Lady In Red

This outfit is from yesterday. I only have a few stragglers to post and by next week I will be all caught up. Anyway, after getting an influx of new clothing items over the weekend I had to immediately start wearing them (obviously.) One of the challenges in wearing clothes that was from someone else's wardrobe is that it might need some tweaking stylistically or size wise but, that wasn't going to stop me! In the case of this dress, it was both. While the overall fit was sufficient it was a little big in the top. What made that more challenging to pull off was the sweetheart neckline. Tank top to the rescue, again,

Now on to the star of this ensemble, these shoes! I spotted them in the thrift store and just had to at least try them on, right? Yup. After walking around for five seconds a bit I just knew I had to add them to my shoe wardrobe, right? Exactly. They couldn't have been a more perfect match for this dress (ALL the retro inspired things) but, what else should I pair them with? Decisions, decisions....

• Top: red sweetheart neckline dress, eShakti.com/Mom's closet raid; black tank top, Old Navy
• Shoes & Accessories: black and white retro inspired pumps, Bakers via The Unique Thrift Store; vintage silver earrings, my Abuela 

Purchases & Acquisitions: June 2015

There was shopping/swapping this month, so much shopping/swapping! Well maybe not so much with the shopping but, definitely with the swapping... let me explain. I have been feeling the urge to shop in the recent months but, after my extreme closet purge that increased exponentially. I sent my Mom the picture of the finished product and she took pity on me bringing over some things form her closet that no longer fit her last weekend. Then we scheduled a time to go see the local tailor by her so that I could salvage some of my favorite items because tailoring is a great option instead of heading out and buying all new clothes. 

Unfortunately/fortunately, we didn't make it to the tailor because I was raiding my Mom's closet for things that no longer worked for her. I made out like a bandit (kinda literally) with bags of sartorial goodies. Ironically, many of those items had previously been mine going as far back as high school, for serious. It's a good thing that my mother doesn't have my penchant for closet clean outs but, I digress...  Even though the tailor was closed we consoled ourselves by heading over to one of my favorite second hand stores and she bought me a few things because she's super nice. The "damage"  is as follows... 

Goodwill $20.48 Amazon Local Deal

• red dress, Taylor 
• brown striped dress, Bailey 44 

Current Consignment $15.64

• eggplant suite, Nanette Lepore
• cream pants, Vanessa Bruno
• gray tank top, Bailey 44

Unique Thrift Store $45.22 c/o Mom

• beige pinstripe capris, New York & Company
• brown plaid pants, New York & Company
• khaki green bermuda shorts, Forever 21
• black pinstripe suit, Anne Klein
• retro inspired polka dot pumps, Bakers

Mom's Closet Raid Cleanout

• red dress, eShakti.com
• blue floral lace dress, eShakti.com
• black and white houndstooth faux wrap dress, eShakti.com
• gray scoopneck t-shirt, New York & Company,
• red scoopneck t-shirt, New York & Company
• black sheath dress, Books Brothers
• black sleeveless polo shirt, Lacoste
• white sleeveless polo shirt, Lacoste
• black polo shirt, Lacoste
• black capri leggings
• black embellished t-shirt, Merona
•  khaki skirt, Ann Taylor
• white linen pants
• denim skirt, LOFT
• black lace dress, H&M
• black sweater dress, Pink Rose 
• lime green scoopneck sweater, LOFT
• ivory scoopneck sweater, LOFT
• hot pink scoopneck sweater, LOFT 
• yellow scoopneck sweater, LOFT 
• green scoopneck sweater, LOFT 
• black scoopneck sweater, LOFT 
• green cardigan sweater, New York & Company 
• purple cardigan sweater, New York & Company
• light brown plaid suit, Sweet Suit
• brown polka dot suit, Donna Sands
• purple tweed skirt, Norton
• black and gray plaid skirt, NYCC
• ivory and beige skirt, Theory
• gray pencil skirt, Emanuel by Emanuel Ungaro
• blue and gray dress, Old Navy
• gray cropped blazer, I.N.C. 
• black and brown plaid skirt, Worthington
• black t-shirt, Chanel
• blue ombre tank top, Xhilitration

You were worried, weren't you? It really wasn't that bad after all, after all of the fun new things I added or welcomed back to my wardrobe I ended up only spending $15.64 at my local consignment store. We'll see how I do next month since I will spending time visiting my favorite shopping destination my cousin and you've seen how that goes...

