outfits

Summer Fab Series – Pattern Mixing

August 7, 2014

As promised, here is part 2 of my 3 part Summer Fab Series. I’m sure a lot of people have moved past pattern mixing but I am still going strong. For me, it’s really just another way to pair clothes – of course paisley goes with polka dots! I actually really like the way pattern mixing challenges my outfit planning and I’m always looking for new combinations – even though really, at the end of the day it’s floral, stripe, polka dot, animal print, paisley, rinse repeat.So, here we go, a few of my favorite summer pattern mixing outfits.

First up…stripes on stripes

Purse: Tory Burch Robinson Double Zip Tote

Stripes and polka dots are the two patterns that you can pair up a little more easily. I love the simple navy and green combination and the different width stripes added more interest to this outfit.

Sweater : J.Crew (last year) / Skirt: J.Crew Pencil Skirt in Colorblock Stripe / Shoes: J.Crew Factory

Next up…triple pattern mix. I love paisley and stripes…and paisley and polka dots…so I decided to go for all three! I kept it “toned down” by adding the navy cardigan. I love this Tory Burch cardigan because it’s like having some fun jewelry on my cardigan!

Cardigan : Tory Burch Simone Cardigan / Blouse: J.Crew (old), similar here / Necklace: J.Crew Pearl Hammock Necklace / Skirt: J.Crew Factory (old), similar here and / Heels: J.Crew Factory Isabelle Pumps

Here’s another similar look with the same color scheme:

Blouse: J.Crew / Skirt: J.Crew Factory (old) / Necklace: J.Crew Floating Gems Necklace/ Shoes: J.Crew Everly Metallic Pumps (similar here)

And yet another variation…paisley and stripes

Blazer: J.Crew Chambray Schoolboy Blazer (similar here) / Blouse : J.Crew Moonglow Paisley Blouse / J.Crew Factory Isabelle Pumps / Necklace: J.Crew Inspired via Groopdealz

And last but not least…probably my favorite pattern mix of the summer…floral and stripe. I’ll admit, it’s been quite a few years since I’ve been in to any florals but this Cove floral blouse caught my eye this year and it’s been fun to style.

Blouse: J.Crew Sleeveless Drapey Top in Cove Floral / J.Crew Stripe Pencil skirt (similar from Factory here)/ Necklace: J.Crew Circular Petals Necklace / Shoes: Banana Republic Carter Flat

So, there you have it, a few of my favorite summer pattern mixing looks! What do you think? Any favorites? Too many patterns? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!

Summer Fab Series – Colors

July 28, 2014

Hi there! I know I’ve been a bit lax with posting – I’ve admittedly fallen in to the once or twice a day post a photo on Instagram instead of blogging slump. But I wanted to share some of my favorite summer work looks since somehow we seem to be halfway through summer! I’m admittedly already eyeing fall clothing but…it’s not fall yet so, it’s still time to share summer looks! I seem to be in a constant rotation of colors, pattern mixing and classic neutrals. So…I’m going to work on a few posts centered on these three items. First up – colors! I’ll be honest – I wrote this before I looked through my photos from the past few weeks and I was a little disappointed to see I haven’t been showcasing as much color this summer (or I should say color that doesn’t involve pattern mixing) – something I think I need to work on for the rest of summer!

But for now…here are a few of my favorite summer looks focusing on colors:

I’m not going to lie, this is probably one of my favorite summer outfits. I bought these Kate Spade Gabe flats on super sale (well super sale for KS) last month and I am soooo in love with them. I want to wear them all the time. They were a perfect match for my J.Crew Neon Tweed skirt. With all of that color I had to tone down the top but I added in some pops of yellow too with a belt and necklace. And well…why not a pink bag too?

Top & Skirt : J.Crew (last year), similar top here / Necklace : J.Crew Factory / Shoes : Kate Spade (sold out, similar color here )

Next up…mixing some colors I wouldn’t usually think to pair together. The cove floral print at J.Crew this season featured a lot of items, and I decided on the lightweight sleeveless drapey silk blouse in the pattern. Many people noted that this blouse is very lightweight and I agree – I haven’t had issues with it snagging though.

Blouse : J.Crew / Necklace: J.Crew / Skirt: J.Crew Factory / Flats : Banana Republic

There are so many colors to work with in this blouse and while wading through my closet I somehow settled on a cotton pencil skirt in mint. Huh. It worked. And with neon yellow no less. I’m telling you, some days I don’t know how it all comes together, it just does. The neon yellow was a given with the blouse…the mint, well, I just had to take a chance.

