Spring Trends 2020 - Maxi Dresses, Psychedelic Prints and Vests

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If you have been following along as I look at the Spring 2020 Trends, then you are well aware this year’s trends are full of patterns and diversity. If your style is classic, you’ll find pinstriped suiting and button up shirts; if you prefer color, you’ll be amused with abstract florals and tropical prints; if boho vibe is your thing then today’s post is for you. When I think of boho style, I think of 60’s and 70’s inspired prints, fringe and maxi dresses. While today’s outfit has no fringe, it definitely calls to one’s inner hippy.

I got this flower power maxi dress last year on the clearance racks at Meijer. I was attracted to the large flowers, the rusty orange colored background and the crochet overlay on the bodice. The dress has spaghetti straps, but since it is still cold out, I decided to layer a long sleeve tee underneath.

I purchased this striped long sleeve tee just after Christmas at Maurice’s. I thought the navy stripe worked well with the blue in the dress and the rusty color is similar enough to the rust of the dress to make a fun print mix.

I’ve styled this denim vest from Christopher and Banks on the blog before many times. It is a workhorse in my wardrobe and is appropriate for all seasons. See how I styled it for spring, summer, fall and winter by clicking on the seasons.


A couple of simple jewelry items are enough to make a statement without being overdone.

You’ve seen this Simply Vera, Vera Wang bag on the blog before. I’m thinking maybe a cloth bag or something like my fringe bag would have been a better choice. I almost feel like this bag was out of place. I think it looks nice with the colors involved, but doesn’t really fit the vibe of the outfit as a whole. I feel the same way about my boots.

These Baretraps boot from DSW first made their appearance on the blog last fall. You can see that post here. I love having a variety of boots and these with their slouchy fronts, spat-type appearance and wood stacked heels are just plain fun. However, I don’t think they were the best choice for this outfit. Maybe a pair of my suede ankle boots or even some sneakers would have been a better choice. What do you think?

At the last minute I grabbed a scarf to wear as a type of head band. My daughter said I looked like Frankie from Grace and Frankie. Which of course made me laugh. Lily Tomlin is a great actress and comedian.

What do you think of this outfit? Would you wear a boho style like this? Do you like to wear maxi dresses or vests? Tell me your thought in the comments below. I always love to hear from you and thank you to all of my subscribers and those of you who take the time to follow along and make comments.

I’m including a few shopping links. These are affiliate links which means if you click on a link, I get a few cents; if you purchase something through a link, I get a little bit more. Thanks to all of you who have looked at those shopping links. I really appreciate it.

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull.

Denim Daze 2.0 - Recap

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I hope you have enjoyed this series on denim. Most of us have denim pieces in our wardrobes and it is helpful when we have new ways to style them. Denim is a versatile, easy to wear fabric and goes with everything. It is also easy to wash and typically doesn’t need to be ironed, although the lighter weight chambray can get more wrinkly than typical denim.

Here are all the outfits side by side.

Denim Vest

Ruffled Chambray Top

Denim Skirt

Long Sleeve Chambray Shirt

Denim Jacket

Do you have a favorite outfit? Were you inspired to style your denim pieces differently from reading the posts in this series?

I think the piece that I really had to think about how to style was the pencil skirt as a dressier piece. I think is is natural to style a denim skirt in a more casual way with tees and sneakers, but dressing it up, just seems to take more thought. As far as my favorite piece in this series, it would be a toss up between the ruffled chambray shirt and the embroidered jacket.

I hope this was a fun series for you. It is hard to believe we are almost done with July. With August comes a return to school and even though the temps will still be warm, our thoughts begin to turn to fall, and all the things that come with it, like football and changes in the trees and the weather. I’m going to do a few posts on wearing white which will include some transitional outfits, then I’ll be showing you all the New York and London Pantone colors.

Thanks so much for the support you give to me and my little blog. I appreciate all your comments. If you signed up for my emails and are not receiving them, please be sure to subscribe again. I have noticed a few emails are not going through and I am thinking it might be that the emails did not get typed in correctly. Also, if you make a comment on a post, be sure to check back a few days later, because I do respond to all of your comments, or at least I try to. Thanks again.



Holiday Outfit - Casual - Skirt

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In this series on holiday outfits I wanted to give you options that you can use for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Although, by the time this series is done, Thanksgiving will be over. I can't believe it is on Thursday. I just took out my turkey this morning to start thawing. How many of you are cooking on Thursday? I really don't mind the work. When I have a special occasion I like to cook. When life is busy my spouse and I will eat out a couple times a week, so when I get the chance to cook, I do enjoy it. The clean up, not so much! Ha, ha

For this week's post I took a leopard print skirt and designed a casual and comfortable outfit that still looks chic and festive. 

