About a year ago, Abby posted this outfit of her here, and I loved it! It was screenshot material and I had been wanting to recreate it. Layering the vest over the peplum was a genius idea. Simple, but something I hadn't thought of! The problem was that I didn't have a peplum that worked. Fast forward to one of Banana's recent sales, and I decided to pick up this top because it looked amazing - tie sleeves, peplum, yes and yes! I have a tendency to buy a LOT of button ups and a LOT of tee shirts, but not much in between. I've been making a conscious decision to buy more tops that are in neither category. That's where this top is extra perfect.
Sunnies: Tom Ford "Iris" | Trench vest: Ann Taylor (old) (option) | Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs "Helena" (option) | Top:Express | Bottoms: Express (similar) | Sandals:BP
Do you guys follow Jennifer from Haute off the Rack? I don't remember how I first came across her, but she is hands down one of my favorite "mega" bloggers that I follow. Her outfits are relatable, her photos are gorgeous, and her personality is so much fun. I would so be her BFF in real life (in a non-creepy, non-single white female kind of way of course.) Anyway, she posted this outfit on Instagram last week and I immediately screenshot it. It's perfectly effortless and I knew I wanted to re-create it.
If you read my guest post on Kate's blog a few weeks ago, you'll know that I have a pretty big girl crush on Style Me Tactical. She's so edgy and fierce and we share a mutual love for shoes. She has this pair of Tribute sandals (that I now wish I had, BTW) and it made me realize that I never wear mine with jeans! What the heck? Each time I have worn them (here and here) on the blog, they've been with a dress or skirt. Whenever I think of doing heels with jeans, I always reach for one of the many pair of pointy toed shoes in my collection. After after seeing Style Me Tactical's Instagram post, I've realized it's a shame to not wear my Tributes with jeans!
Lately I've been getting more of my inspiration from Instagram instead of Pinterest, mainly just because I am more active on Instagram than Pinterest by a landslide. Sometimes when I can't sleep, I scroll through my Insta-crushes and take screen shots of outfits I need to re-create. This was one of those outfits. If you don't know Tatiana, you really should! Gina did an awesome coffee date post with her here if you need a CliffsNotes version of all of her awesome-ness.
Are you the type of person that has to say, "I turned off the flat iron" out loud before you leave the house so you actually remember that you turned off the flat iron? Well, I "like" so many outfits on Instagram that sometimes even my screenshots can get lost in the shuffle. But if I do a flat lay of the outfit, it sticks on my brain a bit longer, and makes it easier for me to remember I must wear the combo! It's kind of like the flat iron example, no?
Sunnies: TOMS | Earrings: Forever 21 | Necklace: Kate Spade (shop other Kate Spade jewelry HERE) (budget option) | Bag: Chloe | Top:LOFT | Bracelet: JCrew | Bottoms: Current/Elliott (shop other options HERE and HERE) | Heels:BCBG (option here)
I finally got around to wearing it, and needless to say, I loved all of it. I feel like a broken record, but sometimes it's the simplest of combos that I always forget about. Red and navy are so classic together, yet I have no idea why I never would have picked these pieces together had I not seen the outfit on Tatiana. The leopard is such a great finishing touch. I remember when I used to shy away from navy, but I'm less scared of it nowadays, and see it as much more versatile than I used to. And navy looks amazing with leopard! Thanks, Tatiana, for such perfect inspiration all day every day!
PS You can also follow her on Snapchat (tatibonilla) - she has the cutest accent, you might fall in love with her more! I really enjoy hearing people's voices in snaps! Knowing how people sound really adds some new life to their 2-dimensional photos!
Speaking of people you should follow - please see Noelle's post here! She polled some fellow bloggers, including myself, to highlight some of our must-have pieces for fall!
You guys! It's Rachelle's birthday today, so please hop over to her blog here and wish her well! I'm so very excited to know her and to celebrate another birthday with her! One of these days we'll meet in person, but in the meantime, I will continue to pull inspiration from her!
I knew she's inspired many looks and purchases over the last couple of years that I have "known" her, but once I started putting this post together, I feel like I'm bordering stalker status here! Goodness! I'm glad she still likes me! I just love love love her style, specifically the way she pairs pieces together and she's always able to find the greatest steals! I'm pretty sure we were separated at birth. Don't believe me? Take a look!
I told you there was some Single White Female action going on up on this blog! But, really, can you blame me? Naturally I had to keep the momentum going on her actual birthday, so my look today is 100% Pink Sole inspired. I just loved how she paired camel with her black and white striped dress.
A striped dress is such a staple for me! I would normally try and layer or pattern mix or do some sort of color pop, but although I ended up not going with a true camel color for my bag and booties like she did, I still think these taupes provide a similar look and feel to the outfit. They really let the dress speak for itself.
Sometimes it's the easiest of combinations that I never think of, but I love them just the same. And that's one more reason why I adore Rachelle's style because she can mix things up just as easy as she can keep things simple. I really hope she has a special day and enjoys her birthday weekend! Please, please, please pop over and blow up her blog with happy comments! Oh! And if you're not already following her on Snapchat - her user name is pinksole_rach. You will fall in love with her sweet voice and she will motivate you with her workout and cooking skills! Ok, I promise I'm not a stalker. I just love my friends, okay?!
Necklace:Purple Peridot | Bag: Tory Burch (Back in stock!!) | Vest: JCrew Factory (cold weather version here) | Dress:Pulse (c/o) (other options here and here) | Booties (originally seen here):Pulse (c/o) (other option here) (use code "carylee" for 20% off your first purchase!)
