Shopping Our Closets: Casual Summer Vibes

I am trying to get back to my monthly posts, at least for the summer, so this week I am shopping my closet to bring you a casual summer outfit that would be good for a coffee shop date, an afternoon of shopping or a trip to the theater with the grandkids to see a movie. We all know that indoor activities during the summer can often come with too much air conditioning, so thinking ahead about what to wear is essential for being comfortable.

Today’s look revolves around pieces that most of us have in our closets, or at least pieces that are similar: a Breton striped tee, light wash jeans, and a light weight cardigan.

A casual look like this is easy to put together and anyone who is reading this can probably find similar pieces in your own closet. Let’s look at each piece individually.

My Breton striped tee is an older thrifted piece and is J. Crew brand. I love the structure of this piece and the beautiful, sparkly bird embellishing its upper right hand corner.

I wondered what exactly made a shirt a Breton striped piece, so I looked it up. The Breton stripe originated in France and was made specifically as the official uniform for the French Navy back in 1858. The shirt was typically white with navy; the white stripe being wider than the blue, and it was usually a 3/4 length sleeve. In addition the neckline was a wide boat neck. In 1910 Coco Chanel took inspiration from the French navel uniform and it began its iconic journey through the decades as a fashion statement.

Here is an elbow length sleeve version from JCPenney; a red version from Eddie Bauer; a short sleeve version from Land’s End, and a plus-sized version from Kohl’s.

Style Tip: While tee shirts that are cotton/polyester blends are soft and comfy, they don’t always give us the coverage we desire as far as our extra rolls. A medium to heavier weight cotton will typically give you more structure, and is less see through for both your extra bits and your undergarments.

The next piece we’ll look at are my light wash, cropped jeans. I love this pair of Talbots that I found at a second hand store. They are a little heavier weight, but are soft, and I love the added detail of the stripes that go along the outside seam. Once again, the heavier weight cotton fabric is still doable for summer because it is still breathable.

Here is a mid-rise version from Land’s End; a higher rise pair from J.Jill; a lighter weight version from L.L. Bean; and this pair with the fun pocket detail from Christopher & Banks.

Style Tip: Jean washes don’t really matter any more as far as seasons are concerned, but If you are old school like me, I like to get out my light wash, and white, or bright colored jeans for summer just to lighten my wardrobe up a bit.

I decided to tap into the black stripes on my tee, and yes, mine are black, not navy, for the cardigan I chose. The stripes on my jeans are also black, so that added to the reason I went for a black sweater and black shoes. My cardigan is Croft & Barrow brand and I bought it at Kohl’s many years ago. Time goes so fast, it is hard to keep track. The 3/4 sleeves are perfect for when you want extra coverage, but not too much.

Here is a Croft & Barrow, open front version from Kohl’s; one from Macy’s; another version from Chico’s; and a couple from JC Penney - regular size, and plus size.

My Oxford shoes have been around for quite some time considering I haven’t worked at the university bookstore since fall of 2019, and I got these while I was still employed. These are a brand called Naya, and I got these at DSW on the clearance racks.

It’s funny, of all the pictures I struggle with, shoes are the worst. Ha, ha. If my feet are in them, I don’t feel like I can ever get the right angle for the picture. Either my feet look super long, as in the first picture, or my ankles look like tree stumps, as in the second picture. Ha, ha. It’s okay. I am no flighty influencer and that is okay. I just keep doing this for fun, and for you, my lovely followers!

My woven bag is also thrifted, and the label says, icing, which was Claire’s Boutique’s brand for many years. I don’t shop there any more, since I no longer have young daughters, but it was a fun place to go, especially for their special sales and clearance jewelry.

Pull out your straw bags, I mean doesn’t everyone have one? They are always spot on for the warm weather months, and always seem to be trending for summer. Here is a whole page of possibilities from DSW.

What do you think of this outfit? Is this something you would wear, or that you could put together from pieces you already have in your closet? What would you do differently: wear shorts, or a skirt; pick different shoes? Let me know in the comments. I love to hear your ideas.

