Waiting for my Pretty Woman moment

I'm in LA currently.  My sister and I usually pack very light as our LA trips are shopping trips.  I picked up these boots from LA's Chinatown and this sweater from Ross.

Top: Ross

Bottom: Abercrombie

Shoes: Wells

*Edit - This picture is so bad.  I tried to fix when I got back, but it's no help.  I may redo this outfit again in the near future just to get a better pic.

Boring

I'm afraid this outfit is going to be...boring. It's eerily similar to this one.  It was not my intention, I just lost track of time and had to find something comfy to get to work in.  For 1 hour.  Yes, my total bus commute back and forth was longer than that.  Luckily, my boss gave me a "full day," so it's one less vacation day I have to use.

Top: Express

Bottom: American Eagle

Shoes: Report

When Nice Clothes Go Bad

This really looked nice in my head.  I found the top from Marshall's (can you tell by now that I shop there a lot?) for $4. I tried to build this outfit around my new shoes. Here's what happened:

Cardigan: American Eagle

Top: Marshalls

Bottom: Abercrombie

Shoes: Nine West

These Nine West Shana wedges are from Nordstrom. When I first saw these several months ago in the Anniversary Sale catalog, I bookmarked them, went to look at them in person, and left them.  I didn't really like the shape and the suede was unappealing to me.  But I kept seeing them during my Nordy virtual window shopping trips.  When they finally went on sale, they were out of my size. When I checked out of curiosity several days later, they had my size in brown and black.  I really wanted the brown, but ordered the black just in case.  Good thing because the brown ones got canceled.  


Nordy stock photo:

Can you tell I'm excited?

I smell like smoky beef

Sometimes I'm really happy to work in nonprofit because I get away with wearing this to work.  I usually make an effort to be less casual, but our department was headed to Korean BBQ after work.  I wanted to make sure that everything I wore was machine-washable because all that smoke from Korean BBQ will follow you home. I feel bad for some of my coworkers who wore heavy dry-clean only coats.

I found this Abercrombie top from Marshalls.  It's a pink super soft (in material and color!) crew neck tee.

Top: Abercrombie

Tank: Old Navy

Bottom: Express

Shoes: Converse

A little bit goes a long way.

My sister and I were really prolific shoppers at one point.  We may have been trained by our aunts at an early age.  While I admit my shopping prowess has steadily declined in recent years, my sister is still sharp as ever. Here's one of her recent finds at Macys.  She said it was a blog-worthy post, so I obliged.  She found a $348 Marc by Marc Jacobs jacket for less than $65. 

 

Is this Bohemian Rhapsody?

Here's one of my deal finds. The original MSRP for this Jessica Simpson dress is $79. We found it on deep clearance for $5.99. Using another coupon we had, the price came down to $4.99.  It's a little more bohunk than me so I tried to tone it down.

I'm thinking of wearing this to my office's Christmas Holiday party.  They're not going to know I wore this outfit twice this week.

Cardigan: Express

Dress: Macys

Belt: Charlotte Russe

Tights: Gap

Shoes: Nordstrom

I bought these tights almost two years ago during my minimoon.  Maybe I was coming off of the adrenaline because as much as I like the color and pattern, I don't think I would buy these now.

Mr. Tangerine Man

I thought for the longest time, the song was called Mr. Tangerine Man, turns out, Bob Dylan was talking about a Tambourine Man. Darn.  I should make a more valiant attempt to take picture of my fabulous finds.  My sister actually found me this citrus delight at Target for $5.  

Cardigan: Forever 21

Top: Target

Bottom: Abercrombie

Shoes: Report

Turnips

This post isn't really about turnips, I just think of them every time I see the word "tunic." I love this tunic from Marshalls, I really do. But I've only worn it twice out of the apartment. It sits strangely on my shoulders, sometimes even exposing the tank top's strap.  

Oh, and the belt is way too big. I just wrapped it around my waist for definition.

Top: Marshalls

Belt: Forever21

Leggings: Forever 21

Boots: Nordstrom

Cyber Monday

I think I've outgrown Black Friday.  To make up for my lackluster performance on Friday, I bought a lot of stuff online.  I am ashamed of myself.

Here's a small sample of what I ordered:

Abercrombie

Gap

Stars and stripes

So I'm couple months late to celebrate stars and stripes. I'm not even wearing the right color stripes.  Remember when Target first decided to do collaborations with haute designers? This shirt is from the very first collaboration with Luella.  I remember stalking this shirt with my sister when the collection went on clearance.  I originally bought the shirt for my sister who gave a it a few runs before giving it to me.  It was too small for me for the longest time, but I couldn't bear to donate it.  So here's an example of where hoarding ends happily.  

The shiny flats are new from Marshalls.  I saw these same flats at Macys during their Black Friday sale, I bought mines for $10, way less than what Macys had them on sale for.  

Before you think I'm still on a triptophan high, I realize sequins ≠ stars.  But both are shiny and that's good enough for me.

Top: Target

Bottom: Forever 21

Shoes: Report

Dark Matter

Isn't it weird how the weather affects what you reach for?  I wound up with all dark colors and my super cute rainboots.

Cardigan: American Eagle

Top: Old Navy

Bottom: Express

Shoes: Target

Talk about being inconspicuous

This is the most consistent posting schedule evaaar! Anyhoot, I had an interview scheduled for this morning and had to rush off to work afterwards.  I tried to be wardrobe-efficient and just changed my pants before work.  Here's what I came up with.  Imagine black trouser pants for the interview (I was too busy being nervous to take pictures of my interview outfit) this morning.

