Friday OOTD : Dress Barn Clearance haul

Today's outfit was inspired by the Spring like weather weather coming soon and my need to not continue to dress like it's the middle of winter.  Actually, my outfit was purchased in its entirety last night at Dress Barn on my way home from work and was the last bit of money on my Dress Barn gift card.  The pants (similiar) are a pattern that I would normally never even attempt on my bottom half but for less than $10.00 I tried them on and fell in love.  Here is a close up of the pattern.

The top is a vibrant blue light weight sweater (similiar)with Silk back high low hem.  I layered the sweater over a light purple button down (similiar)for warmth more than anything but the color is actually in the pants.

I am wearing an arm full of bracelets from Lia Sophia and necklace also from Lia Sophia. 

Are you starting to wear your spring time colors? post comment below on how you add "spring" back into your step and wardrobe.

Thanks for reading my beautiful friends!

Mixing Patterns: The Good, The Bad and the UGLY!

Mixing patterns can be tough to get the feel for.  Typically the best way to mix patterns is to have complimentary colors.  Also using similar sized patterns can be more tricky than a contrasting pattern (larger pattern with a smaller similar colored pattern).  I’ve used my tweed pink jacket with an animal print scarf.  The smaller pattern in the jacket works nicely with the animal print scarf because of the colors match as well as the balance of the smaller more neutral pattern against the larger animal print.   

While traveling I had the opportunity to snap a picture of a bad attempt at mixing pattern

 

While the young lady was using the Larger pattern with a smaller pattern she failed to "match" in color combination nor in Genre.  You should never mix fictional representations with patterns found in nature.  Had she used a large black tunic with a Large Batman sign on the front, this would be a do (for a comicon convention).

 

Best of luck in your pattern combos and before you leave your house ~ best to take a glance in a full length mirror :)

 

What I packed for my business conference

It seems to me, the most frequent talks amongst travelers for work is what to pack.  The question comes up time and time again.  The rule of Thumb is to pack as little as possible depending on weather with a mix-match wardrobe that can give you multiple looks throughout the week (s).  I recently went on a work trip to Las Vegas.  I left on a Monday morning and arrived home on Friday.  I wore on the plane a white button up blouse with grey pants.  Because the weather was very cold where I was leaving from and even colder in Las Vegas I also paired a thin white long sleeve T-shirt under my blouse with a Black sweater over the blouse.  I kept in my carry-on bag a pair of light weight gloves and wore a brightly colored pashmina as a scarf with my black wool coat.  

I packed one pair of black skinny pants, the matching blazer and coordinating black dress.  I also packed both a black and gray turtleneck and a pair of pajamas.  I wore a dark gray pair of flat shoes and packed a wedge heeled black shoes.   I packed undergarments and several pairs of tights in blacks and greys as well as trouser socks and pashminas of varying colors and an animal print belt.  I never wore the same outfit and used accessories like my pashminas as extra layering pieces and pops of color.   

A great option when traveling is to opt for a wardrobe that has the dress, dress pants and blazer and then add in extra pieces to complete the capsule wardrobe  I found several options on-line fairly quickly but you may have really good look at department stores in your area.  You want to ask for mix-match work pieces.

What do you pack for your business travel?