Business Casual With a Twist

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Lovelies! I hope you've all had a delightful week and are looking forward to the weekend, I know I am! Anyways, I wanted to talk about business casual clothing today. As you may or my not know, I'm in the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma, and we are required to wear business casual to our meetings. At first, this was a huge challenge for me because my style is just not conservative. However, I've been able to figure out some easy and classy business casual options. It's really great to know how to dress this way because if you want to be successful in any professional setting or interview, a solid business casual outfit is a must.

Firstly, I want to introduce you to the general rules of business casual:

1. No jeans. Even colored jeans.
2. No leggings and boots.
3. Nothing shorter than finger tip length for skirts.
4. Nothing too low cut.
5. Avoid showing undergarments such as bra straps.
6. Never wear things with lots of logos or letters.
7. Think "professional," "appropriate," and "put together"
8. If you would wear it to the gym or the beach, it's not business casual.
9. If you would wear it to a club or party, it's not business casual.
10. Platform stilettos and other sky high heels are probably not appropriate.
11. Think classy! 

Here are some ways you can dress to impress without sacrificing your personal style!

Here's one of my favorite strategies. Find a black pencil skirt that you like and make endless outfits with it. This allows you to buy less items of clothing because once you have a pencil skirt, you can add a variety of blouses, accessories, and blazers to make it an outfit. I would recommend finding a comfortable, high waisted pencil skirt that is almost knee length. I find that peplum style blouses look the best with these; I get annoyed with tucking shirts in. Mix and match your blouses, flats, heels, and accessories and you're good to go! Add a blazer to polish your look even further!

This outfit is super simple and classy. Try a dress that has a boat neck like this one. The quality silk fabric will make you look put together and professional. Make sure to steam or iron it! The 3 inch nude heels will add length to your legs while keeping it classy. Throw on a pair of stud earrings, dangly ones look much less professional. 

Throw in a couple statement pieces like the jewelry and skirt while keeping to a similar color scheme. The golds and pinks will make you stand out in a sea of grey and black! This skirt can still show off your curves while still being appropriate for the workplace.

Hope this helps!!
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Jeffrey Campbells Part Dos

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As promised, here are some pics of the Jeffrey Campbells I own and where I got them! Hope you enjoy!

These are my white leather "Zup" shoes. This is my first pair (aww!) I saw a girl wearing them at Burning Man and fell in love! I asked her where she found them and was disappointed to hear that she bought them from a boutique in the East Village of New York. When I got home from the burn, I googled "white leather lace up platform shoe" and I found them!! They were on sale at karmaloop.com for $82 and they're normally around $160!

These are the "Tapestry Damesls" They are my favorite pair. They came from the wonderful Kitsch boutique in Truckee, California where I worked during high school. They retail for $145 but I got a deal at $125!

Voici the "Lita Spikes". These babies i got for prom my senior year. I also got them at Kitsch. They retail for a whopping $185 but are on sale now because they're last season.

These are my "cat tapestry Litas" These were a lovely birthday gift from a lovely boy. You can find this style in a plethora of prints at solestruck.com! They're generally $162 but can be higher or lower depending on the material or sales. (Studs are always more because they're super labor intensive)

These are the "Night Walker boots" in black crushed velvet. They are by far my most statement making pair. I got them on sale from nastygal.com for $100 and they're originally a $200+ purchase!

These are the "distressed suede khaki litas". I got these on sale from solestruck.com for $107, originally $162!

My babies!! I love them more than I should... haha!

Over all, Jeffrey Campbell is a great brand with an awesome philosophy of small business and sustainability! I love them and would highly recommend these shoes to anyone with bold taste and a desire for comfortable heels. 

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Poppin Tags: Part Five

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I know that prom is coming up for those of you that are still in high school, and for those of you that aren't perhaps there is a sorority or other formal event that you need to dress up for. I know that these events can be pretty cruel to your wallet, so I wanted to share my two cents worth of advice on this subject. In a nutshell:

Don't discount thrift/consignment/vintage stores for your formal attire needs!

We all know that you can find a great deal on every day clothes at these types of stores, so why would you not be able to find a formal dress? I went to prom 3 out of my 4 years in high school, and I wore vintage dresses the first two years. 

Here's my dress from sophomore year:

The dress was a layer of lace with sequins sewn on top in a pattern like a heartbeat on an EKG monitor. Super cool!  I decided to edge up my look with the chain necklace, enormous earings, and silver clutch also from the same vintage store. I tried to find jewelry I'd use for everyday as well as this special occasion. Gotta get more bang for your buck.  The shoes I picked up from Nordstrom's Rack, which is also a great place to find some designer steals!

Yes, I did take my pictures on the snow at a ski resort... Squaw Valley to be precise. The heels were fun to walk on the snow in... Haha!

This one I got at a vintage store in Santa Rosa, California. I'd been shopping around looking for a great dress at the classic "prom dress" stores, but I just wasn't finding anything... I also didn't feel like spending more than $150, and as I'm sure you know,  most formal dresses cost well over that. I zipped up this dress and had that feeling that people say they feel when they try on the "right" wedding dress. I knew it was the one. It was love at first sight... Or first zip, I guess. Not to mention the coolness factor of my dress being from the 1940's!

