MY 7 TIPS FOR CLOTHING PRESERVATION AND A PAGEANT UPDATE

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We’ve all been there, we go to put on our favorite tee or our favorite pair of denim jeans and BAM, the tee has lost it’s shape and those black denim jeans are not so black anymore. Fabric wear and tear is inevitable. This bright mustard yellow jumpsuit got me thinking about all the ways I could damage this fun color and I began thinking about the wash and dry plan for this fun look. Yes, believe it or not, I have a wash and dry plan for my favorite looks, including this yellow jumpsuit, because I don’t want to ruin my fun clothing simply because I washed it wrong. Don’t have a wash and dry plan for your fav clothing pieces? Well, there is something you should know! You can slow down the wear and tear on fabric and I’ve got just the right tips and tricks to make it happen. So today, I’m sharing my 7 ways to keep your fabrics lasting longer, even your not so great quality fabrics from stores I won’t mention. I’ve worked in retail for over 10+ years and it was only 5 or so years ago that I starting picking up some tips and tricks to keep my clothes from breaking down so quickly. I know, I know, clothes aren’t made to last forever, but I do want them to last as long as they can, particularly because I do buy thrift and vintage, a lot and these clothes already have some miles on them, so it’s important to take note of the best fabric preservation practices. With that being said, below are some of the ways I keep my fabrics in tack and ready to wear:

WASH INSIDE OUT AND COLD

Color fade is one of the most annoying fabric wear and tears. I like my blacks black and my dark denim jeans to maintain that deep blue they had when I first bought them. I try to hold on to the rich color as long as I can by simply gentle washing the items inside out. You’ll still loose some dye but not as much if you gentle wash it all inside out and wash it with cold water. Hot water is very harsh on rich blue and black dyes. Keep it cool and look cool in clothes that aren’t faded

INVEST IN A QUALITY IRON

Yes, irons can get pricey, but you know what else is pricey? Having to replace your clothes every year. There are plenty of iron options out there that have a steam setting, a setting for your silk and satin fabrics and a setting for your cottons and polyesters. Iron the right way and watch your clothes last a whole lot longer.

LINE DRY/ INDOOR OR OUTDOOR

This is old school but this is really one of the best ways to protect your clothes from fabric breakdown. The dryer is harsh on clothes and breaks down fabrics quickly. When fabrics break down, you experience color fade, holes in the fabric, tears in the seams, and for some fabrics they will pick and the fabric will ball up. Line drying the fabrics uses less energy, protects the fabric from harsh breakdowns that dryers typically cause and if you’re line drying outside, depending on where you’re at, they have a fresh outdoor smell and less wrinkles.

HAND WASH

Another old school method for protecting those fabrics. Yes, I know, I know, hand washing is so time consuming, but you can save time and waste clothes or you can spend a little bit of time caring for the pieces you’ve spent your hard earned money on. Hand washing is not so bad, depending on how you look at it.

WASH SEPARATES

If I’m going to use the washing machine, to avoid staining and dyeing my light colored clothing, I wash everything separate. I know, this seems like a no brainer, but I wash these types of loads: my regular lights/whites, my regular medium colors, my regular darks, delicate whites/medium lights, and delicate darks. Doing this seems anal and borderline OCD, but this method helps me avoid dye stains on my lights and whites and separates the dedicates that need extra care and handling. My husband and I do our clothes together so it’s not that rigorous of a process as I’m sure you’re probably thinking.

SPECIAL CLOTHING DETERGENTS 

While I can’t speak from personal experience on using special detergents to preserve my clothing, I have many friends and family who swear by Woolite for Darks and Woolite for Lights, which apparently preserves the color of the fabric, keeps the color intact and reduces color fade. If my tips above stop working, I may consider purchasing a special detergent, but for now, the process I have going will suffice.

