Out Tonight

Top: Forever 21 sz s / Skirt: H&M Wool-Blend Mini, $24.95 / Cardigan: Forever 21 sz m / Shoes: H&M black booties sz 7

 As promised, here is the first way I wore this new H&M skirt I bought over the weekend. I wore a variation on this outfit to my sister's birthday dinner the other night, and then out for drinks afterwards. These new H&M heels held up very well on the walk to and from the bar, and I wore them all night without my feet hurting at all!

I love the cutout detail in this top; its' one of my favorite pieces to wear out at night. It's much more cream-colored than it looks in these pictures. Strange how it looks almost stark white here...
 I really wanted to wear tights with this, but the combination of black tights and orange-red skirt made me feel far too Halloween-y. Grey tights seemed odd with the black booties, but is that just me? What do you think are some other pairing possibilities for this lovely new skirt?

Recent H&M Buys

I went to H&M this weekend in search of a lovely skirt I had been turned on to through Jean at ExtraPetite.com (see her outfit with it here). She mentioned that the store had these wool-blend (50% wool, 40% viscose, 10% poly) miniskirts for $24.95 and I immediately knew I wanted to try one on! In store, I found black, navy, grey, and an oragey-reddish color, all completely adorable. In an effort to kick my neutral-color habit, I went for the orange-red one (woohoo!). I've been seeing this color everywhere lately, and I just love it, but, as mentioned before, orange looks pretty bad on me, especially up near my face. I've realized that as a bottom, however, I can definitely wear the color; problem solved! I'm excited to get this skirt into heavy rotation in my closet come fall/winter.

H&M Wool-Blend Mini Skirt, $24.95

The size 4 fits me perfectly, the skirt is fully lined, and it has functional kangaroo pockets.

I also picked up these black booties for $24.95 (all of these purchases were part of an ongoing birthday present in the form of some buying power. Hooray for that!). I have been looking for comfy, low-ish heeled booties for a while now, and am very happy to have these in my wardrobe. I'm sure you will see them a lot on the blog in the near future!

H&M Black Booties, $24.95, sz 7

And lastly, 9 pairs of silver-colored stud earrings for $3.95 (that's a whopping 44 cents per pair!). I hardly ever wear studs, but as I work with children, I can't wear dangly earrings, so I wanted to buy some studs to give me more options at work. I wore the seahorses today and loved them. :)

  

Nine Silver-Colored Stud Earrings, $3.9

Stay tuned to see all these pieces put together in an outfit in the next post!

Going, Going, GONE!

 
Top: Local boutique / Pants: Gap 1969 "Always Skinny"Jeans sz 00 / Shoes: Local boutique / Earrings: Gift from my mom / Bracelets: Bought in England 

Oh goodness. There is so much misfit-y about this top, I can't even handle it. First of all, what is it even supposed to be? A tunic? A top? A dress?? The length might work on a taller gal, but on petite little ol' me, it's just plain weird. Then there's the oddly high seams on the bust which cut across my chest in a strange way. It's also all kinds of wrinkly, in a way that I don't think an iron can fix:

On top of all that, it's a bit see through, and the arm holes/wide straps don't do much to flatter. And it's weirdly voluminous on the bottom? Ugh. I hardly even wanted to post these pictures it is so strange. Can't give it away fast enough!!

 

 

(Not Quite A) Misfit

 
Top: Thrifted (68 cents!) / Sweater: Forever 21 sz m / Jeans: Gap 1969 skinny sz 0 / Shoes: Macy's sz 7 / Necklace: Gift

This top isn't quite a misfit, so much as it is something I got recently but hadn't yet had a chance to wear. I really really like it. It's so simple and casual, but in a bright fun color I don't wear too often (I have hardly any pink in my closet), and it has stripes, AND it was only 68 cents!

 
This top: a definite keep!

Missfits: Double Whammy!

 
Top: Target/Converse sz xs / Skirt: Modcloth sz s / Belt: Bought in England / Sandals: Gap / Bracelet: Family heirloom

 

 When I put together this outfit, I was only expecting this top to be a "misfit." I bought it years ago, but hardly ever wear it. Mostly, I shy away from it due to the color; it's so close to the color of the jeans I usually wear, that I feel way to monochromatic in it unless I wear some pop of color like this turquoise skirt. Also, in looking at these pictures, I realize that the collar spreads out strangely wide, which adds to the misfit-ness of the whole thing.

 

And oh yea, about that skirt: turns out, I think it's a misfit too! I love the color, the shape, and the pockets, (of course), but it's both a skosh too tight and a skosh too short to be in heavy rotation in my closet. I really like this skirt, but I do think it's time that it found a better home in the closet of a slightly shorter, slightly tinier petite. Any takers? :)

 

Country Club

10 and 2 (which for me will be more like 6 and 2!): Part II

  

 I've had this vest since I wore it as part of my uniform in middle school. I have not worn it since I stopped having to wear said uniform. Why in the world is it still in my closet?

 Top: Gap sz xs / Vest: Banana Republic sz xs / Shorts: Thrifted (68 cents) / Belt: Forever 21 (about $3.00) / Loafers: Macy's

For other women, a navy blue Banana Republic vest might be a nice wardrobe staple. For me, well, I think my sister said it best: "You are neither legitimately preppy enough, nor legitmately ironic enough to wear that outfit." (I decided to go full-on preppy with my suede loafers and blue-and-white striped button down. Did I pull it off?)

