Sleek and Sophisticated

Sleek blouses are very popular right now, anything satin (polyester gives the same look) and sheer is sure to be a win. I instantly loved the style of this look when I saw it in Ann Taylor Loft, the color and trim detail sealed the deal.

This top is simple with a neutral color, but it has sleek detail with black trim along the cuffs and neck - borderline colorblock. The best touch is noticed from the back - the trim around the neck continues into an elegant black tie. Personally, I love when the sleeve of a blouse has fitted and buttoned cuffs, causing the sleeve to balloon over the wrist.

To accessorize this blouse I chose brushed gold as the accent and paired my Alex and Ani charmed necklace. I love the detail of the rings and delicate touch of the heart charm at the end. To match, I added my chunky gold watch to the look.  A simple, yet great choice for the office or a casual night out! 

Tip: Some of my favorite places to find this style blouses - The Loft, Gap, Banana Republic, and Marshalls! 

Browns and Boots

Well we're in full fall swing - browns and boots.  This was a recent outfit I pulled together, I went with lots of layers.  This skirt is a Gap find, perfect with tights and also works with bare leg in warmer weather.  I kept it simple with a heather gray v-neck t-shirt and then layered on a simple zip cardigan from The Loft.  Its a must to have basics in your wardrobe to mix and match to make many different looks.  A plain black sweater like this will get you a long way.

To add some life to the look I paired a light brown belt around my waist, layered on a brushed gold necklace and my chunky gold watch and bangles.  Brushed gold and bronze jewelry are perfect for accenting the fall colors in your wardrobe!

The best part of my look are my favorite fall boots.  These are classic distressed brown riding boot style, that go with so many of my fall outfits.  I swear they get better with age!  These are a Nine West find from their vintage line - I've been in love since I got them! They don't have the exact style, but check out this years vintage line here!  

Lace Back - Little Black Dress

Well this weekend I went to my first wedding for a high school friend, a best friend at that!  I really want to know where the time has gone, I swear we were just walking across the stage at graduation.  Well I knew this was going to be a special night but I really had no idea what I was going to wear.  Certainly an important occasion but I didn't want to spend a fortune on a dress.  I hate buying things you only really wear once!

As I was running through the racks at Marshalls last weekend I found it!  From the front it looks like a simple little black dress, or as my sister calls it, a LBD.  It has the stylish peplum ruffle around the waist.  To my surprise, when I flipped it over I noticed the full lace back!  It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the lace had a gold tint to it. I immediately fell in love and knew this was perfect for the occasion!  

I wore shoes that were delicate with gold rings running from a strap at my toes to my ankle.  For jewelry I kept it light with a thin layered gold necklace and four simple bangles.  When wearing a dress like this, you want to keep it classy and let the dress do the talking.  There is no need to layer on the accessories, as the dress itself is the statement.

What to do with your hair with a dress like this?  First things first, make sure the back is uncovered!  Any soft updo would do the trick, I went with a curly ponytail and strand around the elastic. 

I know you are all probably wondering how much it was - of course it was a great fashion find, $19.99!!

Tip: Keep your fashion finds looking classy, wearing all kinds of bold accessories would have turned this look into tacky in a second.

Touch of Animal Print

My color choices have made the fall transition - this look fell into the gray and greens. When you're wearing something that is neutral you need to spice it up with accessories! For this look I added shinny bright gold jewelry. That just wasn't enough so I wore my new pair of animal print flats! They went perfect with the color scheme and added a fun print. These were a great fashion find - $20 on clearance at TJ Maxx, they're Lucky Brand.

Sweater - GAP

Pants - Marshalls 

Tip: Get yourself some animal print - it's fun and adds the perfect kick to fall colors!

Finally found a maxi for me!

