Daily MelWear: It's A Scarf! It's a Belt! What's Next?

I've only worn this scarf one other time.  I can't really come up with ways to wear it as an actual scarf; I'm new to scarves and have no idea how to tie it.  So I belted it first and today I'm wearing it as a belt.

These photos are a testament to the fact that I should stick with skinny belts.  When I widened it to show more of the pattern, it just made me look frumpy.  Good thing it naturally skinnies itself out so that's how it'll sit throughout the day.

I love the purple floral pattern, I think it's so pretty and summery. Actually more spring-like, but whatever. :) I like it. I wore my purple sling-backs to add more purple to the outfit, then kept the jewelry simple because the dress and shirt both have enough detail on their own.

Today's outfit:

Black Dress: Plato's Closet

Black Sheer Top: Plato's Closet

Purple Floral Scarf: Plato's Closet

Purple Sling-backs: Wal-Mart

Necklace/Earrings: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: Blue and Yellow

Ahhhhh...this is MUCH better! With the slacks, heels and cardigan, I feel much more professional and office-appropriate.

Originally I was going to wear this shirt with my black pants, until I remembered these white ones. I also had a brief moment where I considered trying to pull off my white skinny jeans. Then I chickened out. I'm not usually one to push the limits in the office intentionally and I'm pretty sure white denim would do just that.  What can I say? I'm a goody-goody.

I do need to find some slim-fitting slacks though, just to add some variety to the silhouettes that I wear in the office.

I would have worn yellow pumps with this outfit...except that I don't own any.  I have my yellow peep-toe wedges but we're not allowed to wear open-toe shoes. To get my yellow fix, I added the flower to my belt and the necklace.  The flower was actually attached to the Easter basket that my mother-in-law gave to my daughter, with a little mini-clamp.  The clamp makes it stick out a little far but with this belt it's hard to notice, so it works.

So what do you think: would white skinny jeans have come off as professional with the rest of this outfit or is it good that I skipped them? 

Today's outfit:

Blue Plaid Shirt and Belt: Kohl's (Junior's Clearance)

White Pants: Charlotte Russe

Black Cardigan: Kohl's

Heels: Wal-Mart

Yellow Necklace: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: Pattern Mixing Take 2

I'm starting to feel like this skirt is better suited for casual and/or weekend wear.  I just don't feel professional in this outfit at all.  I considered wearing heels and a blazer to suit it up a little but I really wanted the pop of color from these flats and it's just too stinkin' hot for a blazer. 

 

So...my next quest will be for skirts that are more professional.  Pencil skirts.  Or the like.  Yes.

This shirt with the bow at the neck feels so very retro 50's to me, especially with the polka dots.  Now all I need is a poodle on my skirt and I'm ready for a sock hop!

I love this shade of teal in the tank underneath.  I love the comfort of this skirt.  I love the ruffles in the flats.  I do like this outfit but I feel like it's not quite up to par for a work day; I'm a little bit uncomfortable because I feel slightly unprofessional.  Oh well.  I'm here now, so I can't change. 

This just means I need to go shopping! Anyone wanna throw some money at me so I can get on that?

Today's outfit:

Black Polka Dot Shirt: Forever 21

Teal Tank: Plato's Closet

Black/White Skirt: Kohl's

Purple Ruffle Flats: Target

Daily MelWear: Leopard in the Jungle (A Skirt as a Shirt!)

So here you have it: my jungle skirt, reincarnated!

The skirt is so long that when I wore it last week to work, I had to hike it pretty high up to make it look okay.  When I did that, I hiked it all the way up over the girls to see how it would look as a strapless top and VOILA! A new shirt!

I wore it this way during the day's activities (to the mall with my husband and daughter, the grocery store, etc.). For date night, my intention was to wear it by itself as a mini-dress with some heels.  However...I walked outside and it was a little windy.  So I ended up putting my white skinnies back on but rolled down to the ankle and kept the heels. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of my date night look.

Maybe one day I'll wear it as a dress...but not yet.

I think this is the first time I've really done anything really creative with a piece in my wardrobe, and I'm quite proud of myself! I like it a lot! 

