Pattern Mixing with Polka Dots & Vintage

lisa from lala faux bois

Wow- it's been awhile! Although breaks are nice and totally necessary, there's something comforting about getting back into routines (and swapping clothes!). 

I borrowed this dress from Elana last month, although this may not look like December for most of you. It was a warm but breezy day and this dress definitely had some good twirling power with the wind. I didn't have anywhere special to wear this wonderful vintage dress, but sometimes an ordinary day can be made more fun with the perfect dress, polka dots, and a peter pan collar. And it's nice to balance out the occasional day spent working from home in leggings and a sweatshirt ;)

vintage dress: borrowed from Elana

top: Buffalo Exchange

vintage shoes: thrifted

Elana looked cute as can be wearing this dress to a wedding, and it looks like I took some cues from her with the low-heeled black shoes :)

Group Roundup: Halloween Fashion & Costumes

Jana from Small Town, BIG SMILE

My favourite Hallowe'en costume was Snow White. I dressed up as her several years ago with a store bought costume, which I think is a bit too risque for here (and honestly, it's quite short and out of my current comfort zone). I love the idea of being able to pull together a costume from your actual closet, so this was my attempt at Snow White! Luckily, I still had my black wig handy!

Lisa of Lala Faux Bois

I went to a Halloween party last night but haven't had a chance to go through pictures, so here's a flashback to last year when I was Mary Poppins. It was a pretty easy costume to put together- the clothes were thrifted and I made the bow tie out of red felt. Out of desperation, I bought the hat at a costume shop and glued on plastic daisies. I had to buy a new umbrella, but it's come in handy since :) 

Ashley of Southern (California) Belle I don't usually dress up for Halloween, but a friend of mine had a birthday/costume party last night so I gave in.  I didn't want to spend any money on my costume so I dusted off my Minnie Mouse ears from Disneyland and went with it!  I used a plain black crop top with my Hell Bunny skirt and a full crinoline underneath.  I love that it's not far off from my everyday outfit ensemble (except for the makeup, of course!).

Erica of Sweets and Hearts

Halloween is the best. I mean, costumes and candy? What could be better? I usually make my costume or build one around something already in my closet. The Cat in the Hat is one of my favorites that I've put together. A couple of years ago, I needed something to wear to my work event. I had scored this awesome Modcloth tuxedo sweater dress in a swap and inspiration struck when I realized how cartoony it was. I DIYed a small version of the hat (glued to a headband with a cat ear) based on tutorials I found online. Then I made a giant bow pin for the sweater. Adding my 2D inspired Jump from Paper bag was a no-brainer, so I brought that along too. It was a delightful (and comfortable!) costume that was inexpensive and easy.

Elana of Room 334

I've never been one to get really into Halloween. I'm usually the person who spends $5 on a nametag that says "Hi, my name is 'Life'" and a bag of lemons to be "when life gives you lemons" (like I did last year), but I decided to have a little more fun with it this year for a costume party and for work. Back to the Future is one of my all-time favorite movies, so when I realized how easy it would be to be Marty McFly, I couldn't resist. I only had to buy a white plaid button down from Goodwill and a red puffy vest from JC Penney, and I enlisted the help of my best friend to be Doc Brown. After all, why dress in a slutty costume when you can be dudes from an '80s movie? I don't know, Doc, this is heavy.

Zoology 101

Well, hello. Did you miss me? (Of course you did.) It's Elana from Room 334 here again, this time showing you how I styled Lisa's animal print crop top. Here's my thing with crop tops: I really like them. I do. As someone who wears high-waisted skirts often, the idea of pairing them with crop tops is pure genius to me. I've never been one to be a fan of showing off my stomach, but I have to admit that I'm kind of digging the sliver of skin peeking out if it's done in a classy way. My problem? Since I'm on the, uh, short side at only 5'2", it's rare that I find a crop top that's actually cropped on me. You could say I'm a little bitter. 

