LIttle White Dress Picks

I want to wear little white (or white-ish) dresses all summer long & I have been doing my best to do this. Here are some sweet little frocks I found that fit the bill. Which one would wear?

1. All Eyes & Cheers Dress (ModCloth.com $128)
2. Eyelet-Stripe Fit & Flare Dress (Gap $40)
3. LC Lauren Conrad Pleated Popover Maxi Dress (Kohls $32)
4. Abby Dress (ThreadsforThought.com $40)
5. Reversible Slip Dress (SynergyClothing.com $33)
6. Textured Fit & Flare Dress (Nordstrom $$$$)

Boardwalk Empire Style Challenge for Ladies & Gents

earrings | necklace | dress | hair pins | snake arm bangle | gold arm bangle | purse | t-strap heels

find all styles above at Paul Fredrick: fedora | dress shirt
suspenders | tie | pants | socks | shoes

I love American 1920s styles, I think it stems from my tap dancing days & my flapper-esque recital costume with fringe & everything. It was perfection.

When the folks over at Paul Fredrick asked if I’d celebrate Boardwalk Empire’s season premiere with a style challenge inspired by the show I was both flattered & excited & started my search for my interpretation of the style.

Splurge v. Steal: Leopard Print Slide-On Sneakers

I was on the hunt for some “summer” leopard footwear. When I kept seeing these slide-on sneakers I knew these were the perfect ones for me.  One of the shoes shown above is $495+ & the other is $39.99. Click through to see which one I came home with.

Belt Bags

click the corresponding number here to find the bags above: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Two words: belt bag. I know.  I know it looks & sounds a lot like a fanny pack that many of us probably remember wearing in our youth & never wanting to look back. Well I’m looking back & learning from it. Turns out a bag belt is pretty much a great idea. I love cross body bags so that my arms are free & bag belts offer the same thing except you can really work them into an outfit like a belt. 

Picture yourself at a cocktail party with a sassy clutch under your arm a cocktail in one hand & a mini crab cake in your other, all of a sudden the clutch falls the floor. Do you put your drink down or swallow your hors d’oeuvre whole? You probably wish you had a belt bag - I know I would in this scenario so that is why I’ve been perusing the inter webs for the perfect belt bag that looks like a classy belt but has the chicness of a cute clutch.

Would you wear one? Before you answer checkout how cute they actually look, here.

Dress to Impress (& Eat) on Turkey Day

1 | 2 | 3

We all want to dress to impress especially around the holidays. But I think we can all agree that we need to dress to eat, too! Some bad news, friends, if your sweats have pockets in them - that does not make them dressy - leave them at home.  Good news, there are dresses that will give your sweats a run for their money in comfort, earn you a compliment (or ten) & leave room for seconds.

Here are some of my tips for holiday dressing:

1. Pretty patterns are your friend:  If you are prone to wearing your dinner no matter how hard you try to get it in your mouth opt for patterns - they hide stains better.
2. Classic shifts & color blocking are chic & comfy: If your eyes are bigger than your stomach, opt for soft fabrics with either elastic waist bands or go uber chic with a shift (read: loose around the waist!) If you can find something with slimming color blocking like dress #2 - you'll have your fellow party-goers confused when you reach for seconds while maintaining your slim silhouette.
3. Consider the temperature where you're going: Is it always hot at Grandma's even if it's 30 degrees out? Then that sleeveless #3 is suddenly not a crazy idea but a good one.  If it's traditionally as chilly inside as it is outside opt for a sweater dress like #2 or another long-sleeved option like #1.

What are you wearing for the holidays?

Beach Getaway Wear

1: tank; 2: delicate cross necklace; 3: the perfect levi's jean cutoffs; 4: chunky chain bracelet; 5: LeSportsac leopard cross body bag; 6: floral boat shoes

It's still cold in the Northeast. I'm day dreaming of a beach getaway wearing tank tops & cutoffs. I think this would be the perfect outfit for a laid back trip to the beach, who's with me?

New Accessories, New Year, Old Friends

boots: Lucky Brand; tights: walmart; bangles: gifted from my gal Jasmine at Shobha; red polish: honeyfox by Sheswai

I recently reconnected with my old pal, Becca, from my college days. I'm so happy we got a chance to catch up because she is engaged! Congrats Becca & Chris! Check out some of their gorgeous engagement photos here.

As we chatted & I caught Becca up to speed on this here blog she encouraged me to post more outfit shots. In her words "I would really dig that." So without further adieu, here are some more outfit shots with my favorite new most-comfortable-ever-no-need-to-break-in boots (self-gifted) & favorite new necklace (gifted by my sis!).

necklace: Gauge NYC , striped dress: Joe Fresh, swingy trench: Anthropologie; leopard belt: unknown - gifted by my mom;

There are more photos on the other side of this jump, so be sure to click through!

Polka Dot Confection Perfection

dress: Anthropologie; shoes: Ann Taylor

Any dress that can make you feel like Marilyn when the wind blows is a keeper in my book.  That's why I've decided to keep this dress that my sister lent me (ha ha just kidding, well not really, tee hee I'll give it back I promise).  I wore this sweet little confection of a dress to Marie's baby shower.  It's the perfect amount of lady who lunches with enough fun details (& a plunging neckline) that it doesn't make it stuffy. I kept the accessories to a minimum & let the dots do the talking.

