The Blue Hour

Thursday, October 18, 2012

[Shopping] Another Round of "Did I Buy It?"

Let's take a look at what I've tried on lately, shall we?

Top from Old Navy. Did I buy it?

Nope. Thought the material was a little too clingy.

Polka dot sweater from Old Navy. Buy?

Yep! Loved this sweater and this color in particular.

Green polka dot sweater from Old Navy. Did I get a second one in a second color?

Nope. I only need one of these sweaters and I was trying to decide which color worked better with my coloring!

Target mint green button down. If you've read my fall wishlist post, you know what I did with this one...

Didn't buy it. It was too tight in the chest. And going up a size made it a giant balloon around my waist.

Sheer plaid button down, also Target. Did I get it?

Yep! I thought it was cute and it was less than $10!!! You may still be able to find this one on the clearance rack.

Target pink pencil skirt. Buy?

YES! Skirts are one thing I am really lacking in my wardrobe. I don't have many. So when I found this one for $6.88, I grabbed it!

Mint blouse from Old Navy. Buy?

At first, no. I wasn't sure I loved it. But when I looked back over these pictures, I realized it was a lot more flattering that I originally thought. And you might have seen this top in the pictures from my Grandmother's 90th birthday party!

Mustard striped top: yay or nay?

Yay! I went specifically for this top and it was the last one in my size.

Chevron top. Buy or no buy?

No buy. I didn't love it but didn't hate it. I think this picture makes it look better than it really did in person.

White tank top from Old Navy. Buy?

Nope. I love this top - I have it in blue and was looking for something similar in white like this - but the only size they had was a large, which is what I'm wearing above. It was entirely too big in the waist. I kept an eye out for a medium but never did find one.

Navy top with red polka dots. What do you think?

I loved the pattern - but not the fit. This picture makes the top look like it fits a bit better than it really did.

How about a green preppy tank?

Ugh. And here we have what happens when you have a big chest. I think certain tank top cuts and prints can make you look massive up top - and this is one of them. i thought the way the tank armholes cut in made my chest and shoulders look huge in comparison to the rest of my body.

A grey tee? You know this answer if you've seen my wish list.

Winner! Loved the way this tee draped - and for $10 this Gap tee was a winner! Actually, I wish I had picked it up in a few more colors.

What have you tried on lately?

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

[OOTD] Remix?

This shirt has made an appearance on the blog already - here.

I was hesitant to post this because as I was preparing to, I came to the realization that this outfit is nearly identical.

If all you change are your shoes and accessories...can you still say it's a remix? I mean....the jeans are a different pair...and they're not cuffed....but they're still skinny jeans with the same top.

Top: Old Navy | Jeans: City Streets via JCPenney | Shoes: Shoe Carnival | Earrings: Won in a giveaway | Necklace: old

So...remix? Or no? :)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

[Try It] First Try It Tuesday Linkup!

I have to admit - I'm a little bit nervous to put this out there today. I'm a pretty small blog, but I've been looking for some motivation to actually do some of my Pinterest pins, and I thought this would give me the boost to do so. Frankly, I'm just hoping that at least one other person links up with me today, haha! :)

For the first linkup...feel free to link up to an older post if you'd like to participate but weren't prepared. The only rules are that your post content is inspired by something else - be it a pin, a page from a magazine, or someone else's blog. Also, please link back to my linkup in your post - the button code is below and in my right sidebar if you'd like to use the button.

For today's inspiration, I went to my outfit pinboard - specifically my pinboard full of outfits worn by other style bloggers that I wanted to try for myself. I at first chose this outfit from Andrea at My Closet To Yours:

Via

I was inspired by the classic polka dots with the classic khaki. I paired a white polkda dotted shirt with a pair of skinny khakis and just didn't like how it looked on me. I think the fact that the inspiration photo uses pink and I wore white, along with Andrea's khakis being a bit darker than mine, made my version of the outfit wash me out. I mean, light colors on pasty white skin is not the most complimentary.

So, I went back to the drawing board. Or shall I say pinboard??

My next inspiration photo came from Merrick at Merrick's Art:

Via

I pinned this outfit because I really like the monochrome - it's lots of blue without the color being overpowering. Since I own this exact top, I thought it would be an easy recreation - and it was! Overall, I stayed pretty true to the inspiration photo.

