Winter Romance

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a great weekend and a fabulous Valentine's Day no matter how you decided to spend it!

Skirt:  eShakti custom (Available in black here)

Valentine's Day means different things to different people.  I'm all about love, but for me, V-Day is first and foremost an excuse to get dressed up - not that I usually need one! 

I am a little late on posting these Valentine's Day outfit ideas, but I figured they also work well for other date nights or evenings out!

Dress:  LOFT (Available here)

Coat:  Old Navy Petites (old)
Clutch:  The Limited

I really love this red lace dress from LOFT.  I have already worn it to work, but today, I'm styling it for a night out with knee high socks.  

Blazer:  Apt. 9 Petites (Available at Kohl's here)
Cuff: Eloquii

Earrings:  Macy's

Socks:  Torrid (Available here)
Boots:  New Look Wide Fit (Sold out on-line; see here)

A tulle skirt is fun and flirty but also romantic.  For a special date night, I would pair a frothy pink tulle skirt with a faux fur coat and metallic gold.

Camisole:  The Limited
Jacket:  Target (Available here)

Bracelet:  Swarovski

Glasses:  Coach

Brooch (worn on skirt):  New York & Company

Clutch:  ASOS (Available here)

Even though I would have preferred to wear one of these outfits, the man and I actually kept things casual for our Valentine's Day.  The snowy and cold weather prompted a super casual leggings, tunic, and motorcycle boots look (a variation of this look coming to the blog later this week) which was just fine for our low-key V-Day lunch and evening movie at home.

Shoes:  Anne Michelle

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!! Did you stay casual or get dressed up? 

For the leopard coat in another look, see here.
For the black blazer in another look, see here.
For the skirt in other looks, see here, here, here, here, and here.
For the jacket in another look, see here.

Wild Card Wednesday: Sweet Bohemian

Hi everyone!  Hope you're all having a great week!  

Blouse:  Torrid (Sold out on-line; See here)

For the next several posts, I'm featuring some Valentine's Day-inspired looks.  While I have some dressy looks planned for this weekend, today, I'm offering up a casual outfit.

Jeans: Torrid (old)

Shoes:  Christian Siriano for Payless

If you're going casual for the day, there is little better than a pair of comfortable jeans and a romantic top.

Clutch:  Eva Mendes for NY&CO

Here, I paired a sweet bohemian-inspired blouse with skinny jeans and ikat-print heels.  I would wear this outfit for a casual movie date or simply hanging out.

Pendant:  Antiquarian Couture (Find similar here)

Glasses:  Coach

I love that Torrid offers the "extra short" length in many of their denim styles.  With a 25-26" inseam, I can completely avoid alterations on my denim.

Do you have any plans for Valentines' Day?  Dressing up or keeping it casual?

For the jeans in other looks, see here, here, here, and here.

Casual in Vogue

My idea of fashion is a little fancy (see yesterday's look).  I love to get dressed up, and my personal taste is a little more sophisticated and glamorous than my lifestyle.

Skirt:  Torrid

For the last few years, I have been working on developing a better casual style that feels like me but that also works for casual events, hanging with the family, etc.

T-shirt:  Torrid (Available here)

Cardigan:  Target (Similar here or here)

So, when Vogue Footwear reached out to me and allowed me to choose a pair of shoes, I decided to go with a comfortable boot that I could wear with jeans, skirts, or maxi dresses for casual weekend looks.

Bracelet:  c/o Karma Mantra

Vogue Footwear is a shoe company based in St. Louis that offers fashion-forward and affordable footwear.  I just loved the selection of contemporary styles!!  Unfortunately for me, the women's line starts at a size 6, and I'm usually pushing it to wear a size 5.

That's where Miss Vogue Footwear comes in.  Miss Vogue is the girls' line of shoes offered by Vogue.  The styles are high-quality and impressively stylish.

Boots:  c/o Miss Vogue Footwear (Available here)

After perusing all the gorgeous options, I chose the "Ole Trusty MV."  This boot is a wardrobe workhouse.  It's a basic boot, but the cutouts and buckles offer a ton of style.

Savanna's shoes:  Miss Vogue Footwear (Available at Target here)

For Christmas, I bought my budding fashionista the "Study Break" patent Mary Janes from Miss Vogue.  She asked for some high heels for Christmas.  Well, my six year old isn't getting high heels, but I knew she would love the block heel on these. 

Savanna literally hugged them when she opened them!! She exclaimed, "oh, they're so beautiful!!!" 

She loves them so much that she has hardly taken them off since Christmas!!  I have had trouble convincing her that they don't go with everything.  They are perfect with her school uniforms, and she thinks everything else too!

This style is currently sold out at Miss Vogue, but they ARE available at Target.com.

Leggings:  Kohl's

Today, Savanna and I are not just wearing mother-daughter Miss Vogue.  We are both rocking some casual Valentine's Day looks.

Savanna's Dress:  Target (Available here)

I went with a cute tee from Torrid that has "Love" written in several languages, while Savanna is wearing a comfy casual dress from Target.

Purse: Target (Available here)

Are you going casual or dressing up for Valentine's Day?

For the skirt in other looks, see here, here, here, and here.
For the cardigan in other looks, see here and here.

Red Hot

Happy Monday!!

