Whether I’m adding a classic fall workwear piece to my wardrobe like this a-line midi skirt, or looking for a cozy wrap during winter weekends, windowpane is a timeless print that I gravitate towards year after year. It styles like a neutral with a little extra oomph, pairing nicely with neutral monochromatic palettes and bright colors alike. Here are a few pieces featuring foolproof gridlock patterns that never go out of style…
I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween! Be sure to check back here first thing tomorrow morning when you’re waking up with that glorious Reese’s-fueled hangover. I’m kicking off something very exciting and will be sharing all the juicy details mañana!
Call me a broken record, but menswear-inspired pieces get me every time, and this suit is no exception. After yesterday’s business casual take on the suit jacket, I thought I’d show you the whole business formal shebang today by pairing it with these matching glen plaid suiting pants.
Together and separately, I’ve already gotten a ton of use out of these suit separates. As evidenced by yesterday’s look, the warm beige glen plaid with that subtle vein of deep red makes the blazer look amazing with blue jeans and other rich fall hues like burgundy, camel, or even olive. I didn’t do a good job of capturing the back detailing of the jacket in today’s photos, but take another look at yesterday’s images, especially the shots from a side angle where you can really see the peplum flare of the back of the jacket. My girl Olivia P. thought of everything with this puppy.
Now, if I were to design a quintessentially “me” fall pant right now, I think it would likely be a replica of these. Cropped wide-leg silhouette, wide cuffs, that high-waisted rise with sailor-inspired accent buttons—just go ahead and call the coroner. I’m dead.
I get a lot of questions about wearing culottes in the fall and winter, especially as the temperatures really start to drop, and want to give you my top two styling tips on how to make these puppies last all season long: The first way to wear culottes in the winter is to basically style them exactly as I have today, but just adding in a sheer black pair of nylons under the pants. Opaque tights work too, I just personally like the sheer look with pants. Whether you’re wearing classic pumps or a sleek pair of flats, you get a little extra skin coverage with the nylons and I think the look is dynamite.
The second way I love to wear culottes during the winter, especially on those really cold days where a sheer pair of nylons is just not enough, is to pair them with some above-ankle booties, like these or these. If you’re having trouble visualizing the bootie/culotte look, check out images here, here and here for a little inspiration from my pinterest page. Practical for cold-weather and one of my very favorite looks of the season.
Today I’m excited to team up with Marshalls for one of my very favorite projects to date. Have you heard about Marshalls Pin Pals? Here’s the low-down: Last week, I got to secretly pick three of my most loyal followers on Pinterest, and go on a shopping trip to Marshalls to find personalized gifts for each of them based upon their amazing Pinterest boards. Lucky for me, my local Marshalls had just gotten a new shipment of drool-worthy fall bags, so I selected one for each of them based on images they pinned to their pinterest boards, and am shipping them out to the lucky winners this week! (…assuming I can’t convince Marshalls to just let me keep all of them. I’m currently brainstorming excuses. They were lost in a fire? Our apartment was robbed? Any ideas would be v. appreciated.)
I’ve been a Marshalls shopper for as long as I can remember, so I was super pumped for an excuse (as if I need one?) to hit up my local store. In addition to these gorgeous fall bags, I also scored some great items for our new apartment in New York which you’ll be seeing in the coming weeks and months as the move and home decor process progresses.
But honestly, for someone who does about 99% of her shopping online, Marshalls is one of the few stores that I actually get excited to visit in person. Typically, the thought of in-person shopping nowadays makes me want to stick a fork in my eye, but Marshalls is the exception. It’s such a refreshing shopping experience to walk into a place not knowing what will be in store, yet completely confident that I’ll uncover something incredible. For me, the appeal and excitement is actually quite similar to my experience on Pinterest. Regardless of whether you go into it with a pre-existing idea in mind, you always come away having discovered amazing ideas that surprise and inspire.
