Dec 22, 2014
The cold and holiday season truly is the most joyous time of the year, it give us the opportunity to cocoon ourselves in a plush faux fur coat. Any occasion that gives us the chance to incorporate cozy and glamour together is what I would call the best kind of chilly day!
Fur coats have been stylish for centuries among fashion icons because of their ability to pull together different textures and compliment any outfit while adding that flawless chic feel. Get fancy this winter season, slip into a faux fur coat of your choice, your style options are endless.
Faux Fur Coat
Here are five ways to wear a faux fur coat.
With winter layers and black leggings.
With jeans and boots.
With jeans and white brogues.
With plaid and faux leather leggings.
With a black ensemble and faux leather leggings.
With a mini skirt and leggings.
[Brave Soul Longline]
[Ivory Long Line]
[Taupe Long Line]
[Elodie Faux Fur]
[Gradient Color Imitated]
[Leopard Print]
[High Collar Faux Fur]
[Frenchi Faux Fur]
[V-Neckline Imitated]
It’s Your Turn: Whats your favorite way to wear a faux fur coat? Tell us in the comments!
There’s still time to join me for the Winter/Holiday Style Me Pretty Challenge! You’ll get your winter wardrobe shopping list plus 21 days of outfits, including a few holiday party looks. For more info and to sign up, click HERE.
Dec 19, 2014
We are having so much fun in the Winter/Holiday GYPO Challenge. Week 2 is wrapping up this week and I know i’m enjoying being stylish and warm in my winter layered outfits. In the spirit of the holiday season, we’ve added our favorite things gift exchange with our challengers. This was a big hit and I am in awe of the challengers creativity. 🙂
This week, we styled a long cardigan, neutral tee, gray jeans, ugg boots and socks. Here’s the inspiration outfit for this cozy look:
[Cardigan: Same/Top: Similar/Gray Jeans: Similar/Socks: Similar/Ugg Boots: Similar]
Here are interpretations of our challengers this week from the Winter/Holiday Challenge group. Take a look at their printed cardigan selections!
It’s Your Turn: What is your favorite printed cardigan? Share with us!
Do you want to join us for the fun in the Winter/Holiday Style Me Pretty Challenge! It’s not too late! You’ll get your winter wardrobe shopping list and first week of outfits immediately. Get all the details HERE.
Dec 17, 2014
In lieu of this month’s regularly scheduled Q&A Wednesday, I decided to answer the most often asked question I’ve gotten.
Can we please see your closet?
To be totally honest, I’ve been avoiding this question for months. Why? Because I had MAJOR closet shame.
Seriously, it was my most hated room in the house. My closet was stacked up to the ceiling with things that didn’t belong in there. Even though I switched out my clothing on a quarterly basis and kept it mostly organized, everything else was just a hot mess.
I had no organization to my jewelry, we had towels and linens stacked on the shelves and my embroidery machine and supplies occupied at least half of it.
Until one Saturday morning last month when my sweet husband decided enough was enough. He got up early and took everything out so we could both start with a clean slate. I only wish he had told me his plans so I could’ve gotten some before pictures. You can’t fully appreciate what a transformation has taken place without them, so you’ll have to trust me on this.
And while I don’t have one of those closets you’ve seen from other fashion bloggers (not even close!), mine is SO much better now. Everything has a place and that feels really good. Plus we added a few decorative touches that make me smile every single time I go in there.
Without further ado, here is the reveal of my newly organized closet!
Let’s start with the jewelry shelf first. Craig put up some pretty new wallpaper in this area and we bought a few display pieces for organizing my necklaces, earrings and bracelets. My favorite piece is the pretty cork board where I now hang some of my favorite necklaces.
We found these acrylic necklace and bracelet holders and organizers at Homegoods.
The cork pin board is also a Homegoods find.
This acrylic organizer is for nail polish bottles, but it worked out just perfectly for my earrings.
My shoes occupy a three tiered shoe rack beneath the jewelry shelf.
I like to fold heavy sweaters instead of hanging them. This organizer is perfect for storing them.
My shirts are hung according to sleeve length and style. I’m now working on replacing all of these ugly white plastic hangers with some velvet covered ones.
Jeans are organized according to wash color. Pants and skirts are in the back.
I bought a multi-tiered pants hanger for my scarves. It allows me to fold them over each rung and easily see all of them.
Boots are on the shelf above my clothes and are organized by height.
Purses occupy the highest shelf since I don’t need to access them as often.
That’s it! Again, it’s not as fancy or glamorous as most closet tours I’ve seen but it works for me and my life and that’s all that really matters.
It’s Your Turn: Share your closet organizing tips with us in the comments!
There’s still time to join me for the Winter/Holiday Style Me Pretty Challenge! You’ll get your winter wardrobe shopping list plus 21 days of outfits, including a few holiday party looks. For more info and to sign up, click HERE.
Dec 15, 2014
Hi, it’s Craig, Alison’s husband, a.k.a. Mr. GYPO. You may remember me from this post that she twisted my arm to do earlier this year. When she asked if I could guest post and create a gift guide of items that men really want for Christmas, she didn’t like my answer much. I told her that all men want just one thing…their wife under the Christmas tree wearing nothing but a bow. Sorry if that’s offensive but ask your husband, it’s true.
