When I spotted these shoes at Buffalo Exchange last week, I could not WAIT to get home and style them. But damnit, I got stuck. I could NOT figure it out. I knew what I wanted (this) but couldn’t make it work. I get like that sometimes- fixated on one thing and can’t get past it.
So I texted my girlfriend and within seconds she hits me back with…
“What about with a knee length pencil skirt?
But dressed down with a wife beater and lots of gold necklaces.
Keep the rest of the accessories to a min.”
Lightbulb.
So I just adapted what she sent me to work with what I had in my closet. (Pencil skirts aren’t really my thing. They tend to shrink me.) But she’s incredible. She knows exactly how to find that missing piece in all my puzzles. And frankly, without her, a lot of times I’d be walkin’ around lookin’ a damn mess.
And now… onto the goods.
These shoes!!
Ugh. Don’t you just love them?! What’s not to love? They’re green. And gold. And high. And have tassels. I mean…
They cost me $16 (by Shoe Dazzle from Buffalo Exchange). And even though they’re a half size too big, I had to possess them. And that I did.
I (we) styled them with a casual, sheer white tank that I picked up from the Target clearance rack awhile back ($5) and a black mini that also hails from Target ($10). I wear this tank with cut off shorts, to the beach… it’s one of my go-to casual tops. But I LOVE the idea of it being used in a nicer outfit. And the skirt is just a really nice, classic black mini. It has some stretch to it, it’s not too too short…
(Pausing for my girlfriend to disagree…)
This bag comes from H&M last year. I have it in beige too, and it is the perfect all purpose bag. Lots of pockets, big enough for all my crap, cute… It was on clearance – $8. I could easily have chosen a clutch for this outfit, but that would have fancied it up too much. The big bag keeps it all balanced.
This outfit screamed ponytail to me. Simple, casual, slightly messy pony.
Can we talk about these shoes some more? What I love about this outfit is that you SEE them. They’re not hiding or blending in with anything else colorful or loud… they really shine. It’s black, white, gold… and green. Simple, yet so much fun.
Plus, I feel like I’m defying the odds in them… breaking the rules, if you will. Because normally a shoe that comes up to the ankle on a short leg makes that leg appear even shorter. And I don’t need that mess. Buuuut because of the vertical gold line down the foot, it actually lengthens… so I’m winning!
It was important to the outfit to keep the other details fairly minimal. Any more bling and the shoes would be tacky instead of a standout accessory.
So accessory-wise we stayed gold, and fairly simple. I love the look of layered long necklaces on a casual tank, so I chose this gold/white fringe beaded necklace that I picked up from Buffalo Exchange ($8) and paired it with a longer one I got from H&M ($12).
The gold cuff comes from a local boutique when I was on vacation ($7) and the ring came from Charming Charlie last year…in their discount basket at the register for $5.
The earrings are hard to see, but that’s kinda the point- they need to be minimal. They’re small, gold leaves and they come from FiFi’s Fine Resale– $6.
And the aviators come from Buffalo Exchange as well- $12.
Sometimes I get stuck on one track. Mentally, I often find it hard to switch focus once I’ve set my mind to one thing. And I’m also just not the best at asking for help. But it’s pretty damn fantastic when you have people in your life who get you. They really and truly GET you. And you can pick up the phone and ask a simple question, and without hesitation they come back with the perfect answer.
Whether it be about life, love, loss…
OR the look of the day.
XOXO
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