Monochromatic

Dress: Mikarose, $15, Cami: Shade, $10, Necklace: eBay, Shoes: NY&Co

Accessorized

Shirt: Anthro, $30, Skirt: thrifted, $3, Shoes: ForeverYoungShoes, $20, Necklace: Urban Peach Boutique, $18

When it starts to heat up, there's little you can do but yield to t-shirts and lightweight skirts. To keep it fun at work I'm trying hard to accessorize to add some texture and colors.

"Runaways" The Killers

It's finally time for me to post the last Music Inspiration Challenge 2013 picture. I definitely took my time doing this challenge, but have taken even longer to get it up! I wore this about a month ago- yikes! Time to start actually posting these pics I'm taking daily!

All I can really say is I thought of the idea of settling down, running away, and becoming some hipster mom fit to be married to Brandon Flowers, which just kept producing the plan to wear a tunic, printed pants, and a headscarf. And any girl married to a rockstar had better throw some cheetah print in there somewhere...

Tunic: Jcrew, $28, Pants: Ann Taylor via Buffalo Exchange, $3, Belt: H&M, $5, Shoes: Mall boutique, $18, Scarf: Vintage Thrifted, $2, Earrings: Gifted

"Dream" Pricilla Ahn

"I had a dream, that I could fly" had birds on the mind.  I also love the soul searching lyrics and feel with the childhood innocence and whimsy of this song.  I went with a sober looking cardi and adult shoes, but wanted a whimsical necklace to tie together the rhythm and lyrics of this song.

Dress: Buffalo Exchange, $24, Shoes and Cardi: Last Chance, Necklace: Urban Peach Boutique

"Stardust" Mika

At first I struggled with Stardust by Mika, all I could think was sparkly, star-based items.  But I did that last year with "Starry Eyed" and didn't want to repeat.  So, I dug deep into the lyrics and pictured this scene of a guy meeting a girl at some dressy party or club and just being so excited that he can't stop hitting on her and asking her to "when can I see you again?"  So I put on that dressy party outfit, grabbed some bombshell red Mac lipstick, and played the part to the lyric.

Shirt: Loft, Necklace: Charlotte Russe, Belt: F21, Skirt: Target, Shoes: Last Chance

"Baba O'Riley" The Who

I have to admit that Baba O'Riley by The Who was a little bit of a tough one for me.  I kept trying to come up with looks, but kept feeling stumped.  But then I started reading more about the band and the song itself.  Long story short, their many images in red, white, and blue moved me to choose their signature color combo, while the idea that this song was written to be part of an opera originally inspired me to go a little more dressy for this look.

Shirt: Buffalo Exchange, Skirt: Old Navy Shoes: Target, Belt: Boutique, Necklace: Charlotte Russe

"Waterloo" Abba

Abba means two things: the 70's, and fedoras.

Hence my platform leather sandals, fringe sweater, and a fedora made their debut into an outfit I really liked and never would have thought to wear without this challenge!

Sweater: Anthro, Skirt: Old Navy, Fedora: Random mall store, Shoes: Target

"Barton Hallow" The Civil Wars

After listening to The Civil Wars "Barton Hallow" I had a hard time finding inspiration at first, but then settled on a Southern belle, warm humid day, country charm look for this one. 

  

Skirt: Last Chance, Shirt and Earrings: Banana Republic, Belt: Thrifted, Shoes: Target, Necklace: F21

Settle Down

When I first heard Kimbra's Settle Down I felt like something tribal was called for.  Then I realized I don't own a lot of tribal prints.  Okay, I don't own any.  So I scoured for the next best thing, and decided this floral cardigan was it.
The song is all about settling down, finding a life partner, starting a family, etc.  I wanted to incorporate a little June Clever, with my tribal feel, the black Kimbra wears in the music video, and a little funkiness with pattern mixing.  This is what I came up with.

Cardigan: Last Chance, Skirt: Loft, Shoes: Target, Cami: Shade

December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)

Two things: 

1. This is has an up-beat fun tone!  It instantly put me in a party mood, which lead to some bright colors even in a cold February.  

1. 1963, a great time for fashion!  Cropped pants, girly flowers, and lady like cuts for curvy girls.  That inspired me to bust out my favorite 60's print shoes and build from there.  

Pants: Madewell, Shoes: Random mall store, Shirt: Anthropologie, Cardigan/T: Downeast Basics, Earrings: NY&Co

5 Year's Time

Thank you Noah and the Whale's music video for inspiring a school uniform look, a feeling of youth looking forward, and a blue and khaki color scheme.  

