Outfit Inspiration - Knit Vest

The outfit I am showing you today was styled around a knit vest. I didn’t post anything last week as life was extra busy and we had company for the Labor Day weekend. Today, Monday, I was feeling tired and unmotivated, so I decided to just you give a post on what I had on. It’s certainly nothing fancy, but it incorporates some last minute print mixing and fun textures.

This longer knit vest is a Christopher & Banks piece. I like the colors, and thought they were perfectly suited for a summer day in the air conditioning. We are having a little heat wave right now, which puts off wearing layers, but this worked for being at home all day. This vest is great for spring, summer, and fall. My biggest trouble is remembering I have it. Ha, ha.

I chose my cute a.n.a. pineapple print tee which went well with the coral/orange in the vest. My girlfriend visiting this weekend has several pineapple tees and tanks, so she inspired me to wear mine. I love the gold pineapples and they make it easy to accessorize with gold jewelry.

Style Tip: Remember when picking pieces for a print mix try to coordinate at least one color. This is part of what makes print mixing fun and easy to do.

My jeans are a thrifted pair of Merona’s. I finished out the look with my olive Sperry suede sneakers, and my thrifted American Eagle hobo bag. I also added a green with gold wrap bracelet.

This outfit is casual but cute. I still look like I made an effort, even though the pieces are comfortable and easy to wear. Do you like to wear long vests? What is your every day, go to outfit? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave me some love.

I’m including a few shopping links for you to look over. These are affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of my links I might get a little kick back. All opinions are my own.

Have a wonderful evening.

Summer Outfit - Faux Lace Dress - Casual

I honestly wasn’t sure how to style this faux lace dress in a casual way, so I started by thinking what makes an outfit more casual. We usually associate certain shoes, bags and accessories as being either more casual or more dressy. There is also the option of adding other pieces to make a look more casual, like I did in my geometric maxi dress post, where I simply slipped on a graphic tee, to bring the look down to a more casual level. I also used more casual accessories like the straw bag and hat. I followed the same formula for this outfit.

I was sort of going for an artsy-writer look with this outfit…whatever that is. Ha, ha, ha. I was thinking if I wore this dress to a coffee shop to work on writing, rather than a night out to a show, what would I do differently? First off, I added my oversized, thrifted, pinstripe Izod button up, as a light weight jacket, for any air conditioning a coffee shop might offer.

This shirt is a very pale purple color and has gray pinstripes. To jazz up the outfit with a little more color I pulled out this cute fish scarf, but instead of putting it around my neck, I tied it to my bag. I thought the purple and green in the scarf pulled the outfit together.

The purple bead pendant goes so well with the purple in the shirt and the scarf. It also gives the outfit an added casual, boho feel. To keep that casual boho vibe going I thought the multiple strand green wrap bracelet a good choice.

This slouchy, thrifted, American Eagle hobo bag has made an appearance multiple times on the blog. It is good to have a few pieces in your bag arsenal that lean completely towards casual or dressy. It makes getting dressed so much easier. This hobo bag does just that and is a go to, if I want to make an outfit look dressed down.

Shoes are another thing that will either elevate or make an outfit more casual. I love these suede oxfords that I found on clearance a number of years ago at DSW. If I could have found them in multiple colors, I would have bought them all. I would love to have a pair in blue, green, red, brown…you get the idea. The thing I like about them, is they feel a tad tight when I put them on, but after having them on they are so comfortable. They are Naya brand.

What do you think of this outfit? Not every piece in your wardrobe will necessarily translate into a more dressy or more casual look, but I wanted to show you there are ways to think outside the box when it comes to your clothes. It not only gives you more outfit options, but enables you to get more wear out of each piece.

These pictures were taken at the Toledo Botanical Gardens by Rebecca Trumbull.

Here are the two outfits side by side. Which one do you like better?

I’ve included a few shopping links just for fun. These are affiliate links. When you click on a link, I get a few cents. I appreciate every click! All opinions are my own.

Thanks for following along on the blog. It wouldn’t be any fun, if it weren’t for you, my faithful followers. If there is ever anything you would like me to cover on the blog, either in the area of fashion or faith, please feel free to make a suggestion in the comments below, or on Facebook. You can also shoot me an email.

I won’t be posting on the blog next week as I am going to visit my mom and won’t have internet, but I’ll still post some outfits and what I am doing on Instagram, so you can follow me over there. Have a wonderful weekend.

