The Madison skirt....hand pleats just like a cheerleader skirt...

The Madison skirt is such a fantastically tailored skirt and looks so great on the right body shape...I refuse to give up on it for me, even though everything tells me that it won't look right on me ever. And that's why there is no Madison in my closet. 

I love, love, love the Lularoe line up of skirts so much and was determined to give this another go after it was a bust at a pop-up I went to last year. At that time, I tried a 2XL. At the time, I thought that it made me look pregnant so I didn't buy it, but later I went to a multi-consultant event and decided to give it another shot, but size down. I chose a beautiful soft chocolate brown XL Madison, one that I would consider buying, and paired it with a dusty rose knit Classic. It was actually kind of funny, because I realized when I got in the dressing tent that I needed a shirt and asked the nearest consultant to hand me a Classic in 2XL that would go with brown and that's what she chose for me. AND I ended up buying the shirt. The knit Classics are awesome, like short-sleeved sweater tops, and I thought that this knit top would blend well with the fabric of the Madison since both fabrics were so fancy.

Sadly, I did not buy the skirt, although I did realize that a XL was a better choice for me than the 2XL. This skirt is absolutely beautiful on the right body type. It has a tailored waistband with elastic in the back, perfectly hand-set pleats and pockets big enough to fit your entire hand and probably little things like keys or a coin purse. (An excellent clubbing skirt, if you don't want to keep up with a purse!) It is very flowy and twirly, and when you sit down, it pools just right around you in the chair. The fabrics on most of them also are a little heavier than the typical Lularoe fabric, so it's really got some meat to it. And the pleats are just so adorable. It reminds me of a cute pleated cheerleader skirt and when you spin, it actually flares out. 

However, there is one big reason I didn't buy this skirt, and it's not the Madison's fault. It can be summed up in three words: Baby Got Back. I could not figure out why when I held up the skirt, it was perfectly even and then when I tried it on, it almost looked tilted. Easy answer: my booty was lifting up the back and making the back portion look shorter than it is. The reason why this happens with Madison and not the other skirts is because this skirt has a completely even hemline all the way around whereas the other Lularoe skirts are cut just a tad longer in the back to accommodate those of us with a little extra junk in the trunk. Even the Cassie is slightly longer in the back. My suggestion if you are interested in this skirt is to try it on first (unless you have a fairly flat or non-bubble butt) and make sure it is a good look for you. It is fairly true to size although I felt one size down for me looked better. I even tried pulling the shirt flat instead of blousing it over the waistline and that didn't help with my booty issue, sadly. 

Jennifer Klump of Sweet and Sassy Lularoe wears the Madison better than anyone I have ever seen, and as such gave me permission to use her pictures of her wearing her beloved unicorn Madison skirt in my blog. Look at how well the pleats drape and how great she rocks this Madison! She looks so beautiful! It is a beautifully well-made skirt without a doubt. And the Madison comes in solids, prints, silky fabrics, heavy cotton fabrics and was released in the Elegance lines in 2016 in a variety of styles including heavy tapestry plaid fabrics and velvets.

I am also featuring a more recent picture of me wearing a black, red and peach print Madison with a peach Classic tee. While it looks better now that I have lost some weight, you can still see it raising up in the back because I have a booty!

So....truly personal preference. I refuse to give up on this skirt, but I also admit that this skirt may not be the best choice for my hourglass figure, just as the Randy baseball tee is also not the best shirt choice for me either. 

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

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

The Randy Baseball Tee: Batter Up!

Batter up, Lularoers! One of the most popular tees in the Lularoe shirt lineup is the Randy baseball tee, which ranges in size from XXS to 3XL. It is a fitted bodice with three-quarter sleeves. Most of the shirts either have a patterned shirt and solid sleeves or solid shirt and patterned sleeves or dual colors, but there is always some differential between the sleeves and the shirt part, just like on a regular baseball jersey.

The Randy is an adorable darling little baseball t-shirt that can be worn with so many things. It can be worn with skirts, shorts, jeans, capris...really just about anything you want. I have seen them on girls and women of all ages and shapes and they are truly too cute for words! My favorite ones are the ones that have the floral shirts and solid sleeves as I just think that's such a feminine touch on a sporty fun style. It's like seeing a little girl play softball with a pink baseball glove! 

I will be honest that this is not my favorite Lularoe shirt; in fact, I don't even own one. My daughter owns four. It is a very fitted style and the abdomen is cut straight with no curves or flares or anything. In other words, if you are like me with a straight hourglass figure and some pounds to shed, this is probably not going to be your best friend. Every woman that I have ever been with that has purchased a Randy tee has sized up two sizes since they run smaller than the true size. My daughter is a perfect example. She is eleven years old and is five feet tall. In a Carly, she wears an XXS, but in a Randy? A clear small. 

I will add here also that by the time I discovered Lularoe, my daughter was already ten and too big for any of the kids' clothes that Lularoe carries, BUT the Sloan tee shirt is the kids and tween version of the adult Randy. Her best friend is modeling it with tween leggings, and as you can see from the big smile on her face, she's very happy with her Sloan and leggings!

