Rainy Days and Flannel

Found this shirt for free using a $5-off  Plato's Closet Coupon!

Last Wednesday I had a fun photo shoot with my friend, Julie Pieracci, who also took pictures for Thomas and I for our 2-year-anniversary. (click here for Julie's Facebook photography page) Thank you for the great pictures, Julie!

Today I wanted to discuss plaid flannel. If I'm going out in public I usually don't like to wear flannel shirts; when worn alone I feel they are too casual and not particularly feminine. However, if worn correctly a girl can look cute instead of looking like she rolled out of bed and grabbed her lumberjack husband's shirt because she forgot to do laundry.

First is the shirt itself. The two flannel shirts I own have feminine details and something unusual about them; The one I'm wearing for the photo shoot is shaped more like a tunic, is gathered at the chest, and has a neat pattern underneath that can be seen when I roll up the sleeves. You don't have to find an unusual flannel shirt to wear one successfully, but it's something to consider.

My other two suggestions for wearing flannel:

1. Wear flannel with elegant accessories: I chose to wear my shirt with my favorite feather earrings, a sparkly hair barrette, and a black scarf to highlight them. The accessories turn a flannel outfit from comfy casual to comfy chic.

2. Wear flannel with dressier pants; stay away from worn out looking jeans and cheap leggings, instead look for fitted black pants or dark denim jeans.

Once again, Thank you, Julie!
I hope you all have lots of fun with your flannel shirts this winter,

~Rachel

Outfit Details: Before and After

Last week I talked about the importance of details in an outfit, so it is only appropriate that I give an example of this. The first outfit isn't horrible, but since I wasn't paying attention to the details of shoe choice and accessories it was not particularly memorable. 

To fix the outfit I first changed my shoes. Boots are incredibly comfortable and much more stylish than gym shoes. The boots also balance out the snugness of the pants, and tie in to the tan theme of the shirt and cardigan so the pants look adventurous instead of random. The necklace is a nice finishing touch.

The moral of this story is to pay careful attention to your shoes and always add an accessory before you head out the door.

~Rachel 

From Good to Great: The Power of Details

 What takes an outfit from just okay to extraordinary? What is the difference between an ordinary item of clothing and a designer item of clothing? What makes a boutique shopping experience more memorable than a quick stop at Target?

The answer to this question is attention to detail.

The scarf you throw on before you run out the door will get your outfit compliments. A designer cardigan will have a thoughtful detail like a row of stunning buttons or an unusual ruffle. A special boutique will carefully select store perfumes, tissue paper, and pretty bags to send you home with a special memory (which makes us spend more money; just something to think about!). Details are very important.

If you want your outfits to be special and unique, pay attention to the little things:

1. Challenge yourself to wear an accessory every day
2. Consider changing out the buttons on a coat or cardigan to make it more interesting
3. Be diligent with painting your nails (I struggle with this one, I recently ran out of nail polish remover!)
4. Pay special attention to your shoes, they are one of the first things noticed in an outfit.

It took me a long time to understand the importance of details. Often they are the last thing we think about when we put an outfit together, but strangely they are the first thing noticed by strangers. When I receive a compliment it is always for an accessory; no one ever screams "Oh my gosh! I love your basic black blazer!" (although I would argue the basic black blazer is the very important foundation for your accessory).

The best part? Accessories are usually very inexpensive.

~Rachel

Dreaming of Purple

There is something very romantic about purple. I love to add it's opposite color, yellow, to add a little visual interest!

I bought this purple shirts for 30 cents using a ten-dollar-off coupon at Kohls. It's long and looks great over slim-leg pants.

My sister knit this beautiful, dusty lavender scarf and gave it to me for Christmas! You can save a lot of money by learning how to knit. 

I bought these adorable purple vans at the Van outlet in Gilroy. My brother bought a pair as well, so we shared the discount and got our shoes half-off the retail price. 

I wanted to add an everyday lavender touch to my wardrobe, so I bought an inexpensive bottle of nail polish to try it out. I found this bottle of Sally Hansen at Target for about $2.40. 

Have a fabulous day! Take some pictures of your favorite things : )

Dresses and Creating Romance

Think about the following questions for a moment. Would you wear a cheap t-shirt and exercise pants on a first date? Do you celebrate birthdays in your pajamas? Do you want to get married in a pair of jeans? No, of course not. We recognize (hopefully) that special events require special clothes because clothing has the ultimate power of setting the mood of an occasion. What is truly astonishing is many of us do not realize the power our clothes have within our everyday life. For this reason I love to create romance in my life by wearing lovely dresses, skirts, long earrings, lipstick, and feminine shoes.

