Look of the Day: Better Late Than Never

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Abril

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 5+ years, you are probably well aware that skinny jeans have been the “it” jeans for many seasons now. And in case you haven’t noticed (or if you are a new reader, in which case welcome!), I have never worn skinny jeans here on the blog… or anywhere else for that matter. Skinny jeans had been another item on my list of “not flattering on me, avoid at all cost”… until now!!

I cannot express to you my excitement over having found a pair of skinny jeans that actually fits me well. I had previously given this cut a chance a couple of times before, but they looked awful on me, and so I (wrongly) assumed all skinny jeans were created equal and swore to never wear them. Being a fashion lover and self-proclaimed expert, you’d think I would’ve known better, yet I still made the classic mistake of judging without giving it a real good try. Nevertheless, this is one time I’m happy to admit I was wrong, and I have Old Navy to thank for proving it to me. Their sweetheart skinny jeans are perfectly cut for my body type (smaller waist, fuller thigh) with just the right amount of stretch… I’m telling you, they are brilliant! As an added bonus, they are very reasonably priced at $30 and under, so they are pretty much heaven sent.

Despite the fact that skinny jeans have reigned long enough that we’ll probably start seeing other cuts start making a comeback soon, I am glad to be jumping on board this long lived trend, because you know what they say, better late than never!

Now, what about you? Do you have your own list of “won’t be caught dead wearing…”? What clothing items have you sworn never to wear? Maybe it’s time you reconsider a few of those!!

Jeans: Old Navy - Shirt: H&M - Shoes: Aldo Clutch: H&M
Necklace: Forever 21 - Sunnies:No brand - Ring: Aldo

Look of the Day: Truth or Dare

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Abril

Remember when you were in middle school and used to play Truth or Dare ? Well, I played that game many times but you could always count on me to pick Truth only, as I was too much of a coward to go with Dare. However, lately I’ve been feeling more adventurous, which has translated into me daring myself to step out of my comfort zone. Recently, in the area of fashion, one of those dares involved wearing shorts again.

A few ~~pounds~~ years ago I used to wear shorts (and short shorts at that!) all the time. But at some point during my weight gain journey, I judged shorts as not flattering on me anymore and quit cold turkey. Truth is (no pun intended!) I wasn’t comfortable showing off my newfound curves, and it’s been years, years I tell ya, since I last wore a pair of shorts in public…come to think of it, I don’t think I even wore shorts in private all these years. Anyway, as part of my process of fully embracing my body, no matter what size (a process I discussed in this post and this one), I decided to give shorts another chance.

You most likely won’t find me in a pair of short shorts anytime soon, and clearly the ones worn in today’s look of the day are more of a Bermuda style, but it’s still progress in my book! I tried to dress up the shorts with a collar shirt and my new pointy-toe shoes, which I’m not entirely sure were the best choice, but I still liked the result just enough to feature it here on the blog. So, what do you think? What shoes would you have paired with this look?

Collar Shirt: from Marshall's - Shorts: Mossimo from Target

Shoes: Aldo - Belt: H&M - Clutch: vintage

Necklace: Afghan Lapis (gift from my mother-in-law)

Recuerdan cuando estaban en la secundaria y solían jugar Verdad o Reto? Pues yo jugué muchas veces y siempre escogí solo Verdad porque me daba miedo pensar siquiera en el Reto. Sin embargo, últimamente me he sentido más aventurera lo cual se ha traducido a que yo misma me rete a salir de mi zona de confort. Recientemente, en el área de la moda, uno de esos retos fue volver a usar shorts.

Hace algunos ~~kilos~~ años atrás yo solía usar shorts (y de los mini shorts hasta eso!) todo el tiempo. Pero en algún momento en mi trayectoria de subir de peso, juzgué que los shorts no me eran favorecedores y los dejé de golpe. La verdad es que no me sentía cómoda exponiendo mis recién adquiridas curvas, y han pasado años, años les digo, desde la última vez que me puse un par de shorts en público… ahora que lo pienso, creo que ni siquiera en privado me puse shorts en todos estos años. En fin, el caso es que como parte de mi proceso de realmente apreciar mi cuerpo, sin importar la talla (proceso del que hablé en esta publicación y en ésta), decidí darle a los shorts otra oportunidad.

Seguramente no me encontrarán vistiendo los mini shorts próximamente, y como podrán ver los shorts del look del día de hoy son mas estilo bermudas, pero aun así es un gran avance para mí. Traté de darle un toque más sofisticado al look agregando la camisa de cuello y los zapatos con punta puntiaguda, los cuales no estoy completamente convencida que hayan sido la mejor opción, pero aun así me gustó el resultado lo suficiente como para publicarlo aquí en el blog. Ustedes qué piensan? Qué zapatos hubieran escogido para este look?

Look of the Day: No Original Thought

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Abril

Abraham Lincoln once said “Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new at all”, and if he were alive today I’m sure he would gladly extend his statement to include magazines, television, social media, and more. I’m also sure President Lincoln wasn’t exactly thinking about fashion when he said those words, but I can’t think of a better example of them.
Fashion is constantly about creating “new” ideas and styles, that when carefully examined usually turn out to be just someone else’s recycled and rearranged ideas. Everybody’s personal style is pretty much the result of how other people have influenced us. For years, we have turned to style icons such as Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Onassis, Bianca Jagger and Catherine Deneuve, just to name a few, for fashion inspiration. We also turn to magazines and to television to find out about the latest trends and how to incorporate them to our everyday lives.
However, the technological advances of our time have created a whole new category of trendsetters to inspire us…the fashion bloggers and the street style photographers. Of course, street style per se has always been there in a more literal way, inspiring us whenever we look to, well, the streets to see what people are wearing. Nevertheless, access to street style from all over the world thru the world wide web is giving us an infinite pool of ideas and possibilities to dip into. Besides, this newfound source of inspiration can be much more relatable than those provided by the celebrities, royalty and socialites that filled the fashion images in magazines and TV. After all, not all of us fashion lovers can afford a $2000 designer handbag or have a size 2 body.
In my personal experience, it has been really refreshing to find bloggers in all shapes and sizes, whose great style sense I can look up to. I am constantly inspired by all of them in some way or another, and today’s look just goes to show you how much.
This outfit was inspired by fellow blogger Toni from The Love Hanger. I have been following Toni and her style journey probably close to a year now, and I ~~envy~~ admire her savvy for vintage shopping and her ability to look good in trends that most of us would be afraid to even try, not too mention her confidence when it comes to her beautiful yet not tiny body.
Usually, when I’m inspired by what somebody else is wearing, it just means I’ll take their idea and do my own adaptation of it. However, in this particular case, given that I had pretty much the same pieces if not extremely similar ones to those worn by Toni and that I loved her brilliant idea so much, my adaptation of it ended up being more of a literal translation. And you know what they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
If you wanna check out the original idea behind this look of the day, go straight here.