Since she made me put together something family-friendly, a lot less fantasy world, and much more realistic, I decided to list out some of my much more attainable favorites/wish list items and here they are.
What Men Really Want for Christmas
First on my list has to be the new Nike Air Max 2015 iD running shoes. I love to work out and these have been, by far, my favorite shoes over the past few years. Maybe not the lightest shoe in the world, but what they lack in weight they make up for it in style, comfort, and cushioning. If your husband is over 40 like me, he’ll appreciate the extra cushion. Not to mention, they look amazing and you can customize them any way you like on the Nike website. You can be over 40 and not be outdone by the old guy in dress socks and 1985 New Balance sneakers at the gym…or anywhere you go for that matter.
Next on my list has to be Invicta watches! I’m a huge fan of watches and I’ve been through many over the years; Seiko, etc…as well as a few el cheapos. I am very hard on watches and Invicta has been the only one that can take the beating I dish out. I own several Invicta watches that I have used and abused, yet they have been very scratch and shock resistant. Not to mention, these watches look incredible. I love big watches and Invicta offers up some monsters. No fear though, if your wrists don’t take well to large watches, they have smaller offerings as well. These watches are, hands down, my favorite watches of all time…not to mention they are very reasonably priced. My three favorites are this Invicta Men’s 1433 Russian Diver Black Dial Rubber Watch
, this Invicta Men’s 6977 “Pro Diver Collection” Stainless Steel and Black Polyurethane Watch
and this Invicta Men’s 1537 Reserve Venom Chronograph Silver Dial Stainless Steel Watch
.
Even though I stay active, I also thoroughly enjoy my down time and there’s nothing that helps me with that more than my next two items. These items are the Roku 3 and the Xbox 360 with Call of Duty Ghosts. I’m not a couch potato or big gamer, but I do love occasionally relaxing and getting away from the stresses of life by watching a good movie or TV show on Roku or showing some 10 year-old boys who’s boss online while playing Call of Duty. The Roku 3 makes streaming TV shows and movies so simple. I can easily connect to Netflix, Amazon instant video, or a bazillion other channels offered on Roku. It’s so easy to watch an entire television series with no commercials and with much better speeds than the crappy built-in wifi on your TV. As far as Xbox 360, there’s no need to buy the Xbox One for some occasional gaming because the Xbox 360 is just as capable at a much lower cost. Disclaimer: Both of these items can be habit forming, so if your husband is prone to that, buyer beware.
The last items on my list are clothing items that I think are both comfortable and stylish. They allow you to look trendy, yet not look like you’re trying to dress like a teenager.
Buffalo Jeans are my favorite brand of jeans because I think they look good, are well made, comfortable, and fit well. To each his own, but these are my favorites.
My go to daily shoes are my Cole Haan Santa Barbara loafers. I absolutely love these shoes! Proof of this is that I’m now on my third pair. They are made very well and with their Nike Air insoles, they are super comfortable.
I live in Texas so it never gets super cold for any extended period of time, so I like to have a nice in between jacket that gets me through Fall, Winter, and early spring. The jacket that does this for me is my The North Face Canyonwall. This jacket is warm, comfortable, and in style. I can’t say enough about it, it’s perfect and I love it. Plus it doesn’t attract dog and cat hair like a magnet unlike my fleece North Face jacket.
Lastly is the Banana Republic Lux-Touch Button-Down shirt. I like shirts like this that don’t look old-manish (is that a word), are stylish, and are comfortable. Not much to say except that this shirt fits my style and works great with my Buffalo jeans. Of course, Banana Republic isn’t the only place to find a shirt like this…just an example of one that I like.
Well, I hope you found my list useful and I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Oh and by the way, if you liked these suggestions, Alison has convinced me to help her out with the Menswear Challenge coming up in 2015.
Alison,
I finally did what you asked…please refrain from any similar requests…at least until after the New Year. Unless you’re prepared to be under the tree wearing a bow on Christmas morning. Then you can get pretty much anything you want.
Love,
Craig
Dec 12, 2014
The Winter/Holiday Style Me Pretty Challenge started earlier this week and I’ve been looking forward to sharing some of the styles that I love during this time of the year.
On Friday, for the next two weeks I will be sharing one of the outfits from the challenge along with interpretations from some of our challengers. I hope they will inspire you to try the combinations out this winter too!
This week, we styled a neutral cable knit sweater, fur scarf, skinny jeans, and riding boots. Here’s the inspiration outfit for this cozy look:
[Top: Similar/Skinny Jeans: Similar/Fur Scarf: Similar/Earrings: Same/Riding Boots: Similar]
Here are interpretations of our challengers from the Winter/Holiday Challenge group. Take a look at their impressive shopping selections!
It’s Your Turn: What do you think of these gorgeous ladies in their fur scarf?
You can still to join us for the Winter/Holiday Style Me Pretty Challenge! You’ll get your winter wardrobe shopping list and first week of outfits immediately. Get all the details HERE.
