Well, July certainly flew by, didn’t it? It seems like just yesterday I was posting June’s Random Outfits. Though that could be because I haven’t had much time to blog lately. Things have been a little hectic. Hopefully they’ll settle down this month and I can finish some long outstanding drafts I have started. My fingers are crossed! Anyway, for July, I have 16 great random outfits for you. It was an interesting month in terms of weather, so there’s quite a variety here. Enjoy!
July 1: Hot Pink Jeans
I snagged these Lauren Conrad skinny, subtly distressed, jeans at Kohl’s on clearance and was thrilled. I’d been looking for a pair of hot pink jeans for awhile and these fit me perfect! I decided, the first time I wore them, to stick with neutrals all around. I wore a grey and nude trible print shirt from Express, an open cardigan (also from Kohl’s) and my new nude Nine West flats (which I’m obsessed with, you’ll soon find).
I liked this look a lot. I have to hunt Kohl’s for more Lauren Conrad jeans, because these fit me great! It’s usually hard to find jeans that fit me well, so this is exciting. If they’d had this pair in other colors, I probably would have bought them. Aside from that, I liked the pop of pink with the otherwise neutral, and I’m glad it was what I went with the first time wearing these jeans.
July 2: Foxy Lady
From what I recall, July 2 was pretty chilly. Chilly enough that wearing a sweater wasn’t looked at as weird at work. I decided I’d have some fun and wear my black and white pants from GAP with my Old Navy fox sweater, which was light enough that it wouldn’t look ridiculous in the office or outside. To make this outfit a little more summery, and not too fall or winter, I added brown wedge sandals. I basically wore no jewelery, because I felt with the pants and the sweater, I had enough going on.
When I pulled this out of my closet, I was all “I don’t care if this matches or not, I’m wearing it”, but when I put it on, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked together. I thought these pants were going to be so tricky for me, being patterned, but they’re turning out to be a great addition to my closet!
July 4: Independence Day
I go back and forth on dressing crazy patriotic for July 4th. Sometimes, I’m all over wearing red, white, and blue and stars and stripes. Other years, I’m just not that into it. This year, I was in a rather patriotic mood when I packed to head to Michigan. But I didn’t want to be over-the-top. I wanted to show my patriotism a little more subtly. So I wore my long lacy tank (which is sheer) over a black bralette and blue and tan striped high-waisted jean shorts. I managed to find a cute red star print scarf at Target to throw on, along with my red wedge sneakers. I added my long claw necklace, my black leather cuff, and my “fashion girl” watch. And last but not least, I stole a blue star crown from the bag of July 4th stuff my cousin brought out. I thought it added a fun bit of sparkle to my pigtails.
You might not recognize these shorts, but on November 9, they were jeans that I pegged the legs of. I liked them as jeans, but they really only worked with a few pairs of heels I have, so to make them a little more versatile, I cut ‘em into shorts. I like them better this way, I think. Hopefully I have some more time to wear them this summer… it’s been a little chilly again lately.
July 5: Summer of Love
After painting my moccasins, I couldn’t resist wearing them with the fringed vest I picked up at at H&M at the end of last summer. To make the look a little more me, I added a fun graphic tee, olive green shorts, and 2 rockin’ necklaces… my one from Shopbevel and a turquoise estate sale find. I quite liked the way the two looked together.
This was such a perfect outfit for doing a whole lot of nothing around the house on a nice, long weekend. I was lucky enough to be able to take the day off work, so Friday the 5th was full of relaxing and just enjoying the mini-vacation. This outfit was made so much better by my painted mocs too! I loved it, and I could swap out the olive shorts for olive skinnies for a fall version of this look if I wanted.
July 8: Black & White
The morning of July 8 hubs and I decided to drive in from Michigan, instead of leaving Sunday night. I brought along this great wrap dress from Banana Republic because it packs wonderfully–no wrinkles no matter how balled up it is. I don’t have a closet in Michigan right now, so yea. Plus, who wants to show up at work looking like they spent 3 hours in the car? Not me. I went with my black wedge knee boots, my black cuff, my skully bracelet, my purple bracelet, and a fun bracelet made by Staci’s Beads and Jewelry. She made the beads from the Sunday comics! So cool. I also added a vintage choker necklace and 2 Ali Oesch necklaces (one of which I got that weekend as well).
