Summer's Goddess

This 80 degree October weather clearly has me in flash-back mode to the summer, and particularly this outfit. The occasion was my mother's birthday, who had come to visit a mere 2 weeks after we had moved (and thus hadn't gotten around to blog about it). And since today is my not-so-little brother's birthday (Happy Birthday, Paul!), I thought this was a good time to finally post that particular birthday celebration outfit as well!

Dress - Banana Republic / Instant Sleeves in Mocha - LucieLu / Sandals - Payless / Handbag - Gustto (via BBOS)

Please excuse the poor picture quality, however. I had forgotten my camera so these were taken with Bob's iPhone. The contrast is wacky, but all in all I continue to be impressed with the pictures they can produce! (Many thanks and RIP, Steve Jobs.)

The dress? A sweet little Banana Republic sale score from an online return. I couldn't believe my luck that it was a 16 AND it was on sale! Totally meant to be. I just love the bodice of the the dress - such dainty pleating in a romantic cream color. I felt like summer's goddess in this dress! The skirt of the dress, in a slightly darker color that created a nice tonal effect, gracefully floated away from my hips, too, camouflaging all manner of sins below, and hitting perfectly just under my knee. The LucieLu instant sleeves worked well with the overall effect of the dress, too! All I had to do was throw on some gladiator sandals and a handbag in a vibrant pop of color and I was ready to go out and celebrate my momma.

Cheers to you, Mom!

Girly

I'm feeling spectacularly girly in this outfit. All that smocking and puckering makes me look act feel like I should be on my way to kindergarten...

But, I'd been itching to wear this pretty (and über comfortable) coral summer dress again (the last time I wore it was actually in my first outfit post!), and I wanted to try styling it with something other than my potentially ubiquitous denim jacket. Spurred on by Fashion for Giant's love of coral and turquoise, one I heartily share, and repeating my own practice of wearing a colorful tee under a strapless dress, I dug through my collection of tees in search of one in turquoise. And of course I had one. =)

Dress - Lane Bryant / Tee - LOFT / Belt - The Limited /
Handbag - Urban Outfitters / Shoes - Moda Spana (via Endless.com)

I added the turquoise belt to give the color more purpose in the outfit as whole, then topped it off with gold and smokey quartz jewelry and gold sandals. (And my grey handbag that I can't seem to put down, regardless of whether it works with the outfit or not...=7)

And I got a hair cut! I told you this would be my next 'do! Well, it almost is. My hair 1) is not dark brown and 2) doesn't want to flip so perfectly unevenly. But it's close. =)

Ring - Banana Republic (eBayed) / Necklace -Banana Republic

Did you enter my LucieLu Instant Sleeves Giveaway yet? Four chances to win! And I've expanded the main entry rule, too, so be sure to check it out!

Once in a While

Like most curvy girls, I think, I have a hard time getting dressed in the summer. I rely on layers and long pants and high heels to help balance out my proportions, but in high heat and humidly, those pieces are just not realistic options. I'm definitely a girl who prefers to have her arms and thighs covered as much as possible - shoot, I'd wear a denim jacket over every summer dress I own if midwestern humidity wasn't so suffocating.... Also, it's just a basic fact that, during the summer, I have considerably fewer (if any at all) events for which I need to dress up. So, casual becomes a rule rather than exception. For a girl whose wardrobe is built around pencil skirts, cardigans, interesting layers and high heels, this just doesn't work! And this, I think, is the main reason you haven't seen a post from me in a while...

Green dress - Lane Bryant / "Instant Sleeves" in Taupe - LucieLu

But once in a while I get the urge to try a little harder and allow myself to feel a little prettier for no reason at all. (Though, isn't a desire to feel pretty reason enough?) Certainly, I have expanded my collection of flats and wedges for the summer, which don't work well with my long pants, but are perfect for skimmers and summers dresses. And these "Instant Sleeves" from LucieLu are, in my opinion, simply genius. They offer modest coverage without taking away an outfit's silhouette, and they are thin enough that you don't have to worry about fainting from heat exhaustion as you might under heavy denim. I own one in every color they offer (currently black, dove, heather grey, mocha and the taupe color I'm wearing here), and I'll keep buying any new color they introduce! On my wishlist - navy, cream and white. (Ya hear me, LucieLu??)

Handbag - Urban Outfitters / Strappy sandals - Payless

I do like this color palette, though, especially since I seem to match my scenery. =) And a flowy dress with waist-cinching details doesn't hurt either...

Ring - Banana Rebuplic (gifted) / Earrings - Banana Republic / Semi-precious charms necklace - Banana Republic

I fully admit that I had to look up the difference between "a while" and "awhile" for this post. Yikes...

