Create28: Carrie's Recap

Oh my goodness! It's the end of October already and the close of another Create28. Friends, I'm so glad you took this journey with us. Style is always better with friends. I consider myself doubly blessed that you are here {my readers} and that I have lovely co-hosts {Whitney} and {Casey}. I know I have enjoyed your looks on Instagram each day. Thank you for showing us your style! To be very honest, my month has been jammed packed with so many things that I have struggled with putting together looks. For most of the month it did not feel like fall, which made it hard to get into the groove of fall looks. I've also been at war with my closet. What I mean by that statement is I have been having difficulty liking my pieces and finding I don't love very many. The ones I love I save for something "special". In the midst of that craziness I enlisted the help of my hubster. He gave me some incredible input which helped me to choose looks which I love from Create28 and really define me. {More on this conversation and such in an upcoming posts. Please stay tuned!} So these are our favorite looks.

 
  It's odd that most of my faves were skirts and dresses. I rarely have the opportunity to wear them because my workplace is very casual and mostly denim is what is appropriate on a daily basis. Maybe that's what made Create28 fun for me...creating looks that I don't always get to wear on a regular basis. Of course, I have a fave of Whitney's! Love her plaid look so so much. Mixed with the stripes makes it even better! She's such a cutie!

   

 My fave from Casey was her long cardigan. Every element of this look just works together so well. It's just cozy, comfy and oh so perfect for fall and winter.

   

 That's our wrap on Create28 Fall Looks. We loved it and loved having y'all with us on this journey. We'll be putting another one together after the holidays. Please join us again and join in!

 
  Where I'm linking up.

Create28: Layers

Ummm, correct me if I'm wrong but aside from pumpkin spice lattes and beautiful landscapes, isn't the best thing about fall the ability to layer clothing? When the temperatures begin to drop, it's time to create some outfit interest with layers. There are so many possibilities and I love it because it feels oh so creative to me. If you have a classic style or have ever thought about investing in some basic pieces then today's looks might be a happy place for you. When I put these outfits together I knew it was a total "me" look.

 

I tend to wear only two layers, which mainly consists of a top and a completer pieces. Many times the completer piece is a cardigan {love me some cardigans}! Here I added a vest on top of the blouse and cardigan. I would wear this into work in the morning and remove the vest and possibly the sweater if it's a day when the temps creep up a little bit.

 

These are all pieces from my closet that I love. Favorite skinny jeans {from The Limited which has great fitting pants}, a classic gingham blouse, a classic navy cardigan, a military green vest, a leopard print belt and menswear shoes. These pieces will take you lots of places if you're a remixer or capsule type of gal.

 

Removing the vest and looks becomes more refined and a little less bulky.

A great bag with a little color interest never hurts a classic look either.

 

Do you have a style or a look that defines you? Maybe several looks that define you? This is one of those looks for me.

 

Tomorrow begins our recaps of Create28 Fall Looks. Whitney is up first and will be showing us what's she created this month from her closet. Can't wait to see her post!

Shop My Look

Don't forget to add your looks on Instagram with #Create28FallLooks hashtag. Where I'm linking up.

Create28: Camo

You might think that being a part of a military family makes one love camo. In my case that has not been true. It has taken me awhile to embrace camo, which I admit was a poor decision on my part. I admit it, friends! I love camo. Well, maybe not all camo but the pieces I have in my wardrobe, I really love. I thought it would be fun to spice it up and add some pops of color and I was surprised with what I came up right in my own closet. My favorite look incorporates a pop of pink with camo.

  With the bright pink skirt, I added a soft pink blouse and sparkly jewelry for a feminine touch that pairs with the masculine camo jacket. Of course, booties are the best footwear for fall and look great with skirts. I also have a pair of camo skinnies that arethe absolute most comfortable pants I own. I wish all my pants had this fit and were as comfy. Again, I wanted to add a pop of color but went with a little burnt orange. I kept the same light pink blouse to show the remixing ability with it and camo.

  I pinned a few camo looks that I love too for a little inspiration. What about you? Do you own any camo?

Follow A Lovely Little Wardrobe's board Camo Outfits on Pinterest.   Shop the Looks

Whitney will be back tomorrow with sporting Aztec print. She's rocking all of her looks and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us.

  Remember! We love seeing your looks on Instagram. Use the #Create28FallLooks. Enjoy your Saturday, friends. Our linkup will be open again on Monday and we also look forward to seeing your fabulous style. Where you'll find me linking up.

Create28: Prints and Patterns

Prints and patterns are one way to add interest to a look. I find it helpful to have an understanding of what's in my wardrobe in order to mix things up using prints and patterns. Keeping a little inventory of pieces is one way to help grow your ability to remix. You need to know what you have in order to create looks and more looks by reusing your own pieces. Here's a few ideas that you might just have in one form or another in your wardrobe:

• leopard print
• animal print
• hounds tooth
• windowpane
• camo
• floral
• stripes
• polka dots
• aztec
• abstract

Once I have an idea of what's in my closet I can begin by choosing one print or pattern and create a look or two by incorporating that piece. Windowpane has always been one of my favorite prints. I own one pair of windowpane pants and two windowpane blouses. For this post, I'm choosing to style the pants. I thought it would be fun to mix a few different ideas together. The pants are typically something I tend to dress up but here I added a moto jacket to give it a little edgy feel. I haven't worn these pants in the fall season so a jewel tone seemed like a great choice for color. I'm wearing wedges here but booties would work just as well.

  I originally purchased these pants in the spring but I know they will easily transition during this fall season. Here's how I have worn them previously.

   

Shop for Windowpane Pieces

Where I'm linking up.

