Geo Print Maxi Skirt

Well, I ended up too sick to go to school on Thursday, so no, Kammy, I didn't wear red and black to finish the primary colors trio. (Actually, I wore all black, but that's just because my sweatpants and sweatshirt happened to be black.) Forcing myself back to school on Friday - though I really could've used another day to recoup - I looked for a skirt for Maxi Dress Friday, and came up with this one:

Sadly, just based on my maxi skirt options, whatever I chose would have to include black, either in choosing a black skirt, or in choosing a black top to go with a skirt. In some ways, actually, the blue print on bottom with the black shirt on top is a nice flip-flop from Wednesday's outfit. The top is really just a black t-shirt, but it's nicely fitted to keep it from looking too casual for wearing to work, and with a maxi skirt it's dressier than with pants or capris.

I wanted some kind of line at the waist, so I added a simple black sash. For shoes, I needed flats - since the skirt isn't long enough for heels - but didn't want to wear just ordinary flip-flops. As I said in an earlier post, these sandals are "nice enough (because of the faux jewels on the front strap)" to still look good at school. In retrospect, I wish I'd chosen a long necklace rather than this shorter one; longer necklaces elongate the body, and I could have used that given the way I put this outfit together.

See, this outfit, with the top of the skirt hitting significantly lower than my natural waist, shortens my frame considerably - in fact, I shortened it even further by putting a sash two inches even further below the top of the skirt, meaning I created a visual waistline about six to eight inches below my natural waist. Remember how I created the word "stumpify" in an earlier post? Yeah, this outfit is a good pictorial definition of that word.

I am lucky, however, in that because I am naturally tall, but even more so because I have very long legs, I can afford to stumpify myself and still look pretty normal. Shorter gals out there? Sorry, but you have pretty much no leeway whatsoever for stumpifying, so you have to be on guard against stumpification at all times. We taller girls have a bit more margin for error, and I took some liberties in that area with this outfit, mostly because I was more eager for comfort than style.

What can I say? Even we fashionistas fall short sometimes. (Get it? Stumpified? Fall short? I'm hilarious.)


Get the look for yourself:
Shirt - Old Navy; similar here.
Skirt - Target; similar here.
Shoes - Payless, available here.
Necklace - Express; similar here.

Back in Black and Ponytails

I have been having a rough week for a variety of personal reasons, and I realize that is probably becoming clear through the amount of black I've been wearing and the fact that I keep giving up on my hair in the morning and throwing it into a ponytail. Still, I think I'm managing to do okay with my outfits in spite of that.

Yesterday's outfit starred a new emerald green top from New York and Company, and I mostly chose to surround it with black so that the vibrant color would have the attention all to itself. I adore jewel tones - that's what we use to refer to the really rich colors we associate with various gemstones, like sapphires, emeralds, rubies, etc. - and I think most women look amazing in at least one of the jewel tones. For me, because of the green tints in my hazel eyes, I look good in rich emerald greens like this one that draw attention to my eyes.

The shirt has a great twist of the fabric in the front, pulling nicely at the waist to create a good shape. A keyhole opening near the neckline keeps it from feeling too severely conservative while still maintaining modesty because it buttons at the top. Since it's a sleeveless top, I paired it with a cropped short-sleeved cardigan at school, which also hits at the perfect spot at the waist to establish the hourglass figure. I added a comfy pair of skinny black pants and my rolled slouchy boots,and jewelry was simple black and silver, keeping all the focus on the green top.

Get the look for yourself:
Shirt - New York and Company, available here.
Cardigan - Target; similar here.
Pants - Gap, available here.
Boots - Cathy Jean; similar here.
Necklace - Target, available here.
Ring - Old Navy; similar here.
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Today's outfit, similar to yesterday's, featured a colored top from New York and Company surrounded by black, and if I'd realized that similarity earlier, I probably would have avoided the repetition. (Especially since I wore a ponytail on both days, too.)

Originally, I hadn't planned on the leggings, but it was chillier this morning than I had anticipated, and eventually I was very glad I chose not to go with the bare legs. Still, wearing the capri leggings instead of full leggings kept the outfit looking fun and fresh, rather than overly morose and heavy. I also paired them with flats rather than boots, also in the hopes of keeping the whole look a little lighter.