And before I go, here's another way I styled this dress. See what I mean about pattern mixing and layers? A striped dress is such a nice blank canvas to build upon. If you don't have one (or seventeen) in your collection, then I highly suggest hunting for your perfect one because it will become the foolproof piece you reach for when nothing else seems inspiring!
I'm sure you can appreciate why I stole it from her though. I mean, white skinnies go with everything, and the easiest way to make olive spring time ready is to pair it with white. The fringe bag and lace up sandals are purely for fun and sass.
What's really funny is that when I was fixing my hair, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it. It was windy, so I didn't want it down, but I didn't really want it all the way up either. I haven't done this hair-on-one-side do in awhile, so I grabbed some bobby pins, pinned everything to the side and called it a day. When I went to grab Jasmin's image for this post, I LOLd because I wasn't even *trying* to copy her hair. Great minds!
By the way, I've loved getting to know Jasmin on Snapchat. She gives you updates on the weather while she struts in her awesome shoes. Add her! She's jasminrach. And if you want to follow my daily nonsense, my handle is just like my Instagram: carylee07.
If you couldn't tell, I'm all about American Eagle bottoms this week. Nope, they're totally not paying me to be their spokesperson, I just had an overhaul in my pants collection and American Eagle is one of those places where I know their pants will always fit me.
Every time I think of mint bottoms, I always want to recreate this outfit I wore last year, which to this day, is still one of my most favorite I've ever worn on the blog. So, in an effort to shake myself free from that look, I started scrolling through Pinterest.
I love this little peplum zip jacket I got from Zara a few years ago, and I don't wear it enough. When I saw the pin above, I figured I could do a modification of this outfit by wearing my striped jacket and solid colored Barcelona cami. Instead of the taupe sandals, I decided to do nude pumps, and pair it with my new taupe bag.
Every March we get our bonuses at work, and every March Nordstrom has triple points. Coincidence? I think not. This year, I decided to add a Chloe to my collection. I had been wanting the Marcie satchel for a few months now, but Jenna suggested this crossbody, and I fell in love with it immediately. Plus, it's something that I can still use on the weekends, since I tend to only use my satchels during the work week.
The bag arrived and it was gorgeous! The color was even better than it looked online. I noticed there was a Y-shaped indention on the front of the bag, but figured it was just the way it was packed and it would relax back to normal after a couple of hours. Well, two days later it was still there. I even tried to take a blow dryer to it to warm the leather a bit and massage it out with my fingers. Still no luck.
With the help of a wonderful sales associate, a fresh bag was shipped to the store immediately and I was able to swap out my bag for a new one. I wouldn't expect anything less from Nordstrom, but I also hated feeling a little bit anal and high maintenance about the blemish. But let's face it, it's not a Forever 21 bag, so it's ok to be extra critical of the quality, amiright?
I love it a lot, and if you're debating this bag, I highly highly recommend adding it to your collection! It definitely holds a lot for a crossbody bag, but is still very comfortable to wear!
I've been meaning to put together a post like this for awhile now, just to give you a snapshot of what pieces of me seem to be the most popular on Pinterest. My blogger BFF Gina loves stats like these, which has encouraged me to dig a little bit deeper into my own! Let's get started!
First up, this is by far the most re-pinned outfit of anything I have ever pinned before on Pinterest. As in, it probably gets repinned at least once a day. Actually, if you do the math, it has gotten repinned an average of 4.8 times a day since I first pinned it a year ago. Ha! That's a lot! I don't blame the public for loving it - it's a casual, simple, but super fun outfit. If you remember, I loosely recreated it here.
Pin here | My blog post here | Original source here
Ah, the scarf tying method. Sadly, this isn't even my original photo, but it directs traffic to my blog, so I can't complain! This post is what I call my one hit wonder. I used to get excited when it was repinned. But now I'm over it. Ok, that's dramatic. I'm not over it. I'm happy I was able to find this little gem to share with the world, but I'm just waiting for that next big post to go viral!
And this is my actual photo that corresponds with the previous scarf tying collage. Same blog post, just a different image. But it's the image from my blog with the second highest number of repins ever.
But see, I've got more to offer than just scarves! This collage I put together during my hunt for the perfect red maxi skirt is also pretty popular. I still have this skirt and love it, by the way.
I'm really glad this post has gotten some love. I originally put this post together in response to one of my real life friends asking where she should start to re-build her wardrobe. See, I can do polyvore remixes all day long! Just don't ask me to do another wardrobe capsule in real life! :)
This was my Christmas packing remix post from a couple of years ago. I get the sense that people love outfit brainstorms like this, which is great because it's really fun and relatively easy for me to put together in terms of time and the ability to use polyvore.
My favorite striped midi skirt! I did a guest post for Andrea over at Momma in Flip Flops about how I like to remix this skirt. It's still one of my favorite pieces in my closet and love seeing how I styled it each way!
I feel like you either love the Sam Edelman Petty booties or you hate them. I happen to fall into the "love" boat (ha) and I've shared this collage to a few people (outside of blog land) to give them ideas on how to style them. They're a great alternative to a nude flat.
OK, who am I kidding? People like me better when I'm wearing a scarf. I just have to accept that! Haha! It's so true, but I promise I'm not offended by it. I love my scarves, and I love inspiring people to print mix their scarves and tie them my very favorite way!
So, what I have learned from my most popular pin stats is that I should specialize in remixing and scarf tying. At least I have a fall back in case my real life job ends up not working out! Thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with me!
