style gallery

If you've just arrived here at Voguish, I'll let you in on a little (widely known) secret.
I really like online shopping. I love boutiques, most notably Ruche, which I have become a loyal patron of.
(You can check out my style features on their blog here. My "not just a romper" outfit was featured this morning!)
They're also having a ridiculous Labor Day Sale until Monday, so seriously, get on that train.

Currently on my wishlist:

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 // 12 // 13 // 14

It all started when we moved to Lynchburg, Virginia and discovered that this is the town where shopping comes to die.
People must just thrive on thrift stores and garage sales, because the mall is disgraceful and Target is the #1 recommendation for shopping of any kind.
I mean, there used to be a Forever 21 but it closed down. In a big college town. That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard. It's like some kind of shopping twilight zone.

There is some good news though -- Francesca's and LOFT have finally opened in a shopping center a little ways away, so perhaps that's the beginning of our road to redemption.

All of that being said, I've finally discovered Modcloth's "Style Gallery". It's so much fun. 
There's such an assortment of styles, sizes, and types of women that post their personal style on there! I spent way too much time scrolling through it yesterday, and picking out my favorites.
I went a little crazy and started developing my own Style Gallery page! (See it here).

It's such an encouraging little space. No comments, just hearts! People scroll through and can heart your outfits - it's all about the love, ya'll. All about the love.

What's on your Ruche wishlist? Do you have a Style Gallery page on Modcloth? I'd love to know!

I hope you all have an amazing 3-day-weekend. Do something crazy fun. :)

creative layering: back bows

Early last month, I won $100 gift card to a local boutique called Gladiola Girls.
It's super cute and I fell in love when I happened upon it while walking downtown, so I was overjoyed to get the gift card from a Facebook 4th of July outfit contest!

It's a store I'd most likely have drooled over often, but never actually purchased from, except for a few perfumes and accessories - they carry higher-end clothing brands and most of them are out of my price range (I spent almost the whole gift card on this dress!).

Spending the gift card was a similar experience to my first Anthropologie purchase.
Freshman year of college I was introduced to the joy that is Anthro window shopping, and received a 15% off coupon for my birthday. I was so excited. I waltzed right in, grabbed the cutest mug I could find, and saved a whole $1.50 with my coupon.
The sales lady was completely baffled, maybe even a little irritated.
"Um...you know this is 15% off, and you can only use it once. You should probably save it for a more worthwhile purchase."
I stuck to my guns, "Oh, trust me. This is worthwhile."
That mug is still my absolute favorite, for being my first Anthropologie item and for being a special treat on my birthday as a poor college student.

My time in Gladiola Girls was no different. "Um...you're getting a $100 dress for free. And you're not buying anything else?"
Sorry, Girls, for being the worst customer ever and ruining the whole point of these kinds of giveaways...

I took these photos shortly after I got it:

...but didn't actually end up wearing it, so I left the photos unblogged. I always try and blog things that I actually wear for a full day or for a specific event, and this outfit wasn't quite right yet.
I was trying to scheme a way to wear it in cooler weather, because we've been having so many rainstorms and it feels like Fall is trying to sneak up on us a little earlier this year. While it's an adorable summer dress and has this great back bow, that makes it really tricky to wear during any other season.

I was determined to find a way to successfully layer it, even with the tricky back bow, before I posted the outfit.

So, voila! Thanks to some advice from Rebecca of The Clothes Horse (who also owns this dress in another color), and some searching around online and within my own closet, I managed to put something together.

Dress: Dear Creatures (shop, shop), Blouse: Ruche (similar), Cardigan: J. Crew

I honestly love this outfit.
It's completely different from anything I've worn before, and makes me love this pink bow blouse even more for its endless versatility!

I felt a little overdressed for work (especially when corduroy pants are my coworker's go-to clothing item), but didn't care too much because I was covered in bows and completely comfortable.

I even grabbed a cardigan to help with my occasionally freezing office, and just let the bow peek out the top (which, in case you didn't follow the link earlier, is how Rebecca styled it).

What do you think?

Sound off in the comments below!

that new book smell

There's something about a bookstore that is refreshing and inspiring and makes me feel ancient. 

I can remember countless hours spent in our local Barnes and Noble, snatching up bakery goods with mom, coveting the fancy leather journals and waltzing around the kid's aisle. Feeling too shy to play with the toys, but really wanting to. Buying expensive bookmarks for friends. Collecting calendars. Wishing I could afford hardcovers. That momentous occasion when I finally began looking toward the young adult section, rather than the children's. 

How is it that the upcoming generation spends little to no time in bookstores, perusing the young adult fiction section for their next great adventure?

