A Mixed Day

I've got something of a mixed day in front of me, first a quick and casual work meeting, and then just a ton of working from home and running errands. I've dressed for the more important task, which is the work meeting. When I'm done with that, there's an very good chance I'll change into jeans and a t-shirt, just to be a little more comfortable!

In honor of my mixed day, I've worn my one mixed media shirt. I'm normally not a fan of this trend, but I like how the cotton back and patterned print work on this shirt. It's incredibly flowy and amazingly comfortable. I can't help but be drawn to the pattern as well.

However, upon second though I'm not sure how nuts I am about this top and skirt paired together. The greens don't seem to go together quite as well as I thought, and it's definitely a look I might re-consider in the future. The top is from Kohls, while the skirt is from New York and Company

And just a quick reminder, well behaved women rarely make history! So act up and make a difference!

Voting Day!

It's November 4th, and across the country that means that people are heading to the polls. In a fit of patriotic fervor I pulled out an incredibly old t-shirt, and headed out to vote with a message! (Yes, this shirt is from over eight years ago, when message t-shirts were still a big trend.)

Be a Chooser, Not a Loser, Vote!

 When I finally was able to find my polling location, one of the workers complimented my shirt, which made me feel a little bit better about wearing something that felt a little bit old and maybe a little too on topic.

 To pull the look together as something other than just a t-shirt I paired it with a skirt from Loft and a red belt that I found on Amazon. I kept the colors really, really simple so that I could let the message of the shirt stay front and center, and so that it didn't feel too much like a costume.

This skirt is one of my favorites, although I don't wear it too often. It walks the line between casual and dressed up, and so I'm trying to figure out way s to make it work in a variety of ways, such as this fairly casual look. Isn't the overlay just too much fun?

 RBG voted that she should get to chew my shoes, but I had to veto that particular option! These are a relatively new purchase from Payless, and I love the menswear inspired details. You should definitely check them out, at $14 I think they're a steal! I find that they run just a smidge small, so if you're between sizes I would consider sizing up a half size. And make sure you vote today if you haven't!

Faux-Fall

I know that at this point I've talked a lot about the weather, and how it's never chilly in Houston. However, this weekend we had a cold chill, where the temps actually dropped down pretty darn low! I was over the moon, and excited to finally be able to share some outfits that featured sweaters, boots, and all the fun cool weather looks that are available. Unfortunately, the weather didn't stay, and the high today is int he 80s. So, I'll have to continue with the faux-fall looks, and I hope that you'll forgive me.

These boots are new, and I'm really enjoying their super tall shaft. I like that they go to my knee, which will make it easier to transition somewhat shorter dresses into fall. You can find them here, for only $23, and with free shipping and returns if you have an Amazon Prime membership. I have somewhat large calves, and I found these to be a good fit, so that's an additional thing to keep in mind!

This dress is about four years old now, and originally came from the sales rack at Delia's. I've mostly looked at Delia's products online and in catalogs, but the Houston Galleria has an actual physical location. I really like this dress, it's so simple that it can be accessorized in a ton of different ways, and the thick fabric means I can transition it into colder weather fairly well. The scarf was  gift from my sister, and to be totally honest, I'm not entirely sure where it came from, although I believe it's from Old Navy.

I had to include this picture. Not only do you get a better feel for the true color of the boots, but so that you'll know what I go through every day when getting dressed.

Wearing Orange as an Aggie

I've got very conflicted emotions about the color orange. I'll admit, this definitely makes me sound like a crazy. And I probably am a little crazy, but that doesn't really make a difference here. Ultimately I've never been much of a fan of the color, first because it was my little sister's favorite color, and then once I went to Texas A&M, it always reminded me of the University of Texas. (For those of you who don't follow Texas football rivalries, A&M and UT are two of the main colleges in the state, and they've been huge rivals for years, until A&M left the conference and joined the SEC.) However, upon moving to Houston, I started attending games for the Houston Dynamo, and then Dash, the professional soccer teams here in town. Their main color, of course, is orange. All of this is a long way of telling you that I've gotten a lot of use out of my one orange garment, this orange dress.

Luckily, it's much more of a deep, rich orange, rather than the burnt orange of the University of Texas. Once an Aggie, always an Aggie! I've worn this dress often to soccer games, since it's comfortable, and doesn't show sweat. The dress is a lightweight cotton, although the threaded flowers give a bit of detail to the dress.

Today I decided to wear the dress for work, by pairing it with my brown blazer. These two colors together felt very fall to me, in a way that was really appropriate. Plus the fact that the dress was sleeveless meant that I didn't die in the unseasonably warm weather we're having right now!