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

What I Have Been Wearing Lately

Hi everyone. It has been a crazy few weeks since I last posted on this page. Since I don’t have an outfit picked out for today, I thought I would just share a few of my Instagram outfits, just for some content until I can get back to regular posting. My spouse and I are making progress on his retirement, but it has been one roadblock after another. Who would have thought getting all the things in place for retirement would be a full time job, and a job without all the perks! Ha, ha.

A Little Bit Boho

Most of these outfits were put together for a monthly Instagram challenge, but I have also been trying to challenge myself to wear things I don’t regularly reach for. This tiered blouse was a thrift find a number of years ago. On the day I wore this it was chilly so I added a long sleeve tee underneath. The asymmetrical vest is older, but I bring it out every warm weather season since it is lighter weight.

Floral Midi Skirt and Denim Vest

This combo includes a Christopher and Banks skirt that I fell in love with before our brick and mortar store closed. I love that it contains so many fun colors and is light weight making it perfect for summer. On this day it was cool, so I added my Joy light weight sweater that I have had for a number of years, and a dark wash denim vest that I thrifted more recently. My Converse were also thrifted.

Wearing a Scarf a Different Way

One of the Instagram prompts was to wear a scarf, not around your neck, so I decided to used this square plaid piece as an interesting addition to my waist with a thrifted embellished tank top, thrifted gray jeans and my older Saucony sneakers.

Linen Pants Outfit

This look revolved around my striped linen pants. Linen is one of those fabrics most of us have a love hate relationship with. It is a marvelous fabric for the hot weather months, but it wrinkles terribly. Most people don’t worry about the wrinkles and wear their linen pieces with pride and less sweat. Others of us look for pieces that won’t show the wrinkles quite as much and these striped pants fit the bill. This is another Christopher and Banks piece that I have had for a while. For this outfit I paired them with a tropical print tee and a denim vest, also C & B.

Airy Neutrals

I don’t reach for my neutral pieces enough, but when I do I always like the way the outfit turns out. This prompt gave me the opportunity to wear this cute “fashion girl” tunic tee, the knit ruana, and the light colored Chico’s pants all together. The tee was thrifted, and the pants were a hand-me-over from my besties in NY.

Floral Button Down Casual Style

This pretty floral top is a recent thrift find. I fell in love with it because it reminded me of my mom. She always wore these types of collared button downs during the summer months along with her culottes. Due to my veiny legs I no longer wear anything short, but I made it my own style with my dark wash jeans and another pair of Converse sneakers. Yes, I do seem to be accumulating Converse, a shoe I never thought I would own! Ha, ha.

Striped Pants Outfit

I found these St. John’s Bay striped pants last fall, and I knew they would be perfect for the warm weather months. I wasn’t completely sure how I felt about them, but now that I have taken them for a spin around the block I love them and will definitely be styling them again for summer and maybe early fall. They fit great, have pockets, and a roll up hem. The one side is missing the snap to hold the tab in place, but I just used a safety pin to keep it in place. My top is a few years old and is Liz Claiborne brand from JC Penney. My Keds sneakers are also a few years old.

I hope you have enjoyed this look at what I have been wearing. These are outfits I actually wore. I post on Instagram almost every day, so these are definitely outfits that allow me to live my life.

I hope to get back to some regular posting in the next few weeks, and I will also give you an update on all the things my spouse and I have had to deal with. I appreciate your support, and hope you are having a fabulous Tuesday!

Pantone Autumn/Winter 2025 - London Palette: Salted Lime, Fanfare and Chocolate Martini

We are well into October and the last four days have felt like the middle of July rather than fall. We are hopefully heading into a cool down in a day or two. Midwest weather has always been rather chaotic with fluctuating temperatures, times of endless rain, or months of drought. Right now things are very dry, the trees have hardly any color to them, and our cars are regularly covered with dust.

