Greek Goddess - Day 9

I know, I know – three posts in three days. Crazy! Really, I’ve got to catch up with all the other bloggers doing the 30 for 30 thing – they’re all on like, day fifteen at least, and I’ve only got nine up. I’m so behind.

Now, there’s a story behind these photos. See, my wonderful friend Mindy took several pictures of this outfit for me. However, it was dusk, and we didn’t realize how bad the light was until we took the pictures. I tried fiddling with them, but all that did was make the colors funny, so my friend Lauren re-took them for me. I’m still going to include the one above that Mindy took because it’s awesome, but all the rest of pictures were taken by Lauren.

So. On to the outfit itself. 

Can you believe that I got this dress from Victoria’s Secret? It was on sale for $20 or $30 – I can’t remember which. I got it forever ago, and it’s become one of my wardrobe staples. I love all the colors in it, especially the little hints of yellow that I tie my shoes and necklace into (even though you can't really tell in the detail shot). They're there, I promise. On the bright side, this has coral in it too, so I could probably wear my coral cardigan with this. Hmm...

It's also not as short as it looks - I'm raising the hem a tad. Since, you know, hemlines are fairly important to me this summer. Unfortunately.

The pattern is great too - I love that it's vaguely Middle Eastern or Greek. I tend to think of it as my Greek dress since it's strapless and all the colors are so crisp. I think of Greece as being very hot, with bright whites, cool blues, and warm oranges as the dominant colors. This is probably because every picture I've ever seen of Greece (I've never actually been there) is one of those cityscapes where all the buildings are white with royal blue roofs.

See? Blue, white, cream, and yellowish tones. 

I also especially love my yellow wedges – they were my very favorite pair of shoes last summer, and are still pretty high on my list of shoes (as you can see, since they made this list). They combine all of the best summer trends – zippers, ruffles, a bright yellow color, and woven wedge heels, though I don’t think they’re technically espadrilles. I feel like they become the focal point of any outfit I wear them with, just because they’re THAT awesome.

Kisses!

Dress: Victoria's Secret

Cardigan: Victoria's Secret

Belt: Flea Market

Necklace: ShoeDazzle.com

Shoes: Qupid by Obsession Boutique

Watch: Charming Charlie's

Rocky the Flying Squirrel - Day 8

This is one of my favorite shirts ever - I feel in love with it the moment I tried it on. 

It’s beautifully light, which is especially nice now that it reaches 100 degrees on a regular basis. Granted, that also means that it's so sheer that I need to wear a tank under it, but that's really a small price to pay (or at least, it didn't stop me buying the shirt). I really like the embroidery and the colors in the embroidery – I wear blues and purples a lot, so this fits in with my wardrobe really well. And then, the sleeves are just awesome. Ha, the description of the shirt is actually “bat-winged”, which just makes me happy for some reason. Though a friend of mine did tell me that I reminded her of Rocky the Flying Squirrel from "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show". Can't imagine why...

Look, Ma! I can fly!

And, as I’ve mentioned before, I love all things ethnic and bohemian, so this is right up my alley. I did try to make it sleek and sophisticated with the dark trouser jeans, so you have to give me points for that.

Another thing that I really like about this shirt is that even though it has giant sleeves that connect to the shirt itself, I still have a visible waist when I wear it. This is why it’s especially important to try on clothes, particularly shirts like this one. These shirts with big, flowy sleeves are really popular right now, but if you want one that’s going to flatter you, you should pick one that has seaming at the waist so that it doesn’t make you look shapeless.

I hope you guys like the outfit. Kisses!

Shirt: Luv2Luv from Imagine Boutique

Jeans: !It Jeans from Imagine Boutique

Shoes: Classified from Obsession Boutique

Watch: Relic

Earrings: World Market (from the first 30 x 30 post)

Prepster - Day 7

 I almost titled this post "Joe Cool" because that's how I feel in this pose. I need sunglasses and a wall to lean against...anyway.

I love these pants - the color and shape are just perfect, and I have to make a conscious effort not to wear them every day. They’re actually ankle pants, which I’ve always felt is a weird length, but I think because these pants are so slim, it works.

I feel very WASP-y in this outfit (hence the pearls) - it’s actually something that I don’t usually wear. You may have noticed that I tend towards dresses, ethnic prints, and flowy silhouettes, so I’m outside of my box, even though I feel very conservative. I still really like it, though. And the pearl earrings were a gift from my aunt that she got in the Philippines, so they're still kind of ethnic, even if you can't really tell.

I felt like this was a nice mix of structured and soft – the striped button-down (I know it’s hard to tell), vest, and straight pants feel very structured to me, but then the light, pastel colors softened the whole thing.

Overall, I really like this outfit, despite the fact that it’s so different from the things I normally wear. I can do preppy too! Yay!

Kisses!

Shirt: American Eagle from Change Clothes Consignment

Vest: Old Navy

Pants: Gap

Shoes: Unlisted from Change Clothes Consignment

Headband: Target

Earrings: Manila, Philippines

Watch: Relic

Bracelet: American Eagle

Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin-eater! - Day 6

I’d originally picked this dress as one of my thirty items.  Here it is as I wave good-bye to it and make a sad face.

It’s super cute, it combines three of my current favorite colors (hot pink, coral, and royal blue), and it’s the first halter dress I’ve ever been able to wear. However, it’s not versatile. I can’t turn it into a work dress – I’m teaching high school students, and all bottoms need to be at the knee or longer, so this is a tiny bit too short. The neckline also makes it difficult to style any differently than as a halter – tank tops look funny under it, and I don’t currently have any bandeau tops I can wear with it. It looks kind of funny under cardigans too, though I suppose I could force it to work. That takes too much effort, though. I ended up cheating with this dress instead:

Yeah...I didn't realize how different the lighting was in this pic. That would be why I'm brown in the first one and white in the second. Awesome.