So, yes, this top isn't actually short enough to be cropped on me. And yes, I was a little disappointed. However, I decided to make the most of of it. Why let the crop top win? Layered under a dress, I don't need to be reminded of my height, or lack thereof. Instead, I got a new way to style one of my favorite dresses. In fact, it's quite possible that this dress (originally from Urban Outfitters, but I got it in a Facebook swap) is my most worn item that I own. It gets more wear than I'd care to admit. Because of that, I'd thought that I had figured out all of the ways I could possibly style it. Leave it to Lisa to loan me a top that completely breathed new life into my dress. I couldn't get over that print, and I'm pretty sure I need it in my life now so I can always wear this combination. 

While I decided to go with mostly black for my styling of the top, Lisa proved once again to be the master of color. She always puts together the best combinations that I would never think would work (orange, red, and blue in one outfit?), but end up looking flawless together. Is this outfit adorable or what? 

Well, that's all I have for you today, but thanks for stopping by! Head over to Room 334 for outfit details, as usual.

Le Tour de Flock

Lisa from Lala Faux Bois

I'm here with another remix of Marisa's fun bicycle print dress. This dress has been on it's own version of the Tour de France, pedaling it's way around the US for us Flock Together gals to put our own spin on. But with a print this good, it's bound to make it's way around, and hopefully Marisa didn't miss it too much this summer!

It's just now becoming comfortable bicycle weather in Phoenix, and when I borrowed this back in August it was definitely a little hot for a ride around the neighborhood. But when your bike matches the dress, you dig deep for your inner athlete, no matter how far that side may be buried :)

dress: borrowed from Marisa

scarf, necklace, Tshirt: thrifted

shoes: Swedish Hasbeens

I love how cute it looks with the denim jacket on Elana, and with the boater hat on Marisa and Sammi! So far we've all had a summery twist on this dress, I look forward to seeing what comes of it this winter. Thanks for letting your dress traverse the nation this summer, Marisa!

Marisa

Elana // Sammi

Kon Tiki

Lisa from Lala Faux Bois

I love a good Hawaiian or Tiki themed print, and no midcentury lovin' closet or decor is complete without some Polynesian influence. I may be alone here, but when I think Hawaii, one of the first things to come to mind is the classic Brady Bunch family vacation to Hawaii- cursed tiki idol ring a bell? 

Thanks to Hannah letting me borrow this amazing shirt, I was able to whisk myself away to an island party, if only for a day.

top: borrowed from Hannah // scarf & skirt: thrifted // shoes: my shop

Hannah and Jana definitely nail the true Hawaiian style and are both ready for the tiki party of all tiki parties- please invite me ladies, I'd love to share a Volcano Bowl with you! :)

Hannah // Jana

Lightning Seeds

Lisa from Lala Faux Bois

Hey everyone, happy Friday! Since it's still August, I'm here with a summery outfit and this super fun strawberry print top I borrowed from Sammi. I know this is blogger blasphemy, but I'm a summer and spring girl at heart so I'm one of the few people not counting down the days til fall. That's a good thing too since I live in Phoenix, because we still have about 6 weeks of "summery" days.

These polka dotted shorts reminded me of strawberry seeds when paired with this top, which led me to think of the Brit pop group Lightening Seeds. Anyone out there remember this song? They had an album cover with a giant strawberry too, so it wasn't that much of a stretch :)

top: borrowed from Sammi // shorts & scarf: thrifted // shoes: Blowfish // necklace: in my shop

Now let's take a peek at how the other ladies styled it- you can see I was inspired by Sammi's look with the shorts. Even though I only photographed this top once, I also took a cue from Taylor and Katie and styled it another time with jeans and a cardigan for the office. I just couldn't send this back without sneaking in a couple of wearings.

I hope you all have a great weekend- even better if it's a 3-day one like we have here in the States. Even if you aren't a fan of summer, get out there for one last sunny hurrah before the pumpkins take over :)

Sammi // Taylor

Katie

Group Roundup: Sunglass Style

Hannah of The Braided Bandit

Living in Colorado where the sun is almost always shining, I have quite the extensive collection of sunglasses!  It is pretty much my top favorite way of accessorizing summer outfits, and the added benefits of protecting my eyes doesn't hurt either.  I prefer affordable pairs in bright and fun colors!

