ootd – Page 2 – the Spiff

Girlfriend Chino’s: Why You Need Them

July 25, 2016 1 Comment

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After moving into our house, my husband went looking for his jeans.

“They’ve got to be in that closet, there’s a whole hanging shelf full of jeans,” he says.

I made that grimacing face and said, “Those are all mine.” I think at last count I had ten pairs. All of which have been with me for years and broken in perfectly.

But as much as I ~~hug them and tell them goodnight~~ love my jeans, when it’s hot outside, I just can’t…

Which is why having these girlfriend chino’s from Gap has been great (remember I’m not a big fan of shorts, in fact these made it to the alternative list). They’re light, they can be worn rolled or not. In fact, I think I like them better unrolled.

What makes them “girlfriend” material is that they’re relaxed yet tapered through the leg. So they’re flattering but also comfortable – qualities we look for in a good friend AND a good pair of pants.

They have them in a nice range of colors and they’re on sale right now, so I would go snatch them up at the GAP in West Town Mall (or put them on your list for tax-free shopping this weekend). Just think of how far these pants will go in your back-to-school wardrobe!

Photos by Brittany of Southern Roots Photography!

Fashion, Spiffy

Styled Statement Skirt

July 15, 2016 2 Comments

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Let’s just address the elephant in the room – that is a crazy sunburn on my leg. STOP STARRING.

It appeared while we were on vacation in spite of the fact that I had religiously applied sunscreen 20 minutes before going outside and every 2 hours after that. Oh well.

So this skirt, right!?

I bought it on Amazon to wear on Mother’s Day and it’s perfect. I love the A-line shape, I extra love the flower and stripe mix – I could wear that all day everyday. Styling it was a little bit difficult because there’s so much going on, but here’s how I did it…

Tucking the shirt in seemed to create too harsh of a line at my waist and leaving it out would make it way too sloppy. The knot was the perfect way to go (keeping the knot was a little bit difficult, surprisingly). What would have helped were those clear tiny elastics, but I couldn’t find any.

Because there’s so much going on with the skirt, a solid shirt is totally called for. This skirt also works with a black shirt – a combination perfect for a night summer wedding. I would say that I tried to pair a pink shirt with it, but I couldn’t find a pink that exactly matched the flowers and that bothered me. I’m not a matchy matchy person, but I think two different pinks competing like that diminishes the appeal of the print.

A big bold skirt is fun to have in your closet to play around with different looks!

Photos taken by Brittany of Southern Roots Photography!

Fashion, Spiffy, summer time

An Outfit for Warm Days & Freezing Offices

June 27, 2016 2 Comments

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A piping hot car sounds really, really good after I’ve been in the Yeti Cooler of an office I work in.

It’s hard to dress for a place like that in the summer. You want to wear your sleeveless tops (suns out guns out, after all), but curling up in a snuggy at your desk just isn’t professional.

That’s why I like to work on office outfits that will have me comfortable both places and this one fits the bill.

You may be looking at my hole-y pants and wondering if I work in the Abercrombie and Fitch headquarters. No, silly, it’s not 1997. Our office dresscode is very relaxed since where I work we don’t have clients come in at all, ever. I work for a medical software company so all our work is done online and over the phone for hospitals all over the country.

Works out great! I can wear jeans with holes!

Side Note: if I wear torn jeans, I make sure the rest of my outfit is polished. Except on Fridays…but don’t worry, I don’t go as far as Meredith does.

If your office is a little more fancy pants (ha, pants pun!) you can always swap this look out for some polished white pants.

The overall concept of a light-weight shirt with a jean jacket, though, really comes in handy when building outfits for the office.

I’ve written about these jeans a lot (here and here), so if you haven’t jumped on the white jean bandwagon – COME ON DOWN!

Pictures taken by the talented, warm and wonderful Brittany Arnold of Southern Roots Photography (can you tell I’m a big fan?) :)

Fashion, Spiffy

Spiffy Mint + White

June 10, 2016 4 Comments

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I love this outfit. I tried to think of a more creative way to intro this post, but that’s what I’ve got.

I don’t often repeat whole outfits. In fact, I most often go a full season without repeating an outfit once, but so far I’ve reached for this exact combination several times (while carefully avoiding the same crowd and any incriminating social media pics).

The light colors make it appropriate for the season, while the coverage it gives makes me less susceptible to bug bites and appearing bright white (as I’ve yet to do anything about a tan).

When the temps get too unbearable for pants, I can pair this shirt with a stretchy casual pencil skirt or wear the jeans with something sleeveless. It’s great to have a 3/4 length sleeve in a light material around for summer events that may be indoors where the AC is working over time (OR MY OFFICE, geeze people).

I got this shirt at The Loft Outlet, but here’s one that is similar, and here are the jeans and shoes (here’s how I tracked down the perfect white jeans).

Fashion, Spiffy

Maxi Dress + Leather Jacket

May 9, 2016 No Comments

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Of all the pieces in my closet, this green dress elicits the most compliments. When I wear it, strangers go out of their way to tell me how much they like it.

My husband, on the other hand, can’t stand it.

I bought it 9 years ago to wear to my bridal shower and have worn it every year since then. I think it’s safe to say I’ve gotten my money’s worth.

My favorite thing about this dress is the top is hemmed with a belt. That detail is what instantly drew me to it. And while I hate that it gets covered up by the leather jacket, I also love a great billowy dress with a form-fitting leather jacket.

And really you can recreate this look with so many different short jacket/billowy maxi dress combinations. It’s so seasonally perfect for cooler spring days, yet totally maintenance free since you don’t have to shave your legs ! :-D

In my case it’s best suited for a girls night out and definitely not date night or I’d never hear the end of it *rolls eyes.

Here’s a close rendition to the dress but in blue* | Here’s a version of the jacket

*Remember, I said I bought it NINE years ago. Which doesn’t seem real because both myself and the dress still look fantastic ;) I got it at VictoriaSecret when they used to see fancy dresses online.

I wasn’t lying last week when I said I wear these earrings often.