Loop Looks

Jacket – Forever 21 (similar) | Shirt – Old Navy (similar) | Jeans – The Limited (similar) | Sandals – Unisa via 6pm.com (similar) | Necklace – The Limited (similar)

Would you believe I haven’t worked a Friday in two weeks? No wonder I was struggling with someone to wear when I was picking out my outfit for this week’s Casual Friday. Take two Fridays off and you can’t remember how to dress yourself. Thank goodness I could resort to my Friday uniform of a striped shirt, jeans, and a jacket.  Keeping everything in a neutral color pattern sure helps as well.

I also apparently forget to check the weather. When I put this outfit together and took pictures my brain was still stuck on the nice warm weather Chicago had this weekend and earlier this week. Hence the sandals and the photo sans jacket.

Hahaha, that’s funny. Today I will not be removing my jacket and I’ll be swapping out my sandals for my nude heels. Even though this outfit is inspired by Stripes and Sequins she is apparently more hardcore than me to be wearing sandals when it’s still a tad bit chilly. Also, I totally could have swapped my current purse for my previous red one and included that bit of color. But I’m lazy and hate swapping purses. Just when I remember where I put everything in my current purse, why would I switch to another one and have to relearn where things are??

Am I the only one who prefers to wear closed toe shoes until it gets warmer? Do you have more than one purse?

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Blazer – H&M (similar) | Top – THML via Stitch Fix (similar) | Jeans – The Limited (similar) | Necklace – The Limited (similar) | Earrings – Stella & Dot via Poshmark (use code HBAMM for $5 credit) | Shoes – Mia (similar)

Yes, yes, I know Valentine’s Day was yesterday but tonight is when my husband and I are actually going out on the town so I wanted to keep the vibe going.  Plus, pink and red is the theme of this week’s Friday’s Fancies with Long Distance Loving.  Who am I to argue?

But just in case pink and red together isn’t your thing, I also paired this outfit with a neutral shoe.

Black shoes would also work.  As would heels in black, red or nude if that’s your preference. Or riding boots. Don’t want to wear skinny jeans?  Boyfriend or straight leg jeans would work just as well. Remember, the idea here is to inspire you not tell you that this is the only look that works!  It’s just another monochromatic top paired with a dark bottom.

But, tell me. Red shoes?  Nude shoes?  Should I have gone with black?  Did you do anything for Valentine’s Day?

P.S.  I’ve gotten some requests via my reader survey (which is still open for another few days!) to post more casual outfits.  Does this count?

Also linking up with Two Thirty Five Designs Casual Friday

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Blazer – The Limited (similar) | Turtleneck – Express (similar) | Jeans – The Limited (similar) | Boots – DSW (similar) | Necklace – store in NYC (similar)

Before I had a style blog, before I even knew what Pinterest was, I saved an image on my computer from the Banana Republic website.  I loved the preppy, equestrian vibe it had going on.   I even sent the picture to another style blogger I read at the time to see if she would be willing to show me how to interpret it with items that didn’t require dropping a whole paycheck at Banana Republic.  She told me she didn’t wear much red and that was that.

I recently re-discovered this image saved on my computer and THEN I learned you can upload photos to Pinterest!  That they don’t have to already be on another website to “pin” them.  Look, I may be book smart but I’m still learning about all these new-fangled Internet things.

Anyway, while perusing my pins for something to recreate for today’s Copycats Friday from Frills for Thrills I saw this pin and the light bulb went off.  I now have all those items!  In fact, I’ve had the gray blazer since September and all the other items for much longer but this week was when they finally all came together in my head.

Which is why you should totally save images of outfits that catch your eye even if you don’t have the items to recreate them at that exact moment!

Also linking up with: Two Thirty Five Designs | Texas Lovebirds | Modly Chic

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Cardigan – Van Heusen outlet (similar) | Shirt – Old Navy | Jeans – The Limited | Boots – DSW (similar) | Scarf – JF&A Tradeshow (similar)

Happy day after Thanksgiving!  Are you on your couch recovering or have you been out shopping since midnight?  I’m not one to go all crazy with the shopping on Black Friday, believe it or not.  I prefer to shop when it’s nice and quiet and I don’t have to wait in lines a mile long.

