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!