Chapter 51...

Half a century plus 1. I’m not sure I like how it sounds when written out that way. Last year was a milestone birthday. I had a party. I got to celebrate with the people I adore most in this world. The dress I wore was amazing, it made me feel like a cupcake and look like a million bucks.

I set the bar pretty high for this year’s birthday and if I’m being honest, it’s just not hittin the same way. But it’s nothing a dress, a pair of heels, and a slice of birthday cake can’t fix.

Here’s to another rotation around the sun, to embracing the person you’ve worked so hard to be, to loving yourself as much as you love everyone else in your life, to growing old with the person who gets you, to impractical shoes, cupcake dresses, funfetti birthday cake, and prosecco!

Cheers!

This and That || Holiday Edition

I went to Goodwill looking for a few kitschy Christmas ornaments and came out with two pale pink sweaters. Go figure! I knew this one would be perfect for a few holiday-inspired outfits.

This soft pink sweater with the embellished collar is perfect to be dressed up in any number of ways. Perhaps, you’re going to grab a few drinks after work with colleagues or maybe your office is has having a simple lunch during the work day and you want to look festive but not over the top! I paired the top with a knit Missoni+Target skirt, tights and booties. Casual, festive and work appropriate.

This may be my personal favorite because sparkle, obviously! Sweater, leggings, heels and you’re done! Easy peasy! And while everyone may not own a pair of sequin leggings- if you don’t, you should- but this outfit could be equally adorable with plain black leggings and a glitzy shoe. I’ve been binge watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and this feels very Midge to me. This is a perfect look for your partner’s work party at a brewery. If that seems oddly specific, it’s because I’m wearing this to my husband’s company party at a brewery. LOL!

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A cinched waist and full skirt is a classic silhouette. I think this would perfect to wear to a holiday luncheon or perhaps a cocktail party at a friends home. And, I’m never going to pass up the chance to wear my wedding shoes!

And, once you’ve survived the holiday madness it’s perfect with jeans and over the knee boots for grabbing brunch with your best girls.

Pink sweater with jeweled collar Goodwill $4.99/ similar here *

Outfit details:

Outfit 1:

Skirt: Missoni+Target- Target here *

Tights: Old Navy

Booties: Goodwill /similar here *

Outfit 2:

Sequin leggings: Express/ similar here *

Heels: Kate Spade/ similar here *

Leopard Coat: Forever21/ similar here *

Outfit 3:

Skirt: Zara- Goodwill/ similar here *

Heels: Sam Edelman/ similar here *

Belt: Amazon *

Outfit 4:

Jeans: American Eagle

Boots: Forever21 / similar here *

Style Archetype|| Urban Academic

This year I’ve happily rediscovered my interest in fashion and personal style. My focus has been on finding things in my closet that I already love and wearing them in a way that works with my much more laid back life. I’ve also taken a hard look at consumerism and fast fashion. I haven’t been compelled to shop the way I used to and most of my clothes are thrifted. The other day I was hanging out in Target, as you do, and I saw plenty of things I liked. But, I didn’t see anything I loved enough to buy. That’s huge for me! And while I’m moving more in the direction of curating a closet of wearable items that reflect my personal style and make me feel great, I knew that a capsule wardrobe wasn’t for me. I could never figure out a way to pare down my wardrobe while at the same time having enough variety to keep it interesting. For a lot of people, clothing is purely utilitarian but a lot of times it’s a way I can express myself creatively. Then, I discovered the idea of style archetypes or wardrobe moods while scrolling through Reddit one sleepless night.

Style archetypes…this is an idea I can get into! I’m concentrating on developing my archetypes. My first one is Urban Academic. For this category, I focus on classic pieces while styling them in a slightly edgier way.

My style muses for this category are Tracee Ellis Ross, Yara Shahidi, Jenna Lyons, Rashida Jones and Sarah Jessica Parker. All of these women serve up street style in a wearable way that I love.

Feeling inspired here are a few looks I pulled together. Nothing here is new. Once again I looked at things I already owned with an open mind and created pairings that feel fresh to me.

Worn|| Ordinary

I’m a stay at home mom. This means that most of my days feel like a repeat of the day before. In the haze that is created by those mundane little things set to repeat, I sometimes feel like I’ve lost me or at least the me I used to be. I know I’ve said it here so often that you’re tired of hearing it but part of my journey this year is figuring out exactly who am i am in this moment and learning to love her. And celebrate her.

In the last week or so, I’ve really been looking at lot of old images from pinterest and some of my old fashion magazines- remember them- thinking about style in general and my style specifically. I still haven’t figured out exactly what my style is anymore but this outfit has some small details that I’m always drawn to. Embroidery always makes my heart skip a beat and yellow is my forever favorite. The peep-toe heels with an ankle strap are old fashioned in the best possible way. Nothing here is new. This JCrew top and Kenzie shoes are probably 9 years old. I thrifted these jeans a year ago and while I loved the relaxed fit and the wash they were way too long to cuff. So yesterday, I hacked them off to the perfect ankle grazing length and distressed them. I'm kind of obsessed with them. This entire look made me happy as I went about my absolutely ordinary day. And sometimes, that’s all you need.

This is the face I make when I’m trying to explain to my 5 year old why I’m taking photos of myself and not him! Ha!!

This or That || Episode 2

This striped top is one of my latest thrift store finds. I was immediately drawn to the stipes and the colors. When I pulled it off the rack I was pleasantly surprised by the boat neck and the bracelet sleeve. The fabric, though polyester, feels luxurious and it was only $5.99. We were obviously meant to be!

The top lends itself to dressing up but because my life as a SAHM is pretty laid back, I needed to work out how I could dress it down a little.

So, I made it a little more casual with white jeggings and black flats. While this is more put together than I tend to be when running around with a five year old, because white pants with a kid are a disaster in the making(!), I would definitely wear this for a day date with my husband or brunch with friends.

What’s a night out without a little or in this case a LOT of leg! I wouldn’t have thought twice about wearing shorts this short a decade ago! But, few extra pounds and few more years have made question my style way too much. I fell in love with the sweet scallop detail so they came home with me even though I was unsure if I’d have the nerve to wear them. This year I promised myself to give less damns about what people think I ought to be wearing so here we are!

D E T A I L S:

B L O U S E- Banana Republic- thrifted

J E G G I N G S - American Eagle

F L A T S- find here

S H O R T S- Forever21- thrifted

P U M P S- Aldo

C L U T C H- Banana Republic

*this post may contain affiliate links

Worn|| But Fashion

Where my America’s Top Model fans?! Tyra, Ms. Jay and Mr. Jay snatched our collective edges in the early 2000s. And thanks to Al Gore’s internet, those first groundbreaking seasons are GIFS that keep giving!

The kiss of death was for the panel to declare the hopefuls “too catalog” or, Ana Wintour forbid, too commercial! One of my favorite scenes was for a swimsuit shoot. Tyra explains to the young wannabe that she has crossed a line into bad taste. They are models not centerfolds, damnit! It can be “ho but F A S H I O N”. That friends was not only epic television, it serves as my own little style mantra when getting dressed.

So when I decided to wear this cute little thrifted shirtdress instead of wearing Chucks and the cardigan I planned to wear, I thought “suburban housewife BUT FASHION!” I’m not sure if having a tiny trio of sartorial saints whisper in my ear is indicative of larger issues at play, but I’m fairly pleased with the results!

Jacket|| Forever 21

Shirtdress||(Old Navy) Thrifted

Sneakers||(Aldo) Thrifted

Belt|| Target