Looking at these pics, I am determined to wear something non-black tomorrow. Of course, I might wake up and send all of that straight to the toilet with an LBD ("little black dress") and another pair of black boots. That's the joyous mystery of this blog! Stay tuned to find out what I decide.

Get the look for yourself:
Shirt - New York and Company; similar here.
Skirt - Target; similar here.
Belt - Target; similar here.
Leggings - Target, available here.
Shoes - Payless; similar here.
Necklace and earrings - Target, available here.

Make a Wish List

I am only a recent arrival at the "budgeting" party, meaning that until recently, I haven't been as responsible as I could have about planning my purchases/spending."How's it going?" you might ask. It's going well, except for that whole "not getting what I want when I want it" thing. I don't enjoy having to exercise self-restraint, let's just say.

Now that I've started setting some limits on my clothing spending, I've come to realize that I better also start prioritizing my clothing desires. I started using Polyvore to compile my planned purchases, so that as each month comes along, I can use the budgeted money on the pieces I want most. I admit that I enjoy looking at and trying out new trends, so often the pieces I hope to buy are pieces I've seen in magazines, on TV, on fashion blogs, etc. And thence springs today's blouse:

I was glad to find this on sale at New York and Company, because I'd been hoping to find something just like this for a while now. Since this blouse is really designed to look almost like a pajama shirt, I decided to pair it with wide-leg faux-denim trousers and a black vest to keep it looking professional. Because of the dark blue in the pants, black shoes really just didn't work, so I added a pop of color (you know how I love those!) with burgundy ankle boots.

The contrast trim at the color and cuffs would have been overshadowed by a necklace and/or bracelet, so I kept the jewelry limited to small gold teardrop hoop earrings only. I ended up being completely thrilled with how the outfit turned out, even though I went through several drafts before deciding to go with this version. Some mornings are like that, I think - you're completely ambivalent until suddenly you have no more time to spend choosing an outfit, so you say, "This'll have to do," and then, out of nowhere, you love it.

Of course, other mornings you love the outfit from the start, walk out the front door, and suddenly realize it hikes up in the back and it's too tight in the arms and you can't be totally sure, but you think it might be giving you love handles you did not have before leaving the house this morning.

Let's be grateful for the good days.


Get the look for yourself:
Blouse - New York and Company, available here.
Pants - New York and Company; similar here and here.
Vest - Gap; similar here.
Boots - Target; similar here.
Earrings - The Limited, available here.

Delayed Gratification

Well, I've been a pretty terrible fashion blogger this week, at least in terms of keeping up with the previously established schedule. But boy, it was a long week, and while I could have taken time to catch up last night, I decided I deserved to take a night and hang with my girlfriends instead of sitting at home with my laptop. You all understand, right?

To make up for the long silence, I have three (THREE!) outfits to share with you. First, from Wednesday:

I saw this skirt at Target and just knew I had to have it for fall. It's a wool blend, and it's chock full of awesome fall colors like mustard, wine, and blueberry. (On a side note, why are so many colors named for foods? It makes me hungry.)  Basically, I had just been sitting around waiting for a day to wear it with tights and boots.

 Because it's getting a little cooler now, we're also getting to the point where I have to take pictures of the outfit with whatever jacket I've chosen as well. And I love me a good denim jacket:

Get the look for yourself:
Skirt - Target, available here.
Shirt - I don't remember, but similar here.
Boots - Kohl's; similar here.
Jacket - Hand-me-down; similar here.
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So then came Thursday, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't have time to go home in the afternoon between school and Back-to-School Night, so I had to wear something pretty professional looking. I opted for a late-summer purchase - this retro pencil skirt jumper paired with a traditional ruffle-front white blouse:

I love the vintage feel of the pencil skirt with straps. It reminds me of one of my swing performance costumes:

I decided, for weather reasons, to pair it with some argyle tights and one of my favorite pairs of black heels, complete with adorable white flowers:

For the colder points in the day, as well as for a more professional look for the parents at Back-to-School Night, I added a dark blue blazer:

I was SO excited to see that blazers were coming back this past summer and into this fall. I'd been looking for an amazing blazer for a while before I came across this one at the Gap. It is a dark midnight blue with black trim, and it fits perfectly.

