Much Ado About Leopard Print

Today marks the beginning of Dress Week 4!  If you missed my previous dress features, check out the links down at the bottom of this post.

Dress:  ASOS (Available here)

Not much I love more in the spring and summer than bare legs in a dress, so it's always fun to feature my favorite easy-peasy warm weather clothing staple!

Booties:  Target

Glasses:  Firmoo.com (Available here)

Today's dress is perfect for work or play. 

The vee back details adds an airy touch for spring, but I would definitely add a blazer or cardigan to wear this one for work.

For today's look, I paired the look with beige booties and a brown clutch to let the fun bold print of the dress really stand out.

Clutch:  The Limited

Gold jewelry with rose zircon and pink Swarovski crystals complete the look.

Bracelet and Ring:  Gifts

How would you style this dress?

Catch Dress Week 1, here, here, here, here, here, and here,
Catch Dress Week 2, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Catch Dress Week 3, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Retro Redux

Happy Sunday!

Skirt:  eShakti (Similar here)

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!  I'm wrapping up this weekend with a cute tulle skirt look.

Tee:  Peter Som for Kohl's

Heels:  Target (old)

Bracelets:  LOFT, Ann Taylor, Torrid

I love pairing tulle skirts with tees, but I also wanted to go for a slight 1950s flair.  The addition of red peep-toe heels give the look a ladylike feel reminiscent of 50s fashion, but the tee, cross-body purse, and jewelry add a more modern feel.

Purse:  Hollywould Collection for Target

Eyeglasses:  Firmoo Eyewear

I think this is an example of how to make tulle skirts more wearable for everyday life.  I would wear this look for dinner, a fashion event, or the art museum.

Ring:  The Limited

Would you wear a look like this?  Where would you wear it?

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

UNCONDITIONAL BODY BEAUTIFUL - PART 3: MY JOURNEY ON MY LEGS

The ladies participating in the #UnconditionalBodyBeautiful series are back with the third part in our series towards loving our bodies unconditionally!!

Dress:  labworks from Target

Today, we're talking about our legs...our gams, stems, pins... Whatever we call them, we all probably have some kind of relationship with our legs. 


My body type tends towards an endomorph with some mesomorph tendencies, meaning that I gain weight easily, but I also tend to build muscle tone quickly, especially in my legs.  When I work out regularly, I very rapidly begin to see increased muscle definition in my legs.  In my 20s, when I worked out often, my legs were often referred to as dancer's legs or even Xena legs.  I absolutely LOVED the reference to Xena, Warrior Princess, but when I was at my thinnest, I sometimes bemoaned the fact that my muscular legs were never very slender.

Jacket:  Old Navy Petites

Heels:  Target

As I gained weight, my legs also became thicker.  The muscle tone remained, but it was now covered with a layer of fat, making my legs appear even fuller.  I hated this for quite some time and avoided shorter skirts and shorts because of cellulite or anxiety over larger thighs.

In the last year or two, as I have learned to appreciate my curves more, I have learned to love the shapeliness of my legs.  I embraced wearing shorter skirts as I did in my early 20s.  As a petite, I find shorter skirts flattering.  And as I often try to disguise my belly fluff with looser fitting dresses (you won't likely see too much of me in bodycon looks), I find the shorter hemlines help balance the overall look.

I'm still not much of a shorts gal.  Their ride-up factor has always annoyed and intimidated me, but I have definitely embraced shorter hemlines, as I did with today's look, and as I've done here with these other styles:

Tickled Pink:  Fringe Shift

 

12 Days of Holiday:  Solid Gold

Date Night In Black & White

Black for Spring:  Cutouts & Lace-Ups

I'm Thankful or...Cozy Knits & Lace

I Resolve To...Show More Leg!!

eShakti Holiday:  70s Child

I have learned to love my fuller thighs and thicker calves.  The fear of showing cellulite has decreased as I realized that women of ALL sizes can and often do have cellulite.  A little dimple here or there shouldn't limit me from feeling the breeze on my legs on a warm day!

My legs take me where I need to go.  They allow me to dance, and kick, and cycle.  I am fortunate to have legs that are fully functional, and I appreciate that more as I have gotten older. 

Clutch:  Cameo de Bore (Sold out; Other styles available here)

Necklaces:  Target and The Limited

My legs were somewhat of a gateway body part towards loving the rest of me.  Once I realized that I could love my legs and that I could show them off in short hemlines, it did not seem as intimidating to show off my arms or to start embracing other features.

A bit of advice towards self-love is to find one body part that you love and then work from there to starting accepting and loving the rest of you.  For me, it has been about showing a little more skin - showing my legs rather than hiding them, wearing tank tops that show my arms, or trying out a crop top.  Once I realized that the world didn't stop spinning because I flaunted my chubby thighs, it became easier to expose other parts of my body without as much fear of reprise.