This is one of those outfits that didn’t feel all that special, but is an easy look that I like. When I got this dress last summer I loved it. It travels great and is super easy to throw on with pretty much anything. I’m hoping to try layering cardigans over it this fall.
July 9: Floral Dress
Continuing with the easy dress trend, I pulled a never-worn closet orphan out to wear with my boots again. I gave it some shape with my standard triple belt wrap, added a black and silver striped dolman cardigan, and the same three necklaces from the day before. Perfect! Easy, comfortable, and perfect for work.
I got this dress at Old Navy, on sale, and loved it. But never wore it because I had trouble making it not look frumpy on me. But I couldn’t bear to part with it because I loved the pattern, which reminded me of my Nani. It’s also great colors that are pretty easy to work with for various seasons. I’ll definitely be doing a variation of this look come fall.
July 10: Junkyard
I don’t wear this junkyard shirt from Teefury often, so I decided to dress it up for work and see how I felt about it. I paired it with my black and white pants, since they were such a success earlier in the month with my foxy sweater, and my cream open cardigan. I went with my nude flats because the rest of the outfit had so much going on, and kept accessories to a minimum for the same reason, wearing just my watch and my skully bracelet.
While I don’t wear this shirt often, it still makes me smile when I do. It’s a drawing of all the vehicles from my childhood, aged and discarded. When I saw it on Teefury, I didn’t even hesitate–I just bought it. It’s so fun, and I loved dressing it up for work. Maybe next time I’ll give it a go with a pencil skirt or something. We’ll see… but either way I’m hoping to wear it a bit more.
July 16: Scribbles
And this is when July started to get hot. And I don’t mean because of my outfit. Temperatures got up into the mid-90′s with high humidity, and the ultimate Chicago summer wardrobe tug-of-war began. Dress for the chilly office, or the sweltering outside? I chose to be more comfortable outside and make use of my space heater in the office and wore my Rock & Republic sequin skirt with my scribbly tee from Forever21 and my nude flats. I added my Nani’s cardigan and my Shopbevel necklace.
It was too hot to take a pic outside with the cardigan on, but either way, I totally loved this look. It had graphic elements, texture, sparkle… everything I love in a look. Even a sentimental piece. Huge fan of the way it came together! Every time I wear this skirt, I love it more. Same with these nude flats–sorry if you’re sick of them already!
July 17: Simplicity
Another hot day, I just wanted to wear something easy, comfortable, and still nice enough for the office. I turned to my thrifted GAP dress. If it got hot inside, it was still work-friendly, but my grey cardigan (also from GAP, but swapped) kept me comfortable in the AC. I wore my snake print heels, which tied into the cardigan nice. For a little sparkle, I added some necklaces… a loooong strand of plurpley faux pearls, a simple silver chain, a tiger’s eye pendant, and an estate sale bauble. Pardon the lack of cardigan in these shots… at 6PM it was still to hot to even think about having it on for pics.
For as easy as this look was to throw together, it packs a big punch in terms of texture and style. And this dress? I always forget how perfect it fits me. Boy was this a great thrift store find. And to think I almost didn’t try it on because it’s a 6! Just goes to show that size doesn’t matter, haha!
July 18: Walk This Way
I couldn’t resist pairing this great neon pencil skirt from Target with my Aerosmith tee. The two pieces were begging to be paired up, so I let it happen and added my black leather bib necklace and my cut out booties. In the office I wore my black and silver striped dolman cardigan, but I didn’t need it outside. For something a little different, I went with an aqua eyeshadow look that I quite liked.
I loved this look, and was glad it came together. I was a little intimidated by the neon skirt, though it’s not really crazy bright neon. I almost didn’t get it… but I liked the fit and the fact that it wasn’t boring, so I did. It’ll be a fun skirt to work with the rest of this summer and fall.
July 21: Beach Day
Earlier this month I posted about my beach bag essentials, so I figured I’d share what I wore to the beach too. It’s only fair, right? Inspired by this pin, I grabbed the “stained glass” sheer coat thing I swapped forever ago and wore it as a coverup. It worked beautifully with my royal blue Calvin Klein suit, black sandals, big hat, and blue-grey American Apparel leather bag. I might make it my go-to coverup, actually. I’ll just have to make sure I don’t sit around in the sun with it on, in case the sheer is sheer enough that it leaves little square tanlines on me. That would be bad!
By the time my husband took pics for me, I didn’t really need the hat since it got overcast, which is why it’s looped around my neck and hanging down my back. While I’m sure I’ll wear this “outfit” again, chances are, it won’t make it into another Random Outfits post, haha.
