Simplygailg

Here it is August already, and I’m trying to soak up as much of it as possible. This weekend my family and I went to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I suggested that we take a drive there because it had been so long since we’ve visited. A few years back, we would go there to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Bleu Drawes, but it closed down and we haven’t been back since. Although it felt like an oven outside (96°F), we still took the trip because I knew that I wanted to do a photo shoot there and I wanted us to spend time as a family and maybe grab a bite to eat. We left later in the evening around 5:30pm hoping that it would cool down a bit but nope, it was still pretty toasty out there. Nevertheless, we took the trip and got there around 6:20 (there were traffic accidents everywhere so it took longer than usual).

Now talking about stepping out of my comfort zone. First, I wore a red dress which is the only red dress I own to date. Second, we did a photoshoot in the midst of the hustle and bustle that is Williamsburg and on busy North 6th Street no less. There were people everywhere! The area has become more of a young hipster community so never mind the heat, everyone was out! It was wonderful! The vibe and the energy was like no other. It was a totally different feeling than when I’m in Manhattan. This is so much more community-based and so artsy. North 6th Street is lined with restaurants so you will have no issues finding a place to eat. There are also colorful and graffiti-filled walls everywhere which is definitely a fashion blogger’s dream.

My husband, bless his heart, had no issues taking my photos with all the people around. The kids patiently waited while we finished up and then the little one started to complain about being hungry and hot so once we wrapped it up, we went to an Argentine-Italian styled restaurant called Shelter. The restaurant has a nice rustic feel and resembles a hunting lodge which makes it pretty cozy. We decided on empanadas and pizza and it was delicious! We definitely enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Now, I could go on and on about Williamsburg and the food, yadda yadda, but this is not that kind of post. I’m here to talk about the aforementioned red dress.

Now, I’m going to give you my honest opinion about my experience with Zaful because that’s what I’m here for right?

If you haven’t heard of Zaful, they’re an online brand based in China. You can visit their site, here. They reached out to me for a collaboration and after perusing their website, I selected two dresses – one of which is this red dress. Post to come later on dress #2.

When I received the package in the mail and opened it, I was a bit disappointed. The dresses were extremely wrinkled and I kept thinking, this is going to take a while to iron. At first, I hung them in the bathroom while taking a shower, but that didn’t help. So I ended up having to iron the dresses but you know what, they were pretty easy to iron.

I usually steer clear of the color red although it is a color of strength and confidence but I had this idea in my mind that red looked terrible on me. With this dress, however, I think I proved myself wrong. I’m thinking that in the past, I’ve worn the wrong kind of red that just didn’t work with my skin tone and I swore off the color completely. I was happy when I tried on this dress. The cut and style of it is perfect for my body type. I love the empire waist which gives it a more fitted bodice and the tulip hem adds a nice look to the dress. The only issue that I had was that the seams were coming apart and when I tried on the dress, there was a hole in the left armpit. Nothing that a little needle and thread couldn’t fix but definitely not a great experience. However, it’s a pretty dress and I adore the color.

What I learned is not to judge a dress by it’s color. Nah, but seriously, I learned to step out of my comfort zone a bit. It’s okay to experiment with color even if it’s a color that didn’t work in the past. Also, taking photos in the midst of strangers is okay. I owned it! One guy passed by and said, “werk those photos girl” and I “werked!” Lol.

What do you think, is red my color? What have you done to step out of your comfort zone lately?

To see a wide range of trendy styles, you can visit Zaful here.

You can also visit Zaful via the following links:

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Have a great day lovelies and as always thank you for reading!

*This post is in collaboration with Zaful and have not been influenced by the brand. All opinions are my own.

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