Knotted

I realized some time ago that the high-waisted skirt and tucked-in shirt look was super flattering on me. I don’t know if that’s a universal thing, but since I’m on the shorter side, a high waist makes my legs look longer, so I look taller. And since I have an hourglass figure (but the top of the hourglass is my head, not boobs – still totally counts), tucking in the shirt highlights my small waist instead of my relatively wide hips.

The only problem is that some shirts just do not work when tucked in. This is one of those shirts. Every time I slightly lifted an arm, I pulled the shirt out of the skirt and made myself look droopy and lumpy. It’s a few years too early in my life for that.

The best solution I’ve come up with is tying the shirt in front like this. If anyone knows of a good way to keep shirts tucked in (an undergarment perhaps?) please let me know! I’ll test our your suggestions and report back.

Shirt (on sale) // similar Skirt (under $25) // Shoes “Gabi” (on sale) // similar Sunglasses (on sale) // similar Bag // Bracelet (on sale)

Pin to Real Life: Chambray & White Skirt

Left image source: Crazy Style Love (used with permission under Creative Commons license)

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I love doing these “Pin to Real Life” posts because I feel like they go to the essence of what this blog is about. Yes, my blog has an essence. Take a deep breath and you might get a whiff. But seriously…the essence is about how I find styling inspiration (sometimes from my own head, sometimes from other people) and then adapt it to fit my real life. [cue epiphany sound effect – it all makes sense now, doesn’t it?!]

This inspiration for this outfit came from Jenny at Crazy Style Love, and she is crazy fabulous pretty much all the time. She wears things I would never have the lady balls to wear. But then again, she lives in Toronto, and I get the impression that’s a more fashion-forward city than Indianapolis. No offense to my city, but its style is very much sports-based. So if Jenny had come to brunch with me on Saturday in her outfit, she would have looked way overdressed (but still awesome, obviously).

My shorter, less voluminous, skirt is more practical for me, and flats instead of heels seemed more appropriate for the occasion. Finally, I tied my shirt in the front instead of tucking it in because I felt like that added an extra casual touch.

A million thanks to Jenny for inspiring this outfit – I loved it! If you want to see more of the people and outfits that inspire me, follow me on Pinterest!

similar Shirt // similar Skirt // Sunglasses // similar Shoes (on sale) // Bag (on sale)

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It’s a Mystery…

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I’ve worn this dress two times (flashback here), and both times I’ve tied a shirt over it and worn it as a skirt. But I swear it’s a dress. They say when a woman gets dressed she should leave something to the imagination. In this case I guess I’m just trying to make you imagine the top of this dress. What does it look like? Maybe you’ll never know. I’m very secretive and mysterious. Except for the part where I take pictures of myself every day and put them on the internet.

similar Dress // Sunglasses (on sale under $20!)// Shoes (on sale) // similar Bag (on sale) // similar Necklace // similar Bracelet 

Bits & Pieces

Happy weekend, folks! I’m really excited because my family is visiting for 3 days and I’m ready to show them a good time. You can follow along with our adventures on Instagram. Because if you don’t Instagram it, it didn’t happen.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a handful of outfits – some recent, some older – that I didn’t get around to posting. What is everyone else up to this weekend?!

similar Vest

similar Scarf // similar Skirt (on sale) // similar Shoes

similar Shirt // similar Skirt

similar Jacket (on sale) // similar Skirt (on sale) // similar Shoes (on sale)

Knotted Chambray & a Mullet Dress

This outfit is from last Saturday, when I ran a couple errands and went out to eat for my bro’s birthday. (Girls can be bros. I looked it up in the Bro Code.)

Last weekend, the temperatures took an unexpected dip so I had this big dilemma over what to wear. It was like nothing in my closet was working for me. I wanted to wear something cute and springy because it was the weekend, but my delicate constitution and lack of meaningful body fat told me I should probably cover up. I get whiney when I’m cold, and nobody wants to deal with that.

