out of an old movie

Outfit details: F21 dress, F21 necklace, locket (had it since childhood), Steve Madden luxe flats

I love lace. I have something of an obsession with it, to be honest. I'm a sucker for vintage style, romantic looks, the glamour of bygone years... Oh, and anything English. (Lace always makes me think of Victorian England, you see.) I actually lived in the south of England for three years when I was a child, and when I first came to the states I did have a British accent, much to the amusement of my teachers, haha. Alas, I've lost it in the years since moving, but who knows, maybe I'll move back one day and regain it.

Ahem, back to the fashion. I wore this to dinner and a musical tonight. My parents and I went downtown at ate at a new Lebanese place before watching the show Hairspray!. It was fantastic, and I highly recommend looking up the music/seeing the musical. Lots of fun in typical, enjoyable, Broadway style.

Tomorrow I'm off to France. Au revoir!

print mix

Outfit details: Express t-shirt, F21 dress, F21 belt, Steve Madden wedges, bracelet from Australia (gift)

I've wanted to try the whole floral/stripes print mixing thing for a while now, so instead of putting a cardigan over this paisley-flowery dress, I put a striped shirt under it! It's something different, and it ended up working better than I thought it would. All in all, a fun, casual outfit for Friday. (Can you believe it's another weekend already? Where does the time go?)

You may notice a tan dog in the pictures. That is my dear old puppy (yes, he may be 11 but he's still my puppy) who enjoys making sneaky appearances in photos. Try getting him to pose for his own portrait? Nearly impossible. 

ink and parchment

Outfit details: F21 top, F21 skirt, F21 necklace, Clarks heels, belt from Kohls 

Black and brown (any shade) in an outfit together was something I would never have done a few years ago. Now it's one of my favorite combinations- funny how that works, huh? This skirt is one of my favorites as it goes with just about everything and isn't horribly short either. As a short person I can get away with wearing shorter things than some of my taller friends, but I think I'll always prefer longer skirts. I've often been teased about being too modest. I don't think that's a problem anymore, but on a day to day basis I like to keep covered up! (Weekends are another story, hah!)

forget me not

Outfit details: Mimi chica top (Nordstrom Rack), long cardigan (Nordstrom Rack), Delia's capris, Steve Madden wedges, gifted silver locket, silver ring from a local boutique, belt ??

They say blue flowers are the rarest. They happen to be my favorite kind. (Can you tell that I love turquoise?)When I happened upon this top with ruched sleeves and an all-over blue floral print (reminiscent of forget-me-nots), I was quite happy! I purchased it a few months back when I first began doing my summer shopping, and it really is a great blouse to welcome in the warmth and color of summertime.

Today was another day of research work, aka long hours spent at a computer going over data. At points interesting, at others exceedingly tedious. It was also muggy and hazy and hot outside, so the cool colors in my outfit were the only cool aspects of my day. I study in Chicago, which is undoubtedly a cooler climate for the majority of the time, and I am definitely a person who prefers being too cold to too hot! That said, there's nothing like a hot summer to let you be lazy and sleepy all the time in preparation for the new school year come autumn.

posh purple

Outfit details: Mimi Chica dress (Nordstrom), H&M blazer, Steve Madden luxe flats, earrings from Nordstrom, necklace (?? Macy's?)

Another day of research-intern work today, so I threw on a blazer over this purple summery frock to class it up a bit. Now, I'm not usually one for ruffles, but this dress does them right in my book, and the purple color was too pretty to pass up anyway!

In other news, I've started packing for my upcoming trip to France! This may be weird, but packing for a trip is one of my favorite things to do. It's always so fun and exciting in my opinion.
I'll be leaving on Sunday night and will be in France for two weeks, visiting my wonderful best friend, K. I don't know if I'll be able to take outfit pictures there, so maybe I'll take some shots of what I'll be wearing before I leave? We'll see.

Hope everyone had a great start to the week!

on the dot

 Outfit details: H&M dress, Modcloth belt (from a skirt), my mom's shoes (from Dillards last year)

Even before I started attempting to dress fashionably every day, I'd make it a point to dress nicely on Fridays. Why? Because Fridays bring happiness, usually get togethers with friends, dinners out, movies, general good times! And so my good mood shows in my clothing. Today was made even better because the heat wave is finally gone (until next week) and it's a beautiful breezy 75.

I love this dress, it's so light and colorful! It does have some strange bunching at the waist, so I added a belt, and to finish the outfit off, 'stole' my mom's shoes from her closet since the color was too perfect to pass up.

And now I'm off to attempt cooking some pasta. Hopefully nothing will explode/burn/die in the process. Happy weekend!

navy whites

I'd like to think this outfit has a hint of sailor-flair to it (exhibit a: stripes. exhibit b: navy and white.) but then anything with blue and white and floral is so very summer. I've had this skirt for a few months now, but was never sure how to wear it, since a lot of shirts don't work with how light and flowy it is. Then, I stumbled upon this lovely tank at Forever 21 and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it worked wonderfully! This is the first time I've tried tying a knot at the front of a shirt, and I'm glad I did, since it's really what made this outfit come together.

 Outfit details: F21 earrings, F21 tank, Frenchi skirt (via Nordstrom), Covington wedges (via Macy's), Revlon Hot Coral + MAC Russian Red on lips

It's an absolutely beautiful day today, breezy and not too hot, so it was nice to get some sunshine that wasn't going to cook me alive. Also, it's my dog's birthday! We'll probably take a nice long walk with him this evening and give him a steak to celebrate. I also managed to find a doggie birthday cake, so he's in for quite the surprise!