I know – I’m so ashamed. But isn’t it pretty? Doesn’t that kind of sort of make up for it? And I broke up with the other dress first, I promise! It wasn’t a very serious relationship anyway.

This maxi is waaaaaaaay more versatile than the halter dress. It’s long, which eliminates the hemline problem; it’s strapless, which looks good under cardigans; and it has more colors, so it goes with more of the items I picked. Another great thing about this dress? Its ethnic print and the unexpected color combination. I love global/ethnic clothes, and this was pretty much perfect. It also didn't hurt that it was $30 at World Market either.

The first time I wore it, I decided to keep it simple. I’d been working at my second job (waitress/bartender) all day, so I wanted something I could just throw on. So I did. 

You can't really tell, but that's my Golden Snitch necklace. So awesome!

I hope no one’s mad at me for cheating! I love you guys anyway. Kisses!

Is it just me, or does it looks like I have on harem pants in this picture (I raised the hem so you could see my shoes)?

Original Dress: Flying Tomato from Ruby Boutique

Earrings: Can't remember - a shop in New Orleans

New Dress: World Market

Necklace: ViperCoraraDesigns on Etsy 

Sandals: American Eagle

Watch: Fossil

Fit to be Tied - Day 5

I love nearly everything about this pink shirt – the color, the lightness of the fabric, and the sleeves. However, the one thing that I’m not super crazy about is its fit. Sometimes I like it, but since it’s a little big (I didn’t realize it when I bought it) I feel like I need to be careful about how I style it. After looking at the pictures, I think it probably would have worked better if I’d thrown a vest over it or knotted it at the waist. Oh well, next time. 

I’m a major fan of this color combination – I feel like olive is practically a neutral, and I usually treat it as such.

These shoes are great too – I love wedges for summer, and ones that tie around the ankle are so pretty! They remind me of ballet shoes, and they can really emphasize a slender ankle. However, if you’re short (or just have shorter legs), you want to be careful about shoes like this that tie or buckle around the ankle, as they can make you look stumpy.

Final verdict: I like this outfit, but feel that it could have been a little better with my khaki vest. Maybe I’ll add a picture of that later, and you guys can let me know what you think. 

Shirt: H&M

Skirt: American Eagle

Belt: American Eagle

Shoes: American Eagle

Bracelet: Imagine Boutique

Book: Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

Harry Potter and the Awesome Necklace - Day 4

I know this outfit may seem like a repeat of the one before, and…it totally is. I mean, there are a few key differences – the dress isn’t a strapless, for instance, and my shoes are flat-ish instead of heels.

Really, what had happened WUZ I just wasn’t feeling the outfit I was planning to wear this morning, so I jumped to this one, which was easy and sleek.

I got this black dress from a clothing swap – best things ever! If you’ve never had one with your girlfriends, tryyyyy it, you’ll liiiiiike it. I got like, ten things from this one that I didn’t have to pay for, AND I cleaned out my closet.

 

Now, there are two super-awesome things about this outfit. First, this red belt? Yeah, belonged to my grandmother when she was my age. Really, I swear! She gave it to me a year or so ago, and I wear it ALL THE TIME. She’s decided that, since she doesn’t really wear any of her jewelry or accessories anymore, she’s going to go ahead and give them to me instead of waiting until she’s no longer around (a thought that makes me very sad, but probably won’t happen any time soon).

The other fun thing is my necklace. Can anyone guess what it is?

It’s a Golden Snitch! Awesome, right?

I found it on Etsy for like, $16 and instantly fell in love with it. First, in case you didn’t know, I’m a Harry Potter NERD – I’ll actually be teaching two college-level classes on the series this Fall (that are both completely full, by the way). I also love that it’s subtle – if you’ve never seen or read Harry Potter before, you might think it’s based on a Greek or Egyptian piece. A friend of mine actually said it looks a bit like an Isis symbol, and I totally agree.

Kisses!

Dress: Gap, Swapped

Cardi: Victoria's Secret

Shoes: Steve Madden

Belt: Grandmother

Necklace: ViperCoraraDesigns from Etsy

Twilight - Day 3

So, today’s outfit is simple, but one of my staples. You see, I have a dilemma: I love strapless dresses, but have to make them work appropriate. Therefore, I have discovered...the short-sleeved cardigan! I got this one (and the other two that I own) from Victoria’s Secret, funnily enough. I’ve always been a fan of the long, skinny cardigan look – I feel like it elongates my (rather short) torso.

I’m afraid I don’t have a full-length outfit picture for you today because the one that I took came out funny. However, I’ll be adding one as soon as I take a new one, I promise. Until then, this will have to do. Still cute, right?

I love this white dress – I feel like it’s THE perfect Little White Dress. It’s strapless, so of course I love it. What’s nice about it is that it’s one of those strapless dresses with rouched tops, but the rouching doesn’t stop right after the bust – it stops at the waist, so you don’t get that “I might be pregnant” look that so many strapless tops and dresses create.

I also love the skirt – it’s white, but not boring at all because it’s soooo textured. It’s got a ruffled hem, Swiss dot panels, and then alternating panels with a silvery pattern. So pretty! The dress practically begs for twirling, and it kind of sparkles in the sunlight too, which is awesome. Ha, I guess that makes me an honorary Twilight vampire. My special power is…um…telekinesis!

I could totally kick Bella Swan's ass. 

Dress: Indian Tropical Fashion from Three Sisters Boutique

Cardigan: Victoria's Secret

Belt: Abercrombie and Fitch from Change Clothes Consignment

Shoes: Worthington from Change Clothes Consignment

Necklace: Hobby Lobby

Watch: Fossil