What I've learned from the 21 day challenge: Another Essay

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I actually learned a few things as I participated in the challenge that I kept record of along the way.  Who knew I would discover so much with this thing?

Several times I've wondered what path my little blog should take to be "successful." I once thought that maybe a blog dedicated purely to fashion would be fun.  But since I've done this challenge I've realized several things:

1. Posting outfits is work y'all and my brain hurts!
2. I don't think I have what it takes to be a fashion blogger, because A) see #1;  B) What I think is cute is not what everyone else thinks is cute; C) I work/wear scrubs 4-5 days out of the week and find it kind of silly/tedious to come home, get an outfit together for pictures, then change into my lounge clothes after I just put on the said outfit and took pictures...WORK!!  and finally D)I get sick of taking and seeing pictures of myself on a daily basis.
3. I need to work out, shape up or ship out....fast!
4. I should not shop as much as I do.  As mentioned before, I had a lot of potential outfits in my very own closet that were there the whole time.  I just need to learn to use them better.
5. Accessories really can make a mediocre outfit outstanding.  Most of the time.
6. I would like to shop for some more accessories, like belts (skinny, red,yellow, cheetah, etc) or cute headbands or statement jewelry....who knew I'd fall in love with the things I swore I would never wear?
7. Even though I don't have the desire to be a full time fashion blogger, I think I will continue to make regular outfit posts to keep things interesting around here.
8. I visited a lot of different blogs of girls who participated in the challenge and came to see that thrifted items are just as good as brand new and plan on primarily shopping at thrift stores (my husband and bank account will learn to like this, maybe even thank me.)

So, as mentioned, right now I don't think I could handle doing a full-time fashion blog. With that being said, I hope you stick around to watch this blog evolve and change as I figure out what I want it to become.  Hope to see some more of you! 

The final countdown: Day 21- Create an outfit of your choice

First and foremost, let me start this thing out by thanking Kayla over at Freckles in April for putting together, then hosting and finally nursing the 21 day challenge. 

 Thanks so much:

• for pushing me out of my comfort zone every day of the challenge- and for some days I do mean challenge.
• for inspiring clueless me to look for inspiration everywhere: Pinterest, other bloggers, magazines, people in stores, etc.
• for forcing me to expand my horizons by trying out new looks -not automatically assuming something won't look good on me.
• for helping me realize that not every outfit will be a-maz-ing.  If I bomb, just brush yourself off and try again.  On other days my outfit may rock. 
• for helping me see all of the potential right in my own closet.  I don't have to run out for something new all the time!  I just need to see all the potential that is already there!

So here is my choice for my final outfit of the challenge:

Scarf: From a store in Ireland

Dress: Esprit Factory Store

Cardigan: Old Navy

Shoes: Dockers (can not remember where they were purchased)

Bracelets: Walmart?

Barely visible earrings: Claire's

It was also so much fun to see other's outfits, blogs and  personalities in this challenge!

Have a good day and I hope to see you in the blogosphere sometime....

Step into my party (or Sunday) shoes- Day 20

Today is the day I'm supposed to wear a pair of my "best shoes."

A pair I don't usually wear and if I do wear them, know that they will be worn for a short time.

 The only thing is that I chose to wear some jeans that don't really show the shoes...so I had to hike the ol' pant legs up to show them to you.

They are high.

They are red.

I absolutely love these shoes.

Shirt: Thrifted

Jeans: Ann Taylor- thrifted

Shoes: Two Lips

Place something on my head- Day 19

I honestly didn't realize what a simple dresser I was until Kayla's 21 day challenge. 

I've found that I own very few belts. I have in my possession fewer articles of stand out jewelry and only one, cute thing to wear in my hair (hats don't count because even though I do own some, they look awful on me)....

But I did find something....one thing in my bathroom cabinet that will fit the challenges bill:

my satin headband, worn never:

Again, I learned that even though I don't wear things in my hair I should, because I like this look too!  Now, in addition to wanting more belts and POW! jewelry, I should also start shopping for cute hair accessories!

Headband: Who knows?

Tank: J. Crew

Cardigan: Gap

Shorts: Ross

Shoes: Payless

P.S.  I had trouble with the photos again- that is getting them in focus, so if you squint you'll get a clearer view.

Also, I realize that I completely forgot to wear any sort of jewelry...has this challenge taught me nothing?

Statement Necklace- Day 18

In the past, I've made statements by opening my big mouth and saying something that I usually regret later.

I've done this a lot.

Finally, I've found a statement that can be done without a word.

Finally.

This time my statement is my necklace.

It says "How you doin'?" for me, but in a nice friendly way...not a creeper way.

