2012.03.09 - spring

I think I'm trying to bring a more summery feel to my life with the clothes I wear. The weather has been awfully cold for March; we've had random snow storms, but of course not enough for school to be cancelled...

white cardi w/ gold chain - thrift
reddish coral top - Costco
floral skirt - diy by me
dot tights - Nordstrom Rack
brown oxfords - Steve Madden from Marshall's
fish necklace - thrift

I didn't feel like wearing a dress again, so I pulled out another skirt. I made this one by revamping an old skirt that I had when I was little. Basically, I just used the fabric to make a new skirt. My sewing machine was broken, so I had to hand-sew all the hems and the elastic in at the top. I was too excited to wait for my sewing machine to get fixed, but I'm glad I just went ahead and finished it up by hand. I'm really happy with the way it turned out; I love how flowy it is.

I wanted to emphasize one of the colors in the skirt and I chose the brighter, reddish flowers. My mom got me this thin sweater around Christmastime and the color was a really close match. I love this cheery tone; it's somewhere between red and coral in my mind.

I wanted to keep this outfit a bit more casual, so I opted for a cardigan over a blazer or jacket. This is one of the only ones I have that is long enough for me to like the way it looks paired with dresses or skirts. I stuck to gold jewelry to match the chain. This necklace had been sitting on my dresser unnoticed for a while, so I wore it even though the cool, pink tones might clash with the warmer color of my shirt.

To ground my outfit, I went for darker colors on bottom. It was pretty warm in the morning, so I thought it would be okay to wear these tights. They're thinner than a lot of the other ones I have, which was probably a mistake because this Friday was one of those days that gets colder and colder throughout the day. Then I just put on my trusty, brown oxfords and was out the door!

I'll be back soon with a little nail tutorial. It's pretty simple, so I'll just post a couple pictures of the process and results. Check back soon for that and more outfits! Thanks for reading.
AprilLily

Small Thrift Haul

After making it through my winter break without breaking the bank buying clothes, I decided to take a quick trip to my local thrift store and pick up a few things for myself. I tried on a bunch of things, but only picked up four items of clothing. Then while walking to the check-out counter, I spotted a watch that I had to grab as well.

Here are the bits I picked up!

White cardigan with gold chain trim. $4.97

The first thing I got was this white cardigan with a gold chain that runs around the entire front edge. It is from the brand Merona, and is a Large. As you can see, it still has the original tags on it, which means it had not been worn before being donated. I often try on cardigans and shirts that are in larger sizes to try to find ones that will drape nicely over my body. I tried on a few cardigans at the store this day, but this was the only one that fell nicely. Also, I find that when wearing over-sized tops, the sleeves usually still have to fit relatively snugly in order for it to look like it is meant to be worn over-sized.

This piece is very basic, but the extra detail of the chain keeps this cardigan from being the same one that everyone else has in their closets. Also, somehow I had never picked up a white cardigan before, and this is a basic that everyone should have. Because it is a large, it falls quite long on me. I like this because I wear dresses almost every day and I prefer for my outerwear to be longer to be in proportion with my dresses.

Black skirt with metallic gold pattern. $3.97

I mentioned that I wear dresses almost everyday. I realized that I did not have many skirts in my wardrobe. I hardly ever wear shirts because I do not like to wear jeans. The only days that I do not wear dresses, I wear shorts with tights. I only have a few skirts that I like to wear, which made me start looking for more skirts so I can wear the tops I have that don't get much use.

It is a medium from the brand Ecote and sits just above my bellybutton. It also has pockets, which I love in all my clothing. I like this piece because it is casual but can be dressed up due to the shape and the metallic gold pattern on it.

Unbelted velvet dress. $4.97

I have been needing a velvet dress and found this large velvet shirt, which looks like a complete rectangle. It is just long enough for me to feel comfortable wearing it as a dress. It covers up my bottom completely but I will probably still wear it with leggings or thick knit tights rather than sheer ones. The neck is a rounded square shape.

Velvet dress belted.

Here is the same dress with a brown skinny belt around it. Not only does this accentuate my waist, but it produces an A-line shape in the bottom portion, which is much more flattering on me than the straight shape it has without the belt.

Nina K embellished blazer. $5.97

The last item of clothing I purchases was this black blazer with gold embellishments on the front of the shoulders and on the pocket flaps. It has a single button with fake pearls and rhinestones. It is a large and it came with shoulder pads, but I removed them. It is a bit over-sized on me, but without the shoulder pads I think it can pass as a somewhat over-sized boyfriend blazer. I am also glad that it is long enough for me to wear with my dresses without awkward length proportions.

Geneva watch on. $3.00

The last thing I got was this Geneva bracelet watch. It is a slightly burnished silver with a gold face, which means it will go with most other jewelry. It is an oval shape and fits my wrist really well, which is good considering it is not adjustable and there are no links that can be taken out.

That is all I got on my most recent trip out to my local thrift store. All of the clothing I purchased looked as though they had not been worn very much, if at all. I was glad to finally have a few new items to go back to school with. Today is the last day of my winter break unfortunately, and tomorrow I will have to wake up early again and try to put together a presentable outfit. The plus side of this is that I will be posting new outfits once again. I will try to take pictures of my outfits after school and at least do quick, little posts for them as often as possible.

Thanks for reading and stop by for more posts soon!
AprilLily