I was going to do this post last week…but I didn’t.
I have some sleeveless dresses that I LOVE. But in the past, I’ve always just packed them away when the weather got chilly. I’m not going to do that this year, though. So to inspire me (and hopefully you) to make those dresses work through the colder months, here are some inspiring outfits of dresses layered up for cooler weather. All images are linked to Pinterest.
1. Wear a belted shirt or cardigan—or both—over your dress.
2. Wear a knotted shirt over your dress. I think a lot of people think this is more of a summer look, but if you use the right pieces, it’s a great way to transition your sleeveless dresses to fall (a plaid shirt perhaps? Or warm fall colors.)
3. Wear a shirt under your dress. Yeah, use it as a jumper.
4. Wear a sweater over your dress. Extra points if it’s a bright-colored sweater.
And of course, all these looks are great with tights, boots, socks, belts, hats, scarves…just later it up and make it warm! Are there any tips and tricks you have for transitioning pieces into cooler months? Please share!
I’m not used to it getting dark before 8pm yet. So once again, I didn’t get a chance to take pictures until after dark. I bought this jacket in late spring so this fall is really the first opportunity I’ve had to wear it. My dad thinks it looks like a detective jacket. My sister (we were visiting her at school) saw my curly hair and referred to it as curly noodles. So by the end of dinner, those two observations merged and I was dubbed the “curly noodle detective.”
dress: secondhand Old Navy jacket: secondhand Talbots shoes: secondhand J. Crew earrings: secondhand hair: au naturel
This weekend, I went back to my beautiful college town to meet up with my old housemates and see some other friends as well. It was so much fun and it really makes me miss them…and school. These are some highlights from my trip (pictures stolen from Hannah). The first few are of our apple picking adventure. The next are of us playing Quelf (a board game everyone should experience). And the last is of my two housemates, our lovely host/dear friend, and me.
I didn’t get home until after dark yesterday, so I couldn’t really take pictures outside. Thus the lousy indoor pictures. At least there’s still some greenery. This is the first time I’ve ever worn this shirt with a skirt. I definitely think I prefer it to the other ways I’ve worn it. It’s kind of cropped so it works better with skirts since skirts rest higher on my waist than most pants.
top: secondhand Check and Stripe Skirt: secondhand New York and Company belt: secondhand shoes: secondhand Minnetonka bracelets: (1) handmade friendship bracelet, (2) Original Good fair trade earrings: secondhand
I LOVE finding new blogs to follow (even though my Bloglovin’ account is overflowing with unread posts). Particularly with fashion blogs, everyone has something they are good at, their niche. So today I’m going to share some of my favorites and why I like them. Some are newer finds and some I’ve been faithful to awhile. Hopefully you’ll find someone new to follow from my suggestions! And these are in no particular order.
Kayley is great at feminine and classic looks. Her styles are very achievable, as most of them are composed of pretty basic pieces. She pairs things together creatively, though, and always looks super put together and classy. She’s a great resource if you’re looking for inspiration on how to creatively mix and match classic pieces that most women probably own some variation of.
This is one I just recently discovered and I love it. Elizabeth is a pro with pattern mixing and layering. A “natural maximist” she calls herself. Her style is quirky, fun, and floral. She makes me want to be more risky with mixing and not-matching. I also envy her hair. Check her out if you need help in the pattern mixing department or if your closet is overflowing with florals that your not sure how to wear.
Tieka’s style is funky, a bit edgy, and also girly. Yeah – all those things. I get the vibe that she’s a “dresses and skirts most of the time” type of girl. I love her taste in colors and color mixing, and all of her pictures are an adventure. She makes me want to just go exploring…all the time. Follow her if you’re a dress-wearing girl (who loves fall and all of its beautiful colors).
Veronika’s style is exactly what you’d expect – vintage. She’s great at not only finding beautiful vintage pieces, but wearing them. She’s really the perfect mix of modern and vintage. She makes me want to give vintage a try, which is one realm of secondhand I have yet to be brave enough to dive into. She’s great if you like feminine and fun fashion that hints at decades past.
Look at that crazy hair. Actually, it was a lot crazier a few weeks ago. The length it was a few weeks ago was too short for my natural curls to manifest themselves but also too short to straighten easily, so it just threw a headband on most days and said who cares. Now that it’s a bit longer, it’ll curl nicely on most days, and I can straighten it pretty easily if it doesn’t. I’m actually alright with it the way it is in these pictures. Growing it out is going to be a long and exhausting process! Oi.
I’m so happy it’s finally consitently cool enough here to wear clothes like these! Mmmmm, I love fall weather. Be sure to take the time to admire those lovely fig trees behind me.
top: secondhand Express jeans: secondhand J. Crew shoes: secondhand Missoni for Target earrings: secondhand
Well, I’m not actually telling you a million ways you can wear a chambray blouse, but simply that you CAN wear it a million ways. But here are a few of my favorite ways you can sport this timeless, useful piece. I just ordered one (Yes, I gave in and ordered one new. BUT it was on sale AND I had a 30% off coupon), so I’m excited to try out all these ways of wearing it. All images are linked to where I found them.
1. Yes, you can wear your chambray blouse with jeans. In fact, you should! Just go for a denim on bottom that’s a different shade from your top. And I like how this gal added some color with the bright belt.
2. Wear it with colored pants. Jeans or cords would look great. It’s just like wearing a colored top with blue jeans…except backwards.
3. Wear it under a sweater. Kayley here wore hers under a pullover sweater, but cardigans look great layered over chambray, too. I like how she dressed it up with that necklace under the collar and the ruffled skirt.
