Fashion Forward Fridays: Meet Teiona!

On my continued quest to prove GQ wrong and help Pittsburgh be seen as a fashion-friendly city, I headed out today later than usual, to find a fashionista. Fashion Forward Friday's is apparently becoming my claim to fame, so sorry to the readers I kept waiting today with this later-day entry!

Miss Teiona, looking cute!

I actually spotted Teiona while crossing Liberty Ave. heading towards Penn Ave. and instantly loved her look. Mostly though, I loved how confident she looked in it. I hate when people just buy clothes knowing they are in style, but let the clothes wear them instead of the other way around. However, Teiona was owning this look.

She said that her inspiration comes from Rihanna and stores like Forever 21 and H&M are her favorites. Her outfit today was all from Forever 21 and while I'm not usually a fan of pulling clothes right from the mannequin and putting it on, I liked that Teiona was able to mix up this look a bit by her use of accessories.

First, I adore her bag. I love how casual it is but yet how stylish when put with the right pieces. Also, Teiona's headband and earrings just scream 'look at me' so I'm inspired by her gusto to put them together. Also, her floral gladiator sandals brought a nice touch to the outfit, complimenting her headband perfectly.  I loved that she stuck to primarily two colors and then let the accessories do the work for bringing this outfit to life (along with her personality of course.) Teiona's outfit is easy to do, but the way she pulled it all together is what made it a standout.  I love that she uses simple pieces, like a plain white tank and pairs it with navy shorts, a denim jacket and a simple, thin brown belt. While most might stop there, I liked that Teiona brought her outfit to the next level by adding the big circle earrings, headband and matching gladiators. Usually accessories are what make an outfit complete and give it a finished look.

Love this nail polish against her skin tone as well!

I also love that Teiona used a dainty floral patterned headband and paired it with such a tough looking earrings. Where I'm sure most people would pair dainty and dainty, I love that Teiona used contrasting elements to complete her look. The mixture of soft and rough is really coming into play this season and I'd suggest trying it out! I wish I could have gotten a good picture of her hair too, because it was styled in that way as well, with a strong braid but feminine pieces pulled to the back. I can certainly see how Rihanna is inspiring Teiona's style, because she's really the one who started the mixture of hard and soft elements craze and I love her for it too!

Teiona's advice to other fashionista's is to "keep it cute," and her current favorite trend to see is the headband. While Teiona is still in high school, her outfit speaks volumes to her level of sophistication, at least in her closet. But her sunny disposition and giggly personality said that she's still a kid at heart. So maybe that's what we're missing, Pittsburgh, especially this spring, let's try to keep it cute and youthful! Happy Weekend, everyone!