I am so excited to be partnering with CARRY Media! This is the perfect opportunity for me to use my voice to advocate for all the working moms out there and help them navigate their style; what it means for them and to them as well as help them discover a personal style that makes them feel great! Below are looks for three types of working moms. We’ve got the Mom on her feet, the creative Mom and the corporate mom. The items featured are more accessibly priced for ALL the working moms out there! Click on the images below the collages to shop the looks!
SHOP THE EDIT + GET THE LOOK
✨🌍 W H A T • W H I T L E Y • W A N T S✨☮️
What I want right now more than ever is world peace. Peace for our country, the Ukraine, Russia, neighbors in our own zip code. Why is there all this fighting? I can’t seem to come to understand how I a young person could be filled with so much turmoil. I mean, I get it. We all had our own struggles too, but at the age of 45 I can reflect and feel we really grew up and a good generation. My heart is so heavy. Why is there not more forgiveness also? Why is there so much anger? We cannot trap toxicity in our minds, hearts and souls. We need GOD in our schools, work places, communities, hearts and homes.
🎶 ❤️ As the song goes, “what the world needs now is love sweet love”. As I work to find joy and the little things around me, flowers in my garden a pretty outfit, a friendly face at the supermarket, I pray for the world.
🌈 💖 We all know I ADORE a fun statement piece, like the amazing @rotatebirgerchristensen patchwork mini dress. 👗 BUT having a few good solid staple pieces is also helpful and extremely important in building those equally stylish outfits in a pinch or if you’re not sure where to start. Example 1, these @jonathansimkhai vegan leather shorts and a classic but elevated pair of cream ankle boots like these from @sergiohudson… loving the belt accent to switch it up! 🔀🤍
💋⬆️Want to see all that I’ve been obsessing over recently? Check out my Shop My Looks page to browse from What Whitley Wants and more! I can NEVER get enough of my @sarahsbag — handmade and the very grooviest of all!
🚶🏽♀️H I T C H • H I K E • S U M M E R 👋🏻 1921 (n.), 1923 (v.), from hitch (v.), from the notion of hitching a sled, etc. to a moving vehicle (a sense first recorded 1880) + hike (n.). Related: Hitchhiked; hitchhiking. Hitchhiker attested from 1927.
🛻🏖My father told me stories of how, as a teen, he would hitch hike his way to the beach with friends at the beginning of summer to sell ice cream during the days and dance with all the prettiest girls at night, and while I am not headed anywhere nearly this exciting this weekend except maybe to the school carnival and perhaps to the yard to pull some weeds, in my mind I am headed to all the places that make up my dreams. I am, however, setting some real goals for the summer that include law of attraction manifesting some of those dreams into reality. Anybody want to come go with me?
Shop the looks here!
👡S T Y L I N G • M A R I O N • P A R K E • S H O E S (And my favorite @thieverycorporation tee on repeat!🤣) 👡
🏃🏼♀️🦶🏻As a long time runner and working Mom on the go, I have come to know the importance of comfortable shoes, and this is not just shoes for running! Sadly enough, I have learned this the unfortunate way now dealing with arthritis now in BOTH of my feet… at age 45!!!!
😀👩⚕️ Moving onward and upward we know that having a comfortable shoe is key, but obviously I still want it to be stylish. THIS is why I adore @marionparke shoes. The luxury shoe brand was created by a podiatric surgeon—with very stylish taste—so she knows a thing or two about keeping shoes up to my stylish standards without ruining my feet.
👗👠👛 Head over to my Instagram, and let’s style my current favorite, The Imogen, together!
💥Want in on the stylish action? Shop all Marion Parke shoes HERE and enter code WHITLEY15 for 15% off all shoes, including clearance styles!
After this last month, which I previously mentioned has felt like a zombie apocalypse year, I was so thrilled to learn that in fact I did remember how to be a parent after getting my children back upon having not seen them for approximately two weeks. (Time away followed by the Rona Quarantine).
I was equally delighted to learn that I am indeed capable of functioning as a business professional and a contributing member of society. It’s Friday. Here’s hoping I can get through one more day to top off an entire week of getting out of bed, and slaying dragons. I mean getting the kids to school, answering emails and making it to appointments on time.