Necklace worn as bracelet:  The Limited

The more I wore what I wanted to wear without worrying about adhering to rules about what I should wear, the more I have learned to love my legs.  As in any relationship, there are the bad days, but my relationship with my legs has become quite healthy and generally positive.  My legs are curvy, muscular, and thick.  They are short like the rest of me.  They help me do the things I love to do, like shopping or dancing.  My legs are awesome, and I love them!

Have you employed any strategies to love your body more?  I truly do think that learning to love ourselves in our completeness is a teachable skill, but it does take affirmative steps.  We have to change the negative voices to positive ones!

To catch the first two installments of #UnconditionalBodyBeautiful, see here and here.

For this dress in other looks, see here, here, and here.
For this jacket in other looks, see here, here and here.

Don't forget to check out this month's segments by the other amazing bloggers participating in the Unconditional Body Beautiful series:

Toodaloo Katie
http://www.toodalookatie.com/2015/03/unconditional-body-beautiful-part-3-my.html

Katherine Hayward, My Life With Cerebral Palsy
http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com/2015/03/my-legs.html?spref=fb

Just Me, Leah
http://www.justmeleah.co.uk/2015/03/unconditional-body-beautiful-3-legs.html

Natty Nikki
http://www.nattynikki.com/2015/03/uncondtional-body-beautiful-part-three.html


Josofab's Curvesity World
http://www.josofabscurvesity1.com/?p=63

Beca:  Under Construction
https://beckamaynewbeginnings.wordpress.com/unconditional-body-beautiful-series-3-legs/

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.

Black Textures

Happy Friday, everyone!

Hope you have all had a great week.  Today, I'm wrapping up the week with a recent work look.

Skirt:  Ann Taylor (Sold out on-line; May be available in stores)

Top:  eloquii (Sold out; See here)

I love playing with textures, so for this look, I wore a chiffon skirt with striped ribbing detail and a lace crop top.  To show off the texture of the lace top, I chose a beige cami.

Tank:  The Limited (Available here)

I wanted to give these lightweight fabrics a more autumnal feeling and to take away some of the delicateness of the look, so I added a velvet blazer and open-toe booties.

Blazer:  New York & Company

A faux crocodile-embossed satchel completed the look.

Satchel:  Express

Velvet and chiffon are certainly unexpected textures to wear together, but I'm loving how the mix adds depth to the outfit.

Boots:  Target

Do you like mixing textures and patterns in a look?

P.S.  The first time I wore this skirt (link below), I noted how I planned on getting it hemmed.  I have since had it hemmed (as pictured here), but it still felt a little long, so I brought it back to my tailor.  I hope to have it the perfect length soon.  Sometimes tailoring is a process of trial and error.  It's always better to err on the side of too long because then the piece can be shortened.  Take off too much, and you're stuck with a skirt you don't want to wear.

For the top in another look, see here. 
For the skirt in another look, see here.

Style Cassentials Turns Two!

My blog turns two today, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their viewership and support. 

It really means a lot to me that anyone reads my blog, let alone comments or follows regularly!!

Dress:  Sophie Theallat for The Limited

This past year has been a year of change and growth for my blog, and I'm very proud of my efforts to offer various content over the last year.  While I did not achieve all the goals I had planned a year ago, I also adapted and changed some of these goals as the year progressed.

Heels:  Target (Similar here)

In December 2013, I started working as a contributing writer for The Curvy Fashionista, and this experience has taught me so much!  (Thanks Marie!!)  It has given me tons of tips, tricks, and ideas that I have started intepreting for Style Cassentials.

I have also expanded my presence on Facebook this year.  If you're a Facebook user and you're not already following me, check out my page here for lots of additional content not offered on the blog!

My blog has always been about personal style and its evolution.  That focus is based on the foundation that ALL women deserve to partake in fashion, if they so choose.  Body size, shape, age, income, race, sexual orientation...NONE of these things should be relevant in having fun with fashion.

I hope to continue to promote these ideas and share body-positive content with you in the coming year.

I will continue to explore my own personal style and share my fashion joys, challenges and growth with you.

In addition, I have ideas that I hope will make my blog a more interactive experience for all of us.  More on that later...

I have some questions for you: 

What would you like to see more/less of on the blog?  Do you have any style questions you want answered? 

LET ME KNOW!

In the meantime, a birthday celebration wouldn't be complete without a birthday look!

I had wanted to do a really fun photo shoot like I did last year, but I seriously could not decide what I wanted to do!

So, this year, I'm a little more subdued and classy in a lace dress that I actually wore on MY birthday last year.  :-)

I'm looking forward to the year ahead, and hope you'll stick around with me because there's so much more to come!

Again, thank you so much for joining me on this journey!