Dress Up: 3 ways

Reading Blogs can be the greatest Catch 22 of all time. I often leave a great session of blog reading feeling creative, inspired and excited to pull about my closet. I also leave with this nagging feeling of a need to shop. (That blogger got that blouse for how much? I should check my local store) ( She got those amazing shoes where? Well worth the price tag! I'll just stop by on my way home and look at them) If many of you readers are anything like me, you don't need another excuse to go shopping, and yet even still blog inspiration seems to be the perfect excuse. In an effort to expand not only my thinking, but also my wallet, I want to start directing this blog towards more of a " Closet Shopping". I often have a hard time embracing what I already own, and find myself filling in the gaps I see in my wardrobe without taking time to embrace the holes that have already been filled!

In order to be a great Closet Shopper, you have to know what's in your closet! One of the biggest things I've found, is when I don't remember what's in my closet or what works well together, I have an even harder time figuring out how to be creative. Sometimes, your wardrobe doesn't need a new shirt, or another new belt to spice things up, but a great afternoon of playing Dress Up! I want to start making Dress Up a regular feature here at Sequin Issues Headquarters, and look forward to getting all you lovely readers involved too!

Let me start with the introductions to this new feature:

There is nothing worse than standing in your closet in your skivvies, early in the morning when you're running late irritated because you have absolutely nothing in your closet! It can be awfully cold and frustrating after the first 5 minutes, trust me, my closet doesn't have heating. One of the ways to prevent this occurrence is to enjoy some spare time putting different outfits together, and trying them on! Having a sense for how different items work together in your closet, can make getting ready much simpler. There are a lot of different ways you can organize your 'Dress Up' session, but for this one, I wanted to put together one great outfit and see just how changing the shirt could make a difference.

Sequin Issue: I need a great go-to outfit for the summer

First, find a great base for you to work off of. In this case I choose a cardigan, necklaces, shorts and shoes and modified the shirt options around those.

Oufit #1:

Cardigan: Target $6

Shorts: Walmart $5

Shoes: Thrifted from Salvation Army $3

Short Gold Necklace: Forever 21 $4

Long Gold Necklace: Payless $1

Black Shirt: Walmart $2

Beige Belt: Taken from another shirt

With this look, I loved the idea of pairing two neutral colors. I'm continuing to expand my definition of neutrals, and it really is true, they are neutral which means they work with every other color! Adding the gold and beige accessories helped to play up the Cognac flats and really brought the black and brown together in the same look. This would be a great outfit to keep in mind for an afternoon wandering through a street fair.

Outift #2:
Cardigan: Target $6
Shorts: Walmart $5
Shoes: Thrifted from Salvation Army
Long Necklace: Payless $1
Belt: Taken from another shirt
Shirt: Old Navy $4

After having such luck with the all black ensemble, I wanted to see how different the look would become if I changed out the top for a more colorful option. I love this look. It felt very flowy, and perfect for an afternoon picnicking near the river. Because the top is loose fitting, I decided to keep the belt to accent some of my waist. Since this top hit a bit lower than the black one, I had to part with the shorter of the two necklaces. This top speaks volumes by itself so keeping the simple longer of the two added the perfect complement.


Outfit #3:
Cardigan: Target $6
Shorts: Walmart $5
Shoes: Thrifted from the Salvation Army
Short Gold Necklace: Forever 21 $4
Long Gold Necklace: Payless $1
Shirt: Old Navy $4

I loved the more dressed up vibe of the second outfit, and wanted to see if by just changing the top I could accomplish a more relaxed look. This Green Stripped Shirt from Old Navy was the perfect match. This outfit is ideal for trips to the grocery store, or garage sale-ing. With the varying size stripes, I decided to ditch the belt, but to bring back the shorter of the two necklaces. This top may not be flowy like the first two outfit options, but it is cotton and I can't deny the comforting power of a cotton tee.


About an hour of Dress Up, and I'm left with 3 great outfit options for any of the possible summer options. Do you play Dress Up with your closet? Would you like to see more Dress Up Features in the Future?