As you can see, I'm in a dressing room in these pictures. I'll be the first to admit, I love shopping on my lunch break. I was originally going to show you what I tried on, but since I ended up making a purchase, you'll see it soon enough as a regular outfit post!

Outfit Details: Dress is from Macy's, the blazer is from New York and Company, and the earrings are from Charming Charlie

Game Night Dress

As I've mentioned, I don't actually have to go into the office on Mondays, and so I have to admit that I never really got dressed in more than shorts and a tank top yesterday. The most dressed I got was to go to the gym, and I don't think anyone really needs to see that outfit! I was working to finish  a big project, and so I didn't really leave the house. I'm going to try and do better and have an outfit worth sharing even on my more home bound days.

This is another one of those dresses with a lot of details. It's not only got a crazy pattern, but also a tie at the neck and gathered sleeves. However crazy it may be, it's definitely one of my favorites, and I like to wear it both for more casual days at work and for whatever else I have going on in my life.

Although the dress is a couple of inches above the knee, in my experience it is so covered up everywhere else that I can get away with it for work. Today I am wearing it with a brown blazer and my loafers, but a cardigan is also a nice pair with this dress. I found it at Modcloth about two years ago, and it's been in heavy rotation since. It's sold out now, but you can see the pattern in better detail here (as well as request that they bring it back!) I'll admit, the fact that this was called the Morning Noon and Game Night Dress definitely swayed it a little more in my favor, and I've definitely worn it to game night with friends!

As an accessory, I paired my Michael Kors watch (check out this one too!) with some mint nail polish. I normally don't paint my nails very often, because I chip the paint incredibly fast, but this is the Sally Hansen quick drying polish, and I find that it lasts a little longer on me, which is awesome!

And as I Houston girl, I've definitely got to go along with the Southern link-up!  

Fall Confession

I think I've mentioned in passing, but I live in Houston. Houston means hot weather for practically the entire year. I'm originally from the Texas Panhandle, where the weather conditions are very different, and I'm still adjusting to the humidity and constant heat. However, we've been having some almost fall type weather lately. It'll be in the mid 50s in the morning, but still warm up into the mid 80s for the early afternoon. This makes it incredibly hard to get dressed in an outfit that will transition comfortably through all the weather and extreme air conditioning.

The uptake of all this weather talk is that I've had to find a way to dress that still feels like fall, and yet can stand up to the really odd weather. In come light weight but longer sleeve dresses, like the one I'm wearing here. This dress is perfect. Although it's a light color, it's pretty rich, and the sleeves give it the feeling of being appropriate for cooler temps. It's also just long enough that I can get away with wearing it to work without tights.

Boots are the compromise I make, because while they're really comfortable in the cooler temperatures of the morning, by the high of the day my legs are definitely feeling the heat! However, I think they really make this outfit, and keep it in the fall sensibility.

What do you say? What's your answer for dressing in the weird weather? I don't feel right totally committing to dressing for hot or cold at this point, and I also don't feel ok just ignoring the changing season. Am I just nuts and over thinking this? (You don't need to answer that!)

The great thing about being a bunny is that RBG never has to worry about if her outfit will be warm or cool enough, and she's always seasonal!


Outfit details: Dress is from a local boutique, Boots are Old Navy (from forever ago), and my necklace and earrings are both Charming Charlie.

A promise

One of my goals in starting this blog is to only show outfits that I actually wear in my daily life. I want to use this as a chance to push me out of my clothing comfort zone a little, but I absolutely want to focus on wearable looks that actually work for my own use. Because of that, you might see a little bit of repetition, or outfits that aren't quite as magazine ready as on some other blogs. However, I am going to try and challenge myself, and I hope you'll enjoy the journey with me!

 

This dress is kind of exactly what I mean about challenging myself. Normally, something this flowy, and honestly, this short, would be totally outside of my comfort zone. Although I think it's a very pretty pattern, it's not something I would have normally gravitated to. However, I bought it from Amazon at an extremely cheap price, and there were no returns, so I wanted to find a way to make it work. I found that adding a belt with some tougher hardware and tights helped to make me feel more comfortable with the length, and also help ground the delicate pattern a little. 

One thing I love about these boots is the fringe. It's such a fun little detail, and I'll admit I really like the boots with this dress. I also like the layered look of the hem.

 Really, for me it's amazing what a pair of tights and boots can do to anchor a look. In my opinion these pieces helped to keep the dress realistically wearable, and so I felt more comfortable wearing this entire outfit. The dress originally came with a much more flimsy belt, which I like for other dresses, but I thought it was important to change it out for this one. What do you think? Isn't it amazing how a change in belt can really alter how you feel about a dress?


Outfit Details: As mentioned, the dress is from Amazon, the tights and belt are from Target, and the booties were an awesome find at T.J. Maxx!