs, how often you judge, how much consideration you put into your voting, etc. If your influence increases, your votes mean more.

And hey, if you think that another song you hear is better than "Ukulele Love Song," vote accordingly! Artists don't improve by having smoke blown up their asses. They improve from honest feedback.


So it's definitely not as easy as just clicking over and voting, but we think it's awesome that she's getting pitted head to head with others in the same genre. I've personally discovered several new artists that I enjoy through the voting process.

Give it a try, and leave a comment if you have any questions.