Day #6: Pattern-mixing

Pattern mixing takes a little bravery, courage and creativity, but when done successfully, it looks perfect and is a great way to combine some of your more unusual prints with the classic ones.

I originally saw this Lindsay cardigan in a sheer chiffon material sold by a consultant in a sale that had held it for a consultant that wanted it....and then changed her mind. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it. I didn't know what I was going to wear it with yet, but I thought probably a purple skirt and a tan top.

Then I discovered this Carly...and knew that these two pieces were meant to be paired. The Carly is a desert sand brown with a variety of wildflowers all over it that blend together into a great print that is accented by the ice blue Lindsay that is a purple and brown floral watercolor print.

I layered it over slate blue leggings to go with the blue flowers in the Carly and wore a purple-striped Sarah over it to make the pattern mixing complete. The outfit really works.

 When it comes to pattern mixing, you really never know what is going to look good together until you just try it. Florals with florals, florals with stripes, vertical with horizontal, pattern with stripes.

I have done this successfully with three other outfits. The first time I tried pattern mixing was a turquoise Monroe with a brown floral print layered over a chocolate and taupe striped Carly which was a great combination for the summer.

Recently I tried the same style of Carly with rose-patterned leggings which was a beautiful combination given the strong outline of the roses in the same berry color used in the Carly.

This can also be used with the Cassie over leggings when trying to create a unique combination. I was trying to find a pair of fun print leggings to wear with this vertical striped Cassie skirt, and I ended up settling on the sugar skull leggings because they were black and white, which complemented the skirt, and the direction of the skulls was vertical.

Make it a great Lularoe day!

Day #4: Get Rhythm When You Get The Blues

Seriously, you would think that no one in Dallas had ever seen snow or ice before. But I digress. I teased my coworkers enough at the office for standing at the window watching our parking lot get covered in white yesterday. I know a lot of people were excited about the snow, and I know I should be too, but I guess in Dallas it's more of a hassle than pretty. But at least the city is preparing better.

Since it was going to be COOOOOOLD yesterday, I decided to take advantage and wear an Ana which I hardly ever get to wear! I know it looks purple in the photographs because of the flash, but it is actually a mix of navy blue and royal blue. I paired it with an Aztec-style turquoise and royal blue Lindsay and turquoise leggings. Accessories? Denim blue Skecher ballet flats (let's face it, after my shattered foot, I don't have a lot of options for footwear), an aqua agate faced Fossil watch with a stainless steel band, turquoise headband, blue topaz cocktail ring and a pair of turquoise and teal beaded earrings. As my coworker said, "look at you in all that blue!" If you picked my favorite colors dependent on what the predominant color is in my closet, blues and turquoise would be it. 

The Mimi was nice to have on with the cold in the morning. I didn't take a picture of me wearing it because I have a few pictures up already with me wearing it and the Mimi, really, doesn't look any different worn over different dresses. I wish I was all stylish and fashionist and wore it all scarfed and everything but I just like to wear mine poncho-style with the buttons in the front or pulled to the side so that the bottom hem of the Mimi drapes at an angle. I will be honest that it did not do a thing for me in the afternoon when I walked out at six pm when it was 23 degrees with a wind chill factor of 9 degrees, but fortunately my car warms up fast, and once the heat was going, the Mimi kept me snug as a bug in a rug. 

The Ana dress is a fantastic dress and if you know your Nicole size, this is the same as the dresses are identical, it's just a longer skirt that doesn't twirl. However, as you can see, it is rather clingy. I didn't wear a Spanx under mine since I was wearing leggings and you can tell for sure!

Wearing leggings under an Ana is something that a lot of people don't think about doing because it's such a long, formal dress, but I have done it now on two occasions and no one has noticed my leggings either time. Both times that I did it, it was on really cold nights and I don't think I would have been warm enough either way. The Ana is a fantastic dress and I am so excited to get to wear the ones that I have this winter with leggings as an accompaniment. For this dress, the blue is so vibrant and vivid and beautiful, it is perfect for winter, and the Lindsay that I selected is in a combination of so many shades of blues and turquoise that it was the perfect compliment to this perfect dress. And the flash of turquoise as the skirt of the Ana swished matched the Lindsay. 

