What I Wore To Church - Navy Colorblock Dress and Mustard Tights

   

Dress: eShakti Shawl Collar Colorblock Dress

Tights: Merona Women's Opaque Tights (Target)

Shoes: Qupid Suede Bow Mary Jane (UrbanOG) 

I have another dress from eShakti to feature today. I got this one a couple weeks ago, but was waiting to wear it because I had a specific pairing in mind, but didn't have all the pieces yet. When I bought it, I had the idea that I wanted to try out the bright tights trend. With the dark colors and classic shape of the dress, it was perfect to let the tights take center stage. The tights were easier to find than I thought they would be. I was pleased that they weren't that expensive either. Props to Target! They had a very large selection of colors, and I was so happy to find them in mustard. You may already know my obsession with the navy and mustard pairing, as can be seen here, here, here, and here. 

Once I found the tights, I knew I had to find the right shoes. They needed to be plain black to avoid overdoing it with color or prints, and I love mary janes with bright tights because the straps stand out so well. The lace bow on these adorable shoes added that last bit of cute oomph to the outfit. 

I know I say it practically every week, but I can't get enough of eShakti. They have some fun prints and shapes, but they also have retro classics like this one. They can be worn as is with classic accessories, or they can be jazzed up with colorful cardigans, tights, or shoes. I love dresses that have options, and this one has lots. I think next time I wear it, I'll try it with red accents. eShakti is doing another Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale. Their winter clearance is also still available, but the offers can't be combined. Be sure to check it out and pick up something fun, or something classic. 

Happy Shopping!

What I Wore to Church - Sequins and Sparkles

Dress: eShakti Sequin Chiffon Print Dress
Cardigan: Tilly's Essential Elbow Sleeve Cardigan (no longer available in navy)
Shoes: Frederick's of Hollywood

Since I didn't get a chance to go to a New Year's Eve party, I thought I'd pizzazz it up for the first Sunday of the year. I thought sequins and sparkles were appropriate.

The dress is (of course) eShakti. I got it in the overstock section for a steal, and it's so much fun! It's flowy, it's sparkly, and it's festive (and pockets! How many fancy dresses have pockets?). Right now it's sold out, but give it time. It'll be back in stock before you know it.  eShakti is currently finishing out their 50% off sale. Today is the last day, and it's totally worth a look-see. I hope you all don't mind reading about eShakti because thanks to referrals (I can't thank you enough, for serious), I have a couple more dresses and skirts to feature on the blog!

The shoes were from a couple years ago. I'm pretty sure I got them for about $15 at an after NYE sale at Frederick's. I don't think I've ever actually walked into one of their stores, but I do love browsing the shoes on their website. This is actually the first time I've worn them. I've never had a fancy enough outfit to pair them with. I thought the sequins on the shoes went great with the sequins on the dress.

I also added another layer of fancy to the outfit with the accessories (please excuse what Kyle is calling my "senior photo" pose. It was the only way I could get all the accessories in). I loved the idea of a fascinator to add that retro glam feel to the hair style. It took me 30 min of playing with different hair styles to come up with this, and once I did it, I totally face palmed. It was so simple yet it worked so well.

Hopefully you got to wear something fun for the new year, whether on NYE or today. Everyone deserves the chance to feel glamorous at least once a year. I also hope your year is full of sparkles, and rainbows, and puppies.

Happy Shopping!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year (a couple days late)! It's been such an exciting past couple of months being able to blog and share my outfits with all of you. It really is a creative outlet for me both in styling my outfits, and writing about them. I try to keep things light around here, but I will say writing helped me get out of a depressive funk. I appreciate all of you for reading and encouraging me. I get so much joy from people telling me that I inspired them to be more creative with their wardrobes, or that they tried new things after reading. I absolutely love that. My goal for the next year is to continue to bring the fun and continue the creativity as I get rounder, and then of course learn to work with the inevitable body changes after the baby is born.

Just for funsies, I've listed my top 10 most read posts of the year below. Thanks again for reading, and giving me a reason to keep going.