Originally this necklace was purchased to dress up a simple black dress I own, but that dress is still too warm to wear and,while I'm being brutally honest, too tight.  So even though it is September 1, I thought I would wear something a little more summery and dressed down. 

Notice I've both half-tucked in my shirt and mixed prints.

This challenge has made a changed woman of me.

Hopefully for the better?

Shirt: Calvin Klein (from Ross)

Necklace: Purchased from a local boutique

Skirt: swapped with a friend

Shoes: Old Navy

Day 17- Repair it and wear it

When I initially read the theme for day 17, my immediate response was "Oh man! I won't have time to mend something after work, take a picture and then blog about it.  I'll just have to sit that day out."

Well it turns out I was sorely mistaken.

First of all, I think it just might kill me to slack on this challenge.

  Second of all, I only had to work until 1:00 yesterday afternoon and I suddenly had all this free time to do what I wanted.

I wanted to repair my shirt and then wear it.

So I did.Nuff said. 

But first...a brief history of this shirt.

While I was killing time shopping on the internet,  I saw this top on a model.  I fell in love with the shirt and had to have it because this is what it looked like on her...

My thought was: Wouldn't/shouldn't this top look the same on me?

No.  The answer was no.

Instead, this is what I saw every time I put it on:



What is with the flash calling attention to all my "shiny parts?"



The problem with this top is that when I wore it, I always felt a little like a circus dog with my ruffled collar.  Also,the sleeves just fit odd.

So instead of getting rid of the top, I vowed to fix it, because A) I am obsessed with stripes, B) These stripes are blue....my most favorite of colors and C) The top wasn't cheap and I still have slight guilt issues over only wearing it twice over a time span of a year.

But I never fixed it until now.  Here it is:

I capped the sleeves and decided to tack down the collar for a less circusy (yep, just made it a word) appearance.

Also, I half tucked in the shirt to make it look less circus-tenty.  Look how happy I am!



Earrings: Etsy; Top: Banana Republic; Shorts: Bandalino; Shoes: Payless



This challenge- which initially made me sad ended up kinda' making my day.  Now I'm ready to tackle the rest of my "sewing pile."

Gaining inspiration from menswear- Day 16

The theme inspiration from menswear automatically made me think of some of the ladies who graced the Silver Screen in classic, yet feminine menswear: hello Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, et al. 

These ladies managed to rock the flared trousers, the button ups, etc. ...well I'm sure you get the picture. If not, here's what I mean:

Sadly, I didn't have all the components to do what I envisioned.

I have no flared trousers, no spectator shoes, no classic sex appeal.

And the clothes I do have (blazers, sweater vests) were way to hot to put on today

WAY TOO HOT!

(and no one wants to be around me when I'm hot!)

So instead I turned to another closet orphan to help me out- my charcoal gray vest.

Men have been known to wear vests....



Vest: Old Navy; T-shirt: Kohl's; Skirt: Target; Necklace: gift



But then I decided to have a little more fun with this ensemble. 

The flash of the camera doesn't show the menswear inspired pinstripe on my skirt in this picture above, but it does in this one along with one of my husband's watches and a chunky bracelet.



Watch: I have no idea....Bracelet: Avon



Then I added a large and rather serious bag:



Purse: Nine West purchased at Ross



But I couldn't be too serious, so I added some fun (and painful) shoes:



Shoes from Ross



And that is my version of inspiration from menswear.....

Day 15- Hair style try-outs

My hair used to be long or what I considered to be long.  I've since then found out from other ladies that it was not long, only medium length.

Whatevs. 

The reason I brought this up was to inform you that I've only had this short hair for roughly four months.  This being the case, I'm still a little unsure of what I'm supposed to do to make it look different.  As I'm sure you noticed in the past posts you may (or may not....no judgement) have noticed my hair pretty much looks the same.

There are so many amazing options out there for longer hair, and I'm sure there are some great things going for the short hair community but this girl doesn't know what they are.

Don't get me wrong, I've tried some new styles out, but they usually result in me pulling out my straight iron and flattening all of my hair transgressions.  They just aren't things that should be seen in public.

So........I found this cute girl with even cuter hair as my hair inspiration on Pinterest:



via

I liked that it's smoothed down and simple- effortless if you will.

Believe it or not, I've never tried this look out and have wanted to for some time.

I usually just chicken out and "do the usual."

Then here's what I did:



Earrings: I don't remember; Dress: J.Jill





My hubby really liked it (he's awesome like that) and I think I liked it.  I may try it out again down the road.

 

Day 14- Kayla says..

....copycat an outfit!  Really?!  That's pretty much all I do, so ....okay!

