Minor Differences

Shirt: TJMaxx. Jeans: Old Navy, skinnied. Belt, shoes: Target.

On the day I wore this outfit, my loyal photographer Amber, who happens to have a crazy impeccable memory of my outfits and wardrobe, informed me that I've worn this outfit before.  I argued, however, that a change from skinnies to boyfriend jeans, loafers to sandals, and a different tucking/belting strategy made this a new outfit.  It's all about minor differences, right?  Right.  

I will admit that the combo of this top and jeans is one of my go-to quick outfits for days when I'm running late in the mornings.  My next challenge for myself is to style this top with something other than blue jeans; I'm thinking that the colors in the floral pattern will pair nicely with some of spring's trendy pastels.

Upcycled: Pleather Shorts

One of my favorite things about thrifting (besides the prices, of course) is finding pieces that are a little different or out there and 'upcycling' them into wearable pieces to fit in with my existing wardrobe.  I've had a bunch of upcycling projects on the back burner that I finally got around to working on over spring break the other week.

I started off with these high-waisted pleather pants, which I thrifted for $2.  I wasn't 100% sure what I intended to do with them at first, but I figured for 2 bucks, I might as well try something.  After playing with the idea of skinnying them, I decided that the high waist would work better with a shorter length.

Here they are before...

...and after.

Silk top: thrifted. Shorts: thrifted & upcycled. Shoes: Target. Necklace: Walmart. Sunglasses: H&M.

I've been obsessed with thrifting silk blouses lately, and this pistachio colored number is my latest addition.  I really like the way the toughness of the shorts is offset by the by pastel silk.

On Hair and the Weather

 Dress: H&M. Shoes: Target. Necklace: Forever 21. Earrings: vintage.

My hair is stubborn sometimes.  Naturally, it's straight to around my ears, and then has just this kind of wavy poof at the end.  I usually have to either straighten or curl it for it to look decent.  It stays straight pretty well, but more often then not, it won't hold a curl no matter how hard I try.  When it was longer, I could twist it while I was blowing it dry and it would get these kid of ringlets at the end (if you're curious, you can see them pretty well in the first picture here.), but now that it's short, that doesn't work.  Anyway, because it's stubborn with heat-made curls, I like to experiment with heat-free curling techniques.

The other night, I decided to try rag curling.  Problem was, I put the curls in when my hair was still reasonably damp, so when I took them out in the morning and fingered through them, my hair only came to my chin and stuck out about twice the width of my head.  So what did I decide to do with a head full of messy, super tight curls?  I put them in a mound on the back of my head, of course.

Also, on a non-hair related note, this weather is crazy.  Getting back to school from New York really threw me off.  It was actually pretty chilly for most of the trip, so the transition from jackets over cardigans over long sleeved shirts to being too warm in a lightweight dress is a bit jarring.  Spring is coming in at full force, and it's gonna take some getting used to. 

The Elusive Mustard Pants

Top, bag: thrifted. Pants: Gap via thrift. Belt: Walmart. Shoes: Target.

We shot these pictures in the courtyard of the hostel on the third day of our New York trip.  We had to be up at the crack of dawn, which is clearly apparent in the fact that my eyes are barely open in these pictures.  This is the earliest we've ever shot for the blog, and I don't think I want to shot this early ever again.

I had been looking for mustard pants during all of fall and winter, and I finally came across a pair at the thrift store a few weeks ago.  I made a bee line to the yellow pants section as I normally do and was once again disheartened when I quickly saw no mustard hanging on the rack.  Then, I just happened to glance down on the floor, and peaking out from under the rack was a swatch of elusive mustard.  I did the happy excited thrift dance right there (If you're a thrifter, you know the dance I mean).  It must have been meant to be, because they fit perfectly and I took them home with me right then and there.  We've been living happily ever after ever since.

NYC Recap

I'm back from an amazing trip from New York City, and just thought I'd share a few photos!

Ice skating in Rockefeller Center.

The hostel we stayed in; it was way nicer than I expected!

