Electrical engineering merging fashion. Let’s meet Vanessa

Voyavanessa is her instagram name, Vanessa Smith is an Electrical engineer merging fashion and Engineering. If I can choose one word to describe Vanessa I’ll easily choose “energetic” . She’s full of life, fearless, motivate, from Colorado to New York to follow her dreams. For Vanessa the most important things in her life are : God, Family/friends and finding what you love to do. When I approach Vanessa about this interview for my blog, she gave me an instant response. So nice of a person , She’s someone that girls can look up to. How dedicated and  passionate she is. Let’s meet Vanessa then

TeddyXfashion: hello Vanessa

Vanessa : Good morning

TeddyXfashion: it’s a honor for me to have you as a guest for my blog.

Vanessa : Thank you so much for thinking of having me !

Can you please introduce yourself. Who is Vanessa ?

Hi everyone! I’m Vanessa Samuel and I like to consider myself to have an outgoing bubbly and fun personality ! I am the oldest in my family and have three siblings and we’re all close in age. I’m an electrical engineer and fashionista. I’ve always been curious as to how things work and have an appreciation for beauty, colors, and style! The three things in my life that are the most important to me are : God, Family&Friends, and finding what you love to do!

From your instagram biography when I see electrical engineer merging fashion. How do you combine fashion and electrical engineering?

It’s actually a difficult process and in the moment I’m still in the research phase on the fashion side but basically I’m trying to figure out how to make fashion more sustainable when it comes to recycling of textiles and clothing to fiber science and how we can use science to manipulate different types of fabrics to benefit our skin or other issues that people may have with their skin. For example I have eczema so I have to be very conscious of what I wear and it would be really neat if there were a clothing line or something that I could wear that would initially help my skin or help me not to sweat as often or can help with healing my skin so that’s one example of where my research headed.

Where is your love for fashion come from?

My love for fashion began ever since I could remember ! Fashion and beauty were things that I just really gravitated towards and I just enjoyed it I love seeing how you can transform your face but also how you can wear something  that can give you so much confidence and make you feel like you’re ready for anything ! To be honest I can’t even explain why it is that I love fashion . Have you ever had those moments where your heart just feels super warm and happy? I know that’s kind of strange to say but that’s the way I feel when I have on an outfit  that makes me feel confident, sexy, beautiful and like I can conquer the world ! Not only that but I’ve always been intrigued by how people can design such intricate and beautiful pieces of clothing that are essentially wearable art. In every culture, fashion is a huge part of it , without fashion, part of culture ceases to exist. It’s amazing how you can define a certain time in your life by things that you wore or even the cultural dynamic of a nation by the things that people war so fashion is a huge thing for me.

I do understand and agree with you when you said that fashion can give someone confidence and make you feel fearless. That’s why I’m always saying that “ Fashion is a self expression” You can easily express how you feel through an outfit. On that note if you can give a definition for fashion which is your own, what would it be ?

Fashion is the wearable art that portrays the personality of the inside of a person on the outside.  

From Edgy, Street fashion, chic fashion, there are so many. Where do you stand? How would you describe your personal style?

My personal style is a plethora of different style, categories combined. The most prominent styles of mine are city chic, edgy and preppy all with a touch of glam!

The reason why it’s a combination of these is because overtime, I’ve cultivated ( and I’m still cultivating) my style.

For example, during the fall and winter. I’m more city chic and edgy. During the summer I am more preppy as I feel that those types of clothing look better in me during the summer. So a lot of my style has to do with the season that were in and how I feel wearing certain clothing.

It also has to do with the way my skin is feeling. Since I have eczema I am always in the search for the compatibility of softness with the style categories stated above ! So for instance today I’m going to work and I’ve been having flares up  so I need to be sure that my pants are soft and my top is soft but that I don’t look like I’m wearing sweats.

When did you start blogging and what motivated you?

I started blogging in 2014. But not seriously until last year, it’s actually a lot of work and I’m still working on it. My sister actually had a blog and I have decided that I wanted to do a blog as well but to talk about fashion. To be honest I think I’m going to start getting more into video side because I preferred to speak instead of write but the blog is important for those who like to read and to keep your home base.

From personal experience I know that we all have our source of inspiration. Do you have anyone that inspire you?