Well...I'm a huge J. Crew fan and have been since high school (trust me, even though it doesn't look like it, that was quite a while ago.....)

In fact, when the new catalog from J.Crew comes out and settles in my mailbox, then reaches my hot little hands, well let's just say I can hardly concentrate on anything else.

Needless to say then, my outfit inspiration comes from a recent J.Crew (I'm not that knowledgeable/stalker-ish that I remember whether it was Spring, Summer or early Fall....sorry...((sniff...))

Anyway, here's the inspiration picture:

and here's my take on the whole matter:

So first, I placed the belt on the outside of the cardigan, like the picture above- except I don't have a cute, skinny belt. I need to get one.

Check.

Then I started leaning towards.....

.....the belt being inside the cardigan? 



Cardigan: Old Navy; Top: Old Navy; Skirt: Goodwill
Necklace: Maurices; Shoes: Target



So I'm really not sure how I would like to wear this ensemble.  All I know is that I do like this look and will be sporting it again!

P.S. I just snagged this skirt at Goodwill for $2.99! 

Neutral base with a POP of color- Day 13

I feel like so many of these challenges would have been a bit easier if I only had a turquoise necklace.  I can't tell you how many times I thought just that: "If only I had a turquoise necklace."

Well I don't have one yet, but trust me....I've been on the lookout.

In case you were wondering, these are what I've been ogling and googling a lot lately:

(my husband may become jealous soon..)



via





via



Today's outfit is no exception.

It is as neutral and blah as I could think of and I know a turquoise necklace would've been that "pop" the outfit needed.

Instead I turned to a scarf and turquoise earrings as my pop of color.



Scarf and Cardigan: Maurices; Earrings: Local store;
Tank: Romy; Skirt: Goodwill



In the end I generally don't love it.  I don't even know if I really like it.

I kind of look like my Kindergarten teacher from over 20 years ago and I KNOW I don't like that.

Sorry Mrs. M.



Day 12- I dream of jeans

While I like to be warm, I look forward to cooler weather in the way of Fall.  For me Fall equals jeans and sweaters or sweatshirts....what I'm the most comfortable in.

Today's challenge was to dress up my jeans.

(YAY)

I'm not sure if skinny jeans are still in, but they are still in my closet and I plan on wearing them.



Jacket: CK; Top: JCP; Jeans: Levi's; Necklace: Maurices; Bracelet: local store;
Shoes: Ross; Belt: Ross



Skirting the issue- Day 11

The fact that we were asked to wear a skirt or a dress wasn't really an issue for me.  I really love dresses and skirts.  The problem for me was which one I was going to chose.  Should I wear some of my ol' reliables, wear another thing that doesn't get much wear time....what?

So I chose my remix skirt.

I paired it with a newer top and took some pictures.



Top: Rue 21; Necklace: Maurices; Skirt: CK; Shoes: Ross



But then I realized I wore a very similar outfit on day 1 of this challenge.

Something different had to be done.  After all, isn't that the point of this whole challenge?

So instead I chose to mix it up just a little bit.

This time I added one of my favorite tops to the mix.  I should add that I've never worn these two pieces together before because I've never gone out on the limb to mix patterns until this challenge.



Top: Anthropologie; Attitude: fake....all the rest is the same

I really like the second take.  The only thing that could and most likely will be different is I will wear a cardigan outside of the house.....I just couldn't because it is so warm today.

Day 10- Save an orphan...

....from my closet.

Truth be told, there are a lot of neglected little orphans just hangin' around my closet so I had a lot to give attention to.

But for today, I only chose this vintage-looking-rock-a-billy shirt.

You have to understand, this little thing called out to me
"Pick me....haven't I always been your friend?"

And my answer was: " Um- okay."

So here is the picture of our over a year and overdue reunion

(yes I know I'm taking this whole orphan thing just a little too far)



Shirt: Maurices; Jeans: Loft; Shoes: Payless Shoes

Don't let this picture fool you though, we still aren't sure if we're meant to be.

Day 9 - Monochromatic

I wish I had as many color bottoms (pants, skirts, shorts, etc.) as I do tops (cardigans, tanks...you get the picture). 

But I don't.  Oh well, there are bigger disappointments in the world.

I do however lean towards some of the same colors and one of those many colors is gray.

So gray is the color of the day!



Dress: Ross; Tank: Maurice's; Necklace: J Crew; Tights: not sure
Shoes: Madden Girl

Since Fall is just around the corner, I thought I'd add something to make it a little cozier (although I ripped that puppy off as soon as I decided I was done with the pictures..)



Scarf: Old Navy



Now I'm going to go dig through my closet for the forgotten item of clothing. 

Maybe you'll see me wearing everything from my closet tomorrow!