Outside the Box - Styling PJ Pants

This new monthly column on my blog is going to deal with fashion ideas and trends that I don't really buy into. Most of the time, it will involve me trying a different trend that I would have never tried before. It will also, occasionally include posts about color, print and texture pairings that we wouldn't usually think about putting together. Once in a while, I might use this monthly column to discuss ideas in the fashion world that I find hard to swallow. I hope you will enjoy this new column and I would love to hear from you. If you have an idea of a trend or fashion style you would like me to feature as something you are not used to wearing or don't have any idea how to style, this will be a good platform for that as well. You can leave me your ideas in a comment here on the blog or send me a Facebook message.

This week, I decided to try a trend that I have seen come and go on the runways: wearing pajama pants as part of an outfit. I'm sure we are all used to the idea of pajama pants as something we put on before we go to bed, or something we put on when we want to lounge around the house, but wearing a pair of pj pants out in public...uh, no! Okay, so I get it. I see more and more people running to Walmart and the grocery store with their fuzzy pajama pants on, but that is hardly stylish, let alone, something a stylish 50 something year old would wear to work or out to dinner. Remember, we are doing a fashion blog to help ourselves and you look and feel better, not end up imitating a walking pile of laundry. 

I found these striped pajama pants at a thrift store. They are Sonoma brand and a size large. If I do this again, I think I will try to go down a size and see if I like that look better. Sizing really depends on what you want to do with them and what look you are going for. If the only thing you are going to do with the pants is watch tv and get cozy, then by all means size up. The roomier the better. But for a sleeker, more stylish look it might be better to have the pants fit a little tighter. Let me know what you think.

Look 1 & 2 - Casual

For this first look, I paired the pants with my Paris graphic tee, a Loft green cardigan, Keds gray sneakers and an olive American Eagle bag. Here is another option on the Loft cardigan.  I also added my pearl, velvet and silver choker as well as a pearl bracelet.

For the next casual look, I swapped out the graphic tee for a long sleeve Mossimo tee from Target. Here is a bell sleeve one.  I did the front tuck to give a little more definition to my waist. Over the top I have on a heavy weight Liz Claiborne button up, that works great as a light weight jacket. I am wearing my SO taupe ankle boots and carrying a Nine & Co. bright blue tote. 

I also added a silver and blue chain necklace as well as a green cocktail ring. 

Look 3 & 4 - Dressy

The next two outfits I dressed up a little bit more. These would be good for work or even for a date night, if your hubby doesn't mind being seen in public with you wearing a pair of pajama pants. Ha, ha. 

In the first look I am wearing a navy crocheted top that I bought a few years ago at Christopher and Banks. It is more of a tunic, but I decided to tuck the top in and add a belt to give me a more defined waistline. I think this is a good idea when your pants are more bulky or billowy. 

The belt is a simple crocheted number that is stretchy. For jewelry I just added a neutral beaded necklace to pull in the colors of the shoes, belt and bag. The bag was a recent find on the Kohl's clearance rack. It is Madden brand. Here is the same one from Nordstrom on sale. I got a better deal at Kohl's, but clearance is what it is. When it is gone, it is gone. 

These SO peep toe heels are another recent find from Kohl's clearance. Here is another pair from Kohl's that is very similar. I am looking forward to warmer temps (and painting my toenails, of course), so I can wear these more. 

Even though my top is navy and matches the navy in my bottoms, I've got some print mixing going on. See how I did that? Print mixing is not always about color. It can also happen with textures and the weave of fabrics. 

This second dressy look is, perhaps my favorite. This outfit uses a button up top from JC Penney and a thrifted suiting piece, that I'll just call a vest. It is more like a blazer vest. You'll get what I mean if you know what a coat vest is. If not, don't worry about it. For the purpose of this post it is a vest. 

I think this is one classy outfit and yes, I am wearing pajama pants. Ha, ha. In addition to the button up, which has fish on it (more print mixing), and the vest, I added a beaded necklace and bracelets with an olive hue. I also grabbed my velvet clearance find from Meijer. This is Wallflower brand. Such a cute bag, and I don't care that it is velvet, I'll be using it in the spring! My loafer heels were the last touch. 

Here are all four of the outfits:

What do you think? Would you wear pajama pants as part of an outfit? I think this is a great idea, especially for summer, when you need something cool and light. I think part of the process in figuring out if a pair of pj bottoms are good for style wear is to see how they fit and what sort of outfit you can make out of them. I personally would not wear my Eeyore pajama pants, but this striped pair or maybe a plaid, why not! 

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it gave you a new perspective on those cozy duds we wear to bed!

Here are a few fun options. How would you style these into an outfit? This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. 

Friday linking up with Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style, Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, Jo-Lynne of Jo-Lynne Shane and Jennie of A Pocketful of Polka Dots. Saturday linking up with Rena of It's All Fine. Whatever Tickles the Fancy.