Yes I have so many people that inspire me.

First and foremost my mom because she is a woman in electrical engineering who built her own company.

Oprah who defied all odds and worked so hard to get where she is today.

Michelle Obama who is such an inspiration for women and what it means to be a leader.

My sister Crystal who is an extremely hard worker.

My sister Evelyn who is an incredibly disciplined and always up for an adventure.

My brother Howie and my dad who are great examples of what it means to be men of God !

My friends who are go-getters ! (there’s a lot haha!)

To be honest I wanted to ask her more about herself, her journey and of course her projects. Such a beautiful soul, but Vanessa is really disciplined, her days are well planned and I can tell you that she has a busy schedule. So having her sharing with us some of her time was really precious. But we will probably  have her again.

Follow her Instagram page : @voyavanessa

“A bad day is only as bad as you let it be”

We all have bad days, we all know these days where we don’t want to wake up. For a long time I was always in a bad mood, I never knew how to start a day with joy, it has always been, bad mood, not feeling it. Some days you’re going through some hard times, you wish you could have stay home and not seeing anybody so you don’t interact with people and maybe they won’t know you’re having a bad day nor you’re going through something.  

There’s something I really like to say, I’m surely paraphrasing, “your happiness depend on you”.

That is so true, we need to be predisposed to be happy, that’s not gonna happen without our consent. But also, know that there’s no one better than you that can make you happy or is responsible for your happiness

In this blog post I’m going to give you some tips to embrace your day with joy, excitement and of course gratitude.

How do you start your day? Not so long ago, I learned that the first two hours after you wake up are the hours that will determine your day. This two hours are crucial, and you need to know exactly how you choose to spend these hours.

For instance, maybe you didn’t have a good night sleep, and when you wake up, you have that mood that you don’t know how to shift. No matter what you are going through cherish the fact that you are able to make it to another day and you have all the reasons to be happy. It’s all about your mindset. Take control over your life, take control over your day and make your day awesome. How can you do that

Advice 1: Have faith in music

Music is powerful and if you don’t like music, you should actually try it.  They say “music connect all emotions” and it’s so true. It can be the rhythm that can make you feel good, sometimes it’s the lyrics that is going to make you feel that type of way. You might feel that the singer knows about your pain, you might feel like the song is about you and someone do understand how you feel. This is such a great feeling when we feel understood. If you wake up and you not feeling it, put some music, dance to the rhythm, feel the emotions and this can actually can change your whole mood and who knows?? Your whole day

Here some music that can help you start your day and having that awesome day.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=RDEM9E_ik5ScxhRL1c_HWNxA2A

Advice 2: wake up and make up

You don’t want to wake up, you feel like the world is against you, you feel that everything is going bad in your life, you’re feeling not so excited about the day. Just do a flawless makeup and you’re good to go. it’s seems quite not effective but there’s nothing more effective than starting a day with confidence. And makeup can give you that boost of confidence.

Advice 3 : the outfit

Did you know the way you dress also determine whether you’re going to have a good day or not.

Let me explain you how!!

Wearing a jogger a hoodie and your sneakers, the world already know there’s something going on and this is not your type of day. You’re sending message through your outfit. You’re also sending negative energy to the universe.

Even you don’t feel like it, if you can wear bright colors to light up your day, do it. If you have a favorite dress or even your favorite outfit, wear it.

But most importantly, dress yourself in a way that you feel good, you feel awesome. Dress yourself in a way that you feel comfortable, add some accessories to your outfit. Just do the absolute most in order to feel good about yourself and have an amazing day.

Some days I don’t even feel like dressing up, but I always remind myself : I said ; “Teddy I know you’re not ok and it’s ok, but don’t give on yourself easily. Make this day a wonderful day, I know you can.” And from there, while I’m in the shower I put louder my favorite music of the moment. After I take care of my face, not necessarily makeup. But my skincare routine is my little ritual. Finally I put on something I really like and there I go.

I still remember that day I wasn’t really ok. But you couldn’t tell, I wore this dress that I like so much. And I did a glowing makeup. To be honest I felt better.

Maybe you have your personal tips for an awesome day. Feel free to share with me. Tell me how you start your day in the comments below.

Don’t forget to subscribe so you can stay connected with me.

