OOTD: H&M score

I've gotta thank the lovely Rosa for this top, since she scoured her local H&M to find it for me! Even though Dallas has an "H&M Preview Store" (the first and only of it's kind, ever!), we still don't get much stuff in. I saw the dress-version of this top in this month's InStyle and just had to get it... the mint green color is sooooo pretty and the cutouts add a fun detail. Isn't it cute? Kinda reminds me of Catherine Malandrino, with the floral print. I totally recommend if you can find it in your local H&M....

Top: H&M

Shorts: F21

Necklace: Nordstrom BP

I didn't really do much in the way of accessorizing, but that's mostly because it can stand well on its own. I did, however, add a cute pair of leopard flats because... well, why the hell not. Every outfit could use a little leopard, IMHO.

(Also, blurry iPhone photos apparently continue. Argh.)

Not-OOTD: Snow day!

So, just like about 40% of the nation, I'm having my second snow-day today in good ole' Texas. Yep. Snow day, in Texas. Poor Superbowl guests, hoping for sun and fun and getting sheets of ice and snow instead. It's pretty horrific around here, but I can't complain. I haven't had school yet this week!

And since I've not been able to leave the house, you'll understand why no current outfits are to be had. However, I realized I had one old outfit to share with you. It makes me pine for the days of 55 degree weather we should be having right now. *Le sigh.* I think the reason it was never posted is because I'm not that crazy about it. It's a little casual and the cord leggings just never did me right. I bought them waaaay back when Nordies did their fall pre-sale and thought they would rock. Instead, they just look like too-tight pants. Win some, lose some, eh?

 Top: F21 sequin sweatshirt 

Pants: HUE cord leggings

Necklace: Francesca's boutique

Bracelet: Tom Binns x Disney Couture 

Boots: ROSEGOLD Sandra Convertible boots

Also, I have some great news to share. Over the past few weeks, I've become more and more committed to skin care and beauty products. I know, I know-- I am a confessed beauty idiot, but my changing and aging skin is starting to push me towards paying more attention to it. I've changed up my skin care regimen and have been really pleased with the results so far (less flakiness and redness! Wahoo!) So, it was crazy-timely when Skincarerx.com and Apothica.com contacted me this week about sponsorship. While the details are still being worked out, it does mean one thing for Fetching Fashions: more beauty/skincare reviews and discussions worked in with my love of fashion! I'm pretty excited to get more involved in the beauty-blogging world and hope you're as excited as me.

Here's to new adventures (and taking better care of my skin!).

OOTD: Playing dress-up

Given that it is almost NYE and we are embarking on a new year, I thought my outfits should reflect that. While I really only wore this around the house today (don't make fun.), I did actually wear this for my husband's 32nd birthday at a cute little Parisian bistro down the street from us.

(p.s., saying my husband just turned 32 makes me feel a little old, especially when I was casually told by a peer at school that 30s are "actually middle-aged." Vom.)

 Dress: F21/Twelve by Twelve (maybe still in stores)

Blazer: Remain Paul strong shoulder jacket (here)

Belt: F21 bow belt

Shoes: Sam Edelman Niland (here-- the most comfy heels ever!)

Bracelet: Tom Binns Alice in Wonderland bracelet (here!)

Aaaannnywho. About the outfit. The dress was a great find at F21, especially because I have struck out with them lately. Nothing has really caught my eye, save for this little dress. I have been into lace recently and really like the chic and uber-feminine style of this. The jacket was a great purchase because I was dying for a new black blazer (I think I had a blazer in every color except for black, until now). How cute are the tuxedo-esque details? My bow belt is sort of my bow tie replacement, methinks. :)  Re: the bracelet-- I'll show it in more detail in another outfit soon because it's just the coolest thing ever, but this is all ya get right now. (it was my Christmas present from hubs!)

OOTD: tried and true.