Like I did last week, I'll organize this in a way that will help you build a holiday outfit from pieces that you already own. 

1. Pick a casual skirt that you like to wear. I doesn't have to have a print, but prints are fun. In keeping with the time of year, maybe choose a piece that has darker colors or more fall-like tones. Length is up to you. Mini's, maxi's or something in between all work as the foundation for a festive holiday outfit. 

The thing that makes this Jones, NY leopard print, pencil skirt more casual is its texture. It is made of narrow wale corduroy. Corduroy is very close to a ridged velvet. The fabric has the same soft feel, so it is comfortable and movable. Another thing that makes this skirt more casual is the belt loops and front zipper. I have another leopard print skirt that I styled on the blog here, but I feel it is more dressy. It is a smooth chino type fabric with a structured waist that buttons on the side. i'll admit they look pretty similar and I will probably get rid of one of them at some point, but for now, I am guilty of owning two leopard print skirts. Ha, ha. 

Another great casual skirt that you could easily dress up for the holidays is a denim one. Denim is the perfect back drop for all sorts of pretty combinations that stay casual, but still say holidays.

2. Pick a festive companion piece. For my outfit I chose two companion pieces, an open weave pullover sweater with gold threads, and a denim vest with silver bling on the yoke. This sweater is Covington and the vest is Christopher & Banks. 

The bling gives the outfit a holiday feel without being a top that has the actual holiday on it. If you don't have a top with bling choose a vest or sweater in the season's color. A rich burgundy or maroon will work great for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Even a deep purple or rusty orange will give an outfit a holiday vibe. 

3. Pick your jewelry. If you have a more blingy top you might want to forgo the jewelry, lest you feel like a Christmas decoration, but if you think the more the better, then welcome to my world. The goal is overstatement versus understatement

I chose a brassy necklace that had a few beads that matched the Butterum color in the skirt. The brassy chain also goes with the brass buckle on my belt. Sometimes mixing metals can clash, but I think in this outfit it works because no one metal takes center stage. They all compliment and work together with other colors in the outfit.

If your outfit pieces have no bling, then you can layer on the jewelry. Try multiple layers of gold or silver necklaces, or mix them up. Gold and silver can look gorgeous on a backdrop of burgundy, dark purple or deep navy. Think about what you own and try different pieces until you find something that makes you say, "I really like how that looks." Chances are, other people will think so too.

4. Add a bag. To pull together the browns in the skirt and the necklace I reached for my Butterum hobo bag. It is roomy enough to fill with additional items for a trip to see the family for dinner or even to tuck a light weight shawl for someone else's cooler home. 

5. Don't forget your shoes. Once again I reached for my Impo gray suede ankle boots. You can see I also went for a dark brown pair of tights, for full coverage of my legs. 

I chose these as they are dressy, but not too dressy. They are warm and I thought the gray color went well with the gray sweater. You could also wear knee hight boots, over the knee boots or even a pair of Keds or Converse sneakers for an even more casual look. The classier your shoes are the more dressed up the outfit will look. Heels, to me always make a dressy statement. You'll see more of that in the next four posts as we get into dressier looks. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing this outfit in my holiday series and I hope it provided some inspiration for you to create a holiday look from your own closet. 

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull. 

Here are a few cute skirts and boots to shop for. This post contains affiliate links. All opinion are my own.

Pantone Fall 2017 - The New York Palette - Marina and Navy Peony

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I wan't sure about pairing the two blues together that appear on the New York palette, but after mulling it over, I decided to give it a try. Navy Peony is the only color that appeared on both the Pantone London palette and the New York palette this fall. While many of the other colors came close to being similar such as Grenadine and Scarlet Flame or Butterum, Toast and Copper Tan, Navy Peony seemed to be embraced all over. I have heard it said that navy is the new black and is a go to for styling an outfit that is classic and slimming. 

Marina is a lighter blue and reminded me of the beautiful fall sky on a sunny day. Going along with that idea, I decided to add white pants, keeping the outfit light and bright, but still filled with warm layers for a perfect fall transitional outfit. 

For my Navy Peony piece I chose an Isaac Mizrahi denim dress that I found at a thrift store. This dress was made for Target, but Mizrahi no longer has an affiliation with Target. I thought the dress, which comes with an attached belt would make a great jumper or, as in this case, the perfect cool weather longer length vest. It has a row of white buttons up the front and two roomy pockets at the sides. For this outfit I left it unbelted and open. Here is a navy longer length utility vest that would work. 