Stay awesome, until next time

Your girl, Teddy

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Don’t set limits on your unlimited potential

One of my biggest fear is “limitation” since I was a teen, I was always afraid of being limited. Why can’t we be? Why can’t we go by our own rules? Why can’t we create our own vision? Why can’t we be different and appreciated?I mean why can’t we be free?

I know some of you (sensitive soul) you’re going to be offended by me saying in some way that we are not free. Anyway I say it and I mean it. I’m talking about being free to do what we want , free to stand out, free to think out loud, free to go in the opposite way, free to be non conservative. I mean free to be ourselves though. Most of us are living a lie, we are caught up in some habit and way of living that have been installed by people from past centuries.  Without even questioning the why we get trapped and stick to it.

As black Women we grow up being limited. First of all by the fact that we are women but not only we are women but also black women. So there’s a lot of barriers that keep us from being free. They say that women belong to men and, that what a man can do a women shouldn’t be able to do it. Some say that is no longer our era, they say now women are less stereotypical. Clearly we have a gender problem, and to quote Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, (We Should All Be Feminists) “ The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing how we are. Imagine how much happier we would be, how much freer to be our true individual selves, if we didn’t have the weight of gender expectations”. Obviously we have other limitations than gender, it’s racial.

Therefore when I started my blog, I wanted to do fashion, but there’s a lot of fashion blogger already. I was asking myself. How do I stand out from all this fashion blogger? How can I maintain a fashion blog but also share some positive energy. And then I realize there was something I’ve been saying but I never really understood. I say this a lot “ Fashion is a self expression” and I when I take my time to really understand the meaning of it. I came to a realization that expressing myself can be in many ways, I can still do fashion and expression myself through writing connected to my outfit and looks and of course in deep focus topics.

By that being said, let’s now connected this to fashion. For a long time I was limited myself from what I can wear and how I can wear it. And I hated it.

For some reasons, I never have a favourite color, also  I would never step out my comfort zone and wear bright color as an everyday outfit but carnival. As carribean woman, I’m used to festivity like carnival and festival, and this is only when you can dare wear bright color or if you do wear bright colors, they’re going to say that you still in your carnival mood. So just to make you understand that it was a no no for me. I was being concerned about what people can say. Society judges you from what you wear to what you eat ( Hilarious, han). So I always take that fear of being ridiculous with me. Along with this color shaming, there was the style, “style is not understandable” I mean you don’t have to understand someone’s style, and you don’t have to like it either. We all have our own taste,so the way you dress come from your own taste, your personality.

As you can see in the image display above, I’m no longer afraid of wearing bright colors, now this what I live for. It’s a whole experience and discovery. We have to experiences things to understand and being more confident. I’ve been doing a lot of shopping lately, every times I come across a bright color, I was like ‘ oh no that’s too bright, definitely not for me” even If I like it.  One day I tried a red top with a yellow skirt. You won’t believe me, I fell in love with myself again when I was looking at myself in the mirror. This was really impressive, the colors blended to my skin brighten my skin. I was surprise, amaze, impress, happy, grateful, so much feelings in one day. I was blaming myself for all the times I never tried out some brights colors deliberately. Guys, that day I buy for 300 $ and it was all bright colors that I’ve tried and seen that they were perfectly match to my skin. Again, For a long time, I would never match more than three colors, it could be just because I didn’t want to be too flashy or having too much colors (hehehe). Actually, when I get in a store and I see bright colors, I’m like a kid in a toy shop, I like to play with colors to have that color blocking and shocked the eyes.

This outfit is Bomb, I play a little bit with the colors and they are perfectly matched.

From me to you, who had fear, and didn’t want to step out my comfort zone, Im telling you today, anything that you want to do, from dress up, to lifetime accomplishment, do what you really want to do. Wear that dress that you like, match the color that you want. If you want to wear Vintage in be a 90’s babe, go for it, if you want to do some crazy outfit, do it. Try out new things, don’t care about what’s trending or not. Don’t get into the trap of limitation. There’s a million of possibilities, explore the world, experience things, find your style, discover your personality throughout fashion

Ladies and gentlemen, my Fashion Family, be fierceful and own it.

Thank you for your support if you’re reading this. Don’t forget to subscribe and share it with your friends.

Your girl TeddyXfasfhion, until next time

XOXO

Fashion or caption???

