What is LifeStyle Design?

 

 I arrived at LifeStyle Design, through a series of projects in Graduate School after years of studying various therapuetic modalities personally and porfessionally. Over time it has developed into a comrehensive and specialized set of change-based facilitation approaches founded in artisitc processes. The personal and professional development that have occured in the process have been utterly transformative in every sphere of my life. My mission is to support the transmission of this process out of myself into the lives of others by helping them design objects, experiences, and systems of sustainable growth. 

 

As a concept and practice, LifeStyle Design, is a culmination of my passion for the arts and education coupled with my professional and personal development in the Behavioral Sciences, Psychology, and other therapuetic modalities. Essentially, it is the culmination of health, healing, purpose, and a desire to put this work in service to a greater good. My discovery of and identification with the term 'lifestyle designer' happened in my second year of Graduate studies in the Arts and Consciousness program at JFK University in Berkeley, CA (2014) and continues to evolve with each new client, project, and community collaboration. 

 

This unique approach is founded in conscious engagment in and commitiment to a cyclical rotation of key creative and mindfulness practices, coupled with the belief that every aspect of our lives is an art form filled with limitless potential for learning, beauty, and meaning-making. It is based in the idea that by aligning with the creative genius of our inner children, through supported access to symbolic, intentional, and communal activity, we can align with the natural cycles that compose our lives to find precious healing, learning, and relationship building in the process. A single moment can seed tremendous change. Through simple kindness to ourselves and others, guided mindfulness, and authentic creative inquiry, we can actively support essential and necessary life change. We can choose to boldly embody the creative, adaptive people we need to be to meet life's inevitable shifts with consciousness, creativity, and vitality. 

 

LifeStyle Design is the choice to live life as creatively, consciously, and resourcefully as possible. It is the belief that all living things, as part of a larger whole, are interconnected... that our choices are rooted in this knowing and the impact of our decisions matter. 

BeYOUtiful Butterflies Crop Top

BeYOUtiful Butterflies Crop Top

$55.00Price
Brighten your day with this rainbow butterfly prin crop top. Featuring a creamy cotton knit sleeve with slight texture and a purple side zipper, this show stopper would pop with high waisted jeans or an empire waist flowy skirt.  Raw edges along the neck and base of the shirt give this sweet little number an edgy vibe ready to bright anyone's day.
 
Details:
∞ one-of-a-kind
∞ size: (S)mashing/ (M)agical // US 4-6
∞ material: heavy cotton blend, structured, no pilling
∞ measurements below NO STRETCH
bust: 32" total (16" across front from pit to pit)
high waist (just below rib cage): 30" circumference (15" 
length: 17" (from top of shoulder to base of shirt)
*Zipper is functional, but does not open completely at the bottom. It's a shimmy the boobies in situation, but oh so worth it!
(For context: I am 5'10" and a US size 8/10 in this photo)
∞ care instructions: Machine wash, gentle cycle. Hang to dry. Iron.
Dry Clean Preferable (Try Dryel at home).
∞ shipping: Garment is shipped USPS with tracking number (upon request). Please allow 10-14 days for arrival. (Often it arrives sooner if you live in the US.)
∞ storage: Clothing is stored in temperature controlled space inside a garment bag, unworn until purchase. It is freshly washed prior to shipping.
∞ COVID: I purposely don't wear these garments while modeling to respect current health considerations, and because when I make them, well, it's hard to explain but I can feel when they have a home to go to. Sometimes it takes a while, but each piece seems to land with its rightful owner. I hold them up to give you an idea of fit and vibe.
 
STORY/ Inspiration:
 
When I make clothes, I can feel when they have a home to go to. There's a feeling of something almost preverbal, primal, powerful; a rawness and also a deep connection to lineage. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for my ancestry (my grandmother taught me to sew) and a grace amidst the grittiness of this modern paced life. The feeling of slowing down to tansform literal scraps from our lives into whole pieces that serve the slow daily unfolidng of a rich and powerful tapestry of life. These garments symbolize our interconnectednss as whole and our uniqueness as an important part of that whole. Sometimes it takes a while, but each piece seems to land with its rightful person as they naviage their unique journey of a universal search for meaning.
 
The top: 
I found this incredible fabric at a fabric store in Berkeley while shopping with a client to make her one-of-a-kind African print wedding dress. It was everything I could do to be a professional and not buy it on the spot for my own projects while we were purchasing her fabric.
 
After our consultation had ended, I doubled back to the store immediately and bought a couple yards. Unfortunately, it was an extremely expensive fabric or I would have purchased the whole bolt. I am IN LOVE with this fabric. Every piece I have made with it has come together effortlessly. This is the last garment in the series, as I only have small scraps left to make masks and straps.