The Marina button up top is a thrifted Dana Buchman brand from Kohl's. I was looking for a few blouses that I could wear out or tucked in, but that didn't have a lot of bulk to them. This is a silky poly blend and layers well under the heavier vest. 

The pants I have styled before on the blog and are Gloria Vanderbilt boot cut jeans. I'll list a few other shopping links at the end for similar options.

We took these pictures at a local Toledo Metropark named Wildwood. We are very fortunate to have numerous beautiful parks throughout the Toledo area boasting great walking trails and historicbuildings such as this old school house which is still used for various events. 

To keep my outfit still connected to the changing colors of fall, I decided to add a few cognac or Butterum accessories. 

The boots are thrifted Aerosoles and the bag is thrifted New Directions. Here are a cute pair of similar colored boots from DSW. Here is a cute bag from Nordstrom Rack. This color is perfect for fall, not to too dark and not too light. It gives any outfit a warm, toasty feel. 

i also went for the browns in my simple bead necklace and hinged bead bracelet. 

What do you think of this color combination? Do you have many navy pieces in your closet? Be sure to take them out and start wearing them and you'll be right in style. I'd love to hear from you either in the comments section below or leave me a message on Facebook. You can also follow me on Instagram and Pinterest. I appreciate all your support.

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

Join me Thursday where I will be feature another Fun Fall Look. See you then.

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull. Make up Rachel Christensen.

First Dates After 50

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This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Now before you start worrying that my hubby and I are going to get a divorce let me reassure you there is nothing further from our minds. I was contacted by 2Seniors, a free dating website for people over 50, to write a post featuring tips for dressing for a first date as a senior. There is no guarantee that the one you marry when you are 24 will be the one you enter your later years with. Divorce and death happen, unfortunately at an alarming rate. While many of us could think, I will never date again, when we are suddenly faced with being single, our perspectives might change. This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Dating again after having a partner for many years can be a little intimidating. I want to offer a few tips and outfit ideas that might help you decide how to dress in a way that makes you feel, not only comfortable, but confident as you enter back into the dating arena. This post is specifically for women, but the tips themselves could apply to men as well. 

1. Accept your age. Let's face reality. We are not in our 20's any more. Most of us are middle aged or older. I stopped wearing short shorts and tube tops a long, long time ago. You are not going to do yourself any favors trying to look like the younger generation if that is not how you currently dress. Let me make a point. As fashion bloggers we are about encouraging others to wear what they want to wear and feel good about it. However, that being said, there are ways to look chic, fashionable and attractive without trying to squeeze our 50 year old bodies back into the jeans we wore in high school. In fact, that picture just makes me shudder. Ha, ha.

2. Know your style. Everyone has some sense of style. You might disagree with me, but even the people who don't look like they have any style are, in fact, promoting a certain style. Here is a great blog post from StyleWe - Ten Types of Fashion Styles. This article gives good descriptions of what each style is and also provides pictures. I personally draw from several different styles, including, Chic, Casual, Tomboy, and Preppy while pulling a little bit from Bohemian, and Rocker. Knowing your style can help you to dress for that date, whether you are single and looking for new love, or in a relationship and wanting to make an impression on your significant other. 

3. Be yourself, but add some change. As an older person who might be thinking about dating again you might think you need to reinvent yourself, but that can be an overwhelming task. It is better to remain true to who you are and your original style, but try adding something new or different to your look. Maybe you don't accessorize much. Try adding a statement necklace or a scarf to the outfit you are planning to wear. Go out and buy a great pair of heeled booties or a new bag. Not only will it bring your outfit up a notch it will give you a much needed boost. You may be recovering from a messy divorce or the death of your spouse. Treat yourself to something new that will flatter you and make you feel beautiful. Charming Charlie is a great retail place to look for a statement piece and not break your bank account.

4. Know where you are going on your date. Knowing where you will be going and what you will be doing is very important on a first date. Keeping your first date public is a good idea. Unless you are meeting someone that you have already gotten to know through work, church or other social gatherings, I think it is just wise to be out and about where other people are when you first meet someone, both for safety reasons and for your own well being. 

Knowing where you are going will give you the confidence to better choose the right outfit for that first date. If you are going out for dinner and to the theater, make sure you know what that means. Are you going to McDonalds and catching a movie? Then you probably don't need to reach for that black dress and heels. Are you going to a park to do some hiking? Better think about jeans and hiking shoes. All of these choices will be affected by what time of year it is as well. Winter will mean more layers and summer will warrant light, flowy fabrics so you are not embarrassed by sweat and body odor. 