When using an inspiration photo as a basis for an outfit, I always try to figure out what I like about the outfit - sometimes it's the color combination, sometimes it's the way things are layered, and sometimes it's the way the styles work together, like a flowy top paired with leggings or other tight fitting bottoms. In this case, I knew it was a combo of the layers with the color.

Another thing to think about when recreating an outfit is what parts of the inspiration outfit work for you and what parts don't. Merrick used a belt in her outfit - generally, a skinny belt at that location on my torso doesn't compliment my high hips and short waist, so I skipped it. (Also, she's got a little different definition since she's pregnant!! haha) Other than leaving out the belt, all I did differently was go with a darker brown open toed heel, and added my pop of green at the neckline with a necklace. Overall, I was happy with how it turned out!

Have an inspired Tuesday!

Monday, October 15, 2012

[OOTD] Oldie But Goodie

This outfit is one of my favorites. Maybe it's the white blazer because my other favorite outfit included this white blazer. Then again, when I got dressed this morning, I was using some Pinterest pins as inspiration (since tomorrow is the Try It Tuesday linkup!!! Reminder!!! oh - and the code/button is in the right sidebar) and the outfit I had pinned that had a white blazer in it just wasn't working for me. So who knows?

(Sorry for the crappy phone pics...the outfit was from a work trip)

Top: Target | Blazer: H&M | Jeans: Miss Me via Macy's (see this post) | Shoes: Shoe Carnival

What item in your wardrobe seems to make an appearance in your favorite outfits??

Sunday, October 14, 2012

[Random] Sunday Soup #8

It's that time again!!

Via

I found this feature on women who are descendants of American presidents super interesting!!

These more accurate names for candy ring pretty true....

This. is. hilarious. I'm not kidding when I tell you I laughed the entire length of the video. Whoever made this is genius.

Friday, October 12, 2012

[OOTD] Titleless

I'm not usually one for writer's block but today I just couldn't come up with a title. It's Friday, so I get a pass, right?

I always think it's a bit harder to refashion and remix a dress than anything else in your closet. This dress made its first appearance on the blog in the early days, in a dressier style. This time, I made it a bit more casual with flat sandals and a black cardigan.

Clutch: Kohl's | Bangles: gifted, from India

What's your favorite way to remix a dress?

Thursday, October 11, 2012

[OOTD] One Last Time

I'm a total packrat/hoarder.

There. I said it.

I've realized, though, that blogging is actually starting to help me with that issue. These pics are a perfect example.

Shirt: NY&Co | Jeans: Gap (seen before 1, 2) | Wedges: Payless | Necklace/Earrings: Charming Charlie's

I have had this shirt forever. Forever. I probably bought it....in college? And next year it'll be 10 years since I graduated? So yeah. A long time.

Guys, this is a problem. But as I mentioned above, blogging is helping. How? I see this picture and think "this shirt is 'just ok'".

So what does that mean? After I wore this shirt - it went directly into the "get rid of" bag. While it's not awful...seeing it in these pics made me realize it's also not fabulous.

Recently, I came across this post by Katie at Modern Even that is exactly what a sentimental type A person like myself needs: a wardrobe editing decision tree!!! This will definitely help along with my picture taking from here on out.

This necklace, though? Fabulous. Also the shoes. Loving the shoes.

How do you edit your wardrobe?

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

[Life] 90 Years

A few weekends ago, I went home for my Grandmother's 90th birthday. I thought I would share some pictures from my trip and her birthday party!

WARNING: Picture heavy post!!

Me with Alex, my friend Emily's 2 month old! He was asleep here, haha.

Me, my grandmother, my cousin Cameron, my cousin Sarah

Some of my family members traveled far to be there for Grammy's birthday - family came from NH, CT, FL, VA, and GA just for this very special day.

The Hubs and cousin Sarah's 5 month old son Lee

We all had tags with our name and how we knew/were related to my grandmother. This was the first time she was meeting great grandson Lee!

And of course, my hubby thinks he's funny. What was also funny was that my brother wrote "favorite grandson" on his, and my dad wrote "favorite son-in-law" on his. Apparently this sense of humor runs in the family. My hubby is Indian by way of the UK, so he didn't spell "favorite" wrong, at least according to him.

My "little" brother and his girlfriend, who I got to meet for the first time!

Cousin Sarah and her son Lee

My Uncle Bob; the only son and my mom's twin brother

I know this picture is a little fuzzy, but this is seriously the best representation of my grandmother. She is always laughing and smiling and giggling about something - it's how I always think of her. I firmly believe this is one of the reasons why she turned 90!!