Braided Bun

This is one of my week two outfits. I paired my cut out Drake concert tee with some jeans and my pink boyfriend blazer. I thought the light shades in my flats and jacket went well with the darker tone of the shirt, making it an ideal summer to fall transition outfit.

I couldn't decide what to do with my hair since I didn't have the time to straighten it out, so I decided to do a bun that I saw on Pinterest awhile back. Of course, I can't find it anywhere right now, but if I do, I'll be sure to update the post!

All you do for the bun is 

1. Put your hair up in a high ponytail
2. Separate your hair into three sections
3. Braid each section to the end of the hair
4. Take one braid and wrap it loosely clockwise around the base of the ponytail, securing it with either a bobby pin or by putting the end of the braid into the elastic
5. Take one braid and wrap it counter-clockwise around the base of the ponytail, securing it in the same fashion
6. Take the last braid and wrap it so it goes on top of the other secured braids.
7. Finally, take sections of hair in the bun and make the braid looser, making the bun have more volume

Voila! Braided bun! Hopefully the picture along with the description will be enough until I find that darn pin!

Classy French Fashion

This was the first week I had for my classes here at the Universite Rennes 2 in Rennes, France. Since arriving week ago, I've been slowly observing how people typically dress around the campus. As I had assumed, people were dressed a lot more formally than they would back home. Actually, since I've arrived here, I haven't seen not one pair of yoga pants/leggings worn as pants/sweats. At all.

I talked with one of my new friends I've made since arriving, and when she asked about what I saw differently, I described to her the typical uniform of people on my campus. She was nearly in shock when I described to her how informal we Americans are for class. But there's no use changing it; we just feel more comfortable, I suppose. 

At any rate, here are some pictures from my first two days of classes.

Besides people dressing more formally, I also noticed another thing with fashion: layers. Black tights, a blazer, and a scarf are essential to fitting in fashion wise here. Luckily I came with plenty in stock, and for my first outfit, I put together a T.J. Maxx dress and Zara blazer (both bought while I was in Atlanta) with a scarf my grandmother had bought me for Christmas and tights I already owned. Of course, I couldn't come here without my beloved oxfords, even though a few of the studs have begun to fall off one of the shoes. In this pic, you can also see my ombre hair in curls. 

Oh, and about dyed hair: I have yet to see a French person with it. The only people on campus who have dyed hair (as in with color that they were definitely not born with) have been American or people from the U.K. I'll get back to you as soon as I figure that out. 

This outfit was made with my ruffle blouse, Zara blazer and skirt, and of course my oxfords. Pretty preppy and a little more monotone than my usual outfits, but I still love how it came out.

ABW Challenge: Day 53

Day 53

I know I've said this a million times before, but I LOVE this blazer. The stripes are just so complimentary and work great with a plain outfit. The dress is an inexpensive item I got at H&M (was less than $10), and is a basic spaghetti strapped top with an empire waist. I paired the navy outfit with my pretty pink bow flats to make it pop.

More Work Fashion

Today, I had an interview with a major corporation for a summer internship. Although the position is less than thrilling, I wanted to at least get to the interview if I was able to make it that far in the hiring process. I was not sure what to wear there; with major companies, sometimes its pant suits and nothing else, while others can be a touch more casual. I went the in-between route and wore darker colors, but added the strip blazer since it was a bit chilly outside.

Work Fashion for Spring

 

I purchased this mint top and tangerine blazer from Marshall's a few weeks ago in order to prepare for interviews. I am currently working on getting an internship this summer in the public relations or marketing field.

Public relations in a non-profit sector seems to be vastly different than in the business ones, at least fashion wise. Because three of my interviews were for non-profit organizations, one of which was a film festival for sustainable themed entertainment, I went with the more vibrant and colorful look rather than the traditional conservative business attire. My assumptions seemed pretty on point since most of the people I meant in the organizations were chilling in jeans and a button up. 

ABW Challenge: Day 47

Day 47

Did not have class yesterday (Wednesday), but today, I finally got to wear a short skirt without tights! This outfit is a slight variation of Day 1, minus the combat boots, jegs, and pearls. This skirt and the tank were made for each other, so it makes sense that they look so awesome together. Thank you, Zara! Of course, the boyfriend blazer just adds some laid back class to the outfit.

ABW Challenge: Day 41

 

Day 41

You guys, it almost got up to 40 degrees today! Well, not including the windchill... but still! You can see in the picture on the right that there is actual sunlight. I'm usually one that absolutely loves winter, but fashion wise, spring is just a more fun season to get dressed in, wouldn't you say?

I found this lovely "some shade between coral and tangerine" blazer at Marshall's for $20 on my last expenditure. I was pretty much wasting time at the mall before an appointment I had and also had to get stuff for a birthday. These impulsive trips become an issue for me because I usually spend an outrageous amount of money. I justified most of the purchases as being for some internship interviews that I hopefully *cross my fingers* will be getting to soon. I also got a gorgeous mint blouse to pair with it, but I will save that for another day!

I put the new blazer together with my Rainbow Brite shift top and my pretty bow shoes from F21. I also put on my peter pan collar necklace to add some sparkle to the outfit.

Tomorrow, I want to do something different with my hair. But what to do... Pinterest, here I come!

Shopping List:

• Blazer: Marshall's

ABW Challenge: Day 32

 

 Day 32

Previously, I would shy away from mixing prints. I always had the belief that mixing doesn't always work when it comes to clothing. But today, I played around with different prints. I paired a new top I got from my F21 with the striped blazer. I feel like it worked out partly because they both have the navy blue coloring in it, but expressed differently in the tops. The pink in the flowers paired great with the bow flats.