I call this Veronica Beard jacket my superpower blazer. Everytime I put it on, I feel super powers come over me! PS— no children were harmed in the making of these photos, just threatened mildly. Just kidding. Well, kind of, sort of, but not really. Just lovingly fussed at. Know the there’s no school for four days in a row, despite no snow or ice anywhere to be found feeling? Yea, that’s the one. WHERE I COME FROM THEY BROKE OUT THE CHAINS FOR THE BUS TIRES TO GET US TO AND FROM SCHOOL IN THE SNOW.
🐆B L E N D I N G • I N 🐆
A wild cat in its natural environment is untamable, and let’s just be honest, honey, if my mother could tell you one thing for sure, it is I will never blend in. Why would I want to? And on that note, why should you!? And so, if the leopard upon leopard upon leopard does nothing else for you, here’s hoping it inspires you too to go for the unexpected and blend in too, or stand out, depending on how you look at it.
Shop the Avenel Leopard Dress to Get the Look
📸 🖼 @brookemaples
👗 @veronicabeard
🎿W H A T • S H E • W O R E : Skiing at Snowshoe Mountain⛷
What a time we had skiing Snowshoe with the best of friends! If you’ve been to Snowshoe or Mountain Lodge, you know. I’ll leave it at that!
Shop The Look by clicking on the below images.
I don’t know about you, but I am crushing hard for all Perfect Moment ski gear these last few seasons. I could not resist and reached for the Isola Racing Pant in a super bold blue and red check I have been coveting from afar for some time. While I love my own metallic puffer, this one with blue an red stripes is Extra EXTRA, as my oldest son would say. Totally necessary, might I add.
So you’re dating, eh? How’s that going?? While I would not rank my little bit of adult dating experience terribly high, I am excited to share with any one who has been frustrated with it in the past themselves, there is new-found hope!
👫 Bring in Jennifer Hurvitz, Relationship Expert & Dating Coach, and the host of the @doingrelationshipsright podcast who has helped thousands find their people, but most importantly- has taught them how to KEEP them! 🤩
💃🏼 This coming weekend is the annual @dwts_of_clt star-studded fundraising event, and so I thought we’d put together this sophisticated fun look to inspire you for your next date night!
⏰ Oh, and let me say this! Ladies, there is NO reason not to look your very best! It’s a sign of respect… Respect for your date, and for yourself. Do it for him! If he can’t handle it, he’s not a MAN! And if you’re dating a she, we’ll good for you, because you KNOW she will love it! Most of all, do it for YOURSELF. Look good, feel good!
🛍 Follow my shop @thequeencitystyle on the @shop.LTK app to shop this post and others!
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I was stopped in my tracks upon encountering this gorgeous girl as I walked to the door of dynamo Charlotte consignment store, JT Posh, last week for a meeting. Not to mention that killer ensemble she has put together. I immediately exclaimed to Sophie, “Oh, is that Dodo Bar Or?!” If you know the brand, with those burnt tones of orange, brown and mustard yellow with a splash of black and sometimes white, you know exactly why I asked her the question! As it turns out, Sophie’s dress was a more accessible but equally chic version from Free People. Her dress is currently sold out on the site, but Isabelle selected two similar options for you, one Dodo Bar Or, and another from the currently very popular Farm Rio line. Sophie expertly personalized her ensemble with a handmade collar by Tatas Naqargebi, whimsical glitter pearl ankle socks and cult popular t-strap sky high (at least in Charlotte), Swedish Hasbeens. Click on the item below to get the look for yourself!
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Dip dyed feathers, trippy eclectic bug wings, ombré and metallic… Don’t tell me you expected beige, prairie style dresses or on trend sneakers!! Right now—and always—of which the former I just can’t get enough! Shop til you shimmy, shimmy drop! 👉🏻🛍Follow my shop @thequeencitystyle on the @shop.LTK app to shop this post and more!
If there is one designer I cannot get enough of, EVER, it’s Paco Rabanne. Collection after collection after season after season… It’s as if the brand lives in my head. Every single piece makes perfect sense to me and is BRILLIANT. Isabelle put together this collage of a few of my favorites from the Resort ‘22 Collection. I’m sorry to report I was asleep at the wheel publishing the post in time to shop the look, but I still wanted to share it with you here. Remember that gold chainmail dress from the cover of last November’s SouthPark Magazine Quarantine Daydream creation? Yep, that was Paco.
