Monday, June 30, 2014

Work Outfit: Bright Accessories for Summer (with a Manolo Blahnik BB Pump Review)

Summer Work Outfit // Pop of Turquoise
Jacket: Arden B. (old) | Skirt: Banana Republic (old, but similar style here in my favorite Sloan Fit) | Blouse: Ann Taylor Factory (recent, and with a lovely flutter sleeve detail) | Sunglasses: Karen Walker | Bag: kate spade new york | Shoes: Manolo Blahnik BB Pumps (available via Saks or Nordstrom) | Lips: NARS 'Yu'

I'd been regretting missing my opportunity to take home a pair of Manolo BB Pumps when they were last on sale after Christmas (although I did end up grabbing the Carolyne Sling-Backs, which I love and have been wearing a ton). When they were back on sale at Saks recently, I decided on a suede pair in a fun aqua color for summer. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make them work for the office, but as long as I keep the rest of my palette fairly neutral, I think a bold, summery color fit right into my seasonal work wardrobe.

Manolo BB Pumps

The Manolo BB's, named after screen siren Brigitte Bardot, are an incredibly flattering shoe, and I found them to be surprisingly comfortable, especially for shoes that are narrower (my feet are not narrow!). Most of the higher-end department stores sell them in a wide variety of colors, heel heights, and materials. You can also design your own BB Pumps at Neiman Marcus. So far, I've stuck to purchasing most of my higher-end shoes on sale, but it's hard to tune out the siren call of the customizable BB's!

Note: I normally wear a 35-35.5 in this shoe brand. I was told to size down despite my wide feet, and the 35 ended up being the better size for me as this style seems to run a little long in the footbed.

Work Outfit for Summer

Although I generally try to stay away from accessories that are too "matchy," I loved how this turquoise bag and shoes looked together. With gray and beige in my suiting separates, and my subtly-printed blouse with its hints of turquoise, coal, and lavender, I thought the shoes and bag took the look up a notch.

One word of caution: when opting for bright accessories at the office, make sure the design of those accessories is clean and simple, like I did here with a sleek pump and classic structured satchel bag.

Work Outfit--Pops of Turquoise + Manolo Blahnik BB Review

I'm very excited it's a short week this week! Hope you all had a lovely weekend and that my fellow Americans have fun plans coming up for the Fourth!

x, Tam


Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Topshop Petites: Summery Crop Top + Lemon Print

Topshop Lemon Skort

Lemon print + paisley cutout detail

Topshop Petite Lemon Print
Top: Topshop | Skort: Topshop (I'm wearing the petite version--regular version here) | Sunglasses: Karen Walker | Shoes: Ann Taylor | Bag: Reed Krakoff | Necklaces: Brian Gavin, Theresa Mink | Bracelets: Ann Taylor, J.Crew | Watch: Michael Kors | Lips: NARS 'Red Square'

All the lemon prints I've been seeing everywhere have reminded me of happy times with my family on vacation on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. We stayed at a lovely place above Sorrento, and we saw lemons and lemon products all over. When I spotted this lemon-printed skort at Topshop, I decided I'd take the plunge and order it since the print evoked such great summer memories.

This was my first order from Topshop, and I was pretty happy with it. When I visited a physical store in Chicago (we have yet to get one in Denver), I didn't purchase anything as they didn't have much of a petites selection, and the pieces seemed a little pricey for the quality. I'm glad I ended up giving it another try as I loved both the skort and paisley cut-out crop top I'm wearing here. I ordered both of these pieces in a 0 petite, and both fit me well, although I probably would have also been fine sizing up in the top. I found the fit to be similar to ASOS' Petite 0 or 1 or H&M's size 2, so a little smaller than the standard American 00P.

I was happy with the quality on both of these pieces, but I still feel like I have to really love a piece before I'm ready to pay full price at Topshop. I had fallen for and ordered this embellished top from the regular-sized collection, but the proportions just weren't right for my frame, so it's headed back.

Hope you're enjoying the official start of summer!

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Summer Brights // Fruit Salad

Blue Givenchy Antigona Small

Givenchy Small Antigona Outfit

Summery Fruit Prints
Dress: Anthropologie (no longer available, more cute orange dresses at Anthro here; last worn here) | Sweater: J.Crew Factory (on sale!) | Sunglasses: Valentino | Shoes: Loeffler Randall | Bag: Givenchy 'Small Antigona' | Necklace: Theresa Mink | Bracelets: Ann Taylor | Earrings: kate spade new york (similar here) | Lips: NARS 'Red Square'

Back to regular style posts today after the wedding blitz last week! Thanks so much again for your kind and supportive messages you left for us. They mean so much to Sean and me!

I am ready to dive into summer right now, with my parents' lake house being nearly 100% done (after some setbacks with the terrible flooding that happened north and northwest of Denver last fall). I'm wearing a lot of bright colors lately, and I'm trying to stock up on all these cute fruit prints seem to be everywhere right now, like the lightweight orange-printed J.Crew sweater and the kate spade pineapple earrings I'm wearing here.

Hope you're having a great week!