I loved this look, so I hope all the parents did too!


Get the look for yourself:
Blouse - Target; similar here.
Jumper - Charlotte's Web in Berkeley; similar here.
Tights - Target; similar here.
Shoes - Payless, and I can't find any like them in my searching...
Bracelets - Claire's, available here.
Necklace - Target; similar here.
Earrings - Target; similar here.
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The school administration decided that after a really long day on Thursday, the teachers deserved a jeans day on Friday, so I got to put together another Blue-and-Gold outfit:

And again, because it's been chilly, here's the outfit complete with sweater:

I absolutely love comfy cardigans, and they're one of the best parts of fall weather, in my opinion. Cardigans and comfy boots. Mmmm... Fall...

Get the look for yourself:
Shirt - Old Navy, available here.
Jeans - Target, available here.
Boots - (see first outfit above)
Cardigan - Target; similar everywhere, because, you know, it's a cardigan.
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And thus ends the longest Daily Dress-Up post yet. Hope you managed to hang in there until the end! See you next week, when I will hopefully be less busy. Hopefully...

Pretty in Peplum (Ish)

Well, we might just be spending this week one day behind in our posts, as it is now Wednesday evening and I'm just getting time to blog about Tuesday's outfit. But that's okay - at least we're keeping up the posts somehow! I refuse to let myself get too busy to keep posting. I love you all too much to disappoint you like that!

Tuesday's outfit centered around one fabulous, gorgeous dress - well, fabulous and gorgeous in my opinion anyway:

So many reasons to love this Target dress. First, the color is a rich, beautiful teal blue. Second, it's got sleeves, which means I can wear it at school without a cardigan or jacket. Third, it's a great cut and fit, especially because of the faux-peplum:

First, what is "peplum"? Peplum is a short flared, gathered, or pleated strip of fabric attached at the waist of a woman's jacket, dress, or blouse (courtesy of the dictionary). Examples? I aim to please:

[image credit]

Peplum, because of its placement, draws the eye to the waist and creates a wider look at the hips, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your body shape. For hourglass figures (which is what I have), it is great, because extending the hips out from the body makes the waist look narrower by comparison, and makes the "hourglass" even more defined. If you have a "pear" shape, however - larger hips and a smaller waist and bust - the peplum will only exaggerate the hips and exacerbate the natural imbalance. So... is peplum right for you? Maybe, maybe not, depending on where you want to draw others' eyes.

For me, peplum is a trend that works; however, I don't have any actual peplum pieces. This dress is the closest I have, and it's clearly a faux-peplum, only extending out at the sides there. (Throughout the day, I referred to them frequently as "landing flaps," as if I were a plane.)

At any rate, I think the vibrant color and peplum accent makes the dress interesting enough to serve as the centerpiece of its own outfit, with relatively understated accessories. The necklace (with matching earrings) breaks up what might otherwise be an overwhelming dose of teal, and a black hinge bracelet finishes the jewelry.

The ankle boots were chosen over pumps because I felt they added a little bit of an "edge" to an otherwise ultra-feminine outfit. I think it's great to go ultra-feminine sometimes, but I also like having a mix of "hard" and "soft" looks in one outfit too, which is what I opted for here. My hair was decided similarly in that most of the look is very "put-together," so I decided to have a more "messy" look with a casual ponytail in the hair.

On a side note, I opted to include more of my head and face here than I normally do, partially to show the matching earrings with the necklace and partially to show my hairdo. What do you guys think - more face, or keep cropping? I need reader opinions to decide!

All right, that's Tuesday's clothes for you. Hope your week is going well!


Get the look for yourself:
Dress - Target, available ON SALE here.
Ankle boots - Target; similar here.
Necklace and matching earrings - Target; similar here.
Bracelet - Express, available here.

Do Your Pants Fit?