Things could get interesting...

Mix dressy with casual- Day 8

Have I ever mentioned that I'm not a dressy kinda girl and that I usually wear very basic and simple clothes?

Right.  This challenge just goes to prove that fact.

This challenge also taught me that even when I should be dressy, I usually go casual and a that I really own nothing dressy.

Nothing.

So I did the best I could and put a nice skirt together with my chambray top.

Also it has been one of "those days" where everything and nothing goes right, not even my pictures.

So....I thought a headless picture was better than nothing.

After all, it's about the outfits and not my face, right?



Shirt:Target; Tank:Ross; Necklace:Maurices;Skirt:CK;
Shoes:Earth Origins



Again, I did the best I could.
P.S. Recognize my re-mix skirt?

Layer accessories- Day 7

If you've stopped by here before, most likely you have already read that I'm a pretty simple girl....at least style wise.  Wearing belts, tucking my tops in, wearing different patterns all pushed the envelope a bit.  So then it should be no surprise that the prompt to layer my accessories resulted in a little anxiety.  If I do wear an accessory it is usually a very simple one and all by itself: a necklace with a simple pendant, a small bracelet, etc.

To me, layering the accessories was meant for the other girls who have their "stuff" together, who know what looks good with what and pretty much rock whatever they wear, even if it is an old flour sack.

As for me?  I'm still trying to figure it out.



Necklaces: Round beads x 2-gifts; Shirt: Romy



But I'm proud of my layers and will most likely be wearing this (simple) layered look again!

Day 6- Think outside the box

It is now day 6 of the 21 day challenge (15 days to go!).  So far I 've been having a lot of fun with the challenges and have picked up some really good ideas from fellow bloggers.

For today's challenge we were asked to think outside the box and wear something in an unconventional way. Wear a skirt as a dress or a shirt, a necklace as a bracelet, etc.

So I started thinking....I've seen these great ideas to make men's dress shirts into skirts.  I've also had a shirt lying around that doesn't fit my husband and have been contemplating using it to make a skirt like this:



via



or maybe like this:



via

But I didn't have time for that today.  However, I've also seen the idea to simply tie the said shirt around your waist to make a skirt, like this:

via pinterest



And that is what I did.  So I started with this:



And ended up with this:



Denim jacket: DKNY from Goodwill, Tank: JcPenney's from 6 years ago, Shirt: Geoffrey Beene



Not too shabby! I don't honestly think I would wear this again, but I also don't think I ever would've tied one of my hubby's old shirts around my waist without this challenge either.

Now I'm off to actually go make this shirt into a skirt!

Have a good day!

Just put a belt on it!- Day 5

To me a belt has always been synonymous with "tuck it in."  It's something I try to avoid like the plague because for me it has always meant accentuating the wrong, problematic areas.  But because I am now dedicated -and slightly type-A-obsessed with this challenge, I can't not do it.

So I did it.  I just put a belt on it!

And once again, I was surprised.  I like this outfit too and will most likely wear it out in public.

In my estimation, putting a belt over this huge and comfortable shirt took it from being comfy to looking a little more put together.




Shirt: Vans; Tank: Ross dress for less, Leggings: Ann Taylor Loft; Shoes: Nine West; Belt: Ross

 

Day 4- Colorblock

I couldn't wait to find out what today's challenge was and when I did (colorblocking!) I spent a lot of my time daydreaming and mentally shopping my closet for the next outfit.  To me colorblocking looks great with bright colors but the only things I own - besides these sun yellow shorts in the picture- were more skirts.  I felt I had to prove to you that I do own somthing other than skirts, so I went with these bad boys.



Shirt: Gap, Necklace:Maurices, Shorts:Old Navy, Sandals: Saltwater sandals



Anyway, I really like how the colors flow together but can't honestly say I love the outfit itself on me.

Maybe I should take pictures of every outfit I plan to wear before I step out into the public.....

Day three- Pattern mixing

To be honest with you I wasn't so sure about this challenge.  I'm always the girl who is matchy-matchy, so mixing patterns sounded dangerous.  But I chose to accept this challenge (because it is the point to get me out of my comfort zone...AGAIN) and I perused my closet anyway.  I found the floral skirt first (I don't only wear skirts, I promise!) first.  Next came the cardigan.  But I didn't want to wear the polka dot cardigan all by it's lonesome, so I found an orange/white stripe tank to layer with it!  Over all I have three prints working and I think I may have found a new favorite outfit! 



Cardigan: Old Navy, Tank: Maurices, Skirt: Target from 5 years ago, Shoes: Payless Shoes



Yay for pattern mixing!  I think I've found a new hobby!