Wednesday, April 27, 2011

for vegas baby.....VEGAS!!!

I can't even explain how excited I am for our trip to Vegas- all of my favorite girls together for 3 uninterrupted days of pure bliss. I think I have to stop there, I'm literally on the edge of my seat with anticipation.

To keep myself marginally calm, I went shopping on asos.com for a cut-out dress for Saturday night in the city of sin. I found so many good options on asos (this is a relatively new site for me, which is pretty rare). They have a great combination of expensive and bargain pieces, and they have free shipping, free returns. Here are some of the dresses I was considering:

I loved the color of this dress, but I really wanted a cut-out around the waist.


Couldn't quite pull the trigger on this one, considering the back is entirely open. Too Vegas for this girl.

Eh. Didn't love the sleeves.

I was pleasantly surprised with all of the cut-out dress options available on asos. I ended up buying 3 with the intention of returning 2 (and I promise I will!!) I set my budget for this project at $200, FYI. Here's what I ordered:

Couldn't resist the color of this one! I also liked the mix of classy and sexy.

Love this one! I'm secretly hoping it will be the winner :)

My least favorite color, but I liked the tighter fitting shape.

I also threw this in my basket, for good measure:

Haven't ventured into the one piece world yet, so I thought this would be a good first effort.

My package should be arriving soon, and I'll post pictures of the decision process! 15 days and counting until Vegas...

Monday, April 25, 2011

online (her favorite pastime).

I spend an embarrassing amount of time shopping online, so I decided to use my favorite hobby to find my next project outfit. This might be a little tricky, considering I also want to dedicate this month's project to an outfit for a night out in Vegas (we're going in a little less than a month for my joint bachelorette with my best friend Casey)! I say tricky because you never know how clothes are actually going to look when ordering online, but I happen to be an excellent online shopper and have full confidence in my abilities. Almost everyone has free shipping, free returns these days anyway (this is what I refer to as "feeding my addiction". Promo codes sent to me just as I was getting the shakes from lusting over something also fall in to this category).

I found my inspiration picture in this month's InStyle. I'm borderline obsessed with Harry Potter, and I think Emma Watson is adorable- she makes classy and daring choices at the same time. I love the dress she has on in the picture below, it's sophisticated with a hint of sexy. I'm excited to find a cut-out dress, preferably in a fun color instead of the neutral shown, and I'll be looking for something with a little more than a hint of sexy...after all, it is Vegas :)

Monday, April 18, 2011

to be twinnsies with her new cell phone cover.

I spent the better part of last week thinking of outfits for my Zara pink polka dotted scarf from my color project. When my cell phone cover (I joined the iPhone revolution and I'm OBSESSED with words with friends already...) from Kate Spade arrived in the mail, I thought DUH, what's cuter than black and pink??

I started with the basics- black tights, a Splendid black tank dress and peep-toe Mary Janes from Cole Haan. I tied my scarf to look a little bow tie-esque over a bright pink jacket (BR Monogram) that needed a trip out of the closet. For accessories, I went simple - just my trusty flower earrings from J.Crew. I also tried to do a bun on the top of my head...operative word being tried, hair and make-up is not my forte :)

My adorable iPhone cover:

The hot pink is a little hard to see, it's on the edges.


And my matching look:









Friday, April 15, 2011

in black & white.

Another day, another decent work outfit! Looks like I'm really into tucking my cardigans into pencil skirts...

I wore the white top from H&M that I bought for my first project with a striped cardigan from J.Crew, a cotton pencil skirt and textured black tights (both from BR). My peep-toe pumps are from the Cole Haan outlet (with Nike Air, so comfortable).

I sort of fell down on the accessories front with this outfit, so I need to focus on that next time :)


Thursday, April 14, 2011

and steps it up for work.

