Happy New Year, PIlgrim!

Hope 2016 is treating you all well so far!!!

Dress:  Eloquii (Available here)

Things are still busy for me, and I am admittedly feeling a little frazzled.  Because life has been so hectic, I have been opting for easy no-brainer dressing options.  And what's easier than a dress?

This black and white dress from Eloquii has such an easy fit, and it is one of those pieces that can be dressed up or down.

Tights:  Eloquii

Like almost all of my clothes, this dress required some alterations. It had a layer of white fabric on both the sleeves and the hem which made the dress and sleeves too long.

Boots:  New Look (Available here)

At first, I simply considered hemming both, but I realized that I preferred the dress without the white.  Being so petite, I felt like the white layers were a little overpowering, and the dress seemed a bit over-designed.  

Instead of spending the money on alterations, I was able to change this dress myself by cutting the white layers out.  From the outside, you can't tell that anything was cut out.

Ribbon tie:  Wal-Mart DIY

I bought some inexpensive ribbon and created a bow-tie for an added touch.  Tights and booties kept me warm with the winter chill.

Purse:  Forever 21
Faux fur keychain:  Torrid

My kids thought the dress looked pilgrim-y, but that was okay with me.   :-)

Rings:  LOFT and The Limited

Do you wear a lot of dresses?  What is your go-to when you want easy clothes?

Skirt Week 2: All White Everything

Skirt Week 2 continues tonight with an all-white look. 

I love wearing white almost as much as I love wearing black, but I don't live a very white-friendly lifestyle.  Messy kids and my own klutzy ways means that wearing all white can require a great deal of special care and caution, so I don't wear head-to-toe white often. That said, I do love the look enough to brave it on occasion. 

Skirt:  Eloquii (Available here)

This wrap style skirt and drapey jacket from Eloquii have so many possibilities.  I will mostly wear the two pieces separately, and I bought them with the intent of doing so, but I also love the pieces worn together.  It's such a summery relaxed version of a suit. 

Jacket:  Eloquii (Available here)

Top:  Forever 21+

Necklace:  Gift

Tote:  Target (Available here)

For work, I wore an ivory camisole.  The look is pretty and modest, but I liked the crop top with the suit just a bit more. 

Top:  LOFT

The sliver of skin showing helps break up the flowiness of the pieces and offsets the longer length of the skirt.

Booties:  Target

Ring:  The Limited

Beige booties keep the focus on the suit.  If I had white or ivory shoes, I would have went with those, but the beige booties also work quite well as they virtually blend into my skin tone, created a more elongated line.

Cuff:  The Limited

For the non-work option, I added a python print clutch to add a bit of pattern, color, and texture. 

Clutch:  The Limited

I chose a black tote for work to create a simple monochrome color palette.  I enjoy black accessories with white looks.  The fringe on the tote lends a more casual vibe to the relaxed suit.

Sunglasses:  Calvin Klein

Head-to-toe neutral looks are always so sophisticated to me.  In interesting shapes, a neutral look feels anything but boring.

Glasses:  Firmoo.com (Available here)

Would you wear an all-white look?

For the crop top in other looks, see here and here.
For the jacket in another look, see here.

To catch up with the first look from Skirt Week 2, see here.

Gilding the Lily

I often think that clothes are the icing on the cake. 

Our bodies are beautiful without any adornment, but, in addition to the legal issues that full-time nudity would present, clothes are just so fun!

Skirt:  New York & Company (Available here)

Clothes can enhance what nature gave us or they can disguise our natural beauty.  I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing clothes that do either.  It is after all about our personal preferences and our own perception of what looks good or what appeals to us.

Tank:  LOFT Petites

Earrings:  Torrid

Clutch:  The Limited

Blazer:  eloquii (Available here)

I love dressing for myself, which means sometimes enhancing, sometimes covering, but always trying to feel comfortable and stylish (by my own standards) in what I'm wearing.

For today's look, I took the metaphor of gilding of the lily (the lily being our bodies, in this case) literally, opting for this gold pleated maxi skirt.  I just love maxi skirts, and spotting this one in a gorgeous metallic knit and on serious sale felt like a real find.

