Try This: A Fresh Way to Wear a Scarf

Try This: A Fresh Way to Wear a Scarf

Last week, I met up with a dear client for a second round on her closet. Sharen and I had worked together when she had a newborn baby, and she wanted me to refresh her style now that she's back into her regular clothes-and started working again on a new venture! I can't wait to tell you more about it. 

One of my favorite looks that I put together for her is the belted scarf you see above. Sharen has this great, flowy-backed, cropped-front shirt that put the look over the edge, but it also works really well with a more simple shirt underneath. 

Here's the idea and lots of visual inspiration for you. 

Client Update-Still belting and Scarfing!

Client Update-Still belting and Scarfing!

Remember my beloved client, Lynne? Well, I got this text from her the other day and had to share it with you. It said, simply, "Still belting and scarfing!" With this gorgeous outfit.

I want to be Lynne when I grow up!

In Person Styling Session: Melissa

In Person Styling Session: Melissa

"I feel like me again and most importantly I came away feeling better about myself."

Meet Melissa. She's one of the sweetest, funniest people I've met in a long time. We has such a blast together last week playing dress up and writing shopping lists in our heads. Her uniform tends to be jeans and a long-sleeved shirt in the winter, and she wanted to feel a bit more, well, dressed every day. She also has her husband's Christmas party coming up and wanted to run some ideas for dressing up a bit by me.

Melissa is also a photographer and Interior Design Consultant who works primarily through word-of-mouth based out of Northern Virginia. If you're interested in working with her, you can leave a comment or email me. Having seen her adorable nursery and spend three hours laughing and chatting with her about colors, textures, and life, I highly recommend her! She's going to come along with me and take some photos, too, because my iphone sure isn't cutting it when my clients are so gorgeous!

In her words:

"I have done minimal shopping for myself ever since I had my son and struggled to lose the baby weight. For the last few years I have lived in Tshirts and yoga pants. I have a lot of nice things from before I became a mom, but whenever I put them on I just remembered how they used to look on me and have lost the confidence I use to have. Ella came in with brand new eyes and a fresh perspective. At the end of my closet consult I had a whole new wardrobe. Ella put things together in a whole new way. My clothes no longer remind me of my skinny days because when I put my new outfits on they are entirely different and they look good on me and my post baby body."

Color, Color, Color!

Now let's get down to more outfits! Clearly, we loved this wide belt for Melissa. Here's why: the neutral goes with everything, and the belt cinches in her waist, highlighting her feminine shape. Here, I had her put a happy, bright sweater with a crisp white shirt and a basic bottom with a necklace that pulled in the color of the sweater. I love that color up near her face!

This would be fun for a holiday party with sparkly heels or with flats or boots for a play date.

Winter Whites

We also played around with winter whites. Melissa had a lot of clothing that she had banned to the back of her closet as "summer only" clothes and colors. It was a lot of fun to pull that out and into the winter! In addition to a slew of outfits we put together with her white jeans, here are a few with winter whites on top. 

The black and brown help ground the white in the winter season where a lighter or brighter color would feel more like spring.

Here, I had her swap out the belt for a darker one and add on a cream-colored vest. Can she wear the bright white and the cream together? Of course! They're both neutrals. I love how interesting the whites become once there are so many textures at play.

Back to Melissa!

"The first thing Ella had me do was go through her look book and pick out anything I liked so she could figure out my style and how I wanted to look. We talked about my lifestyle and what sort of outfits I needed (everyday, work, date night, church, special events....) She then went through my closet and used my clothes to achieve my look. I also gave her some modesty guidelines, which she had no problem working with.

I learned that I have a waist and how to get that hourglass figure. She taught me how colors go together even when they are not an exact match, you might think they look odd on their own but when the outfit is complete it all works. All of my outfits are comfortable and were styled in a way that stay in place and I don't have to readjust every time I move.

And when I asked where to find the few of the things on my list, she told me Target! Ella understands that the majority of people don't have thousands or even hundreds to spend on a new wardrobe. She works with what you have and expensive designers never even came up in conversation."