The Lindsay, a hard to find one, is available in S for purchase from Deborah Shute. She also has the turquoise leggings in OS and TC.

Make it a great Lula day and stay warm!

Day #2: Why was today a holiday?

I have never quite figured out why New Year's Day or especially the day after New Year's day is a holiday. To me, it seems very strange. I get why New Year's Eve is special; it's the last day of the year. The first day of the year? That's a happy day and the start of a whole new clean slate.

I guess what I'm getting at is WHY WAS THE MAIL NOT RUNNING!? It is a Monday! I want my Lularoe!!!! I look forward to opening that!!

Anyone notice my iMood addition to my blog to the right or the fact that I figured out a way where you can sign up for text notifications when I publish a new article? Pretty neat. Anyway, my status is relieved. I don't want to get into all the specific details, but I was having some pretty significant problems at work this past week. It turns out that it was ALL a misunderstanding (a pretty significant one if you ask me) and miscommunication (imagine that) and they asked me to stay and give them another chance. I'm so relieved I can't even express. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders! So, all you girls that reminded me that Lularoe is hiring? Sorry, gotta stick with insurance!!!! My new all-male team needs some estrogen to balance them out. *wink* You ladies are stuck with me endorsing you!

As for work? Well...that's not apple juice in my hand....For Monday, I signed up for the skeleton crew at work which actually turned out just to be me alone. I wanted to be comfortable but still look nice, and the high today was 72, so I decided to wear a Maxi skirt over bare legs with sandals. I remember when I bought this skirt and I loved it SO much; it reminded me of kind of a New Age patchwork quilt pattern! The colors in it are so varied that you can match a ton of shirts with it. It's a mesh block design of black, tan, coral pink, blue-gray, teal, and pale yellow. It's made out of the tencel material, so it's very silky and slinky. I paired it with a stone-colored mineral wash Classic and a light cotton heathered sky blue Lindsay cardigan. Perfect. For accessories, I am wearing black and gold Teva sandals, a silver Kenneth Cole watch with a pink pearl face, a labradorite cocktail ring, a plaid headband in the same colors, and a pair of handmade champagne flute earrings with champagne beads to celebrate the new year.

The Lindsay cardigan I am wearing in heathered sky blue is available in small from Serena Cervantes.

Thanks for reading, welcome back to work if this is your first day back after the holiday, and make it a great Lularoe day!

Day #1: Happy New Year and Welcome!

I can't believe that I almost missed one of my New Year's resolutions before it started! My #1 resolution for 2017 is to blog in This Is How I Roe In Real Life every day and talk about an outfit that I put together and wore, preferably that day. 

This is a great time for me to let everyone know that is reading that if you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, there is a list of all of the styles that are made by Lularoe that I can model and review. If there is a particular style that you would like to see (or a few), please make sure and participate in the poll every week as I will use this to come up with outfit ideas. For example, if you want to see how I wear the Monroe and what I pair it with? Check Monroe and one of the dresses or skirts. Every week, I'll clear the poll, and we'll start again!

Sadly, my butt was glued to this couch all day today working on getting all of my core reviews up on the styles, so I never made it into the shower, out of my pajamas, and out the door. The most sad? I didn't get to go to Lisa Mims' house and pick up my new gray Mimi or stop at Spec's for a little something something to celebrate the New Year. But at least I have the core reviews up on the Julia dress, Cassie skirt, Classic tee and Lindsay cardigan for your reading pleasure, so please, enjoy, and excuse my strange picture placement. A lot of these pictures have been cropped for Facebook which doesn't exactly work perfectly with blog placement, but I think they came out pretty well. 

I'm so excited to be blogging again that I can't even tell you all. There are likely some people reading this blog that remember when I blogged before my daughter McKenna was born and I actually had the time to cross-stitch (not to mention the eyesight). I actually really miss blogging. You know how there are those kids while growing up that always had a journal or a diary that they were writing in? That was me. That's now my daughter. Even though blogging is a bit of a lost art, I'm glad to be back to it, and really happy to have something that I'm excited to write about! I will thank you all every day for reading and following along in my Lularoe journey in 2017, and if you have any friends that enjoy reading blogs, love clothes or are curious about Lularoe, I hope that you will encourage them to come visit. 