Okay, first of all, Maurice's comment on the last post may be my new favorite quote of the moment:

"OMG PRAY WHAT DID YOU WEAR TODAY AND WITH WHAT ACCOUTREMENTS?"

Partially I love this comment because the shouty all-caps gave a tremendous sense of urgency to something pretty non-urgent, and partially I love this comment because the word "accoutrements" is not used nearly often enough by most of the populace. (If you don't know what it means, look it up!)

Sorry that I missed posting yesterday, but I could barely stay awake through the end of Monday Night Football, so my mental capacity for writing about my clothes was at zero. Now, however, I'm back and a little (*little*) better rested, so let's talk about Monday's outfit, shall we?

My "Pinspired" outfit worked much better in photos than real life, and this outfit, to me, was basically the opposite. In photos I don't think it looks all that great - nor does it look bad - but I liked how it looked better when it wasn't just posed and sitting still.

  
One of the big problems with seeing the outfit immobile is that it becomes painfully obvious that the pants are not the right size for me. How do I know that? (And, by extension, how can you know if your pants aren't fitting right?) Obviously the first step is that they feel a little too tight around the waist, but you wouldn't know that. The visual give-away is the "whiskering" around the zipper closure and at the side seams. See those "whisker" lines? That means the fabric is pulling in a way it wasn't meant to pull, which means it doesn't fit right. In my case, this is because I've gained weight since I bought the pants, but I know that sometimes, finding that pair of pants you want is so exciting that you compromise on the fit, and it's just not a good idea.

All that negative stuff said, I do love this top, which I recently purchased at New York and Company. The color is a rich cranberry, and the material is very comfortable and airy. The cranberry pairs well with the medium gray of the pants, and the pinstripes in the pants keep the outfit more interesting than if I'd opted for two solids together. The shoes are a low black heel with a small bow detail, and the necklace was a Malawi purchase which, sadly, died later in the day (read: the string broke and beads went EVERYWHERE).


Get the look for yourself:
Shirt - New York and Company, available here.
Pants - Express; similar here.
Shoes - Target; similar here.
Necklace - Malawi street vendor; similar here.

Bow Belt

*** Hi! If you read this post, can you please let me know somehow? Comment on this post, let me know on Facebook, shoot me an email or text, etc. I'm trying to get a sense of how many people read this blog and what the demographics are. Thanks much! ***


Even though this was the fourth week of school, today was only the second Maxi Dress Friday of the year so far:

This plain and simple black dress may seem a little boring, but I really wanted to spotlight my brand new sage green belt:

I suspect it will shock no one to discover that this dress is another spectacular purchase from Target's maternity section. Because I am a bit on the taller side, maxi dresses are often hard to find in a long enough length for me. Maternity dresses are cut to run longer to allow for a baby bump in the front, which makes them just the right length for taller folks who do NOT have a baby bump. (I'm pretty sure if I did have one, the dress would suddenly become too short again.) This dress - like the one I wore Wednesday - is also made of a knit jersey material, which means it's like wearing a giant comfy t-shirt to school, and who wouldn't love to do that?

While I did want to shine a spotlight on my belt, I felt the outfit would still be too plain without any additional accessorizing, so I added a fun chain necklace and a chunky silver bracelet. I honestly wish I had had some better shoes to wear, but I went with some flips that are pretty much the same shade of green as the belt.

So do you like the belt? The dress (plain though it is)? Let me know!


Get the look for yourself:
Dress - Target; similar here and here.
Belt - Therapy Boutique; couldn't find any that same color, but some other fun colored bow belts can be found here, here, and here.
Shoes - Payless; similar (actually, BETTER, because I adore Seychelles) here.
Necklace - Target; similar here.
Bracelet - Target; similar here.

Floral Dress, Green Pants, and TIPS!

Don't worry - the floral dress and green pants were NOT being worn together. I know you were all wracked with concern about that, so I hope I've eased your worries.

Wednesday I wore this floral dress from Target (wait for it) maternity section:

It's made of a light jersey material that is pretty much indescribably comfortable. There are many times I thank God that I'm a girl instead of a boy, and wearing jersey dresses is one of those times because oh my goodness it's like wearing t-shirt sheets to work.

