Hi April Golightly readers! My name is Christine Marie and I blog over at xo Christine Marie. I am a kindergarten teacher who loves sharing both classroom appropriate attire – all my teacher readers out there know the difficulty when trying to be appropriate yet stylish – as well as weekend/date night/casual ensembles. Throw in a beauty tip and some nail polish and that’s xo Christine Marie! Did I mention I give prices and locations for each item I mention? Yep, you can run out and purchase it all!
Carrie Bradshaw of the The Carrie Diaries cannot get enough of ModCloth! Carrie Diaries Season 1 Outfits keep coming from ModCloth. She has great style! Carrie recently wore a peplum from Modcloth that I wrote about last week. I also recently created my own version of The Carrie Diaries splatter bag and have been wearing it non-stop! During the season finale of The Carrie Diaries, Carrie not only wears one but three different pieces from one of my fave online shops! The first piece she wore was the Tilt-A-Twirl Dress from ModCloth.
Transition Your Wardrobe from Fall to Spring using bright yellow accessories. Cranberry was a huge fall color that might have ended up in your wardrobe, but you don’t have put all your cranberry and fall clothing into storage this spring. Give fall prints like hounds tooth and your fall colors a spring refresher with a pop of color like a pair of yellow sandals and a yellow belt.
Spring just started and it is time to break out the skirts that been in hibernation during the long winter. If you are anything like me, your legs are pretty white and could possible be seen from space. Even though I live in Florida, I adamantly against damaging my skin for the sake of a tan or impressing anyone. I something use sunless tanner to give me some color, but I am not allowed right now since I am pregnant. Also, putting on sunless tanner can be time consuming and I just have not been able to successful incorporate into my daily routine. Instead of using sunless tanner, I throw on a pair of Hanes Control Top Silky Sheer panty hose in nude.
Spring is finally here and it is time to break out the bright colors. I love that I am finally getting to wear spring maternity clothes! This top that I have coined my watermelon top has amazing colors that just scream spring is here! The coral and deep teal are look great on my light-olive completion. Every time I wear this color combination, I get stopped by women and men alike to compliment my outfit.
Navy and mint green is my favorite color combination right now. This mint and navy outfit feels very preppy, but in fresh new way. I chose navy on the top as it flatters all skin tones and looks great on Bobbie. This outfit could easily be worn on casual Friday to work. After work, you can slip on a pair of heels and then out for dinner with your boyfriend.
Art inspired Fashion is making a come back and I couldn’t be happier. Sahily of Pretty-in-Pigment had a pair of shoes that inspired this outfit. They got me thinking me of the modern art of Piet Mondrian and Roy Lichtenstein. Last season, Philip Lim showed Roy Lichtenstein inspired bags that used a graphic of a woman tearing up. This Mondrian inspired color-blocked outfit looks great on Pam Balaguera of the Balaguera Law Firm as she playfully poses in the playground.
It was a happy coincidence that the play-set at the local neighborhood playground matched her outfit so perfectly! As soon as we arrived at the park, we knew that was where we needed to shoot.
As a side note, I love both Mondrian and Lichtenstein! I have a Mondrian inspired whiteboard hanging on my refrigerator. I hope to someday have the real thing on my wall!
Yellow is the hot color for spring, evidenced by the spring runways being filled to the brim with YELLOW! Learn how to wear yellow to work by taking cues from the bright color on runways like: Naeem Khan, DKNY, Michael Kors, Alice + Olivia, Oscar de la Renta, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Jenny Packham, Chadwick Bell, Vera Wang and Chado Ralph Rucci. Could that list be any longer? From Michael Kor’s saturated lemon yellow to DKNY’s taxi cab yellow, you cannot go through spring 2013 without wearing yellow! Pantone even has Lemon Zest on its Spring 2013 Fashion Report. Leave out yellow this spring and you might be on the out list!
How to Wear Yellow to Work!
My sister, Bobbie wore this outfit to work, minus the sunglasses, of course. She got a ton of compliments on how cheerful she seemed that day. I told her that while she is very cheerful at work that it might have been the shirt. Yellow is a mood elevator. If you having a bad week, you can make it better by wearing yellow. I wrote about the positive effects of yellow last year.
Easter is my favorite fashion holiday! Spring dress and hats are the most fun things to wear for me. Wearing spring dresses, pearls, and large sunglasses actually helped me get the name April Golightly. In college, my wardrobe mostly consisted of these items. A guy in one of my classes started calling Little Miss April Golightly with the “Asian” accent from the movie. Other students started calling me that and it just stuck. I have come a long way in my taste since then, but I still adore the Holly Golightly look and dressing up for Easter.
