Top: Dudley Stephens Boatneck // Jeans: AG {old, similar here} Shoes: Golden Goose Superstar Sneakers // Bag: Pop & Suki Box Bag // Sunglasses: Celine

A few years ago I was in Walgreens when I noticed a pair of leggings in the tights aisle. They were fleece lined. And $8. I bought two pairs. I was always cold in the office, and I swear, I wore those leggings everyday to work for a month straight. So much so that my coworkers started to poke fun at me. Little did they know, their holiday presents in December was a pair for each of them. 😉 To this day I still think about those leggings. They were so simple, yet so incredibly warm. And it was a classic basic that I could easily incorporate into my wardrobe. Is there anything better than fleece to keep you warm?

The answer is no! And that’s what brings me to Dudley Stephens. Using the best quality fleece there is out there, Dudley Stephens has reimagined what it is to be chic in a wearable, everyday way. The newly released boatneck is my favorite style, but I also love the Highland hi-lo and the blanket scarf, which would be amazing for traveling – planes are always so freezing! How pretty is it in the natural blush colorway? Dudley Stephens also make little fleece tops for babies + kids which is probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. We head to Switzerland for Christmas this year so I may just have to get my niece a top or two to keep warm – or better yet, match 😉

Have you ever worn fleece other than in a jacket? Let me know! And if not – prepare to have your game changed. You will never look back!

photos: The Retro Penguin

thank you to Dudley Stephens for sponsoring this post

If you remember from two years ago, Nardos created three custom dresses for my wedding weekend. I had never designed a dress from scratch before {let alone three} and the process was fascinating, intimidating and amazing all at once. There were moments of stress with questions torturing my overwhelmed bride brain like, which lace!? will the fit ever be right?! what if I don’t like what I’ve designed when it’s already too late? But I realized, more than anything, that I needed to trust my design, the process, and I needed to trust Nardos. Because in the end, she and her team are extremely talented, and they will not rest until you are happy.

The dresses from my wedding weekend ended up being some of the most incredible and beautiful that I have ever seen {biased much?} The fit was incredible, the designs were unique and they made me feel so, so special.  And that’s exactly how you should feel on your wedding day! It’s your weekend! Your moment to shine. The dress design process was something I’d do once for the most special occasion of my life, and that’d be it.

….but Nardos and I had too much fun together. And because I still get multiple questions a week from you guys asking what the design process was like, and how working with Nardos was, we both decided it was time to go back to the sketchpad again. With my wedding dresses, I didn’t want to share the process with anyone because I wanted my dresses to be a complete surprise. But with this dress, I plan to share the good, the bad and the ugly {if that exists!} Everything from my inspiration {below!} to the fittings and final touches. I want to give you a behind the scenes look at what it’s like to design a custom dress with Nardos Design.

The first thing you do when you meet with Nardos is talk through ideas. Nardos will arrive with a pad of papers and be sketching your ideas as they roll out of your mouth{s} often adding touches she thinks might enhance the style or design. Don’t worry if you aren’t super creative – Nardos is great about asking the right questions – what body part do you like to enhance? hide? what colors do you like? What length do you typically Wear? What fabrics do you love? etc. For me, I came in with one solid idea, and one idea I came up with on the drive over.

The first {& more solid} idea I had was inspired by a mixture of the images below. I want a very structured, yet romantic black velvet gown with a little smidge of lace peeking out over the bust. I want the neckline to be square, and I want the sleeves to be either long, or 3/4 sleeved. I want the waist nipped in with a grosgrain ribbon belt. Lastly, I wanted the gown to flare out ever so slightly. Not a full fish tail, no train, but a very slight, elegant flare out.

The images above were my inspiration for the neckline and waist up portion. I love the black velvet and neckline {minus the deep V} of the image on the far left. The image on the far right is inspiration for the corset style tightness that I think would be really beautiful. I want the dress to have a slight Pride & Prejudice feel to it – super tight, slight cleavage, and a tiny waist. The images in the middle are inspiration for the lace I want peeking above the bosom. I think this will add a really pretty romanticism to the dress and soften it a little.

The image below is inspiration for the waist and bosom as well – do you see how the top of the jumpsuit is so fitted it makes her waist look tiny? I also love that this jumpsuit is using a tone on tone grosgrain ribbon at the waist.

I’m designing this gown for Christmas Eve dinner with my family which will be in Switzerland this year and is always black tie. With that being said, as the evening will be spent in  home {vs. a fancy hotel or restaurant} I want to make sure the dress isn’t tooooo over the top. I want it understated and elegant. I pulled the images below as inspiration for the bottom of the gown. I love the verrrry slight flare out of the dress – nothing too dramatic or over the top. Just simple, elegant and understated. Exactly what I’m looking for.

Ok, so now for my second {less formulated} idea. If you scroll all the way back up you will see the beginnings of what I had in mind. As I was describing the idea to Nardos, I looked over her shoulder and spotted the dress below. It was almost exactly what I had in my head – albeit the one I was describing had sleeves. We stopped sketching, got up, and I put the dress on. It was stunning. Everything from the color to the fabric was perfection. Nardos even took an overlay off another dress in the salon and laid it on top. We were both smitten. It was a little too over the top for what I was looking for for my Christmas dinner, but I might make it work for a black tie event I have at the end of January 😉

So, that’s it so far! I think Nardos and I both settled on the black velvet gown. She is going to create a mock up of the dress is muslin first. Muslin is just a plain, inexpensive material that dress makers use to get measurements and design correct before going forward and using the more expensive fabric that the dresses will end up in. See my muslin mock up from my wedding dress here! I will of course share that part of the process as well once it happens! I can’t wait to share this journey with you all – if you have any questions at all fell free to leave them in the comments! x

Coat: Anne Vest Berri Coat {look for less here & here} // Top: Sold out, similar here // Jeans: Jean Atelier {look for less here} // Shoes: Steve Madden Daisie pump // Sunglasses: Celine // Bag: Celine

The easiest way to incorporate a bright pop of color into your wardrobe is to keep the rest of the outfit neutral. This will make sure the color really pops, and doesn’t conflict with anything else you are wearing. I love how the light blue of the jeans and the white bodysuit lay against the neon pink, and I love the subtleness of the nude handbag. If you’re feeling crazy, go ahead and add in other complementary colors – I love the pop of leopard paired here with the bright pink coat.

If bold & bright clothing isn’t your thing, fret not. Try adding color in other ways! A bright pair of shoes or bag, bright red nails are all fun, or even hot pink lipstick – all of these are easy {and more subtle!} ways to add a little color to your life 🙂

Would you wear neon? What do you think of this ‘trend’? Let me know in the comments!

photos: The Retro Penguin

I’m asked all the time about my thoughts on wearing black with navy and I have to be honest – I didn’t even know this was technically considered a faux pas until a few years ago! I have always loved this color combination….Maybe because navy and black are two of the colors I wear the most often separately, or maybe its because they’re both clean + classic colorways, but for whatever reason I have loved them together for as long as I can remember. Above are some of my favorite inspiration pics from around the internet. They inspire me, and also go to prove that I’m not the only one breaking this ‘rule.’ I also incorporated a few images from my own blog and life where I’ve worn this color combination.

You can easily mix separate black and blue pieces as I’ve done above, or you can buy items with black and blue already paired together. I’ve linked a few favorites below! I hope this post has helped debunk this ‘rule’ and that really, you should wear whatever you want! I think the best part of fashion is that there are no rules. Playing and having fun with mixing patterns, colors, fabrics and textures is what it’s all about. As long as you like it – that’s all that matters!