Outfit Inspiration - Dressed Up Casual Style

This Thursday column is about the places I find some of the inspiration for my outfits. There are many wonderful fashion bloggers out there. Jodie’s Touch of Style, Jo-Lynne Shane, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish, Fashion Fairy Dust, Shelbee on the Edge , A Picture Worth Style, and Away From Blue are just a few of my favorites. All of these women provide regular outfit inspiration as well as fun and interesting takes on real life. While I derive a ton of inspiration from these ladies, I also get many ideas from looking at magazines, fashion ads and ads from retailers like Chico’s, Christopher and Banks and Maurices. Pinterest is another great place to find fashion inspiration. You can see my Pinterest boards by clicking here.

Today’s outfit was inspired by another Chico’s ad I got in the mail, I think from last fall. The model was wearing boyfriend cropped jeans with a rolled hem, a white tee and a lovely orange and multi-colored ruana. When I was looking for my source of inspiration for this post, I saw that and I knew I had the perfect pieces to mimic the same look. This is my version.

Obviously, the focal point of this outfit is the beautiful, thrifted ruana. I found this piece, by a retailer named Mason and Belle, at a thrift boutique back in New York when I went to visit my mom. My best friend, Stacey, and I always take a day to shop, have lunch and just talk, laugh and vent. It is so good to have at least one close friend you can do that with. It is hard to be so far away, but we regularly email, text, pray and look forward to the next time we can spend together.

What drew me to this piece were several points. First, the cut is very different than any other kimono or ruana I own. It is much shorter, almost more of a shawl, wrap or poncho. The cut is also asymmetrical, unlike the more boxy cut of Tuesday’s yellow floral piece, or the rectangular cut of the kimono you will see next Tuesday. The second point is the fringe. Yes, this boho girl loves me some fringe, and this was no exception. Even the fringe is exquisitely different, with its additional beaded look. The final point that caused me to put this in my basket was the color and pattern. Purple? Of course! Plus the added oranges and yellows make this a great piece to take me into fall. Here are some other pictures of the back and the fringe.

I still need to do some unwinding of the fringe since I washed it, but all of the fringe is still intact.

My thrifted jeans are Merona brand. I didn’t wear them for a long while because the waist is rather big. They fit great through the hips and legs, but the waist has a tendency to stick out in the back. I was going to try to take them in, but decided to just wear them as is. I always wear a belt anyway, so that helps to make the waist more secure. I rolled up the hems to make them more of a cropped pant, rather than the ankle length that they are.

My simple white tee is Christopher and Banks brand. They have quality tees, that fit well and are made out of medium weight material. Every now and then they have good sales on their tees, so if you like their styles keep an eye on their sales.

I chose accessories to emphasize the colors in the ruana. The purple fringe pendant necklace is one of my favorites and it stands out against the white backdrop of the tee. I had two orange bags that I was trying to decide between. One was a brighter, more pumpkin orange and it was suede, so very appropriate for this boho look, but I decided to go with this shopper bag in the more burnt orange color, to give the outfit a little classier, big girl, dressed up vibe.

Lastly, I went with these lace up, gladiator style sandals. These are Massini brand and I got them a few years ago at Meijer.

Where do you get your fashion inspiration from? I hope that I inspire you from time to time. Remember, there are many ways to put an outfit together. Those pieces in your closet are just waiting to be unleashed into a variety of beautiful outfits. If you ever have any questions about putting an outfit together or a fashion or faith question, feel free to email me. I’d also love your thoughts for other things you would like to see on the blog. Thanks so much for all of your support!

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull.

I’m including a few shopping links that mimic my look. These are affiliate links. Every click on a link gives me a few cents. All opinions are my own. Thank you for all your support.

Have a great weekend!

Outfit Inspiration - Gingham and Olive

This week’s Outfit Inspiration comes from a Christopher & Banks add that I received in the mail. I love to try to copy the outfits that many retailers put in their advertisements and catalogues, because it gives me a source for a well thought out outfit, without me having to come up with the idea. I still have to shop my closet and try to find similar enough pieces to create the look, but the inspiration was provided by someone else.

When I saw the classic combination of a gingham button up with olive pants I knew it was an outfit I could easily replicate from pieces in my closet. This is what I came up with.

Since olive is treated as a neutral these days you can wear it with any other color and it works. Case in point, for this outfit I am pairing these olive trousers with a black and white gingham blouse, a white tank underneath to add interest and a gray casual cardigan.

This is an outfit I would easily wear to work. While the outfit is fairly neutral you can easily jazz it up by adding color in your accessories. I chose to keep my look more neutral all over. I have on black loafer heels, which I have worn on the blog before, and decided to carry my thrifted snakeskin clutch, since animal prints are trending right now. I opted for a few silver bangles and no other jewelry. I felt there was enough going on with the gingham check and the layers, although you could easily add a necklace or a pretty colored scarf to wake the outfit up a bit.

This gingham blouse was thrifted and is Old Navy brand. The white sweater tank that I have on underneath was also thrifted and is George brand. The original photo that I took the inspiration from showed the model with her top tucked in and no belt, even though the pants had belt loops. I wanted to stick to the original outfit as much as possible, but next time I will add a belt. I just think it makes an outfit look more polished. I have an olive colored one that would have worked perfectly with these pants.

