admin - Fashion: Grading on a Curve

The art of shopping and gift giving…

When I took the pictures of the outfit I had planned on wearing my necklace with my two boys but today I decided to wear a multi strand silver necklace instead. I got many compliments on the pink. I know it looks a little red on the picture but it is actually a hot pink. Very bright and it helps bring some color to the rainy days of winter. I was lucky it was sunny today so I could wear my hot pink TOMS though. Had it been raining I would have worn black shoes instead. The sweater is nice and warm too, I just got it at Maurices. When I shop for clothes, I truly try to envision the whole outfit and I always keep the tags on the clothes until I actually wear them just in case I change my mind. Since the clothes I buy for myself are like presents to myself and I reserve the right to exchange them if necessary. There have been many times that I envisioned the outfit in the store but when I got home it did not work, so back to the store it went. I will be honest though, that most of the time that happens if I am encouraged by someone else, or the store clerk to buy it and then it really does not work for me. That is ok!!!

I would like to talk about something a little different today. I have been told many times that I am a great shopper and gift giver. I personally think I have a real gift for shopping for gifts. I try to get to know the person really well and when I shop for her or him I look for things that they would like regardless of what I like or don’t like. The gift is about the person receiving it. I have bought many things that I would have never considered buying but they were the right things for the people I was buying them for. I am not going to lie, some people are way easier than shopping for than others but I always find the right thing for them anyway. The people I have the most in common with are the easiest to shop for. I always find lots of things for them, the ones I have less in common can be a challenge but I think I do pretty well even for them. I think if I lived in a bigger city I could have been a personal shopper. I always manage to find the right clothes for people too. It is all about getting to know them and paying a lot of attention to what they wear on a regular basis, what they talk about, their likes and dislikes. It does help he fact that I have a very good memory and remember everything I hear.

Here are some basic tips:

Sports fans: find out their favorite team and pay attention to what they already own.

Girly girls: find out their favorite color and pay attention to their style.

Men: find out if they like techie stuff, sports, clothes, wallets – you can do this by paying attention to what they talk about and make some mental notes. If you are ever out to eat with them pay attention to what they use for a wallet, is it worn out by any chance?

Facebook can be a huge help too, anything they have posted and reposted that could become a gift.

Pinterest – do they have boards? what kinds of boards? can they become gifts?

Well, hope these ideas help you shop for your loved ones this holiday season…

Thanks for reading,

Juliana

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Sunday dress up…

Hello,

So, Sundays bring the ultimate question of what I should wear to go to church with my family. Growing up I did not go to church regularly, but I remember talk that one should dress up and look fancy for church. I remember hearing my grandma’s friends talking about special outfits they would buy to wear for church, so needless to say in my mind, church meant dressing up.

When I first moved to the US, I also did not go to church regularly but I know people talked about getting church clothes for their kids and how church meant dressing up again. Even at Easter the stores target shoppers to buy pretty dresses and little suits for kids. They show these beautiful family portraits being taken in pastel colors and beautiful colorful dresses for little girls.

Well, things sure have changed over the years. As I started to go to church more often I have noticed an obvious change in how things are now. Some teenagers wear very casual clothing (including my own two boys who refuse to dress up no matter what we say). Jeans are perfectly ok now and even as a lector I have a lot of freedom. I still think there should be some level of respect and certain outfits belong to the club and not church but I guess whatever makes people happy, right?

Any of the outfits above would work for church and they are all very comfortable so I have good options regularly. I usually wear similar outfits I would wear for work. I do avoid wearing jeans if I have to lector though. But at the end of the day, we should wear whatever makes us feel beautiful and comfortable. It is important we fell beautiful everyday, no matter where we are going or what we are doing.

Thank you,

Juliana

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Trying something new today…

Good morning everyone!

Today I decided to show my outfit in a different way. I think this is a nice way to do it too. So I am wearing navy blue leggings with navy blue boots too. The dress is from Old Navy from a few years back but still in as any jeans always are. The scarf is from the Christmas Bazaar and made by the victims of Sex trafficking. Totally worthy cause!!!

