Pink Highlighters

I bought this J.Crew Blythe Blouse in Shocking Pink a few sales ago and finally decided to wear it this week. This is day one of my no-stripes week.  I actually spent some time to plan my wardrobe out this week which I’m going to try and continue so I’m not such a disorganized un-fab mess in the morning trying to get ready. This blouse is bright and I don’t think I realized how much until I was at work under our oh-so-flattering flourescent lights. But now that I’ve worn it, I love it and am already trying to plan new outfits for it.

I’m a little sad because in a flurry of deleting the no-go outfit photos from my phone, I accidentally deleted the one ‘perfect’ pic for posting. I find that for every ten photos, I get one good one. All the more reason to plan my outfits in advance so I have time to take extra photos in the morning.

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Shirt | J.Crew, Skirt | Banana Republic (old), | Shoes | J.Crew (Mona in Brocade Blue)

When a co-worker stopped by my desk today and asked to borrow a highlighter, it occurred to me that this blouse is the exact shade of a pink highlighter. Which I’m totally ok with. I used to always prefer the pink highlighters over the yellow ones growing up. I still use them when I can. Neon yellow may come and go but I have and will always love hot pink. How about you? Do you have a color that has come and gone out of style but you will still wear regardless? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!

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J.Crew Everly Mirror Metallic Pumps

I was lucky enough to find the J.Crew Everly Mirror Metallic Pumps in silver on eBay last week for 60% off their current retail price. They were advertised as worn once which I was ok with since the photos didn’t show any wear except for some scuffing on the bottom. I actually ended up making an offer on the shoes which was accepted, so was fairly pleased with my bargaining skills. I’ve been drooling over them for weeks now, but of course I didn’t start fixating on them until after I’d spent my summer rewards and J.Crew was running cardholder promos.  I went with my usual J.Crew shoe size (9.5) which is a half size up from my usual shoe size. I had seen reports that they were running small but I often find that when I go up an extra half size they’re too big.

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The shape of them looks weird from the top, maybe because I already stretched them out with my feet. The toe box on these is definitely small, and they’re a little snug on me but I’ll deal with it. The heel height feels the same as my leather Everlys which I find comfortable to walk in. As you can see, due to the small toe box there’s a fair amount of toe cleavage. I’m telling myself I’ll be ok with these but ask me again after I wear them for an entire evening.  The mirror silver is definitely trendy but I plan on rocking them as long as I can.

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They are definitely an attractive shoe and I can see pairing this with a lot of things in my closet. I don’t know how much they’re going to stretch but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. It’s not worth the hassle of trying to track down a half size larger in these shoes (currently sold out online) only to find out they’d be too big. Which I definitely think they would be.  The silver finish seems substantial so hopefully they will keep and I will have to be very careful with the heels since that always seems to be the first part of my shoes that I destroy.

And here’s a sneak peek of how I plan to style these shoes for an event I have in the near future.

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So, what do you think? Do you have these shoes or plan on getting them? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!

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More Stripes for Saturday

While continuing to lament the demise of the Crewlet Striped linen-cotton sundress, I re-discovered this skirt in my closet on Saturday. I purchased it several months ago in an attempt to replace the derby dress hole in my closet. The navy and red stripes were similar to the dress and while not as easy as tossing on a dress, it seemed like a comfortable skirt.  I tried it on (it fit!) and stuck it away in my closet.  Now that it’s warm enough to wear the skirt, I forgot just how much I like it and how well it fits. It’s longer than the sundress and I can pair it with a tank, tee or blouse depending on how dressy I want to be. I decided to go the casual route for running Saturday errands and ignore the fact that the stripes on this skirt are navy and went for my Kate Spade graphic tee and Target thong sandals. Wearing this skirt made my decision final to return the dress and not fight with the fact that it doesn’t fit me.  It was hot and sticky out so with my hair up in a top-knot and some over-sized cat-eye sunglasses I felt pulled together to run errands in the heat.

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Skirt | J.Crew (old), T-Shirt | Kate Spade (old), Sandals | Target Jewelry | Tiffany’s

 Speaking of stripes, my fashion goal this week is to not wear any stripes! I’m glad to have this skirt in my rotation though, it is very comfortable and I wish J.Crew had made it in a solid color or two as I’m going to have to get creative to make up multiple outfits with these stripes.  So, what do you think? Is the skirt a good replacement for the failed derby dress? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!

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Casual Friday

My summer Friday uniform usually consists of a simple dress or a pencil skirt, blouse or graphic tee and cardigan- usually with flats. I’m lucky enough to work in an office where I can pull this look off, and the stack of J.Crew graphic art tees in my closet are grateful that I still wear them occasionally. This Friday, I found myself reaching for the J.Crew striped pencil skirt again and pairing it with one of my new color favorites – coral. I almost didn’t buy these Nine West flats when I saw them at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago but now I’m really glad I did! They’re a great pop of color with many neutrals, and it’s a color that I haven’t worn a lot of in the past. I picked up the belt from Target recently too, and will definitely have to consider them for more belts since they’re much more affordable than the Crew if I’m wanting several colors.

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So, here it is, my Friday staple. Not super casual, but I think the tee makes it less formal. How about you, do you find yourself dressing down on Friday? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for reading!

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Review: J.Crew Factory Stripe Linen-Cotton Sundress

We all have those clothing items we regret not purchasing. Some regrets last for a few weeks and we get over it, and others last for months. Depending on how much we regret it, we may stalk the interwebs incessantly trying to find said item, and depending on how much we really want it will likely dictate how much we’ll pay for it. One item that I still regret not purchasing last summer is the stripe derby dress from J.Crew. I tried it on at the store, loved it, decided that I didn’t want to pay full price for it and then it sadly only sporadically popped up on sale. And then when I did snag it, I somehow managed to purchase it in the wrong size so sadly had to return it. It’s popped back on eBay several times but I guess I never really wanted it that bad since I wasn’t wiling to shell out close-to-orignal-full-price for it.

