Style Peek: rust floral dress + espresso tights

Hey everyone, I hope you're having a great weekend! I'm relishing the time off...catching up on tv series with Jack, taking Gus to the dog park, getting a much-needed massage and doing lots of housecleaning. There's something about this time of year that makes me want to clear clutter and pare down. How about you? How are you keeping busy this weekend?

Here's an outfit I wore last week - Forever 21 continues to impress me with their cute little rayon dresses and tops in on-trend prints at affordable price points (this one was $29!). I have to wade through all the edgier, graphic prints to find the 'girlier' stuff that's more my style - but I'm always rewarded when I do! I love the tones of fall in this floral dress, the rust and pumpkin and cinnamon - plus it has pretty pops of modern cobalt as well. Paired with opaque tights, it's quickly becoming my fall uniform!

rust floral dress - Forever 21+ (shop here)

espresso tights - HUE (shop here)

black leather flats - Aldo (shop similar)

Have a fantastic Sunday friends and hope your week kicks off great as well!


**Informal poll for my curvy readers (sizes 12-16)....my poor closet is bulging at the seams (my fault, I know!), so I'm thinking about setting up a 'shop my closet' section. I would carefully select my best condition pieces I no longer wear or fit and have them available for sale at greatly reduced prices (for pick-up in Winnipeg and to be shipped elsewhere). Is this something you might be interested in? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Style Peek: blue stripes sweater + marigold skirt

Well hello! I'm in all kinds of a goofy mood lately....must be delerium from being so busy!! Yesterday's outfit is complete evidence of this. I threw caution to the wind and mixed it up, breaking all the fashion 'rules'.

Unexpected colour combination of navy and varsity blues plus mustard yellow? Check! Oversized sweater that's almost as long as my skirt? Check! Black tights with no other black in the outfit? Check! 

This blog has made me more bold with my choices. The more I post outfit pics, the more I realize this is about having fun and expressing myself - so I hope to continue to keep doing it. There's only one me - so my outfits should be the same. I hope you're having fun with your style choices today? The golden rule - if it makes you smile and twirl when you put it on - it's a glamour 'do'!!

blue striped cardigan - Gap (shop similar)

white slouchy pocket tank - Old Navy (shop)

marigold skirt - handmade by me!

black tights - had forever...

black leather flats - Aldo

silver necklace - local boutique Silver Lotus (shop similar)

blue leather belt - Target

PS: Since we're all about sharing good stuff here - I thought I would let you know that I bought a new winter coat at Mark's Work Wearhouse. Not sexy I know, but hey - we live in Winnipeg! Anyway, we all know a winter coat is not a cheap purchase but if you're in the market I thought I would let you know that if you sign up for Mark's emailing list - you get a coupon for 20% off one item - it shaved $40 off my coat!

Have an amazing day friends!

Style Peek: silky bird dress + olive cardi + maroon tights

Hey friends! Remember the big conference I spoke at last week? Well never mind what I said - more importantly, here is what I wore! I definitely struggled with the whole corporate work wear dilemma, since I know my office is much more creative and casual than most. But I also wanted to stay true to who I am and what I do - so I did my own version of 'corporate creative'. I chose my favourite silky bird dress, I think the dressy material just takes things up a notch. Then I paired it with an olive green cardigan, gold accessories and tall black boots. My own special twist - some funky maroon tights...just a sliver of course!

By the way, have I mentioned I am loving putting my hair up now that I have bangs? I swear, it makes it sooo much easier - you'll be seeing a lot of my little messy topknot in the future.

silky bird dress - Forever 21+ (shop)

olive cardigan - Old Navy (shop similar)

layered gold necklace - Target (shop similar)

suede belt - Target

maroon tights - We Love Colors

black leather boots - Steve Madden (shop similar)

How do you dress up for business-y occasions friends? Or are you lucky enough to not have any? :) 

Just kidding, I love my job but time to time I do fantasize about working from home in my pjs...although them I would have no material for my blog...never mind!!

Wedding Pics: The Invites

Happy Monday friends! I hope you're all having a great week so far! 