In spite of the "maternity" fact of this dress, it is actually cut to be extremely flattering on most female body types. Although I chose to wear a wide black belt with this dress, the way it is actually designed is to be tied with a bow at the narrowest part of the waist, which accentuates that nice narrow middle. EVEN IF you feel that your waist isn't particularly narrow by nature, a dress that cinches in like this one will make you look narrow. Which brings me to TIP #1:

Look for pieces/items that accentuate the narrowest part of your waist to flatter your figure the most.

The v-neck cut of the dress is also flattering. Ladies, do you know why we're supposed to wear v-necks? V-necks elongate the look of your neck, which slims your neck and face. Wearing turtlenecks (basically the complete antithesis of v-necks) erases your neck completely and makes the face look chunkier - almost like it's pushing any excess skin up into your face. Pretty unappealing, which brings us to TIP #2:

Look for v-neck shirts, blouses, and dresses to elongate the neck line and slim the face.

On me, this dress hits at the perfect spot, right at/above the knee. If this exact same dress (same size and everything) were worn by someone 5'5" or so, however, it would hit at a terrible spot - at the middle or top of the calf. This is NOT a great place to hit the leg, as it "stumpifies" the entire frame. (Note: "stumpify" and all forms of it copyright Miss Doyle. It is not technically an English word, but it works. I am a Language-Arts Professional, so I'm allowed to make up words.) And on that note, let's look at the green pants I wore today:

I hear you all shouting at your screens. "But Miss Doyle! You just said that clothes should NOT hit the calf! Now you're contradicting yourself!" Yes, yes I am. And here's why I can do that: Because I am tall, and I have very long legs. One of the things I get to do is wear these kinds of cropped pants without being "stumpified," because proportionally speaking, I have a lot more to work with than someone with shorter legs.

For those of you shorter gals out there, you've got to be looking for pieces that hit slightly above the knee, but definitely no lower than the knee... OR pieces that run all the way to your feet/shoes. Ankle pants, mid-calf skirts, etc. are all bad options for you. If this makes you sad, just wait, because in future posts I will talk about stuff you get to wear that we tall folk do not. (*sniffle* for us; hooray! for you)

So, TIP #3:

Find pieces that hit you at the right places for your body type, whatever that is.

I love this top because of the velvet pleats that add a little spice to an otherwise plain black button-down top. Because of that, I didn't feel a need to add any necklace to the top. The cropped pants are a very recent New York and Company purchase from their new fall line, and if you look at the picture on the NY&C site and zoom in, you can see the small black weave pattern against the bright emerald green. I added the black heels to continue the long line of my leg in spite of the cropped pant, and I think it worked great.

By the end of the day I had rolled my sleeves, which I think still worked great with the overall look, but I was definitely wishing I'd worn a belt. First, I think it would have made the waistline a little more visually interesting, but mostly, the pants got looser through the day and by lunch I was already constantly yanking them back up to where they were supposed to ride. (No low riding here, thankyouverymuch.)

So, let's review our tips from today...

1. Look for pieces/items that accentuate the narrowest part of your waist to flatter your figure the most.
2. Look for v-neck shirts, blouses, and dresses to elongate the neck line and slim the face.
3. Find pieces that hit you at the right places for your body type, whatever that is.

Hope something in here was interesting and/or helpful to you today! If so, let me know in the comments!


Get the look for yourself:
Dress - Target, available here.
Belt - Target; similar here.
Shoes - Payless; similar here.
Necklace - Target, available here.
Shirt - Express; similar here.
Pants - New York and Company, available here.
Shoes - Cathy Jean; similar here. 

Pinspiration

I have good news and bad news.

The Good News: I've been hoping to recreate this Pinterest pin for a while, and today's outfit was it:

I love Pinterest because it can give me some awesome ideas that are very easy to recreate with my own wardrobe. Sometimes pieces I might not have thought to put together, and sometimes just ways of putting them together I might not have considered. In this particular case, it's really the belting that I wouldn't have thought to do, but I really like how it changes the outfit:

I love the color of this skirt, and because it's such a rich statement color, it can be surrounded by neutral tones (white and gray, in this case) without getting washed out. The faux-floral detail on the sweater prevents it from feeling too plain, and the jewelry adds a little bit of "fancy" to an otherwise functional-looking outfit.