STOP BUYING CHEAP CLOTHES

Honestly, this one doesn’t even need to be listed but I’m listing it because understanding your fabrics is important, LOL. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve worked in clothing retail for 10+ years and have purchased, worn, and trashed an array of clothing brands. One simple practice I’ve picked up over the years is learning how to detect quality. There are just certain fabrics or fabric mixes that don’t hold up as well as the years go by. I’ve learned there are certain company’s who use quality textiles like cotton and mix it with modal and nylon to cut cost. Just like I look at the ingredients in my food, or the ingredients in my hair and skin care products, I take the same effort to look at the fabric tags usually located on the inside part of the clothing. If you’re asking why a piece is so expensive, check the fabric label, it may say 100% cotton or 100% silk, these fabrics are not cheap and require extra special care and usually last a long time because of the quality. I find clothing that has a large mix of fabrics breaks down easier and I get less wear out of them. There are a lot of fast fashion brands out there that want to cut cost on clothing production and mix an array of cheaper fabrics together to mass produce and create more of the product. Most of the time, these items don’t last long in your closet.  If you’re concern is wanting your clothes to last longer, take the time to read the labels and feel the clothes. Yes, sometimes, simply touching the clothing can help you determine if a fabric is cheap and not worth the buy.

Whew, okay I hope this info was helpful.

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Scroll down for a little pageant update and deets on this cute look.

Shoes | Jumpsuit

This past weekend we had a blast shooting photos for the cover of our pageant program. If you’ve seen my IG stories, you know the theme was red, baby! I got a funny for you, apparently, all my hard work at the gym is paying off and the red dress I wore was practically falling off of me, but I’m a clever gal and snatched that dress in the back with a duckbill clip and rocked it out #resourceful. In other pageant news, Tickets for the pageant are NOW on sale. Click here and purchase a ticket under my name, Deidra Craig. Hurry, tickets are only on sale until August 31st! If you’re unable to attend, but would still like to support or would like to purchase a ticket another way, please reach out to me here.

Shoes and mustard yellow jumpsuit are linked above for your shopping pleasure.

Welp, that’s all folks.

Hope everyone has an amazing week!

Sincerely,

Deidra Marie

REFLECT, RELAX, REFRESH

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This summer I’ve had some time to reflect, relax and refresh. We all destress differently and no one way is better than another. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that my peace is valuable and comes above all else. I spent a lot of my twenties worrying about things that I really shouldn’t have been worrying about, but with age, I’ve learned to take time to listen to myself, recognize my emotions and how I’m feeling and navigate them in a healthy way. For those who are new to the CCC blog, I’ve expressed in a handful of past blog post about my struggles with anxiety and sleeping. I don’t talk about it often because I don’t want to give more power than it deserves, but it is something I’ve battled with since childhood and I realize talking about it on the blog may help others deal. I don’t mind sharing my story. Part of the reason I blog is because it helps with my anxiety, I’m able to get my thoughts out through the blog and empty out all the creative that I feel is about to burst on the inside of me. As a child, I use to cry and cry for hours for no reason, sleeping was a struggle and it would be very difficult for me to exhaust myself. My mother opted not to put me on medication and decided on a more holistic approach which I use to this day. So, below I’ve shared a few of the ways I destress and manage my anxiety.

BLOGGING/WRITING

As I’ve mentioned before, blogging is a great way to empty out and release a lot of the creative I often have building up inside of me. If I’m unable to get it out this can trigger anxiety. I usually do big projects in one day, the thought of having to spread it out over a long period of time is a trigger for me. Sometimes I fear I’ll lose my creative if I don’t let it out right then and there. If I feel something stirring up inside of me, I do it at that moment and it’s really a release. I know, this isn’t always realistic and that drives me nuts but I fight it when time doesn’t permit. My suggestion, If you have a creative something on the inside of you, get it out when it’s in its truest, purest form and worry about tweaking it later. You may have some missed opportunities but when you’re a creative person, something else amazing will always come up.