Dress:  Ann Taylor Petites

I hope you all had an amazing weekend.  This weekend, I tried so hard to get blog photos done, but it's looking like winter is coming back!  We had rain all day yesterday, so these were the only photos I was able to get.

I was planning to do a week-long series for Valentine's Day.  Instead, I'm going to be offering up some Valentine's outfit ideas off and on throughout the next several weeks.

Blazer:  The Limited

Shoes:  Simply Vera by Vera Wang for Kohl's

Today's Valentine's Day look would be great for dinner or drinks with your S.O. or even a dressier evening out with friends.

I'm so in love with this slip dress, but can I please take a minute to keep it real? 

My biggest body insecurities are most definitely about my stomach.  It's flabby, and it hangs a bit.   I noticed that my stomach was quite noticeable in these photos.  I was wearing some high-waisted underwear (Does the word "panties" not sound...icky? lol) to help hold things in, but I realized that they only contributed to the problem by creating a weird line across my stomach.  

Belt:  The Limited

Clutch:  Jason Wu for Target

I'm not a fan of shape wear.  Maybe it's because I'm so petite, but Spanx and other types of shape wear never fit me properly and appear to make no impact on smoothing out my figure.  I also like to be comfortable, and in my experience of simply trying it on, shape wear just isn't very comfortable.

I seriously contemplated re-taking the photos, wearing different undergarments, or maybe none at all, to help avoid these issues. 

In the end, I decided to keep it real.  I am not comfortable showing the outlines of my belly in my real life, and if I decide to wear this outfit out, I will take measure to avoid the stomach lines showing. 

Ear Cuff:  eBay

But, I am also about honesty.  It's my stomach, what it looks like.  Some of you may think my belly is no big deal.  Some of you may have not even noticed it.  While others of you may find it unattractive.  At the end of the day, it's there, love it or not.  So for that reason, I decided to keep the photos as they are. 

This is me, in a slip dress that shows part of me that I struggle daily to love and accept.

Today, I choose to focus on the fashion and not the belly.  I'm focusing on how much I love the slinky feel of this slip dress (even if it's much better during the balmy summer than freezing rain in January).  I'm focusing on my recent obsession with reds and pinks, wearing this pretty peplum blazer with gold jewelry accented with strawberry crystals.

Rings:  Gift and Kohl's
Bracelet:  Swarovski (gift)

I'm focused on loving me, loving life, and loving fashion...and that is red hot!! ;-D

For this dress in other looks, see here, here, and here.
For the blazer in other looks, see here, here, and here.

Fun Valentine's Day Prints: Kisses and Hearts

Happy Sunday, everyone!!

Hope you're all having a relaxing day.  I've had a wonderful weekend so far and am feeling great. 

Right now, I'm making plans for our Valentine's Day celebration.  I'm a big fan of V-Day.  It's a day that celebrates love, and since we need more love in this world, Valentine's Day is wonderful in my book.

For me, Valentine's Day is about love and romance - NOT flowers, candy, or jewelry.  I especially hate that the commercialization of Valentine's Day has made it one in which men are expected to perform and cater to their sweethearts through the purchasing of material goods.  Our Valentine's Day celebration will not be about gifts - it will be about shared experiences and mutual gratification. 

Of course, it will also be about fashion (as almost everything is!! :-)).  I've got a few Valentine's Day looks in mind, which I will share with you later.

Today, I'm featuring a few of my recent Valentine's Day-inspired work outfits featuring fun prints.

Pants:  The Limited (Similar here)
Blouse:  The Limited (Available here)
Blazer:  New York & Company Petites

The first includes a kiss print blouse I recently picked up from The Limited.  I already had a similar blouse in navy and red (featured here), but I just couldn't resist.  The black and pink color combination is one of my top five favorite color combinations, and since I wear so much black, I knew that this one would get a lot of wear.

Clutch:  The Limited (Available here)
Heels:  Target (Available here)

Amazingly, the pink blazer I already had in my closet was a perfect match for the blouse.  Black skinnies and stilettos completed the look.

A heart shaped locket added a simple but sweet finishing touch.

Locket:  Target (old) (Similar here)
Earrings:  The Limited (Available here)

For last Friday's casual work look, I wore this heart print blouse.  Friday was the annual Go Red for Women - a day to wear red in support of women's heart health.

Blouse:  New York & Company (old)
Blazer:  The Limited (Similar here)
Clutch:  The Limited (Available here)
Bracelet:  The Limited (old)

As heart disease is the leading cause of death of women in the United States, greater awareness to the signs and symptoms of heart disease in women is greatly needed.  I decided my red heart blouse was a perfect choice for this day. 

While I enjoy this blouse, I am not a huge fan of this outfit. I was trying to come up with a new way to wear the top, but I wasn't very happy with the result.  I much prefer the combos I wore here and here.

Jeans:  The Limited (Available here and Similar here)
Tank:  Old Navy (Similar here)
Boots:  Fergalicious by Fergie (Available here)

What do you think?  Are you a fan of Valentine's Day?  Have any fun plans you'd like to share?  Do you like kiss prints and/or heart prints?

For the pink blazer in other looks, see here, here, and here.
For the white jeans in other looks, see here, here, here, here, and here.

For more Valentine's Day inspiration, please check out my lingerie post here and my post for petite plus V-Day looks on The Curvy Fashionista here.

Valentine's Day is also a great reminder of the importance of loving one's self - check out this post for one of my strategies towards greater self love.