#10 eShakti Sale - Why Haven't You Taken Advantage Yet?



#9 What I Wore To Church - Polka Dot Cotton Dress



#8 What I Wore To Church - Pencil Skirt and Blouse



#7 What I Wore To Church - Anchor Print Dress and Mustard Mary Janes



#6 What I Wore To Church - Navy and Mustard with Pointed Toe Heels



#5 What I Wore to Church - Zigzag Print Dress and Corset Heels



#4 What I Wore To Church - Using Grey as a Neutral



#3 What I Wore to Church - Colorblock Stripe Dress



#2 Beauty Swap Party!



#1 ipsy vs. BIRCHBOX

What I Wore to Church - Polka Dot Cotton Dress

 

Dress: eShakti Pleated Polka Dot Cotton Dress
Cardigan: ModCloth Charter School Cardigan in Sage
Shoes: H&M
Necklace: Monica's Fantabulous Fashions
Earrings: JustFab Rule of Three

I freakin' love this dress from eShakti. I got it for literally nothing (thanks again for the referrals!). I planned on wearing something different this week, but once this dress came in, I tried it on and didn't want to take it off. I knew there was no way I wasn't going to wear it this Sunday. I love the adorable polka dot print as well as how flouncy it is. It's a good spinny dress. Just ask my dad, I love to spin in dresses. I always have. It feels so feminine and fun.

The cardigan is another charter school cardigan from ModCloth. I have it in honey and absolutely love it (if you missed the post, you can reread my love here). So much so that I even bought it for my mom for Christmas because I couldn't keep the love to myself. Once I saw the cardigan in sage, I knew I had to have it. I stalked it until Cyber Monday where I got it for 20% off. I love green, but hadn't seen a green quite like this. It's another color that looks good with almost anything. It also works in any season. The cardigan itself is a great cut too. Very flattering and cozy. I will not stop until I can snag it in ALL THE COLORS.

The shoes I did NOT buy online (amazing, right?), but I did buy them in a foreign country. I bought them at H&M in Dubai for less than $10. I thought the brown went well with the green and since the dress was grey, it all worked out. At least I thought so.

The necklace I got from a recent flash sale from Monica's Fantabulous Fashions. For more info on my friend Mon's great online boutique, you can read my previous post about it. If it weren't for her, I would be severely limited in the jewelry department.

The earrings are from JustFab. While I don't usually buy their jewelry, they do have quite a bit of cute stuff. These popped up on the "you could add these on to your purchase" page when I was buying shoes. It's like the impulse aisle at the grocery store, and I have no impulse control. Regardless, I like the bit of bling they bring to the outfit.

Since referrals pay for quite a bit of my shopping, I'll go into the list of links below. If you're not interested, you can stop reading now.  Happy Shopping!

eShakti is having another site wide sale right now (I'm telling you they give their stuff away). Use my referral code (ELIZABETH92SP) for $30 off your first purchase! The code only works for 2 more days so hurry quick!

If you're interested in purchasing from ModCloth, use my referral link for $15 off.

If you're interested in purchasing from JustFab, use my referral link and get 50% off your first order, but be sure to read the Terms and Conditions as it is a shoe club. You have the option to skip months if you don't want to purchase anything that month.

What I Wore To Church - Candy Dot Skirt and Fun Tights

Skirt: eShakti Button Front Candy Dot Skirt
Shirt: Express
Cardigan: Old Navy Button Front V-Neck Cardi (no longer available)
Tights: Old Navy Chevron Textured Tights (no longer available)
Shoes: Jessica Simpson Devin
Bag: JustFab Parisian

And eShakti is back on my blog! I got this skirt with some of the referral gift cards I received from eShakti (thank you to all who used my code!!). I think it's adorable. It's got stretchy smocking in the back so it's bump friendly, and I love the buttons down the front. The dots come in multiple colors so you can match it with quite a lot.