ABW Challenge: Day 23

Day 23

Very dressed up today. I was under the impression that I had a presentation today... Apparently, I had the wrong day, and it isn't until Monday. Although I do feel I wasted a more formal outfit for an informal day, I still love this dress. I got it from Forever  21, and have mixed and matched it with different sweaters, blazers, and tight combos. Earlier, when I thought I had the presentation, I went with just the dress and the waist belt, along with the cute F21 t-strap flats. When I realized my mistake, I decided to dress it down by putting on a blazer. Typically, this would make the outfit even more formal, but because the blazer is oversized, it gave it more of a laid back feel.

Shopping List:

• Grey dress: Forever 21
• T-Strap Bow Flats: Forever 21

ABW Challenge: Day 7

Day 7

I forever am in love with this jacket. I picked it up at an H&M in France and have adored it ever since. It works buttoned or unbuttoned, still cutting nicely to my waist. I have usually limited it to spring and fall outfits. As a spur of the moment decision, I grabbed it before heading off to class. Luckily, it worked marvelously. The boat neck cable sweater underneath worked will with it, especially when I cuffed the sweater over the jacket. I am tempted to pick up a coral or yellow sweater to see how the different colors would work with the jacket.

If you can see, the nails are coincidentally colored the same shade as the necklace. I was a bit overtired and a bit stressed from school last night and started to dot my nails with white, pale pink, and dark violet polish over the lilac base. Surprisingly, I got a few compliments from them, so I guess they came out okay!

Shopping List:

• Boat-neck pullover in Darkest Navy: JCP
• Jeans: TJ Maxx 
• Blazer: H&M

ABW Challenge: Day 6

Day 6 

 

Today, I knew I had to look semi professional for multiple reasons. Not only did I have a meeting with a campus office and try to recruit people for a on campus club, but I just came back from the first newspaper meeting where I have been instated as an editor! Instead of going with business casual or even a skirt or dress, I used this fun blazer-esque top. It's more of a tee shirt material than anything, but the cut and shape give off the jacket appeal. I love the horizontal stripes in it; usually I try and steer clear from them, but I think because of the cut, it does not give the "wider" illusion that is usually associated with it. 

To make it a little more me, I paired it with my beloved combat boots. This time, I folded them over so that the floral print was visible. 

For my hair, I went with a french braided headband that I will admit to finally mastering. Unfortunately, I have not found a tutorial on Pintrest or YouTube that adequately shows how to make it as easy as I have for myself. I tried to do it where it is two braids on either side that come together in the front, but because of my medium hair length, it can be a bit challenging. When I first tried the french braid technique after seeing pictures of other people doing it, it kept coming out out bumpy and uneven and took such a long time that my hands and neck would kill. Now, I'm down to it only taking me about two minutes at most because of some tricks I learned myself! Maybe one of these days I will make a tutorial for it!

ABW (Already Been Worn) Challenge: Day 1

I just started a new semester at school, and this time around, I wanted to try and challenge myself: How many days can I go without repeating an outfit? Although it's not a major, life altering or mind bending experience, attempting it last semester was pretty fun and was able to get my mind off of burning out from lack of sleep/stress/studying/the usual debilitating college problems. Hopefully, I'll be able to do this for all four days a week I have classes, but if something crazy happens or I'm swamped, I'll try and make sets instead of taking photos.

Day #1
 

In truth, this was not the outfit I had in mind. We had a warm front just yesterday, and our usual winter weather went up to 65 degrees. When I tried to see the weather for the next day, I mistakenly thought it'd be warm again, making me choose to wear a grey pencil skirt and studded oxfords in place of the black jeggings and combat boots. But I still liked how the outfit came together, mostly because I got to wear my blazer (one of my most worn and favorite things in my wardrobe). I also decided to add the pearls just as something different. The bag is courtesy of YesStyle.com, and is my everyday backpack. It was inexpensive and has lasted me one semester so far without any tears or mishaps.

Shopping List

• Light pink blazer: Forever 21
• Leopard tank: Zara
• Bralet: Pink by Victoria's Secret
• Bag: Yes Style
• Jeggings and Combat boots: Marshall's

Business: The New Casual

 

While looking at some past and present clothing trends -and the upcoming ones for Spring 2013 -I see that casual wear has been redefined. Maybe it's young people's clothing maturing or if stores and designers are pushing the trend, but it's becoming obvious that the tight graphic tee shirts and ripped jeans are no longer what defines cool but causal". When I traveled to Europe two years ago, one of the first things I noticed was how to tell a tourist from a local. If they were wearing shorts with a word across the bottom, tight tee shirts, or ripped jeans, they were most definitely an American. To prevent such a mix up -because not many people who are tourists want to be noted as being a tourist -I dressed how I would for special occasions back home: pretty blouses, flowy tank tops, light weight cardigans, and dark denim.

As is always the case, the trends of Europe eventually trickle down to the department stores of the US, and for this fall, it's becoming obvious that the put together look is what is in. The set and clothing above -all from InDressMe -resembles what someone might wear to a job interview. The clean cut blazer, the embellished ankle booties, and the large briefcase satchel all seem like the equation of woman trying to balance the seemingly impossible in the workplace: trendy - trashy + head turner - disapproving looks from someone your mother's age. 

This raises a question: if casual is being redefined, does that mean that business casual will also be affected? Will the looks that are worn in offices ever resemble that of what is worn on the streets, or even what's  trending in the magazines? For now, maybe not. But there's still time. After all, it took six months for the trends I bought in France to come to the states.