I only have a minute so I thought I would pop in and share some pics of the invitations (for those who haven't seen them).  These were a true labour of love and probably the hardest part of the wedding preparations. No joke, I learned Photoshop to make these babies (with the help of my amazing graphic design gal pal Lorraine) and by the end of it I was cursing them and wishing I'd paid to have them made. I knew that looking back I would be proud I'd done them (typical me) - but just a little advice for you brides-to-be - let got of a few things....to save your sanity!

all images via Leah Bima

Have a great day friends!

Wedding PIcs: The Outfits

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a fantastic weekend! I've been playing it pretty low key and taking a much needed technology break. But I wanted to continue to share more wedding pics and the outfit details with you - so here are some of my faves of Jack and I and our wedding party.

I had my dress made by a local seamstress, after finding an amazing deal on 100% Italian Silk in the softest champagne ivory - regular $99 a metre on sale for $5 a metre. No joke! We worked together to come up with this design, with a sweetheart neckline, gathered box pleats, pockets and retro tea length. I love how simple but still sophisticated it turned out, very me! I paired it with an aqua green cashmere cardigan from J. Crew, a treat to myself with my Splurge group money. I made my hairpiece out of pieces of my grandma's wedding dress and wore my other grandma's vintage pearls. My cream beaded clutch was made in the 60's and I bought it at Ragpickers, a local  vintage shop. I found the cream peep toe flats during one of my summer daytrips to Target for only $18. On my toes is Turquoise & Caicos by Essie.

On my sweetie? He chose to wear a black suit he already had - with a white shirt, turquoise plaid tie from Tip Top and turquoise Converse All-Stars. He topped it all off with a plaid fedora in a taupe colour with subtle turquoise lines running through it, that I picked up at TJ Maxx for $7.99!

Our wedding party was small but awesome! Jack chose his friend Johnny to stand up for him and had my sister Lindsay to be my maid of honour. My niece Hailey, her daughter, was our ring bearer - since in my world any girl can do a boy's job!

Johnny wore the same outfit as Jack, but without the hat. After picking out soft aqua twill fabric together, Lindsay made both hers and Hailey's dresses and topped them with cream cardigans. She is my sewing inspiration! I also made Hailey a rosette hairpiece out of my dress fabric. The girls picked their own shoes. I love how casual but still 'done up' we are - and doesn't the venue have the best backgrounds - love love the weathered wood barn!

Hope you have an amazing week friends!

Style Peek: floral skirt + slouchy sweatshirt + knit beret

Happy Friday everyone! For all of you who sent me good luck wishes for my big Digital Day talk yesterday - the day was a big success and I met tons of great people. I'm definitely glad it's done and looking forward to a quiet weekend. Jack is going for one last fishing weekend and I'm going to hang out with Gus, catch up on my sleep and work on a new sewing project! 

I had been meaning to share last week's project with you. It's a super simple skirt with an elastic waistband and I followed this awesome tutorial. I tried a few new things, like lining and pockets and made some crazy mistakes on both! Ahem, more learning I guess! But, it's still wearable so I thought I would show it off - I wore it to my aunt's b-day dinner last weekend with a slouchy sweatshirt, tights and my new knit beret I picked up a few weeks back at Forever 21 for only $6.99! I love the deep rust colour and mixing fancy-ish skirts with casual sweaters and sweatshirts is a recent fave look of mine.

floral skirt - handmade by me

slouchy sweatshirt - Forever 21+

rust knit beret - Forever 21

black tights - had them forever!!

black leather flats - Aldo (shop similar)

What are you up to this weekend friends?

Wedding Pics: First Look

Hey everyone! As promised, I've been sorting through all my wedding photos and have started putting together some posts for you. This first one is a series of pics that capture our 'first look', since we had our photos done before the ceremony. I love how you can see me peeking around the corner in that first one! Plus doesn't my husband look dapper? I'm so glad he went with the hat he wanted so bad...

There are many, many more to come - from the favours and decor to the outfit details and candid photobooth shots - so bear with me as I get through them all. For now, hope you enjoy!

 

all images by Leah Bima

Have an awesome day friends!