4. Pair it with a skirt. Any skirt. I like how it dresses down an accordion pleated skirt (I already have an outfit of my own planned).
5. tie it over a dress. This is a great way to bring those sleeveless dresses into fall. Just leave it unbuttoned and tie a knot.
This is one of my favorite tops. Check out how I styled it here…and surprisingly, that’s the only other time I’ve worn it on this blog.
Today was a cool, rainy day. My favorite. I love that the weather here is finally starting to stay under 85 degrees fahrenheit. Are you as excited about fall as I am? I also just spelled fahrenheit correctly without looking it up. I’m so proud of myself. (These pictures, once again, are from late July. No, we don’t have bright pink flowers blooming on our trees here in September.)
This is what happens when my sister tells me how to pose:
top: secondhand 21 belt: secondhand jeans: secondhand Gap shoes: secondhand Bare Traps earrings: secondhand hat: J. Crew sale
After looking at magazines and browsing the internet, it looks like stripes are going to be big this fall (no surprise there – aren’t stripes kind of timeless?) So I gathered up some of my favorite looks with stripes and put together this little how-to on wearing them. Sure, you could just throw on a striped tee and jeans, but why do that when you can be creative? I hope these tips and pictures will inspire you to make the most of your stripes! (click the pictures to get to their original sources)
1. Wear stripes as an accessory. Scarf, purse, socks, belt, bracelet… pair striped accessories with anything. I like how Madewell paired bold black and white stripes with a monochromatic, polka-dotted, bright red dress.
2. Wear tiny stripes as a solid. If you have to look really close to tell they’re stripes or if it looks solid when you blur your eyes, use it as a solid. For example, this blazer has thin black stripes, but it works as a solid grey. Wear it with other patterns freely. The only thing I would avoid is wearing it with a piece that has similar tiny stripes. If you want to wear stripes with stripes, stick to contrasting stripe sizes, like the second picture.
3. Wear bold stripes with another bold pattern. This is one I would be careful with because if you go wrong, you’ll just look like you got dressed in the dark. Stick to similar, limited color palettes or patterns that complement each other for best results. This is a hard one to give guidance for. Really your best bet is to use your judgement…and maybe a friend’s as well, just to be safe. I would personally avoid wearing multicolored stripes with other patterns because all that color would be crazy enough on its own (a rainbow striped sweater with a polka dotted skirt would scream circus, I’m afraid). I actually really like this pairing. I think this was a case of the stylist(s) trusting their instincts. Also, alpacas make great accessories.
4. Pair stripes with animal prints or florals. I like the really wide stripes used in the first picture …they’re a nice contrast to the smaller zebra-ish pattern on the shirt. They also stuck to similar colors (greys and blacks) so it all “matches.” Also notice the leopard belt (THREE different patterns done so well). The second picture works well because the patterns are similar sizes (small stripes with small flowers) and share a common color.
5. Wear stripes with tweed. In this case, use the tweed as the solid. I like how it’s done here. It makes this stiff, business-y outfit a bit more fun.
6. Wear stripes on the bottom instead of the top. Most of the time when you see stripes, it’s a tee or sweater or cardigan. A striped skirt or pair of pants, no matter how plain the pieces you pair it with, will be more interesting.
7. Wear your stripes from top to bottom – vertically, that is. Wearing horizontal stripes is the norm, so try some vertical stripes if you can find them. They’ll make you look taller rather than wider, and they’re a little more interesting simply because you don’t see people wearing them as often. Also give diagonal stripes a whirl. (and I don’t recommend wearing them as they are presented in the following picture. You MAY get strange looks. Though if that’s what you’re after, go for it. )
So you can probably tell from the flowers behind me…these pictures were taken in late July, not September. Sorry? I really liked this outfit and considering September here is still one of the hottest months of the year (and since I didn’t have to go back to school, I’m still in denial that summer could possibly be ending), I figured it would still be appropriate to post. I’d still wear it this month.
I used to look at Lucky magazine for fashion inspiration, but then I discovered Real Simple. My life doesn’t REVOLVE around fashion, so I found Real Simple to be a lot more engaging. It has a style & beauty section (that’s a lot more realistic and achievable than the stuff in many fashion magazines), but also food, books, home, and more. PLUS, the graphic design is beautiful.
Anyway, to the point, I recently did the displays in Your Stuff based on an article in the September issue of Real Simple. It was fall trends for under $100, I think. If you shop in consignment and thrift stores, though, you get much better deals than the outfits presented in the magazine. Here’s what I came up with:
Both of these materials are kind of timeless. You see them every season, though the shape and style may be different. So this look should be easy to put together. I had plenty to choose from here. Real Simple suggests pairing them with jewel tones – such as deep blues, greens, and purples.
Once again, a blazer is a timeless piece. Pair it with a button down shirt (the magazine used a striped shirt, as did I), a scarf instead of a tie, some cute loafers, and a fedora.
For fall try a dark lace, like black as pictured. White or off white lace may be too summery for fall, but I personally am going to still wear my off white lace shirt and just try pairing it with items such as jackets, sweaters, boots…we’ll see how that goes. Real Simple suggests sticking to structured lace, rather than loose and drapey.
Not a difficult trend at all. Cobalt – it’s a color. Here it’s paired with black , but the magazine suggests also trying grey. I personally think it would look great with a camel brown color.
And last, equestrian. This wasn’t really part of the same article as the others, but it was in the magazine as a trend for fall. Whip out some riding boots (or cowgirl boots if that’s more your style) and pair it with some structured plaid.
If you’re a more adventurous fashionista, maybe you should take a look at this article mocking highlighting trends from New York Fashion Week.
