Valentine's Day Blazers

 

While blazers might not be the most romantic article of clothing, there are plenty of blazer options that are perfect for Valentine's Day! This red and pink houndstooth blazer is, in my opinion, perfect for Valentine's Day! Red and pink is one of my favorite color combos, especially this time of the year.  I think this blazer, when paired with a feminine tulle skirt, makes for the perfect Valentine's Day look. Below, you will find some other wonderful blazer options that I love for Valentine's Day, or any occasion!

 

 

I'd like to think that this outfit is very Carrie Bradshaw in the opening credits of Sex in the City! In fact, when I was getting ready the morning I took these photos, my husband commented that this look was very reminiscent of Carrie's. This inspired me to make a reel with me in this skirt, sans blazer, to the theme music of the show that I will be posting to Instagram in the upcoming weeks!

 

Blazer: here and here

Tank: here

Skirt: similar mini tulle skirt

Clutch: similar pink satin clutch

Shoes: similar pink pumps

Sunglasses: here

 

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Houndstooth with a Pop of Color

 

Houndstooth is one of my favorite prints! I think I first fell in love with it with No Doubt's iconic "Hey Baby" music video, which came out a long time ago, so I might be dating myself. Anyway, I loved Gwen Stefani's head to toe houndstooth look in that video and I have been trying to find a way to duplicate it with my own twist ever since! My outfit here features a smart houndstooth blazer and, while it might not scream "rockstar, it is work appropriate yet still fun and playful thanks to some pops of color with my J. Crew Hayden pants, Kate Spade Taxi Flats, and colorful clutch! Below, you can shop some similar houndstooth blazers that I love.

 

Speaking of dating myself, I took these photos at a scenic college campus, which brought back memories of my college days. I used to feel like I wasn't that far removed from college students and could fit in not that long ago. However, in the last five years, especially since turning 40, I have now realized how I am closer in age to their parents than to them! While I used to keep up with the latest movies and music, I'm now very out of touch with popular culture. (Does anyone care about No Doubt anymore?) Still, like a fine wine, I like to think that I'm getting better with age! Getting back to Gwen Stefani, I think that she's one celebrity that has aged well, so maybe I can follow in her footsteps in both fashion and in aging gracefully!

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Jacket: Zara similar here and here

Pants: J. Crew here

Shoes: Kate Spade here and here

Clutch: Milly similar here and here

 

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You Can Stand Under My Umbrella

Forever 21 isn't a place where I do a lot of shopping, as much of their clothing seems to be geared for people who are actually under the age of 21 as opposed to people like me who are well over the age of 21! Sometimes, however, you do hit the jackpot with a few wearable items that are cute no matter what your age. Take, for example, this adorable umbrella blouse. You could easily wear it with jeans or dress it up like I have done in this post with a smart skirt for a polished look for work.

Originally, I thought it would be fun to wear this blouse on a rainy day with an umbrella; however, we have literally had about three days of rain this winter in Los Angeles! In fact, it's been an unseasonably dry and hot winter here, so much so that on Friday, when Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and predicted that there would be six more weeks of winter, the mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, took it upon himself to tweet a picture of palm trees and sunshine and write that, "Six more weeks of winter, Ya, we can live with that." It's no wonder that people look at Angelenos with such contempt! Personally, I actually am wishing for more rain and cooler, cloudy weather but I guess the grass is always greener on the other side!

Shirt: Forever 21 here
Skirt: J. Crew similar houndstooth pencil skirt here
Bag: J. Crew
Shoes: J. Crew similar gold loafers here
Sunglasses: Celine

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Modern Classic Style

I'm never 100% sure how to describe my style, except that it's usually colorful! Occasionally it's a little preppy, often it's pretty classic, and sometimes it's a little bit more fun and out there. Most days I tend to take classics and give them a little bit of an edge through either really bold colors or unexpected prints. People have different facets to their personality, so why not have a wardrobe that reflects that? No matter what my style might be, one thing's for sure and that's that this outfit is pretty classic from from head to toe.

