The Perfect Denim Jacket for Your Body Type

If your closet was a pantry, a denim jacket would be the all-purpose flour.

Useful in so many ways and often used to tone things down.

Throw one on over sun dresses and little slinky tops to make them more office appropriate. Wear it with white pants or black pants. Make a fancier dress more casual, or give shape to your shapeless pieces.

And it’s not just perfect for spring and summer. A good denim jacket will be with you through fall, so it’s a really good investment. I’ll go as far to say it’s a classic.

Which is why it’s so important to choose one that’s going to flatter your body type and make you look magically delicious. To help, I’ve put together this guide to show you which ones will work for your frame…
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1. Hide your hips with this longer denim jacket from Dillard’s. It hits a little below where the hips start which helps to visually balance them out.

2. Give a straight figure more curves with a darker Tommy Hilfiger jacket. The larger pockets add bulk in the right places, and it tapers in the back in giving a curve-less figure some va-va-voom!

3. For petites, JCPenney gets it right. This jacket helps petite frames in that it hits right at the waist/top of hips, and the vertical lines helps create the illusion of length. Also, make sure the sleeves are rolled up so the jacket doesn’t overwhelm your frame.

4. If you’re rounder in the middle, this darker denim blazer from Zappos  is the answer. The darts helps it taper in which defines a waist line for a rounder figure and the open collar with the blazer structure opens up the jacket and creates a great skinny line right down your middle.

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A Double Dog Dare for Your Closet

asos, floral, floral dress, spring dress, dress, easter dress, maternity dress, maternity wear, fashion blog, knoxville fashion

asos, floral, floral dress, spring dress, dress, easter dress, maternity dress, maternity wear, fashion blog, knoxville fashion

asos, floral, floral dress, spring dress, dress, easter dress, maternity dress, maternity wear, fashion blog, knoxville fashion

Dress Asos // Shoes Off Broadway similar here // Earrings New York & Co.

I double dog dared myself to break out of what I normally wear (leopard, animal print, black and white, leopard…) and try something new. Pastels! Floral! A dress that dips down inappropriately low!

With the addition of a black cami, I think it turned out pretty fantastically.

It’s good to know your boundaries when it comes to what you wear. It helps to really hone your style and give you direction when shopping. I know that I’m not a super girly dresser with bows and lots of frills and for a long time no floral whatsoever.

But it’s ALSO good to break out of that and push yourself a little bit. Even if you only get as far as wearing it in the dressing room, try to take a risk every now and then. It will either introduce your style to something new and fresh, or it will reinforce why it is you love what you love.

Listen, I’m not suggesting you bungee off a bridge. I’m saying try a new pattern – when you put it in that perspective it’s not so bad, right?

Now I don’t know if I’m going to go out and buy a whole bunch of floral print, but I’ve now got something I can wear on occasion that will liven up my wardrobe. And in going with a floral print dress, it really stretched my accessorizing ability. I can usually have a dress styled by the time I hit the cash register, but this one was a challenge I was completely up for. I didn’t want to wear earrings that looked like flowers, as there was enough of that going on. So I opted for a simple diamond and pearl drop. Diamonds because I wanted a little sparkle and pearls because the dress called for something soft – and they make it more daytime appropriate.

It keeps people guessing when you try something new, and can even break you out of a style rut.

To read more about how I chose this dress and get some more dress inspiration of your own, click here!

I double dog dare you to try something new this spring!

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Goals and a Style Plan Made Interesting, I Promise

So I’m going to ask a potentially uncomfortable question…where are you at with your goals for the year?

I’ll share an update with my goals so it may make you feel better… Back in January I talked about doing a style refresh, which included some of my goals for the year.

For example, the one goal of mine was to make social media time productive. While I have done that in some ways (planned Jackson’s nursery…ok I’ve done it in one way), I haven’t really limited my mindless scrolling time. I don’t know why our brains suddenly depend on a social media break, when just 6 years ago they barely knew what it meant. Regardless, I can be better at stopping myself from grabbing my phone every 30 minutes to see information that does me absolutely no good.

The goal I have done well with, is being careful how I shop. The goal of not buying something just because it was on sale has really prevented me from buying things I’m really not going to wear. I don’t want to fill my closet up with junk pieces.

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A new goal I’ve added to the list, is coming up with a maternity style plan. Funny thing about me…10 years ago I was not a planner. At. All. Then I met my husband. He plans his path through Wal-Mart. So in the 6 1/2 years we’ve been married, a lot of that planning has rubbed off on me. It’s mostly shown up in planning what I wear.

After showing up late to a lot of functions because I was frustrated with finding something to wear, I realized planning an outfit in advance would really help me feel better and look better (which is always the goal). I now religiously plan what I’m wearing. Saturday, my husband and I are going to run errands, I already know what I’m wearing. It’s not uncommon for my Sunday morning outfits to be planned out weeks in advance.

That’s why I came up with a maternity plan, because what I REALLY want to avoid is frustration over that baby bump.

Above is my idea board.

I’m going to shop for deals, but I do plan to replace each pair of jeans I currently wear with their maternity version. That way I won’t miss a beat with my pants.

Maxi dresses are going to really come in handy because I’ll be able to wear those before and after (plus I can wear them 100 different ways). And blazers, well I’ll be stocking up on these for the rest of my life pregnant or not.

And statement necklaces are something I’m really going to load up on so that I can get away with repeating the same basics but still add my own flare.

You should try this. Start formulating a plan for what you want to wear this spring/summer. It will really focus your shopping time and help you put outfits together with greater ease.

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The Best of 2014

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To be fair, the best of 2014 could include every single blog. But enough bragging.

Here are my actual favorites from the year…

Remember when I talked about wearing your maxi dress different ways? I had more people (even strangers) come up to me and tell me how much this helped them. I cannot convey to you how much I love that. Really, I can’t.

Um, how about the big unveil of my new site!! This was so exciting because it symbolized a new chapter in this love project of mine (I feel like love project is a nice way of saying the thing that’s both highly frustrated me and created tears of joy).

Oh and I CANNOT forget the April Fool’s joke I pulled off. Probably my favorite moment on the segment ALL YEAR ;) I’m just so proud I didn’t laugh…

Then there was my favorite beauty purchase of the year

And my favorite clothing purchase… (At least in my top five. It would be hard to name just one).

I really have to stop myself. There are so many moment from the blog this year that I really enjoyed.

I’m so thankful to get to do what I love and what God created me to be passionate about. I hope you go through and relive the fond memories, and I really hope you’ll come back because we’ll be making newer and even better ones in 2015!

Happy happy year!

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More Maxi for Your Money

Well Hello, Friday.

In an effort to give you more maxi dress inspiration, and maybe an idea or two of what to wear this weekend, I wanted to show you how simply adding a jacket to a maxi dress can make a difference.

Also, take a couple minutes to watch my segment from Tuesday to see how to get more maxi for your money!

Here’s what the dress looks like alone…

maxi dress

This is the look I wore on Tuesday…

chambray shirt 2 edited jpg

Maxi dress

 

Take off the chambray shirt, add a jean jacket and a belt to define the waste a little more. There’s my “high fashion” pose…once this is out on the internet I’ll probably be asked to move to Paris.

denim jacket adjust edited jpg

maxi dress

 

Or go a little more edgy and add a white leather jacket. You can’t add a leather jacket without giving your mean face, it’s just a rule – I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.leather jacket tough edited jpg

Maxi dress

And here’s my segment from Tuesday.

Enjoy your weekend!

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