Bonus Post - One Item, One Week Challenge

So technically, after my 6 days of wearing the jeans, I took a two day break.  But since I was housesitting, I was left with few wardrobe options - and these jeans were one of them.  And then when I put this outfit together, I wished I had thought to wear it during my challenge week because I love how it all came together.  It has a very sweet vibe to it, which I liked.  And although you can't see it clearly, I used Elaine's belt tutorial to tie my belt, so that made the look even better in my opinion :).  Just simple, easy, with a few touches to add a little something to the overall outfit.

So this is the bonus post, since it contains the same item from my challenge - although I wore them two days after the challenge was over :).  Details, details.

Hope you're having a great weekend!!

Cardigan - J.Crew
Shirt, Jeans - Gap
Shoes - Tahari via DSW
Belt - H&M
Necklace, Sunnies - Target

Day 6 (Otherwise known as THE END) - One Item, One Week Challenge

This was the last outfit of my challenge, hooray!! It is a another very, very simple outfit, mainly because I was exhausted from a cold and a hard week and it was Saturday, so I just kept it simple with a polo shirt and some flats.  I graduated from UVA, otherwise known as the land of the popped collar, so you must forgive me for it.  The necklace is from the accessory swap I attended and gave a presentation at a few weeks ago. It's a bit tough to style, but I like the challenge.  And you know what I did on that gorgeous Saturday?  Took one of the longest naps I've had in a long time.  It was awesome and much needed.

And that is the end of my challenge!!  I think the hardest part about it was that the jeans would stretch out a bit too much from being worn constantly.  Throwing them in the dryer a few times helped with that though.  I think it was also hard to be creative, stylistically speaking.  As in, hard to convey different "looks".  But on the other hand, it made getting dressed simpler each morning - I knew exactly what was going on the bottom half of my self! And I do think I will do it again - it was really fun having people (you guys) vote on which item you wanted me to wear for the challenge. That was the best part of it for me :).

Polo Shirt - Old Navy
Jeans - Gap
Flats - Target
Necklace - Accessory Swap
Belt - H&M

PS - Stay tuned for a bonus challenge post :)!

Day 5, One Item One Week Challenge

This was Day 5's outfit of the One Item, One Week challenge!  I really like it - it's cute and simple.  I love the scarf - I found it in my first "thrift"-ing adventure.  It is a little faded, but the colors just jump off the red background.  I also put a necklace on underneath the scarf, which you can see a hint of in the third photo.  This is a very me outfit - if that makes sense :).

Turtleneck - Old Navy?
Jeans - Gap
Boots - DSW
Scarf - Deja Vu
Necklace - Target

Day 6, technically the last day of the challenge will be up later this evening, hooray!

DAY FOUR, One Item One Week Challenge

WHEW!! Or, FINALLY!!  I am back in the land of the living! Where they have fast internet connections and time to do blog posts! Hallelujah.

This was Day 4 of my One Item, One Week challenge that I did last week.  This outfit had to transition from work to a Mary J. Blige concert at night for my mom's birthday.  First - It is Hilarious that my mom wanted to go to a Mary J. Blige concert for her birthday - hilarious AND awesome.  Second - It was AWESOME.  MJB really pours her heart and soul into her performances and it was so cool to see her live!  Singing "No Drama" (albeit with a cold) as loud as I could really helped release some pent-up frustrations and misery that had been plaguing me as of late.

I kept things pretty simple and basic - classic white t, jeans with a leather coat and plaid scarf. Plus, um, some killer shoes.  They are hard to walk in - I couldn't classify it as walking - more like, teeter-tottering. But they were fun!

Jeans - Gap
T-Shirt - Old Navy
Jacket - Loehmanns
Shoes - Marshalls
Scarf - TJMaxx
Sunnies - Target

Stay tuned for more posts coming your way!!

Day 3, One Item One Week Challenge

First - THANK You all for your supportive and encouraging comments.  It really means a lot to me - truly.  I kind of wrote that post off the cuff yesterday, not looking for encouragement, but just relating the real feelings of mixed emotions (Caring/Not Caring about criticism) because, if this blog is anything, I hope that it remains true to who I am as a person.  I don't relate too much details about my life or thoughts here - that's for my other blog.  This is solely focused on my "style" and expression of myself through clothing.  So I am overwhelmed by everyone's encouragement and thank you for leaving a comment.  The fact that you take a moment to do so means the world to me!!

Today's outfit, Day 3 of my One Item, One Week challenge, is a little bit of phoning it in.  I couldn't get a good outfit together this morning - nothing was really working.  So I just went with a simple turtleneck sweater, awesome heels, and a great colored necklace that pops off the color of the turtleneck and echoes some of the colors in the shoes.  Also, I have some new friends that I'm taking care of for the week that decided they wanted to be in my photos too :).

Tomorrow's outfit should be interesting because it has to transition from the office to an R&B concert! What have I gotten myself into? :)

Day 3 = Halfway there

Turtleneck Sweater - J.Crew

Jeans - Gap

Necklace - UrbanOutfitters

Shoes - AK Anne Klein via TJMaxx

Day 2 - One Item, One Week (or Paging the Jolly Green Giant)

 

 

 

 So here we are, Day 2 of the One for One Challenge.  I'm either channeling the Jolly Green Giant (ho,ho,ho) or doing a conceptual look, channeling an early fall tree like the one on the right in this picture below...