Preppy Chic

Melissa is really smart and has her closet organized by color. This made it very easy for me to pull out a color (like pink!) and play around with how it looked with some of her basics (beige, navy) and also with prints that have that same color. Here, I had her twirl a white scarf up with a floral silk scarf. I love how preppy this looks on her, which really fits her classic look.

Let's Talk About Belts, Baby!

Looking at these pictures, you might think that every outfit should have a belt. I don't think that's the case. We looked at many of these outfits without belts, and they looked great. However, adding a belt is a nice way to define your shape and help you feel more polished. Take a look.

I love Melissa's face below; she's giving me that look that says "You really want me to wear all of these shades of pink together?" Yes, really. When I had her look through my inspiration book, she loved the monochromatic looks she saw. It's really easy to pull multiple shades of the same color-try it with a simple white shirt and slouchy brown boots, like she has here.

Contrasting Colors

It's getting cold here in Northern Virginia! And a cute addition to any monochromatic outfit is a scarf in a contrasting color. Here, I pulled out a shirt and a sweater in the same color family and topped it off with a scarf on the opposite side of the color wheel.

Be sure to pull your sleeves of the shirt through the sweater and roll up the sleeves. It's much more feminine and powerful to show off those wrists and arms. It makes her look ready to go, don't you think? Ready to work.

Black & White, Black &Bright, White & Bright

One easy way to polish up your look is this: pull out every black or white piece of clothing that you own: sweaters, skirts, pants, jackets, blazers, shirts, jeans. Then, start to pull out bright items of clothing and pair them up.

Consider a bright sweater over a black dress. What if you added a black skinny belt? And a bright necklace?

Or white jeans and a white shirt topped with a bright top worn as though it were a sweater? We loved this combination of colors so we tried it with a different bright sweater. 

 

And just because black and white are a classic combination doesn't mean that it's tired. This skirt had a feminine, lacy edge that I loved with the soft sweater and square, wide belt. Don't you?

Let's close with Melissa because what she says here is pretty amazing.

"By the end of the 3 hours I found some confidence and even started to enjoy posing for pictures, because I knew I looked good. In the days since I have gotten dressed first thing in the morning, not just when I have to leave the house. I am no longer hung up on my last 15lbs of baby weight. I feel like me again and most importantly I came away feeling better about myself. I can't wait to have her back for next season!"

I can't wait, either, Melissa!

My DIY Scarf Trick

My DIY Scarf Trick

This is the easiest DIY you will ever do. Take two scarves, preferably skinny or thin ones in a complimentary colors, and twirl them together. Tie them as you would normally tie just one scarf. The way I did it is one example. Here's the end result!

 
Thanks to Lauren for taking a quick video of it this weekend! I'm talking but the sound isn't important. Just watch!

Pack a Bag with Easy Outfits for After Work

Pack a Bag with Easy Outfits for After Work

The Gap

 

I have a couple of clients who are nurses. What I've heard from them is that they often feel like they don't really get dressed-they wear scrubs at work, they don't usually change into "real clothes" after work, and on the weekend they wear the same casual clothes they wear at home after work.

I've got a few ideas for women who wear a uniform during the day-or even for those of us who wear more conservative clothes at work than we like to wear elsewhere.

Pack a Small Bag

The Gap

Don't worry-I'm not saying to pack a bag every day. Once a season, pack a few things in a bag and leave them somewhere at work. You'll be more able to spontaneously go somewhere fun after work than if you don't have anything to wear, you won't have the excuse of not having the right clothes, and you'll get more use out of the clothes that you do have. I do this with my yoga clothes-it's so much easier to make it to class when I have the clothes in my office and the mat in my car.

Fill the Bag with Basics and Small Touches

Your new office bag is not the place to put a new dress or something you wish you'd wear but you don't. We can talk about that later! This is the place for some basics, whatever those are for you. Pack things that you know will fit, can go over basically any underwear you might have on that day and work with a variety of shoes. For me, this would be a black t-shirt that's a little bit longer in the back than the front, a pair of dark jeans, and a cardigan or blazer that can be rolled or mushed without wrinkling. Once you wear it, be sure to replace it with the same basics or a new set for the next time you want them.

