inspired by: may 25, 2011

Today's Inspired By post is brought to you by Atlantic Pacific. As soon as I saw her in her red jeans and black patterned top, I knew I had to replicate the look. I'm a sucker for black and red together.

Here's her take:

Very glamorous, no? I'm always envious of the way she piles on the jewels and layers her clothes. I just don't have that kind of talent. It feels weird on me. I actually have a fur stole thingy, I should have layered it on - it was cold enough!

Here's my take:

[Blouse - H&M/Jeans - Forever 21/Shoes - Calvin Klein/Clutch - American Apparel/Jewelry - Fossil, gifts/Necklace - American Eagle]

I'm so upset the weather forced me indoors for these photos. I really loved how the outfit ended up looking. I felt very chic all day. I also snagged me one of those American Apparel clutches everyone seems to have now. I plan on copying Blair again and painting mine as well. I'm thinking a neon yellow color block on the bottom. My mom suggested studs, but I'm not super great with studding things.

Just add that to the list of DIYs I have piling up around here. Ugh. I need to set myself aside a day and just buckle down to get them done! I'll feel so much better and have lots of new things, haha.

I feel like everything I own lately is from H&M or Forever 21. Cheep chic all the way, baby. It only helps that these two stores are directly across from each other in the mall near my house. In and out. I keep promising myself I'm going to start buying better quality pieces - and I have been! - but my budget doesn't allow for me to spend a ton on everything I own. Of course, if I didn't buy five million cheap things I'd have a lot more money...oh the vicious cycle!

I am currently re-bamping my shoe wardobe. If it doesn't fit right or isn't comfortable enough it's going to Buffalo Exchange. These heels fall into that category. Too big! I think my feek shrunk - so many of my shoes are flopping off my feet now!

inspired by: april 28, 2011

This installment was Inspired By the adorable Sydney of The Daybook. That girl has amazing style. To be honest, I have more than one Sydney inspiration photo in my "Outfits to Try" folder. This particular one is pretty simple, but that's why I liked it so much!

Here's Sydney rockin' it:

[via The Daybook]

And here's my very basic copy:

[Shirt - American Eagle (similar)/Jeans - Gap/Shoes - Unlisted]

I wasn't consulting Sydney's look when I was getting dressed this particular morning, I was just going from memory. I wish I had opened the picture, because it's the little details in Sydney's look I really like - the purse, the cuffed jeans, the shades. Of course it's been nothing but cloudy here so the shades would have been silly...but I wish I'd cuffed my jeans and grabbed a prop, haha.

But I'm pretty sure she and I are wearing the exact same shirt! ;)

The denim-on-denim thing is something I was completely against and now I am slowly getting into it. That happens to me with a lot of trends. Rompers? Heck no! Maxi dresses? I'm too short! But now i suddenly find myself looking at them when I shop. Next up? Trying them on. Then I'll probably have a closet full of both.

Reading fashion blogs will do that to a girl.

inspired by: april 11, 2011

This is my first post in a new regular feature I am going to try out on here. I have a folder on my computer where I keep all the screen shots of outfit inspiration that I save. When I don't know what to wear, I open this folder and click through it for ideas. Sometimes they are from lookbooks, sometimes they are from other bloggers, and sometimes they are from Weardrobe or Chictopia.

This particular outfit was from the Madewell website ages ago. I came across this last weekend when I was trying to think of something to wear to run some errands and hang out with a friend. I was actually wearing different shoes, but my errands brought me to Macy's where they were having a shoe sale and I saw these bad boys. They went perfectly with the outfit so I put them right on my feet. They are super comfortable for such a high platform. I think I'll be wearing them a lot this spring, so be prepared to see more of them!

 [Jacket - Forever 21/Scarf - Old Navy/Top - Forever 21/Jeans - Forever 21/Shoes - Unlisted]

I think this is a great way to use what you have in your closet to create looks you love without breaking the bank. Is my outfit an exact replica of the Madewell one? No. But I think it's pretty close and I felt super snazzy in it, which is really all that matters.

So what do you think? Is this feature a keeper? Do you guys do this too? I'd love to hear your feedback!