Memorial Day

Memorial Day is coming up and what better way than to start the summer with a barbeque and the perfect outfit. This casual outfit gets you in the spirit of Memorial Day with red, white, and blue, without looking like a flag. The shirt adds a touch of western americana to a very patriotic look.

Memorial Day by kjgredys

Peacock Chic

Dignity and beauty are two characteristics that describe a peacock.  With their colorful feathers of blues and greens, peacock feathers symbolize renewal and immortality according to early Christian beliefs.  I was shopping at Homemakers awhile back and their entrance interior settings displayed many peacock accessories.  This interior design display gave me inspiration for this particular outfit.  I already had a pair of peacock feather earrings, so I decided to start with those as a foundation to my outfit.  Since color-blocking has been a trend this spring, I wanted to integrate blue with green.  I grabbed my kelly green cigarette cropped pants and pair it with a royal blue scrub like top.  I styled my hair in a half-up hair-do to show off the peacock earrings.  I topped off the outfit with a pair of blue flats to keep the look mod.  This outfit became Peacock Chic.

Blue scrub top (BCBG Max Azria); Green cigarette pants (Express); Blue ballet flats (Target); Peacock Earrings (Heritage).

Coral Me Pink

As the weather starts warming up and spring arises, I enjoy wearing bright colors to match my colorful surroundings.  One particular color I enjoy embracing is a coral-pink which has been popular in early spring.  This coralish-pink hue looks great paired with numerous neutrals, such as basic black, brown shades, navy, and white.  It also complements well with turquoise and teal, tangerines and light yellows, as well as sea green and pale green.  For this outfit, my inspiration first started with my coral pink striped sweater.  This sweater has coral pink and tan stripes, so I focused on pairing coral pink with tan.  With spring coming full bloom, I paired this top with my espresso colored capris.  If you like to take risks, this sweater looks great with gold harem pants.  I added gold chandelier earrings to add sophistication to the ensemble.  I paired this outfit with my coral colored strap heels to add some playfulness and harmony with the sweater.  If coral colored heels aren’t your forte, then a comfy pair of nude pumps or even gold ballet flats are great substitutions.

Striped sweater (Express); Capris (BCBG Max Azria); Harem Pants (BCBG Max Azria); Coral  Heels (Rue 21); Gold Bangles/Earrings (Kohl’s); tan/gold ballet flats (Antonio Melani- Dillards)

Grecian Casual

The inspiration for this outfit came from two items: my tan/gold flats and a braided headband.  While looking at these two items, I thought they contained Grecian characteristics from the gold ribboning on the flats to the braid in the headband.  With this outfit I worked my way up from toe to head since I already had chosen the footwear.  To really showcase the flats, I needed to wear dark washed skinny jeans to make the flats pop more. Since this outfit was Grecian/Roman inspired, I started thinking other characteristics of this theme. Then I was inspired by Olympic Games which originated in Greece and winners would receive olive wreaths.  Olive wreaths then inspired me to choose an olive green shirt; I picked a lighter olive green button up shirt.  I added a khaki cardigan to match the khaki color in the braided headband and flats.  For my hair, I decided to wear the braided headband with a loose bun to emphasize the headband.  This look became Grecian Casual.

Green military shirt (Express on sale); Dark wash skinny jeans (Express); Merona khaki cardigan (Target); gold/tan flats (Antonio Melani - Dillards); Braided heaband (Walgreens).

Happy May Day!

In the United States, May Day is the holiday where children create May Day baskets filled with flowers and treats and leave the baskets anonymously on a neighbor’s doorsteps.  Even though May Day isn’t a prominent holiday in the United States, it is celebrated as a traditional spring holiday in many cultures.  The tradition of May Day dates back before the birth of Christ.  In some accounts, the Romans worshipped Flora, who was the goddess of flowers, during the month of May.  May Day is popular in England with the tradition of dancing around Maypoles, crowning of a May Queen, and Morris dancing.  In France, couples give their loved ones bouquets of lily of the valley or dog rose flowers.  Another custom referring to May Day is the making of the May garland.  Crafting a May garland symbolizes the coming of summertime.

           

As any other holiday, I enjoy celebrating it in my own way.  Although, I’m not going to be dancing around a Maypole (I think it would be a fun activity to do though!), I’ll celebrate May Day through fashion.  To engage your May Day spirit, here are a couple suggestions:

·    Wear anything floral – floral pants, blouse, dress, or even jacket, but keep the floral colors in pastels, paisley floral prints, or garden flowers, not bold tropical flowers.



·    If floral prints on clothes aren’t your forte, then wear accessories that represent flowers, such as a garland headband or floral printed scarfs which would be great accents with a crochet bohemian dress or shirt.





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References: http://www.ldssplash.com/traditions/may_day_traditions/mayday_party_ideas.htm; http://www.theholidayspot.com/mayday/index.htm

50's Youth Rebellion

One of my favorite trends this season is the revival of the 1950’s.  Even though the emphasis is more on the ladylike silhouette of that decade, I decided to create an outfit inspired by the 1950’s youth.  Different elements that I pulled inspiration from were pink ladies and t-birds from Grease, and rebel styles from James Dean and Marlon Brando.  I decided to wear my high waisted black capris and white and black stripe tee.  Since denim became more popular in the 50’s, I decided to incorporate denim in my outfit with a denim vest.  For shoes, I wore my basic black converse shoes to stay true with 50’s youth.  I also added my cat-eyed framed sunglasses and big white loop earrings to add feminity to the ensemble.

Items: white/black stripe tee (Express); denim vest and capri pants (BCBGeneration); cat-eye sunglasses (Atomic Gargage); converse shoes.

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Tribal Sophisticate

I love the transitioning period from one season to the next because you have more clothing options to choose from.  You can still wear heavier fabrics from winter or lighter fabrics to transition into spring.  Before it became spring, I created an outfits that could be appealed to both the winter and spring season.  Below are the items that are added together to present such a look

 

This outfit includes a white safari style button up shirt, a tribal printed skirt, and a navy blazer paired with navy tights and western style boots.  My inspiration for this outfit was a safari, but transitioning it from late winter to early spring.  I first picked out the yellow printed tribal skirt and paired it with a white safari button up shirt.  It was too cold to show off my bare legs so I had to decide which colors of tights to wear. I went with navy because I thought black tights were too harsh with the lighter weight skirt especially since I was going to wear black boots.  I also wanted another color to complement with the yellow on the skirt.  Then I decided to add the navy blazer to make the outfit more tailored.  The look became tribal sophisticate. 

To check out more of my outfits and their inspirations, go to the Outfits & Inspirations page.