5. Dress comfortably. When I say the word comfort I am looking at it from two different angles. First of all, you want what you wear to not be too small, too large, too hot, too cold, etc. The worst feeling is that you are going to melt because you are having another hot flash, or that you can hardly sit down after dinner because your Spanx are too tight. For the men out there, a button up shirt that is ready to pop is not attractive, and neither is your open fly. Have the courtesy to check yourself over, so you don't embarrass yourself or your date. 

The second meaning for the word comfort has to do with how you feel about yourself, the person you are meeting and the whole dating situation. If you normally don't wear low cut tops, then don't start now. If you hardly ever don a dress, then reach for those stunning black trousers that make your behind look fabulous. The point is you want to be confident in yourself and comfortable in your own skin. If you are not there yet, then maybe you are not ready for this jump back into the dating arena. 

The following pictures are from my blog and are just a few suggestions for outfits to wear on a first date. I've included a few shopping options for you to peruse as well. Just click on the picture and it will take you to the store site. These are affiliate links so I get a few cents if you click and a few cents more if you purchase an item through my site. Hopefully these will give you ideas of what might be in your closet and help you pull an outfit together that will not only make you look and feel fabulous, but make your date want to take you out again.

Dinner and the Theater (not McD's and a movie):

Meeting for Lunch and Small Town Shopping:

Meeting for Coffee then a Walk

Going to a Ball Game

Outdoor Summer Concert

Christmas Concert

These are just a few ideas. The key is to wear something that fits well, compliments your figure, skin tone and hair, and to wear a confident smile on your face. Be real. Be yourself. Plan and primp and you will be fabulous!

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull. Make up Rachel Christensen.

 

Casual and Dressy: Outfit Recap

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This week I wanted to show you a recap of the last few weeks' outfits by showing the pictures side by side. This gives you a better idea of how I styled a piece casually and how I styled it more dressy.

The first two were styled around a pair of jeans. I swapped out the casual sneakers, tee and sweater for a dress and sparkly sandals.

These weeks revolved around a black maxi dress. Week 1 was a casual tee, espadrilles and yellow beads. Week 2 a sparkly vest, silver belt and black sandals.

The key piece in these posts was the white crop pants. Casual with the sparkly tee, dark wash denim button up and Keds was turned dressy by changing into a silky blouse, light weight sweater, neutral sandals and a sparkly pewter bag.

Here I styled a pair of light pink jeggings. Again you can see the change of shoes, top and jacket or sweater can take the look from casual to dressy.

In these final two posts there were only a few simple changes made. My black espadrilles were changed out for nude peep-toe heels, the pewter hobo bag became a sparkly pewter clutch, the jewelry switched from casual beads to shiny gold and the lace tee was tucked in a belt added.

I am, by nature a more casual dresser. I don't get dressed up for very many occasions, so this was a fun way to think about how I would make an outfit that started out casual, more dressy. I decided to take this adventure up a notch so starting in August I'll be doing another series on casual versus dressy styles, but this time using denim.

I hope you all enjoyed this series. Let me know your ideas for taking a casual style and turing it dressy. Have a great week.

Thursday linking up with Nicole of High Latitude Style.

Styling a Maxi Skirt with a Denim Vest - Post 2

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This week my post doesn't have a dramatic change from last week (see the casual look here). I am still wearing the same skirt, lace tee and denim vest. The only changes made had to do with my accessories. 

Last week I styled this look more casually with black espadrilles. This week they were swapped out for my nude peep toe heels. I tucked the lace tee in rather than leaving it out and I added a belt for a more polished look. 

In addition, I changed out the casual beaded necklace for a long gold chain with gold fringe and dangles with a matching bracelet. The gold also matched the gold of the belt. 

Lastly I added my sparkly pewter clutch. It is amazing how easy it is to change an outfit from casual to dressy. All you need is a few different accessories and a little creativity. The great thing about this sort of styling is that you can just throw a few things in a bag and go from the office to a night out with just a few simple changes.

 

Photos by Rebecca Trumbull. Make up by Rachel Christensen.

Shop the look:

Print maxi skirt - Macy's - $55.99

Denim vest - Christopher and Banks - $44.95

Lacy white tee - Christopher and Banks - $39.95

Nude peep toe heels - Zappos - $69.00

Belt - Mod Cloth - $22.99 

Necklace - JC Penney - $16.80

Next week I will be doing a recap of all these looks, so you can see them side by side. I hope you have enjoyed this series. Have a great week.

Monday linking up with Catherine of Not Dressed as Lamb. Tuesday linking up with Jennie of A Pocketful of Polka Dots and the Ageless Style Link Up and with Jess of Elegantly Dressed and Stylish. Friday linking up with Nicole of High Latitude Style and Jennie of A Pocketful of Polka Dots.