Frocktober

This month Shop Ruche is celebrating "Frocktober" by releasing a new dress every day of the month. It definitely sounds like my kind of month since I like to wear dresses all the time no matter the season. Although, I'm actually making an effort to work more jeans and shorts back into my wardrobe dresses will always be my standby. I won't be adding a new dress to my closet every day this month, but if you are looking to add one or two to your collection you can get 20% off on all dresses at Shop Ruche with code "CHFANS20". I did get to add this one to my collection; the red with black and white palette really makes the roses work for the cooler seasons and it reminds me of film noir which is always a bonus. That's another theme month on the horizon "Noirvember." Fall definitely suits those classic black and white films.

Outfit details:

ASOS jacket

dress c/o Shop Ruche
Burdees necklace

old socks 

Seychelles heels

Wink & Winn purse

*pictures by Thomas

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Blue Jean Baby

I spent most of high school and a good part of college hiding my legs in jeans, even though I never really liked jeans. I was self conscious about how my legs looked, but shortly before my junior year of college I started to get over my insecurities and switched to almost exclusively wearing skirts and dresses. I'm not entirely abandoning my closet of skirts and dresses, but lately I've been craving jeans again. I had a few missteps trying jeans from my usual shops, before stumbling across a couple of cheap, stretchy pairs from Forever 21 that I actually really like. This is one pair--simple, blue, and about as comfortable as any jean can be. If only as a base for this beautiful blouse, the hunt has been worth it. But don't get too used to it; unless I find a lot more lovely blouses like this one I'm going to firmly stay a dress girl!

Hello Holiday sunglasses, blouse c/o Shop Ruche, Forever 21 jeans, mary jane flats, purse bought at Camden Market

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6 Pieces 7 Outfits With Shop Ruche Part 2

details: cat ear headband (similar), polka dot top, happy necklace, white dress (worn as skirt)

details: vintage scarf, white dress (worn as top), chambray skirt, FOSSIL purse, wedges

details: sunglasses, sequined bolero, white dress, BC Footwear wedges

Here's the second half of my "6 pieces, 7 outfits" Retro challenge with Shop Ruche. You can see my first three looks here.
All three looks use the same white dress as the foundation. In the first look I threw a crop-top on top and some quirky accessories. I'm not a huge fan of crop tops generally, but like cropped sweaters I think they make great layering pieces over dresses or high-waisted skirts. The crop top made the whole outfit more casual and I feel more free to move around in this look than I would with the crop top over a white skirt. In the second look, I put a denim skirt on top--with most dresses that I do this with they are shorter than the skirt I choose to layer and the skirt has enough volume to hide any fullness in the dress. With this particular dress though I carefully safety-pinned the dress hem a few inches shorter. In the third look you actually get to see the dress in all its glory with a sweet sequined shrug thrown on top. If the dress wasn't white I'd probably consider this a perfect "summer wedding guest" outfit, as it is the lightweight shrug will be perfect for more formal occasions this summer. The only thing I regret about my three outfits is that I failed to photograph the back detail on the dress!

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6 Pieces 7 Outfits With Shop Ruche Part 1

details: boater hat (similar), dress (worn as top), chambray skirt, vintage belt, sandals

details: trench coat, sunglasses, polka dot top, chambray skirt, saddle shoes

details: floral cardigan, striped dress, self-made bow belt, old heels (similar)

Shop Ruche challenged me to take 6 pieces from their shop and create 7 outfits built around those pieces. I'm no stranger to a remix (aka wearing the items in your wardrobe multiple times) but it was still tricky to think of 7 outfits using only those 6 pieces as the "clothes" part, adding accessories like shoes, headbands, and belts were an encouraged necessity, but it was a fun challenge. Here are 3 of my 7 outfits--check out Shop Ruche's blog for all 7 looks.

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Shop Ruche Remixing

I've been shopping from Shop Ruche since 2008 and started working with them shortly after, so I have a long history with the shop and it still suits my style so well. For June they challenged me to take 6 pieces from their shop and build 7 retro outfits around the pieces. As a routine re-mixer I really enjoyed the challenge and most of the pieces were ones I would have bought myself--like this floral cardigan and chambray skirt. Check out their blog for the other 6 outfits I styled.

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