I have worn the bejeezus out of these shorts this year, lemme tell ya. One of my best purchases to date, I think! I got them a year ago at F21 and bought a pair in white and tan as well. Somehow, the tan ones stopped fitting after one season but the white and black ones have kept up with my incessant wear/wash schedule. With a record 24 days of over 100-degree temperatures, shorts are a necessity. Thankfully, there really are a plethora of ways to wear them, but I tend to wear them with a tank and sandals. Maybe I can style them a bit more interestingly once the weather cools down (I'll even take a 90-degree day! please?).

Top: French Connection beaded tank, supah-old

Shorts: F21

Sandals: Diba jewel sandals(from DSW)

Also, if you can tell, my hair is darker and roots are harder to notice! Thanks to my MIL for dyeing me right out of the box. It has blended really well with my blonde and I think this will be a great, cheap way to continue to dye my hair when funds are tighter. Yippee, hooray!

Also also, thanks to all who were so kind on twitter to send me well wishes. For those of you who didn't see via my tweets, hubsters and I were involved in a car wreck on Sunday that totaled hubs' car. We're all ok, minus a little neck and back ache. We're hoping to simply get the money from the other car's insurance company and get the same car, used. See, the car hubs had was all paid off, so getting a new one would mean incurring another bill (which we really don't need!). So cross yers fingers that we can find a nice (old) Honda in a used car lot somewhere around here.

Also also also (ahem), T-minus 6 days until my first day back to school in two years. It simultaneously feels like forever and feels like yesterday since I last attended a class, so I'm anxious to get back into the student groove. I don't really know what to expect, but I do know that it's going to be quite a 5 year ride! Here's to living the student life!  :)

OOTD: out of practice.

I've been way slacking on OOTD posts, this I know. Here's the excuse: have you checked the temps out there? I mean, Dallas has had 110 heat indices for about 3 weeks now. At first, I could handle it. Now I'm over it, and frankly, if I can get from my car to an air conditioned building without sweat stains on my clothes it's a success. I wish I were exaggerating but it's the gods-honest-truth. Yuck.

I had this outfit in the archives from before I went to DC. Actually, I wore this dress on our first night there and have yet to wear it for the blog. I bought it originally for my bridal shower last summer and thought it was the perfect thing to wear to something summery and bridal-ey, but the great thing is that it's just plain great to wear anytime. Minus the sweat stains. :)

Dress: Hannah G scalloped tiered dress (Nordstrom)

Belt: F21 bow belt

Jacket: F21 sequin jacket

Shoes: JS Cedary sandals

How are you beating the heat? Hopefully you've been more successful than me.  :)

OOTT (outfit of the traveling.)

Readers. Oh readers. Its been a while, huh? Sorry about that, but as you may know, I just came back from DC yesterday evening and was so tired. Lovely Rosa and her cutie chihuahua Lola wore me out! After I sort through the pics (and when my computer wants to cooperate and let me get my pics off of my iPhone!), I'll post a few of what we did/ate. THANK YOU! to Rosa for hosting such a lovely weekend! We had a fabulous time. :)

Until then, here's a quickie of what I wore on my traveling day. The A+O Wrap Around Cardi came in the mail a few weeks ago and I heart this thing. The material is definitely gauzey, so it's not a fall/winter staple as much as it will be good for the summer/fall transition. But I also plan to layer with it (turtleneck under it; blazer over it). There are so many ways to wear this, but I tried it with a belt and liked it a lot. It was a perfect "inbetweener" item for the cold plane/the warm weather in DC. And the color is just so pretty!

(p.s. I did wear shoes for the airport. I just didn't want to wear them until the airport. Heh.)

 Tank: Nordstrom BP white camisole

Cardi: alice + olivia wrap around cardi (see link above)

Shorts: UO ruffle tap shorts

Belt: F21 bow belt

OOTD: A little staycation.

Sorry about the non-warned hiatus I took, readers! I do hate excuses, but I'll offer one anyway: my 17-year old sister was in town until today and spent a long weekend with us. Despite her pleading to "do a blog and let me take the pictures!", I decided to just resume my regularly scheduled posting today instead.   :)  I guess on the topic, I'll mention that this coming weekend will also require a little hiatus because I'm headed to DC on Friday. It shouldn't interrupt all that much, since I don't do too many weekend posts as it is, but just an FYI. I can't wait to report back about all the fun I have, though!

