WEAR | Long and Cropped, & Why I'm Doing Style Posts

Booties | Anthropologie (last year)    Sweater | Anthropologie     

Maxi Dress | Anthropologie ( similar here & here )

I started up these style posts again knowing full well I had no time to scout out pretty building fronts and locations as my style backdrops. Style posts went silent for months, until yesterday, because I just couldn't wing them. It was too much time and planning. What held me back was the production of it all. You know, making a trip to River North to stand in front of a bright warehouse door in an outfit that I do wear, yes, but that I planned out to a T for the shoot; making Matt go with me, and finding somewhere to be photographed that wasn't surrounded by people. I so admire fashion bloggers, who walk the streets of places like Nashville and New York turning heads while being trailed by their photographer. But for me, that's just not my thing - you know? 

Maybe I'm more of an introvert style blogger. I love pretty things and I love making myself feel like a piece of art, and expressing myself through clothing. I have no problem doing that in real time, in person, face to face. However, blogging it is different. And it never felt completely natural for me to go and do full on photo shoots for blog posts. I still am a bit modest and don't like to be showy (which can be a real fine line with blogging at times), so at first style posts felt truly uncomfortable. I mean, I sell clothes daily at my job, and put together head to toe looks for myself and others hundreds of times - but to blog about it became too much for me. I think the novelty wore off a bit, and it started to feel unnatural to make Matt fill in as photographer while I posed in front of buildings. Not to be confused with a lack of confidence. I always felt great in what I was wearing and my inner and outer beauty, but I just didn't want to spend my time trudging Matt to take my photo. It's somewhat hard to explain, but I bet some of you can follow my sentiments. Truly, for our marriage, our time together is spent more organically on bike rides, working on our house, adventuring, and being with friends - not on style posts. SO, I stopped asking him to take my photo for style posts, set them on the back burner entirely, yet continued getting dressed every day with WEAR posts completely out of sight and mind.

Now here I sit. Adding words to a style post after saying that I don't do style posts. Well, this week things shifted. My dear friend Anne, who has such great style, started talking about maybe chronicling her personal looks on her blog - my response was a resounding YES! I really want her to do it. But Anne is a busy lady. I mean, she blogs full time, is a student and wife full time, and is somehow always in Boulder doing a million things. I don't know how she does it. And I want her to blog her style. So to support Anne and show her that style posts can be done in the moment and with ease, I decided it was time for me to do them again - but this time differently. When I decided to pick up sharing my own style on here again, I chose to do it the most realistic way I could - in the moment, in what I literally step out the door and go to work in, and what I might have truly just figured out five minutes prior while juggling feeding the dog, making coffee, and making sure my teeth are brushed. I decided my wear posts are going to be completely, one hundred percent, real. Like, if you bump into me later that day, I will be wearing that outfit. And I might have taken all the photos myself. (With my phone. In my house. With Shelby photo bombing.) Because for me, this is the most natural and genuine way I can share who I am in what I am wearing. It just feels the most honest and true.

So I hope you stick with my not so perfect style posts.  I hope you feel inspired. I really find so much joy in putting together a head to toe look for both myself and other women, to help them feel confident and radiate the beauty inside, and I hope that you can see that here in this little blog space of mine.

Happy weekend, beauties.

p.s. Go tell Anne she should blog her stylish self.

WEAR | Peruvian Scarf

Dress // Thrifted   Earrings // Anthropologie Sale  

 Scarf // Hand-made in Peru   Knee Socks // H&M   Boots // Steve Madden

My Peruvian scarf is the comfort blanket of scarves. Made of alpaca, and purchased on our travels in the Sacred Valley last year, it has become my go-to scarf. Even being as bright red as it is, I find it works with nearly everything. Every girl needs a scarf in their wardrobe that when they close their eyes, it feels like that are wrapped up in a warm blanket in the sanctuary of their bed. That and knee high socks. Boots and knee highs are like PB & J. You can't have one without the other.

{Fabric & Threads} Blazer, Drop Down Waist, Leggings.

In this series I've been sharing with you a few of my favorite outfits. When I went shopping for work clothes, for more suitable Downtown business attire, I knew I wanted a navy blazer. And I also knew I did not want to spend a fortune. I ended up finding a blazer at Charlotte Russe (believe it or not) for $20. It really has pulled together so many of my work looks. Worn with a t-shirt and trousers, over dresses, and to make jeans a bit more dressy on casual Fridays, it really is the most versatile piece in my closet this fall. And I love that it is lined with a silky fabric (navy with polkadot hearts), so that when the sleeves are rolled, a bit of the pattern peeks out! The blazer combined with navy knit leggings and a drop waist shift dress make the outfit casual cute yet put together for the workplace. The purse is the most costly item in the entire look (from my trip to Rome!) and the turtle necklace I bought at a car show in Burbank, California (random, yes). The shoes and leggings are hand me downs (thanks, mom!). Leaving just the drop down dress, which was a sale item at Anthropologie. I wore this outfit to work today actually, and the children wanted my necklace! It spurred on many renditions of "I had a tiny turtle, his name was tiny Tim, I put him in the bathtub, to see if he could swim...." I hope you are enjoying this series! 

xo,

Lauren

PS.  Anyone else notice that this outfit coordinates so perfectly with my last DIY project?  I just did!

Fabric & Threads: Paisley, Cords, and Polkadots

If you know my everyday style, you know that I often mix prints. One of my lovely readers asked if I could share a bit on my print and pattern mixing. Being such a visual person myself, I thought that showing you photos every now and again of my daily looks may be of some inspiration to you, especially if they combine prints and colors you may not have thought of before! (HERE you can see the past Fabric & Threads post). This year I feel my personal style has both matured yet also brought back parts of my past. As a teenager, mostly what I wore was thrifted and vintage. I lost that zest for the thrift through my college years, and now with a love for being frugal and finding a bargain, thrifting is back in my life, and also allows for interesting patterns and pieces of the past to be a part of my wardrobe again. I can also say I feel a bit braver in my personal style. Feeling more confident in my own skin and in the layers beneath the fabric and threads has really made me more daring to try bold prints and trends I might not have tried in the past. And when I say layers, what I really mean is that I have grown in my confidence as a woman, in my inner beauty, and have learned to embrace my imperfections and be thankful for the body I have.

Mixing Prints for Fall:

This look incorporates skinny floral corduroys, a polkadot wedge top, grey suede ankle boots, and a top knot. The patterns and tones are subtle, yet compliment each other. The blousey top paired with the skinnies creates a fun sillohuette. Corduroy for fall is perfect, especially in colors like plum, eggplant, mustard yellow, and navy. Let's keep colors in the season, shall we? And of course the booties are in right now, but I would love them regardless of the trend. They're a great boot option while it is still eighty degrees out (no sweaty calves!). I'll have you know ALL of these items were purchased for my work wardrobe revamp. And ALL were purchased on sale! Paired with other items in my closet, a more formal work look can be put together with each piece. But on the weekend, I can wear all three of these elements together and BOOM a playful look for day and night. What is a print combo or look that you are loving for fall?

top ANN TAYLOR | corduroys ANN TAYLOR | booties TARGET