Focusing on the Details

Sorry that this post is so late in the day! It's been a hectic one today, and this almost the first time since I woke up that I've been able to sit down at a computer! I promise that tomorrow's update will be at a much more respectable time!

One of the things that I struggle with in the world of fashion and style is accessories. I'm both bad at remembering to put on jewelry, and kind of a cheapskate when it comes to the items that really complete an outfit. However, I know that as in life, attention to the details can really finish off a look, and make everything so much better. I'm challenging myself to get better at completing outfits with the appropriate accessories, and today was a slight attempt at that!

As almost every outfit post on this blog is apparently going to begin, a blazer and a dress. What can I say, the majority of my day is spent at work, and so what you see is the fashion I spend my life in. You might notice that this is the exact same blazer from yesterday, but I feel that it is so much more fun and relaxed when paired with a vibrant dress.

Speaking of a vibrant dress, I don't think you can get any more fun than a red pleated dress. This is literally one of the most comfortable items in my closet, and yet totally work appropriate. It's also great for so many other occasions, and would especially be great for a date night, given the bright red! I found this dress on mega-clearance at J.Crew this summer, when I stopped by for some retail therapy over lunch. Normally J.Crew is a little out of my price range (although I do visit J.Crew Factory almost religiously), but this time I happened to find a beautiful dress in my size, and at a remarkable price. It just goes to show that you always have to check the sales rack! Here's the same dress, currently available in red and black, although the price isn't quite as good as what I found in the store.

Speaking of the details that make an outfit, I love this necklace for almost any look, but it goes so well with this dress. This is actually an old cameo style broach of my great-grandmother, which I was able to re-purpose and put to new life! It always gives me a feeling of history to wear this piece, and I love that it's totally unique. There are so many places to find old broaches, so you should definitely give this a try!

And to finish off the look, a shiny gold bracelet! It's so hard to go wrong with anything shiny, and I really love this bracelet. What I love even more is that it totally covers my fitbit, which you've seen in so many of my other pics. I plan to have an entire post about my fitbit accessories, but until then this bracelet is perfect even just for the bit of fun it gives my wrist!

Business Professional

I've written a lot about dressing for work in the short time I've been working on this blog, and I think every single time has been a slightly more casual work look. Well, today I am going to show a slightly more formal work outfit, including a skirt suit.

That's right, I even brought out the (fake) pearls

For some reason, this suit appears to have photographed a little off-color, but it's a deep black, classic two-button suit. You can't see the skirt, but it's knee-length, which in my experience is the most professional length, modest and yet flattering.  One of my favorite things to pair with buttoned blazers is a v-neck blouse, because in my opinion the mirrored 'v' of the neckline and the blazer is incredibly appealing. I bought the suit at New York and Company about three years ago, and you can find similar options here. I also love this skirt and jacket combo. 

I paired the suit with this mint green top, which is also from New York and Company. I have purchased a lot of my work clothing from there, because not only do they have really high-quality suits, but they also tend to have buy one, get one half off sales, which has been a big help in transitioning from a student to a member of the professional class.

And to cap-off the look, a pair of cap-toed pumps, with menswear detailing. I am incredibly into heels that look like they are inspired by classic menswear fashion, and the appearance of stitching here is perfect to me. 

For a little bonus, and as a mea culpa for posting late today, I also wanted to attach this next photo, not for fashion or style, but just for fun! I attended the local Renaissance Festival, and took this at the Sherwood Forest. My flowery Ked-esque shoes were perfect for a day full of walking, fitting both the cute and comfy requirements!

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

Closet Hacks

I have an incredibly tiny closet, that is fairly busing at the seams in terms of space. I also might have a slight shopping problem, with a particular obsession with shoes. This has lead to me getting a little creative with space. On this page, I am going to share with you the hacks that I've found help me make the most of my small closet, and hopefully you'll be able to recommend me some of your own!

One of the fist things I knew I wanted to try I originally saw on pinterest, which is using crown moulding as a shoe rack. I went to my local home depot, and found a decorative portion of moulding, and then used a saw myself to cut it into three pieces. Alternatively, they will also cut the pieces for you, if you know ahead of time how long you would like each one to be. I had forgotten to measure, so I was not able to take advantage of that.

Once your pieces are cut to the correct length, I simply painted them the same color of my room, because I liked the way that would be represented in the closet. The pieces of crown moulding were pretty easy to simply nail up, and then I hung my heels!

After I finished the racks for the shoes, I decided to hang some hooks in the wall to be able to keep my necklaces from getting tangled, and then I had some old floating shelves that I decided to hang as a way to organize my bracelets.

Overall, this was my attempt to utilize some space on the wall, and also just to be reminded of what I actually own. It's incredibly hard to wear what you don't even know you have! I hope this helps, and let me know what tricks you've done to take advantage of space in a small closet!

Animals and Old Clothes

You've all been introduced to RBG, my wonderful pet rabbit. A little over a year ago, I adopted her from HSPCA, and I am so happy that I did so. Because my adoption worked out so well, I have begun volunteering at HSPCA, in the small mammals room. What this means is that I get to play with rabbits and hamsters and mice for about two hours a week, and still feel like I'm helping society, in my book, that's a win-win!. So, every Monday I get dressed in my volunteer t-shirt, and go to clean and pet the animals!

This is pretty much my uniform, fun socks and my t-shirt!

After my shift, I decided to do a little bit of shopping at a local thrift store, The Cottage Shop. I scored a great pair of jeans and a nice new shirt from Loft for a grand total of $5.00! I'll give you more of the details on that purchase tomorrow. I also had plans to meet a friend at the Museum of Fine Arts for a French film, because I had won two tickets on twitter. Keeping in the French theme, I paired a striped shirt with an old pink skirt I hadn't worn in a while.

This skirt is incredibly old, I think I've had it since high school, so I don't really remember where it's from, but the striped top was a recent find at the Banana Republic Outlet Store, for only $5.00. It's a little bit of a loose fit, so I like to wear it tucked in, but it's so incredibly soft and comfortable it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. Plus, you can never go wrong with a striped shirt!

  

You can see here that the shirt is 3/4 sleeved, which is helping me in the transition from summer to fall, especially since we don't really get cold enough temperatures to warrant anything heavier until December or January. My boots are also a super old purchase, from Old Navy, which are no longer available online.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Here in Texas, Football is king, and nothing is bigger than when the Cowboys and Texans faced each other yesterday. I had gone down to Galveston for a wedding, and some friends and I decided to watch the game together. It was an incredibly close game, with the lead going back and forth, before the Cowboys finally clenched in with a 20-17 win in overtime.

In honor of the Cowboys, my blue and white dress. 

This dress was great for the game, as it perfectly matched the colors of the Cowboys. I got to support my team and wear a cute dress at the same time, which I pretty much count as a win! The dress is from Modcloth, and so are the shoes I wore with it. I had a little difficulty deciding on a shoe color, since I don't really care for white shoes, so I decided to stay in the blue family with this fun little pair.

RBG and I celebrating the win with a selfie.