Getting Nautical

As a lover of novelty prints, it's no surprise that this boats print dress by UK designer Emily and Fin is a part of my wardrobe. Unfortunately the top part of this cut has a tendency to billow out a little and sit weird, but I loved the print so much that I had the top altered to fit better. For this reason though I'm hesitant to buy more dresses from them, as cute as they are! I got this dress sometime last year and I decided to take pictures wearing it at a local hiking trail (these pictures aren't recent). Anytime my hair is its true dark brown color you know the pictures are older since I'm currently a lighter brown/caramel ;).

By the Lakeside

This past weekend I was down in San Diego visiting my boyfriend and we discovered this really pretty lake close to his place. I can't believe we hadn't been there before! It's definitely our new picnic (and outfit-photoshoot) spot ;). There seem to be so many pretty places in San Diego and I love finding somewhere new. I love taking pictures in nature because the background is always so pretty, but I couldn't help feeling a bit out of place being this dressed up at the lake. Maybe it's just me, but I felt like people in their workout or otherwise casual clothes were looking at me all weird! I hope some good pictures came out of it at least :). 

The dress I'm wearing is by the brand Taylor. I joined a clothing swap group on Facebook last year and a few months ago I was lucky enough to score this dress in exchange for a dress I don't wear anymore. It's the best feeling to swap out "old" clothes for new ones!

Details of the belt, necklace, and print of the dress.

I love the back cut-out of this dress. It's shows some skin but in a totally classy way! I think this dress is better suited for more formal events. I wore it for my sister's graduation in June and I can't wait for an occasion to wear it again :).

Dress: ModCloth (similar here). 

Necklace: ModCloth (similar here).

Heels: ALDO Frited Heel (similar here).

Belt: Sidecca

Colors of Summer

I have accumulated so many outfit pictures on my computer from the past year, and I'm so excited to eventually feature all of them! Today I'm sharing one of my favorite color combinations for clothing; red, yellow, and green. Knowing yellow is my favorite color, last Christmas my boyfriend got me this polka-dot skirt and chose a green top to go with it. I thought it was really sweet that he put time into putting an outfit together for me. I'd never worn yellow and green together before, and I loved how this outfit ended up turning out. I feel like the front bow-tie gives an otherwise plain top a little character and the solid color goes well with the polka-dot pattern of the skirt. I added red shoes and accessories to complete the look. The bright colors remind me of summertime, and Skittles candy (without the purples)! :)

These pictures were taken at the lovely Balboa Park in San Diego, California. The park is so big, and there are so many pretty spots! I just had to include so many of the ones we took. Hope you enjoy!

Bernie Dexter: Cafés & Boutiques!

For the past few months I’ve had my eyes on Bernie Dexter dresses. I adore the pinup/retro look of her clothing line and find her dresses to be so fun, feminine, and flattering at the same time. I’d seen other girls styling her dresses, and having heard amazing things about the quality and fit, I felt like I was long overdue for owning a Bernie myself.

With the price tag being on the higher end of my usual limit, I was hoping for a sale opportunity to come by so I could finally make my purchase. Last week, thanks to a clothing swap group that I’m a part of on Facebook, I was finally able to score the lovely dress I’m featuring today (thanks Katie!). I never felt more excited waiting for a dress to come in the mail than I did for this one! It fits me like an absolute dream. The cut of the dress is super flattering, and I love the shoulders and the neckline. The details of the print are simply to die for. A child can probably play “house” on the fabric of this dress for hours. There is a boutique, a florist, a chocolate shop, a bakery, and a café. It makes me wish I was in Paris!

I had the perfect occasion to wear it this past weekend too. On Sunday, my boyfriend’s family had me over for BBQ at their house, and knowing their backyard is a perfect place for pictures, I was super excited to put an outfit together. Taking pictures there only meant one thing for my boyfriend, that he would have the pleasure of being the photographer! He doesn’t necessarily mind, and he’s been so supportive of my evolving style and my utter need to have pictures taken of every outfit. He and my sister are usually the ones subjected to taking pictures, and even though they're good sports about it, I should really look into investing in a tripod and a wireless remote!

I decided to style my Veronique Dress in High Street Print with coral accessories. I wore a handmade orange flower in my hair and my coral BAITs (same style in red here). I added my own black belt from Sidecca and decided on my new favorite Sourpuss Floozy purse in black and white. I'm also wearing a black knee-length petticoat from Leg Avenue under my dress for fullness. I hope you enjoy the pictures! :)

P.S. This definitely isn't my last Bernie purchase!

Featuring My Green Fit-and-Flare Dress

I’m so excited to finally start posting! I’d been waiting to have my blog design all done before I made any posts. Thanks to Joyce of Joyful Outfits, I have a new layout that I absolutely love!

As my first outfit post I am going to choose one of the first dresses I ordered from ModCloth.com. Funny story how I discovered ModCloth, by the way. About a year and half ago, my boyfriend and I were celebrating our third-year-dating anniversary at The Penthouse, which is the restaurant at the very top of the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica. As the hostess was walking us to our table, she took one glance at my outfit and said, “Your style is so vintage! Do you shop from ModCloth?” This is what I was wearing that night at the Huntley: 

At home later that night, I checked out the site and browsing through I loved so many of the items I was seeing. In the past it’d been so hard to find circle skirts, fit-and-flare dresses, or clothing with novelty prints at my usual go-to stores. My style has evolved ever since I became part of the ModCloth community!

Since graduating college and being out of school for two years now (sheesh time flies), I have had more time to focus on my interests (meanwhile secretly hoping to find my calling in life). I was lucky to have gotten a full-time job shortly after graduating which has helped support my expenditures. Outside of work I like to shop (of course), paint (which I need to make more time for), and really just do anything fun that I hadn’t had time to do while in school.

Anyway, onto today’s outfit post! Around Thanksgiving last year, I bought this lovely green dress by the UK-based brand Closet Clothing. This dress was my first fit-and-flare and I loved it so much I told my boyfriend that we just had to find somewhere really nice to go for pictures. He suggested the Cleveland National Forest (he joked and said I would match the greenery) and we made a road trip out of it! We drove through the forest's twisty roads and stopped a few times to take pictures. By the end of the day we got to the little town of Julian. One of their local stores was selling farmer's market type goods so we bought some honey, coconut oil, and a variety of nuts to take home. The photos I’ll be sharing are from that day. Hope you enjoy! :)

Dress: Luck Be A Lady Dress in Green

Necklace: ModCloth

Shoes: ModCloth