The Bad News: This outfit works much better in pictures than it does in real life. I don't mean that it didn't look good in real life when you looked at it - I'm pretty sure it looked quite nice to most people who saw me, although it is clearly designed for someone MUCH thinner (like the model in the picture). The problem was that the outfit just didn't move comfortably. The button-down shirt beneath the cardigan kept coming untucked, the belt didn't quite hit the skirt at the right place, and the sweater kept bunching up under the belt. Early in the day I opted to button the cardigan instead of leaving it open, but even that didn't fully solve the problems. I spent the vast majority of the day fidgeting with my clothes and feeling sloppy, and that is an abominable way to go through a Tuesday. (Or any day, really.)

So what did we learn from this experiment? Using photos from magazines and websites can be great for getting inspired and excited about new fashion possibilities, but they won't all translate to "real life" as well as we might hope. Some outfits are created to be captured by a camera, and never to be seen in motion, and those outfits we just admire and pass by.


Get the look for yourself:
Skirt - Target; similar here.
Shirt -Target; similar here.
Sweater - Old Navy; I can't find any similar sweaters, but you can create the look by adding a flower pin / brooch to any plain cardigan. I particularly like these three options.
Shoes - Payless; similar here.
Belt - hand-me-down; similar here.
Bracelet - Express, available here.
Earrings - New York and Company; similar here.

Safari Corps

I feel like today's outfit is part "safari leader" and part "army corps," which works great, since the military-inspired look is very IN this fall season, so it means I'm at least halfway fashionable, and maybe entirely fashionable, depending on how you feel about safaris.

If you think back to the first outfit I posted here, I talked about not wearing all your new "Back to School" purchases right away, because spreading them out made the excitement last longer. This dark green shirt dress is a back-to-school purchase from Target that I'm only now, in week 3, getting around to wearing. It came with a sash belt in the same fabric and color, but I felt that the dress needed to be broken up by something a little more substantial at the waist, so I added this wide tan belt. This particular belt with these boots is a pairing I really love, so you will probably see this combo repeated with a number of different dresses through the year - when you find something that works, why mess with it?

The leggings were to offset the fall chill that recently set in 'round these parts, though once I got to school I found myself so warm that I wished I'd gone with bare legs instead. Visually, though, I think the leggings work great. I opted to match my bracelet to the belt and boots, rather than to the black of the leggings (which makes very little sense when you think about it, but at first I was like, "Yeah, black, that's a good idea." Sometimes you have to put a little thought into what you're doing when you get dressed, especially when it's early and you haven't had your coffee yet), so I like this leather wrap with the flower detail (also seen in this post).

And now... off to Woodleaf for the weekend! Hope you all have a great weekend, too!


Get the look for yourself:
Dress - Target, available here.
Belt - Target, available here.
Leggings - Express, available here.
Boots - Kohl's; similar here.

Quick Check-In

Well, as those of you from TKA know, it's Woodleaf week, which means life is CRAZY hectic right now. With department meetings, lunch duty, and driving around for hours buying blue t-shirts, I've been short on time for the blog. So for today, some quick pics and summaries from yesterday and today:

This outfit was a simple and comfortable combo of navy pinstripe slacks and a cream-colored flower-embellished top. The shoes are an adorable retro find from a thrift store, and the jewelry is minimal.

Today's outfit was a pair of cranberry-colored skinny pants with a polka dot tie-front blouse. I belted the pants both out of necessity (they fall down otherwise) and to create a more interesting look at the waist (it looked too bland without the belt). Because the blouse ties into a bow at the front, no necklace is necessary, and the bracelet is a simple black cuff. The shoes are a cute low heel with a flower at the front.

Sadly I have no time to find similar items for you to buy, but I'm sure Google can help you out if you're interested...

Which of the two outfits above do you like better? Leave me a comment, because comments make me smile, and I could use a smile in this insane week. Yay!