Style Secret: Flower Belt

Have you seen the pretty flower belts that have been out for a while now? Rather than buying one several of those darling belts, I like to simply attach a coordinating pin/hair clip to one of my basic skinny belts. The accessories are much more versatile as separates that can be joined. =)

Style Secret: Tie to Necklace

I saw this upcycle DIY jewelry idea on Pinterest and loved it! The necklaces are made from men's silk neckties. They're fun, quick, easy, and inexpensive to make. Click on the link for the tutorial on the blog Artstar by Aletha.

Here's how my first necklace turned out. I like how it can be worn at different lengths, for varied looks.

Style Secret: 25 Ways to Wear a Scarf

I love scarves. Versatile and dramatic, they are my favorite fashion accessories. I love how they so easily transform an outfit that otherwise would be basic and boring. I love how they bring colors together, giving me more latitude in combining my separates.  I was excited last night to come across this video via Pinterest, showing tutorials for 25 different ways to wear scarves!  It's too helpful not to share. Here's to enjoying a more creative and versatile wardrobe. =)

Style Secret: Christmas Necklace

When my family and I were unpacking our boxes of Christmas ornaments and setting up our tree, I noticed this snowflake ornament. Instead of hanging it on the tree this year, I decided to enjoy it as a pennant necklace.

Style Secret: Brown Paper Packages

I found this floral-printed brown wrapping paper at the Dollar Tree the other day. It's a lot more fun than plain brown paper for mailing packages. =)

Style Secret: Second-Hand Style

Whenever a new season rolls around, I'm always a little baffled by my wardrobe. Why do I see my closets filled with clothes yet feel like I don't have outfits to wear? This season I've told myself I don't need more clothes--I just need more creativity. This Anthropologie-inspired ensemble (a shout out to my brother-photographer for capturing such great back lighting!) is second-hand style at my best: The navy and gold sash is vintage, borrowed from my mom's collection. The crotchet sweater is thrifted. And the navy skirt I recently refashioned, updating an old skirt I hadn't worn in years. Cheers!

Style Secret: Fall Florals

Now that the beginning of fall has come to Michigan, I'm starting to transition my wardrobe. I'm excited about this floral skirt, which I found at the thrift store. I love the unusual color scheme and huge floral print! Roomy side pockets are an added bonus. =)

[shirt: Marshalls; belt: Kohl's; skirt: thrifted]

 

P.S. My brother was so kind to take these pictures, in the middle of watching a college football game! Isn't he terrific?! 

Style Secret: Looking Great on Less

Window-shopping the expensive designer stores and then finding ways to look great on less is a creative pursuit that makes me happy.   

Today I wore one of my favorite skirts. It's a mid-length, floral A-line with an inverted front pleat, from Target, which I bought at a thrift store several years ago and altered. Just about every time I wear it I get complimented. But today was extra fun because I was shopping at Ann Taylor. The saleslady greeted me at the door when I walked in. "I love your skirt!" she gushed. "Where is it from?"

Today reminds me of another summer outfit compliment I received when a friend and I were browsing the swanky shops in downtown Charleston. I was wearing a madras skirt that I had made, paired with a tank top from Wal-Mart. As we were perusing the clothes in JCrew, another customer came up to me to ask me where I got my skirt. Score!

Style Secret: Repurposed Table Centerpiece

I love my cottage-chic bedroom. It's a charming, peaceful place for me to study and rest.

All of my furniture is hand-me-down, which makes for a sentimental, albeit mismatched, ensemble. The shabby-chic quilt brings the random pieces together for a relaxed, charming look. One of my favorite style secrets about my room is the window treatments. When my family moved into the house, blah linen curtains were hanging in my bedroom windows. My mom and I immediately set out to find inexpensive window treatments that would be more attractive. Then she had the brilliant idea to re-purpose one of the silk arrangement table centerpieces she had in storage. Happily, the centerpiece coordinated beautifully with my bedding, and it was long enough for us to cut in half to make two pieces--one for each window. We wired the centerpieces onto the curtain rods and added extra silk ivy to cover the length of the rods.  Voila!

Style Secret: Resized Sweater

I’ve been noticing a lot of charming crochet detail in trend this year. I picked up this cute vintage sweater at the thrift store, on sale for 49 cents. A simple, five-minute alteration consisting of taking in the side-seams, transformed a size XL sweater vest into a lovely capped-sleeve top. =)

Style Secret: Too-Short Pants to Capris

On the deck of the Westerdam,
overlooking the Seattle pier.

The night before my latest trip I was last-minute shopping for a pair of navy pants, when I found a rack of twill pants on clearance. I didn't see any in 4R, the size I was looking for, but I did notice a pair in 6P. I decided to give them a try, even though I knew they would be too short. Sure enough, they fit well, except for the length. Having the idea to refashion the too-short pants into capris, I bought them and quickly hemmed them before packing them in my suitcase. Score!

Style Secret: XS or XL?

