Midwest Native Blog

[midwestnative]

For the love of all things flannel

Flannel Love by kiah-tomatz featuring polo ralph lauren sleepwear

American Eagle Outfitters flannel shirt ae.com

Polo ralph lauren sleepwear lordandtaylor.com

Mossimo Supply Co. Men's Flannel Button Down - Assorted Colors target.com

I have a confession to make. I haven't always been the flannel lover you see standing before you today. Seriously. I thought they were kind of lazy fashion....like "I don't have anything else to wear let me just throw on this flannel". 

That was until my best friend Mandi bought this ridiculously soft flannel at Ragstock a couple years ago. It grew on me. So much so that almost every time I go to her house I put it on. It goes with everything. Jeans in the fall and winter, shorts in the summer, works great with a graphic tee, plain tee, you can wear them over dresses. With boots, with sneakers, with oxfords. The opportunities are ENDLESS. So I guess you could call me a #flannellover now. 

SIDE NOTE: Midwest Native is having a little giveaway. Click this link and share our photo. Make sure you're a fan of us on Facebook and you'll be entered in a drawing to win an item from our shop! 

[midwestnative]

Lazy Saturday

You know those days where you make a list of everything you'd like to get caught up on? And then you don't make any plans specifically so that you have ample time to complete said list? And then you end up not getting anything done anyways? ---  No? Just me? (*cough cough* Liars.) Anywaysss... today was definitely one of those days. This particular Saturday had so much potential that was trampled by sleeping in, shopping and other frivolities. But sometimes that's okay. When you haven't had a day off in a long time, sometimes a lazy Saturday is just what the doctor ordered. Happy Procrastinating! 

Sweater: Target; Tee: Walk the Moon Band (They're awesome, if you haven't heard them, check them out); Jeans: Levi Strauss Co. ; Boots: Steve Madden via DSW

[midwestnative]

How I'd Wear it Wednesdays: Classy with and Edge Edition

[midwestnative]

Fall Color Obsession: Burgundy

  Mossimo vinyl purse target.com

Mossimo chunky infinity scarf target.com

Revlon nail polish $13 - superdrug.com

Revlon black lipstick homeshop18.com

I love this color, especially in the fall. It's sort of a neutral so I can pair it with a lot of different outfits. Or maybe it's not really a neutral but I make it one anyways, because I love it. I don't think I'll be getting sick of it anytime soon. 

[midwestnative]

The Coziest of Fall Days

Fall is great. Like literally the best. This is probably the most cliche thing to say ever but it's true. I might actually be sad when it starts to snow here in minnesnowta because I love fall so much...well I will. I have officially decided winter can't start until I've exhausted all my autumn outfits...although I doubt the weather cares about what I want to wear.

Today me and Holly decided to take pictures of our outfits. These are some pretty simple comfy ones. I would link this stuff but....I've had most of these clothes for over a year. #notcurrent #oops #needtostophashtaggingeverything

Enjoy and Happy Fall. 

[midwestnative]

Autumn-esque

I love fall! 

Seriously though, fall is my favorite. Fall means going up to the cabin, hot chocolate, bonfires, pumpkin overload, changing of the leaves, etc etc. In honor of this most beloved season of mine, I have composed a fall wish list of things I love for fall! Enjoy!

1. Sweater - H&M 

2. Cutout Booties - Modcloth

3. Tote - Michael Kors

4. Oatmeal - Quaker Real Medleys (my personal favorites are Summer       Berry and Apple Walnut - yum!)

5. Thick socks - H&M (A midwest necessity)

6. Skinny Blue Jeans - Jolt via Nordstrom

What are your favorite things about fall?

[midwestnative]

I have been dying my hair red since....forever. Well, basically the last 5 years and it is a lot of maintenance. I go between brown and red. When i have brown hair I miss the red, when I have red hair it's so much work that I usually go back to brown until I miss the red again. It's a never ending cycle, but I love my red hair so it probably won't be stopping anytime soon. 

I thought I would share the things that have worked in keeping my hair red so I don't have to dye it as often. 

1. This is probably the best tip I could ever give anyone with red hair. This shampoo deposits red into your hair. It's natural, smells good, and keeps my hair vibrant for weeks longer than if I didn't use it. It's great. There is a conditioner as well that is awesome and I use that about once a week to keep up my color. 

2. This is just a color I have used to get my hair really vibrant red. It's called Lo'real Hi Color. I believe it's just supposed to be for highlights BUT I bought a couple of these, mixed them with 30 volume developer and bam red hair. It's great because it achieves vibrant color without the need for bleach.

3. This is a semi permanent color that I would use on my natural hair color (it's naturally pretty light) to add red and it lasts a pretty long time. A good option for people that don't want to commit to red hair forever. The only downside is it fades to a sort of pinkish color. You can add this to your shampoo though to keep your already dyed red hair color in as well. (about once a week)

4. Don't wash your hair that often. This probably sounds like a pretty gross idea but that's why dry shampoo was invented...right? I usually wash my hair every 3 days when it's red, especially if the red color I used was really vibrant. It keeps my hair red longer and it's honestly not that gross. 