NATURE WALKS

My husband works for Parks and Recreation for our city now and I’ve discovered that exploring our under utilized parks have really relaxed me. Nature is beautiful in all it’s ways. I’ve come to enjoy the quiet and the vibrant colors tucked away in our city. I can clear my head, recharge and prepare for another creative outburst. Nature walks help me turn my brain off and help me to focus in on all of God’s amazing creatures and plant life.

TEA TIME

My mom use to buy me sleepy time tea to help soothe me and get me to sleep. I still buy this tea and it calms me and has a childhood connection to it. It may not have any magical powers but the connection it has to my amazing mother and childhood experiences, tricks my brain into thinking something is working, and sometimes that’s all you need.

EXERCISE

This may seem like an obvious solution but I heavily rely on exercise to calm me, exhaust me and center me. I do a lot of high intensity workouts throughout the week with the sole intention of exhausting myself so I can sleep better. This has done the trick for many years and provides a lot of health benefits outside of just reducing stress. One of my friends copes with anxiety by doing yoga. I haven’t done many yoga classes but hope to explore this avenue at some point. For now, I’m liking the results of intense cardio and strength training and my sleep has been amazing because of it.

TIME WITH GOD

I read my Bible, I attend worship service regularly but what really helps me the most is listening to worship music. I love music, I’m a vocalist and God blessed me with a voice so I’m going to use it and listen to others who have the gift too. Music is relaxing and takes me to a peaceful place.

I’m happy I could share and open up about a few of the ways I cope with my anxiety. It’s not easy to share this info with the world but self-care is nothing to be ashamed and as the years go by I care less and less about what people think and more and more about taking care of my needs and the needs of my friends, family and loved ones.

The green dress I’m wearing is from Zara but I got it from a consignment store a few years back and of course my pink heels are from DSW, you can shop them here.

I hope you all have an amazing week!

Sincerely,

Deidra Marie

WORK IT LIKE AN ICON

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Neutrogena and I are back at it again with another amazing partnership! #Brand_Partner.
I’m excited to share how I’ve completely flipped the script on my skincare routine. If you’ve seen my Neutrogena summer post back in the beginning of summer, you know I’ve gone to great lengths to make sure my skin stays protected from the harsh UV rays. But what about cleansing and moisturizing? These are all important parts of my skincare routine but it’s been a struggle trying to find a cleansing product and a moisturizing product that doesn’t leave my skin feeling super dry and greasy. Finding that perfect moisture balance has always been a struggle, and lets not forget my lips are constantly chapped and no amount of chap stick or lipstick that claims to have hydrating ingredients has done the trick, until #HydroBoost.

In addition to using the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel Sunscreen, I’ve incorporated the Neutrogena Hydro Boost gentle cleansing lotion, Hydro Boost Hydrating Serum, and Hydrating Lip Shine into my daily skin routine. Yup, now I have a complete routine that cleanses, hydrates, beautifies and protects. My skin feels soft, supple and doesn’t have that greasy clogged pore feeling most hydrating products leave your skin feeling. Believe it or not, each product provides the hydration thirsty skin needs, this goes for the cleanser too. Now that I have a complete skincare set, I’m ready to #workitlikeanicon
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Keep scrolling for outfit deets! 😉

Now I’m ready to take the town by storm with fresh, dewy skin that’s hydrated and protected. The only thing that could possibly make everything feel complete is a fly outfit. I’ve been shopping ASOS lately and came across this fire hot red jumpsuit which was apart of their AMAZING summer sale. They unfortunately, only had this jumpsuit available in tall, so I rolled up the legs a little and rocked it out. If you have a long torso like me, then you should be fine with a tall. Sadly, I don’t have long legs to match this long torso, so I’ll have to get these pant legs hemmed at some point but I just had to wear this for my shoot, I couldn’t help myself.

I hope you all have a great week!

Sincerely,

Deidra Marie