XS or XL?--It's one of my favorite style secrets. After a friend pointed out to me how similar a Girls’ XL T-shirt is in size to a Misses XS, I started shopping for tops in the Girls’ department. For those of us women who wear Misses XS, S, or Petite S sizes, there are some great advantages for looking in the Girls’ department for shirts: Girls’ T’s tend to have higher necklines, tend to be designed to be less form-fitting, and tend to have a lower price than an equivalent style from the Misses or Juniors departments. Paired with grown-up accessories, a Girls’ shirt can be just as fashionable but more modest and more economical. Cheers!

Style Secret: Swimsuit Season

Whenever swimsuit season rolls around, what woman doesn’t relate to Cathy?!! Especially for those of us who want to be modest yet not fuddy-duddy at the pool or beach, it’s all the more challenging to find the perfect swimwear. Last year I read this idea in one of Leslie Ludy’s books. She suggests going for a sporty look by wearing a fitness top and skirt/shorts, rather than a tankini. As she points out, a lot of fitness wear and swimwear are made of the same fabric, but the fitness tops tend to have higher necklines as well as better midriff coverage. Last summer I bought a Fila tank with a dark navy print, to coordinate with the dark navy swim skirt and swim shorts that I already had. I’m really happy with it. =)

Style Secret: Runway Modesty

Runway modesty? Yes! One of my favorite blogs that I follow is Thread Ethic, “where modesty thrives in style.” Desirae and Melody Brown, of the famed 5 Browns piano quintet, give a filtered review of runway fashion, which highlights current trends that are modest. I like how Desirae and Melody feature pictures of both cutting-edge high-end inspiration and mass-market brands’ interpretation. As legendary model Lauren Hutton says, “Fashion is what you are offered four times a year by designers--and style is what you choose.” It’s encouraging to realize how many fashionable options we modest girls really do have. =)

Style Secret: Flower-Power Sandals!

I've never been thrilled with these white sandals--they're just blah. Last summer I wore them only a few times because they're so boring. They definitely need some panache before I start wearing them again this summer. 

To transform these shoes from boring to fabulous, I simply hot-glued two silk flowers onto the strap of each shoe. This refashion cost me $1 for the silk flowers and took five minutes--talk about easier than shopping for the perfect pair of shoes!!!

Now I can't wait to wear my fabulous flower-power sandals =)

Style Secret: Ribbon Belt

A ribbon belt has to be one of the easiest, fastest, cheapest accessories to make. I had this scrap piece of grosgrain ribbon in my stash, which turned out to be the perfect length to use as a belt. =) I like how the colorful bow adds an easy-going, feminine flair to an otherwise humdrum t-shirt and chinos outfit.

A Greener Wardrobe

I’m so excited about these chartreuse pants from Express that I found at the thrift store yesterday. I wasn’t even shopping for clothes for myself, but as I was walking toward the cashier, I happened to notice these pants hanging on display. I think they’re going to become new my spring wardrobe staple—they’re so comfortable and they coordinate with just about everything! 

Here’s a sampling of the outfits I’ve put together with my new pants. . .

(The outfit above is completely thrifted. I bought the shirt at the thrift store a few months ago, and the sash I made from an old bed-sheet. Total cost for this ensemble: about $4.)

(My brother calls this my art-museum outfit, lol!)

What a delightful surprise that an off-beat color such as chartreuse can be just as versatile and practical as khaki! A basic-styled pair of pants in a fresh color adds a lot of pizzazz to my spring collection. Here's to a greener wardrobe. =)

Style Secret: Menswear to Maternity

I love clothes and fashion (what girl doesn’t?!). One of my favorite pastimes is refashioning a thrift-store find into a cute new outfit. I have so much fun repurposing something that’s been discarded into something fresh! Since I already have lots more clothes than I need, I recently had the idea to direct my upcycling hobby toward making maternity clothes for friends and the local pregnancy center. 

Here are several of my first projects transforming a typical men’s button-down shirt into a maternity shirt. Men’s shirts are great to work with, because they are roomy and long enough to cover a growing baby bump. I’m so happy how these refashions turned out; I only wish I had taken “before” and “during” pictures to better describe . . . 

This started out as a men’s large shirt. I carefully cut off the sleeves, in order to make the arm-holes smaller and to take in the bust. Originally I was going to re-size and reattach the sleeves, but I loved how the too-large shoulders created a cap-sleeve look, so I just left them. Then I cut the shirt into two pieces, right below the bust-line. I took in several inches along the side seams of the top half of the shirt, to make it more fitted. Then I gathered the bottom half of the shirt, and sewed the top and bottom halves back together. Voila!

This started out as a men’s medium short-sleeved shirt from GAP. I carefully cut off the collar, to give the shirt a different look. I also cut off the sleeves, in order to make the arm-holes smaller and to take in the bust. I gathered the back a little bit, to make the shirt slightly more fitted. Then I used the fabric from the sleeves to make the ruffles. =)