I know maxi dresses are all the rage right now, but until this dress I didn't think I could pull one off.  Wondering where I found it... I'm sure you could of guessed it, Marshalls!  Before finding this dress, I tried one that was more flowy and loose fitting.  I decided being barely 5'4'' and pretty thin, something that was fitted would be more flattering.  I've found that with my size, something flowy is just too much material for me, it takes over.  Since most maxi's seem to be less fitted, it took me awhile to find a dress I actually liked.

What do you think?  I'm usually not a huge stripes person but when I tried this dress on I knew it was the one.  One of my favorite parts about it is that it has a inner layer, almost like a slip that goes about 1/2 down my thigh, I think this additional layer gives the dress great shape.

Well as I mentioned above, seeing as I'm barely 5'4'' and wearing a maxi dress, the only thing that is completely necessary are platforms!  I fell in love with these at Marshalls, BCBG nude/coral wedge platforms - aren't they beautiful?? :) With a black and white striped dress, these shoes were perfect for a pop of color!

To add some jewelry to the look I decided to go chunky.  I went with my go to gold watch and then layered on my Alex and Ani bangles.  One of my favorities... Pursue Happiness.

Lush Lavender

I knew today was a business casual day so I picked this dress out last night.  When I was getting ready this morning I knew I at least had the base picked out - a simple lavender dress.  I found this dress at The Loft last season on the sale wall, what a find!  Silver would work too, but I added gold to accent the color.  Being so basic, this dress allows you to layer on a long or chunky necklace to showcase.  I loved how this necklace tied the look together, the diamond colors in the flower and straight piece went great with the colors in the dress.  Believe it or not, I picked this necklace up at Kohls, by Lauren Conrad.  Keeping it simple this morning, I only went with my gold watch, I just wasn't feeling extra bracelets today.

Continuing the simple trend, I pulled my hair back into a low ballerina bun.  I just didn't feel like having it in my face and pulling it into a clean bun is a great trick!  Pull it back into a ponytail, twist it around, and secure with elastic - easy! 

Tip: No matter what store you're in, always keep your eyes peeled for the jewelry.  You want to have a variety to choose from so costume stuff is great!  

Star burst Stripes - Marshalls Find

You never know what you'll find in the clearance racks at Marshalls.  The last time I was there, I flipped through the rack and found this really cute sleeveless top - only $15.00.  I love the striped pattern, but most of all I love how the fabric is gathered across the waist, creating what I describe as a star burst.  The color isn't too exciting but the design is really neat and that's where accessories come into play.  I paired a chunkier style necklace, but stuck with the subtle colors.  This piece is from one of my favorite spots in Providence - Domain!  Of course I wore my gold watch and a bangle set.  I didn't go with anything special for bottoms, just simple black legging jeans from Gap - pretty comfortable I must add!  I added a short sleeve sweater from The Loft to cover my shoulders.  I just went with black sandals with a touch of gold to accent the rest of the outfit.  Just in case its not obvious, I wanted the shirt to be the focus so I kept everything else pretty basic.  

Tip: Don't underestimate the clearance racks at Marshalls!

Head to toe in Gap

Today was a fairly simple outfit, I kept it pretty business looking. I knew I wanted to wear my casual blazer from Gap so I needed a shirt that had some style underneath. I ended up choosing another Gap item, a sleeveless off-white shirt that has ruffles across the chest.  When I bought it a few weeks ago I knew it would be useful for its simple taste.  For the bottoms I wore black dress pants again from Gap, they really have great pieces that can be versatile for all different looks.

To give this outfit some flare, I added a layered gold necklace and some cheetah printed shoes!  The necklace is from my secret gem in Providence (read past posts to find out where!) and the shoes were a Marshalls find by BCBG.  These shoes added just enough flare to my look today!

Tip: Don't be afraid to add a bold pair of shoes to your simple outfit - sometimes that's just what it needs!    

Does it pass the like or LOVE test?

