Category Archives: Fashion Friday

Summer Inspiration

Often times, like I’ve said in previous posts, I rip pictures out of magazines that I like and store them in my “style” notebook. When I’m lacking inspiration and looking for a new outfit, I check out my notebook for ideas.

Here are some outfits that I came up with next to the picture that inspired me:

So, I’ve cooked up a little contest because a little competition is healthy, right? 😉

I want you to find inspiration and create a new outfit. Look in magazines (my faves are InStyle and Lucky Mag), Pinterest or people you see out and about. Your outfits don’t have to be exact because this is “inspiration” after all. Just look at the shapes of clothing (long baggy pants) or how it’s worn (shirt tucked in with belt) and then try to do similar with the clothing you presently have in your wardrobe.

After you’ve created a new outfit, email me two pictures, a pic of your inspiration and also a pic of your fabulous creation to thegirlwiththesmileblog@gmail.com.

All entries need to be in by 11:30 pm PST on August 22, 2012 to be entered.

***The five BEST outfits will be featured on Fashion Friday on August 24, 2012.***

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

“High Maintenance”

What comes to mind when you hear those two words?

I hate that this term has a different meaning to every person and I wish we could all come to an agreement on the definition.

In my opinion, “high maintenance” refers to a person who is needy in a relationship. They require their significant other to spend a lot of time/money on them and need constant verbal reassurance.

I DO NOT feel like it refers to a person who prefers to look good when they are out in public or enjoys fashion. I hate to hear someone who looks nice or pulled together referred to as “high maintenance” because that COULD imply that it took them a while to get ready and that it would be the end of the world if they didn’t look nice.

Personally, I usually take less than fifteen minutes total to get dressed & do my hair (although my husband is arguing that I take longer). I also go days without showering (true story) and wear my jeans a couple times before washing them. Also, as much as I like labels/designers (mostly for the quality), I will never pass up on free hand-me-downs or previously owned clothing. And, I have left the house without a smidge of makeup on wearing sweats and my world remained in one piece. 😉

I am not hoping to start a heated debate or make anyone angry, but I’m interested in starting a discussion.

What do you think of when you hear the term “high maintenance”?

Happy Friday!

This week I have the awesome opportunity to have my beautiful friend, Cheryl as a guest blogger on Fashion Friday. Cheryl has an amazing style and definitely doesn’t mind spending more money on her clothes. I like to live vicariously through her Anthropologie purchases. 😉 She has a totally different approach to shopping than me, but her outfits are always adorable.

Don’t forget to leave her some comment love and thank her for sharing her advice.

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Hi. My name is Cheryl and I get to fill in for Rena this week.

In many ways, I am the complete opposite of Rena. Shopping is not my favorite pastime. I do not find extra joy from getting an item at a crazy discount…but I love fashion, and like Rena, it took me a while to develop my own sense of style. I have now embraced my own way of enhancing my wardrobe.

Rena (and several other of our friends) enhance their wardrobe by searching for treasures. They hunt high and low for items that they like and that are inexpensive. Sometimes I forget that this is how they shop and I make the poor decision of joining them on their hunt thinking it will be a fun time.

It is not fun for me.

They spend hours looking through items that range from mediocre to hideous in order to find one or two gems that they can incorporate into their wardrobe. They rejoice in the fact that they have found a couple of things after hours and hours of hunting.

I do not like the search. I don’t want to hunt. I want to walk into a store and be presented with all my options so I can skim over those things that I am not interested in and focus all my time and attention on things that are pretty. I also do not want to wade through mediocrity to find something I like. I want to be surrounded by things that are beautiful and chose those items that are my very favorite.

This is one reason I love Anthropologie. It’s like walking into art, sometimes literally. It’s not a shopping trip, it’s an aesthetic experience. It makes me want to spend all my money. But I can’t spend all kinds of money so I sacrifice quantity for quality. Granted I usually choose things that are on sale, but I certainly do not get the deals that Rena finds.

In order to manage having more a more expensive wardrobe on a non-expensive budget. Here are my tricks…

1. Spread out shopping trips. If I don’t see it, I don’t know how much I want it.
2. Choose items that you really love. If its just okay, you probably don’t need to spend $60 on it.
3. Choose items that you can wear for a long time. The things I spend money on I wear for years and years and I still get compliments on them.
4. Don’t forget that its okay to buy more expensive items. You just have to buy less of them, especially if you don’t have enough money to buy new things every week.