Fashiontolive x Black Feather Boutique : Y2K Inspired Look & StoryTime & Laid Back Dinner Date

Now before anyone starts, I was a product of Y2k and the fashion so if anyone would know it would be us, I know I look younger than I am though. At my time that this look was a "lewk" I was young enough to have no money and tons of ambition and my favorite show was "Popular" on the WB and I was about to start high school soon. I watched a lot of WB shows like Sister Sister and the Steve Harvey Show for example, but Popular had the fashion and I guess I was the target age.

Then "Felicity" came out my Freshman year and all the WB/CW shows all had the looks I wanted (I loved "Charmed", but I never had the money to afford them. Anyhow, I found a way to get a few looks in the 9th-10th grade by skipping lunch for weeks at a time (I think 7$ a week because I got 2.50$ a day or something like that and going to RAVE at the mall or shopping 5,7,9 clearance to buy some cheap clothes. I could get 1 new shirt a week or a bunch of accessories from Claire's.

Now to be clear, I wasn't missing a meal per say, I ate at home, I ate all the time from vending machines at school (I know that is no better), school lunch was garbage and a lot of times all of us would skip it until we got the paid line which was fast food, but that is another story.

My big brother bought me clothes from "Wet Seal" my 9th grade year (my first year of highschool) and I will never forget that because he didn't even have to do it and he told me to get whatever I wanted and no one had ever done that before other than my aunt in 6th grade.

Things got a lot better once I got a job at 16 (FINALLY, it was so hard for me to find a job).

I have always loved fashion and I can always make anything work. I remember even in 4th grade my teacher pulled me to the side and said "You really care about how you look and fashion". That could have been shade, I don't know I was so young, but I remember that- also that teacher was never really nice to me (I won't forget her because she was so mean). I was basically in classes with people who were upper middle class (usually only Black girl) and I was like "Man, I would love a shirt from Rave so I can look cool." That sounds so funny now to me as an adult, but you know we all have these kinds of stories.

I found a way to make it work and back then there weren't a lot of jobs in Tampa. You either worked at a grocery store, a restaurant in a plaza, Busch Gardens or Adventure Island.

Anyway, that is just my two cents. It was raining tonight so I took two sets of photos and I posted both. I really could have went a way different direction with this look, I could have been like low cut, boobs out, sexy, Summer etc, but when I saw the dress it made me think about the Summer I was going to finally be a real high-schooler and how much I loved the fashions of 99' to the 2000's. We will never have that time again no matter how much people try to recreate it now. There was something there that is no longer there today and it is just really raw and emotional and beautiful and innocent.

So, here you go, they may not be the best photos or my best look, but you know my mindset. The dress was sent to me and I did with it what I wanted. I hope you all can appreciate 1. the story and 2. the styling because even down to the hand bag all of this is literally 2,000's fashion, but modern. I personally am happy and in disbelief it's been 20 years and this stuff has come back around (WHAT?!).

And you know what, I kept a lot of my Y2k stuff- it is vintage now. I wish I had kept more, but a lot also did not fit because back then like I said I ate everything and I didn't get sick all the time from food so I was like 4 sizes bigger I am pretty much a 0 now, in high school I was 3/4.

It was a fun time; that is when I met the love of my life- so there you go.

Alexa "Play What a Girl Wants By Christina Aguilera"

2 sets of photos, honestly it happens sometimes. I wanted to take some with my hair down and the lighting was better in the hair up, but I also liked hair down too because it showed the true color of the dress and I liked my hair down.

Tangerine Floral Tropics Maxi Dress: C/O Black Feather Boutique

Like any of the dresses I have worn by them? They are a local Boutique. You can use my code Airie20 for 20% off your order at checkout

White T-shirt: Red Dress Boutique, not recent

Market Bag: Apolis

Wedges: Jimmy Choo, not recent

Heart Statement Earrings: C/O Ettika

Chocker Necklaces: Ettika, similar

Lipstick: MAC Tarnished reputation

Gloss: Fenty Glossbomb Tangerine

Pho813

Beef Pho

Gluten free with no Hoisin Sauce

So, coincidentally, the first time I had real authentic Pho and Bun Bo Hue was when I was at University at I attended the University of South Florida for reference. I found a place that had authentic Vietnamese food within walking distance of campus. I am not going to give the name because their reviews are really questionable now.

This was in 2011 and I was pretty much gluten free and always sick because of Celiacs. Both of these dishes I learned about because I followed so many Vietnamese YouTubers and Bloggers (fashion and hair) and I could no longer have Traditional Ramen which is what I was used to so I was learning more about their food and liking it!!! I desperately wanted any noodle dish because I grew up eating Ramen, but way before there was even an Instagram or really a real blogging space, hubs and I would take road trips to Orlando and just eat only Traditional Japanese ramen at many places, but we had a favorite spot that closed after the pandemic started sadly

Some of those food photos I took there are literally some of the first photos I ever posted on Instagram now like 12 years ago.

When I got introduced to Pho and Bun Bo Hue via the Vietnamese YouTubers and Bloggers years before Instagram it was like "Oh, hello, you wish you could have Ramen, but you now have Celiacs Disease...how about Pho". It took a long time to adjust, but I actually prefer Pho to Ramen now. Most of the time I miss just the texture of the Ramen noodles, but not anything else. Pho is really like where it is at for me when it is GOOD.

Now everyone loves both cultures noodle bowls right, I am really glad for the time I had real Traditional Ramen I had it and appreciated it and it was before this foodie stuff on social media. Respect. But I give respect to Pho and other bowls that can be traditional, but also gluten free and that has given me a chance to further develop my palette and not miss out on an amazing Culture. RESPECT.