If you wear your scrubs after work, basics like a soft v-neck t-shirt could easily be tucked into your scrub pants in the front and left loose in the back. Of all places, I like the v-necks from American Eagle best (avoid the white, it's see-through). But, if you're looking to step it up a notch, consider a more grown-up alternative to a t-shirt. Like one of these! They're just as easy to carry and wear as a t-shirt, but they're more fun.

BodenUSA

On sale at BodenUSA

On sale at BodenUSA

Add a pair of hoops and a denim or leather moto jacket and you're ready to go meet friends.

On sale at BodenUSA

BodenUSA

With the PJ trend going on now, your scrubs won't look so out of place anymore. If you are able to choose your own scrubs, you might consider something neutral that won't look so much like scrubs after hours.

For the small touches, I mean to include little accessories that you won't miss if you take them out of your rotation and put them into your office bag. Think things like basic hoop earrings or an interesting pair that make you feel "dressed up." Another way to go is a "statement necklace"-something that dresses up even a basic t-shirt (see above).

On sale at BodenUSA

No matter where you live, you can always include a great scarf (heavy or light) to be worn with the basics.

Via Etsy

Back to School: Fall Fashion for the Rest of Us

Back to School: Fall Fashion for the Rest of Us

Recently I had the incredible opportunity to style the fall fashion for a photo shoot with what really was a dream team: Hannah from Love Always Hannah was the creative director, the creative minds behind Tomboy modeled and created an incredible piece of artwork for us, and Lauren Modny shot the amazing photographs. I can't say enough about how creative, professional, and wonderful these women are. I highly recommend that you visit each of their sites and consider working with them in the future.

While many of us are past the years of going to school each fall ourselves, we still get excited about fall fashion. Today's post is all about indulging in that prep school, classic fall fantasy. And, of course, since this is StartCloseIn, we're also going to talk about how to re-create some of fall's trends with clothing you might already have in your closet! Today I'll be talking about the trends generally, and this week I'll show you more of the gorgeous shot and talk about specific outfits and why they work well together to give you some inspiration for your own fall fashion so be sure to check back in tomorrow!

Try Gold Accessories

We saw it last year in home decor: gold and bronze are back. For the cooler months, gold accessories work to warm up your skin tone in a way that silver just can't. Dig through your jewelry and see if you have any statement pieces that you can wear layered up together while the temperature drops, whether multiple rings or several necklaces.

Embrace Booties & Keep Rocking Leopard Print

While it's tempting to revert to knee-length boots from seasons past, it's time to embrace booties for fall. They're more polished than a longer length boot, and they're incredibly versatile. The trend is to wear boots that feel androgynous, more toward menswear, so don't look for a lot of frill with these. A good desert boot is an excellent choice. One good way to keep them from feeling too masculine is to roll up your pants-you can even let a great sock show on top when the weather gets cooler!

While you might want to invest in a new little bootie, the good news is that you can still wear leopard print this fall-this is one trend that's not going anywhere! I styled it here with a more prissy look since I love the contrast between classic (the cape, the bow, the red lip) and the edgier leopard pump.

Play with Plaid

I love plaid for fall for many reasons: it's classic, plays well with colors and other patterns, and, although it's a trend for fall, plaid is not going anywhere. While the fall trends have shown plaid in a grungy 1990s way, too, there's absolutely room for a prep-school approach to plaid. Just make sure the colors are classic (navy, camel, red, gray), and the shape is feminine.

And don't be shy about pairing it with unexpected touches, like the playful colored nails above or the sequined skirt below!

Add Victorian Details 

Fall fashion this year celebrates ornate details and masculine-meets-feminine touches so dig through your grandmother's closet or a local thrift store and see what you can find! Pair a Victorian-inspired watch or ultra-feminine tulle with classic preppy fabrics, like patterns, ruffles, plaid, and polka dots, for a beautiful, layered look.

See you tomorrow for more gorgeous looks from these amazing ladies-and more tips on how to incorporate these fall looks into your own rotation!

P.S. Check out this incredible typetreatment that Tomboy made for us to share! I can't wait to print it and frame it for my craft room!

 

Photography : Lauren Modny Photography
Modeling & Design : Tomboy
Personal Styling : Start Close In
Creative Concept & Direction : Piccadilly (Love Always Hannah)
Location : Georgetown University