This is my dress from Junior Year:

I picked up this gem from the Unique Boutique in Truckee, California. If you live in Tahoe, or ever plan to visit I would highly suggest paying Viviane a visit there. It's a bizarre store filled with crazy things and owned by an equally crazy, and awesome woman! This dress was $26! I love the way it accentuated my curves and flattered my figure. The slit was also a nice touch. I like dresses that make you look good and have an unexpected gimmick, if you will. In this case, the gimmick is the giant sequined orchid on the shoulder. This dress is from the eighties, and it's quite obvious, but not in a horrible, "Oh lord... that's from the eighties" sort of way. 

We took chairlift pics again. My date, one of my best friends, and I are both skiers so it was quite appropriate.

I accessorized with some faux Louboutins and elbow length gloves.  Red lips were another nice touch. Here you can see the orchid a bit more clearly. It's almost as big as my face!

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Poppin Tags: Part Three

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For the third installment of my poppin tags series, I'm going to fill you in on my thrift store shopping rules. When you're making your way through racks of endless used clothing its essential to have a strategy or you might just end up drowning in appliqué sweater vests and ill fitting blazers from the 80's. Here are my rules to thrifty success:

1. Go in with a goal in mind. What exactly are you shopping for? Make a mental list: dark wash jeans, sweater, black jacket... etc. If you don't have a specific item in mind, acknowledge that you are just browsing.
2. How much work are you willing to put into the pieces that you buy? If you're handy with a sewing machine or a pair of scissors, you have a lot to work with, but if you're trying to buy items as is you need to make sure you find exactly what you're looking for in good condition.
3. What is your budget? How much are you willing to spend today? Give yourself a soft limit and a hard limit. Example: I'd like to spend no more than $20 but if I find something I can't live without, I'll pay $30.
4. To find some high quality and brand name items, try shopping in thrift stores in rich areas of your community. If you live near LA, make a trip to Bel Air and see what there is to find there. This goes for consignment stores as well. You can find some AMAZING deals on designer pieces. 
5. This relates to #4, even if you find a piece that has an impressive label, never buy it unless you really love it! The brand is not worth it unless you actually will wear the item. This is especially true because the designer items are generally priced higher than the rest. A couple weeks ago at Buffalo Exchange, I almost bought a Wildfox shirt dress that I didn't love just because it was wildfox. I didn't even really like the dress! Then I realized it would be so much better if I just held out for something I really loved regardless of the brand.
6. Buying used clothing gives you a good idea about how the fabric/construction will age. For example, you will find countless pilled up cotton-poly blend sweaters, mountains of malfunctioning zippers, and seams that just don't hold up to the test of time. Look for pieces that are like a good bottle of wine; look for pieces that age gracefully. Chances are, if they're in tact now, you'll be able to wear your thrift store finds for a while.
7. Look for sales! I know this sounds super obvious, but many thrift stores tag their items with different colors and different days can be 50% off of each color tag day. (The sweater in my last post had a purple tag, and it was a 50% off purple tag day! Score for me!)
8. Accept that it will be a process. There really is no such thing as a quick thrift store mission. It really is a hunt, but trust me it's worth it! You'll get the thrill of the find when you score that killer maxi skirt for less than $5. Give yourself plenty of time and shop with people who have plenty of patience. 

Happy thrifting!!

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My style in a nutshell

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5 fashion finds I couldn't live without:

-leggings (They're so darn comfy and look casual with toms or edgy with heels)

-slouchy, oversized tee shirts/cutoff tanks (clever graphics are cute. thin fabric is a MUST! I never wear the Hanes' beefy t-shirt fabric. It just doesn't lay right on the body.)

-toms (literally the most comfortable shoe on the market. They also pack up small, meaning if you wear heels somewhere, you can stash toms in your purse for when your feet get sore)

-cutoff denim booty shorts (I always make these. I'll post a tutorial at some point)

-jeffrey campbells (These heels are THE MOST COMFORTABLE! They are well worth the $$$ and will spice up even the most boring of outfits.)

Sidenote: I love cats in case you can't tell.

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Weekend Bliss

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This weekend we took a short trip to Encinitas, California. It's an adorable little ocean town just north of San Diego. We spent the weekend relaxing on the beach and oogling at the gorgeous surfer boys. Here are some pics from our excursion! Hope you all had a delightful weekend!

Self Realization Gardens

Dress: BB Dakota (Got it from a thrift store for $8!)

I love the bold shoulders, it works for my shape because I have narrow shoulders and a wider waist so it can help to even me out. Also the bold floral print is an unconventional pick for January.

Gorgeous flowers at the Self Realization Garden.

I shamelessly love selfies. Yes, I do really need
glasses.

Typical beach pic with Kelsey.

Another shameless selfie. Sorry...
Bikini: Blitz Couture

Awww Yeahhh.
Photo Cred: Liz.

Kelsey and Liz on la playa.

Another mandatory beach photo.

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