I have some pictures of me in the Randy. When I first discovered Lularoe, I refused to accept that I could not wear this shirt well and bought two shirts in florals, which were promptly exchanged. This shirt is just not flattering on me at all. My bust is too big and the bottom is too clingy around the stomach area for my preference. The photographs in the red floral and the yellow floral selfie were both taken in August, and since then, I have lost weight. When I took the new picture in the dark blue butterfly Randy, I was wearing it with a Spanx shaper, and yes, it does look better, but not enough for me to invest in this style as part of my wardrobe. 

However, I took a new picture at a consultant's house in a butterfly Randy (I love butterflies) to show that it is possible for it to look better after I lost weight. The floral one with the red was me in August, and the butterfly one was me 35 lbs lighter wearing a Spanx i November. 

The skirt that I think they look the best with is the Cassie, left untucked and casual, but you can honestly wear them with anything. My daughter is featured wearing her Randys with leggings and since I don't have a lot of Randy pictures to share, one of my readers Katy graciously gave me permission to use her Randy collage and pictures in my blog to share.

 

The minimum advertised price (MAP) set by Lularoe for the Randy baseball tee is $35.00.

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

The Julia dress...the perfect little black t-shirt dress and more!

Black Julia dress

The Julia dress is a very popular one, but is not an easy one to wear due to its close tight fit. It has a clingy fit to it which makes it a very sexy and attractive dress, but it is imperative that the right size be chosen in order for this dress to look absolutely amazing as it does. It can easily be worn alone by itself with sandals for a casual look or dressed up with heels and a wrap for an elegant night on the town. There are even baseball styles that, paired with chucks, can look extremely sporty and fun for the summer. 

I admit that being a plus-sized woman, it took me a very long time to get up the nerve to wear this dress in person, and I still am not completely comfortable in it without a cardigan or another layering piece over it. However, it is an absolutely comfortable and cool dress for the spring, summer or early fall, and with the way that it hugs curves in all the right places, it is very flattering if you are on the curvy side as I am. If you are slender, it is a wonderful draping dress that hangs perfectly straight to the knees for an elegant but not overly dressy look. 

Julia and I have had a love-hate relationship from the first moment I saw her and tried it on. The first time I saw it was on a teenager who was a size 2, so of course, yeah, she looked freaking AMAZING in it. So slim, so cute, just perfect. That's the love part of the relationship.

The first Julia that I bought was this black one, and one of my local consultants convinced me to try and buy it by showing me how you can ruche up the bottom around your waist for a gorgeously elegant elbow-length sleeved top. The Julia is a knee-length t-shirt dress with a flare at the hips, a nip at the waist, elbow-length sleeves, and a hemmed jewel neckline.

Since the Julia dress has a very long fitted bottom, you can wear it with a skirt and ruche the bottom up to the length that you want and the dress will stay as a shirt since it is so clingy and fitted. The ruching technique will hide your tummy if that is a problem spot and it's great to rock with jeans or a shorter skirt and just get your Friday night on. I threw a pair of jeans on to show how it looks with pants. Basically the Julia is a transition piece....you can wear it to work during the day for a professional yet sassy look and then scrunch it up for a sexy top, throw on some jeans, and hit the happy hour! And...look what I can do so I can pretend I'm wearing a Randy! A reader gave me the idea of ruching up the baseball-style Julias so that it looks like a Randy which is really cute over jeans.

Blue/Gray Julia
worn as shirt

Black Julia dress
worn as shirt

 

I was determined to give this another fair shake, and try it on as Lularoe intended it. AS A DRESS. I will share with you that I was SO afraid of wearing this dress out of the house that not only did I not cut off the tags before putting it on, but I made my husband wait to leave for work until I had his stamp of approval on it. And THEN I cut the tags off. 

Black Julia with crepe Monroe

My first thought when I finally put this dress on before work the day that I wore it for the first time was, "OMG, I FINALLY HAVE A LBD!" I felt HOT and sexy ALL DAY LONG! I layered it with a red, fuschsia and orange crepe Monroe, and it was just a fun, sassy day.

Urban Dictionary definition of LBD: "A term used to define a little black dress which most woman possess.The dress is most likely overworn but always seems appealing especially when added with acessories such as bangles and clutch purse."

Chances are, pretty much every woman under the age of 40 has some sort of LBD in their closet. I remember the term becoming much more commonplace when Sex and the City was the hottest show on cable. Sarah Jessica Parker even has a line of little black dresses which you can read about here. 

It's great that I can finally wear this dress and feel confident, thin and sexy in it. Spanx (my new best friend) is a must for me with this dress as it really pulls everything in for a slim, smooth fit. I wear the Power Shaper in nude which can be purchased here from Amazon. I am 5'7 and the skirt of this Julia falls right at my knee line. If I ever had a night to go hit the bars and have some lemon drop martinis with the girls, this would be the outfit! 

However, this dress also exudes class and elegance. When it came time to select a beautiful and flattering dress yet not too dressy for our family portraits, I immediately selected a dark blue Julia dress, which I am wearing with a gray Lindsay cardigan.