Ring:  LOFT

An ivory camisole and long black blazer complete the look. 

I'm really loving this long blazer from eloquii.  For quite some time, I avoided longer-length blazers.  As someone who's so petite, I figured long blazers weren't very flattering, but I think pairing a longer length blazer with a tucked in blouse helps balance the proportions.

I also really love the style of the longer blazer with this look.  It's kind of the feminine version of the so-called "boyfriend" blazer - a little bit over-sized feeling, which I really like with the more formal skirt.

While pink and red get a lot of love on Valentine's Day, and lately quite a bit on my blog, I would definitely wear this look for a more formal V-Day date or event.

Are you a fan of wearing metallics?  Do you like longer blazers, or do you prefer to keep them more proportioned?

For this blazer in another look, see here.
For this tank in other looks, see here, here, and here.

Balancing Act

I've talked on the blog several times before about how I love to maintain a balance with my fashion.  While I will occasionally go all in one direction, I generally prefer a look that has a balance between hard and soft, dark and light, masculine and feminine, edgy and romantic.

I referred to it as the yin and yang of dressing in a previous post.

Jacket:  eloquii

I've become acutely aware over the years of just how balanced everything must be in order to thrive.  Stability is created by a state of equilibrium, and it's within this state that everything functions best.  Fluctuations and periods of chaos help make important changes, but ultimately, every living thing requires balance.

Booties:  Payless (Sold out on-line; may be available in stores)

Nature prefers a state of balance.  Our bodies prefer a state of balance.  Societies prefer a state of balance. 

Maintaining that equilibrium means that there has to be a balance between negative and positive forces. 

As I try to teach my children, you can't have freedom without responsibility.  You have to know pain to feel joy, and you have to balance emotion with reason. 

Pants:  The Limited (Available here)

If everything around us, including ourselves, functions best when balanced, then it makes sense to me that fashion would work the same way!

Sure, it's fun to be chaotic with fashion too, but for every day, a look that feels proportioned and balanced is the way to go, in my opinion.

Blouse:  The Limited

Purse:  The Limited

Here, I included several balancing elements.  The color scheme of black and white balances the light and dark.  The soft and romantic feel of the chiffon blouse is balanced with the heavier and edgier tweed and faux leather jacket.  The heart pendant is sweet but made of black metal, providing its own intrinsic balance.

Necklace:  Claire's (old) - ribbons added

Lastly, I wore this outfit to work on a recent unseasonably chilly day.  It was weather appropriate, but the jacket didn't necessarily feel season-appropriate.  Pairing it with the lightweight blouse in a soft color and cutout booties helped strike the right balance between the summer season and the fall-like weather.

Do you think about balance in an outfit?

For this blouse in other looks, see here and here.

A Crop Top for Work?

Unless you work somewhere like a sports bar, crop tops are generally not acceptable work attire; however, it is possible to rock a crop top for work!

Trousers:  The Limited (old)

Top:  eloquii (Available here)

Earlier this week, I paired this gorgeous lace crop top from Eloquii with a pair of high-waisted trousers.  The sheerness of the top necessitated a bottom layer, so I chose a tucked-in cami to ensure no accidental belly baring.

Camisole:  The Limited (Available here)

A white blazer helps keep the lace from looking too evening and it also adds a contrast.

Blazer:  The Limited (old)

After work, you could simply lose the jacket for a day to night look.

Bangle: Ann Taylor (Available here)

Or, you could change it up a little further by folding the cami up into a crop top/bralette to bare a little skin.

Heels:  Target (old)

By the way, today, I"m kicking off a new series on my all-time favorite color combination - black and white, of course! 

Stay tuned throughout the coming week for more monochromatic looks!

For more black and white looks from my first black/white series, see here, here, here, here, and here.

Which version of this look is your favorite?
Would you wear a crop top to work?

For these pants in other looks, see here, here, here, here, and here.
For this jacket in other looks, see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.