Skirt: Thrifted, Boots: Last Chance, Shirt: H&M, Cardigan: Target, Pearl Brooch and Pearl Earrings: NY&Co

Northwestern Girls- Say Hi

I have to admit that the lyrics and most of the song didn't speak to me all that much, but I tried hard to image this scene of this guy coming back to the Northwest trying to impress girls he used to get no attention from.
These girls were probably in daily attire, wearing boots and flannel shirts to stay warm in the rain, and that's what I went with!

Shirt: BR, Necklace: Franchesca's, Jeans: LEI via Walmart, Boots: Last Chance

Anna Sun

Sometimes at work I get to help fill in with copywriting.  I recently wrote an article for The Phoenix Marathon about great running music that came out in 2012.  I included this one on the list and said the following about it, "Anna Sun- Walk the Moon If the runner’s high you experience during your run could be put to a tune, this would be it!"

I'm marathon training right now and I love the upbeat feeling I get from this tune.  If that feeling could be put into clothing it would be fun, bright, and happy.  I also took inspiration from the music video with many hipsters in bright clothing including some neon.  I'm still getting dressed for work these days, so I pulled that inspiration into a work appropriate outfit, and this is what I came up with.  

Shirt: Old Navy, Jacket: Romy, Necklace: Jcrew knockoff from China, Jeans: Tommy Hilfiger, Shoes: Anthropologie via Downeast Basics

Midnight Dancers

I really love this song, and I picked out a few words/phrases that really helped me I draw inspiration for this outfit: the cobbled streets of Paris, Lovers, break the rules, you had me all along, I can hardly breathe, stay the night with me

So I decided something that was romantic, slightly rebellious, something you could walk all night in, and something that had some Paris inspiration.  Hello iconic striped shirt, ruffled skirt, soft curls, and edgy boots you could definitely walk (or dance) all night in!

  

Shirt: Gap, Undershirt: Shade, Skirt and necklace: Downeast Basics, Boots: Last Chance

4th Annual Music Inspiration Challenge

It's my favorite time of year to be a fashion blogger, the time where my sister and I participate in our annual Music Inspiration Challenge!

Let me recap for any new readers.  Years ago my sister mentioned she turns to music often for outfit inspiration.  A feeling in a song, a music video, an artist, an era- you name it, they all give some serious outfit inspiration!  We decided to give each other a playlist of 12 songs, much like a CD with a variety of songs.  You have to come up with an outfit for each song and post it within a month.

You can see my recaps of 2012, 2011, and 2010 at each of the links.  This challenge always stretches my greatly as my sister and I have very different taste in music.  We both love that since it helps us come up with outfits we never would have come up with sans this challenge.

So without further adieu, here's this year's list that I will start styling and post this week:

1. Settle Down- Kimbra
2. Midnight Dancers- Wolfgang
3. Waterloo- Abba
4. December, 1963 [Oh What a Night] - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
5. Anna Sun- Walk the Moon
6. Baba O'Riley- The Who
7. 5 Years Time- Noah and The Whale
8. Stardust- Mika
9. Dream- Pricilla Ahn
10. Northwestern Girls- Say Hi
11. Barton Hollow- The Civil Wars
12. Runaways- The Killers

I'll be starting my first post tomorrow and posting in two days, brace yourself! You can also play along if you like, we love other friends who feel inspired by music. Also be sure to check out the fantastic things my sister dreams up on her blog as well!

Biker Chick meets Purple Flower Girl

Cardigan: Loft, Shirt: H&M, Skirt: Anthro, Boots: Last Change

Blazered!

Blazer: H&M, $15, Jeans: BR Outlet, $18, Shirt: AE, $15, Necklace: Jcrew knockoff from China, $20, Shoes: Burlington Coat Factory

Wild Side

Pants: Gap, Shoes: Last Chance, Shirt: Banana Republic, Jacket: Aeropostale

Hipster Cafe

When you're meeting your hipster musician friends at a hipster brunch joint outfits like this just make sense.
Skirt: Downeast, Shoes: AE, Shirt: Gap via Goodwill, Sweater: H&M, Hat: Mall Boutique

Those Strategy Meetings

I love that I can pull off jeans in the world of business, just add a blazer and you fit right in to those strategy meetings!
Blazer: Banana Republic, Shirt: Anthropologie, Jeans: Tommy, Flats: Random Mall Store

And Then I Went to Madewell

Remember my last post? Well, I went, I found a great deal on pants, and I'm converted!
Pants: Madewell, $16, Shoes: Mall Store, $13, Shirt: Gap via Goodwill, $6, Necklace: Francesca's gifted