Although, if I was going shopping I’d probably wear something like this.  Flat boots are comfy to walk in and layers up top make it so I can strip down if I get too warm.  The scarf add some visual interest to the outfit so it’s not too blah.

I wouldn’t wear this to work, however.  It’s definitely weekend or work holiday casual.   But if I wanted to dress it up for work I’d swap out the skinny jeans for black dress pants, wear a nicer black blouse instead of a crewneck t-shirt, and and wear black, brown or nude dress shoes.

So, tell me, did you do any shopping today?  How was your holiday?  Or did you just have a regular ol’ Thursday?

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Shirt – LOFT

Scarf – NYC Street Vendor

Jeans – The Limited

Shoes – Mia/Macy’s

Another casual Friday look!  The one day a week I can wear jeans to the office.

In fact, before I started this blog I spent a lot of time looking at other fashion blogs to see if I could help fill a niche.  What I found is that a lot of fashion bloggers were either too “high brow” (re: expensive designers, crazy vintage) or too casual (mostly jeans).  But, Jill at at Good Life (For Less) is pretty good at inspiring me with her color and pattern combinations even if she does despise dress pants.  So, I’m excited that she’s hosting a giveaway of her Spring 2012 looks:book!  All you have to do is follow her blog (and trust me, you’ll want to) and leave a comment!

And speaking of Spring, it appears our early summer weather has been replaced by traditional Chicago Spring weather.  Meaning:  rain.  So, in the interest of full disclosure, this is what I looked like while walking to the office:

Coat – Gap Outlet

Boots – Kamik/Zappos.com

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Scarf – NYC Street vendor

Denim shirt – Target

Cardigan – Lucky Brand

Blazer – The Limited

Jeans – The Limited

Boots – DSW

Purse – Kate Spade

Our last day in New York!   We spent the morning running in Central Park and the rest of the day walking all over Midtown.  I dressed much more appropriately for the gray, drizzly, chilly weather and was very happy.

This outfit went with me to lunch in Times Square, to see Rockefeller Plaza, the Empire State building, Grand Central Station, and, obviously, the New York Public Library among many other sights.

We packed a lot into the few days we had and I think I got a great taste of NYC.

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Blouse – Gap

Blazer – Gibson/Nordstrom Rack

Necklace – The Limited

Jeans – The Limited

Boots – Macy’s

I am currently wearing a navy top with black jeans.  Not sure how I feel about this!  It’s definitely outside my usual comfort zone but I’m attempting to channel Laura at Laura Wears for today’s Look.   I actually had a different outfit in mind for today but changed my outfit (twice) at the last minute when I remembered I had a meeting this afternoon.

Also, did you know my hair is kind of curly?  It looked much better before I had to mash it down with a hat (what happened to my 60 degree weather???) while waiting for the train but it’s still outside my usual straight-hair comfort zone.

When’s the last time you went outside of your usual box when getting dressed?

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Cardigan & Blouse – Gap

Jeans – The Limited

Booties – Liz Claiborne/DSW

Necklace – NY&Co

The necklace I wanted to wear today broke.  When I checked my email while waiting for the train I had an urgent request from my boss for a 9:00AM meeting….that I got at 9:02 AM.  I’ve been told to cancel all my plans for the day in case my boss needs me for project.

At least I look cute?  And it’s Friday.  Hooray for Friday!

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Jacket – Express via MJRSales.com (still available!  Search for “famous mall brand sequin moto jacket”)

Shirt – Georgiou

Belt & Jeans – The Limited

Necklace – Jeans & A Cute Top Shop

Boots – Liz Claiborne/DSW

I was going to a wine tasting at someone’s house and wanted to look casual yet fun.  I saw this jacket originally on J’s Everyday Fashion and fell in love with it.  It was so impractical yet I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  But then when she wore it this way I thought, hey, maybe I could do that!  So this was my attempt.  I think it turned out really well!

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Top – LOFT

Vest – LOFT

Necklace – Gift from my mom

Jeans – The Limited

Boots – Ciao Bella/DSW

This vest and this top were bought when LOFT was having 60% off of all sale merchandise.  They were kind of impulse buys but since stripes are really in this year I’m thinking I’ll get a lot of wear out of this top.

The downside to the vest is that it’s made of some kind of furry acrylic and it sheds all over everything.  So even though I no longer own dogs my jeans end up looking like I do. 

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