TBMD

Hosted by Liza @ Fashion for Teens, Petite Fashion Challenge #10: Summer to Fall has us taking traditionally summer pieces (ie: tank tops, shorts, mini skirts, sundresses, etc) and make them appropriate for fall.

A sundress was my chosen piece of clothing for both looks.

For a casual summer outfit: I raised the hemline, wore a bag crossbody and added flip-flops. I accessorized with fun flower pins, rings, and a denim jacket for chillier weather at night.

For the transition to fall: I played off the dress' print and used darker shades of green and brown for the rest of the outfit. A longer jacket and booties finished off the look. I considered wearing tights, but it didn't seem right with the fabric and print of the dress.

Through Suddenlee, I was able to get my hands on this pair of Zara court shoe with snakeskin toe, size 36. They are a great alternative to this gorgeous Alejandro Ingelmo snake pump (sold here) which I fell in love with but knew I could never handle the heel height. The Zara pair did not have the straight heel, but it's walkable at a little over 3" in height. I took my regular size in these shoes and they are a perfect fit. I love the pointy toe without being too Halloween witch-like.

The pumps are surprisingly comfortable, with plenty of padding from the heel to the toe. Unlike some of the flats I own, these didn't require a break-in period. There is some toe cleavage (which I like, but others may not care for) but not as much as the Ann Taylor perfect patent pumps. The only negative is the $90 price tag. I didn't want to take a chance with it selling out before the next semi-annual sale, so I caved.

Two snake print items in a month and a half? I do believe I'm slowly getting over my phobia ;)

*My tripod (and sunglasses) weren't around, so thank you to my patient boyfriend for taking these photos!

I'm not sure how I feel about this outfit. Loved the look on the model, but on the fence about my recreation. I think the proportion of stripes + lace looked off on me -- too much of both. Perhaps it's time to add a similar lace top to my wishlist :)

*Madewell image courtesy of Amy Parker via Pinterest

My most recent purchase is this nautical-inspired rope bracelet with a knot from Etsy seller junghwa. She customized the length of the rope to fit my wrist (5.75"), with room to spare by tightening or loosening the knot. The bracelet came with toggle clasps, which I had trouble putting on one-handed. I did eventually get the hang of it by using a flat surface to keep the toggle steady so I could loop the t-bar through. I love this bracelet's simple design with a knot that doesn't overwhelm my hands. I can see this piece fitting in nicely with my casual style.

For 20% off jewelry at Amy's shop use code BRIGHTEN20 until October 17th.

Over the past week:

- My apartment's water heater broke for good. I'm crabby from two days of cold showers. Hugh Jackman I'm not.

- Sat dumbfounded through an earthquake because I didn't know what was happening. My coworker and I thought a helicopter had crashed into our building. Not exactly a stretch at the time, but kind of silly now. Hope everyone is ok and there isn't much damage.

- I went to court to fight a speeding ticket. I took pictures of the scene, drew out maps, googled as much of the proceedings as I can, only to find out the cop didn't provide sufficient radar reading. Case dismissed. Yay! I should've tested my luck by buying a lottery ticket.

- The rest of the day was spent in the city with stops at Zara and H&M. What better reason to go shopping than after getting out of a ticket? Oh who am I kidding, even if I had to pay the fine, I would've gone shopping afterward to cheer myself up, hahaha. I saw tons of items at H&M that's making their way around the blogsphere (and new items too), but nothing caught my eye. I went to Zara looking for a kids fur waistcoat, but only found the leopard print version in stock. I tried it on for size and now I'm leaning towards ordering the camel color in size L through Suddenlee. Please let me know if I'm making a bad choice :)

Initially, I intended to wear the dress as is. After I pulled it on, the fabric sort of gathered around my hips, waiting to be smoothed out. I thought the draping nicely fell in a casual-messy-but-interesting way (I couldn't quite capture the flowy-ness in photos). The end result is certainly growing on me. What do you think -- experiment gone right or not worth repeating?

The construction behind me is being turned into an urban, walkable community, slated for completion next year. I can't wait to take pictures with colorful (and modern) buildings as the backdrop. It'll be a change from the typical colonial style that's so prevalent here. Happy Friday, everyone!

Ever since I saw this Nina Ricci dress with a hot pink slip, I've been itching to recreate my own. The neon pink tee that I've been wearing to death was long enough to be a tunic, but the problem was the v-neck. It looked really odd underneath the lace dress' crewneck, so I wore the tee backwards. Next, the tee's short-sleeves didn't look right with the dress' elbow-length sleeves, so donning a blazer solved that issue. And finally, so I wouldn't be going around flashing everyone, I decided a white mini skirt didn't look too out of place. Voila, all three problems solved. I quite liked the challenge and am loving the end result!