I work in an extremely casual environment (it's a web-based company, and all of the developers/IT guys are BIG fans of sandals, shorts, t-shirts and apparently, not showering). While it's wonderful to wake up in the morning and throw on whatever strikes my fancy, I've noticed that I'm getting a little slack when it comes to my work outfits. I used to work at a retail company in San Fran, where everyone was into fashion and style. Being in that environment encouraged me to put effort into my wardrobe choices and look cute every day (a.k.a., not walking out the door in leggings and an oversize t-shirt with wet hair...not that I've been known to do that). So, given my new blogging and shopping venture, I decided it was time to step up my style at work.

I took the chambray button down that I bought for my color project, put my favorite gray cardigan (J.Crew, of course) over it, and tucked both into the off-white skirt I wore to my NY bridal shower. My white and gold bib necklace (BR) and cut-out pumps from J.Crew finished the look. It felt great to actually look like I was a gainfully employed adult on my morning commute, instead of a flustered, wet-haired 15 year old.

Hope you like it!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

with her skirt skimming the floor.

Remember that long skirt I bought from F21 for $20? I tried it out the other day with a basic grey v-neck (American Apparel), my favorite flowered belt from J.Crew and my peep-toe booties from Loft. I topped it off with the bangles I bought for my first project outfit. This was my first venture in to the long skirt world and I have to admit I was a little worried, but it was so comfortable and I loved the way it swished around when I walked :) Looking forward to creating another look with this skirt!

Monday, April 11, 2011

without a coat!!!

I think it's finally happened...spring has sprung in Chicago! It was a very delightful, beautifully sunny, 70 degree day in the Windy City yesterday, so I pulled out my bright orange skirt (from my color project) for the second weekend in a row.

I paired it with a striped sweater (with elbow pads!) from H&M, my favorite gold and white bib necklace from BR, patent leather tortoise flats from J.Crew and my new hat from Club Monaco. Oh, and of course, my Rayban's to shade my eyes from the blinding sunlight :)

I'm going to skip over the fact that it's back to 50's and cloudy, because I'm still on a Vitamin D high. Hope you enjoy my first warm weather outfit as much as I did!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

and does a little two-step.

It was actually a pretty nice day on Saturday, so I decided to go sans tight with my bright and colorful outfit. Here are the inspiration ads I used:


And here's my look:

Zara scarf ($30), J.Crew shirt ($70), J.Crew skirt ($75), J.Crew boots

It turned out a little country western chic with the chambray shirt, scarf and boots, but it was a great comfy, running errands kind of outfit. I'm definitely ready to wear this skirt with some sandals though!

I still have my yellow tank from Target that I want to wear with my cobalt blue clutch, so keep a look out for that post in the coming weeks.

For my next project post, I want to up the budget and give myself a little more time to shop. I bought the majority of the pieces from the same store in my first two attempts, so I want to branch out and challenge myself. For now, I'm having an awesome time incorporating the pieces I bought into my wardrobe, makes for a fun morning :)

Friday, April 1, 2011

with the sweet smell of success in the air.

As I mentioned in my last post, a bad shopping experience only throws me off my game for about 12 hours (this is what people would call an "addiction", whatever). That being said, I was back at it yesterday evening. I headed to the bigger, better J.Crew in Chicago because I had to get my wonderful sister a birthday present, and I saw a very adorable orange skirt online that I thought could be promising.

The skirt was calling my name as soon as I stepped in the store, and unlike my nemesis Zara, they had THREE of my size. Hmph. The color is beautiful and bright, and it fit perfectly. This is one I know I'll be wearing to shreds:


I was trying to find a fun pink or yellow top to go with it, but I ended up going with a comfy "boy" shirt in blue, chambray-ish color. I got one of their perfect fit tanks in a vibrant yellow color to layer under the button down, because it's a little see-through and this will add another pop of color. I'm going to finish the look off with the pink polka dot scarf I bought at Zara the other day. Let's hope the weather warms up a little so I wear this outfit in the next week or so...




Ok, so about the cost. The skirt was $75, the button down was $69.50 and the tank was $18. BUT, I had a 20% off coupon! So I only spent $130 at J.Crew. Combined with the $30 scarf and the $20 tank I bought at Target (which doesn't fit into this outfit, but I'm being honest...), I spent a total of $180. I know, I know...$20 over my budget, but I'm going to go ahead and call it a wash :)