Summer skirt recycled

I originally bought this skirt (H&M) for the summer, but I wanted to get more mileage out of it for work. I feel like I wear the same gray and black skirts all winter. With the help of these tights (Ann Taylor Loft $14.50) that are amazingly warm and this plaid shirt (Forever 21), which was also bought for the summer and was much warmer with some layering (Sweater, Kohls), I was able to extend the life of this skirt. I also just love the colors in that plaid shirt and that sweater is super cozy. I wasn't even that cold at work where the vents blow out cold air in the middle of winter.

French-inspired jacket

So I definitely neglect this little houndstooth jacket. I give it looks when it's in my closet, but I always decide to go with something else. Today I tried to wear it with these blue corduroys ($10 H&M!!!) to add some spiffyness to an overall plain outfit. I threw on that red beret for kicks because I think there is something French about the jacket. I have this tight black dress that I wear this over sometimes with tights, so that is probably why. What do you think? Is the cute jacket totally wrong for those blue corduroys? Let me know!

Vested

I wanted to wear my boyfriend jeans but they are, of course, cropped, and it is starting to get cold outside, so I pulled them over my favorite Franco Sarto boots and created a look for work with this white blouse from New York and Co and this pinstripe vest from Wet Seal. This outfit easily transitions into a night outfit with skinny black pants...

Vintage pocket watch necklace from an estate sale.

sultry stare?

Plaid shirt dress

There is one outfit that always looks good and is always comfortable: leggings with anything! But not with shirts that do not cover your bum, because I am not a fan of legging pants unless, of course, they are leather.

What led me to this post was when I started pondering about the next couple of weeks. Thanksgiving is coming up, then Christmas, I am taking several trips out of town and, I thought, what would be the perfect travel/holiday outfit? I quickly realized that I needed more shirt dresses and when I popped into H&M tonight I found this plaid shirt dress for $15!!!

I am excited to try it out with different layering tricks. Obviously a cardigan would look nice, but I was also thinking of wearing a turtle neck underneath. What do you think?

Skirts and tights and cardis, oh my!

There are three essentials that I have in my fall wardrobe. Skirts, tights, and cardis. I don't like to put away my dresses and skirts from summer just because there is frost on my car windows, and I have to sit in my driveway for a half hour while the car heater warms up. I put up with the wind and cold because I am not ready to retire into jeans and snow pants just yet. So the ultimate solution to staying warm while trying to be cute are obviously tights and cardigans. There is nothing special about this outfit expect that I love the skirt, which I purchased from Forever 21, and it was ridiculously cheap.

What to do about knee socks

Many of you will be happy that I was tinkering around with my camera today and was able to find another option that made the color come out better. Yay!
So when knee socks started to appear for fall I was confused. Knee socks kind of look a little skanky. But then I saw this post on Frolic, and I was shown the light. Adding knee socks to the layered look prevents them from making you look like a naughty school girl while wearing them. Wearing knee socks over your leggings or pants just adds another layer and it actually looks kind of cute, like leg warmers or something. And they do provide more warmth, especially because my toes are normally in the bottom of my boots freezing because my leggings are not footed. Try it out.

Edgy fem

Umm I like the top photo because I was trying to be girly, but it just turned out blurry and weird. Haha.
Anyways, I like to pair really flowy tops with edgy black pants and accessories because it makes the outfit more interesting. If I were wearing biker boots and if those were actually black leather leggings, this outfit would be really amazing. Dear Santa, please bring me Bleggings for Christmas so I can showcase both my edgy and feminine side. Thank you!

Onsie: Practical

So when I bought my onsie, I never thought I could put such a practical outfit together. I like this outfit because the onsie alone is kind of sexy, but when I cover up the plunging neckline with a fall scarf and put some tights on, it looks more like a romper or jumper than something sexy and impractical...it does doesn't it? Doesn't it???

Brighten up

I know that you just set your clocks back and that when you drive home at say 5 or 5:30 it is practically pitch black outside already. So to brighten up your day, I suggest taking your floral pieces from this summer and making them winter and fall appropriate with tights, leggings, and cardigans. I am actually not wearing tights in this photo, but knee socks that I purchased at Marc's grocery store for about 50 cents. The dress is from Forever 21. This outfit worn with maybe some thicker leggings or tights and a heavy cardigan can be worn through winter. And maybe some boots too! Just make sure you have a warm coat.

Day to Night Outfit

Day outfit: I am wearing my onsie underneath a stretchy pencil skirt with tights and with a cardigan over it to make it appropriate for work.
Night outfit: I took off the pencil skirt and the cardigan and could add some statement jewelry to make it dressy for an evening out.