My gray sweater is from H&M. I had a gray sweater, very similar to this, but it was showing wear, so I was glad to find this as a replacement.

Here is a picture of the shoes taken on a different occasion. They are a sturdy, practical heel, but still look stylish while being fairly comfortable. These were thrifted and are ANA brand.

Rebecca Trumbull

Here are a few more photos I thought I’d share just for fun:

I was having fun with this red bud tree. Unfortunately, the poor thing is half dead.

That’s all I have for today. I hope you enjoyed this post. I’d love the hear your feedback. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Outfit Inspiration - Chambray Shirt with White Pants

I can't think of a an outfit that more epitomizes summer than a chambray shirt with white pants. The combination of blue and white just seems to say picnics, sunshine and longer hours of daylight. Adding a summer hat, bag and a pair of comfy sneakers and you have the outfit in today's post. The inspiration for this outfit came from an old advertisement for Chico's. Their adds always seem to have the prettiest outfit combinations; a great marketing idea, of course. They want you to buy their products and they do have wonderful clothing. However, if you are like me, then you like to find pieces in your own closet to make use of the clothing I already have and occasionally add a piece or two from thrift stores and regular retailers. While my pieces are not exact duplicates of the original add, they do mimic the outfit well. 

I didn't realize until after I took these photos that I should have smoothed the top out in the front by pulling it down. Ha, ha. The joys of being in a hurry when you are taking photos. 

Both of these pieces are from Christopher and Banks and I bought them in the store. You've seen these white ankle pants on the blog before. You can see those posts here, here, here and here. For this post I rolled the pants up to create more of a cropped pant look, which is what the original outfit had. 

I've styled this light chambray popover top on the blog before as well. You can see that post here. You can see in the next three photos more details on the shirt, including the hi-low hem, front pocket, three button closure, v-neck, no collar and roll tab sleeves. 

This is such an easy outfit to put together. I kept it completely casual and didn't even add any jewelry, although you could easily throw on some pretty colored bangles or bead to add a pop of color. You could also wear sandals or flip flops and carry a bright colored bag to add color in a different way. 

I've had my cream macrame bag for years and it is a cute little number for shopping when I want to carry something light and less bulky. I've also had these white Keds for years as well and they are starting to show some wear. 

What kind of outfit do you envision when you think of summer? I love to hear your feedback. I appreciate those of you who subscribe to my blog. If you like my blog, share it with your friends and family. 

Have a great day.

Outfit Inspiration - Jacket, Chambray and Colored Pants

I decided to start four new columns on the blog to replace those I had last year. Thursdays seem to be the days I like to focus on a particular fashion idea, whether it be inspiration from a source outside myself or how to style a particular piece. Today being the second Thursday of the month, I am going to feature outfit inspiration from other sources. Last year I devoted this Thursday to other fashion bloggers in my Beautiful Blogger Bests column. While I will still be featuring different bloggers once in a while, I wanted to focus on other sources to show you that you can be outfit inspired in so many different ways and by so many different people. 

What got me started on this idea were several sources including a Chico's catalogue/ad, and a home decorating book focusing on color. The outfits I saw in the Chico's ad were lovely, but I couldn't afford to run right out and buy all the beautiful things I saw. I thought to myself, "I wonder if I could come up with a similar outfit using my own closet as the pool from which to pull the pieces." Today's outfit is my version of one I saw last fall in a sales flyer I received from Chico's.

Due to copy right infringement I cannot show you a picture of the original outfit, but I have included a few shopping links to give you an idea of a similar outfit. 

The outfit included a herringbone blazer, mustard colored ankle pants, a dark blue chambray shirt and orange jewelry. The original model also wore a pair of black loafers. 

This is my version.

My jacket is not Herringbone, it is Houndstooth. I found this little gem made by Pendleton  at a thrift store that I've driven by hundreds of times, but never stopped at. Silly me! Pendleton is an iconic American made brand that has been around since the mid to late 1800's. They are known for their manufacture of quality wool blankets and clothing. 

The difference between Houndstooth and Herringbone lies in the pattern. Herringbone is more compact and looks like zigzags, where as the Houndstooth looks like each spot has little teeth attached at the opposite corners. 

My darker chambray shirt is Canyon River Blues, a brand that has been sold at Sears and K-Mart and is also sold at Walmart. This one is also thrifted. 

I chose a rust color pant, because I don't own any yellow ones. These rust colored pants I got at Chico's just recently. These are their So Slimming Slim Leg Pant. They are high waisted and have no zippers or belt loops. Just pull them on and go. 

Because I went with rust for my pant color I thought olive green would go well with the rest of the outfit, so I added by olive beaded necklace, an olive bracelet and my new SO olive suede ankle boots. I also picked up my olive colored tote to complete the ensemble.

Do you see my clenched fist? Ha, ha. It was pretty cold and got colder as we continued our shoot. You'll see some of the blustery pics when I start my Pantone Spring 2018 series. 

I hope you enjoyed this post. Next time you are at a bookstore or library, take a look at a few fashion magazines. These are great places to look for inspiration. Don't let the glamorous models and glossy pages make you lose heart. The goal is to find YOUR style, not someone else's by taking bits and pieces from different places.  

I hope you have a good weekend. 

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull. Make up Rachel Christensen.

Friday linking up with Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style, Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge and Jennie of A Pocketful of Polka Dots.