Personal Style: Fancy That

I got these faux leatha leggings on sale at Marshall's. They so reminded me of Wendy Nguyen's styling video with her faux leather leggings. Which if you haven't seen her ideas, you must watch! Wendy's legging pairing ideas are fall oriented, but I wanted to wear these now, crazy in this 104 degree heat, I know. I remembered this adorable idea on Cut Out n Keep by Selena, on how to wear a button up shirt all adorable and tunic like by just folding it, no cutting/no sewing, and thought I would give it a whirl. This striped shirt is much bigger than what Selena uses, and I'm okay with that.

So, the pants look way better on Wendy and the top looks way more adorable on Selena, but in public, people aren't comparing me to them so I'm okay with that.

 And I got these sparkly flats at a garage sale, brand new. I had to roll the leggings under, I'm considering cutting them and hemming them around the lower calf, what do you think?

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 I also got these amazing vintage buttons at a garage sale. I turned this one into a necklace pendant.

shirt: craft shirt at Michael's
button up: Ralph Lauren, goodwill
leggings: Marshall's
shoes: garage sale
necklace: handmade
bag: goodwill

Personal Style: Lovin Some Gray

This dress's bottom ruffle is coming off in about 8 places. Nothing a few safety pins couldn't handle. I'm handsewing a dress refashion and it's taking me forever, and I really wanted to wear this dress so the safety pins had to do. It's thrifted, it's maternity, (no I'm not pregnant), but it fits like a normal empire waist dress. Plus, gray is my favorite color, so I spiced it up with well, more gray.

Earrings can be purchased here.

dress: motherhood maternity, thrifted
sweater: jc pennys (?)
belt: off a NY& co skirt
bag: thrifted
shoes: steve madden
watch: fossil
earrings: metal roses (the larger version), made by me, jeweled ambrosia

Linked to Clothed Much's Rule Breaking Monday

Personal style: Gaudy Stripes on Stripes

This is officially my ugly "necklace". But, I kind of love it. It's so big and bold and ugly, that it kind of makes an outfit out of these non matching, baggy and ill fitting pieces. I found it at a thrift store along with two other huge brass vintage necklaces, and sometimes I wear them so much I have to tell myself not to touch them for a while.

While stripes on stripes are typically a no-no, I found the subtle pinstripes to be a nice contrast with the bold yellow and white horizontal movement. I think it would be even cuter had the top been a chevron pattern.

I'm doing a troll face here. I love these loose, pinstripe, seersucker-like pants, but they are crazy baggy, and don't really look pair well with anything I own. I'm thinking of cutting them off and making long shorts with with a lightly rolled hem. What do you think?

These shoes I got on clearance at Express the other day also don't really 'match'... but the denim color kind of goes with the pinstripes. But I adore them and they are so cute. Unfortunately, I continually stab myself and those around me with those ginormous rhinestones.

 *the overdone shoe shot. I don't think I have ever participated*

top: forever 21, thrifted

pants: american eagle

necklace: vintage, thrifted

shoes: express

Personal Style: Stripes, Pencil Skirt and a Haircut

I love the loose, blousy, boxy, off the shoulder striped thing going on, but those styles don't seem to work on me, and the ones that do, are a little too pricey. So, I went for the blue and white classic vneck that I love, and this cute, pale gray pencil skirt. Earlier, I paired this top with some thrifted, jcrew, light linen city trousers, but I didn't get pics of that day. I guess I really like this top in light colored, unexpected pairings.

As for the haircut, I was giving length advice to another mom who asked, "Does anyone ever really regret cutting their hair?" As a hairstylist, I have seen grown women cry over getting 1/4th an inch cut off. Another woman chimed in, "My hairstylist said that if you spend 50% of the time with your hair in a ponytail, it's time for a new style."  Bingo, that did it for me, and besides, my ends were looking shot and needed to go. I went, grabbed some scissors and cut at my shortest layer for a completely straight and unlayered look. I added an angled bang and bam, was done. A few days went by and it felt heavy still though. I know I can layer my own hair, it has an odd texture and wave pattern that i trust with no one but myself... but I decided on a whim to walk into a salon and have some choppy layers added. I have a love/hate relationship with them now. You will find out why and see the new-new haircut in the next outfit post.