Here's a quick OOTD-- I decided to take my rarely-worn Modcloth dress and make it into a top instead of a short, tight dress. Made it more office-appropriate, I think! Plus, I do love a kinda-retro outfit every once in a while (and yes, retro does equal high waisted, flowy and knee length for me). I revealed my little secret in one of the following pictures.... hehe...

Top/dress: Modcloth, from this past winter

Skirt: Banana Republic white linen skirt

Necklace: F21 teardrop necklace

Shoes: Michael Michael Kors cage sandals

OOTD: In the dead heat of summer.

Whew, lovies! Lemme tell ya... when the AC and the power go out in your office building, it zaps energy. Lemme tell ya. Fortunately, today was much better (both came back on), so my blogging spirit is back in full force. Here's the outfit I wore this weekend with some friends who were in town from San Antonio. I love when they come in town, but since they're so used to being casual, I have to pick outfits carefully. Although I usually love over-dressing rather than under-dressing, I hate the possibility of making others uncomfortable, so I found a good mix in a bright top and some dressy shorts. Done and done.

Top: BCBG pink tee

Shorts: F21 lacey shorts

Necklace: Topshop (thanks, T!)

Shoes: JS Cedary sandals

Bracelets: F21 pearls

I'm still trying to figure out how to make the lighting appear a little less green/blue in these pics, but I think the paint color messes all that up for me. Hopefully I don't look too weird with a greenish hue! :) 

OOTD: Free flowin'.

If there is one style I love love love, it has to be the easy breezy cotton/jersey look. Granted, I think my style incorporates a lot of femininity and sometimes even edginess, but I'm always most comfortable in a loose top and leggings. I think that's why I fell pretty hard for the Seventy Two Changes top at Nordstrom's Anniversary sale. Its also great because it can be as easily worn now as it will be in the fall months. It may not be to everyone's liking (my friend's mother saw it on my blog and said, "What is that?!", hehe) but as long as you're not wearing it with some loose pants or sweats, it really looks adorable. Case in point: ---->

(Batwings!!)

Top: Seventy Two Changes boxy tee

Shorts: F21

Shoes: Nine West

Necklace: Flavanilla (Etsy shop) Love necklace

There is a good reason this thing is called the boxy tee, and you can best see why in the last photo: it's literally in the shape of a square with holes in it for arms to pop out. The pockets just drape. The thing that really makes it has to be the little metallic stud details that add a little fun and make it more than just a sweatshirt-type top. This will look super cute with some leggings and booties for sure-- it even looks cute off the shoulders.

Well... I like it, anyway.  :)  Have a great Monday, lovies!

(and look, Ma, I'm finally getting a tan! Zoiks!)

OOTD: let's try this again.

Hope everyone had a great 4th o' July weekend! In the Fetching Fashions household, we spent many an hour at Ikea, Williams Sonoma and Lowes. And getting gutters installed. I think this officially makes me a grown-up.  :)   Today, though, is a relaxation day. Gotta love Mondays off! 

In other non-house-related news, I'm giving the nook another go. I can't decide which side I like better... opinions?

Top & Jacket: F21

Shorts: IRO Mya shorts

Necklace: Anthropologie Ranunculas necklace

Shoes: MICHAEL Michael Kors cage sandals

(and for anyone who's wondering, yes, that's a blue wall... Behr's "Cumulus.")

Super sad story about this outfit-- I ended up wearing this on Saturday to run a whole bunch of errands. It was the first time I actually wore these shorts out (not just at home trying them on and modeling them). By the middle of the day (at a friend's house, mind you) I was casually informed that I had a large rip down my butt crack. Yes... these shorts literally split in two. I'm super upset about it, not just because of the obvious embarrassment realizing they could have been that way for hours (my friend thought it was a fashion trend at first... I might be risky, but split-shorts isn't my thing), but because I totally loved these things. I'm hoping our dear friends at Shopbop will help me out with this... Obviously a poor design and the fabric couldn't hold up through one use! Sigh. A store credit would make me feel better. (hint, hint.)  :)

New nook, boring look...