How do you like my transitional outfit? Does it work?

Disclaimer: My hair looks crazy because it was the end of the day, please excuse. 

Buffalo girl

I certainly look like someone from the west with my buffalo plaid and boots. I assure you I am not. I am much more prone to suburban/city life, but every once in a while I have to jump out of character. I got this dress on sale at Urban Outfitters. I wore it during the summer alone with sandals and a cardigan, but I knew I couldn't let the love affair end just yet. So I am bringing it with me into fall but with leggings and a blouse. I also put on my vintage pearl necklace that I found at a shop in Columbus. What do you think?

Everyday glamour

I love this new scarf I got from Dina at Dina's Days courtesy of chick downtown. It's so lightweight and falls so romantically anyway you wear it because of its pleats. I wanted to wear it with a casual outfit because I thought it would add something dramatic to just an everyday look. What do you think?

Seaside caper

Mediterranean vacation by The Cosmopolitan Clevelander featuring J Crew

With the nautical stripe you can bring this shirt with you anywhere from Cape Cod to a coastal town in the mediterranean, and in my case, to Cleveland. It's by a lake. That works.
The nautical stripe works best with basics such as navy or neutrals like this khaki pleated skirt. The skirt almost looks a little nautical itself as well as the gold jewlery.
The large, round sunglasses gives it a sixties, retro vibe. 

Everyone loves an Italian girl, including George Clooney. CNN covered this extensively. It will soon become a national trend. 

Shirt: H&M
Skirt: H&M
Earrings: H&M
Shoes: Charlotte Russe
Sunglasses: Pac Sun

Lady is a Vamp

Blood red by The Cosmopolitan Clevelander featuring Forever21

I was going to wear this grey and black dress with a boyfriend jacket, but it ended up being too much black. So when I pulled out my ever-trusty red, fitted jacket I knew it would achieve some of the latet trends for fall—red and vampires. So I have included a picture of Edward for your viewing pleasure because I know you are all swooning over him right now.
My favorite vampire, however, will always be Leslie Neilson, Dracula: Dead and loving it.
Something about the shape of this jacket makes it look good with almost anything, and the deep red is irresistable—it's science! It especially looks good over the bubble skirt of this dress. I wore this outfit with flats, but I think it would look especially good with a pair of ankle booties. I really want a pair and still haven't bought any yet!
I also broke out the gold jewelry because it's such a nice compliment to the red, and it adds to that whole vampire feeling.

Jacket: Consignment
Dress: Marshalls
Leggings: Target
Necklace: H&M
Earrings: Gilt Group
South Dakota black hills gold ring: Pawn shop

Black, white and hot all over

The perfect print by atsai

I love this dress, and though typically I make any excuse to wear it, on this particular day, I was a bit of a cranky tank because I was unhappy about where I was going in it. Rewind 5 weeks before this picture was taken, and you will see me agreeing to be a coworker's date to a wedding...in slow motion, as my inner voice screams "Nooo!" and my mouth says "suuuure."

Let it be known that I can't think of any excuses, let alone legitimate excuses, at 8:15 a.m. That said, it wasn't that bad, and this cute, comfortable number made it all the more bearable. If I had been wearing it for a hot date, I might have spruced it up with some feminine details (such as the romantic pearls and bowed belt and heels), and a tough leather jacket to balance the slight Minnie Mouse feel.

In reality, I wore a giant turquoise ring to double as a brass knuckle in case of emergency.

A simple shift

The shift dress emulates power, structure, and form. It makes a woman look both professional and styled at the same time. It is a classic. I purchased this at H&M for $39.50. Upon inspecting it, I found the material to be just as sturdy as its form. This is probably one of the best and most practical purchases I have ever made. I always look good in it, and it gives me confidence. Pairing it with different accesories and pieces from your wardrobe only can make this simple grey dress even more intriguing. I love to wear my rose quartz ball necklace with this.

Shapes and colors

I rarely wear this shirt, so this is really a shop my closet find. I usually go for things that flatter my shape a little better. However, this flowy top paired with these shorts really accentuate the legs. Sometimes it's nice to show off one area of your body at a time. Also, it is an interesting sherbert green that is hard to find bottoms to go with, so I tried these yellow shorts. I think it makes the outfit playful. I would add some colorful earrings or a neckalce with complimentary colors to spruce it up even more.