One of the designer’s best known creations was Jane Fonda’s Barbarella wardrobe designed in 1968. Remember this? What' can I say? You know I’d probably have to put this on for a trip to the supermarket.
If you follow me on Instagram, you know the silver and gold chain oversized sequin bag I carry pretty much on repeat…
Gigi, Isabelle, Rachel, Sophia… Oh my! Toooo many good girls on one page! Plus, I’ve never really been super exclusive… I got that whole mindset of abundance thing going on, ya know?
I always wear a left hand statement ring, even if it’s not cocktail attire, and everyone wants to know where they can find one! This Ulla Johnson is terrific for a dress OR jeans and tee moment, or really anything on this page. The giraffe on the RE/DONE tee is me, no matter how hard I try. I DID manage to nab the Isabel Marant velvet embroidered cropped jacket of dreams for a client, so if I’m really good, maybe she’ll let me borrow it! And the Gigi Burris hat? I used it for a recent editorial and naturally I want one for my very own! The Sophia Webster oversized butterfly embellished clutch ALWAYS, the Isabel Marant boots even if they ARE DOOK blue, and that modern day Alice in Wonderland meets Scooby Doo Zimmermann print dress on acid! Who am I kidding?? I want it all! Click on the images below to shop, and follow me HERE on the LIKEtoKNOW.it shopping app to get the product details for this look and others.
Rappelling from the yard’s tallest tree in a silk vintage caftan… sailing in the backyard pool in an inherited vintage one piece suit… Oscar (de la Renta, that is) for an afternoon snack with the family? Oh my… YES! Thank you to this darling, adventure-seeking, life loving, fun, aring, most stylish family and to the entire creative team for making all of my fashion meets interiors photo shoot dreams come true!
Scroll for ALL of the out of this world images captured by Chris Edwards for this month’s SouthPark Magazine cover feature. Husband Wade’s Copper Builders company brings to life the family’s outstanding personal style by way of a home impressed upon by their appreciateion for travel and the people they meet and friends they make along the way. Carolina Portillo’s delightful story-telling of the family’s three years at sea, and beyond, is a must read!
What She Wore: Working Lunch On The Patio. Effortless, as always, and the sweetest smile to boot, my Marketing Assistant, Isabelle Pringle, is the ultimate IT girl on arrival. Talk about lucky—that was me with a happenstance meeting with Isabelle’s Mom the very first day of the shut down. Isabelle was stuck in customs on her way back from a fashion studies program in Lodon. She was supposed to be headed to NYC for an internship with shoe designer Sam Edelman.
What started as a friendly hello and “What in the world is going on with this virus,” led to one of the gretest additions to my team I’ve ever had. Writing Isabelle’s letter of recommendation to Parson’s for graduate school was one of the greatest honors of my career. While I’m super excited for her, I’d by lying if I didn’t say I’m super excited for me that Covid taught us better than ever how to work remotely!
These fun collages are just one of the bajuillion things that Isabelle has created. Shop her look below, and wish her luck this coming fall—though I know she will be a rockstar there just as she has been here!
We’ve just moved into a new home and while I’ve been ID’ing some amazing summer pieces for clients, my eye is very drawn right now to anything and everything unique for the home. A monkey climing up the wall, holding a light bulb? Oh my goddness, YES! Add a slithering snake wrapped around a guilded gold mirror frame, and you’ve got a full on jungle in the making! You better believe I’ll be hanging both while wearing head to toe electric red please, a la A.W.A.K.E Mode. Here’s the top, and Here’s the skirt! Shop this post to get ALL the deets!
Happy almost weekend er´body! If you follow along my adventures over on my Instagram page, you likely know of my partnership GIVEAWAY with Charlotteś SouthPark neighborhood luxury retailer, Specialty Shops. For those of you who have been following along the Queen City Style from the beginning, you know it all started with me brazenly embracing the philosophy: ¨I am first and finally my only model.”