Lisa of Lala Faux Bois

Living in sunny Arizona I wear sunglasses every single day- so like Hannah I have a pretty extensive collection of colorful shades. I never spend very much on them because my sunglasses philosophy is the more the merrier :) These pale blue sunnies from F21 have been getting the most play so far this summer.

 

Sammi of The Soubrette Brunette

Although upstate New York isn't exactly known for its abundance of sunshine, I still love accessorizing with sunglasses!  I tend to gravitate towards frames with a retro or cutesy aesthetic, and I have to agree with Lisa on this one -- the cheaper, the better!  I can't justify spending very much on sunnies, since I like variety and they tend to end up buried in my bag.  My favorite frames actually came free with a purchase (they're the white ones on the left, and they have a little black bow on the side!) -- what could be better than that?

Jana of small town, BIG SMILE!

While our summers in NB are short, that doesn't mean sunglasses-season is! They're a must year-round, especially with the sun glaring on snow in the winter. For such an important accessory, I admit, I'm terrible with sunglasses. I lose them, I break them, I often sit on them in my car... not to mention they're a challenge to find a style that suits my round face. Normally, my go-to sunnies are tortoise wayfarers, but these have become an instant favourite! They were cheap ($10 on amazon!), which is practical for someone who needs to replace sunglasses often, and they automatically add a 50s style to any outfit! I'm definitely ordering these  in more colours!

Taylor of Nothing but a Pigeon

Sunnies are a MUST in Austin.... even in the winter but especially in the summer time! I've been collecting various styles over the years and chose a few of my all time favorites to share with you all. I love my classic black cat eyed frames for almost every occasion (they literally go with everything) however, I like to wear my tortie rimmed sunnies when I'm sporting my nautical wear. They are another "timeless" style. The square shaped ones you see on the upper right hand corner were my most recent purchase. Sometimes I like to wear "over the top" accessories like huge gold hoop earrings and rings. These sunglasses fall in that category. I always say "the bigger, the better".  I've also been experimenting recently  with the mod look... reminiscent of the early and mid sixties which brings me to my all time favorite pair of sunglasses... my round ones. I loved them so much I bought two pair, one in tortie and the other in black. I wear them all the time and everywhere. I purchased all these sunglasses at Target for under $20 dollars. There is something about sunglasses that pull an outfit together, they are  such a glamorous addition to any wardrobe.

Marisa of The Shades of Monet Chronicles

Though summers aren't overly long or hot here in northeast PA, there really is no better accessory than a pair of cute sunnies to lay by lake...or enjoy some r&r on my hammock in.  Like most of the gals, I do not fork over a ton of money when buying a new pair - I tend to stay under $20 to be exact.  One of my favorite pairs that I own are these apple frames from Urban Outfitters.  I just can't resist something cute, ya know?  What kind of frames are you drawn to?

 

Ashley of Southern (California) Belle  

These House of Harlow 1960 sunglasses were definitely a splurge but worth every penny!  I have many pairs of sunglasses but none that I love as much as these.  I feel like they go with every outfit.  Considering most days in Los Angeles are bright and sunny, I feel like the weather definitely justifies the price.

Embroidered

Amy, The Amy Loo Blog

Outfit Details:

Top // T.J. Maxx

Embroidered skirt // borrowed from Lisa

T-strap heels // hand-me-down from a friend

Purse // gift (Candie's brand)

Bowler hat // Charming Charlie

Heart sunglasses // eBay

Lipstick // MAC Russian Red

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! I feel like it's been such a long time since I've posted here, so it's so nice to be back! We've had quite the busy summer -- a trip to Disney World and to the beach, a nice visit from out-of-town family members, many trips to our local library, and a lot of time outdoors.

How's your summer been? Have you done anything exciting?

Lisa, Lala Faux Bois

Marisa, The Shades of Monet Chronicles

Elena, Room 334