So ya. This is definitely an outfit, its just not my outfit. Verdict: goodbye, vest!

Ten and Two

Megan, the lovely blogger over at Feathers and Freckles, recently came up with a great idea. She decided to challenge herself to choose 10 items from her closet that she avoids or has never worn and wear at least one of those items every day for 2 weeks. Afterwards, she'd make a decision: to keep, or not to keep?

She invited readers to try the challenge out on their own, and I thought it sounded like a great opportunity to purge my closet a bit. I actually go through my closet and give stuff away on a fairly regular basis, so I might not quite make it up to 10 items, but I thought I'd give it a shot nonetheless!

Here is my first entry, in the form of this lovely skirt from Anthropologie:

Top: Gap sz xs / Skirt: Anthropologie sz sm (very, very old) / Shoes: Target Eliana Wedges ($24.99) / Necklace: Amrita Singh

I love the colors of this skirt, and the midi length is very "in" right now, but those two things are actually what makes it so hard for me to style! I have no idea what color top to pair with this skirt, and the length makes me wonder if I look school-teacher-y (oh wait...I am a school teacher...hrm).

Turns out, I actually love this outfit! I just needed a little push to wear this skirt again (it's been hanging in my closet for years, but I could never part with it). I like the classy feel, the green-on-blue-on-teal color combination, and of course, the twirlability:

I will definitely be trying to restyle this skirt again! (Though now I'm scared I won't be able to come up with another combination...) Anyway, a total keep.

Blue and Yellow

 
Top: Gap sz xs / Shorts: Gap sz 0 / Belt: Target / Shoes: Gap sz 7 / Necklace: Bought in Italy / Bracelet: Bought in England

 

I usually shy away from wearing blue-on-blue, which makes the number of blue shirts I have in my closet hard to style. Whenever I wear jeans, or bottoms like these shorts, I feel like an all-blue ensemble will make me look like Britney and Justin circa the 2001 American Music Awards (don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about). So, in an effort to break up the blue-ness, today I went with stripes (my favorite), and my magical yellow belt. Mission accomplished.

(Belated) Petite Fashion Challenge #10: Summer to Fall

I am more than a bit late on the 10th Petite Fashion Challenge, but, better late than never!

This challenge was brought to us by Fashion For Teens, who challenged us to "put together a look appropriate for fall using summer pieces like dresses, skirts, shorts, tank tops etc."

This challenge got me sooooo excited for fall, my favorite season! Just putting on the one extra layer that changed my outfit from summer to fall made me feel so much more composed. I honestly can't wait until its time to wear boots and tights and sweaters and all those lovely fall pieces.

Summer Look:

Tee: Forever 21 sz s / Skirt: Bought in England / Sandals: Gift, from Thailand / Necklace: From a local boutique

 Summer looks are so flat so much of the time! Layering really makes the outfit, but when its 98 degrees like it was today, I cannot be bothered to wear more than this. Cotton T, cotton mini (with pockets! And polkadots!), pretty sandals (which you can't really see...).

Fall Look:

Sweater: Gap sz xs / Skirt: Bought in England / Belt: Came with a dress, bought in England / Boots: Urban Outfitters Necklace: From a local boutique
  

 

I like this fall look so much more! Comfy sweater, wide belt, soft flat boots, mmmm. This basically feels like a hug. I honestly cannot wait for cooler weather so I can bust out all my lovely fall pieces.

Zara to launch online shopping!

I almost think this is too good to be true, but I wanted to post about it because, well, this would be so great. Apparently Zara is launching online shopping from their website tomorrow.


NY Mag says the website will include "free standard delivery throughout the U.S. (Alternatively, shoppers can pick up orders at a store of their choice within three to five days, also for free.) You can return things up to 30 days later as well."

Who else is so excited?

Pattern Mixing 101

 
Shirt: Gap sz xs / Skirt: Forever 21 sz xs / Belt: Bought in England / Shoes: Target Elliana Wedges ($24.99) / Bracelet: Gift

   

 I was inspired for this outfit by the lovely Kendi of Kendi Everyday. She is a pattern-mixing genius. Seriously, that woman has some crazy skills. I usually stick to one pattern per outfit (if I have any pattern at all!), so this definitely fits the "out of the comfort zone" bill. And guess what...?

  I love it! Stripes and florals is an easy pattern-mix that is almost guaranteed to look good. Something about juxtaposing the sporty with the girly, I think...

68cent Striped Skirt

 True story: This skirt cost 68 cents.

Top: Forever21 sz s / Skirt: Goodwill outlet (68 cents) / Shoes: Macy's / Necklace: Various charms, put together

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't really feeling this outfit at first; I thought it was nice, but just a bit too simple. (Heels would have helped, but I have a 6 block walk from the bus stop, so no thank you!) Two things changed my mind and made me love the outfit by the end of the day: 1) I remembered, hey, this cost me 68 cents, and 2) a really friendly homeless woman told me I looked "Cute! Really cute!" on my walk to work. Fair enough.

Hope you all have a great 3-day weekend!