Fair Isle Sparkle

 

I am so ready to finally get into fun, holiday outfits! There are so many great fabrics for the holiday season, such as plaid, sequins, and velvet. This outfit combines two of those fabrics: sequins and velvet. I also love that you can mix these traditionally dressy fabrics with more casual pieces for an unexpected, quirky twist on holiday style. That is exactly what I did with this J. Crew Fair Isle sweater, pairing it with a rose gold colored sequin skirt and these rose colored velvet Mary Janes. I think this outfit definitely starts off the holiday season with a bang! Below are some other sparkly skirts to get your holiday dressing off to a sparkly start!

 

 

The other thing that I love about this time of the year is that it finally looks like fall here in Los Angeles, which I realize puts us behind the rest of the country.  During the week of Thanksgiving, all of the leaves went from green to brilliant shades of orange and yellow in just a few days. I'm trying to get out and enjoy as much of the fall foliage as possible while it lasts!

 

Sweater: J. Crew here

Skirt: J. Crew similar here, here and here

Shoes: Kate Spade similar here, here and here

Bag: Chanel

 

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Rainbow Pom Pom Sweater

 

It's no secret that I love all things rainbow! I also love sweaters with pom poms! So, when you put the two together, it's a winner, in my book! As you can imagine, I was thrilled when I discovered this rainbow pom pom sweater from Farm Rio! It's pretty much everything I could ask for in a sweater! My husband asked me if I already had a similar sweater and my answer was both yes and no. Yes, I do have a short sleeved sweater from Kate Spade that also has colorful pom poms on it but it's very lightweight and I only wear it in the spring. This sweater, on the other hand, is perfect for winter!

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Speaking of winter, I think this might be my last post featuring a winter outfit, as we are moving into the month of March this week and spring is right around the corner. Obviously, this time of year is perfect for snatching up sweaters, coats and other cold weather items on sale but I think my upcoming posts will focus more on looking ahead to spring! The weather here has been all over the place with some very cool days (one day this week it was in the 30s when I got up!) while some days are in the 90s, which, obviously, makes dressing difficult. While I enjoy the cooler weather, I am definitely looking forward to spring fashion!

 

Sweater: Farm Rio here and here

Pants: Old Navy similar jeans here

Shoes: J. Crew similar here

Bag: Chanel similar orange bag here, here and here

 

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Getting Carried Away on Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I know that some people, even those in relationships, have mixed feelings about celebrating the holiday but, in my opinion, it's fun to get at least a little carried away with it! While my husband and I usually don't make a big deal out of the day, we always do something to celebrate, such as having a special dinner together and getting one another gifts. I also like to celebrate by dressing up in hearts, the color red, or anything that fits the Valentine's Day theme! This outfit with my red lace skirt and grey bejeweled sweater would make for a perfect outfit to celebrate the occasion, even though, technically, I wore it last week. The red of the skirt and, of course, my heart bag and heart sunglasses are all a nod to Valentine's Day without being too over the top, which is the perfect balance, in my opinion!

Speaking of things that are over the top, I had the "brilliant" idea to jump on the blogger bandwagon and get some heart balloons for this particular shoot. While I don't usually use props in my photos and while I realize that it's a bit of a cliche, I still thought it would be cute to try. What I didn't take into account was that it was a bit windy on the day I decided to do this, so it was really hard to get the balloons to behave. The balloons and my hair were both flying around all over the place, which made for some pretty bad pictures! Luckily, my photographer husband was very patient and made sure I got some great shots, which is why I love him so much! Well, there are a lot of reasons why I love him but anyone who puts up with my crazy ideas like he does is definitely my perfect Valentine!

Sweater: J. Crew here
Skirt: J. Crew similar here
Bag: Target similar heart bag here
Shoes: Christian Louboutin
Sunglasses: St. Laurent here, budget version here

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Copy Cat Coat

Believe it or not, I actually have this Daphne tweed topcoat from J. Crew in three colors! That's how much I adore it! The first two colors, green and yellow, were acquired last year. This year, I loved this pink color so much that I had to purchase it yet again. The fact that the coat was marked an extra 60% off also factored heavily into my decision to buy it yet again! Once it arrived, I couldn't wait to wear it, especially once I got some inspiration for how to style it. This particular outfit with the Burgundy sweater and pink pants was inspired by a mannequin that I spied last weekend at J. Crew. When I came into the store and saw my coat and this lovely color palette, I whipped out my phone to capture the look for future reference. As it turns out, it was pretty easy to recreate the outfit, as I already had most of the pieces or similar ones in my closet!