Last up…a blouse that I most definitely bought from a little peer pressure via Instagram…but, now that I have it, I think it’s going to be a great summer and fall piece and the color pairings are endless. It’s also some colors that are a bit out of my comfort zone so it’s been a good challenge to encourage me to wear it.

Blouse : J.Crew Gemstone Floral Silk Tee / Pants : Banana Republic Jackson crop (old)/ Shoes: J.Crew

I’m still thinking about some brighter combinations for this blouse…so stay tuned.

And last but not least a look with the Racer Back floral dress that I wore to a recent family party. I really loved this combination and it was a great weekend slightly dressy look. Less of a necklace and it could be dressed down more but it’s me…so of course there’s some bling involved!

Dress: J.Crew / Necklace : J.Crew (last year) / Cardigan : J.Crew Factory

So, what do you think of these color centered outfits? Any favorites? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!

4th of July Fab

July 4, 2014

Happy 4th of July! Just wanted to pop in and share a few of my patriotic looks from this past week. I admittedly don’t own a ton of red, but after a further inspection of my closet and a lucky eBay purchase, I found I had a few items that I could work in different shades of red, white and blue. I recently received the J.Crew pencil skirt in Raj Paisley via eBay and was surprised to see that it was mostly made up of a blue and red pattern (I thought there was more purple in it…but that must be the mixing of the two colors from far away). I originally had it paired with just the oxford Tilda blouse but found this J.Crew Lightweight Merino v-neck sweater in Monaco Blue in my closet and it was a perfect match! I admittedly don’t wear a lot of blue that isn’t navy or aqua hued, so I was happy to find another outfit combination for this sweater. I opted for neutral shoes since I had a lot of color in the outfit itself.

Next up, the J.Crew Gondola Stripe skirt. I have a lot of trouble deciding on tops for this skirt – the skirt hits higher on my waist so anything tucked in usually makes my torso look really short and my chest look really big. On a whim, I tried a blousy top and really liked the look, which I finished off with a chambray blazer.

Blazer: J.Crew Schoolboy Blazer / Blouse : Banana Republic / Shoes : Gap

I’ve seen this skirt styled with polka dots and liked the look so I thought I would add that in via my loafers. Some gold jewelry and a simple necklace and I have to say this was a pretty solid patriotic effort in my opinion!

Watch: Michael Kors / Bracelets: J.Crew and J.Crew Factory

After a very busy week we actually have a quiet 4th planned but fireworks are always in the plan! I am usually not one to pair red, white and blue but it is always fun to do so around the 4th of July! So what do you think, are these patriotic enough? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!

Summer Dress Fab

July 2, 2014

I’ve been on a bit of a dress kick lately. After months of wearing pants it admittedly takes me a little bit to get in to wearing skirts and dresses but I think it’s safe to say I’ve been reminded of the ease of wearing dresses in the summer time for work and for casual activities. For the most part, I don’t wear a ton of shorts (that might be changing…more on that in another post) so dresses are often my weekend go to item. This isn’t rocket science, they’re just easy, you can dress them up or down and depending on the style wear them to work and then out for drinks with a little accessory/shoe switch up (ooh, another post idea…)

Here’s a few of my recent summer dress purchases and how I’ve styled them:

J.Crew Stripe Back-Zip Dress

I’m sorry for the crooked picture…sometimes I take them this way so my arm isn’t in the way and then I can edit them to flip them so it’s straight…and I am not quite there yet, I’ll figure out how to flip them. I posted about this dress a few weeks ago. I didn’t buy it when it was full price but when it went on sale plus another 40% off I was all over that! I took a size smaller than my usual J.Crew dress size so I would say it definitely runs big. For a summer dress, it hits right above my knee but it is perfect. I probably wouldn’t wear it to work (maybe on a Friday) but this is a perfect weekend dress. I think a belt might help the waistline too.

I wore this dress out for a casual dinner tonight and I wore it with my new (well, new to me) J.Crew denim vest in Workwear wash from last summer which I recently found on eBay for $20. I’ve been seeing denim vests on a lot of ladies on Instagram and finally decided I would try and pull one off. Here’s a photo of how I styled the dress for going out for a casual dinner:

Flip Flops: Banana Republic / Denim Vest: J.Crew from last year (similar at J.Crew Factory)

Next up…

J.Crew Embroidered Floral Racer Dress

I was originally drawn to the top in this print but the top fit funny so, still liking the print I decided to give the dress a try. The full skirt looked promising for my hips and it also looked to be a decent length. I was a bit worried about the top due to reviews of it being a big snug. Well, it is, but I decided this was something I could live with. I do have a slight bit of pancake chest in this dress but considering I thought I would mostly wear it with a cardigan I decided I was ok with the chest issue and have made sure I wear a less padded (racerback) bra when wearing it.

