dress – Page 3 – the Spiff

An Easy Blue Dress

June 15, 2015 No Comments

Pregnancy brain is a real thing. I once drove to work in the wrong direction for almost two miles before realizing what I had done.

And now I’m asking myself if I’ve written this already because it feels like I have…(see what I mean!?)

I can’t give you a scientific explanation for it, but I do know that the minute you look at that little positive stick a whole new world of thought opens up in your brain and sticks with you (I’m assuming) for the rest of your life. It’s not just about you anymore, it’s about a whole lot more.

Knowing the mental load that pregnancy carries with it, I determined early on that I didn’t want maternity clothes to be a point of frustration for me. So I did a lot of planning, looked at a lot of pictures and started formulating how I was going to translate my style while pregnant. I did something else that I believe was the greatest help of all, but you’ll have to wait to read about that on Friday :)

Shopping for shower dresses started way early and I went at it hard. Dresses are a very tricky thing to shop for when you have very specific taste. Then add to that a baby bump and you have me for the past month – scouring every dress website known to the wide world.

If I found one with a pattern I liked, it had two slits up the sides that my husband pointed out would only get higher when worn with a baby bump. Ha. True. Pass.

If I found one with a perfect bump-accommodating shape, it would have some kind of print that definitely didn’t translate “Elizabeth” (more like boho hippy child, on an Indian reservation).

I even ventured into the world of maternity dress shopping, which I’ve purposely treated like the plague so that if I can wear as much as I can now and later.

This dress gorgeous non-maternity-yet-bump-accommodating dress was found on Amazon (Lord help us all when you can get free 2-day shipping through Prime) but I originally found the same dress much more expensively on a big department store’s website. I copied the name of the dress and searched for it on Amazon, and sure enough there was a cheaper version (over $20 cheaper). Score!

It’s so comfortable and it’s got pockets!

I wore it to a beautiful baby shower thrown by my sister-in-law, and I’ll be able to wear it to Jackson’s kindergarten graduation if I so choose (and that’s no joke, I plan to re-wear one of the dresses I bought for my bridal shower).

A draping maxi dresses like this one flatters all kinds of body shapes, because the draping masks a lot. And if you want to balance out fuller hips and disguise the tops of your arms, pair it with a structured and hip grazing jacket.

I also really loved pairing it with a gold chain right at the neckline to give the top of the dress some interest.

dress, dress shopping, Fashion, spring, west town mall

Good News for All You Dress Shoppers

April 2, 2015 No Comments

I bopped into New York & Co. in West Town Mall earlier this week to pick up some earrings for my Easter dress and I stumbled upon (not really because I was purposefully walking in there) their gorgeous spring dress collection!

If you’ve waited till this weekend to grab your Easter dress, definitely put then on your list of places to check out.

Because not only do they have a fabulous selection, but they also have an amazing sale going on! Plus if you’re a AAA member, you can always show your card and get an additional 20% off. I truly can’t think of any more good news to bring you my friends, short of showing up at your house right now and throwing glitter everywhere…(but that would require you cleaning it up, so more good news – you don’t have to clean up glitter!).

Hide hips and bum with the first two options below; disguise a rounder mid section and thicker arms with the blue wrap dress; and with the last dress, add shape (plus a little va-va-voom) to a straight figure, or show off your figure if you’re an hourglass!

For a more in-depth guide to buying for your body type, and for some more beautiful Easter dress options, click here!

dress, dress shopping, the limited, west town mall

From the Runway to the Real-Way

March 13, 2015 No Comments

runway looks for everyday wear, how to wear what was on the runway, badgley mischka, the limited dress, scandal dress, bisou bisou, jcpenny, fashion blog, easter dress ideas, flattering dress options, how to find a dress that flatters your figure

Sitting on the floor watching Suits the other night, I noticed that one of the female character’s legs didn’t touch. You could pass an Oxford Dictionary through the gap between her thighs. I said to my husband, “I bet that girl doesn’t eat tater tots,” then popped a tot into my mouth.

So this post is for all of us tot-eaters who don’t have the legs of a supermodel but want to dress like one.

The runway version you see here is from the Badgley Mischka Spring 2015 collection. Which in all reality was probably sent down the actual runway last fall. It’s a beautiful sheath dress with panel pattern blocking on the sides – something that really flatters a gal’s figure.

To the right, are two wildly cheaper options that are accessible here in town (at West Town Mall, in fact).

The first, is from JCPenney. It’s Bisou Bisou (place special emphasis on the “s” in those words when asked who made your dress, and even when not). The white makes it perfectly daytime appropriate, while the side paneling draws all the attention into a smaller version of yourself that the dress has carved out for you. It gives the illusion that your curves are only to be found there in the middle. Consider the black portions of the dress completely invisible. It’s a very cheap, very fast, and very much pain fre e version of liposuction.

Beside that is a dress from The Limited but instead of darker paneling they inserted lace. This is from their Scandal collection (which won’t be around forever, folks!). It too carves out a beautifully slimming mid-section with the addition of the lace and even extends into the back of the dress.

A beautiful white sheath dress like either of these options would make a great Easter dress!