what to wear to a christmas party – Page 2

One Sweater – Three Outfits Part 2: Business Casual

December 16, 2015 No Comments

business casual, christmas party attire, what to wear to a business casual party, what to wear to a christmas party, knoxville fashion blogger, knoxville blogger, christmas party outfit, the limited, the loft, jeweled sweater

I’m a firm believer in the old adage, “Dress for the job you want.” Sure, it might be more comfortable to wear jeans and a sweatshirt to the office, but staying comfortable doesn’t elevate you and your career. Staying comfortable means staying in the same place, and I want to go higher! *Fist in the air

That whole diatribe popped in my head because today I’m showing you how to style this sweater for a “Business Casual” party. This dress code calls for something you’d be comfortable wearing to the office.

The office I work in is pretty relaxed. In fact, if I were to wear this outfit people would wonder what spiffy event I was going to. Our clients are scattered all over the country, so we don’t “entertain” them in the office. This translates to a wide range of office attire – everything from sweatshirts to button downs.

I will admit there are days when I’m very thankful I can wear jeans or go in a little more relaxed, but for the most part I like to dress up. It elevates your thinking, how you carry yourself and how you are perceived.

When going to a party, I always err on the side of fancy. (Unless it’s at someone’s house, then my top priority is to be able to move around in the outfit without looking uncomfortable since I’ll be getting up and down from the couch, squeezing past people for the bathroom, etc). I like going a little fancier though, because even if you show up as the dressiest person there, it just looks like you’ve either come from or are going to another event. Fancy pants.

I fancied up this sweater by adding this great black, white and gray knit skirt from The Limited, and booties I practically stole at Ross for $20.

If you want to instantly elevate an outfit, carry a clutch. This great big silver clutch is from Express. I love this one because it fits all my stuff.

See how to style this outfit for a dressy casual party here, then check in on Friday to see it styled for a “festive” dress code!

christmas, Fashion

One Sweater – Three Outfits

December 14, 2015 No Comments

Sometimes I wish we lived in the Lucille Ball days.

Those days the men sported suits and hats more commonly. And the women got dolled up in dresses with swirly skirts, putting on dainty gloves and hats before walking out the door.

Gosh it would be so glamorous. But realistically, it would be a nightmare.

Dry cleaning would be a constant thing with the suits and the dresses and then the suits again. We’d be running around in heels all the time. We’d miss pants.

My biggest nightmare? The fact that it would be harder to get multiple uses out of the dresses. In this day and age I can buy a sweater and wear it with so many outfits, but a dress! Unless you do this…you can only wear it the one way.

Let’s be thankful we live in a more casual society and talk about this sweater and how it can work at your every holiday party…

There are typically three dress codes for parties this time of year: Business Casual, Dressy Casual and Festive. Today I want to show you how to wear this sweater for a Dressy Casual occasion.

The beautiful thing about this sweater from The Loft is the fact that it’s already bejeweled at the top, so if you don’t have time to accessorize you’re not going to look blank.

Dressy Casual is a fun way to go (although I imagine I’ll say that about all of them by the end of the week). With this dress code you get to balance your dressier pieces with more casual things, which usually translates to looking good and being comfortable. (And all the women said Hallelujah).

I layered the sweater with a long white tee to bring the fancier sweater down a notch and let it more smoothly transition to the boyfriend jeans. Then I balanced the jeans and the white layer with some nice black heels and added a touch of red with a bold lip.

No dry cleaning in the future, just enjoying the evening in pants ;)

Check back in the rest of the week to see what else I pair the sweater with!

Fashion, west town mall

A Very Flattering Party Skirt

December 11, 2015 No Comments

forever21, skirt, midi skirt, holiday dressing, how to dress for a christmas party, christmas party outfit, ootd, west town mall, knoxville fashion blogger, mauve skirt, long skirt, figure flattering skirt, how to dress for your figure, a-line skirt — Skirt and Shoes: Forever21 / Necklace: The Loft

Believe me when I say this skirt will hide every flaw from the waist down.

Before I go proving that, let me first apologize for the lack of outfit posts. For an outfit post you must first, you know, have a picture of an outfit. The reason for my lack of picture outfits is hanging out in his crib right now cooing over his toes.

But thankfully with the help of the uber talented Brittany at SouthernRootsPhotography, I’ve got some really awesome pictures that I’m explosively excited about. If you want to know what that means…well you don’t it’s just embarrassing.

