Casual Friday: The Oversized Sweatshirt

Hope those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a lovely time.  This holiday season is a little different for my family.  Last month, my grandmother ended her long suffering with Alzheimer's.  Just this week, my husband lost his father.  It has been a rough time for my family, but it has also been comforting to know that two very ill people are no longer enduring pain.

Dress:  ASOS (Available here)
Bracelet:  Ann Taylor

I feel so blessed that my children were able to know my grandmother.  She was such a special woman, and she just loved kids.  My youngest daughter was especially close to my father-in-law, and while his death has been hard on her, I  am thankful that she and my other kids had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with him.

Necklace:  LOFT

Yesterday, we had two Thanksgiving meals to try to spend the holiday with more family.  Two meals meant I needed some eatin' pants and later, no pants at all!  Ha, ha!

Sneakers:  Nike (old)

For the first part of the day, I paired an oversized sweatshirt dress with faux leather leggings and heels.  I added a blingy necklace to dress the look up a bit.

Pants:  Who What Wear for Target (No longer available online)

Glasses:  Valentino

Heels:  Target

Since my husband was cooking the second meal at our house, I got even more comfortable and lost the heels and pants.

Clutch:  The Limited

The holidays are always casual affairs in my family, and this year, I really just wanted to be comfortable.

This dress was perfect for the occasion!

Do you dress up for the holidays or go casual?

Casual Friday: Easy Dress & Moto Jacket

Hello all!!!  I am finally back from a very unexpected and long hiatus.  If I told you all the things that have been going on lately, you probably wouldn't believe me!!  I will talk more about some of these things soon once I have a chance to fully absorb everything myself.

Jacket:  Boohoo Plus

Even though I haven't had much time for blogging, I have really missed you all - I have so much fall fashion I want to share and hope to get some more photos done soon.  Fashion this season has been really amazing, and I have found some great pieces.  In my stress, I have also done way too much shopping.  Bad things for my wallet, but cool things for my wardrobe.  Ha, ha!

Dress:  The Tiny Closet Shop

One of my favorite fall casual looks is an easy dress paired with a moto jacket and comfy booties.  This look isn't about following trends.  While I love playing with trends because they sometimes encourage me out of my box, more and more, I choose clothing based on my visceral reactions.  Do I say "ooh" or "ah" when I first see a garment?  When I try it on, does it feel good?  Is it comfortable?  Does it make me feel how I want to feel in the given moment?  I try (and often fail) to also balance those visceral reactions with an intellectual assessment of my wardrobe needs.  Does this piece serve a place in my wardrobe?  Will I wear it a lot or only on occasion? 

This dress is one of those pieces that fulfills both emotional and practical needs for me.  It will definitely become a weekend warrior in my wardrobe!

Boots:  Target

Clutch:  The Limited (old)

This dress is from a small capsule collection created by blogger Natalie of The Tiny Closet.  I absolutely love her aesthetic - it's  minimalist with an artistic twist.

The Weekender dress that I am wearing here is the perfect navy color, and the v-neck and double thigh slits give this dress such a free and easy feel.

Cuff:  The Limited

Sunglasses:  Tory Burch

It is a little sheer, and I wish it was lined or in a slightly more opaque fabric, but otherwise, this dress really is perfection.  I paired it with a black slip for more coverage, but for an evening out, I would pair with a low-cut body suit to get the full effect of the dress.

Earrings:  Target

As of right now, The Tiny Closet shop only offers sizes XS-XL.  I am wearing an XL here.  Because the fit of the dress is so easy, it could likely accommodate up to a size 20/22.

Do you follow the blog The Tiny Closet?  What factors affect your clothing decisions?

Wild Card Wednesday: Dressing Down the LBD

My husband and I recently had a movie date to see Bad Moms, and I went with this comfortable knit look.

Dress:  ASOS

The dress is so comfortable, and the lightweight knit bomber jacket was the perfect cover-up.  It was still warm outside, so I didn't want to dress too warm - the jacket was just right.

Jacket:  Boohoo Plus (Available here)
Clutch:  The Limited

Plus, I really love how the jacket and booties give this LBD a decidedly more casual vibe.

Booties:  life+style by Sonoma

Glasses:  Valentino

Bracelet:  The Limited

My husband loved this look, and so did I.  Oh, and we both really loved the movie too!  :-)

For the dress in other looks, see here and here.
See the jacket in another look here.

Shop Your Closet: Ruffles

I have been fighting a cold which is never fun, but fall fashion has me all kinds of happy!  I'm seriously loving the trends this year, and I feel like after a couple rather boring fall seasons, we're seeing some more inspired options.

This season, ruffles are a big trend, and a tunic dress in black is a great way to hop on this trend without going too girly.  Today's Shop Your Closet features three ways to wear this ruffled tunic from Eloquii.

Wear-Now Evening
First up is a wear-now option.  It's still pretty warm in my neck of the woods, but I get too excited about fall fashion to wait until it's actually cool to shop or wear my fall pieces. 

Tunic:  Eloquii (Available here)

Heels:  Amazon

By opening up the neckline and pairing with strappy heels, I can stay breezy and cool on a still-balmy late summer night.

Clutch:  Target (old)

Sunglasses:  Tory Burch

Earrings:  Eloquii

Casual
There are a lot of new denim options this season, but skinny jeans aren't going anywhere.  They're now a wardrobe classic for many of us, but like all great classics, it's always best to update for the season to create a fresher look. 

Jeans:  Torrid (Available here)

Ring:  Earthbound Trading Company (old)

I paired the ruffled tunic over skinnies for a play with proportions.  I like how the soft black color of the denim creates a subtle contrast against the tunic.

Glasses:  Valentino

Shoes:  Target

Clutch:  The Limited (old)

I had planned a third look for today's post to show how I would be styling my ruffles for cooler weather.  Since I wasn't feeling well, I didn't get a chance to snap photos, but be sure to look for this tunic in the coming months layered over long sleeve tops and paired with tights and velvet boots! 

How would you style this tunic?  Are you a fan of this fall's ruffle trend?

Wild Card Wednesday: Pajama Glam

I was a huge fan of the pajama trend a couple years ago, and I love any clothes that have the ease of jammies especially when they also feel totally chic and pulled together.

Top:  c/o Eloquii (Available here)

For my dressiest night in Panama City Beach, I went with wide leg striped pants and a matching top from Eloquii.

Pants:  Eloquii (Available here)

I kept things low-key and comfortable by adding wedges, but upped the glam factor by adding a sparkly rope necklace.

Necklace and Cuff:  The Limited

Clutch:  Boohoo
Wedges:  Sugar

All in all, I love the casual glamour of this look.  It was great for a dinner out with the family near the beach!

Tank:  Old Navy Petites (folded up to wear as crop top)
Glasses:  Valentino

For the top in another look, see here.

Shop Your Closet: The Striped Shirtdress, Part One + A Look at my Eloquii Style & Substance Shoot

Happy Sunday!!  Today, I'm featuring this amazing shirt dress from Eloquii that I received during my recent Style & Substance shoot. 

Dress:  c/o Eloquii (Available here)

I am seriously so in love with this dress, and I have been wearing it in soooo many ways. 

It can be a little difficult to find different ways to wear dresses, but this one is super versatile.  In fact, this is only Part One of this Shop Your Closet.  Stay tuned next Sunday for three more ways to style this dress!!

Work
For the first look, I styled this dress for work by pairing it with a long-line vest and cinching it with a metallic belt.

Vest:  Eloquii (Available here)
Necklace:  Eloquii (Available here)

Purse:  Express
Glasses:  Coach

Boots:  New Look
Belt:  Torrid

A statement necklace, satchel, and booties complete the outfit.  For this look, I really wanted to add structure to create a more polished feel for the office.

Girls' Night Out
While sometimes you want polish, other times, you might long for a look that feels cool and relaxed, but that also has some flair.

Jeans:  The Limited Petites

For this second look, I opened up the buttons of the dress to above my waist and added my trusty cuffed jeans from The Limited (these are seriously Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants good jeans!!!)

Heels:  Amazon

Clutch:  Target

To finish the look, I added red lace-up heels and a clutch.  I actually wore this look out to brunch with my husband, but I also think it would be perfect for a girls' night out!

Casual
For today's last look, I went casual during a recent weekend, pairing my shirt dress with Chucks for a comfortable, easy look.

Sneakers:  Converse (kids) (Available at Kohl's here)

Clutch:  Twig & Arrow (Available at Target here)

I wear heels the majority of the time, but lately, I have been trying to go with more flat and low-wedge sandals and sneakers to give myself a break. 

Sunglasses:  Calvin Klein

This dress is perfect for so many occasions, but it did require some work to get the best fit.  Eloquii was so awesome in helping me to get all the pieces from my shoot tailored to perfection. 

Photos c/o Eloquii by Phillipe Rohdewald

For this shirt dress, I had it hemmed, had the sleeves shortened, and also had the shoulders taken in.  Being petite, it can be hard to get the right fit straight off, so tailoring has really become my norm.

Amazing stylist Ashley Falcon gave me such a fun look for the shoot, styling the dress with my own neon pink pumps and a lemon necklace and printed clutch.

Hair & Make-Up Artist Tyler Colton working his magic

Tailoring was the central theme of my Style & Substance shoot, and really I truly believe that it makes all the difference in the world!!  Being 4'9" with a large chest and stomach and smaller hips and thighs, a good fit right off the rack is almost impossible to find.  If you're taller and/or more hourglass or pear-shaped, you probably won't have quite as many fit issues as I do, but seriously, even something as simple as a hem can really change the overall appearance of a garment.

Just take a look at how Eloquii, with the expertise of my tailor, helped me transform some of my favorite pieces:

Photos:  c/o Eloquii by Phillipe Rohdewald
Jumpsuit:  c/o Eloquii (Available here)

Photos:  c/o Eloquii by Phillipe Rohdewald
Dress:  c/o Eloquii (Available here)

Photos:  c/o Eloquii by Phillipe Rohdewald
Skirt:  c/o Eloquii (Available here)
Top:  c/o Eloquii (Join the waitlist here)

Have you caught my full Style & Substance feature?  Check it out over at Eloquii.com!!!!

See the vest in another look here.
For the jeans in other looks, see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.