The outfit: 

Shirt (Skirt): Target

White Skinnies: Kohl's

Leopard Sandals: Kohl's

Pink Necklace and Earrings: Beya

Daily MelWear: Mommy Day!

I love Fridays with my girl! Today is a follow up visit with the pediatrician after her ab x-ray a couple of weeks ago, then we're going to meet my husband for lunch.  After nap will be time to grocery shop! 

Such an exciting day. :) 

To stay cool while getting in and out of the car all day, I decided to wear my strapless denim dress that I wore for my girl's 3rd birthday.  The purple button-down shirt doesn't fit correctly when it's buttoned, but I do like the details and the color so I decided to try it open, layered over the dress.  I kind of like the result! 

I added the belt to cinch my waist a little and the leopard flats add some pattern to the outfit.  I'm comfy and cool for the day.

We're thinking about doing a theme park tomorrow and then Sunday is church day.  It'll be a fun-filled weekend.  Hope everyone has a great one! 

 

Today's outfit:

Denim Dress: Ross

Purple Shirt: Target (pre-pregnancy)

Brown Belt: Wal-Mart (children's section)

Leopard Flats: Target

Friend Friday: Beach Chic

Katy over at ModlyChic had the good fortune of spending some time at the beach this week. (Lucky.) It prompted her to theme this week's Friend Friday questions about what fashion and beauty bloggers take with them to the beach, how often do they apply sunscreen, etc.

1. You're headed to the beach/pool, what's in your bag?

Water.  Lots of water.  Snacks, sunscreen, probably wine or beer of some sort, a book and/or magazine and some chocolate. Always chocolate.

2. Be honest... how do you feel about sunscreen? How often do you put it on?

If I were going to beach, I would put it on as soon as we got there (or before we left the house) and then halfway through the day again. Although...to be really honest...when we go to theme parks, I always, always slather sunscreen on my baby girl but none on myself.  I don't know why.

3. Do you have any sunburn remedies?

I used to burn and peel all the time, but then about 10 years ago or so, I started to use body lotion every single day after my shower.  Since starting that habit, I've never peeled again after getting a sunburn.  My skin always stays moisturized so that it never gets dry enough to peel.  

4. Do you use sunless tanning products? Which do you use, why is it your favorite?

Nope.  I'm a mom. I don't have time to mess with that. I wish I did because I have some of the whitest skin of any Italian girl in the world. If anyone has some suggestions for a sunless tanner that doesn't stain your clothes and you don't have to wait for it to dry, let me know!

5. The best part about the beach is... 

The warmth and the soothing sound of the crashing waves...

Daily MelWear: Pink, Yellow and Gray, Take 2!

I don't have a whole lot to say about this outfit...other than I am strongly considering getting rid of these pants! I've loved them for so long because they are insanely comfortable.  However, looking at the photos of the past couple of wearings has made me realize that they make my hips look huge. 

That ain't good.

So what do you think: are the pants okay or should I begin a search for new gray trousers?

Today's outfit:

Gray Pants: Charlotte Russe (pre-pregnancy)

Yellow Tee: Target (clearance)

Pink Cardigan: Plato's Closet

Gray Pumps: Payless

Daily MelWear: Jungle Fever

This skirt makes me think of jungles.  It's so soft and comfy and I love the wrap look of it with the hemline, too.

I added the pink tee for another little dash of color.  In the past, I would never, EVER have worn anything but a plain brown shirt with this; I'd wear a blue shirt if I felt particularly daring. 

The brown jacket is truly adorable and just makes me feel professional and put together - good for work!

I also discovered a new way that I can wear this skirt. You'll see that incarnation in a future post, I'm sure!

Today's outfit:

Jungle Skirt: Target

Pink Tee: Target

Brown Jacket: Kohl's (clearance)

Brown Heels: Wal-Mart (clearance)

Turquoise Necklace/Earrings/Bangles: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: Stayin' Neutral

I've been wanting to try contrasting neutrals for a while, only because I've been so adamently against it for so long.  I don't know why.  I've always felt that if I wore a cream colored shirt, I should wear brown accessories. 

