More Pieces of Me | St. Louis Fashion Blog: January 2015

Friday, January 30, 2015

Random roundup

I gotta say, I'm glad you guys like these roundups so much because it definitely makes it a lot easier on life to "only" photograph 4 outfits for the blog each week vs. 5. Really the best solution would be if the husband would just let me quit my day job so I had all the time in the world to invest in this little corner of the interweb! Ha - that may take some time to convince him, so until then - here's your random roundup for the week! I will only be linking to the items that are still available, unless I have a good option handy!

I really love this vest, you guys. It's one of those pieces that I wasn't sure if I should take the plunge on, but am glad that I did. I also love me a good mini skirt in the winter. Maybe even more so than the warmer months! Oh, and these fleece lined tights. You need them. The softest most comfy pair of tights ever, and I love how super opaque they are!

This is what I call my Gina outfit. She's a master at styling her olive cargo skinnies, as evidenced by this post here. I'm not sure why I never would have come up with this classic combination on my own, but I adore the way it came out.

This ruched skirt is a fan favorite. Don't believe me? See it on Gina, Rachelle, and Noelle. It all started with Rachelle and kind of had a domino effect from there. That tends to happen with this circle of ladies. And it's awesome because that means 4 times the fashion inspiration when it comes to styling the same pieces!

I feel like this is just a couple bars higher than leaving the house in pajamas. Ok, perhaps that is being a bit dramatic. But I had to wake up and pick the husband up Saturday morning at the airport, and I thought about just going in jammies and Ugg boots, but realized he'd probably be hungry and want to go to brunch. So, I reached for comfy things that were still acceptable to be seen wearing in public. And in a selfie. Glad you guys keep me accountable!

Scarf: H&M | Vest: JCrew | Chambray: JCrew Factory | Leggings: Zella | Boots: Naturalizer ℅

The husband had to take a picture of my hair this day because he said it was ridiculously big. Haha! #sorrynotsorry One of these days I will do a tutorial for you guys. It's what I call my prom updo, which is a bit different than my regular top knot. And yes, I love this vest. And the scarf. Together, they are unstoppable.

REMIX RECAP

Left and Middle: Same vest, two ways | Middle and Right: Same skirt, two ways

Same jacket: Two ways

Left and Middle: Same chambray shirt, two ways | Middle and Right: Same scarf and boots, two ways

Same vest: Three ways

And here's a quick recap of all the remixes since last week. Three weeks into the challenge, and I'm still feeling good about it. And it's quite gratifying to see all of the looks I'm able to create with my limited stock of pieces. Kind of excited to see this through!

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Linking up for: Fashion Friday, Friday Favorites, Casual Friday, Favorite Fashion Friday.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

All the leopard shoes

Two things I knew I *had* to slip into the capsule before my time was up were 1) wine colored skinnies and 2) leopard shoes. But. But. How on earth do I choose which leopard shoes make the cut? Do I go with my leopard slip ons? High heeled booties? Flat booties? Pumps? The struggle is real, y'all.

Via Instagram here

Ultimately, I chose these pumps. I was THISCLOSE to choosing my Sam Edelman Petty booties, but looking at everything else in my capsule, I needed another pair of pumps, so I landed on these beauties. Frankly, I think it's unrealistic to *ONLY* have one pair of leopard shoes, but I will play along. Begrudgingly. Starting March 16th, I will be wearing ALL the leopard shoes!!! <3

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Linking up for: Thursday Favorites, What I Wore to Work, Spotlight Weekly Linkup with Elle and Jacqueline, Look What I Got with Sharon and Tara.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

My dressy tee

This week will lock in my capsule pieces for the #RemixFix2015 challenge. I've got a few different polyvore sets started where I've been cataloging each piece I've worn over the last 2.5 weeks. I will have to share the completed capsule with you next week and then it will be full on remixing from there!

Seeing all my items nicely categorized and next to each other has really helped me understand where there are gaps. One thing I was missing was a simple graphic tee. I have a few in my collection, but ultimately decided this one had to make the cut. I discovered it on Instagram here thanks to Andrea from Momma in Flip Flops. It was designed by one of her blogger friends, Ellen, from That Chic Mom. While this tee is not currently available, if there are enough reserved, another batch can be printed! You can reserve yours here.