*Nina Ricci dress image courtesy of Gilt

Bf bought a $10 for $20 Groupon to Old Navy, but could only find a polo for $15, so the remaining amount was up to me. Just my luck, they were having a shorts sale that final weekend with many at $5. $5 shorts?! (Can you tell I'm not a great bargain hunter?) Even better, a lot of small sizes were left. I picked up these pink/purple shorts with a longer inseam than what I'm used to. No biggie; I need to start the transition away from short shorts and this was the perfect starter item.

I know I have a lot of pink items in my closet, so I wished these came in other fun colors. But for my first pair of colorful shorts at $2.50, I shouldn't nitpick too much.

Are you a fan of colored shorts?

A big thanks to Sunshine for the hidden-face-behind-leaves idea :)

Sorry for posting white outfits with trees as backgrounds two posts in a row. I actually wore the previous outfit a week and a half ago, but didn't get a chance to publish until this week. Today's outfit was worn yesterday. When pink clothes need to be laundered, I turn to white. A creature of habit? That's me.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I took these pictures on an open road. It's one-way and relatively deserted, so I figured once I hear cars coming, there should be plenty of time to freeze, give the driver a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, grab tripod, and run for safety. So much for putting trust in my hearing because I kept turning my head towards the direction of in-coming traffic. As a result, half the pictures in this batch didn't turn out right. Note to self: face the traffic flow next time, even if the lighting isn't ideal.

The other day I went out to lunch with a couple gfs. One of whom I saw for the first time since she became pregnant. So of course the minute she walked through the door, I couldn't help but look at her stomach. I guess I was staring a little too intensely (her bump was well hidden) because I jumped when she called me out on it, hahaha.

This got me thinking that I should probably start being more discreet when I check others out. I'm talking about other girls' outfits of course, (I have no control over my eyes when a good-looking guy walks by) because the last thing I want to come off as is a stalker, albeit an outfit-stalker. So if you're in the DC area and you see a girl walking into little kids while staring at your outfit, call me out on it please! That is, after making sure the kids are okay first.

Are you an outfit watcher?

I loved the brown, white, hot pink, and orange color pairing of this DSquared² outfit from their Resort 2012 collection. I couldn't duplicate the look exactly, but came up with a more casual version by swapping the colors around a bit. No orange shoes? Orange necklace to the rescue. No pink skirt? A pink tee will do. White shorts and an olive/brown cardigan finished off my look.

Are you a fan of using runway looks as inspirations?

*DSquared² image courtesy of style.com

I picked up this Ann Taylor Vintage Trench in maple, size XS P (currently sold here) last week at their one-day 40% off sale + extra 20% off (thank you Vicky for sharing the code with me!) I had seen this jacket briefly in person but wanted to wait for a sale.

The trench is made of heavy material, one that should keep you warm late into fall. The fabric is matte, which I liked a lot. The color is darker in person than it appears on the website/photos below -- a pretty camel shade.

The jacket fit me pretty well overall. The length and shoulder width were perfect. If I had to nitpick, I would wish for longer sleeves, but only because that's my preference. I'd say these were a tad on the shorter end.

For $109.44, this trench is worth the price. Unfortunately, it will be a return for me. The color was darker than I expected and I can't justify yet another camel coat. A lighter, closer to khaki-shade would have been perfect.

See it on Easy Petite Looks. Did anyone else buy/try this on? What were your thoughts?

What would you say is overdone among style blogs? I'd pick posing in front of the requisite brick wall. And yet here I am today, doing just that, lol. An abandoned warehouse building was too secluded to pass up a photo opportunity. I can now call myself a style blogger?

I know today's outfit is more suited for fall, but when worn inside at the office (with the skirt pulled low), I didn't feel ridiculous.

I first saw this H&M snake-embossed envelope clutch weeks ago at a location in the city, fell in love (who would've thought since I hate snakes?!), but passed because I didn't have my 20% coupon with me. Days later, when I was ready to actually buy, I couldn't find it anywhere in the stores near me. This is what I get for wanting to save $4 lol. I was about to give up when I recently revisited one of the stores and saw they had restocked. Hallelujah!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this clutch came with straps that can be worn cross-body. This is a new style for me, and I quite like having my hands free. I originally wanted to cut off the tassels because it looked like a weird brush, but now I don't think it's so bad. Thoughts? I can fit the same amount of items inside as I can with my Chanel M/L flap, reorganized in a different way. The only downside is I have to keep readjusting repositioning the the bag so it sits next to my hip. Otherwise, it constantly slides behind me and bounces off my bottom as I walk. Is this normal for cross-body bags? I wonder if I had worn clothing with more textures/ridges, the bag/straps would more likely stay put.