FASHION // Forever 21 Dress Diversity Pt. 1

I had seen a post on Buzzed about a photographer who found film with beautiful images of women in dresses walking into the ocean. They were so pretty and haunting.  So when you're given a huge body of water to work with, you take it. It had been my vision to create similar images with this Forever 21 Blue Lone Side Slits Dress. With the help of Lionel Park, we got some pretty good photos and being the one in front of the camera I learned a few things too. 

Ok, being a model is fun and hard because you want to look pretty and be creative all at the same time. Things to note: We took these photos at Smathers Beach in Key West, Florida. It was hot and humid and stepping into the water doesn't feel as pretty as it looks. It's hot saltwater and you're walking into slightly murky liquid that has tons of different sea life living there. It's not so bad when you're just ready to swim and relax but when you're slowly descending into those waters wearing a full fledged dress with passers by staring at you weirdly - you tend to tense up. 

As soon as I saw the dress color change once it was wet - I really loved the dress more. It was heavy in water - really heavy but in photos it gave the dress some character. Loved this rock image below - Lionel perfectly framed me inside this cloud and I couldn't have asked for better composition. 

Here I am (above) channeling my inner Pocahontas - looking at the ocean horizon line is really something. It truly is water for days and that to me is mesmerizing and terrifying all at the same time. I think you call that feeling sublime?

After stepping on sharp jagged rocks with my bare feet for this photo, I returned back to the warm water to really experiment with the dress because my goal was to get completely submerged. 

TWILIGHT y'all. This lighting was amazing. At sundown - the colors were so radiant! This bottom photo was all Lionel. He told me my "blank face" look worked and I couldn't agree more. It has a mermaid-isn quality to it that I enjoyed. 

Well I would post more photos of me fully submerged in water but I look sort of dead in most of theme. This was super difficult. First of all, I planned this whole shoot so I made sure to wear a bathing suit underneath and have clothes to change into after I came out of the water. It's time consuming just packing for this. Secondly, I'm actually in very shallow water so I had to constantly do some kind of workout to keep my entire body afloat. Thirdly, the soft current and me trying to stay still for a photo was pretty hard. Lionel said I keep floating away >< lol! Fourthly, the water was hot and the idea of saltwater getting inside my ear was not pleasant at all. I tried my best to breathe and relax but most of the time I was constantly thinking about one thing or another. I'd say - it's still worth it though. The dress was so versatile when you see it in different settings. Depending on what makeup or hair style can transform the dress. See what I mean by checking out Part 2 here.