From streetwear, artsy, Boho, haute couture fashion. I don’t really know where I stand, I can wear everything, it just have to go with my mood, my emotions and also what I want to express. I say that a lot and maybe not enough fashion is a self expression,and when you’re choosing your pieces, you’re making statements, you’re expressing something.

So I explore so many style, that I combined them sometimes but I do have some preferences. I love sneakers and blazers. These two for me are a non negotiable deal, an outfit is never totally complete without them. I can literally wear sneakers with any looks. And let me tell you adding a blazer to a look always gives it that extra and change the whole look.

You can also never go wrong with a suit. Sometimes wearing can make you look overdressed but the way you wear it can also shift it to any occasion.

This suits is from the brand H&M, it’s a size up to my actual size. I love over size suits because that gives you that chic but also that modest fashion style. Pairing the suit with my white Fila was the perfect combo. I mean the look gave me that feeling that I was a star walking around.  Effectively when I was having my photoshoot a lot of people were congratulating me for the look. And they were looking at me like I was one of these fashion Icon.

But now where would you go with this look?

A dinner, a fashion event? Church?

In the comments section, tell me what is your personnal style ? And tell me where would go with this look?

Too dark to be Haitian

I know by the name of my blog, it’s seems like all I’m going to discuss are about fashion. But definitely not, because This blog is my platform to raise my voice for those who can’t or don’t have a platform themselves to do so. So I’m not trying to limit myself and do all fashion, of course I’ll will entertain you a lot with some fashion post. But behind all the nice clothes, jewels. Shoes, we have our soul that need to be feed. The same way we take care of how we look on the outside, we need to take care of the inside also and it’s so much more important.

This blog post today is gonna be about colorism,maybe you’ve heard this term before and maybe you’ve been a victim or you might not know about it at all. I don’t know the color of your skin, I don’t know any of your experiences with racism or colorism but I know my experience, and I can definitely share with you.

Colorism refers to the Discrimination based on skin color, also known as colorism or shadeism, is a form of prejudice or discrimination in which people are treated differently based on the social meanings attached to skin color.

I’ll be lying if I say that I knew all my life this term and the meaning of it. On my early teen, I knew about racism, I thought everything which refers to discrimination is racism. Therefore when I was in high school I faced it without knowing what that really was.

I grew up in Haiti, the most important part of my life spent there. People in this Island are not aware of some serious problems or issues existing in the society. Somehow it’s a good thing for them, less worries. But in the other hand the problems still exist and nothing is done.

In Haiti, people are more likely appreciating the light skin people, men are all about light skin women. But I don’t think the problem come from them, but over a decennial, society creates that image of beauty which refers to white women with long hair, and we’ve seen more light skin being represented the stereotype of black women. To be more precise, in the entertainment industry, you’ll see more light skin women succeed than dark skin women. Everyday you’re watching TV, but you cannot relate because you don’t see people that look like you. So just to say that they created that image to make us feel less valuable. Obviously, we’ve been taking their word and actually feel less valuable. We think that being dark skin is a problem that is needed to be fix, and that’s why we have all these people bleaching, they’re trying to look like what they see on TV, magazine, ads, they’re trying to fit in. I might write another blog post to discuss this bleaching subject.

Apart from this, I experienced something that I never thought could be possible. That was outrageous, painful. When I moved here in the US. I became more aware of me being black, and more importantly being dark skin. I’ll never forget the day that Haitian lady came to me I was at my job. Then she started speaking English, she’s not fluent in English, you can see from 300 miles that she was doing that extra effort to speak the language of Uncle Sam. To help her out, I mentioned to her that I was a Haitian like her and she could free herself and speak “creole” (Haitian language). The lady literally slapped me with these words: “ oh I didn’t think you were Haitian, you are too dark, what part of Haiti are you from?” To be honest The moment she said that, I wasn’t shocked maybe because that was the first time that happened to me. I wasn’t mad either. I don’t even remember how I felt. When I got home I took a moment and deeply think about what this woman said. I was trying to convince myself that I wasn’t that black or maybe it’s just the lady and there’s nothing to really think about. I know people, Haitian specially that have darker skin than me so why did she say That I was too dark? After a few weeks of me worrying about that, I Finally get over it after a period of meditation.