Yes, you are correct. I have not been posting OOTD pics recently, despite my excitement over my new blogging space. This has been for a few reasons:

1. My new space relies on a lot of natural light. If I use the ceiling light for pictures, I look like I spray tanned way too much and have orange hair. Not pretty.

2. There has been a lack of light in dallas this week due to massive amounts of rain. Massive. Amounts.

3. I don't feel particularly cute yet. In fact, I barely feel inspired to look cute. I know it will come back to me soon, but I just don't do well with change. Like, not at all. I even managed to mutter to husband that I miss the apartment. (The stinky, gross apartment! I miss it! How crazy am I?!)

However, I really wanted to take a shot at it and test out my lighting options, even if my outfit was totally uninspired. So, to debut my new nook, here is a boring look (teehee). (Please disregard the really frizzed out hair. It can't handle this humidity and the rain. It puts up one hell of a fight.)

Top & shorts: old F21

Shoes: Bandolino zebra flats

I think that may be the smallest list of outfit deets to date on Fetching Fashions. See? Uninspired. I'm also in a closet rut for some reason... you know that feeling when you have a closet full of clothes but feel like you have nothing that you want to wear or that you think would make you feel better? That's just where I am. Grrr.... I will get over this rut. I will!

On another note, ya'll will see the transformation of this nook over time... I plan on getting some fun wall decals and maybe some throw pillows. I'm going to play around with it but will try and make it fun and unique. Yippee!

Have a fun Fourth o' July, and enjoy your sun if you have it!

Outfit: from the archives, part 2.

Given the current state of affairs at Fetching Fashions Central, there are no cute outfits to be had. Nor are there places to blog. Nor is there motivation (sorry). But... there are archives. So here we go.

Top: UO silk shirt

Skirt: F21 lace skirt

Belt: Anthropologie Tea Rose belt

Shoes: Liliana bow pumps

Necklace: Express, old old.

When I got my IRO shorts in the mail last week, I decided to take some pictures wearing them different ways and suddenly got inspired to create this outfit instead. Some of the pics I take don't end up going on the blog, mostly because since creating this thing, I've seen how really, really useful photographing outfits can be, blog or no blog. This was one of those things... it was a bit of an experiment and mostly just curiosity, since I haven't worn this belt in a while AND I don't tend to like wearing shirts un-tucked. This shirt has to go un-tucked most of the time because it's a little too short for me (curse long torsos!).  Anyway, I like the way it turned out, and figure it's good fodder for this week, since I need to remember what it looks like when I clean up. HA. :)

Also, I'll throw this one in there because I really like it... how I originally envisioned this shirt to be styled that day, with the IRO shorts (I had to tie the drawstring tight so the shirt wouldn't come un-tucked!):

Top: UO silk shirt

Shorts: IRO Mya shorts

Shoes: Elizabeth and James Mason pumps

Necklace: Nordstrom

OOTD: ...looks familiar.

I wanted to try out my Geren Ford tiger ikat tank again, this time styled differently. But as I found myself picking things from my closet and putting them on, I looked in the mirror and found that I really didn't do much different than last time. Instead of a blush blazer, I chose a blush cardigan. Instead of flare jeans, I chose skinnies. Hurmph. Creativity aside, I think it just goes perfectly with this shade of pink, no? Maybe it's just what's meant for it. :)

Top: Geren Ford tiger ikat tank

Cardigan: J Crew ruffles and roses cardigan

Jeans: AE skinnies

Belt: really, REALLY old, from Express

Shoes: JS Cedary sandals

Necklace: F21 teardrop necklace

Also, please note the very obnoxious teal color on my fingernails. It's the ever-popular Essie Mint Candy Apple, which I found at Ulta, stashed behind other colors (last one!). Maybe it's the tone of my skin, but it looks bright. REAL bright on my hands. I still like it, though! and it's similar to the one on my toes (OPI's Hey Get In Lime).

Almost time to post the new blog-look! Still deciding on just how I want it, but it should be up soon. Can't wait!