A Stylish Outfit With Zero Accessories

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Sometimes less is more on point.

I walked out the door dressed for church a couple weeks ago without a single accessory.

I tried to accessorize, even put on a necklace, it just seemed odd not to. I think sometimes we wear things because it’s “what you’re supposed to wear” or it’s our little routine – “I always wear a ____”. But I want to change that. When you box yourself in to what you think you’re supposed to wear, you begin to stop wearing things because you feel good in them and do it out of obligation or habit. Let’s only wear things that make us feel like our best, wearing only things we love and feel beautiful in.

It’s not always the case, (and don’t tell Dolly I said this) but sometimes an outfit doesn’t need embellishing.

So how do you know when an outfit doesn’t need embellishing? The best answer is, when jewelry doesn’t highlight anything.

Now if you could see my ears better, I would have added some studs (probably pink ones), but you can’t really see my ears through all my hair.

So if you don’t have this going on, remember even the smallest of earrings can make an impact, add polish and make you look purposeful. That’s always the goal – looking purposeful. Like you put time and effort into your look (without having to put lots of time/effort into your look), and it doesn’t require a pile of jewelry!

A bold patterned anything – sweater, jacket, top – help to give life and visual impact which means you can minimize the jewelry.

Remember you’re adding highlights with accessories, and a page that’s fully highlighted isn’t easy on the eyes.

Sweater is from J Crew (exact sweater link! Ha, that never happens) | jacket and jeans Express | shoes Target (all of which I’ve owned for years)

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Style Help: Piko & Jeans

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Piko, Boo I see you. #seewhatididthere

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Special guest star (who was super enthralled with a stick)!

Piko tops are a great thing to have in your arsenal. They’re drapey…Ha, I was going to keep listing things, but really, that’s all we need!

But you know I’m going to want to wear my top more than one way. Which is why I wanted to share how I style my Piko.

Let’s start with how I accessorize it…

I definitely like to showcase a necklace on a top like this because it gives you such great real estate. Anything dainty would kind of get lost in all the shirt. A statement necklace or a great long one layered into a choker like this one are my favorite two options.

If you want to watch pregnant Elizabeth talk about accessorizing a Piko top click here!

Now let’s talk about how we’re actually wearing it…

Any time a top has a wide neck you know what I do? I pull it down to show off my shoulder. It gives the top a whole new look! And honestly the biggest thing I don’t like about these tops is how wide their neck is (hello, bra straps!) so take full advantage of that and wear it off your shoulder.

Next… Knot it! No, we’re not playing a game of tag #seewhatididTHERE?

Because these tops are so voluminous, you can knot the front and give it, yet again, a whole new look! And don’t worry, I have a trick for keeping the knot in place. These guys – the tiny clear hair ties normally used for little girls hair can also be used to keep your knot in place and no one would be the wiser.

Both the Piko and the necklace came from Fiore Boutique in West Town Mall! They are my Piko dealer. Love. Them.

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My Picks from the {MEGA} Altar’d State Sale

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Someone has to do the dirty work of checking out the sales.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am going to say that when shopping this time of year, it’s important to have style goals. Without them, you’ll want to BUY EVERYTHING BECAUSE IT’S ALL AN EXTRA 50% OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

Take the Altar’d State sale at West Town Mall, for example. All of their sales stuff is exactly that, half off. But in order to avoid buying something just because it’s on sale, it’s good to have your goals in mind. So QUICK, mark down your goals then get and the car and get over to West Town Mall!!

Here are my picks from the sale… And remarkably only one thing went home with me. While I would have loved to take home everything I tried on, I wanted to stick to goal #2 on my list, so I only went home with the pants.

Simple black, knotted top in the front – ba-BAM in the back. I’m wearing a medium and this top was marked at $29 which makes it around fifteen bucks!

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Game Day shirt – uh there’s kind of a big football game in a couple weeks, this would be perfect for that as it’s totally neutral in color. I’m wearing a medium but could have done a large. It’s $20.

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Love this tunic, and it’s half off of $20. I’m wearing a small.

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How about this gorgeous velvet black shirt! Normally I’m not into big sleeves but this one is so well done. This would be great to wear now, and later in the year for when Christmas parties kick back up. I’m wearing a large and after the extra discount it rings it at $15. That’s. A. Deal.

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These pants are the piece that went home with me, for two reasons. One their velvet. And, you know, I could George Costanza myself with velvet right now; two it’s got an elastic waist. When you plan to have more children and you’re really into clothes, elastic waists are everything. I’m wearing mediums and these were $15.

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Get in there and find these gems or others!

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The Tuck Trick to Help You Look Thinner

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Tuck it in, tuck it in.

Having great style isn’t just about cleaning out your closet so you have just what you need, or setting style goals to keep your outfit decisions focused, it’s also about knowing how to style the clothes once they’re on your body.

That’s why I wanted to talk about tucking. The half tuck is a big thing right now and while you may have seen it and rolled your eyes or thought you could never pull it off – the visual power it brings to your look is big.

The whole purpose behind tucking anything in whether it’s a half tuck or full, is to show off your waste and bring definition to your body. This helps you to look skinnier especially when you’re wearing something voluminous.

No one wants to look heavier and when you wear bulky things you run that risk – that’s why you tuck!

I love the half tuck because it’s like you tried, but not too hard – which falls right into the cool range.

The half tuck is also good if you have bigger hips. That little bit of waste you see gives you just the right amount of definition, while the volume that’s left spilling over balances out your hips and bum.

A full tuck is good when you’re rocking a high midi skirt and is perfect for showcasing your waste in an outfit like this.

If you’re nervous to try it, half tuck your shirt and wear an open cardigan or jacket with it that way it’s not so obvious and you can see how you feel about it throughout the day. I’ll showcase that look in an upcoming blog so you can see just why it works!

PS: these leopard pants are from The Limited, which has a working website again! Whoo Hoo! Shirt is from GAP (Old Navy version), skirt is from Forever21 (similar here) as are the shoes (similar here).

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Help with Accessorizing

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Frosting, harmony, table top decor. All three of those things are synonymous with accessorizing.

How? Let me explain…(although parts of this may not make sense if you’re a frosting fan).

I like to think of it all as a big page of words. If I were to take a highlighter and highlight every word on that page your eye wouldn’t be drawn to anything. It’s all a big yellow blob. But if I were to instead, highlight a word here, a phrase there, maybe three total on the whole page? Your eye would go just where I want it – those three spots.

The same is true for frosting in the baking world (I’m more of a cake fan which is why that analogy might not work for you); harmony in the music world; home accents in the interior decorating world; accessories in the fashion world.

I included all of those examples because sometimes using something you know helps.

For me, home decor is hard until I think of a room as an outfit. Then I can immediately get to work, knowing what the room needs.

Accessorizing is the thing I get asked about the most. It can be the hardest part about getting dressed and (bad news) it can really make or break your outfit. But (good news) I’m here to spiff up your accessorizing abilities! Because I LOVE that part of the process.

I’m working on fresh content for this, but in the meantime, enjoy this high-quality video I made about two years ago. It’s high quality because it was before I had a child. ;)

Here’s another post on the subject, and be sure to follow my Pinterest board on accessories while I work on more ways to help spiffy up your accessorizing!

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