For today’s look I wanted to combine the two greens on the Pantone Autumn/Winter London palette. Just like I combined Lavender Blue and Crown Blue, today I am pairing Salted Lime, a medium, citrus green, and Fanfare, a tealy green. I chose Chocolate Martini for my classic color and I like the earthy vibe of this look. You can see the London palette colors by clicking on this link.

The star of this show is the Fanfare, velvet jacket that I recently thrifted. While not true velvet, it certainly looks the part. I found this piece and immediately threw it into my cart. When I tried it on, I knew it was coming home with me. It was obviously hand made as it still had the rough, inner seams with no finished edges, and no label of any kind.

Salted Lime is not a color I have a lot of. When it comes to greens I like the darker more moody hues of olive and forest green. I also like deep tones like emerald and jungle green. However, I do keep a few pieces that are this lime color. This thrifted, Jaclyn Smith, gingham button down has been around for a number of years. You can see this top as a shacket over a graphic tee, worn under a graphic tee, and worn with a plaid skirt,

My Chocolate Martini pants were purchased new when I was still working as an assistant manager at a university bookstore. These are Worthington brand and I got them at JCPenney. They have a wider leg and are a bit long so I like to pair them with something that has a small heel.

I chose my Nine West heeled ankle boots, which match the pants perfectly. A tip for making your legs look longer and leaner is to match your pants and your shoes. I got these a couple of years ago at Kohl’s.

I went for a layered jewelry look with a short wood bead necklace and a long beaded pendant necklace with fringe.

I wanted to add a pop of color and remembered this cute color block bag I had thrifted last year. It is just a cheap bag and has no brand name in it, but I thought it was extremely cute and fun. I think it works beautifully to add an element of extra color to this outfit.

What do you think of these colors? Do you have any of these in your closet? If not, which one would you like to add? Be sure to leave a comment or too. It helps my blog and it always encourages me.

This picture below, definitely needs a caption! What would you put on it?

I have included a few shopping links. These are affiliate links and are brought to you at no extra cost. These are retailers that are available through the affiliate and I cannot speak as to the quality of the pieces offered, so just be sure before you order something that you know the retailer’s return policy. If you purchase an item through my blog using one of my links, I get a little commission. I appreciate all your purchases as they help me keep the blog going. All opinions are my own.

Have a great week!

Color Play: Pantone Color of the Year Mocha Mousse with Brown and Gray

If you keep up with the Pantone Color of the Year, you know that this year’s color is a creamy brown with rosy undertones looking much like the dessert it is named after, Mocha Mousse. Click on the link to see the actual color. As I began looking through my closet, which contains almost every color under the sun, I realized I don’t have anything this exact color. The closest I came was a piece that is a little bit lighter version of the actual color, but I thought it would do for this post.

This tunic length sweater was a thrift find from last year. It is Lauren Conrad brand and I love the soft texture and the cute heart

I thought adding this thrifted, brown Fever vest a good way to further infuse the idea of the chocolatey goodness of mousse.

Style Tip: Adding a vest is a great way to have the fun of layering without the added weight and warmth. Vests are perfect for these transitional times between winter and spring, and summer and fall. Look for lighter weight, flowy vests that still provide coverage, but don’t add too much heat.

I decided to use my second hand White House Black Market Blanc jeans. It is nice to fit back into this trouser type pant to take a casual look up a notch.

Style Tip: Adding a pair or two of trouser type jeans, which have a somewhat wider silhouette allows you to dress up an outfit without going outside your “jeans box”. You know I am an avid fan of jeans and they are what I wear most of the time, but it is nice to have the option of a jean in a different style and/or color for a completely different look.

I decided to go for rose gold in my jewelry which I think goes well with the brown and the Mocha Mousse colors. I also added my pink Bueno crossbody bag which was a gift from my younger daughter a few years ago.

My thrifted patent leather ankle boots have made an appearance on the blog before and are Forever 21 brand. Apparently patent leather is making a come back this year, so if you have any of those in the shoe direction get them out of the dark corners of your closet and let them shine.