Hope these tips helped! If anyone has any questions about red hair I am happy to answer them. (:

[midwestnative]

Hey Hey OOTD

This post is dedicated to what I wore today. Mixing patterns is so fun. I like that the pattern in my shirt is geometric and the pattern in my shoes compliments it. They’re both pretty subtle so they don’t compete with each other. Anyways, without realizing it this whole outfit became about Target. (oops) I’ll link where I got each of the things below. 

1. Top | Mossimo Black- Target

2. Shoes | Sam & Libby-Target

3. Earrings-Forever 21 (past season)

4. Jacket-Sweet find at Marshalls last fall

5. Pants | Converse-Target

6. Purse-Mossimo (past season)

[midwestnative]

This edition of How I'd wear it Wednesdays is my comfy version. Even though I like color, I think wearing neutrals with a bold color can be a great statement. Of course I love pairing patterns together and this outfit is no exception. I've been trying to challenge myself lately to pair more patterns together in my everyday looks. It's fun and it's better than the hum drum look of wearing a pattern, and then picking a color from the pattern for your accent wear. (Did I just say hum drum?) 

Anyways, I am getting sidetracked. Basically, Ombre Sweatshirt with tie dye leggings, a sweet hat, geometric earrings, and some classic vans. Perf. 

1. Geoemtric Crochet Hat | Midwest Native 

2. Geometric Earrings | Midwest Native

3. Ombre Crewneck Sweatshirt | Midwest Native 

4. Tie Dye Leggings | Target

5. Chambray Authentic Lo Pro | Vans

[midwestnative]

How I'd wear it Wednesdays | Maroon and Grey Edition

1. Knit Sweater | H&M

2. Fabric| Knit Infinity Scarf | Midwest Native

3. Knit Jersey Dress | H&M

4. Grey Tree Ring Clutch | Midwest Native

5. Merona Ribbed Black Tights | Target

6. Random Red Boots from the Interwebs | No link for these (sorry)

This blog post is dedicated to my obsession with looking at clothes online. (: This is how I would wear some of our goods with some things I want to buy online. I am constantly thinking of new outfit ideas in my head but tbh it was hard narrowing down what kind of style I wanted my first post to have. 

I've fallen in love with our Maroon Red Knitted/Grey Tree Ring Fabric infinity scarf. Deep reds are just so lovely in the fall time. I based the rest of my outfit off of this piece. 

I'd wear the grey dress, add the black sweater over the top, pair my scarf with it. The ribbed tights would add a bit of texture and my maroon boots would compliment the maroon in the scarf. To top it off I would use a our Midwest Native grey tree ring clutch with the same pattern that is in our scarf. It's simple, classy, and I think it says fall. Layers and all. How would you wear our fall pieces? 

I've linked all the pieces by their numbers so you can take a look at all of them. 

[midwestnative]

Midwest Cookies, Posters, Coasters, and Everything Else

Midwest Native had it's official launch party last weekend; it was a success. A bunch of mine, Holly, and Mandi's friends and family were able to come out and celebrate our little business. I can't tell you just how blessed I was that people came out and supported us! We made a little bit of money but I think the best part was showcasing all of the stuff we've been working on for the past 3 months. I mean, it was a lot. I think we had over 50 varieties of items....and multiples of most of them. Crazy! 

We had baked goods. 

And of course coffee. (Apple Cider for you non coffee lovers thosepeopleexist?)

And here is our set up and products. 

It was a perfect cozy fall day, rain and all. I think this is the start of something amazing. 

Thanks for being a part of it everyone. 

[midwestnative]

Hey guys!

Here is our promo for Midwest Native! We are super excited to be launching our store October 5th! Stay tuned for more blogs. (: 

[midwestnative]

First Post!

Hey guys!

Kiah here. I'm pretty new to this whole blogging thing and honestly I'm not sure how  good at it I am going to be, but I thought I would give it a go. This is going to be sort of a progress post. 

We are really, really, excited to be launching our Midwest Native online store in the beginning of October. So much prep work has gone into it so far and I am just really excited for everyone to see what I've been working on! If I were the type of person to scream and jump up and down I would probably be doing that. 

But I'm not.

So...

Anyways, after having my own Etsy shop (KiahTomatz) for awhile, I kinda got the hang of things and realized I wanted to start something new, something that wouldn't be under my name. Midwest Native celebrates the heart of the Midwest and a love of handmade and handpicked items. It makes things so much more valuable to me if it has a story behind...if it's not mass produced.

Right now I'm looking up at my wall and I see the collage I made of all my adventures in NYC (a story for another blog). I see a picture of a 50s style young man and woman holding hands and watching fireworks that I drew when I was 15. There's some tree bark on the wall that I found on the grounds of my old college. Just above that is a beautiful painting that my dad made years ago of some elegant dancers. I bet he had no idea it would end up on his future daughters wall years later. These things all have meaning. They are special. 

I hope what I make, and what people end up buying means just as much to them as the things on my wall mean to me. (: