Holiday Dressing

Stumped with what to wear for the holiday season's gatherings and festivities?

I love holiday fashion!  I would happily wear glitter, rhinestones, velvet, and lace almost every day of the week, especially when it's cold outside.

Here's a gathering of some of the outfits I've worn so far that would be perfect for holiday parties or gatherings.

Don't like all my black?  You could easily substitute red, burgundy, emerald, silver, gold, sapphire, or winter white in places where I'm wearing black.

Happy Holidays!!!

Winter Sparkle

Casual Festive

Velvet Ingenue

Tuxedo Styling

Channeling Chanel

Birthday Suit

I Vote for Sequins, Velvet, and Tweed

Party Time! Excellent!!!

Workaday Elegance

Party Time! Excellent!!!

Today, we had our annual holiday party at work.

I wanted a festive look that was still work-appropriate.  That meant no cleavage, no short skirts, etc.

Blazer:  The Limited (Available here )
Pants:  The Limited (Available here)

Blouse:  The Limited (No longer available on-line, check local store for availability)

As you may know by now, I love menswear-inspired pieces, especially tuxedo looks.

I chose my velvet skinny pants with this sequined bib-front blouse and tuxedo blazer from my December Wish List.  To add more sparkle and feminine glamour, I added a shiny pewter clutch, these pretty vintage-inspired earrings, and patent leather black heels.  I also wore this fun ring because you know, what says "holiday" more than a rhinestone gecko?  ;-D

Ring:  Target (Available in stores; Similar here )

Purse:  Target (Available here)
Shoes:  Target (old)

Earrings:  Target (old)

I don't get nearly enough chances to wear sparkle, so today was fun!

Do you have any office-related holiday parties to attend?  What do you plan on wearing?

Workaday Elegance

Happy Thursday!!

Blouse:  LOFT Petites (Available here)
Blazer:  Gap (old) (Similar: here)

Today, I paired my outfit around this lace peplum top.  I added wide leg trousers and a black velvet peplum jacket for an elegant vintage-inspired look.

I kept the accessories minimal to let the shapes and textures of this outfit be the show.

Pants:  Express Editor wide leg trousers (old) (Similar here)

Jacket:  Back view

Shoes:  Target (old)
Tote:  The Limited (Similar here)

For more on the peplum and lace trends, see here

Dress It Up

Hi everyone!  Hope you had a great day!

Today, I paired this blue dress with my zebra print scarf.  I love animal prints, and I really enjoy mixing bold colors with black and white prints for a very graphic look.

Dress:  New York & Company (Similar:  here)
Scarf:  The Limited (old)

Blazer:  The Limited Essential Collection (Similar: here)
Tights:  Torrid (Available here)

I continually try to think of new ways to style my dresses.  They're definitely more limited than separates, but I like how wearing the scarf hides the cowl neckline of the dress giving it a bit of a different look.

Larimar ring (old):  Purchased at local jewelry show
Belt:  The Limited (Similar here)

Boots:  Payless (old)
Tote:  New York & Company (Similar here)
Earrings:  The Limited (Available here)

To see how I've style the dress differently, see here, here, and here.

How do you like to style your dresses?

Tunic Time!

Hi everyone!  On this fair Tuesday, I paired my new green and grey printed tunic with a grey blazer and what have become a recent obsession - black skinny pants.  I really love this pair with the faux leather tuxedo stripe.

Blouse: Target (Available here)Blazer:  The Limited (Available here)

I recently got this tunic from Target, and I can't wait to style it in different ways.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but I belted this top to shorten the top for work.  The tunic actually hits me just above the knee.  I think it will look great worn loose with leggings and boots.  I'm also thinking that it would be great with some grey, teal, or white skinny jeans or pants.

Purse:  Target (Available here)
Earrings:  Handmade

"Pisces" ring:  H&M
Turquoise ring:  Purchased at local jewelry show

For more on fall's leather trend, see here.
To see this blazer in other looks, see here and here. 
For more looks with the pants, see here, here, here, here, and here.

Pants: The Limited (No longer available online.  See them here)
Heels:  Target (old)

Winter Sparkle

It feels weird giving this post the title "Winter Sparkle" as we had a high in the 70s today!  Crazy!

Today's outfit was consistent with the season, if not the weather.

Cardigan:  LOFT (Available here)
Blouse:  LOFT (no longer available on-line)

Loving the luxe look of velvet, I paired my burgundy velvet pants with my rhinestone collar cardigan.

Pants:  The Limited (Available here)
Heels:  Target

The look feels "holiday" - the pants and color palette remind me a bit of Santa's suit.  The white top and rhinestone collar make me think of snow and snowflakes.

Bow earrings (Available in-store at Target)

This outfit would work well for a casual holiday party.  In fact, I may wear something similar to this for Christmas as we don't get very dressed up for holidays in my family.

Bow ring:  The Limited (old)

I do think that the flowy, lightweight top was a poor choice with velvet.  Next time, I would pick a more substantial fabric for a more consistent look.

Purse:  New York & Company (Similar here)

Do you add more sparkle to your look during the holidays?

November Budget Wrap-Up and December Wish List

Hope you all had a great month!

I'm planning my December shopping list.  This month, I'm looking for some festive holiday pieces.  I am hunting for some cozy sweaters and thinking about getting some colored denim.  My search for a mint green blouse continues.  I also have my eye on this adorable striped bow blouse from LOFT.

The Limited ivory tuxedo blazer

The Limited sequin tee

The Limited Art Deco Fan earrings

Forenza by The Limited sweater

LOFT striped bow blouse

Target skinny jeans

Now for what I did with my November budget:

I received some additional birthday money this month.  I also received a $70 rewards card through the Lucky Rewards program (see here for more discussion of this rewards program and other ways of saving money on fashion).  My budget this month jumped from $150 to $270.  I stayed within budget this month, but obviously, it was a bit of a "cheat" month since I received unexpected bonus money.

I got a couple items off my November Wish List.  I tried all three of the dresses from Target that I had my eyes on; however, none of them had a flattering fit for me.

Here's what I got this month: 

The Limited embellished neck blouse

The Limited Cassidy Fit velvet pants

The Limited dress (no longer available on-line)

The Limited tweed cardigan jacket

LOFT blouse (no longer available on-line)

LOFT ring

Target MaryJane heels

Target leopard print heels

The Limited flat-collar jacket 

LOFT jeweled collar cardigan

  
First Row:  Pants $31, Blouse $28
Second Row: Jacket and Dress $71
Third Row:  Blouse and Ring $31
Fourth Row:  Shoes  $40
Fifth Row:  Cardigan $32, Jacket $37
 Did you get any great finds last month? Planning any gifts for yourself this December?