Wild Card Wednesday: Smart Glamour Fall 2015

I do 90% of my shopping on-line, which means I'm always waiting on packages to arrive.  Sometimes, the anticipation for these packages is high, and sometimes, it's just pure excitement.

It was with nothing but excitement that I awaited this skirt from Smart Glamour!

Skirt:  c/o Smart Glamour (Available here)

Top:  ASOS Curve (Sold out on-line)

I'm wearing the Florence pleated peek-a-boo skirt.  In my opinion, this skirt is just so, so sexy and chic!  First off, I'm such a sucker for accordion pleats. The sheer insets add visual interest and keep the skirt feeling more airy and light.  Plus, they are sexy AF!  ;-)  I went with a custom maxi length to make the skirt feel more unique to me.

Jacket:  Torrid (Available here)

Glasses:  Valentino

I love that I can wear the skirt more bare, as I'm doing here, for an evening look or add a slip to wear it for day.  I wore this outfit with a different faux leather jacket last week for my birthday dinner with my husband, and I felt so great in it!

I had been waiting on this cool beaded back cropped jacket from Torrid, and I just love the way it looks with this skirt.  A simple black crop top and ankle booties allow the details of the skirt and jacket to really stand out.

Clutch:  The Limited

Earrings:  The Limited

To play off the mint green in the skirt, I added a blush clutch and rose quartz ring.

Ring:  The Limited

I've talked about Smart Glamour on the blog before, but if you're not familiar with the one-woman company, let me fill you in to the body positive awesomeness that is Smart Glamour. 

Designer Mallorie Dunn makes ALL of the clothing and accessories herself and offers sizes XS-6X AND custom fit/styling options.  I love businesses with a true conscious - Mallorie's entire business model is based of the idea that fashion is for everyBODY, and she doesn't just talk the talk.  Her models are women in EVERY size in her range and in various heights.  She spends as much time promoting awareness and educating women on sizing, problems with the industry's standard practices, and in celebrating diversity as she does in trying to sell a product.  Mallorie is the real deal which makes me super proud to wear her designs!

Booties:  New Look (Available here)

In the interest of realness, I must mention a couple of things that go into my blog photo sessions.  The photos in this post in which I'm looking off to my left?  Those weren't posed shots - I'm talking to my sassy youngest daughter who is sitting on the porch.  I usually have a minimum of two kids in attendance during my photo sessions, often more.  They are usually running around while taking pics, often photobombing or distracting the camera kid taking the photos.  Every crisis imaginable must be solved during a photo session, you see.  I laugh as I write this because I'm always amazed I can get any photos worthy of posting with the chaos that always seems to be going on around me. 

In that spirit, I leave you with this funny but not too flattering outtake that has nothing to do with kiddo distraction.  This face is what happens when two squirrels run around the corner of the house about a foot away from you, wrestling in the fall leaves, and startle the LIVING HECK out of you! 

Are you familiar with Smart Glamour?  What factors are most important to you when ordering or purchasing from a new clothing company?

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

Imitation Game: Eloquii Fall 2015

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Eloquii, especially for my work wardrobe.  It's so great to find trendy and unique clothes that are still work appropriate.

Jacket:  Eloquii (Available here)

Case in point - today's outfit was completely copied...err inspired...from a photo on Eloquii's web site.

Source, photo on left:  Eloquii

Carwash fringe was a big trend on fall 2015 runways, so it was really exciting to see Eloquii offering this trend up in a work-friendly pencil skirt.

Skirt:  Eloquii (Available here)

I saw this peplum jacket and thought it was really cute - peplums are really flattering, and I loved the green color.  I also realized it matched the green pencil skirt I had previously purchased (shown here and here), so I knew I would have options for what to wear with it.

Boots:  Fergalicious by Fergie

I realized recently (while trying to find shirts to wear with particular outfits) that I tend to veer towards buying bottoms and tons of jackets (I'm a little obsessed), but that I have a fairly limited selection of shirts. 

For some reason, most shirts and blouses just don't appeal to me even though I do have to wear something on the top half of my body! 

My recent weight gain also means that several of my tops don't fit quite like they once did.  Because of that, I have been looking for some new tops to fill the gaps in my wardrobe, and I really liked this black and white graphic printed top.

Sunglasses:  Calvin Klein

When I saw this entire look on Eloquii's web site, I fell in love with the cool effortless vibe and the color palette.  I knew I needed to rock the whole look! 

Top:  Eloquii (Available here)
Earrings:  Target

Clutch and cuff:  The Limited

Have you ever been inspired by an entire look on a store's website or in-store display?


For the skirt in other looks, see here.

Wild Card Wednesday: Artsy Print

Happy Wednesday! 

Dress:  eShakti (Sold out)

Today, I'm featuring a custom maxi dress from eShakti.  It was originally featured as a knee length dress, but I customized to a maxi length and did custom sizing to get the right proportions.

Jacket:  eShakti (no longer available)

I love artys, painterly type prints, and the colors in this dress are just sensational.  My favorite shade of green mixed with blush pink, navy, and black makes for the perfect fall maxi dress.

Earrings:  The Limited

Clutch:  The Limited

For today's look, I paired the dress with a cropped moto jacket in the same forest green color.  I wore this look to a recent baby shower and also to work because I was eager to wear the dress again.

Glasses:  Firmoo.com

Ring:  Purchased at local jewelry show

The satiny dress is a little formal on its own, but the wool moto jacket made it feel a little more casual.

Are you a fan of artsy prints?

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

Unconditional Body Beautiful - Part 10: My Height

The #UnconditionalBodyBeautiful series continues on the blog today, and this month, the participating bloggers and I are talking about our height.

Sweater:  Forever 21 (Available here)

I have been looking forward to this post for a while.  At only 4'9", my height has been a blessing and a curse.

Over the years, I have been called small fry, shorty, and a number of other names, and I have been the unwilling victim of a lot of short jokes. 

Jeans:  The Limited Petites

My height makes people think I am younger than I am.  A contractor once asked my mother if my then boyfriend was my babysitter - I was 22 years old and a college graduate!!!  In high school, I was at a car wash with a male friend.  A little girl, probably all of seven, came up to me and asked me to see if my "dad" would allow me to play with her.  That was actually kind of precious.  :-)
 
My height has at times felt like a liability in regards to my level of attractiveness to the opposite sex.  After dating for a couple months, my first boyfriend once told me, "I didn't think a short girl could be so sexy."  Ummm...thanks? 

T-shirt:  LOFT (Available here)

The reality is that while I have often wished that I was taller so that clothes would fit better off the rack or because of occasional desires to have Giselle legs, I also came to terms with my height many years ago.  My height doesn't define me any more than the shape of my body does. 

Booties:  Target

With all the negatives of being short, not least of which is not being able to reach things from top shelves, I have generally felt just fine about my height.  They say good things come in small packages, and my height has often made me feel cute.  When struggling with body image, my height made me feel a little more positive about my body - I still felt "little" (as though taking up more space is such a bad thing). 

Through the years, for better or worse, my height has just become part of who I am.  I am short like my mother, who is short like her grandmother.  My short stature gives me a lower center of gravity.  If I should fall down, I have less of a fall.  Yep, there are advantages to being short too!

Necklace:  Ann Taylor

Ultimately, I have learned that my height has no bearing on anything.  I have great calves because of standing on my tippy toes to reach for items.  If I can't reach something, I can get a stool or ask for help.  I am attractive, beautiful, sexy, etc. because of who I am, not because of or in spite of my height. 

In the past, I never would have worn cropped jeans with a long sweater as I was taught this was unflattering for someone of my height - that it made me look shorter.  This ideas is based on the idea that being short is a bad thing when in fact being short is great!  Today, I wear what I want! 

Glasses:  Firmoo.com

Purse:  Target (Similar here)

What has your relationship with your height been?  Has it ever affected your body image?

For the other posts in the #UnconditionalBodyBeautiful series, see here:
Part 1:  My Body and I from the Beginning
Part 2:  The Heart (Bust)
Part 3:  My Journey on My Legs
Part 4:  My Belly and Me
Part 5:  My Buttocks
Part 6: Body Hair
Part 7:  My Arms, My Wings
Part 8:  Getting By On My Feet
Part 9:  My Face is Up Here

Catch up with the other bloggers participating in the series this month: 

Katherine Hayward, The Glitter Notebook https://theglitternotebook.wordpress.com/2015/10/18/unconditional-body-love-post-10-good-things-come-in-small-packages/

Zadry Ferrer-Geddes, Curves a la Mode
http://curvesalamode.com/2015/10/19/unconditional-body-beautiful-part-ten-my-height/

To see my jeans styled in other looks, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Manic Monday: Leather Skirt for the Office

I love wearing faux leather all year round, but especially in the fall.  While I tend to think of leather more for daytime casual or evening looks, I also love it for work.

Skirt:  The Limited (Similar here)

Sweater:  NY&CO

A black pencil skirt in faux leather can be a great choice for office wear in the fall as long as the rest of the outfit is kept conservative.

Top:  LOFT (Available here)

For today's looks, I wore a deep burgundy swing top with two different toppers - a cropped tuxedo blazer and a tweed sweater coat. 

Jacket:  Forever 21

Boots:  Sonoma life+style (Available at Kohl's here)

The cropped blazer works well with my proportions and has a lengthening effect. 

Purse:  The Limited

Necklace:  LOFT (Available here)

Boots:  Fergalicious by Fergie

Glasses: Firmoo.com

The sweater coat has a slightly more laid-back feel and is super cozy.

Cuff:  The Limited

Necklace:  The Limited

I really like the different feel of both looks, and as you may be able to tell from the wrinkles in the skirt, I actually wore both outfits to work over the last month.

Which look do you prefer?  Do you wear leather, real or faux, to work?  How do you keep it professional?

For the skirt in other looks, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
For the jacket in other looks, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
For the sweater in other looks, see here, here, and here.