sweater #7 + open to interpretation #8

Since it's Monday, and it's cold and snowing, here are two outfit posts in one to start your week off.

Enjoy!

I love the look of this sweater dress. The color, the pockets, the long sleeves. However, it's a bit sheer, and a bit itchy, so I have to wear something underneath it (like a button up shirt). and then whatever I wear under it bunches kinda funny. So, besides that little bitty feature, this sweater dress is perfect. And makes sweater #7.


shirt: Hollister via Plato's Closet
dress: from a friend (Target)
tights: ?
necklace: Old Navy
boots: The Frye Company via Nordstrom

This gray cardigan makes sweater #8. This is one of those "open to interpretation" sweaters I mentioned here. It's cut like a sweater, but it's really a cotton knit. But I say it counts. Especially since I wear and style it as a sweater.

Glad we can all agree on that.

tunic: Target

sweater: c/o Aéropostale

scarf: c/o Aéropostale

pants: c/o Aéropostale

boots: c/o Aéropostale

eye-popping blue + sweater #6

This “skirt” is really a dress – I’m really trying to get more wear out of my (summer) dresses by layering and adding tights. I know I could always wear a black cardigan over a dress, but that feels a little too easy to do all the time, so I tried this dress on with most of the pullover sweaters in my closet. There just so happens to be teeny bits of blue in this floral print, so this eye-popping-blue v-neck was the clear winner.

And now, an explanation for featuring my sweater "collection" this month...

A few weeks ago, I counted how many sweaters I had, and I had about 26. Couple that with my attempt to come up with my own style/blog challenge, and I came up with the idea to wear a sweater every day in January. I purchased one more sweater, and have a few nicer sweatshirts, plus a few sweater dresses/skirts, bringing the total to 31.

And there's 31 days in January, soooo

I figured January is as good a month as any to wear sweaters - it'll obviously be too warm in the summer, and the fall and spring in Colorado can be hit or miss (60 degrees or -20). But January is pretty consistently cold, and so, a sweater a day in January was born!

dress: c/o Aéropostale

sweater: GAP

scarf: gift

tights: Old Navy

boots: c/o Aéropostale

casual + sweater #5

 A casual look today. This tee is from volunteering at a bike event, Tour de Fat, a few years ago (worn a few times previously: here and over here). I really love the color and the bike logo, so it has yet to be relegated to my old t-shirt drawer. Instead, it hangs in my closet, with the rest of my “more than t-shirts” tops. And of course, some of my favorite go-to items: skinnies and my new Frye boots I just can’t get enough of. And this cardigan makes sweater number 5.

One of my friends (below) was in town recently, so we got together with one of my besties and went to dinner.

Andy & I

Lara & Andy 

Lara & I

Lara and I, without planning, managed to look pretty similar before we even left the house: dark colored down coats, dark skinnies, the SAME style of boots (she's had hers several years longer than I), and bags carried the same exact way (not planned).
So of course we documented our best friend-i-ness & matchiness.


shirt: Tour de Fat
cardigan: local consignment shop
scarf: WalMart
jeans: c/o Aéropostale
boots: The Frye Company via Nordstrom
coat: Coldwater Creek
bag: TJ Maxx

classy in leather

I don't ride a motorcycle (but I DO ride a beach cruiser), and I’m not one to wear lots of leather (besides a jacket, shoes, or bag). However, I found this skirt at a thrift store and have silently been plotting ways for my sunshine-y/fuzzy/warm self to wear it.

Enter winter.

And tights.

And sweaters.

I added a cream sweater (with a wide v-neck collar - very feminine) to soften it up, and take the look from “lady of the night” to “fashion forward young strawberry blonde on a date with her husband.”

Did I nail it? I mean, if anything, the sweater helps, and the black herringbone print tights also contribute. The booties help a teeny bit, but maybe the low bun in the hair is really what takes it from edgy to modern classy…?

And cool.

Definitely cool.

sweater: American Eagle

skirt: thrifted

tights: I don't remember...

booties: Old Navy

tights & dresses

By now you might have noticed I'm wearing more tights and skirts/dresses than I have in the past. 

There's a few reasons for that:

1) in an effort to stave off the inevitable mid-winter "I hate everything in my closet because I only wear skinny jeans and sweaters," I'm trying to keep things interesting.

2) I'm taking advantage of the cold, but not yet frigid, temperatures we are bound to experience in January and February.

3) my new Frye boots are great, yet a wee bit snug in the calves, so I'm trying to get them to relax a bit before I pair them with pants.

4) I've started viewing tights as accessories. Sure, they're technically "clothes," and my legs would freeze without them, but wearing different tights with the same dress or skirt changes up my look, just like switching out shoes or jewelry.

So, here's to more tights&skirts&dresses this winter. Until it's WAY too cold outside...

dress: Nordstrom

tank: Kohl's

cardigan: Eddie Bauer

scarf: I made it!

tights: GG Boutique

booties: Old Navy

all the dark colors

When we were doing laundry the other week, the Mr. asked me "So, since it's cold out, do you only wear dark colors?" I started to protest, but then I looked at the large pile of darks compared to the smaller piles of whites and colors. So, I guess I wear "all the dark colors!" in the winter.

Whoops...

shirt: Old Navy

sweater: Maurice's

scarf: c/o Aéropostale

pants: c/o Aéropostale

shoes: Kohl's

breakfast, snow and shopping

A few weeks ago, it was gross and snowy out. So my friend, Chelsea, and I went out in the grossness and cold for breakfast, followed by shopping. We both indulged in biscuits and gravy, and the thickest bacon I've ever had. Plus lots of coffee. Of course.

We shopped&shopped&shopped all day - we were both pretty worn out by the end of it. I mean, not that it was extreme shopping by any means, but neither one of us had been on an all day shopping extravaganza in quite a long time. #thosewerethedays

freezing in the snow, after all the bacon breakfast
from my Instagram

turtleneck: GAP

cardigan: Aéropostale

blanket scarf: WalMart (more about that here)

coat: Coldwater Creek

jeans: thrifted (Old Navy)

snow boots: SOREL via Jax

beanie: from a friend

layered up

this is my "I'm cold out here" face

faux leather stripe on my leggings. fancy, huh?

What do you wear when the highest expected temperature is 9 degrees?

Answer: at least 4 layers up top, warm fuzzy boots, fancy pants, and a blanket scarf.

I hadn't originally planned on wearing the chambray, but added it at the last minute, and these pants are ponte knit leggings with a faux leather stripe up each side from Aéropostale (from last year). 

Let me tell ya about this scarf. I was inspired by the blanket scarf trend of last winter and this year. It sold out quickly everywhere, and I can't really justify spending more money on more scarves. So, I went to WalMart and checked out the fabric section. I found this houndstooth print, and a gray and red buffalo plaid (worn here), and purchased a yard of each. They're nice and big and square and warm and bulky - I fold them in half to a triangle shape, and loop them around. Sometimes they look more structured, and sometimes bulky or a bit lopsided. I have yet to master the art of tying/looping/wearing a blanket scarf, but just winging it seems to work for me.

teal shirt: Target

chambray: Lauren Conrad via Kohl's

sweater: Eddie Bauer

scarf: WalMart

leggings: Aéropostale

boots: SOREL via Jax