For sizing, the Julia runs small. My true size is a 2XL and this is a 3XL. The arms are fitted just like a Nicole dress and an Ana dress if you have ever tried those on. As you can see in the photographs, I have swimmer arms from high school, a large bust from having a child, and I'm clearly plus-size with my problem area being my tummy area. If you are the same, you might want to size up. Trying the dress on in person at a multi-consultant sale or at an in-home pop-up is the best way to determine if this dress is for you (which it is likely is) and what size looks the most flattering.

2XL over 3XL sleeve

If you are buying this untried (and I commend you for being that brave if you are!), I might suggest that you pull out a sweater or a long-sleeved shirt that you are comfortable with between the elbow and the shoulder and measure the height of it. Then, ask the consultant you are buying from do the same thing with the size that you are considering. The booty area and width of the skirt doesn't seem to be an issue for me at all, so I would say that this is true to size. There is a difference between the sleeve width on the 2XL and the 3XL, so if you are a 2XL but would like a little more room in the arms, size up. 

So channel your inner Carrie Bradshaw or Samantha Baker and go out in search of YOUR LBD! Black Julias are not easy to find, but they are out there, and if not, maybe you'll find a pattern or another sexy color or print that really speaks to you! I own Julias in a number of solid colors, but I also love them in prints, with my favorite one being a jeweled-toned print with black scrollwork running through it. Striped ones are also very flattering and cute, and baseball Julias, worn as a shirt or as a dress, are sporty and fun. Julias are available in so many colors, so many prints, florals, geometrics, stripes, baseball styles....there is truly something out there for everyone.  And Julia dresses are great for layering with a lace Joy vest, a Lindsay kimono, a Monroe kimono, whatever you like!

Peacock Print Julia

Jewel-tone print Julia

Brown and red geometric Julia
with red lace Joy vest

The majority of the fabrics that I have seen the Julia made in is the standard Lularoe poly-blend of 96% polyester and 4% spandex, but there are some very soft silky dresses made of 76% rayon, 19% polyester and 5% spandex which drape beautifully. I own two baseball Julias and they are a blend of polyester, rayon, cotton and spandex. The Elegance line released by Lularoe in 2016 did make the Julia dress in a variety of sparkle and glitter dresses that are absolutely gorgeous and still available for purchase if you are lucky enough to find one that didn't sell during the holiday season. Once you find one that seems to be "your fabric", you might just make a note of that and search for other Julias that are the same blend. 

The minimum advertised price (MAP) set by Lularoe for the Julia dress is $45.00. 

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

Welcome and How to Successfully Roe

Welcome to my blog!

Lularoe is something that I discovered the summer of 2016 when an acquaintance decided to be a consultant and I spent a whole weekend helping with hanging and staging her on-boarding inventory of clothing. I got to feel the fabrics, see the prints up close, and try everything on. I was gifted with an Azure (knee-length swing skirt) as a thank you gift, I wore it as a top the next day to a Father's Day brunch, and that, as they say, was the start of my addiction. After I got a job that required office time and not just running around on roofs in Old Navy t-shirts and capri pants, I decided to overhaul my 2001 wardrobe and replace it with good quality colorful clothing that really fit my personality and made me feel attractive. I now feel attractive every day when I go out, my clothes are comfortable, they are very no fuss-no muss and low maintenance, and I get compliments on what I wear all the time. 

Here are my recommendations for how to be a successful Lularoe wearer:

1) While the sizes really DO run true to size, there are a few sizes that run very small or very big depending on your body type. For example, I am a full-on 2X with muscular arms left over from swimming and weight lifting, a large bone structure, D cups and 5'7 in height, so a lot of what I wear has to go big for that reason. I can't wear Randys because they are too fitted through the bodice but Carly dresses have to go two sizes down to give me a waist and not look like a bag. I would very much recommend trying the clothes on FIRST before buying anything unseen and figuring out your sizes, because after that, you can buy off the rack with no problem.

2) This is no joke, they really don't make more than a specific number of pieces in that print, so once all those lovely pieces have found homes, they are gone unless an eBayer sells them for something outrageous. My suggestion is that if you find something that you really love, get it, because in all likelihood unless you scour the internet with a fat wallet, you won't see it again.

3) Wash your clothes according to the care instructions, try to wash your clothes with other Lula clothing or very soft t-shirts, and hang dry or dry everything flat. I have to hang dry everything that I wear because of space, and it works just fine. The thing I like the best about the clothing care is that you don't have to iron your clothes; they dry ready-to-wear.

So that's my story, and I'll be blogging as often as possible with where I wore my Lularoe clothing, accessorizing, reviewing the style, etceterera. If you are interested in reading about the clothing, doing some shopping, attending parties, and in general having fun, please follow my blog. I am happy to have you whether you are a consumer or consultant. If you are a consultant interested in having me model, review, assist you in your business, or hostess online or in-home, please contact me via the gadget on the right. I am glad to have you here and I appreciate you reading and following me as I ROE in real life.