You let me know which one you think it is. :)

I was originally going in a different direction with this outfit - different sweater, t-shirt, blazer, shoes - different everything, but when I pulled out the green blazer to see if it would work, I started going in a different direction...and this is where I ended up.  I had a little bit of trouble with the shoes, but decided to just stick with the green theme and throw these sparkly things on. I apparently have a lot of green in my closet!

Yesterday was a bit of a rough day for me, in the style world.  The TJMaxx Facebook contest I won? Well they posted larger editions of the photos and I saw some of the comments that people had left on there about my winning outfit. Ouch.  It was hard to read and even harder to not take personally, because I have an extremely hard time with criticism.  Buuuttt, my look was one of the winners, so at least me and the TJMaxx fashion editor thought it was kind of stylish? Yet even in remembering that, it still stings a little.  I forget that just because I try to be a positive voice in the style blog community, not everyone else feels that way and in fact they would rather tear people's looks apart.  That comes with the territory when you post pictures of yourselves for the world wide web to see though.  But for those who feel the need to tear those of us apart who are experimenting with our style, taking risks, and pushing boundaries, I leave you with this quote that my father gave to me eons ago.

"It's not the critic who counts
Nor the man who points out where the strong man stumble,
Nor where the doer of deeds could of done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena
Whose face is marred by blood, sweat, and dust
Who strives valiantly and knows the great devotions
And who if he fails, at least he fails while doing greatly
So his place will never be with those timid souls who know neither victory
nor defeat." ~ President Theodore Roosevelt

All that to say - if you be dishin', you better be postin'.

 :)

Day 2 = Done.

Blazer, Cardi, Belt - J.Crew
Jeggings, T-shirt - Gap
Shoes, Necklace - Old Navy

Day 1 - One Item, One Week

Well the results are in (poll closed this morning) and the jeggings were the winners in the poll on the items voted upon you guys as to what to wear for my One Item, One Week challenge.  I was kind of surprised that these were the winners, but I think they're going to be both easy and really hard to style.  Easy, because what doesn't go with jeans, but hard because doing different looks will definitely be hard! But, here's today's take...

 

Ugh, the weather today has not been nice (although, now as I type, the sun is shining outside with bright blue skies - go figure).  But it was rainy and COLD this morning.  Fall has definitely arrived in NOVA.

Doing a little pattern mixing with this outfit.  I saw a look in InStyle magazine that I loved - they paired a tweed jacket with a plaid shirt.  I thought it was an interesting look, but I don't have any plaid shirts that would pair well with this jacket (I don't think).  So instead, I tried black and white stripes, hoping that the echoing colors would make it work. I paired it with new black equestrian looking boots I got this weekend at Marshalls (thanks mom!).  Actually, what's funny is that the tweed jacket actually came from Marshalls too, but years ago.

Day 1 = Done!

Jeans - Gap
Boots, Jacket - Marshalls
Top - TJMaxx
Necklace - Old Navy
Bracelets - Tuesday Morning
Flower Pin - The Limited

One Item One Week Challenge - Vote for the Item!!

As promised last night, here are the pictures of the items up for voting!  Please vote and pick the item that I'll attempt to remix all next week!

Let the voting begin!!

A New Kind of Remix Challenge - One Item for One Week

I fell in love with Kendi Everyday's blog earlier this year, but I think when I really fell in love with her creativity was during her first 30 for 30 challenge.  I hadn't ever thought about limiting my wardrobe to a group of just 30 items.  I was close to joining in her 30 for 30 challenge earlier this summer, but just couldn't bring myself to limit my wardrobe - my style and way of dressing is just a little bit too improvisational.  I'm kind of like a jazz piece - you sort of know where you're going, but you can get very easily sidetracked and end up in a different place than you thought you were going to.

So, when I was flipping through the pages of October's InStyle magazine and came across their piece on styling the same 15 pieces throughout a month, I was like "ohmygosh, 15 pieces in one month, I wonder how they did that!" only to discover that they didn't limit themselves to just those pieces - one or more of the pieces was incorporated into a month of outfits.  I felt so disappointed! It seemed like too easy of a challenge - take 15 pieces and wear at least one of them each day for a month of outfits.

Then I started thinking, "what would have been a real challenge is if the stylists of the magazine had only limited themselves to one item and they had to incorporate that one item into a week's worth of outfits instead of using 15 in different outfits over the course of a month."  Then that thought was followed by the thought of "What if I did that myself for my blog?  It would give me a chance to test my own remixing skills.  And what if my followers and other people who are kind and gracious enough to stop by VOTED on the piece that I would wear for the week?! That would make it so much harder!"  And thus, my own personal challenge was born.

Tomorrow I am going to post pictures of 3 shirts, 3 accessories and 1 pair of pants (my internet connection is being uber-slow tonight, grrr, otherwise they would be going up now).  And I need YOUR help in choosing which item is going to be worn EVERY DAY, starting Monday and going through to Saturday of next week (sorry, I take Sundays off, kind of like Chic-Fil-A).  This 1 item, that YOU choose for me to wear, will be used and paired with other items in my wardrobe, but it will be incorporated into every outfit that is worn next week.  If two items ended up in a tie, I will do one week and the other the next (eek!).

I'm excited!  I hope you will help me in choosing which item to wear!  Be sure to vote tomorrow - I'll be posting via Twitter (@lauren_taggart!), and of course on here, when the pics of the items are ready for your viewing!

Want to test your skills in this challenge? Leave me a comment with a link to your blog and I'll be sure to include your blog in my posts!