dresses as skirts

Row 1: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Row 2: 5 / 6 / 7 / 8
Row 3: 9 / 10 / 11 / 12

One of my favorite tricks of utilizing my closet in the most efficient way is to use dresses as skirts. Especially when a dress is strapless or spaghetti strap, it helps to have another option other than just wearing it with a cardigan. Instead I'll employ a lace blouse, a button-up, or a sweater to layer over the top of the dress, sometimes belting it to add some definition. It doubles my opportunities to wear my favorite dress patterns in varied ways, keeping things fresh and fun.

frocktober days

Frocktober is still in full swing over here!

I've been getting behind on posting my outfits every day, so I decided to do a combo post of days 13-16. 

We've been a very happy kind of busy over here!

As you know, last weekend we went to Richmond to see Needtobreathe in concert, and this weekend has been even more eventful!

We had fun double dates, some of our favorite friends moved back into town (completely surprising us at a coffee shop with the news), and we went on a weekend trip to the North Carolina State Fair!

I still have some catching up to do this coming week, but it has been a wonderful few days!

 Day 13: Dress (remixed): LOFT, Jacket/Earrings/Shoes: Gifted

I love animal prints of every kind, but this cat dress is definitely one of my favorites.
I tend to reach for it in the Fall, probably because of the deep color and easy layering possibilities. I also love that it has pockets!

Day 14: Dress (remixed): Zulily, Boots (shop!): Urbanog, Sweater: Target (remixed)

My birthday wishlist this year was very boot-heavy. I wanted a collection of colored booties so I could pretty much live in boots for the next 6 months. So far, so good!
I love these grey cowboy booties. I'm really excited to have this new neutral to reach for on boot days!
If you haven't visited Urbanog, I would highly recommend it. It's my go-to for booties, definitely. Occasionally I also find some great flats, and they definitely have a crazy selection of weird platform shoes that remind me of Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (anyone? anyone?) but go straight to the boot section and you won't be disappointed. They sometimes even have shoes and styles from my favorite boutiques, but at much better prices!

Day 15: Dress: LOFT, Necklace (shop!): Ruche

I've had a secret dislike for turtlenecks for many years -- trying to figure out how to fold the neck so it doesn't bunch awkwardly, or stand straight up like a strange giraffe costume, was always my struggle. But something changed in me last year.
Not sure when exactly it happened -- although it might have been this outfit post.
This is actually the only turtleneck I own, because it's the only one I have held on to over the years. It's such a subtle neck, and doesn't bunch awkwardly because it's perfectly ruffled - and is really soft and perfect for layering. I guess I had never really realized turtlenecks are so perfect for layering, but I definitely wore this every day in London and Paris!
I'll definitely be looking for more turtlenecks this winter!

 Day 16: Dress: Bought in London, Boots: Urbanog, Jeans: Forever21

I'm looking forward to the weather continually getting cooler so I can layer more!
Only 11 days left of Frocktober. This month has been speeding by, and I'm not quite ready for all the festivities to end. :)
Look for more Frocktober updates from the last few days, and hopefully I'll be back up-to-date by next weekend!

mixing prints: dress in a dress

This past week consisted of some pattern play in my outfit choices. I've been playing around with mixing different prints and trying out bold patterns.
For some reason I was feeling adventurous, and certain things were catching my eye as I perused my closet each morning.

I've tried to get back into the habit of setting out my clothes the night before - it makes getting ready in the morning so much easier! But I don't always think about it.

Floral Dress: Zulily (remixed here and here), Polka-Dot Dress: Primark in London
Shoes: Ruche/Poetic License (shop!), Ring: Ebay (similar), Earrings: Fossil

This outfit is actually a dress on top of a dress.
Completely foreign territory to me until now.
In theory, I think it works. This pairing was a chance encounter, as both these dresses were hanging on my closet door for different purposes and it suddenly dawned on me that I love floral and polka dots together.
This floral dress has become one of my most interesting remix pieces.

I think it depends entirely on the dresses you'd want to wear together, but I think I may try this idea again. Just like wearing a skirt over a dress, or a sweater/top over a dress, or a top under a dress, this layering technique can exponentially expand my dress-wearing. Which I'm always in favor of.

I've definitely mentioned before that I love cutesie things, which includes critters and cute prints.
This ring was no exception. I'm a sucker for foxes (still on the hunt for a perfect budget-friendly fox sweater) and kittens, so this ring kind of encompasses both. I found it on Ebay for 99 cents, so how can you go wrong?
These types of rings are all over the place, places like Ebay and Etsy.
I like looking through some of the more expensive options of cutesie rings, like this, but in all reality I'm more of a 99 cent ring girl than a $60 ring girl. Unless it's of the engagement/wedding persuasion.

I love our balcony, even though it stretches along the entire back side of our apartment complex, so it's a shared space. It still feels secluded and private, with the forest of trees and the lanterns that light up at night.
I'm planning on buying some bistro style patio furniture, hanging some twinkle lights, and spending a lot of quality time on this balcony this summer. I'm looking forward to taking on a lot of home improvement projects in the next few months.
It only took me a year and 8 months to actually be motivated to finish things up. :)
We have a little over a year left until my husband finishes law school and we move back to Arizona, so I'm planning on making it count.