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.