Create28: Favorite Blouse

I'm a huge fan of blouses! I'm quite sure that I own far too many but within the array that helps to fill up the top rack of my closet I typically can reach for few more often than others. One of my all-time favorites is this white one with little bitty black dots. It has so many possibilities and yet is simply classic.

  The reason I love this blouse is because it is a nice weight to wear under a sweater and yet does not feel bulky.

  I chose a jewel tone cardigan to add a little color to this look, but this blouse could be worn under any color. Honestly, I had been looking for a blouse like this for quite some time and recently found it at The Limited Outlet. I was really pumped! Another favorite blouse is a lightweight denim blouse. Although it is also versatile it is not my favorite to wear under a sweater. I like to wear denim alone or with a vest or jacket. It's just my personal preference but I feel a little bulky with denim under a sweater.

  I have a few other favorites too which I've featured in other posts. This lightweight teal is in the jewel tone family and perfect to mix for fall and winter. Here it is simple but it can layered so easily with a sweater, vest or jacket. I featured this blouse in my post about color mixing, which you can find here.

  Since I became a sucker for polka dots I added this to my favorite go-to look. You can read that post here. I have featured this blouse in several posts. You can find them here, here and here.

  Here's another reason to love blouses and even invest in them. They can be season hoppers. This blouse worked great in the summer but it will now transition into fall and winter. It was featured in this post during Create28 Summer Looks.

  It's true for this blouse as well, which was featured in this post this past summer.

  As you can see my favorite blouses stick pretty close to a similar theme and several of them are specifically from the Ashton line at The Limited. These blouses were purchases at Target {polka dot} and Old Navy {teal} during 2014.

  What about these blouses which I wore in the summer? Can you visualize how they could be worn in the fall and winter? Here's what I've done previously. The striped look was featured here for winter and the blue polka dot was featured here.

  I hope these blouses have given you some tips and inspiration for your own closet. I just don't think you can go wrong with a few basic blouses to mix and remix within your own wardrobe.

Shopping Ideas for Blouses

Tomorrow Whitney will be up with a Football Fan Attire look. Should be super cute to fall right in line with what she for a similar summer look. Again, we love seeing your looks added to the link-up {tomorrow as well} and on Instagram #Create28FallLooks. Show us your gorgeous selves ladies in your favorite blouses.

Where you'll find me linking up.

Create28: Moto Look

Do you remember on Monday the Create28 prompt was trying a trend? I shared that I'm not always a trend girl. Having said that it probably will not come as a surprise that it took me a little while to embrace the moto look. But then...there had to be a but in there. I popped into f21 one day and spotted a super cute little blush moto jacket. Loved it except for the color. I knew I just wouldn't wear it. But then {again} I went online and was surprised to find it in black, in my size and on sale. Purchase!

  I decided to bring a couple of things from Monday into this post. The ideas of simple, color and not overworked. I really think a moto look is best when it is simple, which made me stick with black and a little white tee underneath. I added the leopard print scarf or a little interest. Now the only thing missing is the Harley. At least that's what my hubby said when he was snapping the pictures. He wanted to call his friend to bring his bike over for a real moto look photo shoot. I declined!

  Tomorrow Whitney will feature jewel tones. Oh the best color palette every. I am so excited to see what she has in store for us. Don't forget to add your looks on Instagram using #Create28FallLooks. We are all loving your great style.

  Have a lovely day, friends! Where you'll find me linking up.

Create28: Colored and Patterned Bottoms

For more years than I care to remember the bottoms of color in my wardrobe were black and grey. I don't think that qualifies as much color, do you? Once I started blogging and seeing colorful and patterned bottoms I started to consider the idea of stepping outside of my comfort zone. Now I own a few bottoms that extend the remixing options of my wardrobe. If you have restricted yourself to black and grey like I did, then it might be time to rethink that idea. Try a baby step of a neutral color that combines with what you have so you don't have to create a whole new wardrobe. Maybe think down the lines of olive or burgundy for this fall season. I have both of those colors and when I'm in a bind I reach for them because I know they will easily combine with a striped, polka dot, print or another neutral top or sweater. Alright for today I'm showing a new look or two and then I'm going to add some blasts from the past. {Okay, truthfully not that distant past only 2014}.

Tweed is a classic pattern and I adore it. This type of skirt is one that will mix and remix over and over because of the colors that blend nicely with it and its ability to be dressed up or down. I featured it earlier this season in a post about essential handbags, which you can read here. I have featured these looks with patterned and colored bottoms previously. The center look was from this post and the look on the far right can be found here.

 
Something that I try to do when I'm following a prompt or just creating a look is determine if I can extend part of the look in another way. For example, for the first two skirt looks I featured, I realize that a denim or chambray blouse has endless possibilities so I moved on and thought about the cami and sweater option. Which bottoms in my wardrobe might mix with those colors? I thought I would take a little risk and try this look.

Do I like this look? Would I wear this look? Honestly, probably not! I like the inspiration of colors, which really stemmed from my two posts last week. They are here and here. I was inspired to try something new based on the mustard color and the purple cardigan. Friends, not all looks that you try will work and you won't wear them all but that's part of creating and determining your style love. Here's what I came up with in the past that I do love!

I featured the camo in summer but they will be restyled for fall and winter. {Love those kinds of pieces}. As I mentioned earlier, olive is great color to try for bottoms. Houndstooth is another favorite pattern of mine and I wore these tons of times last fall and winter. Here's the previous posts in picture order here, here and here, if you'd like to read them. How about a little more inspiration? Here's a board from Pinterest with lots of ideas on how to style patterned or colored bottoms.

Follow A Lovely Little Wardrobe's board Patterned Pants & Skirts on Pinterest.

We hope you'll join us tomorrow when we all will be styling a trend. Our weekly linkup will also be live on Monday and we hope to see lots of great looks {as we do every week}!

Where you'll find me linking up.