How I Wear My: Chanel-Inspired Outfit

In a quest to rediscover my personal style, I've recently started reading fashion blogs, particularly those geared toward women over 40.  This journey started as a result of my 15 year old daughter, Sierra,  raiding my closet this past year due to her own recent discovery of the fun of fashion.  Seeing her young athletic figure in my clothes (and looking better in them than me most of the time) caused me to question my taste level (am I dressing too young?).  However, when she came home from school one day (after wearing clothes she had selected from my closet) and told me that a few of her friends told her she looked like a "cute mom," I knew I was on the right track all along.   Turns out Sierra just has a little more sophisticated taste for a girl her age.

Two of my recent fashion blogger favorites are Adrienne of The Rich Life (on a budget) and Jill of Everything Just So.  In catching up on their blog posts today, I came across a blog post series entitled "How I Wear My ______."  In this series, they take turns hosting and post photos of themselves, as well as other women showing how they wore a particular look or item of clothing.  Past posts have included "red, white & blue" and "statement necklace."  This month's challenge is to wear a Chanel-inspired outfit. 

I happen to have picked up a plaid cropped tweedy blazer yesterday (for just $2.95) at a thrift store while waiting for Sierra to get out of dance class.  It's not exactly Chanel but it still qualifies since my look was inspired by Chanel and thems the rules according to Adrienne and Jill.  Add in a vintage strand of pearls for a belt and a not-so-vintage faux pearl bracelet and voila. . .This is how I wore my Chanel-Inspired Outfit.

I paired the blazer with a wine-colored tank (Mossimo at Target - $8) and my dark wash straight legged jeans (Inked and Faded at Sears - on sale for $14).  And don't forget. . .nude platform pumps (Shiekh - $40) go with almost anything.

Is this pose "model-y" enough?

It's 102 degrees F today.  Can you see the sweat on my upper lip?

I don't remember if these vintage pearls belonged to Grandma or not, but since I can't remember, it makes me happy to think that they did.

I love the old clasp and all the knots between each pearl.

Mixing new and old keeps things from being boring.

Cute little details on the elbows.

The shades of purple mixed in with the black and beige in this fabric are one of the things that drew me to this blazer.

Thanks for checking out my first ever "how to wear my:  _____" post.  I've haven't taken too many outfit photos for my blog, if any (usually just makeup looks).  It was interesting trying to figure out how to get the camera at a good level (I used 3 old books and a tub of pool chlorine tablets for this photo shoot) without a tripod.  And did I mention that it was 102 degrees outside today?  I did?  Oh.

Please come back and visit soon.

Coming in September:  “How I Wear My: Secondhand Treasure.” 

3 Easy Ways to Spice up a Basic Black Tank

Lately, I have moved away from the basic black in my wardrobe and have opted for more colorful choices.  I see lots of women wearing a black top/blue jeans "uniform" and it just doesn't look special or exciting.   When you're a busy wife and mother, I know it's easy to just grab something quickly from your closet that you feel flatters you but there's nothing flattering about boring and unimaginative clothing.  So, not wanting to have all of my (probably more than 10) basic black tops go to waste, I decided to freshen up the look simply by adding a bright patterned scarf knotted low and hung loosely around my neck.

Here's a representation of the outfit I wore. . .

Not a scarf girl?  Another way to update up this look could be to eliminate the scarf and instead add colorful earrings and sandals. . .

. . .or a statement necklace and bold bag. . .

I hope my suggestions have inspired you to come up with new ways to liven up your basic black wardrobe.