So, since I can't really post a picture about my Dr. Pepper pajama pants and my old t-shirt, I am going to post a picture of me in my holiday outfit on Christmas Eve! My outfit for Christmas Eve was one of the Lucy skirts from the Elegant Collection. When I claimed this skirt for sale, I had clicked on it and of course, there were about ten or eleven posts on it so I was thinking, "surely it is already sold." Ha ha, lucky for me, everyone was asking questions, but no one actually said the magic words: "SOLD PENDING QUESTION". And I haven't seen another one in my Lula travels like this or for sale. This is a Christmas dark green Lucy, which is a two-layer skirt. The Lucy itself is constructed with a thick belt-like elastic waistband from which two layers of fabric falls. The underskirt is a silky base that acts both as a slip and a background for the top skirt, which in this case is dark green tulle with rose gold diamonds set in the netting. What I love the most about the Lucy is that once it's in place, it stays in place, and this one was no different. I paired it with a dark green Irma tunic to match. As I had spent most of the day getting ready for Christmas, I was hustling to get out the door, so my accessories were a rose gold Fossil watch to match the skirt, handmade Christmas tree earrings, and a lab-created emerald three-stone ring for my right hand. Shoes? Black ballet flats from Skechers. 

I also featured a close-up of the rose gold diamonds on the skirt with the flash.

 

So, in case you are wondering what this mysterious Mimi is that I am excited to pick up, the Mimi is a limited edition full fashion knitted scarf finished with hand tassels. The first release of these was in August and I was able to get two. I'll do a full review of them very

soon with pictures since I have no doubt that this won't be the last release that Lularoe does of the Mimi. It's just too popular! It hasn't been cold enough yet in Dallas for me to really wear them, but the one day that I did wear my Mimi it was freezing, and I layered it over a Lindsay cardigan, Carly dress and leggings for an outdoor cookout. It was wonderfully warm and comfortable, and as such, I decided to invest in another one since I don't think I've worn a winter coat in Dallas in years. The one that I selected below is a solid gray one with white

threads running through it and I will be picking it up tomorrow. If you haven't tried on a Mimi yet or gotten a good look at one, definitely check them out. I have heard mixed reviews about them. People in the colder climates don't think they are warm enough, people in the warm climates think that they are too warm, and they are too long and heavy for some petites to wear since they are all One Size (OS). For me, they are perfect because I like to layer my Lularoe, and these will fit perfectly over a Sarah cardigan and whatever else that I choose to wear that day. In addition to the full fashion knitting and hand tassels, the Mimi also features a row of buttons which can be worn in the front (my preference) or to the side which lets the scarf drape at an angle. Some people think this looks like an afghan and some think it looks like a poncho. My husband asked where my sombrero was when I first modeled it for him. But I like it and that's all that matters! In addition to the pictures of my new Mimi, I have also included a picture of me taken wearing my black and gray one on the cold day which was layered over a black Carly dress and a pair of black leggings flowered with tiny orange and red flowers.

Best wishes to you all for a wonderful start to your new year and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Please refer to the calendar above for the current sales. At the current time, green Irmas like the one I am modeling with my green and rose gold Lucy are available for purchase in size XXS from Ariel Walk, 

I also had an idea of including pictures of my manicures (since I do my own nails) when they go with the outfits! These were my Christmas nails....Zoya Honor with a matte top coat and Julep Sharma on the accent. Fun, right? They were inspired by the Elegant Lucy!

The Lindsay cardigan...the perfect layer like icing on the cake

The Lindsay kimono was actually my second piece of Lularoe that I acquired. I was gifted a plain black knit one as a thank you for helping a consultant photograph and stage her initial on-boarding inventory. I remember at the time thinking that it was kind of a strange piece and that I wasn't sure if it would look right on me, but out of all of the Lindsays that I have acquired since that initial piece, the solid black one is the one that I have worn the most. 