I find that this dress needs a belt when I wear it as the waistline is a little poofy with all of the tucked fabric at the waist. Easy enough. I added a cardigan and a belt when I was playing around with styling:

And here’s the finished product of how I styled this dress recently for work:

Necklace: J.Crew Factory Jeweled Triangle Necklace / Cardigan : J.Crew Featherweight Cashmere Cardigan / Flats: Kate Spade Gabe Flats (sold out)

I really like both of these dresses because they are neutral enough that you can perk them up with some colors or keep them neutral with similar color tones. I already have a few more styling ideas for these dresses and look forward to getting more use out of them this summer.

So, what do you think of these dresses? Do you have either one of them? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!

Weekend Fab – It’s Still not Spring Edition

March 23, 2014

Hi there! Just popping in to share my weekend looks with you – I had a good mix of a relaxing and busy weekend, just the way I like it with multiple opportunities to put together some fun outfits….just the way I like it!! And now that I’m tallying up my outfits I realized it was an exclusively J.Crew weekend…surprise surprise!!

First up – Friday – work and aftewards a trip to the mall for a little bit of (J.Crew!) shopping and dinner and a movie (Divergent) with one of my girlfriends. This sweater is hands down my new favorite hot pink. I’m in love.

All J.Crew: Sweater: Merino side-panel sweater in Neon Begonia / Minnie Pants in Diamond Print / Linen Nobody’s Perfect Tee / Factory Emery Flats / Necklace (inspired) : Crystal Rosette Necklace via Groopdealz

Outfit #2 – Saturday morning manicure appointment

I’ll be honest, I only wore this for a few hours – I can’t wait to have another day to get a full day out of it!

Jacket : J.Crew Factory Bella Jacket (old) / J.Crew Lace Sweatshirt / J.Crew Factory Chambray Shirt / J.Crew Pixie Pants / Corso Como Boots

Outfit #3 – Date night dinner!

Any excuse to wear my J.Crew leather front pixie pants….I don’t think I’ve blogged about just how much I.LOVE.THESE.PANTS. I scored these pants on serious promo + additional markdown and while they were still a bit of a splurge I feel a total rockstar in them. I’m still trying to figure out how I can swing wearing them to work (I’m still not that adventurous). In the meantime I’ll settle for wearing them out to dinner and as many places as possible.

Sweater: Merino Side-Panel V-Neck Sweater (same as the pink one above) / Blouse: Polka-dot blythe blouse / Blazer : Schoolboy Blazer in Black / Pants: Leather Front Pixie Pants /Shoes Cap-toe Everly Pumps / Necklace: Icicle Pendant Necklace

And my final casual Sunday look…running a few quick errands. I’m not a big hat person, but I couldn’t resist the J.Crew Embroidered Emblem Baseball Cap for a mere $8 on Friday.

T-Shirt : Factory Stripe Bateau Top in Neon Azalea / Hoodie: Cashmere Hoodie

So, there you have it, my looks from the weekend! Any favorites? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!!

A Peek at Spring

March 20, 2014

I’ll be honest, I really didn’t pay much attention to the fact that today is the first day of spring. I signed on to Instagram and saw all of the bright springy outfits as I watched the snow fall outside. So, I’m going to share with you my outfit from yesterday which was a much more spring like outfit than what I decided to wear today. As much as I love my bright colors I have a feeling I’m going to be stocking up on pastels this seasons. My first pastel purchase for the spring was the J.Crew Lightweight Merino Tunic Sweater in Heather Lavender. I’m liking the longer sweater/top trend this season so I thought I would try this one out as I had seen a few positive reviews online. I took a medium which is my almost always sweater size in J.Crew, it has a loose fit, and is a bit swingy with two side slits. You definitely need a shirt underneath as the lighter color is fairly sheer and the side slits definitely show my sides. Nobody needs to see that. I just layered a lightweight tank underneath. I liked this sweater because it’s a slimmer cut of the swing style of sweater and I don’t feel huge in it like I have in some of the other oversized sweaters that are out right now. Don’t need to be adding any pounds!

Sweater: J.Crew Lightweight Merino Tunic Sweater in Heather Lavender / Pants: Banana Republic (Winter 2013) / Necklace: J.Crew Geo Fan Necklace / Shoes: J.Crew Everly Mirror Metallic Pumps

This necklace totally escaped me when it was out this last winter, but I received it as a birthday gift and I am finding it to be so versatile. Here’s a closeup:

So, there you have it, a quick sneak peek at spring! My spring purchases are rolling in…I’m ready to pack away the sweaters and get on with it! So what do you think of the outfit? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!