You won’t believe me if I tell you that happened again and again, Haitian people have been confusing me with jamaïcain or african, they say I can only be African or jamaïcain not Haitian. This is when that started to be my concern. I was being discriminated for my skin color by my own people. Saying that I couldn’t be Haitian was the part that really hurt my feelings. What is the characteristic of being Haitian? What am I supposed to look like to be Haitian? How am I too black to be Haitian? For over a month, I was mad, pissed. I wanted to hate these people who have said that.

I finally realize that they had a problem and not me. Questioning my( “ Haitianity” I don’t know if this word valid ) based on the color of my skin is so wrong. So I just fall in love with this skin color deeply and minding my business. Since then You can name me as any nationality, it isn’t my problem. I know who I am and where I from. I don’t need any validation to be me. And the color of my skin doesn’t define me as a person. Im more than my skin color, and despite all I love this skin, I feel beautiful in my skin.

I don’t want this to be too long. I just wanted to share my experience with you. Do you ever experience racism or colorism or any type of discrimination? Feel free to comment and share your experience with me. And of course follow this blog so you can stay connected with me, and from there we can build our community.

XOXO

Until next time…

TeddyXfashion

2019 times excited

“Time fly” this is one thing we usually hear and we think we understand, i mean we do understand the first meaning which is time goes fast. But It says a lot more than that. When you’re realizing that you’re old with several grand children, you’ll understand that time does fly. While growing we’ve seen years changes. After 365 days you’re going into a new year. People always get excited by this change, this new year. They always welcoming the year with joy, excitement, motivation, gratitude.

This is something we all want, that mean, we’re still alive, we have plenty time ahead to do what we want to do, we are able to spend more time with friends and family. So, a new year it’s after all a new year. New projects, new perspectives, new goal, and new person (lol) I mean new resolution about self.

Most people consider the transition like an experiment, a tough year some may say or an amazing year other might say . For me, life through the year is like a travel with multiple stops, going on and out buses or train or plane even boat. Because everyone have their own way to travel. Some like one more than the other or possibly what they can afford.But It’s a travel, and every year we stopped to take another shuttle to continue our travel to the final destination. Considering every year as a ride, the ride can be great, with other passionate traveler, the ride can also be bad…. We all have other people riding with us,even though some get out the bus earlier than others but there’s some who’s staying with you through your final destination.

We are actually on 2018, everyone is excited about 2019 that’s is next door. This happened every year, people are welcoming the new year Some of them want to get rid of the actual year, to see what the new year can bring to them.

2018, what a year!!!!!! Emotions, growth, comprehension, knowledge,opportunities, adventure. This year was like no other was, a lot of fulfillment, some blessings. This year has taught me so much, and I also enjoy the whole year, even it break me at some point but It was to build me. I really enjoy the 2018 ride, It was kinda exciting, frightening but marvelous. I enjoy every bit of it, every pain, every joy, every opportunity, every challenge. This year helps me to grow in way I never thought could be possible. I learned how to forgive, not only others but also myself. I learned how to love myself which lead me to the knowledge of loving other people. I learned how to deal with pain and find peace within me. I learned how to get the most out of me and step out my comfort zone which has never been easy and aren’t still. 2018 was like the best ride of my life. Through the days during this travel, I struggled, I laughed, I’ve been triggered, I’ve been hurt and also heeled. I have lost and I also found. One of the most loving and amazing achievement for this amazing year was when I found myself again. Sometimes you’re lost in all the bad way, trying to fit in boxes that society creates, or you’re trying to please anyone that is in your surroundings. But 2018 has taught me that I can be different and there’s no problem with that, also taught me that I can be anything I want to be despite all issues that can come with it. Most importantly I can be myself and have faith in self.

Some people may say 2018 was a bad trip, but for me it was the most amazing trip. I’m grateful for everything that happened this year.

Now the ride is almost over, near to to the final stop, where the other ride is waiting for me, the 2019 ride. I have faith that 2019 is gonna be more amazing.

Thank you for the ride 2018,

PS: I was suppose to post this article late 2018, around december 30 or 31. So, as I’m late with the post, I decided to introduce myself to you with this brief evaluation of my 2018 year.

welcome to my world and let’s ride 2019 together.

XOXO, your girl Teddy…