My color pallet was pretty plain today, a lot of tan with a pop of PINK.  Lets start with the shirt, this sleeveless top is always a big hit, it must be the detail of ruffled flowers.  I also love the color scheme of the fabric, the pink and tan go nicely with each other, a very soft look.  Today it was a business casual day for me, I pulled out a tan pencil skirt.  Although you couldn't tell today, its pretty versatile because its high waisted, wearing a top tucked in is a very different look!  To cover my shoulders I added this rose petal sweater.  Its something I pull out of my closet all of the time, it goes with everything!  All three of these pieces were Marshalls finds - I LOVE that place.  

For accessories I went with my gold jewelry, my goto chunky watch and bangles from Alex and Ani.  I wore one of my favorites today - Pursue Happiness.  Short and sweet but so true.  

Now to my favorite part of the outfit - the SHOES.  I saw these shoes at Gap few weeks ago, but I ended up putting them back.  This weekend I was back in the store and just couldn't pass them up, I LOVE them.  I originally wanted a teal colored pair they had but I knew I would get more use out of the tan.  The wooden heel is definitely in, get yourself a pair!   

The just like or LOVE rule - If you're not sure if you should buy something, put it back and leave the store.  If you keep thinking about it a few days later then you actually do LOVE it and not just like - GO BACK AND GET IT!  This was the case for my new wooden wedges.  Do I really need them? Probably not, but I realized I did really love them because I kept wishing I had them to wear.  Most of the time I leave something at the store and forget about it as quick as I walk into the next store.  Try this test next time your out shopping, I swear it works!  

Cute summer wear!

The humidity is killing me... its a must to go with a dress or skirt in this weather.  Today I went with one of my favorites, a ruffle layered skirt from Ann Taylor Loft.  I've worn it in the past but this time I paired light colors for more of a summer look.  Wanting the skirt to be the focus, I wore a simple heather gray T (Marshalls). I like to wear fitted plain t's with skirts, easy to tuck in and doesn't get all bunched in the waist.


My accent color for the look was gold.  I wore my chunky gold watch (Speidel), gold ruffle sandals (Madden Girl), gold wire headband (the LOFT) and lastly, my new find - long gold layered necklace! I love this new piece, well first I must explain... I'm pretty sure I accidentally threw out my favorite layered gold necklace, you'll see it in posts below.  It was simple with two strands, and had small knots on each layer - I LOVED it!  I'm still pretty devastated about it but in the mean time I had to try and find a replacement.


What do you think?  I think its pretty cute!  I like the layered strands and think the flower and diamond piece are great details!  Guess where its from... believe it or not I was in Kohl's this weekend with my mom and noticed it on the clearance rack... thanks Lauren Conrad :)

Tip: Keep the colors light to stay cool

Gold and Black for 60th Post!

Today was a simple day, yet I still wanted something a little business looking.  Flipping through the closet, I chose this sleeveless black shirt that has chest pockets, button shoulder ties, and a perfect slit down the front.  The other subtle detail is the cut of the bottom, falling lower in the back and the front. Its pretty plain but I love the look and style of this shirt!  The material is polyester so it keeps its shape all day, almost feels and looks like a rayon fabric (Marshalls). To jazz it up a little I went with a long gold necklace, chunky watch and some Alex and Ani bangles.  I chose a pair of dark bootcut jeans that went nicely with the black top and for shoes I wore simple black sandals with satin and gold detail. It all tied together, black and gold were my colors of the day.

Tip: Keep it sleek and clean.

Watercolors and Living Water

I think I've decided that dresses are just much more comfortable than pants. Again it rained, so I did not want to deal with bottoms of wet pants - out came the boots (Steve Madden)!

For the dress I chose a watercolor gray above the knee. I love the teals, pinks, and purples! This was of course a TJ Maxx find! I added a gold waist belt and a layered gold necklace for some shine!

For the wrist, I went with my go to watch and Alex and Ani bangles. On my way home I stopped and added a new bangle to my collection. I've been thinking about it since I watched a video about it - Living Water. I love the color and teardrop shape but the best part is your helping a great cause!

Living Water - Charity by Design