(yes, it was very windy while taking these pictures)

shirt: abercrombie
skirt: banana republic, thrifted
belt: calvin klein, thrifted
watch: fossil
shoes: thrifted
necklace: made by me

Personal Style: Pink Ruffles and Stripes

I wore two dresses and a shrug. That's right. A striped, short maxi dress to add some length to this adorable, pink, fluttery, ruffly, sleeveless sheath dress. The gray, ruched sleeved shrug helps tie in the peek a boo of gray 'hem'.

  

I kept my make-up very light and natural. I always have a hard time deciding what lip color to wear with pink, so I just did light lipgloss here for a subtle hint of shimmer. A low, side parted ponytail helped keep it casual.

dress, shrug, maxi dress ~ross,
shoes~ steeve madden
earrings~ thrifted vintage clip-ons

linked to clothed much's rule breaking monday

Personal Style: Sailor Minnie

This looks reminds me of a Sailor and Minnie Mouse love child. I wore this length of elastic lace as a little scarf one day, and decided to use it as a headband bow, resulting in the Minnie Mouse ears reference.

 jacket: thrifted/ shirt: ?/ jeans: vanilla star/ shoes: steve madden/ bag; thrifted/ earrings: handmade

I love this bag. I bought it at Goodwill, left it there on accident, then drove back the next day to see if it had been purchased again. Fortunately, they believed me that I had bought it the day before and let me take it home. They kind of know me and my kids there, should I be embarrassed by that?

 

I felt like doing a fresh face this day. Make-up consists of a small hint of blush, light ivory eyeshadow under the brow and black eye shadow as a liner. I used it on a very small, dense angled brush to line my lashline and pulled it out about a half inch at an angle for a very subtle cat eye effect. I used a bit of black liner in the waterline of the eyes as well. Lipstick... I can never find a really good nude lip color that isn't too pink/orange/brown/matte/shimmery.... so, I used a touch of concealer (Maybelline Dream Mousse) and Carmex on top. Perfect nude lip stain.

*Linked to: Clothed Much's Rule Breaking Monday

Personal Style: Prairie Cardi Girl

* cardi, khols/ dress, thrifted/ undershirt, thrifted/ boots, candies/belt ck thrifted/ necklace, vintage gift *

Just branching out here style wise today, I'm not sure exactly what rule I haven't broken. The oatmeal fall cardigan with a summery white dress feels like a huge no-no. The big boots with the whispy fabric feels like a no-no.The ruffled white maxi dress straps being exposed was a no-no. I had them tucked under the cardi and pulled them out b/c I thought it looked kind of cute.

4 layers being belted... huge no-no. 2 undershirts, dress, and cardigan... belted. Maybe I won't try this again, made my waist look a little thicker than I would have liked. I was planning on wearing my denim jacket, but it was too muggy of a morning for this. When I found this dress at a garage sale, it was automatically in my mind I would only wear it with the denim jacket. Still debating this. Can't wear it alone b/c the busticles area is huge... hence why it looks like a frilly v-neck under the cardi ;)

 
As for my Rule of Three, in which you use 3 add-ons to make a boring outfit pop, I suppose it would be:

1. vintage necklace (thanks mom, I love wearing this!)
2. twisted belt
3. faux fabric blue roses brooch (already attached on cardigan, but I want to make several more)

 

Linked to:  Elaine's Rule Breaking Monday clothing linky
and :          The Daybook, Awkward and Awesome (#587!)

Inspired Home: Eclectic Ingenuity

I'm kind of loving lonny mags' april/may eclectic ingenuity feature. It starts on page 69, and there are some amazing loft shots as well. I look at this 1960's home, styled by Colleen Locke, and I see an outfit.

Black and white striped shirt, olive long maxi skirt with some cognac sandals and belt, maybe with a big white hobo bag. And a long, draped, sterling antler necklace with a peach rose. Anyone else seeing this? Has anyone ever read the haunting short story, The Yellow Wallpaper? Yeah, that could be me swimming in those stripes.