If you’ve followed this blog and my social channels for a long time, you know that Pinterest is one of my very favorite platforms. Over the years, I’ve constantly turned to Pinterest for styling inspiration, wedding planning ideas, great recipes, and (especially lately!) home decor tips for our new space in NYC. If you’re as Pinterest-obsessed as I am, be sure to follow Marshalls on Pinterest and if you repin your favorites from their Pin Pals Board, who knows, you could be the next person receiving a #MarshallsSurprise!
Special occasion dresses can be so hard to find, but with the formal events we’ve had this fall and several more on the docket once we get to NYC, ModCloth has been my go-to. I discovered them a couple years ago and have been majorly raiding their collection of special occasion dresses lately. They have such a beautiful collection of dresses that are so unique. A friend of mine even ordered her bridesmaids’ dresses from ModCloth last summer and they were absolutely breathtaking. To make it all sweeter, their price point is really affordable, which is a godsend especially if it’s a dress that you may realistically only wear once or twice.
The appeal of this particular dress goes without saying—classic black and white, exquisite beading, all the right allusions to 20s deco with a modern twist and flattering (and forgiving!) silhouette.
I snagged these amazing block heeled sandals from ModCloth as well, and was really impressed overall with their selection of accessories. In addition to amazing shoes, they have the prettiest collection of jewelry, scarves, bags, you name it. As a pianist, I have to say that I fell pretty hard for this clutch in particular. Also, if you’re in the market for really cute, unique belts—for formalwear or not—you’ve gotta check out their selection. So so many great ones!
Ending the week with this easy business casual look that I wore recently in Los Angeles. You may recognize this classic black and white boucle jacket as a staple that I’ve worn for years. It’s long sold out, but I’ve found several similar versions below and can’t recommend investing in one highly enough. It’s a timeless piece that never goes out of style, can easily be dressed up for a business formal look with a black pencil skirt or suit pant, and can make the simplest of outfits (like today’s!) effortlessly put-together.
JACKET: St. John (old, similar HERE, HERE and more in the widget above!) | SHIRT: St. John (old, similar HERE) | JEANS: Asos (old, similar HERE and HERE) | SHOES: Chanel (similar HERE and HERE) | BAGS: M2Malletier | EARRINGS: Juliet & Co. | NECKLACE: c/o Baublebar
We all know that the velvet trend is in it to win it this season, and judging by the fact that I just ordered these velvet pumps, these velvet pumps, this velvet blazer and this velvet dress… I think you can safely say that I’m on board. To make matters worse, I also just discovered this beauty and am struggling to fathom a life without a perfect navy velvet boyfriend blazer.
Note to self: Online shopping after more than 48 hours of no sleep quickly results in breached credit card limits followed by the arrival of obscene quantities of velvet paraphernalia.
In my defense (and as evidenced on snapchat), we were given less than 24 hours notice by our moving company that we had to be ready to move yesterday. (Not joking. Long story.) So after pulling an all-nighter, canceling my entire workday, packing up our entire place and then watching a six-foot-five gentleman with hands the size of my head casually throw a box containing all of my wedding china over his shoulder and careen out of my apartment, a little R&R in the form of retail therapy was in order. Quite frankly, I think the use of my remaining faculties to focus on velvet frippery instead of the crystal stemware that is likely shattered into a million pieces at the bottom of a moving truck somewhere in rural Nebraska is an excellent—nay—highly evolved use of dwindling faculties. Kind of.
While our belongings are already eastbound, Rich and I don’t actually move back to NYC until November 1st. Ipso facto, I have a solid two weeks to distract myself from contemplating the sorry state of our most fragile valuables. So what better way to commence Operation Distraction than to begin planning out the infinite ways in which I can wear my new burgundy velvet pumps?
As discussed in this post featuring my favorite velvet midi skirt, the trend can be worn in a million different ways—even in the office! True to Triple Threat fashion, below I’ve sketched out three of my favorite ways to sport these burgundy velvet pumps from workweek to weekend. Lemme know what you think!
Click directly on the images above for more details or click the links below:
P.S. If you’re ever interested in taking a look back at the Triple Threat series, hover over the SHOP tab on the top navigation bar and click on TRIPLE THREAT! xx
