The Ana....understated, undersold and not just a tall girl's dress

There is a dress in the Lularoe lineup that is one of the most undersold but best dresses that they manufacture, and it is the Ana.  Quite simply, the Ana is the long version of the Nicole. It's exactly the same in every way except for the fact that it is a full floor-length dress and the skirt does not flare and twirl. Sorry, no Katniss Everdeen stage twirling with Ana. 

If I had a semi-formal event to go to, such as being asked to be a reader in a wedding, or a chaperone at a prom, or a guest at a wedding, this would be the one. This would be the dress I pulled from my closet. It is gorgeous, it it slinky, it pools perfectly around your ankles but doesn't sweep the floor....it's just absolutely beautiful and no other Lularoe dress has ever made me feel like a princess when I put it on like this one does. That being said, however...I don't think I would have any problem wearing this for a casual event either. In fact, I dressed up for Halloween as a devil, and it was a close tie between wearing my red Ana or my red Nicole as my costume with some devil accessories. I only picked the Nicole because it was very warm that day.

The only thing about this dress that I would caution you about is to definitely find your exact size. The dress that I am wearing is a 3XL and I can not wear a 2XL in it which is my true size (same with the Nicole) because of how fitted the sleeves are and how fitted the bust is. The first time I tried on a 2XL Ana, I felt like I was wearing a straitjacket, but then again, I have guns and a D cup. If your arms are either a problem area or just a little on the large size because of muscle (like mine), size up. If you are big-busted, size up. It's a fitted dress from the waist up without a doubt, but once you find your size, it's a dress that you can take anywhere, wear anywhere and do anything in. 

Unfortunately, you're not going to find this dress at a lot of vendor events or even in-home sales because it very much teeters in no man's land between the best sellers of Lularoe and the specialty items such as Lola, Lucy and Jill. And it's long. I think a lot of consultants shy away from carrying a large inventory of them because they look deceivingly long on the rack and a lot of people don't want to give them a try, which is such a shame because they are so gorgeous. I think that Ana looks on the hanger like a tall girl's dress, which is true, but the smaller it is, the shorter it is. For me at 5'7, the Ana falls RIGHT at my ankles even though it looks ten miles long on the rack. It hangs flat as a board, but since it has enough meat to it to accommodate all of your curves without being skin-tight, your bust and booty will lift it up and take some of that length up so that it falls just perfect. 

My first suggestion would be, of course, to try one on at a local event and make sure that you are happy with the length before purchasing one. However, if you are dying for this dress and can't find one (like I was), then try a Nicole and find your true size FIRST. THEN ask the consultant who has the Ana that you want to measure the skirt length between your size in the Nicole and the same size in the Ana. I didn't do this because I'm on the taller side and felt confident that it would not be too long since I often have to get tall in jeans, but if you are say, 5'5 and shorter, I would check this with the consultant. As I have done in the photo, all you have to do is hang a Nicole on the same type of hanger in front of the Ana and measure from hem to hem. In this example, I have placed a patterned Nicole over a royal blue Ana and used a Fat Max to measure. The difference is approximately 17" so I would assume it's probably proportionately the same in all of the other sizes as well since the dresses do get shorter the smaller they go. However, once you figure out your sizes in Nicole and Ana, it is SO game on! You can even tie the hem up at the side in the Ana as a cute way to shorten it.

If you get the chance and find an Ana on a rack in your size, slip it on and see how the fit is, because you just never know where she might be lurking! You might find that this is YOUR DRESS. 

The minimum advertised price (MAP) set by Lularoe for the Ana dress is $60.00. 

If there are any questions about the Ana dress, please post them below. 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!