If Spring Would Decide to Show Its Face Around Here

I would wear this dress

with this belt

and these shoes.

And no outfit is complete without a little sparkle, so how about this bracelet

and this necklace to top it all off?

As soon as the daily high tops 48 degrees, I'm totally buying all of these pieces.  C'mon, Spring!

Threads: A Foray Into Menswear

The menswear trend has been pretty popular for a while now, and a lot of style bloggers are always telling me to "shop my hubby's closet."  Not a bad idea.  I like the understated pattern and color of menswear, and the clothes are usually of higher quality than women's clothing at a comparable price point.  Now, if there's one thing I've noticed about a lot of fashion bloggers, it's that they're a little... ahem... more petite than I am, and I'm assuming their men aren't that big either, because these 5'2" girls are having no problem slipping into their husband's button-downs.

I'm no delicate flower myself, but at 6'3"with a 40-inch chest, Ryan's clothes are considerably larger than anything my 5'6" frame can pull off.  So, because I'm not going for a hobo-chic look, or want to be mistaken as the missing member of Kris Kross, I've avoided his wardrobe.  Unless it's bed time.  Then all bets are off and I'm shanghai-ing his t-shirts.

Well, it just so happens that I was in need of a plain, black, v-neck sweater and a white button-down for an engagement this weekend (spoiler alert, you'll see these pieces in the next Threads post, and lemme tell you, it's gonna be EPIC!).  And because I needed plain ole basics on the fly, I didn't have time to go shopping around online.  So, I did what every good consumer does and hit up the mall.  Like, five different store in the mall, to be exact, and Target.  Which brings me to beg the question WHY THE HELL DO STORES NOT CARRY SIMPLE BASICS LIKE A BLACK V-NECK SWEATER!?  Just as I was getting to the point of frustration that leads me to do things like burn the store down give the manager a piece of my mind, Ryan suggested I look in the menswear section.

A quick browsing turned up nothing, but Ryan, patron saint of clearance items that he is, reaches into the clearance rack and pulls out a black sweater.  Men's size small.  And on sale for $4.47.  Now you know why I married that man.  Seriously, for a guy who hates shopping, he has this kind of luck all the time.  It's not even fair.

Sweater: Old Navy; Jeans: PacSun (very old); Shoes: Kmart; Earrings: Target

Please forgive my stellar photography skills and just concentrate on the perfect slouchiness of that sweater.  So comfortable, and unlike the crew neck women's sweater I own from the same store, it's nice and thick and soft, and not all flimsy and see-through.  Score one for the boys.

Also, am I the only one who gets Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" stuck in their head every time I see a picture of me in skinny jeans?

Also in keeping with the menswear theme, I got all Top Gun and donned my favorite pair of aviators.  Also, how awesome are those earrings?  Can I also get an "amen" for being able to wear something that is size small!?  Total perk of shopping in the men's section.

Anyone else out there rockin' guy clothes?

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Threads: Putting Me Together

The great thing about Pinterest is that you have access to so many talented people, and their thoughts and ideas.  The lame thing about Pinterest is that it will suck up an entire day in browsing.  Well, true to form, I totally got sucked in last week and that's how I learned about Audrey, of the blog Putting Me Together.  I'm not usually one for style blogs - there is no way that I can afford DVF or Alexander McQueen.  And I am definitely not the type of person to take crazy style risks.

That's why I really fell in love with PMT.  Audrey puts together really cute, affordable, accessible outfits.  I've always been kind of a jeans and t-shirts girl, so pairing a sweater and leopard print loafers is kind of a big style leap for me.  One of my favorite segments of her blog are her "One Piece Eight Ways" features.  At the end of December she featured an olive cardigan, much like one I had folded up in my own dresser.

I bought that cardigan and wore it with jeans and a white t-shirt religiously for a season, and then stuffed it in the back of the dresser and never thought about it again.  It was drab.  It was boring.  It was that lovely mix of Army and baby poop greens that just happen to be really flattering on my skin tone.

Okay, okay, enough talk.  I know y'all wanna see some iPhone pictures of my outfit, right?  Right.  I was inspired by this picture (it's the second one over, with the flower-print dress).

Dress: American Eagle (old); Cardigan, Tights, Belt: Target; Socks: TJMaxx; Boots: Madden Girl; Watch: Michael Kors; Bracelet: Family heirloom

I really like the way Audrey juxtaposes things I wouldn't normally think of putting together, like a summer dress with tights and riding boots.  Her blog is definitely going to be a staple in my daily reads!

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