I wonder if there's any truth to the idea that books will be entirely electronic eventually.

There's a person somewhere inside me that clenches her teeth, pushes up her horn-rimmed glasses and cocks her hip while shouting emphatically "Never!"

But on the other hand, there's no use denying that the number of books, journals and articles available electronically is steadily on the rise.

Kindles have converted even the strictest (and horn-rimmed glassiest) of folks. 

Having said that, I'm confident I'll be long gone by the time the smell of new books ceases to move people. 

Skirt/Shoes: Zulily, Sweater: Gifted, Top: Ruche (similar)

On a completely separate note, what's the general consensus out there about Gwyneth Paltrow?

All sources point to her being snobby, pretentious and occasionally difficult to work with...

And yet I still see her and think she's completely fantastic. 

(The best thing about admiring celebrities - you can pretty much make up whatever you want about them, because you'll never know them in real life.)

So Gwyn: love her, or unlove her?

 

not just a romper

Necklace: Ruche (shop!)

Yesterday, we decided to make the drive to the land of vineyards and orchards to go peach picking before the summer was officially over!

My mom is in town, and she is peach's biggest fan, for sure. She loves everything peach, and once we found out there was an orchard open on Sundays that still had trees whose branches were heavy-laden with the sweet fruit, we were out the door!

I decided to wear this soft floral romper, but threw on a belted pair of denim shorts because, well...
Rompers can be kind of janky.

I denied the fact that I wanted a romper for many a day. I secretly wanted to find a romper that fit me, and that was flattering and made sense (which I don't think exists, unless you're Jess from New Girl).
When I saw this pretty one over at Ruche last year, on super-sale for $10, I thought, this is it.
This is the moment a romper and I are going to fall in love and live happily ever after.
Wrong. 
This romper, if worn on its own, is the single most inappropriate article of clothing I own.
And yet I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it, because it's soft, pretty, floral, and has this great strappy back that I love.

So, why not?
I use this romper for a blouse, tucked secretly into shorts. Or possibly a skirt, or pants.
The back is adorable, the print is versatile.
And no one has to know that this could also double as super-sassy kitchen attire.

Cara Box: seasons of life

Happy Saturday, friends!

This past month I decided to participate in something called Cara Box.
For those of you who haven't heard of it before, head on over to this link where you can read all about this fun program started by Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals.
(You can also check out the Cara Box button on the right side of this blog to link to it.)

The purpose is summed up in the tagline, "make friends. receive gifts. share encouragement."

You're paired up with two different bloggers from all over the US (although you can also do it if you live outside the US, and if you don't have a blog! You're just paired with others like you), and are given the opportunity to get to know them by following their blog and exchanging emails. At the end of the assigned time (which is now 3 months), you send them a gift box!
Each month has a different theme, and they've done so many fun ones in the past! Things like nautical, circus, holiday sparkle, etc. This month we were assigned to each other based on our "season of life" (age bracket, kids/no kids, etc.). The goal was to find out everything you could about the other person, and try and compose a box that was perfectly them in every way.
I met two amazing girls, Amanda of Keeping Up with the Jayneses, and Shana of Keep It Simple.

I can honestly say I would be friends with both of them face-to-face. They are both such amazing people, and I loved finding out more about them and getting to know them. We exchanged quirky questions about each other and found out we had a lot in common! From favorite colors to favorite TV shows, to funny childhood collections and similar guilty pleasures.

Shana was the one who sent me my box, and I couldn't wait to open it!

She included a really sweet note, explaining all of the fun things she included in my box.
She totally hit the nail on the head! She included crafting supplies, a Christmas ornament representing the many cows that reside in Indiana (because my husband and I collect Christmas ornament from our travels!), a big notepad for jotting down blogging ideas, and a salad cookbook to balance out our guilty pleasure of eating out all the time! One of the greatest parts? She included a toy for our sweet kittens!

I think the piece I'm most enamored with is the little wreath-carrying cow.
I adore Christmas ornaments and can't wait to include this on this year's tree!

I can't wait to use the new ribbon and the sweet pastel buttons for new Posies by Cait projects!

Thank you so much Shana, for all the thought you put into this box! I love every bit of it and it was so wonderful getting to know you. I look forward to keeping up with you and maintaining our blog friendship!

I would highly recommend participating in the next Cara Box :) sign ups will be up on Wifessionals sometime after Labor Day! It's such a wonderful way of getting to know other bloggers, and to get plugged into a sweet community of encouraging women. It's like a blogger's Christmas!

(Luna and Evangeline sure enjoyed it!)