Fast-forward a year and I get a coupon in the mail for J.Crew Factory with a picture of the derby dress on it! Hurrah! I didn’t have time to trek up to the factory store so I waited patiently for it to pop up online and then promptly ordered it during the sneak-peek sale. The Crewlet calls this dress the Stripe Linen-Cotton Sundress. Isn’t it lovely?

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I’m glad I ordered it when I did, because the dress is already sold out!! Hopefully, it will pop back, it seems crazy that it sold out that fast. Out of the package, it looked pretty similar to how I remember the dress from last year looking. The navy on the dress is very dark, but the lining is a lighter navy. Here’s the tag info:

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The care tag says dry clean which is kind of a bummer for a casual summer dress. It doesn’t say dry clean only so perhaps it would withstand a delicate or hand wash. The skirt has about 3/4 inches of extra material that could be taken down if need be. The spaghetti straps are adjustable and it has a side zip from the waist up to the underarm. I had high hopes for this dress, based on how much I loved the retail version.

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Ok, so I’ve got it on and I feel a tad thick-waisted in it but it’s not so bad. My hips are happy and have a lot of room to breathe. The skirt needs an iron but I like the full skirt. The length is good too, not to short, not too long. I’d take the extra 3/4 inch in the hem but I probably wouldn’t pay to have it altered. I don’t even have much cleavage in this dress. I tried a belt with it and liked it a bit better with the belt.  (and yes, I tried it on without a bra.) I wish I could say this was the end of the review and it was a great dress. I think you might be able to guess where I’m going with this picture as to my issue with this dress.

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Behold…the pancake boob. Yikes. Right? The reason that I have next to now cleavage is that they’re squashed. Completely squashed.

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Cue sad face. There’s not even really room for a strapless bra in there. I tried. It was even more sad than this picture. And yes, I’m sort of arching my back so my middle looks even thicker but yeah, my chest looks that flat. Not a trick of the camera. Ugh. Straight on, it looks great. Get a little closer and it’s clear they’re fighting for air. Believe me, I’m always trying to make sure they’re not overly pronounced or I’m not showing inappropriate amounts of cleavage but this is just wrong. Ugh. But I REALLY WANT THIS DRESS. I just don’t know if it’s worth going up a size because the rest of it fits so well I feel like the skirt would be swimming in a larger size.  I realized I had the straps tightened so I momentarily thought that perhaps loosening up and trying the strapless bra again might be a win, but no, still pancake city. Blah.  I know I should return it, but I think I will need to keep it for a little while to try and get over it. And maybe wander up to the outlet to see if they have a bigger size and if it could maybe work.  I’m also debating taking it to my tailor to see if there’s anything they can do. This is what we call desperation. But at the end of the day, it probably isn’t meant to be.  This is me. Sighing loudly. So, what do you think? Needs to be returned, right? Or am I over-reacting?  Would love to hear what you think, and thanks for stopping by!

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Repeat Offender

A few weeks ago I wore the following outfit to my cousin’s bridal shower and I wasn’t quite set up in blogland yet so I took some photos for Instagram that for some reason I never posted. Fast forward to last night and I was sitting in my closet last night trying to figure out what to wear and lamenting that all of my summer skirts are at the tailor being lengthened. I decided to take the easy way out and wear the outfit I’d worn to the shower a few weekends ago. I tend to repeat outfits the most when I know I’m going to be around people that haven’t seen the outfit. Like in this case, I was with family when I had the outfit on, and I’d be wearing it to work. So, even though I’m repeating myself, I’m showcasing to an entirely new audience.  This is usually what convinces me that it’s ok to wear a dress to an event more than once, as long as the guests won’t be the same. Yeah, I know. Nobody remembers. But I do.  As usual, I’m off on a tangent. Anyway…

Here’s the original shower outfit:

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Blouse | J.Crew Tilda Rhinestone Blouse, Sweater| J.Crew Merino Tippi, Pants | J.Crew Pinwheel Eyelet Cafe Capri(tall), Shoes | J.Crew Mona Patent Leather Mary-Jane
Watch | Michael Kors, Bracelets | Style.Love.Living, Purse | Banana Republic Patent Clutch

Perhaps it was because it was the same sort of rainy day as the day of the shower that I decided to go with the same outfit. But there’s something comfortable about going back to an outfit that works. I definitely need to work on styling these pants in different ways.  When getting dressed this morning though, I thought that I could mix it up a little bit and switch it in for my new J.Crew Contessa snakeskin bow pumps (yay!) and a featherweight cashmere cardigan instead of the J.Crew Tippi shown above. So, it’s not exactly the same as a few weeks before. And seriously, these shoes alone make this outfit fabulous. I might admit to strutting around the office today (well, not blatantly, but maybe a little in my head. Or maybe because the shoes are just that tall I don’t have a choice.) Since I couldn’t chance the suede pumps in the wet weather outside, I opted for some Banana Republic Ashley flats for my morning coffee run and walk from the parking ramp to work as well as a robin-egg blue Burberry coat that I scored at an outlet clearance years ago but still love. Two fab outfits in one day!

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So, how about you – do you have outfits you find yourself going back to repeatedly? And are you more likely to wear the same outfit in close succession as long as it’s for a different “audience?”  Or is that just weird? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!

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