Christian Fashion Week Style Treat

When I met Silva I also met Joelle.  They were looking beautiful and excited for the festivities to begin.  Have fun meeting Joelle today!

Love,
Laura

* How did you hear about Christian Fashion Week?

I heard about Christian Fashion Week from a website called “Project Inspired.” Nicole Weider, a model, and born again Christian, shares her take on what the bible says on various topics relating to girls.
 

* Where do you live and why did you decide to travel to Tampa?

I live in Southern New Hampshire, and I traveled to Tampa purely for Christian Fashion week! The weather certainly didn’t hurt either!
 

* What did you think about the experience of Christian Fashion Week? Be honest, funny, poetic or all of the above. Fashions, people you met, faith you shared, etc!
 

My favorite part of Christian fashion week was the people I got to interact with, it was a unique group of people, all who I could relate to and converse with on multiple levels! I met representatives from Zondervan, designers, young models, and those who were there to serve and take part in this amazing ministry!

Here are some of the things that I observed that made it a “Christian” Fashion Week

* In order to honor God with every aspect of the show on and off stage, girls and guys had separate dressing rooms.  Typically during runway shows all of the outfit changes happen in one place, yes that means girls and guys changing in front of each other.

* All honor and Glory was given to God. The success, great turnout, and inspired fashions were not recognized without thanking God, and praising him for the skills, and passions of those involved.

* Women Only Bathing suit Runway Show. The night started with a runway show displaying modest, but stylish, bathing suits. What set this portion of the night apart was that ONLY women were allowed to attend.

* What did you wear?
 

Dress: in the Bahamas

Necklace: Wet Seal

Purse: Tory Burch

Dress: Zara (Currently on sale!)

Shoes: Michael Kors

* How did you pick your outfit? Where did you get the outfit...Closet, borrowed from a friend, shopping? Stories Please!
 

When I left New Hampshire on the Friday of Christian Fashion week, a huge snow storm was just beginning to gain traction, and the temperature was dropping by the minute. So I knew that if I was going to Florida I was going to take advantage of the beautiful warm weather there! My Orange Maxi dress I got from a boutique in the Bahamas, I knew I had to have it once I tried it on, but it was out of my price range, after a little negotiating, I left the store very happy! I got the green cupcake dress from Zara in Honduras.
 

* Do you have advice for the FashionMeetsFaith readers who need to be fashionably dressed this season, whether it is for a wedding, a party, or a ladies event at church?
 

A great way to keep your style fresh, and get inspiration for mixing and matching is to go on a site like Chicisimo.com or lookbook.nu and find a few modestly dressed woman with a similar style to your own and you can look through all the outfits they posted to get new fashion forward ideas, and follow them! The more exposed you get to different styles, the more you’ll realize how modesty is really the most beautiful, and there are still an unlimited amount of options!
 

* Did anything about this weekend help you step out of your comfort zone and what challenge would you give to our readers?
 

I knew that if I was going to travel all the way from New Hampshire to Florida for the weekend I was going to make the most of it. I made it a point to make my way around, and talk to as many people as I could even though I went to the event knowing just one person. I knew that at an event like Christian Fashion Week everyone would have something, whether big or small, to deepen my understanding of scripture, and to gain insight on how fashion fits into God's plan for us!

I would challenge the readers of Fashion Meets Faith to find a fashion accountability partner! Someone who understands your style, and knows the importance of honoring God with the way you dress. Start an open and honest dialog with this person, and ask them to be honest with you when something you are wearing isn’t honoring to God, and you do the same to them (always saying it in a loving way). That’s just 25% of it though, 75% of it is telling them what IS honoring to God, and giving each other fun creative ideas to make an outfit pleasing to God. Go shopping together, and this way you’re less likely to end up with cloths in your closet that you can’t wear, but tempt you each time you open your closet!

Joelle Janigian

Blog Title / Title

My Sunday Dress

Facebook.com/MySundayDress

* Short Bio. Who you are, why you are awesome, your faith, your (short) story.

When I was younger I believed God was only important on Sunday, and my faith in Jesus was a religion, not a relationship. When I entered into college I became involved with the Christian Fellowship and started to see there was more to being a Christian then good morals. During that time I met Nasry, a man who saw God in a huge, real, and tangible way. I was so intrigued by how he talked and shared about God that I became drawn to him, and who Jesus was in him. Because I was initially at a different place in my faith the start of the relationship was rough, because I wanted to keep putting God in a box, while he saw God as being involved and concerned with our personal life and daily decisions. God used this time to break me, and challenge me as far as I could handle, and I came out on fire for him, knowing that our God is ALIVE! I graduated from Bentley University in May and now work for a software company doing product design. The biggest thing I’ve learned since graduating is that no matter what I’m doing, I have to be serving God in one way or another to truly have joy!