Disclosure: Lucie Lu did not ask me to review their "Instant Sleeves" or in any way influence my desire to post this mini-reivew. I'm simply a HUGE fan. =)

Summer Whites

This post was meant for last Thursday, when Blogger was down and put all the Blogger world in disarray. I've only just now started to recover from one of my busiest weekends of the year, so I'm only just now able to post it! =)

I had a great photo session today. Of course, you can't go wrong with a sunny day, a lush green background, and a pretty dress! And it's (still) been high 80s and humid here, so I thought I could get away with summer whites since, er, it feels like summer anyway…

Dress - Lane Bryant / "Instant Sleeves" - Lucie Lu (genius!) / Belt - Talbot's (via TJ Maxx) /
Shoes - Payless (a must-have, thanks to Kendi)

I feel like I should be going to a summer garden party in this ladylike outfit. (Does happy hour count? Good, cuz that's where I just came from. Check out the last picture for proof.) Even though I confess I felt a tad overdressed for an otherwise uneventful day, I got over it pretty quickly. I got oodles of compliments today, too, so it's been a good day all around!

Necklace - Talbot's / Earrings - Maurices / Ring - Banana Republic 

And now I shall bombard you with (more) pictures. There's just something about this dress that brings out the 5-year-old girly girl in me...

And then I decided to tempt fate in this lovely white frock by eating buffalo wings during tonight's girl's night out, in all its vinegary red goodness that stains everything it touches. Nothing a napkin tucked into my cleavage can't prevent...

Please do note the sauce on the corner of my mouth. Thanks to my well-placed napkin, that's the only place it ended up.

It's Not Easy Being Green

The catch-up continues!

I only worked a half-day on Friday, though that still seemed too long. I wanted to be cute but comfortable, so I pulled out an old favorite. And, I still got to wear green!

Green Grecian maxi-dress - Banana Repubic (via eBay) / Cropped denim jacket - Theory (via eBay) / 

White scoop neck tee - Old Navy / Gold t-strap sandals - Moda Spana (Endless.com)

I've had this fabulously Grecian green maxi dress from Banana Republic since last summer (purchased for a steal through eBay).  I happily wore it a few times, but soon realized that the dress was going to need a few alterations in the straps and the length.  I put it away for the fall, thinking that I'd take it to a tailor in the off-season.  Not surprisingly, I didn't.  This year's warmer months kept reminding me about this dress - a closet favorite that I had relegated to a distant memory as a result of my procrastination.  Well, I finally took it to a tailor a few weeks ago, just in time to wear one more time before putting it away again.

I love this dress. The empire waist, the wrapped spaghetti straps, the vibrant green color, the scoop neck, and its pleated neckline make it such a unique piece that flatters my body well.  I tend to wear this cropped jean jacket with the dress, but I've also layered a short-sleeved white scoop tee underneath the dress to wear it sans jacket if I want.  The material is an ever-so-soft modal cotton that drapes nicely over my curves and feels like pajamas.

Jewelry: Earrings - The Limited / Sterling silver necklace - Kohl's

That evening we went out with good friends of ours, who will soon be leaving our humble little land of Chambana. I felt this outfit was just a wee too daytime, so I changed it up for a rocker Friday night look - black jacket, an embellished tee, skinny jeans (woot!) and smokin' wedges. (Sorry, no outfit pics for this one, though!)

An 'E' for Effort

This was not a good day to start broadcasting my outfits, methinks.  I felt like I was hit by a bus when I woke up, and it was gloomy outside to boot. I loathed getting up, not to mention the idea of having to do anything with myself today, but I convinced myself I had to put in some effort lest I completely contradict the entire premise of this blog. Three outfits later - with the remains still splayed all over my bed - I resigned myself that today was not going to my best styling effort. I hate to be such a bummer in only my second post (!), but we all have these days, right?!? I shall also blame PMS...

It also doesn't help that, like most of the Midwest, we are in-between seasons here.  Last week was gorgeous mid-60s to low-70s weather that allowed you to start experimenting with layers again. This week we're back to mid-80s and muggy. I think I speak for a lot of people that I just want cooler temps to come and stay! It really does make it awful to dress.  I'm so over my summery dresses, but I just can't fathom boots and long sleeves yet... Though, if this weather continues much longer, I'll just say "screw it" and deal with overheating myself. Beauty is pain, eh?

In the end, I threw on a generally reliable, cute summer knit strapless dress in a lovely peachy color that looks fab with my complexion. Paired with a cropped (read: too small) jean jacket, a little fun jewelry, some gold t-strap sandals, and an iced coffee with almond milk (a new addiction), I called it a day.

I experimented with taking photos on my own this morning, since the BF had long gone to work, but I'm clearly not going to be able to get a good shot on my own. I'm either going to need to get a tripod or wait until the evening when he returns to take/post pics, as I had to do today (and that was quite an ordeal, lemme tell you).  Shopping on Amazon for one as soon as I post this...Any suggestions?  Must also continue to experiment with locations, lighting, and poses...

So here I am! (Sorry for the poor picture quality in the first one - I'm working on it.) Color and accessories shall be the stars today...

Strapless coral dress with beige stitching - Lane Bryant / Denim jacket - Theory, eBayed /

Gold t-strap sandals - Moda Spana, Endless

Gold "polygon" necklace - Banana Republic / Turquoise and gold "Epanema" ring - Banana Republic /

Coral earrings - LOFT

Tan handbag - Steve Madden "BCouture" Satchel in Peanut, Endless