Out of the entire Lularoe lineup, the Lindsay cardigan baffles me the most. Not the piece itself...but why it is not more popular. Why this piece does not sell out as soon as it comes in, I don't get. I admit that I have eclectic tastes, but this piece is the easiest way to dress up a pair of leggings and a t-shirt or to throw over a dress when you are cold or just to accessorize with a put-together outfit to bring out a color to the forefront. Below I have demonstrated how you can take a t-shirt and leggings to the next dressy level just by adding a complimentary Lindsay to pull it all together. 

The construction of this piece is simple. It is like a cardigan in that it is put on like a very light, thin sweater, but there are no zippers or buttons. The sleeves are elbow-length and have a large droop at the bottom, similar to a kimono on a geisha. See the similarity? There is just enough exposure to let the lower part of your forearm show, but enough coverage to cover your upper arms and keep the chill off. They are well-made with seams at the top of the shoulders

The Lindsay cardigan, which is kimono-style, really should be in everyone's Lula wardrobe even if JUST in black or gray. For me, it is my go-to piece to grab when there is a chill in the air and I just want something to cover my arms, or if I just want to dress up something casual, or if I want to accessorize a dress and bring a color out of it to the forefront. It is a wonderful accessory piece to wear over Classics, Perfects, Irmas, and all of the Lularoe dresses. 

If you have any dresses that are strapless or sleeveless that you want to wear to work but have a no-bare-shoulders rule like my office does, the Lindsay is the perfect solution. They are light and thin enough to wear all day long in the office and come in a variety of fabric styles such as knit, lace, chiffon and brocade. For the colder climates, they are thin and cool enough to layer under heavier winter coats and for the warmer climates, they are warm enough just to take the chill off as the arms are about three-quarter length. As an example, look at how I am wearing my Maxi dress. I am wearing it as a skirt with a Classic tee and a turquoise topped with a turquoise jacquard Lindsay. Lose the shirt, pull up the Maxi, and now it's a strapless dress with a midcalf length but still work-appropriate because of the Lindsay. 

For sizing, you can see that the Lindsay runs large. No question. I am a full 2X full-figured woman. I have long arms, so long that I need an XL in the Sarah cardigan just for that reason. I am 5'7. I have a 38D bust. Yet, I can wear the Lindsay in the small, medium OR large. I prefer the large because the arms are a little longer and more generous, but if I find a Lindsay cardigan in a color that I like and it is only available in medium, I don't have an issue wearing it as there is a very negligible difference. I have plenty of room in my Lindsay in the back, shoulders, arms and midsection, and the back is almost Irma-length which is perfect for me. The main difference in the sizes is the length; the smaller the size, the shorter in the back. Featured below is a small in gray, medium in green and large in peach.

What I find interesting about the Lindsay from critics is that lace is not a preferred fabric and that girls with narrow shoulders find that they dwarf them. I find it interesting, but I understand why. Lace as a general rule is not thought of as a jacket-type material, which is why I consider my lace Lindsays to be more of accessories than actual jackets for warmth. I think if your thinking adjusts to that frame of mind, that these are layering accessories more than actual jackets or sweaters, you will find that these are more versatile than you think. 

As for the dwarfing, well....you can't change your body's frame, but you can change the way you wear the Lindsay. I have seen Lindsays knotted in the front to bring the bottom up. I have seen Lindsays gathered in the back to pull the the sides back and almost convert it into a shrug. I'm sure that there are other things that can be done with this kimono-style wrap that I haven't even thought of yet. 

One thing for sure is that if you think you might want to have one, even just to keep at the office for those chilly days, give it a try. It's a very warm and soft piece of clothing, there are lots of styling possibilities, and you can buy one as basic and non-frilly as you want or as dressy and lace and feminine as you want. There are lots of jacquard-style Lindsays that are incredibly dressy and can make the most casual of outfits look fancy and dressed up. 

The minimum advertised price (MAP) set by Lularoe for the Lindsay cardigan is $48.00.

If there are any questions about the Lindsay, please post them below. Make it a great Lularoe day!

The Cassie pencil skirt...an golden oldie never goes out of style!

The first time that I saw a Cassie pencil skirt, I was immediately transported back in time to Grease and Grease 2. I guess some styles are just timeless and never go out of style. But even now, when the Cassie skirt is an integral part of my wardrobe, every time I pull on a Cassie I remember my favorite scenes in the movies with Betty Rizzo and Stephanie Zanoni. Remember? Michelle Pfeiffer realizes on the first day of school that she's the only one wearing pants and pulls out a tan pencil skirt to pull over her capri-length leggings? And Stockard Channing...always wearing her trademark black knee-length sexy pencil skirt. 

