Quick Trip Packing Essentials

what to pack, rue21, west town mall, what to pack for a weekend, what to wear this weekend, rue21 outfits, striped dress, distressed shorts, maxi skirt, west town mall style consultant, knoxville fashion, knoxville fashion blogger

Want to know my craziest spring break story?

It’s actually my fondest memory of the cherished week off in college…I was a student at UT and the day my classes finished up for the whole week, I took a book and sat outside Panera in the sunshine and read my book. The whole thing. I won’t mention it was a Winnie the Pooh book (the novel version – not a barely worded picture book, ok?)

It was so relaxing. And since the spring breaks before it always had me laid out sick (it was tradition there for a while) that nice little afternoon spent with Christopher Robin, was truly something to be thankful for.

I’m easy to please.

Whether your week is filled with simple pleasures or exotic vay cay’s, I’ve put together an easy packing list that will help you maintain your style on a quick jaunt out of town. All of which can be found at Rue21 in West Town Mall (right outside of Sears).

Starting from the left…

The first outfit can be the easy breezy shorts and sweater you travel down in. It can also be easily dressed up with some wedges and a clutch if you’re going from car to dinner out somewhere on the beach. Chambray tennis shoes are the…well, the chambray shirt of your closet – they’ll go with anything!

The next outfit is perfect for shopping – I mean what’s more comfortable than a maxi skirt?! Barely tuck that top into the waistband at the front for a relaxed but purposeful look.

Then you’ve got distressed jeans and a pink zipper top. This top is great for two reasons: One – you don’t have to pack jewelry because the zipper is accent enough; Two – you can also throw it on over a bathing suit as a cover up, so it can pull double duty.

And finally, this beauty of a dress. Wear it day or night, shopping, dinning – whatever! It’s so cute I can’t even think of a joke for it. I paired it with some minty blue sandals just to do something fresh. But nude wedges would work too!

I hope this helps make even vacation days – spiffy days ;)

Continue Reading

Chic Alternatives to Shorts

shorts, west town mall, knoxville fashion blogger, summer style, knoxville blogger, banana republic in west town mall, gap in west town mall, charlotte russe

If you are a fan of shorts and olives, this blog post isn’t for you.

The two go hand-in-hand in my brain because there aren’t many things in either the fashion or culinary world that I hate, but those two top the list.

In fact eating olives while wearing shorts would probably be my personal hell (especially if I paid full price for the shorts…stop. Just stop).

I’m not very hot natured. I was pregnant throughout summer and was never really uncomfortably hot (if that doesn’t prove it to you, I don’t know what will). But this past weekend I got really hot and didn’t feel like reaching for any of my jeans. Which made me realize I’m going to need some good alternatives to shorts for the summer.

Especially if I’m going to be chasing down a one-year-old – I don’t know where the one-year-old will come from, as my child is still a baby baby. But I’ll go along with everyone else and pretend like he’s growing up ;)

Here are some chic and most importantly, cooler options to wearing short shorts, all found at West Town Mall!

JCP: Wide Leg Pants

The goal with shorts is to keep you cool, wide leg pants in a light material can keep you cool and are arguably more comfortable when sitting down.

These striped wide leg pants from JCP are a great alternative in that they’ve got all the neutral colors so they’ll go with so much!

Banana Republic: Shorts that aren’t.

These are so long, they aren’t even worthy of the name, “shorts” and won’t give you all the bad parts of shorts.

For example, they’ll give you good coverage, they won’t make your legs pooch out when you sit down, they won’t leave you stuck to a plastic chair and they won’t ride up into your crotch when you walk!

Plus the window pane pattern immediately elevates them so that you could wear them with heels or wedges if you’d like.

Charlotte Russe: Stretchy Skirt

If the pencil skirt is long and stretchy enough, it could be my favorite thing to wear in the summer. Sure it made my thighs rub together when I was pregnant, but it kept me cool.

Plus, this style of skirt could go a lot farther than you think. You could wear it with fancy nude gladiators, white sneakers and a cute t-shirt or wedges and a flowy top.

GAP: Girfriend Chino’s

These Girlfriend Chino’s are something I’ll be reaching for all summer long. The “girlfriend” means they’re wider in the hips and slimmer through the leg. They’re light but give you coverage.

I wore these over the weekend and was perfectly comfortable outside the whole time.

Not pictured but something I’m still trying to track down, is a banded maxi skirt. Not the kind of maxi skirt with the loose waist that makes you feel as if you’re going to step on it and WHA-LA your underwear. The kind I want has a definite waist-band you can tuck into. Giving your more options than a maxi dress, but still all the comfort.

Continue Reading

Salute to Shorts

This post is from last August, but I can guarantee you I’ll be rehashing this outfit again this year.

So please enjoy while I continue on my short maternity leave from the blog :)

gap shorts

Any 80’s kids remember that show, “Salute Your Shorts”? Today I’m going to help you get your shorts so dressy they just might get saluted. Probably not. But maybe.

This outfit was one of those downtown ensembles that I love to put together. I don’t know about your downtown, but ours has that artsy vibe. So I always like to break out of my box a bit whenever I’m going down there for dinner.

The box out of which I broke with this outfit was my “I don’t like to wear shorts” box. I’m not a fan of how they feel, and most of the time they look all bunched and wrinkly so they don’t often make it into my rotation. However, with it being a bit cooler out at night (and with a solid tan going on my legs) I thought it would be good to at least take these boys out once this summer (the shorts that is, not my legs).

Even though I’m not a big fan of shorts, this army green pair I got from Gap are pretty awesome. I love the length – not too mom, not too hooch – and the fact that they cuff and in doing so make my legs look smaller makes them ok in my book.

I balanced out the shorts with a patterned sweater and anchored the whole thing with gladiator wedges. Shorts get 1,000 times more flattering when you wear them in heels, FYI.

It’s a pretty simple outfit, in fact I’m sure you have some of these same pieces in your closet. So give it a try this weekend and see what you think!

Continue Reading