cohesive

It's almost the weekend. It's almost the weekend. And with that comes friends, good food, and some fun summer outfits. Enter all black, a hat, and some wedges.

Not my usual MO, but I'm really loving it (if you can't tell, I'm into monochromatic looks this year). The easiest way to fake cohesiveness + having it all together is to wear all black. At least, that's what I'm telling myself when I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. At least my outfits matches, right?

shirt: Target

shorts: GG Boutique

wedges: Target

hat: KMart

all black. kinda.

One way to break up a lot of black is by adding in prints and textures. This black chambray leans gray in pictures, and the floral tank top still flows with the black pants, but adds visual interest. The scarf adds another texture up top, and hat caps everything off, without being so matchy-matchy - it doesn't match the floral print on my shirt, but still ties together the whole look. 

linking up over here

floral tanktop: WalMart

black chambray: Old Navy

black skinnies: Target

boots: c/o Aéropostale

hat: thrifted (Target)

different vibes

Here are two (slightly) different looks, using the same pieces of clothing. One with a bit more sass, the other more casual. Both are made up of black & white plaid, leather, and pearls - say what?

I like to think the fedora and the booties add a teeny bit of an air of mystery, or perhaps, intrigue...?

It's fun to play with different accessories to see how they can easily change up a look.

And then the Chucks dress down my look.

I've got several different vibes going on:

plaid (casual)

+

leather (tough-ish?)

+

pearls (sweet & classy)

+

glasses (super smart)

+

swapping out the shoes (trendy vs. casual)

+

the oxblood fedora (mysterious-ish?)

Not something I used to do a lot of, but now, I'm a big fan of combining different looks

(sassy + sweet, or edgy + warm&fuzzy) into a single outfit.

And, somehow, this worked (I think).

See how I did this just a few days ago here.

black and white plaid: Old Navy

leather skirt: thrifted

pearl necklace: Ann Taylor

bracelet: Target

glasses: America's Best

fedora: thrifted (Target)

booties: Old Navy

Chucks: actually, they're Converse One Star via Target...

Hemingway-ed

I don't know if you know this, but I really love my local library. They've saved me tons of money when it comes to reading - I can just check a book out, read it, and turn it back in, rather than purchasing a book I might not really like or want to keep. I also check out audiobooks on the regular, and listen to them on my drive to & from work. I'm finishing up Jane Eyre, and this time last year listened to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, among several others. The Mr. listened to all 5 books of A Song of Ice & Fire, sparking our interest in the TV show "Game of Thrones," and subsequent Halloween costumes. 

So, anyways, I love the library. A few weeks ago I finished The Paris Wife. It's a novel about Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, and their life in Paris as he was working on some of his first works.

Finishing The Paris Wife piqued my interest in Hemingway, so, on this fine (read: not freezing) day, I went to the library and headed to the H section of the fiction area. I checked out two books by Hemingway, and am halfway through the first one, To Have and Have Not.

Now, my knowledge of this great American author is limited to The Paris Wife, the novel I'm currently reading, and what I read on Wikipedia (I never read The Old Man and The Sea in high school). Based on this small bit of information, I don't think Ernest Hemingway is someone I would have gotten along with. Seems to me he was a bit of a womanizer (he left his first wife for her best friend), and kind of selfish. That being said, I AM enjoying reading To Have and Have Not, although I wish it provided more background & detail for each character.

So, since I knew I was headed for a literary center, I wore a hat. I don't know why a hat makes me feel more cultured and traveled, but it does a little bit. Maybe it's the fact I don't normally wear them? Or that a fedora seems a wee bit old school? Either way, I wore a hat. And checked out some books by Hemingway. And took some pictures of my outfit.

linking up with:

Vodka Infused Lemonade for Tres-Chic Fashion Thursday

Color Blind for Thrifters Anonymous

shirt: GAP similar below

sweater: thrifted

jeans: thrifted (True Religion) similar below

shoes: thrifted similar below

hat: thrifted (Target) similar below

Dogs & a Dress & a Hat

 

Did I tell you my secret? My secret when it comes to hats, I mean.

I wear them when I'm having a BAD hair day - noamountofdryshampoobabypowderorteasingisgoingtomakethislookpresentable bad day.

Whew. Feels good to have that out in the open.

Alas, another secret.

The day I wore this, my hair wasn't THAT bad. True story. But I did want to make sure I wore a hat so I could link up over at Marionberry Style. Do you see what I did there? Added a little something to my outfit to make my blog better! Ta da!

And I realized as we were walking the dogs today, that they were featured the last time I wore this dress on the blog. I just can't help it - they're so cute! And they have to get walked, and my outfits have to be documented, so, sometimes it's just easiest to do them at the same time. And by sometimes, I mean most of the time.

Happy Friday!

linking up over here today :)

Dress: Old Navy (thrifted)

Hat: KMart

Belt: thrifted

Shoes: Rack Room Shoes

30 for 30: Day 17 & Day 18

Day 17

Day 18

I always get a lot of compliments when I wear a hat. The truth is, I wear them when I'm having a baaaaad hair day. But maybe I should wear them on purpose more often?

Not my two best looks, but you know how I feel about my "gimme outfits" ;)

Polka Dots

I don't know why my hair is so messy. It's nice for a few minutes, then POOF! #unruly&messykindofcurls

I scored these Old Navy polka dots pants at Plato's Closet this week, and I'm in love. 

I have another pair of maroon-ish pink polka dot pants, so now I have two pairs of polka dot pants.

I know what you're thinking - I broke my shopping fast. Well, yes and no. I also bought a jacket from Express at Trends this week. BUT, both items were purchased with store credit, so they didn't cost me anything up front. Now you decide: did I really break it? Or was I just "exchanging" items?

This was the start of our date night: Sports Authority (for a gift), Lowe's, dinner, then Kohl's to shop for my Mr. Pretty exciting, eh? Today on the agenda: Petsmart, exchanging at Kohl's, and picking up my mom's Mother's Day gift. Don't worry though - last night we DID go to an Avs game in Denver with some friends, and I wore these pants. Again. Sadly, no outfit pictures were taken.

Shirt: Target

Sweater: Eddie Bauer

Pants: Old Navy via Plato's Closet

Flats: Kmart

Fedora: Kmart

Bag: Coach via ARC