Next weekend I am going to visit Thomas at his college, whom I won't have seen for three long weeks. I am not going to show up wearing some cheap thing from Forever 21. I want to honor the occasion and create a special memory by wearing something beautiful, and although I might have to wear pants (everyone bicycles in Davis!), I will be very careful to keep the outfit romantic.

The fail-proof way to create romance is to just throw on a dress, but not a poorly made, ill-fitting dress. I chose three of my favorite dresses (found all heavily discounted) to show you. One dress used to be $98, marked down to $20, and the other two were about $200 each, marked down to $50 and $18. These are dresses soaked in romance; I think of them as fairy dresses because they are so lovely and unique. These are dresses to be proposed in, dresses to read Jane Austen novels in under a shady tree, and dresses to meet life-changing friends in.

 I found the dress above at Banana Republic on sale for $18. I kept wanting to put a belt around it, but my mom convinced me it didn't need one because the fabric is so delicate and graceful. She was right. To balance out the flowing of the dress I put my hair up and wore my delicate snakeskin sandals.

  I found the orange dress at Marshalls for $20. It is so comfortable, and I love how the unique detailing around the waist emphasizes my feminine figure. I paired it with a cardigan of the opposite color to give the outfit pop. My friend gave me the pretty necklace, thank you, Sarah!

This is my favorite dress. I believe it's by Free People (I'm wearing it while I type this blog, so I am not going to check the tag!). I found it on sale for about $50 at Macy's a few years ago, and I was able to choose it for a Christmas present from my Grandpa. Thank goodness, because I was a cashless wonder, as my mother would say. It is incredibly romantic and lacy. The crystal beading around the neck allows me to forget a necklace. I'm wearing my Born wedges, and my free trade earrings. 

I hope this post inspired you to create a little romance in your wardrobe! I must thank my dearest Dad for taking all these pictures of me today, even though he was trying to watch football and make pancakes. I love you, Daddy!

Responsible Buying and Fair Trade

I had the opportunity to hear a message recently about how buying goods through fair trade is important, perhaps even more important than donating to a charity, because it allows individuals to rise out of poverty and slavery with a sense of dignity and self-sufficiency. By making and selling goods through fair trade, each person who participates is able to break out of the cycle of poverty because they can take care of themselves and feel good about the work they do. I had heard the term "fair trade" before, but I learned there is a Trade as One website (click here) where I can easily buy things I want and need. The only problem is that not enough people know about this organization, which is why it's really important to me to share this with you!

Thankfully there were beautiful items to be purchased out in the lobby after the message. I was delighted with the beauty and quality of everything, and I found two treasures I had to show you all.

Click here to see the scarf.

I asked my friend, Cassie, to model the scarf for me. Doesn't she look beautiful? I love this scarf because it is so soft and colorful. I’m planning on giving it as a Christmas gift. It was made in India and supports artisans who would otherwise be exploited. I’m tempted to order another one for myself.

Click here to see the earrings.

The proceeds from the beautiful chandelier earrings I am wearing support women in India and Nepal and save them from poverty. They add a nice touch of color to my outfit, and they are the perfect weight for wearing all day. I like to wear them with my hair pulled back so you can see the earrings in all their glory!

Tradeasone.com has many different items besides accessories, you can click here to see what else they offer. I have posted a few pictures of other accessories from the Trade as One website that are my favorites:

I love this bag, it would match everything I own! Click here.

Wouldn't this look gorgeous over a loose tunic? Click here.

Mmmm fall colors! Click here.

So pretty. Click here.

Cassie and I had a lot of fun modeling for this post, and I hope you have some new, great ideas for accessories for yourself. I also found Christmas present ideas; wouldn't it feel great to get an early start on Christmas shopping and use your money to make a difference?

~Rachel 

p.s. The adorable dress I am wearing was only five dollars at Savers.

Pretty in Prints

There are some fabulous prints out there, but if you are on a strict budget it is essential to know what patterned clothing items shouldn't be bought if you want to optimize the usability of your wardrobe.

Patterns stand out in our minds more than solid colors do, so if you are going to buy an item of clothing that you plan on wearing almost every day, or even once a week, do not buy it in a print. I wear my coats, jackets, and cardigans often so I buy all my outerwear in solid colors. For example, let’s say you are looking at two gorgeous trench coats. One is navy blue, and the other has a red and white polka-dot pattern. If you don’t want to draw attention to the fact that you wear the same old coat every day, the navy blue would be a more practical choice.

If you have limited funds and polka dots are your favorite pattern in the world, buy an inexpensive scarf or shirt with polka dots. Prints are a great way to punctuate your wardrobe if worn sparingly and tastefully. 

Another item I never want to buy in a print (If I can only buy one) is a purse. If I can only afford to buy one purse, it needs to be a solid that matches all of my creative outfits. The crazy purses can come after I have found all my essential pieces and have saved up enough.

~Rachel