Outfits Not Just Clothes

In my last post I offered an alternative to red and green for holiday dressing. Besides navy and pattern I think another option is color blocking.  For me color blocking has three different schools of practice. One is wearing a variety of colorful pieces in one outfit: as seen in this post .       Or creating a look with two distinct contrasting colors:    from this post     And finally a third option is to have one piece that has color blocking built in:       Modcloth      This is buy far the simplest option of the three. Having the elements of color incorporated in one garment that you can just slip on makes all the difference between outfitting and just wearing clothes.  I also like this option:       Modcloth     Here the color is a bit more subdued and not as graphic, kind of like the shallow end of the color blocking swimming...

Holiday Party Outfit by bernadetteulsamer featuring balmain Now that the turkey carcass has been buried and twinkly lights are sprouting up faster than Black Friday door busters I'm starting to think about outfitting for the upcoming holiday festivities.  There's always the inclination to sport either red or green(Lord help anyone who does both in the same outfit) and you also see a lot of sparkle and glitter.  I'm thinking for this year I'm going to focus on navy/blue. Navy, especially is a dressy/sophisticated color and a lot less obnoxious then some other holiday options.  Also, instead of sparkle I'm thinking of going for pattern.  The above, would be an ideal holiday party outfit, chic, interesting, festive, and light years away from the dreaded Christmas sweater.  Or maybe I'll  say "f it!" and just wear a tacky sweater :    because it's getting cold outside.  

      I like a bit of shirt collar standing out a bit from the jacket collar, but not folded over, but visible like cuffs.   shirt/shoes-Old Navy(similar shirt here  and shoes here ), cropped trousers- Gap , jacket-Forver21(similar here ), belt-Jcrew(similar here ), necklace-Mikkat Market(similar here ), bracelet- Jewel Mint   This is a pretty simple look. Just black and white, I tried to keep it interesting with some subtle metallic accessories. I like the feeling of the plaid with the jacket of camel and faux-leather.  It's Cyber Monday and I'm getting all sorts of discount codes emailed to me.  I'm really hoping to stay strong on my shopping-ban, especially since I did break it on black Friday.  There was just to much temptation when I was out shopping for gifts.  In the vein of full disclosure I plan on posting the items I bought for myself when I fell off the retail wagon. Stay tuned.....

Headed to Ohio here soon with Mr. Keller. Am hoping to get some great casual/country outfit shots in while we're there. Wait and see. For now here's an awesomely ugly Thanksgiving Sweater:

  blouse- Modcloth , vest-Zara(sort of similar here ), shorts /necklace-MikkatMarket(similar necklace here ), tights-Jcrew(similar here ), boots-Old Navy, book- Univ. of Pgh Press Last Friday I attended a book party for a new collection of poetry by Aaron Smith.  As with any event the question always comes up, "What will be my outfit?"  You may recall back in the spring how I chose an outfit based upon the gift I was giving here .  This time around I coordinated my outfit to the book cover art.  The cover art is black, grey, and white and this being poetry I figured best to go a bit edgy, hence the faux-leather shorts.  I didn't want to be too stereotypical poet in all black so I went with a colorful blouse and balanced out the edge of the shorts and boots with cutesy polka dot tights.  Of course this strategy only works if you're privy to the actual book cover. And if you're looking for an Christmas gift for any a...

          jeans-Madewell(similar here ), top- Style Mint , coat-Asos(similar here ), scarf/ shoes -Old Navy(similar scarf here ), rings/bracelet- Jewel Mint , sunnies-Ralph Lauren(similar here ), bag-Nine West(more bags  here )  So much COLOR! It was beautiful this past Saturday and Mr. Keller and I took his parents to Phipps Conservatory  for a bit of quality time.  The location really dictated this outfit, I figured when going to a conservatory packed with flowers and lush plant life the brighter the better! Normally, when you think aqua jeans, red stripes, pink scarf, & yellow toed flats it sounds like a hot mess, but here it's working. Sometimes the best way to wear color is to have fun with it and mix and match till you get a look that feels right.     

          sweater/shirt-Jcrew Factory(similar here  and here ) , jodhpurs-Asos(sort of similar here ), boots-Forever21(similar here ), necklace-gifted, bracelet- JewelMint , sunnies-Ralph Lauren(similar here )   I cannot fully express in words how much I love these jodhpurs. The best way to convey my excitement over them would involve jumping up and down and clapping. They are so rugged chic, eh? The material is structured, yet has some stretch, they are classic, yet unexpected AND they make my bottom look good according to Mr. Keller. I've talked before about outfitting in contrasting styles here , but this look I went full on in preppy/equestrian/autumn realness. There are no hard and fast rules to outfitting sometimes it's best to mix and match, while at other times a full head-to-toe look works. Now, all I need now is a country estate with some horses to complete this outfit.

        I got this skirt in like 2005... Anyway, I was a size 16 at the time. My amazing seamstress Melissa really outdid herself taking this in to about a size 8! I've dealt with this a lot recently, after loosing close to 40lbs over the past 6 years, its been a struggle giving up clothes I love that are now way to big. Melissa has been a life saver, in helping me figure out items that could be sized down with out loosing their appeal.  You can check out Melissa's business facebook Seamingly Simple  here .  blazer-Jcrew(similar here ), shirt-Zara(similar here ), skirt- H&M , boots-Target(similar here ), necklaces- Cookie Lee c/o Debra Reed, bracelet/rings- Jewelmint , belt- Anthropologie I think it's not secret that I enjoy mixing textures and fabrics in an outfit. Here we have lace, wool, & tweed--a perfect fall combo.  I wish we had more shots of just the blazer and some of its de...