What do you think of Mocha Mousse? Do you like this color? Do you like the combination of brown with gray? How about brown with black? Please leave me your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a comment on Facebook. I always love to hear your ideas.

I’m including a few shopping links for you to look over. These are affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

I hope you all are having a great week!

Shopping Our Closets: Cool Weather Basics

I think most of us veer towards certain pieces when the temperatures start to cool down. Even though our temps have been taking their time about cooling off, we know the chilly days are inevitable, and we will be reaching for our long sleeve tees and sweaters. Today I thought it would be fun to talk about these basic pieces and show you how I put together a simple, casual outfit that would be perfect for anyone’s busy lifestyle.

When I hear the word “basics” my mind automatically goes to things like underwear and socks, but everyone has their own likes on those so we’ll just leave that alone. The basics I wanted to talk about today are long sleeve tees, cardigans and jeans. Obviously, these basics can vary from piece to piece. Long sleeve tees can be v-neck, scoop neck, boat neck, crew neck or even turtle necks. The same is true of cardigans. Basic cardigans most often have crew or v-neck and buttons down the front, but cardigans come in a variety of lengths, styles, textures, fabrics and even embellishments. Maybe your basic cardigan is an open front knee length duster. Someone else maybe consider a sweater with a zipper and a fold over collar to be their basic piece. Basics really depend on your personal taste and what you are doing. A work wardrobe is going to be different than a casual, stay at home wardrobe.

As you can well imagine, I have cardigans in a variety of colors, but I chose red as a nod to the weeks ahead leading up to Christmas. It is coming whether we want it to or not. I personally love Christmas, but I also acknowledge that life is already very busy, then throw in the busyness of the holidays and trying to come up with outfits might be a bit overwhelming. However, when you stick to your basics you can’t go wrong. You will still look put together, and you can embellish with jewelry, scarves, bags and shoes and be ready for any holiday shopping or get together you need to attend. Here are a few basic cardigans from Kohl’s, JC Penney, Macy’s, and Amazon.

For this outfit I started with this thrifted red cardigan. I found this in the last couple of years. It is a medium weight, so great for these cooler days that are still above freezing.

Style Tip: When building an outfit around your basic pieces it really doesn’t matter what piece you start with. You could choose your tee first, your sweater, or even your pair of jeans and build your outfit around that. Mood is a realistic part of getting dressed, but instead of not getting dressed I think it is essential to take a shower and put on clean clothes. That is part of what makes having basics to important. If you are feel exhausted, or down if you can at least manage a tee, a cardi and a clea pair of jeans you are doing good.

I grabbed this red and white striped tee for my top. These basic tees from Kohl’s by Sonoma are perfect for layering under a cardigan. Here are a few other basic long sleeve tees from JC Penney, Maurice’s, Target, and Amazon.

These jeans were purchased at Maurice’s in the late summer. They are incredibly comfortable, a lighter wash and heavier so perfect for the cold weather. The mild distressing makes them great for both casual and dressier looks.

Style Tip: Once you have your basics chosen feel free to embellish as much or as little as you want. An outfit like this will allow your pretty necklaces and scarves to really pop and take center stage. I kept my look simple and casual with the choice of my Converse, but if I would have went with a low heeled boot it would have taken it up a notch taking it from busy grandma, to cute date night look.

I have been looking for an excuse to wear this layered bead necklace, so I was happy it looked so nice with this outfit. You can also see my Fossil bag which was another second hand score. One of the things I like about these heavier cloth bags is that you don’t have to worry so much about the issues with peeling that the nylon or faux leather bags have.

Do you like using basics like these to build an outfit? How do you most often use your basic pieces? How do you dress basics up to make them more work, or event worthy? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave a comment or two below.

I’m adding a few shopping links for you to look over. These are affiliate links. If you click on a link or buy a product through the link I get a little commission. These are brought to you at no extra cost. Thank you for all your support.

Have a great week!