Blazer: Marshalls

Top: Macys

Bottom: Express (my trousers also)

Shoes: Report

What's your bottom line?

For a few years now, the first sign of fall means my sister and I are in a dire search for fall boots.  Everyone in the blogoshere swears by the Steve Madden Inka and Intyce boots. We love them too.

But if you noticed the title, it's time for a confession: ours boots are fakes.

Source: Inka, Intyce

My sister and I fell in love with the Inkas when they came out 2 years ago.  Unfortunately, the $100+ price range didn't resonate well with us.  Fortunately, we were able to pick out a pair from Target for $30.  

I have the black pair while my sister has the cognac colored pair:

They look almost the same, right? Someone thought my sister's pair was the real deal.  

A few weeks ago, hubs ordered this pair for me from Sears. 

These are not really that fake.  These 'Adela' boots are SM New York, a Steve Madden line.  Here they are again for comparison:

The Adelas are not that dull in real life and the Intyce ones are not that shiny in real life (I've tried and contemplated buying these in store).  I really think they used the same pattern.

As I said, there are caveats.  As you probably figured, the "real" ones use man-made leather uppers, while the "fakes" use really PVC.  I don't think most people can tell unless they touch the boots.  My sister and I'd probably beat them in the same amount of time.

While I love me some quality pieces of  clothing, there's something in the subconscious that keeps us from paying the $100+ price tag on the "real ones." 

Everything's coming up roses

I didn't have to work today, but I had to go in anyway to review my insurance options. Adult problems and issues kind of suck.  I though this outfit looked really dark in person, but now that I see the picture, I guess it's not that bad.  Oh, and my coworker couldn't stop admiring my cute shoes.

Cardigan: American Eagle
Top: Forever 21

Bottom: Express

Shoes: Report

Barong it to me!

I really love this shirt.  Like I had to buy it, even if it were full price.  It reminds me of the barong wedding shirts for men at Filipino weddings.  It seems that I've shrunk a bit since I bought this top a few months ago.  I still love this piece in person, but I can't seem to wear it properly.  It's probably not the best picture either.

While browsing sears.com for the hubs one day, I stumbled onto the shoe section and saw these boots.  After some quick internet research, I found that the brand, SM New York is by Steve Madden.  That's good enough in my book, so hubs agreed to order them for me.

 

 Embroidery detail:

Top: Marshalls

Bottom: Forever 21

Shoes: Steve Madden via Sears

The long and short of it

I was trying to build an outfit around this tank top.  I mentioned my affinity for stripes and when I found this at Marshalls for $3, it was practically twisting my arm to buy it.  My body is currently undergoing some changes (not preggers!) so I threw on the cardi to cover up.  I should've went with something shorter.

Cardigan: Forever 21
Top: Marshalls tank  

Bottom: Forever 21

Shoes: Report

Urban Safari

This was something casual I threw together.  I didn't do a particularly good job of putting it together, but it was comfortable.  I think it looked way better in person than it does in the picture.  I really wish I bought more of these pants, I only have olive green and black.  Boohoo.

Top: Macys

Bottom: Forever 21

Shoes: Report

The only man is snoring...

I played around with lighting before I took this picture today.  Look's much better, right?  This wasn't a particularly fun outfit.  It was rainy and ugly outside, so I had to find something to match the weather my comfort level.  I wore my pony rain boots from Target, but I was too lazy to lug them to my picture spot.  They're cute, I promise.  Pinky Square!

Top: Macys

Bottom: Express

Shoes: Target rain boots

*Edit- Here's a pic of my boots.  Cute, right? I told you!

I'll be loving you fooorever...

Like my little nod to NKOTB?  My sister and I had a blast at the NKOTBSB concert this summer in case you were wondering.

Anyhoodles, I downloaded the Photoshop express app onto my phone and played around.  The picture may look a little sharper or blurrier, I'll let you know how I feel another time.

Top: Forever 21

Bottom: Forever 21

Shoes: Nordstrom

I like stripes

My mom tells me that horizontal stripes make me look chubby.  I don't think I look that chubby here.  I can attribute the small pudge around the tummy to any number of things, but today, I blame my bad posture. Phooey.

 Top: Abercrombie & Fitch, tank from AE

Bottom: American Eagle

Shoes:Report

Accessories: Necklace from Cost Plus World Market 

Birds!

I wore this to work the other day. I kept tucking the top in throughout the day because I thought my proportions looked wacky.  Anyway, I love the birds, just wished it was a bit smaller.  Still not bad for under $7.

 Top: Bird top from Nordstrom Rack, Blazer from Marshalls

Bottom: Express

Shoes: Wasn't wearing any in the pics, but eventually wore Chucks.

Nordstrom Rack Haul

I took a little retail detour to Nordstrom Rack today.  I was only supposed to buy this awesome Ted Baker bag I saw at the entrance, but if this post's title doesn't give away, I clearly went beyond the handbag section.  I'm really proud of my haul today. 

 $1.99

 $8.70

$2.99

$6.60

 $1.99

$5.10

Yippee!  I don't have a nice picture of the Ted Baker bag in action yet.

Weekend Adventures

I've always wanted to do one of these.  Let's see how long this little adventure lasts.

This weekend:

 Top: Old Navy

Bottom: American Eagle

Shoes: Forever21

Blazer: Marshalls
Top: Gap (tank), 

Bottom: Express

Shoes: Report

Why am I here?

I'm not sure what will make this blog any different than other OOTD blogs. I'm currently in way over my head a transition in life.  I'm hoping this will help me garner a little bit of confidence and perhaps develop a personal style on the way.