I matched the green in the skirt to my cardigan and tights for a little Christmas fun (I told you I could come up with something festive this week!). I got both the cardigan and tights for half off on black Friday. I was going to try to wear a red cardigan, but decided it looked too "Santa's elf", so I incorporated red with my nails and the bag.

I got JustFab's Celine-inspired Parisian in the clearance section for $15. It's quite a bit bigger than bags I usually carry, but it's gorgeous! It worked well to fit all my church stuff. My only complaint is that it's definitely a "crook of the arm" bag which means you can't weigh it down with too much stuff.

The shoes weren't the actual ones I wore to church, but they are the ones I had picked out for the outfit before Alabama decided to rain on my parade (literally).  I wore patent leather black heels instead, but I like the look of these better. I got them in a Street Moda sale a few months back for less than $20. I think I pulled off a pretty festive look without taking it overboard. Kyle's final verdict was that I looked very "school teacher-ish". I'm ok with that.

For those interested, eShakti is doing a winter clearance sale here or they are doing buy 2 get 1 free on all of their full price items. You can use my referral code (ELIZABETH92SP) for $30 off your first purchase until 31 December!

Until next week, Happy Shopping and Merry Christmas!

What I Wore to Church - Holiday Colors and Leggings

Dress: ModCloth Up a Notch Dress
Shoes: JustFab Perdita
Leggings: Old Navy Maternity

I bought this dress a couple years ago from one of my favorite clothing sites, ModCloth. I loved the detailing on it, and I was pleasantly surprised this morning to find out it still fit over my belly. I love the sequins on the shoulders and the rouching on the sleeves. The color is also a really nice one for fall and for the holidays. The belt was added to give it some shape. I've definitely found that during pregnancy, skinny belts are my best friend. When I wore this dress before the bump, I would always wear it with a wider belt, but those don't quite work for me anymore. ModCloth has a wealth of cute dresses, but most of them come a little short so leggings are a must for me, but seeing as it was cold this morning, the leggings were a necessity anyway.

The shoes were from last year's JustFab holiday collection and are an exact replica of a pair of Steve Maddens, so the $40 I paid for them was a steal. They aren't the most comfortable shoes (my toes were not happy with me by the end of church), but they sure are pretty. I thought the rhinestones on the bow went great with the sequins on the dress. And who doesn't love sparkly bows?

I thought between the nice rich color of the dress, and the multiple sparkles from the dress and the shoes, this outfit turned out pretty festive. Maybe I should've saved it for next week, but I'm sure I'll come up with something just as festive.

Happy Shopping!

Long Overdue Bondi Update

I was reminded today that I never did an update on the Bondi "situation". A better description would probably be "train wreck." Their subscription model fell apart and the September and October boxes never got sent out. Most people were given refunds for their boxes, but some still have not received their money back.

Just prior to announcing they were no longer going to offer the subscription model, they did a promo to try to pump up subscriptions which added 100s of customers, only to turn around and cancel them all, leaving a pretty sour taste in everyone's mouth. It sounds to me like they bit off way more than they could chew and rather than admitting to that, they took one last big bite to try to choke it all down.  I encouraged a friend to join during that promo, and she was pretty disappointed when within a week it was cancelled. The last straw was that they turned off the ability to comment on their facebook page. When I asked about it, the CEO stated that it was turned off because there were a few negative customers that were trying to incite negative responses and widen customer concerns. Either way, it didn't look good that they shut down the commenting ability right before they made their big move and cancelled their subscription service, thus disallowing customers to ask questions on their facebook page (although they could still email customer service). Part of their appeal has always been their transparency, and this was a pretty big step back.

Their regular retail business still exists, and you can still order their colors individually online, but I haven't quite decided if I'm ever going to purchase from them again. I did love their polish. It was high quality and it came in fantastic colors, but I did not appreciate the way this subscription situation was handled. I guess time will tell. One thing I know for sure, if I decide not to buy from them again, I will be one of many customers that has made that decision. They've upset a lot of people, me included, and who knows. They may have completely shot themselves in the foot, and may not be able to come back from this. For now, I certainly can't suggest them to anyone else. We shall see how it all works out.