This shirt is another one that I'm considering getting rid of.  I do like it because it has silver stripes and the idea of it is pretty, but I don't think it fits me very well and the material is very thin. I saw it in my closet last night, thought of my white skirt and then said to myself, hey! I can wear a black belt and black shoes to try the whole contrasting neutral thing! Whee!

I have issues. I know.

{Random side note: have any of you iPhone users updated to the new iOS 4 software yet? If so, what do you think?}

Today's outfit:

White Skirt: Target? I think?

Tan Blouse: Target

Black Belt: Macy's (part of a dress)

Black Pumps: Wal-Mart (clearance)

 So what's your opinion - yea or nay on the shirt? What about the skirt (in all of its wrinkled glory)?

Daily MelWear: Purple and Teal

 I've embarked on a mission to attempt wearing some items I've had for YEARS; things that I've decided to get rid of because I just don't wear them anymore. My hope is that you all can give me some input into whether I should pitch these items or keep them and style them differently.

This striped shirt is one such item.  I normally wore it buttoned and tucked in to these white pants or brown pants. 

My original plan was to leave the shirt untucked and belt it higher up.  That looked awful.  It doesn't taper in at the waist at all and it's too long, so not so much. Then I tied the shirt at my waist, but that was too casual of a look for the office.

This end result makes me feel a bit self-conscious and overexposed because of the white pants, plus I think the silver belt is a little too skinny. 

So here is my question to you: should I get rid of the striped shirt like I'd planned or is there a better way to style it?

Today's outfit:

Striped Shirt: So old I can't remember

Teal Tank: Plato's Closet

White Pants: Charlotte Russe

Silver Shoes: Payless?

Necklace and Earrings: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: Happy Father's Day!

Today (and for the entire months of June/July) my husband was subbing in for one of the regular tenors in the eight voice professional choir at a local (huge) Catholic church. These pictures were taken outside in the courtyard.  (And holy white legs, batman. So um, who has any great recommendations for a self-tanner?)

The baby and I dropped my husband off for call time, then I took her to Panera for breakfast.  We came back to the church and had about 2 1/2 hours to kill before attending the second service with my father-in-law and sister-in-law.  Have you ever tried to keep a 3 year old occupied in the courtyard of a church for 2 1/2 hours? 

It's fun, I'll tell you what...

After church we went to Nelore, a Brazilian Churrascaria, for lunch.  They were watching the World Cup.  It wasn't the most relaxing experience ever.  Nor was it the most conducive to socializing, since we couldn't hear anything over the volume of the game and the crowd cheering.  At least soccer is the one game that I actually understand. 

Now we're home, Aladdin is on the TV (again), I'm drinking wine and getting ready to eat the cupcakes that we made for Father's Day. Yum!

So this is what I wore for Father's Day:

Dress: Macy's

Blue Belt: Plato's Closet

Wine Rosebud Pumps: DSW

Necklace and Earrings: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: Saturday

Today started out being a day for potty training.  That did not end well.  I have decided that I am done potty training until she tells me that she wants to sit on the potty. 

This has nothing to do with fashion.  Don't mind me. 

Since tomorrow is Father's Day, my husband gets to choose what we do for the day (likewise, I get to pick the activities for Mother's Day). We are going to church in the morning and then taking his dad out for lunch/dinner.  My parents were invited but they already have plans to attend my cousin's daughter's dance recital (which we'd normally attend also if it wasn't on Father's Day - I'm sad that we'll miss it this year!).

So to celebrate Father's Day with my dad, we took my parents out to dinner tonight.  He wanted Mexican. There was fried ice cream involved, and that's all I really cared about. 

And now to discuss clothing...because that's what this blog is for, right? 

I love this dress.  Found it on clearance at Wal-Mart for like $7 or some equally ridiculous price.  I normally wear some pop of color in my outfits, or more accurately two or three colors, but this time I decided to be simple with just neutral brown accessories.The leopard flats added some pattern and sparkle with the flecks of gold.  It came out okay. I was comfy. It was a good lounging in the house, eating fried ice cream after dinner kind of outfit.