Trees wrapped in lights in Rockefeller Center

Urban artwork

Funny advertisement

I definitely did see a lot of wonderfully dressed New Yorkers.

The Brooklyn Bridge

View from Battery Park at sunset

A building lit up at night.

The amazing view from the Top of the Rock Observation Deck.

(Pictures of me taken by Amber; all others by me)

This trip was a whirlwind of early mornings, late nights, and hours and hours of walking; my feet still haven't recovered.  It was well worth it, though, because I had the chance to see some amazing architecture, drool over New York street style, eat some awesome food, catch a Broadway show, and visit with my big sis.  Now I feel like I need a relaxing vacation.  You wore me out, New York, but that's ok.  I love you anyway.

Back for a Day

Dress, shoes: Target. Necklace: vintage. Watch: thrifted. Glasses: Calvin Klein. 


I hate to be a tease, but I'm back from my brief Spring break sabbatical for a day, only to be disappearing from the blogosphere once again.  Tomorrow, I'll be hopping on a plane and jetting off to the Big Apple!  I'll be spending five days in New York City on a field trip with my architecture studio and I'm super excited.  I've been to the city a number of times to visit my older sister who lives there, but this time I'm going to have more of a focus on the architecture and the street style.  I'm sure I'm going to come back inspired! 

I'm excited to be heading to a major fashion capitol, but we are going to be walking all day, so I currently puzzling over how I can make tennis shoes look fashionable.  As much as I'd love to bring along all of my most fabulous heels, a girl's got to be practical, right?  Sigh.  Maybe I'll still pack one pair...

I'll be back next Monday, hopefully with some good photos to share!

Hello, Spring (Break)!

Shirt: Kohl's. Skirt, vest: thrifted. Shoes: Target.

Spring has sprung!!  Well, kind of.  I wore this outfit yesterday, when the temperature was in the mid 70's and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  Today was overcast and dreary and in the 50's.  How about we pretend that today didn't happen, because yesterday was perfection.

On second thought, let's definitely acknowledge today because today was my last day of class before SPRING BREAK.  Yes, I am now officially on spring break and freedom is the best feeling in the world.  My spring break of amazingness consists of going home and hanging out with my parents and cats and doing a lot of the most glorious activity known to man: sleeping.

I'm also going to have access to a sewing machine, a Pinterest board of project ideas, and a large amount of free time.  Let's just say that I'm about to get my DIY on hardcore.  I'm also probably not going to be doing a lot of getting dressed (pj party, all day, everyday!), so this next week will be a bit of a hiatus, but not to worry, I'll be back, and with lots of new projects to share.  (I might post some sneak peeks on my Facebook page, so if you haven't clicked 'like' yet, you're gonna miss out!)

Happy Spring (Break)!

Fashion Challenge: Skants

A few weeks ago, my blogtographer Amber came to me with a proposal for a challenge of sorts.  She decided that it would be fun to pick an item from the thrift store that is a little, shall we say, unique, and have me style it and wear it for a day.  I decided that this could potentially be fun, so I agreed.  

The first item that she picked out for me is extremely interesting: black chiffon skants, pants that look like a skirt.  Pretty much, they're a pair of wide-legged pants with four panels of chiffon encasing them, giving the look of a flowing maxi skirt.  Kind of 90's maybe, yet kind of cool in a "you don't see this very often" sort of way. 

So without further ado, the skants.

Here you can actually see the pants.

Skants, shirt, blazer: thrifted. Shoes, watch, purse: Target. Necklace: Forever 21.

This was actually a really fun outfit to wear because the movement of the chiffon panels is incredible.  Since spring is fast approaching, I paired the skants with spring's it color, mint.  I also loved the mixture of textures created by using a silk blouse with the chiffon bottoms.  

As far as the challenge goes, these skants were harder to style than I expected.  Getting the textures to balance out just right was the hardest part.  If I were to go back and style these again a different way, I would probably do a denim top for a more casual feel. 

I'm really excited to see what interesting pieces Amber is going to pick out for future Style Challenges.  I'm hoping for something with an insane amount of sequins, but we'll just have to see.