It should not be a surprise that the pencil skirt is still in style as much now as it was then in the 1950s and 1960s as it is an incredibly flattering and slimming skirt that is just as fashionable for a trip to the mall as it is for an evening out for a nice dinner. And the Cassie? It's the best pencil skirt imaginable. I joke with other Lularoe fans that I collect Cassie skirts like most Lularoers collect leggings...I love them that much. I live in Texas where eight months of the year, it's just not a practical temperature to wear leggings. This is where Cassie skirts come in. I have worn them to do literally everything. I wear them to work with sandals. I wear them to the mall to go shopping with friends. I wear them to lunch. I wear them out to dinner. I have worn a Cassie to get a tattoo on my ankle. I even have discovered that Cassies are the perfect solution for getting pedicures done because they are the perfect length at the knee where you don't have to roll up your pant legs. I am not a fan of shorts and never have been, so for me, the Cassie skirt is the perfect solution to my summer woes. Plus, the fabric is cool, comfortable and breathable, not to mention stretchy and flexible, so for our blazing Texas summers, they are perfect. 

The construction is quite simple of the Cassie. It is a uniform appearance all the way around the skirt (the only way to tell what is the back is the tag) with a slightly longer length (just slightly) in the back to accomodate for the curves in the trunk. The waistband is an elastic five inch band, similar to a yoga waistband, which pulls up and stays in place. If you are wearing a Spanx or other sort of undershort, you may notice that it slides a bit during the day because the fabric that the Cassie is made from is so soft, but for the most part, it stays right where you put it and doesn't move. 

When I first tried on a Cassie last summer, my first reaction was no. JUST NO. I don't wear skirts! Right? Then I realized that I really WAS a skirt wearer and these are super-comfortable to wear either to work, to dinner or just on the weekends to go shopping. I pair them with Spanx underneath so it's like wearing shorts and a t-shirt but more comfortable and more dressy, and the look is very classy, comfortable and sexy. The fabric that most of them are made of is a crepe-like stretchy fabric that is incredibly comfortable and soft. The skirts that aren't made out of the crepe fabric are made of a knit fabric which is just as soft and cozy and breathable as the crepe counterparts. And the best part? They require no ironing which is one of my favorite things about them. They are the epitome of wash and wear. I actually recently moved my Cassie skirts into drawers after realizing that there is really no point in keeping them hung up since they really don't wrinkle. 

The number of prints and colors that Cassies are made in is almost as varied as the prints and colors that leggings come in. It is Lularoe's most popular skirt. My favorite Cassies are the ones that have so many colors in them because the possibilities of shirts to wear with them is endless. Every time the look is different because whatever shirt you are wearing brings out the corresponding color in the skirt to the forefront. The Elegance line released in 2016 also included Cassie skirts in a variety of fabrics with metallics and foils.

One of the other great things about the Cassie is the versatility and the options that you can use it for styling. While I have acquired the majority of mine for the purpose of wearing them in the summer, they easily transition to the winter by sliding them over leggings. These skirts can also double as a stylish infinity scarf. They are very comfortable and soft around the neck because of the lining on the inside, and not at all itchy or scratchy or hot. 

 


And lastly, while the Cassie is very stretchy and has a lot of give to it, it is slimming at the

2XL Cassie over 3XL Cassie

same time. My true size is a 2XL which I can wear in a Cassie, but I prefer a 3XL for me since I wear them over leggings. There's very little difference between the 2XL and 3XL as you can see in the picture where I laid the 2X over the 3X. Once you find your true size in Cassie, it's game on as there are so many fun patterns and prints out there. If you have tried this skirt and didn't like how clingy it was, try sizing up. The waistband is still going to be very fitting and slim but will give you a little more room, and you might just find a new best friend that will make you feel just like a Pink Lady!

The minimum advertised price (MAP) set by Lularoe for the Cassie skirt is $35.00.

If there are any questions about the Cassie skirt, please post them below. Make it a great Lularoe day!