eShakti

What feels like ages ago (but was really only the beginning of August), a company called eShakti reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in ordering a dress through their site and featuring it on my blog.

Of course I said yes

I’d read a lot about this company through other bloggers and couldn’t wait to customize a dress for my short self. eShakti encourages you to customize any piece on their website – want pockets? Sure. No pockets? Ok. Need it a bit shorter? Or a bit longer? Easily done. Ordering by standard size IS an option, but if you’re interested in any of these beautiful garments, I’d go for something a bit more custom. Why not? Why not order something you know will fit you, instead of ordering it, and then having to get it tailored?

I submitted my measurements, took out the pockets, and went with a shorter length on this dress (I’m 5”4’ with short legs, a short torso, and short shoulders. However, my brother once told me I have long arms…what?).

And what do you know? This striped dress is a perfect fit.

I wore this on a date this past Saturday for wine and cheese (same place we went for our wedding anniversary, The Welsh Rabbit – highly recommend this place). Aside from the compliments from my Mr., our hostess/server gushed over my dress, as did another customer at the bar who made it a point to stop by our table and tell me she’d seen me walk in and I looked

“Fabulous. Really. Fabulous.”

Since the dress is black and white, I added some color with my shoes and jewelry, and added a thrifted gold clutch to complete my look.

I’ve wanted to order something from eShakti for a long time, ever since reading about the company through other bloggers, but I haven’t had an occasion that I NEEDED a new dress for (I’m guilty of buying dresses without an occasion, and then allowing them to sit in my closet for ages…whoops…). But when THEY contacted ME, I figured “Why not?!” I’m thinking if we get invited to holiday parties this winter, I can throw on festive tights and accessorize it differently to take this outfit from end-of-summer to colder weather (boo). Not that I want to wait that long to wear it again...

eShakti’s website has PLENTY of other options – more casual dresses, skirts, blouses, and everything in between. Something else that caught my eye was an emerald green tulle skirt…so fun. However, I think I’ll get more wear (and maybe more compliments) out of my black-and-white striped dress than an emerald green tulle skirt *sigh* There’s always the next occasion I need something fancy for…

dress: c/o of eShakti*

shoes: ALDO

clutch: thrifted

*dress provided courtesy of eShakti, however, all opinions are my own

Cali

While most of my blog posts are upbeat&sunshine&rainbows, please excuse me if my posts in the coming week(s) aren’t up to their normal level of pep - we recently received very sad news about our sweet Cali pup and are doing our best to keep her comfortable while she’s still with us, and making sure to soak in every moment with our sweet girl.

dresses x3

I picked up this gray striped t-shirt dress recently, and I’m disappointed I didn’t find it sooner. It’s so simple, and I can play almost any color scheme off of it.

Brights? Sure.

Neon. Why not?

Neutrals (my new fave)? Absolutely.

Did I mention it’s comfortable? And soft? And striped? Oh, and it’s gray.

*swoon*

dress: WalMart

statement necklace: WalMart

shoes: Nordstrom

This navy blue dress is a favorite around here. Last time, I took a patriotic turn. This time a green and brown approach. Nothing TOO terribly exciting, but a little different. And a belt at the waist makes it feel a bit more put together than say, a plain blue dress with no accessories.

dress: thrifted

belt: reallyyyy old

shoes: Rocketdog via DSW

And here’s the blue striped peplum dress. Feels like I can wear any color belt with it and immediately look put together (it helps that I don’t have TOO many belts that would look funny with it). Oh, and this belt just happened to go with my bright red wedges. Funny how that happens…

dress: Target

belt: thrifted

wedges: thrifted (ELLE)

dots & leopard spots

This was a "first day of school" outfit. Not MY first day, but for plenty of people where I work. It drizzled for most of the day, and I ended up hoofing it across campus a few times - probably should have worn some better shoes, like, galoshes...?

shirt: Old Navy

pants: from a friend via Urban Outfitters

shoes: Kohl's

kid's section

 

 

 

 

I wore both of these outfits in the same day. One for work – the purple blouse and Bermuda shorts, definitely not the flouncy skater skirt. And the other (the skirt & vest) for a double date with friends. We had dinner and drinks, and then hit up Sports Authority, where I snagged some new running shorts (from the kids section…it pays to be short - stuff from the kids section is always cheaper).

Oh, and then more drinks.*

*Just had to solidify my adult-ness after having admitted to shopping in the kids section…

 top:

purple blouse: Eddie Bauer

Bermuda shorts: Old Navy

wedges: thrifted (Steve Madden)

 bottom:

tank: Forever21

vest: thrifted (Levi’s)

skirt: from a friend via Urban Outfitters

sandals: Target

shifting

The entire day I wore this, I kept getting told that I looked 

“Bright! And spring-ey!”

which is normally a look I very much enjoy. But lately I find myself more drawn to neutrals and clothes that aren’t quite as “loud.” Not that I think my love for neon will ever go away, but I recently went through my closet (again), and comparing what I got rid of (lots of brights) to what is remaining in my closet (neutrals and solids), is almost comical. However, a friend of mine is very into brights lately, so she benefitted from my purge. What’s funny is that we used to be on opposite ends of that spectrum – me into brights and prints, and her more into neutrals and solids. And now, we’ve done a complete 180. However, both of these items made the cut, so, I’m not completely on the dark side. 

Yet…

blouse: J. Crew Factory

mint skinnies: Lauren Conrad via Kohl’s

sandals: Target

what I'm not saying

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not saying you SHOULDN’T wear white after Labor Day. I’m just saying you should style it differently than I did here. I’ve got plans to wear my white jeans with chunky sweaters and boots this fall and winter. However, it was still summer when I wore these two outfits (which is til September 23^rd, so don’t go wishing fall upon us just yet), and it was also Labor Day or earlier. With both of these, I took a monochromatic approach – I’ve been dying to wear white on white all summer.

left:

shirt: Old Navy

scarf: WalMart

shorts: Old Navy

sandals: Born via DSW

right:

shirt: Aéropostale

shorts: Old Navy

shoes: Rocketdog via DSW