Today's stuff:

Chambray Shirt Dress: Wal-Mart

Brown Belt: Wal-Mart (little girls section!)

Leopard Flats: Target

Brown Necklace: I can't remember to save my life. 

Daily MelWear: Flower Power(less)

Let's start off being positive - it's a beautiful morning so far!  The sky is blue, the birds are singing, and I have coffee.  Yay!

Okay now let's be real.  I hate this entire outfit and I'll probably feel crappy all day long because I didn't have time to change or come up with anything better. 

Here's what I think would have made this outfit better:
*A wide brown belt (I don't own a wide one, just a really skinny rope belt - I tried it, looked awful.)

*Heels (I need pink heels! My only other option that would have gone with this was brown pumps.)

*Bringing the skirt length up a few inches (I don't sew. I tried to roll the waist but that didn't work.)

*A shorter necklace that doesn't hit right at the flowers in the shirt (This pink one only has one length option.)

Whew!  Glad I got all that out. 

And now for today's stuff:

Yellow t-shirt: Target (clearance!)

Skirt: Target (pre-pregnancy)

Pink Flats: Target (clearance!)

Pink Necklace and Earrings: Beya

Daily MelWear: Jealous Leopard

Get it?  Green with jealousy?  I'm wearing a green shirt and leopard heels...get it? 

Anyway.

Apparently my theme for the week is skirts and dresses.  I used to NEVER wear them because they were way too girly and I only wanted to wear pants.  When I was a Brownie in Girl Scouts (somewhere around 2nd grade, back when we lived in New Jersey), I was the ONLY girl who wore the pants uniform instead of the little skirt.  That made for an interesting troop picture.  

But now the tides have turned and I'm all about wearing dresses because they're so easy to put on and look put together in a breeze, and I actually enjoy feeling girly and feminine.  What a change from the awkward tomboy I was.

I absolutely adore the green shade of this sweater.  Green is my favorite color! Granted, this outfit doesn't have a very summery feel to it but it's comfy.  The sweater is so comfortable and I think it balances out the pencil skirt.  The sweater might be a tad too loose and billowy, but at least I don't have to suck my stomach in all day long. I normally wear it with pants and decided the skirt would be a nice change.

The leopard in the heels adds some pattern to the outfit and I threw on my brown/cream/silver necklace with brown earrings to add a little visual interest up top.  I considered my yellow necklace or my pink necklace and earrings...or my purple necklace and earrings...and eventually decided to stick with green as my only color. 

So what do you think?

Obviously I didn't take this shot of the shoes today. :)

Today's outfit:

Green Sweater: Plato's Closet

Black Pencil Skirt: Target

Leopard Stilettos: Payless

Necklace and Earrings: I think Wal-Mart...but I'm not sure.

Daily MelWear: Dress As A Shirt

Alternately titled: "Purple and Turquoise: Because One Color Is Never Enough." :) 

In case you weren't sure from the title of the post, my "shirt" is actually a dress.  I've worn this dress before but it's a little bit clingy in the backish area and that makes me largely uncomfortable.  I do like the top part of it though, with the ruffled neckline.  So pretty and sweet.  I've seen some other bloggers wear dresses as shirts, or folded down and wear them as skirts, so I decided to try it.  It worked!

Whee!!!

In other news...my husband made a grand attempt to pre-order the iPhone 4 this morning.  However...SMACK IN THE FACE.  They aren't making the white option available.  I'm so annoyed!  So very, very irked over this small, inconsequential little thing but COME ON.  How hard can that be?!

Clearly I am not in the field of technology production. I know nothing.  Except that they said the phone would be offered in two colors and available for pre-order on the 15th.  Hey STEVE. If you're not going to have it available in white, then say it's only offered in one color.  Black does not two colors make. 

Whew! End rant. PS - there's been talk that it won't be available upon launch in the stores either, so it's not just pre-ordering, it's all across the board.  Just dumb.  I'm sad. I want the new phone now so I can get some better pictures! Look at how dark these are!

I love that my daughter is posing next to me in this shot!