Colonial Times

Knickers and tights have been worn ever since ye Colonial Times! Although my knickers are actually shorts and my tights are black, it's almost exactly the same...right. I just needed a creative title for this post.
I know the shorts and tights look is a bit risky because you are verging on bad eighties/early nineties or just childish, I can't decide. Despite the angle of this picture, the tights under shorts were very slimming and very cute. I think this might be a good transition from summer into fall when the weather can be misleading—80 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night. I threw on my maroon velvet jacket with gold buttons to complete the look and continue with the whole colonial theme. I don't think I can wear shorts to work even with tights, but this is a different look for a nighttime outing—maybe to a movie or play or better yet, a reanactment of the Boston Tea Party.

My knickers are showing!

Something happened between work and home today, and it's called H&M. When I walked in, little did I know I would soon encounter my childhood arch nemesis...knickers. It's not that I hated all knickers as a child, it's just that I hated wearing the excruciatingly scratchy wool knickers my mom made me wear (not to mention the full-on wool outfit. Love you!). But seriously, imagine wearing pants made of horsehair...and fire.

These knicks are not scratchy, however, and they are surprisingly cute. Just be careful how you stand, because the extra crotch material is projecting a slight Lady Gaga situation in this picture. I'm a girl, I swear.

Vest obsessed

My love for vests has persisted for 16 years, but the road hasn't always been easy. I've denied it, hid it and even gone so far as to make FUN of vests, all to cover up my addiction. It all started with a red and blue vest with horses (and, oh god, cowboys) printed on the front. And by red and blue, I mean one whole side was red, and the other whole side was blue. It was hideous, but please don't feel bad for me, I still had friends despite the rodeo vest. Possibly because some of my friends were wearing pink sweatsuits with a bear- in- clothes pattern. We were quite a team.

I've come a long way since then, and so has my choice in vests. My white Saturday Night Fever vest is the centerpiece of this otherwise boring outfit, and it also brings a little sex appeal to the table. I have to say, every time I have worn this little guy out to the bar, men magically buy me drinks. Granted, they were all ugly.... but that's neither here nor there.

Don't fear the onsie

Anything that looks like it is made from the same piece of material is something I used to avoid like the plague. I mean the sheer physics of it are enough to scare away my simple mind. And the fact that when I was younger, I was traumatized by wearing shirts that buttoned at the crotch just so they would look tucked in. But, as you have seen on this blog before, onsies have actually become...kind of sexy.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea and for you to run around like a hot mess in a cheap imitation. So please, follow the rules. If you are going to buy a onsie, buy a classy one. The cheap ones are not as nice. Trust me, I have looked. They end up making you look like a blast from the past, but not in a good way.

Look for a detail that makes it current. For instance, this one has a ruffle halter detail that is very contemporary.

Also, if you are going to buy a nice one, try to find it on sale. This one from Urban Outfitters was originally $70, marked down to $35, marked down to $18. It was magical, like a onsie fairytale. Good luck with your onsie search!

Flower Power

I secretly love anything floral print. Even though I used to pretend that I hated it and that it looked outdated, I know I owned several dresses and jumpsuits with a floral print when I was younger. I rocked those floral prints then, and I'm going to rock them now!

So, you could understand my elation when floral print all of the sudden became stylish again. I just have to say that this dress was a no-name brand purchase from Gabriel Brothers for $20. I wore it to a wedding last weekend and people mistaked it for a dress from J.Crew (which was my plan all along).

As much as I love pairing a floral print with black tights to give it more of an edge, I can't help but admit that what compliments it best are this button down white blouse and a pair of mary janes, and I will soon be receiving my membership to the American Association of Librarians. Is anyone looking for a sexy librarian?

Strap perfect, fashion tape unite

So, I bought strap perfect in a weak moment at CVS, and somehow I thought I would be impressed. Not only does it look like I could craft one myself out of paper clips and yarn, but, I don't even own the kind of crazy-strapped tank tops shown in the commercial to try it out. And who would really use this thing for a sports bra. I don't even understand the physics, honestly.

Then, while trying on my 3 billionth bridesmaid dress, I came across Hollywood Fashion Tape, designed to keep garments in place, and banish the gaping holes that appear in the most inappropriate areas on button down shirts. The cleave. I am happy to report that this tape works, and I no longer walk around with a window to my bosoms.

And this last picture is an example of why you should use a strap perfect, because otherwise you will be a hot mess. Like me. Hi boys.

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My friend, the jean jacket

Jackets of any kind will save you this summer. I took this maxi from Forever 21 and this jacket from Old Navy to make a more relaxed but still stylish summer look. This look can be worn anywhere from barbecues to summer concerts and, most importantly, you will be comfortable. The shoes from Charlotte Russe dress it up a little more as well as the necklace from Francesca's Boutique. I don't know why I look angry in this picture. I promise that I am not scowling at you.