Weekend Wear: Swap Style

Weekends often consist of errands, shopping, and other boring things like that but, occasionally there is something fun happening or I am wearing an outfit that I want to share. This was an outfit that I wore to my first clothing swap (among other errands, etc.) Overall the experience of the swap was alright but, your "shopping" success at any swap is entirely contingent on the other people that are attending being your size. That was not really the case in this instance, even though I am in the sweet spot in the overlap of regular and plus size, and I didn't have much luck finding items for myself. 

The other reason that I wouldn't label this experience a rousing success was because there were some unpleasant people there. There were loud complainers, line cutters, and hoarders (AKA I am going to grab everything and sort it out in the corner later). I even got into a "Filene's Basement wedding dress sale" like battle with a woman over a dress that she grabbed after I grabbed it. By battle I mean we exchanged words and then she huffed away. After everything, I think swapping is a great idea but, knowing what you are getting yourself into is the first step... what kind of items will be there? will there be items in your size? how many other people will be there? If the answers to those questions aren't favorable then it isn't worth your time. Has anyone been to a swap? Have you held your own swap? How was the experience for you? 

• Top: black and white polka dot dress, Forever 21 via The Big Fat Flea
• Shoes & Accessories: red Bridget Thong Sandal, LOFT/gift from mom; pearl earrings, Macys/gift from Mom; silver watch, Fossil; cherry print tote, Luella for Target

Don't forget to enter to win a $75 gift certificate from Shabby Apple!

Fashion Week In Pictures (Mostly)

I went to a few events for Fashion Week and I wanted to share all of my experiences with you! It was definitely very surreal to be at those types of events because of my own merit. Normally, I would be going to a show or hanging out at an event because I knew someone; This time it was all me! 

The first event that I went to was the meetup that Katy from Modly Chic put together at a rooftop bar in midtown. Thank goodness there was a roof on the roof because the rain was torrential! A bunch of other lovely blogger ladies came and we chatted sipped drinks and of course took some pictures. 

Me, my friend Katie, and Katy from Modly Chic

Allie from Fashion Enthusiast (far left), Christine from Feed My Sole (next far left),  Heather  representing Marshalls, Me,  my friend Katie, Katy from Modly Chic

One of the coolest things was the Katy was able to put together goodie bags thanks to the generosity of We Love Colors and other cool brands. Mine got destroyed a little in the rain but, that's ok the contents inside survived!

Thursday was Fashion's Night Out which we all know I missed but, the next night I was Blogger's Night Out which just seemed so much more apropos! I started out the evening at an invitation only clothing swap organized by Swapaholics and ModCloth! I got a great dress from ModCloth and swapped some items I was considering donating to the thrift store for a few cute dresses from Re/Dress NYC that the owner Deb bought. I was so happy she brought some "normal" sized clothes. 

As you can see it got pretty swamped so when the time was right I made my way down to Blogger's Night Out which was actually very close. I will say at the two parties I felt very under-dressed but, decided to take pictures anyway because the opportunity felt very unique!

Me and Nicole from Black Shoes Diary

 

There were lots of different companies there and tons of fun things to explore including Zoya's new line of polishes for the fall. 

One of the sponsors was Lulus.com. They had a Wheel of Fortune type set up and you could spin to win discounts, or even free items from the selection to that had. I actually ended up winning an item which I'm sure you will see soon!

On Saturday I got invited to attend Robert Verdi's Luxe Laboratory. I had no idea what that meant before I went into it but, when I showed up I was pleasantly surprised. The whole point of the exhibition was to celebrate the use of plastic in fashion. It goes into alot of what we wear/use and has really great properties! 

There were tons of companies there showing of their wares! 

Of course this party got pretty packed too but, I happened to stay long enough that Robert Verdi came and hung out! He was very sweet...



Robert Verdi and I

Overall, I had a total blast and got tons of cool swag which I will be rolling out... What did you do for Fashion Week?

SWAG!