Train Spotting in the Alliance Shoes DV8 by Dolce Vita

As summer continues to drift away, I'm not ready to let go. I'm going to keep wearing my dresses. So I paired this one with a fall fave: the chambray shirt. The shoes are really gorgeous to look at, but let me tell you-these are not for walking. These booties are DV8 by Dolce Vita, and they're called the Alliance shoe. The color is bone. It could be that mine are just a little too small, but as an experienced high heel wearer/walker these are the most uncomfortable pair of shoes I've ever put my foot into! But we all know I'll wear them again sometime. Maybe for a nice dinner or something that doesn't involve much walking. 

 The look was put together to make a dress that could be more formal into a more casual look.Try wearing a collared shirt over a bodycon dress for your own similar look. You can make it more casual by adding combat boots or a sneaker instead of heels. 

Dress and ring -Forever 21

Chambray shirt- Ross

Earrings-Burlington Coat Factory

Shoes- Alliance by DV8 from Karmaloop

All photos courtesy of Shuttereye Images

Thanks for reading!
XOXO

Emerald City Inspiration

I spent the day in Seattle. Capitol Hill. Downtown. Inspiration comes from around you if you choose to look. Talk to people. Listen to what they say.

About the Look

Where feminine meets its dark side. A pretty top with pops of soft and bright pink and a pair of combat boots. When these worlds collide people will let you know how they feel about it. Just watch. 

Boots: Steve Madden-Nordstrom Rack

Leggings: Ross

Leg Garter: DIY (post coming soon!)

Shirt: Forever 21

Accessories: Various- Nordstrom, Forever 21, Burlington Coat Factory, Hot Topic, vintage, and more.

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo

Day and Night

Collar, sunglasses, tribal pattern dress

Sheer skirt shadow

Rear view

Night ensemble

Daytime rings

Daytime look

Capitol Hill, Seattle

Coral wedges with bow detail by Penny loves Kenny

About the looks:

Warm sunny days in Seattle are treasured. This weekend was so nice it literally made national news. Finally I had a chance to wear a sundress and not freeze in a dress at night. I matched during the day by pairing coral shoes with my coral dress, and gold rings with a gold peter pan collar necklace. At night I went a different route. I paired a fuchsia dress with neon yellow. My shoes were leopard and neon with a red heel and I accented them with a neon clutch. Since the dress was loose fitted I chose an oversize blazer as my jacket. The loose dress and jacket worked well with the strappy shoes and lots of leg.

Daytime Look:

-coral wedges from Ross

-coral/tribal dress and skull ring from Burlington Coat Factory

-gold collar necklace from H&M

-gold/crystal ring from Forever 21

-sunglasses from GAP

Night Look:

-pink dress from Nordstrom Rack

-Jessica Simpson leopard/neon heels from Macy's (gift)

-Jessica Simpson neon clutch from Burlington Coat Factory

-oversize blazer from Love Culture

Thanks for reading!

XOXO

Newspaper Nails DIY

This might just be the easiest nail tutorial I've done yet.

What You'll Need:

• Fingernails
• A light nail polish color of your choice
• Rubbing alcohol
• Q-tips
• A newspaper
• Topcoat

What To Do:

• Paint two coats of the light color onto your nails and let it dry. 

• Select an article or section of the paper and tear off a small piece.

WWD (of course)

• Use a Q-tip to apply rubbing alcohol to the surface of your nail.

• Firmly press the newspaper against your nail.

• The ink will transfer onto your nail like this:

• Add a topcoat and you're done!

SO EASY!

Enjoy :)

xoxo

Ladies Night With The Blondes

Finally got out on Saturday night! As you may have guessed, my favorite thing about going out is getting ready.
We started by shopping around 4pm and made it to the destination around 11pm. It could have taken longer if we let it!
I snagged a dress at Ross without trying it on. When I got it home the fit was ok, but the skirt was a little long and ended at an awkward place on the leg.
An easy fix was to add an elastic belt and fold the skirt under a little bit, tucking it up, making it shorter.