Throwing a blazer over a tee shirt is one of my most favorite styles, yet I don't nearly do it enough! Add a good pair of destroyed jeans, and you're basically making me weak in the knees, SWV style. Finish it off with some animal print, and well, one could say -- outfit on fleek. :)

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Linking up for: Oh, Hey Girl!, Thrift Sisters with Ayana and Keren, What I Wore Wednesday, Random Wednesday, I Feel Pretty, Whatcha Wearin Wednesday.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Lash extensions: 30-day update

It's already been over a month since I got my eyelash extensions! If you missed my original post, you can check it out here. I've gotta say - I just absolutely love them. They're such a game changer for me and how I look. They instantly glam up my face and I really don't know how I ever survived without them! Simply put, I'm obsessed. Like whoa.

Now that I've seen a few of them fall out - I have to correct one of my statements from that original post. I had said the extensions were glued NEXT TO my real lashes, which is not the case. They are actually applied TO my real lashes. I had assumed it was similar to how fake lash clusters are applied to your eyelids, mainly because it seemed so tedious and impossible to apply them to each individual lash! But, I was wrong. Since they're attached to your real lashes, they simply fall out as your regular lashes would do on their own.

Top: Day 1 without and with makeup | Bottom left: 1st set of lashes at day 30 | Bottom right: After my first fill

Sorry for the extreme closeups, but I just wanted to show you how they looked at day 30. There were a couple of places where I noticed bare spots, but for the most part, they stayed on pretty well. Since I got my original set in California, that unfortunately meant that I had to get my fills from a different salon, and I wondered how this would look. Luckily, everything seemed to work out well - here's what went down:

1. She taped down my bottom lashes so they stayed out of the way. They did this during my initial appointment as well, I just didn't realize that's what they were doing!

2. She went through my lashes removing the extensions that were growing out, leaning sideways, or about to fall out.

3. She ended up using a little bit thinner of a lash than what was used for my initial set. However, she applied TWO of these thinner lashes to one of my real lashes vs. just one on one. She said the double lash application will help the extensions last closer to 6 weeks vs. 4. And she also said it will create more of a voluminous effect, making me look like I have even more lashes, not just longer lashes. She also used lashes with a B curl and said my previous lashes looked to be a C curl. The new lashes don't seem to hit my sunnies or my eyeglasses the way the old lashes did, and I assume it's because of this curl.

4. The appointment took right around an hour, and she charged me $45 for the fill.

5. She suggested that I make another appointment in about two weeks, which should allow the remainder of the initial lashes to fall out, and she can complete the fill using all the same type of lashes. I personally can't tell that I have two different types of lashes on, but I'm interested to see how it will look when they are all uniform.

Lash Extensions by Salon Whimz

Mascara (bottom lashes only): Clinique | Eyeliner (bottom lashes only): Physicians Formula | Foundation: Tarte | Blush: MAC Peachtwist | Lips: Cherry Carmex

I just can't speak highly enough about them. I realize this is quite an investment, but I am more than willing to take this out of my shopping budget because I feel like I was born with the double A cup of lashes! I honestly haven't worn eyeshadow since Christmas. That's not to say I won't ever wear eyeshadow again, because I will. I just don't think it's worth the effort just to go into the office every morning. The lashes are such a showstopper in and of themselves. People actually compliment my lashes now and seem genuinely surprised when I say they are extensions. No one has ever noticed my lashes before, regardless of what kind of mascara I used! They just make me feel pretty. Simply put.

If any of you decide to take the plunge, I trust that you will report back to me asap!

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Linking up for: Tuesday Talk, Tremendous Tuesday, #AllAboutYou, Erin and Laura for Trend Spin Linkup.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Two

I totally stole this idea from Erica. Layering my sleeveless trench over a moto jacket? Colorblocking genius, I tell ya! I absolutely love how this reads as simply one coat - when the husband was taking my photos, he happened to see the zipper from my moto jacket peeking out, and he asked confusedly, "Are you wearing two coats?" Ah, fooled him! Almost! So glad that I learned this little trick! All of a sudden, I have even more use out of this trench!

So, I'm taking a little break today from the #RemixFix2015 challenge to celebrate my TWO YEAR blog anniversary! Two years, guys! That's just crazy talk! My anniversary was actually on Friday, the 23rd, but I wanted to celebrate on a Manic Monday because I feel like all of you have helped mold my blog to what it is today.

Last year, I celebrated by doing a Throwback Thursday post where I re-wore some of my favorite and most popular outfits from my first year. I kept hemming and hawing about what to do for year 2. A big tulle skirt, ginormous balloons, and cupcakes sounded fun for a photo shoot, but, that's not me, and I was afraid the whole post would feel too contrived. OK, cupcakes are me. I love cupcakes.