For some reason my new jean jacket that I thought would go with everything just didn’t look right with this dress. I looked oddly wide. I’m hoping the jacket and I will reconcile soon, but in the meantime I was able to count on my chambray – tied at the waist of course.

So the moral of the story is: If you don’t know what to wear, just stay home. Or wear something like this. You’re welcome.

Chambray // similar Dress // another similar Dress (under $20!) // Sunglasses (on sale) // Coach bag via eBay

Twirl-Worthy

Unlike normal people who go to brunch on Sunday, Sarah the lame law student (that’s me) usually stays home and studies all weekend.

But when one of my best college friends says, “hey, I’m leaving for China in a month,” I have to take a break to brunch and shop. And brunch and shop we did. Those red velvet pancakes were way better than the bagel I would have had at home.

As someone who doesn’t have a lot of brunch experience, I didn’t know the dress code, but I figured it was a good time to wear this new dress (which I put on my spring shopping list). It’s too chilly to bare my arms yet, so I wore it as a skirt. When I tried it on, I was really excited about how great it is for twirling. Obviously that’s an important quality in a dress because of all the twirling I do.

See? Twirling. Goes perfectly with brunching.

Dress // similar Shirt // Sunglasses // similar Sandals

Knotted Chambray

Did you know that a chambray shirt tied at the waist is a sure sign of spring? You’d think the calendar would be enough, but around these parts the date means very little. So you can imagine my excitement when I put on this shirt and it just tied itself, right there in the front.

Have a splendidly springy week!

Shirt // Skirt (on clearance) // similar Shoes // Sunglasses // similar Bracelet

Sporty Spice

While we’re in Florida this week, we’re staying with Kristin’s grandparents in The Villages, the biggest retirement community in the universe. Since retired people have all the time in the world to do whatever they want, they are very into low-impact sports. Yesterday we played pickle ball. It’s kind of like tennis but with a smaller court and wiffle balls. I am utterly inept at anything that could remotely be considered a sport, but I gave it a try. I’m told I only did it for 20 minute, but it felt like 2 hours. I did hit it over the net a couple times, although I prefer a more avant-garde approach where I alternate (1) hitting the ball sideways into the benches and (2) running away.

Anyway, once I finished “playing,” I could put my cute shoes back on. Here’s some more outfit photos…Look forward to photos tomorrow from my first trip to Disney World!

Shirt: J. Crew

Skirt: Webster at Target

Shoes: Unrestricted (similar here and here)

Watch: Anne Klein (similar)

Bracelet: Madewell

Sneakers: Coach

Back in the Day

OK, the leaf picture might have been staged. But I’m excited for fall.

When I was in high school, the goal was to wear jeans with the lowest rise possible, and the only reason to tie your shirt was to show off your pink cubic zirconia belly button ring. (I didn’t have a belly button ring, but I probably wanted one at the time.)

If you had told me in 2002 that in ten years I would be wearing this outfit, I would have thought I turned into a major nerd. And I would be right, BUT my nerdiness is entirely separate from this outfit choice. The outfit is smart, not nerdy. In my old (relatively) age, I now realize that high-waisted bottoms make my short legs look longer, even in flats. And speaking of short, often times shirt hems and sleeves are overwhelming on me; cuffing the sleeves and knotting in the front fixes that problem! Live and learn.

Nerdy High-rise jeans available at Madewell

If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

You might be thinking, “Hmm, didn’t Sarah just wear an a-line skirt, a knotted chambray shirt, and flats recently?” If you are thinking that, then you might be stalking me. Please…get a hobby. But you would also be right. I liked it so much that I decided to use the same outfit formula with new pieces.

I don’t think I can pick a favorite. I like the color of shirt #1, but I like the polka dots on shirt #2. I like the chunky bracelet in the first outfit and the statement necklace in the second outfit. When I’m so awesome all the time, it’s hard to decide when I’m most awesome, know what I mean?

Shirt available at Forever 21

Necklace available at Macy’s