Okay, now end rant.  I promise.

Today's outfit:

Purple Dress as Shirt: Plato's Closet

Black & White Skirt: Kohl's

Black Belt: Macy's (came with another dress)

Turquoise Necklace, Earrings and Bangles: Wal-Mart

Daily MelWear: LBD with Pink and Yellow

I fear I'm beginning an unhealthy obsession with using yellow as an accent color.  Will this end badly? 

It's a good thing I don't have any yellow paint or painting equipment.  Otherwise one accent wall in every single room of our condo might be painted yellow. (Kathy, if you're reading this, I'm kidding.  Sort of.)

We had a really, really nice weekend.  My husband and I had some appointments in the morning and afternoon on Saturday, then we met up with one of his out-of-state friends and his family for dinner at Downtown Disney.  Afterward we took our girl to see the Main Street Electrical Parade! 

My husband has such strong, emotional and happy memories of seeing this parade as a child with his family.  I've never seen it and obviously, neither has our daughter.  I'm not a huge parade person but I really enjoyed this one!  Probably my favorite parade ever!  Seeing the looks on their faces was absolutely priceless.  Watching them was almost as much fun as watching the parade.  I wish Disney would keep the parade year-round instead of just for this short time. 

Sunday was church, then a pool party for a friend (well, pool for everyone else...I still don't own a bathing suit in my current size since I lost the weight so I just sat out there and baked).  When we left, we had a quick dinner together and went home. 

I put the baby down for bed early, around 7PM and attempted to go to bed myself around 8PM.  However...that child did not go to sleep.  She was up talking, singing, asking me to find her water, fix her blanket, telling me "one more last thing, mommy," all the way up until 9:30PM. 

And I still got up at 4:30AM to work out.  I refuse to gain the weight back!

Wow, that was a lot more personal info than I usually put in this blog.  Sorry if that was a little boring!

Today's outfit is one that I've put together before but haven't posted on here yet.  It's so comfy, especially in my flats today instead of heels.  This outfit makes me happy.  The pink and yellow are bright and cheery, the dress is the perfect length and fits well and I'm just comfy.  Good for a Monday. 

Here's the stuff:

LBD: Plato's Closet (Old Navy brand)

Pink (Fuscia?) Ruffle Cardigan: Plato's Closet (Charlotte Russe brand)

Yellow/Orange Belt: Salvation Army

Black Flats: Target

Yellow Necklace: Wal-Mart

Friend Friday: Personal Confidence

Katy from ModlyChic has this to say about this week's Friend Friday: 

This week we've got a great topic to discuss. It was the idea of CarolAnn (http://CharismaU.com/) Basically she was wondering what the relationship is between personal style and confidence - a topic I feel all of us probably have a lot to talk about. I tried to come up with 5 questions that would embody this conversation.

Personal confidence is something that I have always struggled with. I'm not sure where or how it started (my parents have always been extremely supportive, encouraging and complimentary, so that's not it!), but I've always been very self-conscious and felt like everyone else was better than me, prettier than me.

I'll answer these questions as best as I can; just know that this isn't my most favorite subject!

1. When you wear an outfit that you love how does that change your mental state?

I feel empowered, like I can walk into a room and be comfortable being seen there. I'm not afraid for people to look at me.

2. Do you find that the way you dress can help you be more confident in certain situations?

I find that dressing in the way that makes you happy and feel as though you look your best can make you feel more confident in EVERY situation.

3. Looking back, have you become more confident in rocking your personal style?

Well...I don't really feel like I "rock" any style. I'm doing my best to wear things that are current, flattering and situationally appropriate. I've gotten more confident in making my own choices and creating my own combinations. But do I feel like I rock?  Hm...not really.

4. How do comments, in person or on your blog, impact your feelings about a look, clothing choice, etc...

I base a LOT (too much, I think) on other people's opinions. If a lot of people tell me something doesn't look good, I automatically decide never to wear it again. Likewise if enough people tell me that an outfit (or item) is flattering, I'll try to find or create more like it.

5. To more confident, every woman should...

Own a great pair of stilettos.