The Spring Runways were filled with Bermuda shorts and nautical tops. It is a such an easy look to find in your closet already. Also, who wants to wear short shorts? Considering I have thighs and a serious tuckus, it is extremely difficult for me to find shorts that look good on me. Bermuda shorts are the way to go this spring and summer. You will be comfortable and on trend! Rare, I know!
Maria is wearing a tone of spring trends in this outfit. My favorite trend is eyelet. Luckily, the Spring 2013 runways were filled with eyelets. Heavy hitters like Valentino, Giambattista Valli, Bottega Veneta, Stella McCartney, and Victoria Beckham all showed the delicate white eyelet fabric in modern ways. I have been a huge fan of eyelet since I had eyelet pillows on my childhood bed. My mother always said that eyelet reminded her of her mother. I was young when she died so there are very few things that remind me of her. Eyelet is one of them.
After listening to me whine about how tough law school was, my sister decided to avoid law school like plague. Avoiding the institution was easy for until she met her current boyfriend who is a 3L at Nova Law School in Plantation, Florida. She is going to be her beau’s date to the upcoming Barrister’s Ball. This gala is a tradition of all law schools that I know of where the law students cut loose and break out the prom-wear. Barrister’s Ball really is the law student’s prom. I went every year when I was in law school. You know me, I jump at any excuse to get dressed up. My sister and I went prom shopping for a law school prom dress. We found a few amazing prom dresses at Nordstrom.
Wrap dresses are a lifesaver during pregnancy. I have been searching my closet for outfits that I can still wear in my 21st week and beyond. This wrap dress has stood the test of time! It was purchased at Target in 2006. That is pretty amazing. I have hand washed it so that it would last longer. I have worn it to work on countless occasions. The wrap belt used to hit at my natural waist, but now it is an empire waist. I’m not complaining just pointing out the change. If you are looking for outfits that can be worn during and after the baby is born, look for wrap dresses with material that gives a little.
Miami’s Wynwood is an outdoor art gallery for street artists. The Wynwood Murals were conceived by Tony Goldman in 2009 and brought to life in 2010. Since the Wynwood neighborhood is stock full of large of warehouse buildings mostly without windows those building were destined to used as giant street art canvases. Instead of arresting street artist, Graffiti is now considered a form of art and Miami is celebrating these artist by giving them canvas for the world to see.
Artists that can be found in Wynwood that I love are Invader, Retna, Shepard Fairey, and Swoon. While driving around the neighborhood the other day, I found this amazing mural featuring Audrey Hepburn, but have been unable to figure out the artist’s name. If anyone knows who did this street art, please comment below. I found a picture of the mural several places on the internet with the best shot of the Audrey Hepburn muralhere.
The pregnancy belly is just starting to show here so I am wearing my pants open with a belly band. The band hides my unbuttoned jeans and acts as shapewear by smoothing that not-quite-pregnant-looking belly. The Liz Lange for Target top works well when the belly is small so that there is not a ton of extra fabric. … Read more
My husband and I were asked to do a photo shoot for a Baptism. Since I was just a little bit pregnant during this photography job, I wore a loose dress with a skinny belt to synch my waist. I covered up on top to be respectful as my boobs were already growing to the ridiculous size they are now…34 DDD! I probably could have used a longer dress or some black tights to leggings underneath as the dress got a little short since it was more full than normal. The dress is a former Designer for Target creation. The polka dot dress is by Jovovich-Hawk. I found some available on Ebay. Here is another fabulous polka dot dress that I found at Nordstrom.
The skinny belt was found at Good Will. It is by Nine West. Check out this skinny belt that looks similar. The sunglasses are from Chanel purchased at Edward Beiner and the bag is Never Full by Louis Vuitton. The details on the accessories are here.
My belly is getting bigger by the day and I cannot wear regular non-maternity pants anymore. I found these amazing cranberry skinny maternity jeans at Motherhood. The color is very versatile and goes with most colors including pink, cherry red, yellow, and lavender. At 16 weeks pregnant, I am glad to have maternity pants that are not cutting into my ever expanding belly.
Last years hot spring item still looks amazing in the fall. I chose a short sleeve sweater in cranberry to help me cover the early stages of my pregnancy. It worked as you cannot even tell that I am pregnant here. I am about 11 weeks pregnant here. I hope to be wearing these jeans … Read more
