into the wild....

✿ ⁂ COLLAB POST FEATURING  ⁂ ✿

PHOTOGRAPHY/JEWELRY/STYLING: ALLISON B. COOLING

MODELS: KARLEE DEWAN & FLÁVIO AGUIRRE

CLOTHING: GENERATION BLISS BOUTIQUE


....take a walk on the wild side.... An almost-barren landscape of ghostly trees, weathered prairie grass and spots of speckled snow paint the picture of a mid January landscape. Winter {specifically post - Christmas} in Chicago can get a little dreary at times. Cold without the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the short days can wear 'ya down. I mean, I like {love} the darkness, but not at 3 in the afternoon. It makes it exhaustingly difficult to shoot - lookbooks or otherwise :(

However, that's no excuse for dressing drearily as well - my flower child Karlee shows us warm weather whimsy can be brought to the winter months. Yes, it was a bit chilly for her runnin' around in shorts and a crochet tee, but it has to be fully sleeting with a windchill of negative 40 for northerners to get cold.

In Coachella spirit, my mala necklaces paired with a charm choker, bohemian top and boyfriend jeans spells everyday chic. Add a knit sweater for practicality.

Why is she carrying an ice cream cone filled with flowers? Because I said so. ✌️✿

Ok, so the boho theme takes a little darker turn (you didn't expect that with me, did you? Jk) with the addition of spike jewelry and an edgier wardrobe.

My men's mala necklaces and stacking bracelets pair perfectly with a casual tee, jeans and combat boots, via Fláv. Add a beanie - they are always necessary.

For the ladies, yes, you can wear rompers in winter - pair tights underneath and add booties and a floppy hat. Finish with more - malas, of course. I'll definitely post a tut soon on how to make these. If you haven't guessed, malas are kind of my favorites.

CINDERELLAHHHH STORY

Our last look may be the most practical for winter - lace and fur - for a modern Cinderella vibe. Ice blues and dove grey combine for that true cold-weather color combo. My featured necklace below mixes pearls, chain, crystals and pave beads (single post with directions coming soon on this) - definitely offsets the sugary sweet pastel coat and feminine florals of the dress. The earrings I simply made by attaching Swarovski (what else?) disc drops to a metal laser cut connector.

For the dudes, I love layering stone necklaces in varying lengths over any top. He's also got that semi-denim on denim look (hello 90s) which is definitely monochromatically chic. I made his necklaces from agate, obsidian and tourmaline beads, plus Tibetan pendants. One of my fav sites for awesome Tibetan and metal pendants/amulets is Happy Mango Beads. They have great pieces you can't find elsewhere - plus - Boulder Opal. I am legit OBSESSED with this stone - if I could buy all the pendants I would, but they're $50+ each. I got one off this site a while back when they were on an amazing sale, I paid less than $10. If you love gemstones, check out Boulder Opal. Super unique.

A special thanks to my bebes Kar and Fláv, who weathered (besides the ACTUAL weather) frozen fingers/toes, creepy people in cars spying and lack of yummy snacks/drinks to shoot my lookbook for a good 3 hours.

At the very bottom, I've got a dope intro film made by Fláv - check it out!

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COPYRIGHT

Content within this post is copyright Allison Beth Cooling for Quiet Lion Creations.
If you'd like permission to use a photo, email me at allison@quietlioncreations.com