Thanks for the dress Penny :)

Hot Pink Dress Combo

Dress (Anthropologie); Earrings (Gift from my mama); Necklace (Forever 21, remember these); Shoes (Vince Camuto; similar here)

This dress is easily my favorite closet addition this summer.  It's super wearable & fun.  I love the hot pink color & the pockets (!!!!).  It's surprisingly versatile & has been my go to "wedding" dress this season.  Check out more photos after the jump to see how I traded these neutral accessories for bolder ones. Which do you like best?

Layered With Lace

Top (Forever 21); Belt (Anthropologie); Dress (Anthropologie); Shoes (Ann Taylor); Polish (Essie - Mojito Madness)

Sometimes it's too hot to layer but some dresses are not office appropriate, enter a lace layering piece like this one.  This top is light enough to keep me cool yet covered enough for the office. I just can't get enough of these shoes & this toe nail polish lately, what can I say I'm just a sucker for color.

An Outfit Too Hot for Jewels, But Not For Shoes

dress (Banana Republic, similar here), belt (H&M), earrings (c/o my sis),
Shoes (Ann Taylor, these have the perfect amount of neon yellow),
nail polish (fear or desire by essie), beachy hair (created with not your mother's sea salt spray).

Last week was so hot that I snapped these photos & took these earrings right off.  I could barely handle the tissue weight of this silk dress that I've used as a go-to in my close for longer than I should publicly admit.  The only accessories that I could handle were these strappy neon yellow shoes that are surprisingly comfy!  What do you accessorize with when it's too hot for jewels?

Art Director Jacket

jacket (Anthropologie); tank & pants (H&M); gold bobby pins (H&M);  necklace (Anthology in Hoboken!), shoes (Jessica Simpson).

I call this silk jacket my "art director" jacket. It makes me feel like I should be making something out of clay while whirling my arms about to describe the process. Well I am an art director  (here & of this blog!) so if the shoe fits... buy two pair, right? 

In the vein of art direction I was just playing around with some Photoshop pizzazz to jazz these photos up with some fun lens flares (aka those fun sun spots you see!).  (Please note: the brightness in the photos was compliments of the morning sunshine in Hoboken on our terrace.)  *Sparkle fingers* YAY!*

Happy Friday & Happy (early) Father's Day to my dad, my father-in-law John,  my two super grandfathers & all the awesome fathers in my world!!! Love you all!

Daily Opportunity To Have a Good Time

 

I have loved lucky magazine ever since it came out (thanks to Amanda!). It's the one magazine I have faithfully subscribed to.  The method of how I read it has become a ritual. First, I leaf through the whole thing to get an idea of what is in store. Then the next day (or if I have a whole nowhere-to-be-but-on-my-couch-night) I dive in deeper & read every page, not always in order but EVERY PAGE.  The final page of the July issue had this quote in it that just spoke to me so I had to share it.  I love getting dressed in the morning - I think it's so much fun, sure I have fat days and days when I hate everything in my closet. Some days are a hit & others are a miss but for the most part I probably have too much fun getting dressed each day.  

I loved this outfit that I wore a couple weeks ago.  It was a hit. I just felt good in it & it made me want to jump around (again). This little white shift has been in my closet for years. It's a little cotton organic piece that just works on every day (similar here). This blazer & these sandals have become staples in my spring wardrobe.  The necklace I get tons of questions & compliments on was under $15 at Target! And this lip color just makes me smile.

Cheers to your daily opportunity to have a good time (oh & summer fridays at my office!). Happy weekend y'all!

Split Personalities

blazer (H&M), top (forever 21(old!), similar here), jeans (target), necklace (unknown, similar here),
heels (seychelles, similar color here), clutch (modcloth, similar here).

It's been a crazy week. Sometimes I feel like it would be easier to get things done if split myself in half & then half again, much easier done in photoshop than real life!  Hope you all get in some fun play time this weekend! Happy first day of June!

Orange-You-Glad-Spring-is-Here-Inspiration

top (anthropologie - on sale early spring 2012); belt (similar here); skirt (urban outifitters - old);
shoes (c/o the chew); clutch (the clutch I wore for my wedding! from hautelook)

 It's finally spring (albeit a little gloomy today)! Last week when the sun finally poked out I couldn't help but want to exude some sunny colors.  I love colors - that's no secret. I wanted to highlight the orange and turquoise here so I kept my skirt and shoes neutral.  Happy spring!

A Minty Momento

 

I clean out and reorganized my shoe closet this weekend. And by shoe closet I'm referring to the sea of shoes piled at the bottom of my closet. I parted ways with some that had seen better days, but these mint beauties are here to stay.  I bought these BCBG kitten sling back kitten heels ten years a long time ago. When I bought them they reminded me of mint chocolate chip ice cream - you know the good kind from the 80s full of green food coloring - and they still do.  Inspired by my rediscovering these sweet feet treats I paired them with a shrunken blazer from anthro (also old) , a pale blue light weigh sweater I scored on haute look and my favorite GAP boyfriend jeans.  I also firmly believe that turquoise goes with everything so I paired this look up with a pair of turquoise earrings.

Do your clothes ever remind you of food?