I accessorized with new shoes, home made studded garter straps, a studded clutch, and lots of rings and bracelets. Overall my look was meant to be a little punk. I didn't try to match color at all, because the look worked together without it. It was more about coordination of style and silhouette than actually matching.

My completed look.

Jessica Simpson platfroms. Nordstrom Rack $38

My two blonde accomplices Cate (long hair) and Steph (short hair) also donned new looks for the evening. 

Stephanie likes to match, but stepped  a little out of her comfort zone by mixing bright colors. She paired her ultraflattering teal peplum dress with coral platform sandals and one of my chunky beaded necklaces. She added metallic rings and lots of attitude.

Cate fell in love with her shoes before she had found a dress, so she decided to make them her focal point. Black and white always makes color pop extra bright, and the look worked perfectly with her suede Sam Edelman heels. She played on the colorblocked bright blue and turquoise platforms by choosing a cascading necklace from my collection with beads that reflected blue tones. She also added bronze earrings, bracelets, and an armored pinky ring!

Ladies night

Confidence is the best accessory.

Such fun girls they are!

It was so lovely to step out with friends, and even better that they each let me have some input on their styling choices, hair, and makeup.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

DIY Flower Crown- a Creative Guide

I love spring. Mostly because that means it's almost summer.
The best thing about spring besides the weather is the beautiful flowers. And what's the best thing to do with something lovely? Wear it, of course!
Here's a guide to making your own fun floral headwear.

What You'll Need:

• Fake flowers
• A headband, if possible matched to your haircolor
• Glue gun
• Scissors
• Needle nose pliers 
• Cute fabric (optional)
• Beads or gems (optional)

What To Do:

There are a lot of options with this project, so let this serve as more of a guide than an a step by step how-to. Be creative!

Start with a pile of flowers.  I selected a variety, but all in the same color family. More colors could be fun too. These are mostly roses, with some lilies and smaller bright wildflowers thrown in. All of these flowers are from the dollar store. 

Good luck keeping kitty out of them

Get your headband all ready to go. I used a headband that I don't wear anymore. It had some jewels attached to it so I removed them. 

My old headband

Now it's time to fire up the glue gun. While it's warming up. Pull the flowers off their stems. Using the scissors, trim the bottom of the flowers. Try to make them as flat as possible by trimming close to the petals. If you like, set aside some leaves.

Trim the green plastic down to make it flat, but don't cut it all away or the flower will fall apart.

Not all the flowers can be flat on the bottom, but still trim the plastic down as much as you can.

You can modify the flowers before adding them to the headband if you like. This is when you would use gems or beads to add to the flowers.

Using the hot glue gun, I attached some of the jewels from the headband inside the flowers.

I also glued some of the smaller flowers inside the large ones.

This is when you can use fabric also if you like.

Pick a cute fabric, and try to get it away from your kitten

I made a bow with a large piece of the fabric and some hot glue

Small squares of fabric can be made into little flowers by putting a dot of glue in the center,
pinching the glue with the pliers (so you don't get burned) and twisting the fabric.

Start on one side of the headband, and attach pieces using the hot glue. Use pliers for some things so you don't get burned!

If you made a bow, attach it to one side of the headband, if not just start with a flower

Keep adding flowers. Be sure to fit them close to each other so there aren't any gaps.

You can add leaves too, but make sure not to neglect the back side of the headband. 

The finished piece at my best friend's bridal shower!

Tea party. Everyone wore hats. I won for "most beautiful" hat.

 I made a second one as well to wear for a more casual event or even an every day outfit. This one is just flowers and leaves on a black band. 

From the front. Some fabric flowers in this one too!

The back view. Lots of leaves!

What it looks like on.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Have fun and be creative making your own flower crown! 

Thanks for reading!

Xoxo