Day #7: Elegance...for work?

Why not? These girls look like they are ready to party it up every day of the week when the average person may attend one formal event every few years. Maybe.

I really had no idea what to expect when the Elegance Collection was released. All I knew was, several of my consultants were taking preorders, nothing in my size was available, and everything that I absolutely loved wasn't even made in my size. And it was expensive! And dry clean only!

But when it comes to clothes, jewelry, makeup, nail polish, whatever....I'm attracted to the sparkly. If I were a fish, I'd have been dead on a plate long ago. An old friend of mine used to yell "fish bait!" every time we'd be shopping and run into a display of jewelry that caught my eye. 

The first thing I got was the Classic T in a combination of silver and rose gold. That was a preorder and I was happy with it. The second thing I got was the sparkly Carly in the berry color. Also a preorder and I was happy with it. Everything else? Well, I came across this Lindsay in the picture at a multi-consultant sale after Christmas and told myself I wouldn't buy it unless it was still available at the end of the day. Obviously it was. I had several friends on the list to the left contact me when they had stuff in my sizes to offer me first right to buy. I had several friends say that they didn't think they would EVER sell X, Y or Z....and then I decided I had to have it. The rest of it? Imagine a lion hunting antelope and

that was me. See that picture? The antelope was the shiny blue Wonder Woman skirt and I was the pouncing lion. I justified it by telling myself that because I have fifteen nieces and nephews that are growing up and will be getting married that I need these semi-formal (all right, fine, they are formal!) clothes. Then I justified it by telling myself that they really aren't that Christmasy and I can wear them whenever I want. Then I made myself a promise that I would wear Elegance to every Lularoe party and pop-up and event this year to get my money's worth, a promise which I promptly broke on Sunday.

Shameless....I really could talk myself into walking off a cliff if I tried hard enough. 

So a few tips for those of you that are like me and have a ridiculous amount of Elegance and won't admit it (but you know you do):

1. If you have one of the glittery sparkly Carlys and you are freaking out about the glitter dust that is everywhere, I heard from another consultant that if you take it outside, shake it out and then spray it thoroughly with Scotch Guard, the glitter fall out will be at a minimum. Another suggestion is hairspray, although I'm not going to be trying that, thank you very much! Here's an article that talks about how to keep glitter from falling off clothing. 
2. I have heard from several wearers that the glitter fabric scratches the bejeezus out of the underside of the arms when you wear it. I don't have any input on that yet since I haven't worn mine anywhere except around the house, but I'll update this article when I wear one for more than five minutes. I would suggest wearing a Lindsay or Monroe with it to help with the chafing. 
3. Read the care instructions on every piece that you have. I have heard that dry cleaning is recommended for these pieces, but I seriously doubt I am ever taking it down to my local dry cleaner to let them have at it. Since I'm an insurance adjuster, I know people in the textile restoration business, so I'll probably be doing that as needed but only as needed. Any piece that can be hand-washed, I would do that with the most delicate soap possible and wash by hand. 
4. Be careful with it and watch your jewelry, especially on the stuff that can snag. I didn't even bother wearing a bracelet Christmas even when I wore my Elegant Lucy that has a tulle overskirt. (You can see the picture of me wearing that green skirt in this article.)
5. I seriously wasn't kidding about wearing it to every pop-up party I attend this year, but I'm not going to wear head to toe metallics or glitter. I plan on toning some of those pieces down with some solid shirts and skirts. 

And with that, it's a perfect segue into the title of my article where I actually did wear Elegance to work. My first Lindsay that I bought (ouch, I just admitted I have more than one, didn't I?) was a bronze shimmery Lindsay with gold threads running through it, and I thought it went really well with this combination of a mineral-washed black Classic tee, a floral Azure skirt in tones of gold, gray, and white on a black background, and tan leggings underneath. Definitely four pieces that I would not have thought about pairing together, but it just kind of....worked. Which is odd considering that there were four fabric types in this outfit....mineral wash, gauzy chiffon with metallic threads, slinky Tencel in the Azure and then everyone's favorite leggings. It was dressy for work without being overkill, and it was fun. (Karaline, if you are reading this, I told you I had worn the mineral wash to work!)

And the Azure is such a cute topper for leggings...it's swingy, it's comfortable, and you can pick a color out of the pattern in the Azure to bring to the forefront with your legging choice. I was trying to highlight the gold in the floral pattern to bring out the color of the gold threads in the Lindsay.

I loved pairing the Azure with leggings so much that day that I decided to give it another shot today when I was traveling, except this time I paired the Azure and leggings with a Perfect tee and a Sarah cardigan. It was great for flying, so much better than the jeans I used to travel in. Unfortunately I didn't find anyone that I felt would stop what they were doing and take a picture of me, and I hate taking selfies of myself in the mirror, so I took this one of me from the waist down . The "bell" of the turquoise Perfect blouses out perfectly over the Azure, a lavender cotton with a rich vibrant purple and turquoise thinly striped grid-like plaid, which I layered over purple leggings to match the "grid" in the Azure. I wore a purple striped Sarah over the entire thing, and now you get a close-up of my Skecher ballet flats. When I travel, I only bring one set of jewelry, so I just was wearing my wedding rings, some handmade turquoise black beaded earrings and a stainless steel Fossil watch with a white marbled face. 

But this weekend I am hosting my first in-home party AT my home, and you bet I'll be wearing one of my fancier dresses then...maybe I'll try one of the glittery Carlys and see if I can irritate my husband by getting glitter all over the couches that he'll insist on vacuuming to perfection before my guests arrive. 

The bronze Lindsay with the gold threads is available for purchase from Jessica Martin in sizes medium and large.  She also has the berry sparkly Carly, the green Lucy with the rose gold diamonds and the Classic tee in the silver and rose gold, so if you are still on the hunt for Elegance, it's a great place to go shop, and she is offering special pricing through tomorrow evening. 

Have a great day and remember, any day is a good day to dress in sparkling clothes!

Oh, and one last thing...look what I spotted at Hudson News at Dallas Love Field! Sure do look like MIMIS, don't they? Just goes to show you that EVERYone wants to Roe!