Side note: Besides being a top-notch photographer, Brittany is so friendly and easy to get along with. She is exactly the person you want on the other side of the camera and will make you look good. Go here to schedule your next family session with her. She does maternity shoots, engagement photos, wedding, birthdays – you name it. She can take a picture of your pile of laundry and make it look good. Don’t tell anyone why you would want a picture of your laundry because that’s weird.

Back to the skirt…
What makes this skirt so flattering is that it sits right around my waist line, skimming past all the things that as women, we sometimes like to hide. Things like wide child-bearing hips, an ample bum and a “had a baby or thought about having a baby at some point” pooch.

The skirt hides all of that and highlights the smallest part of the waist. And because it’s a-line, the volume makes your waist look even smaller by comparison, so really this skirt is a weight-loss program all by itself.

Do note, when you wear a skirt like this higher up on your torso, you’ve got to really be careful not to slouch. If you slouch your boobs will become one with the top of the skirt and no one wants to see that. Not even your mother.

Pair a voluminous skirt like this with little volume on top – so a gray t-shirt and statement necklace works perfect!

And while I’m not at all a bow person, I couldn’t help myself when it came to these cute heels.

A skirt like this makes dressing for the holidays easy breezy.

Pick yours up at Forever21 in West Town Mall. Do it fast because in the history of Forever21 a knee-length skirt has only been spotted once or twice! ;-P

Fashion, jcpenney, sweater, sweaters, west town mall, what to wear

An Easy Way to Shop for a Holiday Outfit

December 12, 2014 No Comments

One thing is certain, you will not be able to look back on this Christmas season and say that I didn’t help you with what to wear to a party.

I’ve helped you here, here and now today…

I picked up this metallic sweater at JCPenney. And it was truly the easiest outfit shopping I’ve done all year long. Here’s how I did it.

The easiest piece to get that will help you look fresh and glam without spending a lot of money is a top. Especially one like this with a lot of shine. Because you’re not going to have to do too much accessorizing with something like this.

I didn’t want to spend a lot of money and wanted exactly that – something I could throw on that would be easily accessorized. So late one night I hopped online and started pre-shopping.

Which is something else you need to think about. Instead of aimlessly wandering around stores trying to “shop cold” (as I’m now officially calling it), if you’ll do a little pre-shopping online you’ll be able to instantly rule out any store you don’t want to try.

I went straight to JCP for a couple of reasons…

1. They’ve got a lot of great coupons going on right now so I knew I could get something cheap

2. I was planning to shop on a day where I was working from home and didn’t want to have to get all dolled up to go all over the mall. I just wanted to hit one store, and I knew JCP would deliver.

Sure enough, they did. Found this sweater online, went in the next day tried it on, presented my coupon, badda-bing, badda-boom I’m out the door with a great party outfit and I spent less than $20 and barely an hour on the whole thing.

That, is what I’m talking about.

christmas, Fashion, shopping, Shopping strategy, Videos, wbir

Links You’ll Love

December 11, 2014 No Comments

Want to hear a lesson I learned about buying part of your Christmas outfit online? Check the shipping policy. Do that so it doesn’t send you into a panicked frenzy of trying to replace it when you realize it’s not going to arrive on time. Just something that popped into my head just now as I sit here sipping tea by the fire. It wasn’t at all because I just came out of that panicked frenzy myself. Not at all.

Something that will help prevent all of that is shopping local. And yes, buying from stores that are local to your area is awesome, but I’m also talking about not shopping online for something like clothes that you need to cover your body at a certain event. Ha.

Lesson Learned.

Well, now that I’ve gone on that rant, let me tell you about a couple of links I like to shop from. Yeah…didn’t plan for this blog post to become an oxymoron but, hey, that’s the beauty of reading blogs – you never know what you’re going to get.

When you’re not in a rush to buy something, or you’re looking for a great gift, check these links out…

Keep.com

My inbox is full of stores/brands trying to get my attention. Honestly, I “keep” (I intended the heck out of that pun) this one in there because their subject lines are so hilarious. Proving that witty writing always wins.

Oh and to go along with their great sense of humor, they’ve got a great website full of things you wouldn’t bump into in your friendly neighborhood Target. Things like gorgeous clothes, lovely jewelry and romantic art that says, “You’ll do.” The whole website resides right up my alley.

Buy directly from them or “keep” an item to look back on later.

6pm.com

Sister to Zappos, 6pm is a great way to shop brand names at a discount. And the couple of times I’ve ordered from them it’s actually come in very quickly. Like next day quickly. So if ever I HAVE to buy something online that I need quickly, I go right to them.

But check on it for your area because I’m sure it’s different for everyone.