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!

Nothing Comes Between Me and My Calvin

I know, I know, technically Brooke Shields was talking about her Calivn Klein jeans, but I think the sentiment rings just as true for work dresses. No one seems to do a classic yet fun sheath quite as well as Mr. Klein. So many of my favorite work outfits start with seeing that wonderful Calvin Klein tag at Marshall's, T.J. Maxx, or even Ross. I was able to purchase this dress from Marshall's about a year ago for only $50.00! Definitely worth it, and a great budget find!

Please forgive the way I'm standing in this photo. I'm not entirely sure what I was trying to do, but instead it just makes the dress lay a little weird, and look like I'm trying to do some high-knees. I promise the dress normally doesn't pull like this, as you'll see in the next image.

One of my absolute favorite things about this dress, and most Calvin Klein work dresses, is the detail. I have other dresses with piping, fun flippy skirts, and with this dress it's the gathered and seamed midsection. It makes the dress so flattering, and just keeps it from being a total blank canvas.

However, the dress is still basic enough that I'm really able to spice it up with jewelry (and I should have spiced it up with some more vibrant lipstick!) I love the addition of any shade of blue to purple, and normally I pair this with turquoise. However, today I was feeling something in a softer color scheme, and so I chose this necklace and earring set from Charming Charlie's! I purhased both pieces on clearance for a recent wedding, and I was so happy to get to wear them again! I can't find this exact pair of earrings online anymore, but they're having a BOGO sale on all of their clearance jewelry, so you should definitely go check it out!

And finally where would I be without my trusty shoes! I promise I do occasionally wear more than flats, but I got a crazy splinter in the bottom of my foot the other day, and these padded Dr. Scholl's loafers are exactly what was needed to ease my walking. I love that the purple tassle echoes the color of my dress! For some equally comfy shoes, look here, here, or here! (P.S. for most of these brands, I find them at the outlet malls, where the prices are much more affordable!)

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Throw Back Thursday

Yesterday I talked about work outfits that could be a little more casual, and then dressed up quickly with the addition of a blazer. Today, I'm highlighting a look exactly like that, but with mostly silly photos! I tend to ham up for the camera, and I think that all of today's photo's definitely show that.

Additionally, like the title says, today is something of a Throw Back Thursday! These pictures show two ways that I wore the same dress, for Valentine's Day at work, and then at a work Christmas party. I still love this dress, and can't wait til it gets a little cooler so I can wear it some more! (I feel that it works best with tights and boots, to keep it work appropriate.)

I think you'll understand why I tend to wear this dress for holidays, the red is just so vibrant that it really pops for Valentine's Day and Christmas. I love dressing thematically for holidays, I think it's a remnant of when I did theater in high school and college, it feels like getting to wear a costume in real life!

A few co-workers and I decided to have what basically amounted to a photo shoot with these cookies, so forgive the common thread running through these last two photos. As you can see, here I was able to pair the dress with a blazer, tights, and pumps, in order to keep the look work appropriate!

Here's the same dress, styled for a Christmas party, and once again, I'm being a little ridiculous for the camera! (I'll try and not blame the champagne!) I wish you could see my boots a little better in this pic, they're really simple, but I love them. They're Guess brand, and I got them from T.J. Maxx for about $50.00. Given how much I wear them for work in the colder months, they were definitely worth it!  Here is a similar pair, and here's a better picture to see the detail on the dress.The dress is from Limited, and definitely one of my favorites!

You can tell that these images are part of a Throw Back Thursday, since I think it's been a while since I've had my hair that long! Go visit here, for more Throw Back Thursday fun!            

I've also linked up with Jenna Marie