If you've read my blog, I'm sure you know that houndstooth is one of my all time favorite prints! I certainly don't need anything else that's houndstooth and I've said that a million times on my blog, however, this wool houndstooth skirt from Talbot's was deeply discounted. In fact, it was under $30, which isn't bad compared to its original $100 price tag, so at that price, who cares if I have too much houndstooth?

Last of all, the modern part of the title of this post obviously comes from this Mondrian inspired wall. I've taken pictures at this wall twice before and the lighting is never quite right, but it still makes for some fun pictures. On our most recent visit to this wall, a bunch of girls were taking a group photo with lots and lots of balloons. Apparently, they were not phased by the less than ideal lighting, so why should I?

Skirt: Talbots here
Sweater: J. Crew similar here
Bag: Gucci here
Shoes: J.Crew "Elwood" velvet bow pump here
Earrings: BaubleBar here
Sunglasses: Prada "Baroque" here

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Happy in Houndstooth

Lately, I've been giving a lot of love to all of my plaid print items in anticipation of Christmas and, although I do adore plaid, I think one of my favorite patterns of all time is houndstooth! Houndstooth is a great pattern because it's classic but it's also modern as well, because it's a graphic; it's the best of both worlds! I have a lot of houndstooth items, ranging from shoes to skirts to blazers, but the one thing that was missing from my houndstooth collection was a coat! That's why I was so happy to find this houndstooth coat from SheIn, which was also a great deal at only $35! Currently, my coat is sold out, but SheIn has an equally fantastic houndstooth coat here that's even less at only $22!

Luckily, this coat arrived just in time for the "cooler" weather here in Los Angeles. Originally, I was thinking of doing an outfit featuring this coat with all black and white, which would be abnormal for me since I adore color so much. Well, I couldn't quite do the all black and white thing, so I added a few pops of colors in the form of my Kate Spade taxi cab flat shoes, rainbow clutch, and pink sunglasses. All of these accessories really pop against the black and white of the houndstooth, which just another reason why I adore this print so much, because it's so versatile!

Jacket: c/o SheIn similar houndstooth jacket here
Sweater: Zara similar jeweled collar sweater here and here
Jeans: J. Crew
Clutch: Milly similar rainbow clutch here
Shoes: Kate Spade Taxi Flat here, here and here
Sunglasses: Alice and Olivia here

All of the Colors!

My husband and I went to a French restaurant last weekend, so of course I had to break out this fun sweatshirt from J. Crew that lists a variety of different colors in French. I've had the sweatshirt for a while now, but, like with a lot of things, I just never got around to wearing it. Since the weather was a little cooler this weekend, it was the perfect time to wear it while indulging in some good French food! (French food and fashion of course, just happen to be among my favorite things!)

Although this sweatshirt came out for winter, I put a springtime touch on the outfit with the addition of a pink houndstooth skirt. This skirt is from quite a few years ago, but it's one of my favorites and it goes with so many things in my wardrobe; I'm always reinventing it! Even though it's an older piece, I did find a very similar houndstooth skirt from a different retailer that you can shop below.

Last but not least, let me just comment on this wall, which, like my sweatshirt, is so colorful. (This is actually the same wall as the one here.) I purposely used a different part of it for variety and also out of necessity because there was an older gentlemen on a stool having his photo professionally taken for what seemed like a very long time, making that part of the wall unusable. It's always fun to see the people who, like myself, are hardcore wall enthusiasts! I think it takes a special type of crazy to actively seek out walls for photos!

Sweatshirt: J. Crew French Color Sweatshirt here
Skirt: J. Crew similar here
Bag: Coach similar here
Shoes: Christian Louboutin "simple" pumps here
Sunglasses: Celine
Earrings: Sugarfix/Target here

Linking Up With: Midweek Inspo, Spring Fever Fashion,Thursday Fashion Files, A Labour of Fashion