Instead, I decided to grab some of my most special pieces in my closet room and wear them all at the same time! Even though these pieces are not in my capsule, I'm still playing by the rules somewhat by shopping my closet vs. trying to purchase the perfect anniversary outfit brand new.

I love mixing some of my more designer items with "regular," more every day pieces, and this outfit is the perfect example of that along with a few other things that are pretty typical of my style - color pop, bold print, and layers for added interest. I couldn't think of a better way to commemorate this milestone than by highlighting some favorite pieces that I intend to have for years to come despite the many trends that will come and go from now until then!

Thank you for carrying me to year two. It's still rainbows and unicorns to me (for the most part, heh), and I look forward to what year 3 has in store!

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Linking up for Style to Inspire and Rachelle and Cha Cha for #HowIFall.

An InLinkz Link-up

Friday, January 23, 2015

Random Roundup: #RemixFix2015 edition

Happy Friday! You know what that means! ~~iPhone selfie dump time~~ Random Roundup! I actually love doing these posts for you guys, as to be quite honest, the proper blog photos are fun and I enjoy them - and I miss them when I don't get to do them. However, you can't get more real than the selifes! Plus, they're easier to "pose" for. I'm just not a good poser. Ha! But anyway, as with all other random roundups, I will only be linking to those items that are still available, so let's get started!

So, everything that I am wearing for the rest of the month really, will be everything in my #RemixFix2015 capsule. I knew I wanted to add some vests to this collection, and it was a task trying to choose which ones I wanted - as I could not pick ALL of them. I decided to have this cream vest be one of them - I feel like it looks just a little bit less sporty than my other ones, and easy to transition from business travel to a casual meeting. Not to mention that it will basically go with any other color.

This was actually my airport outfit to travel home in. Sometimes I prefer traveling in skirts and dresses - especially ones like this that are breathable and not constricting. This dress is the perfect canvas for layering, which is why it was a no brainer capsule piece.

Scarf: H&M | Jacket: Express | Top: BP | Bottoms: Express (similar) | Boots: ℅ Naturalizer

And just like that, now I'm in New Orleans. We did a bus tour on Friday, and I wasn't sure how much walking we would end up doing so I opted for flat boots, and layers for warmth. It wasn't too terribly cold in New Orleans, but it wasn't necessarily warm either.

Jacket: Express | Top: Gap | Stripe Sweater: Target | Jeans: American Eagle | Shoes: Ash

Speaking of layers, we ended up going to the movies Saturday night - I know, kind of silly to do on vacation, but we had done our share of sight seeing for the day and just needed to unwind for a bit. Rather than nap, we did a movie instead to relax. We watched American Sniper, which was heavy and heartbreaking, but very good. Layers are totally a necessity for the movies.

And this was coming home Sunday evening. I ended up layering a long sleeve tee under the plaid top because I wasn't sure how cold it was going to be when we landed, and frankly, I needed to wear as many clothes as possible since my suitcase seemed heavier on the way home. How does that happen?! I ended up being hot ALL day, but I was still happy with the way the outfit turned out, and it was comfortable for the plane.

I just finished the first week of the #RemixFix2015 challenge, and have been able to remix a few pieces already, which is where the fun begins. It's always helpful for me to see the outfits next to each other to full appreciate the remix.

Left (original post here) and Middle: same Bailey 44 dress

Middle and Right: Same sweater, necklace, booties

Wearing a dress as a skirt is one of my favorite ways to remix. I purposely picked a dress that I knew this would be possible with. The black cashmere sweater is definitely more of a no brainer staple.

Striped long sleeve tee 3 ways

Left: Original post here

I knew this long sleeved tee would make my capsule. Not only does it add a nice pop of color that pairs nicely with other palettes, but it's a great base for layering. Even though it's pretty lightweight, it definitely made the flannel shirt feel more like a sweater than just a plain top.

Left (original post here) and Middle: same striped sweater and jeans

Middle and Right: Same jacket and plaid top

Pattern mixing is also pretty important to me and my capsule. It just helps break up the monotony of looks, acting as its own accessory. And finding pieces like this plaid top that I can wear multiple ways (i.e. open or tucked, casual or more dressy) will help you style the same piece again and again.

I'm excited to get other remixes going! We would love to see your remixes on Instagram - post yours and use the hashtag #RemixFix2015!

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