When this all started, all I had was myself. I was a free entity, and so I was my own writer, idea pitcher, model, bookee, marketing tool, publicist, admin, business manager, what have you. Except photographer. My husband —children in tow— took all of my images for the first few years. They patiently tolerated my vision or desire to create images, which I realize seemed silly at the time—and a lot of the time. BUT, they did it, and the show went on, and the business was built on that.. and here we are almost 10 years later, body guard Brandon in tow, making my own tarts in a restaurant grade kitchen with highly acclaimed Italian chefs and being fed grapes. Ten years later this November to be exact.
Still with me? Okay great. I knew you would be! And so when I received an email from the marketing director for Specialty Shops who was seeking help with an upcoming project, I excitedly replied, ¨Ill be happy to help you!” The marketing director expressed an interest in engaging social media to help bring attention to some great local businesses who have been hit hard by the pandemic (Oh holla if you hear me. Cause I hear you…. being dubbed ¨NONESSENTIAL¨ and all). And so of course, I replied again, ¨Iĺl be thrilled to help, and I can recommend some great influencers I know would be PERFECT for the job!¨ And to that she replied, ¨No, we want YOU as the influencer. Surely she wanted to hire me to CONSULT. Yes, but nope. They wanted me as the influencer.
And so… 10 years later, while it has never been my MO to be an INFLUENCER, here I was being hired to do the very thing, which turns out to be the very thing I was doing from Day 1. And let me tell you, in doing so I got to experience something I do not experience in real life. I experienced THE most delightful day of pampering, and I got to do it alonside THE BEST artists in Charlotte with all the creative freedom to do what I absolutely LOVE doing most—bringing attention to others by way of smiles and telling stories through quirky, fun, fashionable images—I could not have been more thrilled with the opportunity and pleased with the images and outcome. Even Brandon got a little pampering of his own over at the SouthPark Barber Shop.
If you made it alllllll the way to the bottom of this post—well then thank you very much. You deserve a gold star. So now head on over HERE for your chance to win your very own Day of Pampering sponsored by Specialty Shops, Renaissance Patisserie, Anthony VInce Nail Spa and DryBar Charlotte. Be sure to follow the instructions in the post, and Good Luck!
Photography: RIchard Israel, Hair: DryBar, Makeup: Artistry by Andre
I really can’t say enough about this line except that (the children need to go back to the classroom so that the world can open back up again so) we need to have cocktail parties and other fun social gathers again!!! That’s right. Doctors and nurses have to go to work, grocery store stockists, clerks and cashiers do too, restaurant workers have to (try to) work, while us artists and other self employeed folks are practically drunk from pivoting on a reduced income, so IT. IS. TIME. for schools to reOPEN. Not that I have time to get drunk, at least give me the option of getting drunk on something tasty and fun with other people in cocktail dresses and heels and jackets and ties!!!
I love the entire Rotate line so much, and the first party I attend I want to wear that dress up there in the top left corner, and you better believe I will be on the dance floor. To quote one of my all time favorite risk takers, “If anybody else wants to come with me this moment will be the moment of something real and fun and inspiring in this God-forsaken busines, and we will to it TOGETHER. Who’s comeing with me? Who’s coming with me? Who’s coming with me?! (So, who knows that line/movie?) Now come along, won’t you?
I was recently asked by my friend, attorney Claire Samuels, to share a little about what would be proper dress for the courtroom or any type of mediation associated with divorce. Claire has been practicing law in Charlotte for 13 years and now, after her training with Bill Diehl and tenure at well known firm James, McElroy & Diehl, Claire has open her own firm that places great emphasis on a respectful, dignified approach to divorce that aligns with your core values, promotes healing, and minimizes trauma.
As a mother of two school aged boys having been through divorce, on day I shared in conversation with Claire how proud I am of the way my ex husband and I have handled our separation through the years. At the end of the day, arguing, fussing and fighting—and negativety of any kind—lead to nowhere good. For your own sake, and that of your children and everyone around you, the best thing you can do is put your things aside and move forward with integrity. It may not be easy, but it is the right thing to do. You can read my entire article on Claire’s sight here if you would like.
If you or anyone you know is going through a seperation or divorce seeking legal advice, contact my friend Claire. And if you or that person would appreciation some style therapy and a wardrobe to help lift spirits and maintain that good integrity, please contact me. I’d love to help. In the meantime, below are a few of my recommendations for dressing in style in the courtroom or in mediation. Just click on the images to shop the look!