I did, however, add my own touch to the look. For example, the idea of adding the leopard loafers was all me! The other thing that the outfit on the mannequin lacked was this gorgeous butterfly brooch! My husband was skeptical that I would get much use out of this particular purchase, which he deemed overpriced, however, I would like to think that I have proven him wrong because I've already worn it several times since it arrived last week! It's truly the perfect accent to any look, be it pinned on a scarf or on the collar of a coat like this one. I also love the way the butterfly seems right at home among this wall of pretty, yellow flowers!

Above, you will see the inspiration for the look I created in this post! As I stated before, except for the coat, all of the other pieces I already had in my closet. All in all, I think I did a pretty good job recreating the look and I think I'm going to be on the lookout more often for inspiring mannequins!

Coat: J. Crew here
Sweater: similar cashmere sweater here
Pants: similar here
Shoes: here
Pin: Loren Hope similar here and here
Bag: Mansur Gavriel here

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Pops of Color

It's hard to believe but I used to have a lot of black and darker colors in my wardrobe. Now, whenever I have an article of clothing that's black and white, I always find a way to incorporate some pop of color into the outfit to make it more fun. Take, for example, these wolfstooth pants: while they would look chic with just a black sweater, the addition of my bright yellow sweater and pink bow flats definitely takes it to the next level! It's worth noting that these satin pink bow flats (also available here) are now on sale. If you've been following my blog for the last few months, you will know that I have been wearing them non-stop! They've definitely become my go to shoes for this season and, hopefully, for years to come!

Speaking of color, this wall behind me just happened to be the perfect backdrop to my outfit but it was totally unplanned. Originally, I had mapped out another wall near this particular area of the Arts District of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the wall scene in Los Angeles is very ephemeral and the mural I had planned on using was covered in graffiti. It was time to figure out a plan B quick, as the sun was setting on the city but, luckily, I remembered seeing this colorful mural on the side of a building, so I decided it would do in a pinch. To be honest, I think it may have worked out even better than the backdrop I had originally wanted to use, so I can't complain!

Sweater: H&M here
Pants: J. Crew similar houndstooth pants here
Shoes: J. Crew here and here
Bag: Milly similar rainbow clutch here

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Pattern Mixing with a Colorful Striped Sweater

I love the cool, rainy weather we've had here in Southern California lately! For starters, it finally feels and looks like fall, even though we are almost into winter. Second, the weather has provided me with the opportunity to wear a lot of my fall and winter sweaters and coats. One new acquisition to my sweater collection is this colorful chunky sweater from Gap. I picked it up a few weeks ago during Gap's Cyber Monday Sale but Gap continues to have some great deals throughout the holiday season, so you can probably also pick it up for a steal. While I don't shop that often at Gap, I always seem to buy one or two sweaters from them every winter because they always have some really fun and colorful sweaters around the holidays!

As you may know, I'm a big fan of pattern mixing, so in this outfit I am mixing it up with a striped sweater and wide leg plaid pants. Normally, I might wear this sweater with some jeans and boots, especially rain boots, given the rainy weather we've had lately, but I thought this time around I would make the sweater a little bit more dressy! As you can see, this is a versatile sweater that I am sure I will be enjoying for rainy falls and winters for years to come!

Sweater: Gap here
Pants: Banana Republic here
Shoes: J. Crew here
Bag: J. Crew

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Just Us Chickens

Last month, I was watching the television show Last Man Standing and saw the character Mandy wearing this chicken sweater. I loved the sweater so much that I immediately Googled "chicken sweater" in order to find it. Luckily, there are not a lot of chicken sweaters on the market, so it was very easy to find! (Actually, there are a lot of sweaters for chickens to wear but that's another story!) Well, I waited for the sweater to go on sale, which it recently did, and then I treated myself to it as an after Christmas present to me, from me!

This is one of those sweaters that would look fabulous with jeans but I thought I would dress it up a little bit with a blue and white check shirt, a wool herringbone skirt and some brown leather boots. It's a very classic look but with a quirky twist because of the chicken! I also have another chicken sweater that I bought at least five years ago from J. Crew (the chicken on it is wearing a French beret!) but I'm glad that I added this chicken sweater to my collection because, obviously, you can never have too many chicken sweaters!

Sweater: Clare V. here
Skirt: Brooks Brothers similar here and here
Shirt: J. Crew here
Boots: Christian Louboutin similar brown boots here
Bag: Clare V. here

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