July 22: Ruffles & Stuff
Another Monday we decided to drive in from MI in the morning. I originally had something else on with this skirt, with the intentions of throwing my black vest on over it. But when I got home, I couldn’t find it. So instead I threw a black t-shirt on with my ruffle back, swapped jacket. I didn’t think the jacket was going to work when I pulled it off the hanger, but when I held it up to the skirt, the green and red in it were identical to those in the skirt (which kind of muddy together at a distance and make brown). So it worked nicely. I had on my three-strand Forever21 chain necklace and a piece I made with some Labradorite beads and chain.
I felt rather 90′s in this, but I’m totally ok with that. It’s largely the skirt. And the plaid. And the booties. Ha. But yea, I liked this look, which I’m sure doesn’t come as a surprise at all.
July 23: Maxi Love
When I put this on the morning of July 23, I didn’t realize it was a nice nod at my friend Lonni, who’s birthday falls on the same day. She loves hearts, and yea, I just thought it was kind of funny that that’s what I ended up putting together to wear on her birthday. My heart cardigan went over my plum maxi dress, which I made a little more work friendly with a lace bra (that’s designed to show as I have). I dressed it up by going with my pointy black patent heels and added a “love” necklace.
Not my favorite outfit of July, but at this point in the month it was down to the mid-70′s with lows in the 60′s. This felt more fall than summer, really, and all the dark just wasn’t working for me. So I might do a variation of this in fall that I’ll like more then.
July 25: Stripes
We didn’t even hit 70 on the 24th, but on the 25th it went back up to the low 80′s, so I opted to wear a short, vintage BCBG dress with boots and a thicker cardigan. The cardigan was a Target find last winter, and a piece I’d been wanting something like for ages. I had a little trouble working such a classic piece into my rockstar style, but this look proved to be a good example of making it work. I wore a stack of bracelets, knee high boots, and my red Target heart locket, which made this cardigan feel a little more me.
I actually really liked this look. This dress–a Goodwill find–is a piece I love, and it’s proving to be great for all seasons. I liked the way it looked with this sweater and boots, and I’ll likely try a similar look in fall with tights.
July 27: Skinny Bitch
Saturday the 27th I met up with some fellow bloggers and models for dinner and drinks. Two of the ladies were in town for BlogHer, which I regret not being able to work into my budget (and hope I can in 2014), so we met downtown. I decided to wear something true to my rockstar style, and also decided that since the low was going to be in the 50′s (and cooler in the city), I was going to bust out my black coated Rock & Republic jeans. I wore them with a plain white tee and a rust-colored cardigan that I was going to get rid of, but decided to distress instead. It was a thrift store find that, while I liked it, only got worn once or twice. It had a small hole, so I figured I’d just… add to it. I like it better now, and it’ll stick around for a bit. I also wore my new “Skinny Bitch” necklace, which I won over at Swear Jars & Shoe Funds, and was made by Black Heart Creatives, and added a couple other necklaces and my leather cuff, because, why not? I finished it all off with my new obsession: lucite wedge sandals!
I LOVED this outfit. LOVED. It was so me! At first I was a little nervous about wearing the necklace, but when the first words out of my model friend’s mouth, upon meeting me in person for the first time were, “that necklace is fucking awesome!” I knew I made the right decision. I do kind of regret not getting a different color, since I wear black so much, but that just means that when I want to wear this, I’ll have to be more creative, and I’m ok with that. You’ll be seeing more of all the elements of this look, don’t worry!
There was actually one thing I regretted about this outfit, and that was not having a warmer layer. It got way too chilly for me to be walking around the city like I was. Good thing I was already sick… otherwise, I for sure would have caught something.
July 30: Grunged
And last but not least, another fun look that might be more suited to fall, since we were still in a cool spell here. I really wanted to wear my pink skinny jeans again, but it was only going to be in the low 70′s, with temps dropping to the 50′s that evening. So I wore a black tank and my plaid flannel because I felt like it. I added my black booties and my white flower bubble necklace to finish it all off.
This was one of those looks that shouldn’t have worked, but did. I liked it quite a lot, actually. I’m sure it’ll resurface, perhaps with another layer or two, this fall.
So that’s it for July’s Random Outfits.
What was your favorite look from the month? See anything you’d try out at all? Let me know in the comments… you know I love hearing from you!
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