These scarves are so beautiful and versatile that I could not help it but buy three of them. One of them is 100% silk though, beautiful and very light. You can see it below.

It has been raining and cold here in the Northwest so the season of boots is upon me. I wear boots almost everyday until March or so. It is a good thing I have so many boots to vary from day-to-day.

I have to say that the top picture is a lot easier for me to share. But I will go ahead and focus on why I think these outfits work.

#1 They are comfortable and make me feel good about myself.

#2 They complement each other colors. The navy blue from the pants is present on the scarf. The toucans from the scarf have a blue tinge to them and it goes well together. The lacy boot cuffs bring the color of the dress to light and even though you don’t see it, I am wearing green jewelry (Jade from New Zealand) because the scarf has enough green to use that to my advantage.

The idea is not to do too much matching, whenever possible one should try to find pop up colors so that it adds interest to the outfit. (I was an avid viewer of ‘What Not To Wear’ show and they always mentioned this idea.) The second outfit was more ‘monochromatic’ because I only played with 3 of the colors, cream, gray (which are both neutral colors) and the deep turquoise. As luck would have it, the turquoise from the scarf is on the shirt on the shoulders. The jewelry also played off the turquoise from the scarf and shirt. The rest is all neutral with only adding interest through the fur on the boot cuffs.

Well, thank you for taking time to read this post. Don’t forget to sing up for the blog for some future updates.

Juilana

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Back to reality after a long break for the holidays…

Hello everyone,

So yesterday it was time to go back to work after the 4-day holiday weekend. I did get a lot of compliments on my clothes. To be more specific, I had a student tell me I looked like I was going to be in a music video. I thought that was cool! I am wearing a new pair of pants that I got at the Christmas Bazaar. It is super comfortable and it looks nice, they hold my belly in too. he brand is Nygård Style Direct. It is worth checking it out. These ones have a faux leather front that made it very stylish. I paired it with my booties I shared a few posts ago and the scarf is my favorite because it has a story behind it. I also got it at the Bazaar and it was made by a victim of sex trafficking that is now a refugee in Nepal. This lady teaches these girls so they can make a living now that they are not welcome in society anymore. I ended up buying three scarves and will be posting them as I wear them. I got so many compliments on this scarf too. I like it because it is very long and it flows well.

Today, I turned to my Melissa rain boots since it rained all day long. I wore one of my LulaRoe leggings, a sleeves mustard yellow dress with a blue scarf. I know what you are thinking, mustard yellow and cobalt blue, really? Well, the leggings actually have both colors on them so it brings it all together. The black sweater had to be added since it is winter, cold and sleeveless was not going to cut it.

I have to say it again, when I saw myself in the mirror I thought I looked better than when I saw these pictures so I hope you like the outfits at least. This experience has been very enlightening and humbling at the same time. I am truly putting myself out there and I don’t think I have ever taken these many pictures of myself in such a short period of time. Even when I go on vacation I don’t take this many. It is sure helping boost my self-esteem though.

Thank you for reading,

Juliana

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Out with my mom…

Hello,

Today I went to a Christmas Bazaar with my mom and dressed fairly casual. I wore jeans with a black tank top, a plaid shirt, a purple vest and a nice long thin scarf that matched the vest. I felt pretty good in this outfit. Didn’t get any compliments though so not sure what others thought.

I have to say, this is fun to be able to pour my heart out to complete strangers here on this blog. I don’t know if I am the only one who feels this way, but so often when I get dressed in the morning I feel awful about myself. A few days though, I must wake up in a different mood and I feel good about myself when I look in the mirror. Not sure if it is just the clothes that make the difference or if it is the way I feel each day. Another revelation is that I see myself very different in the mirror than I look on pictures. I am not going to lie that these pictures can be very hard for me to post, but I decided to make myself vulnerable and share with others the outfits I choose anyway.

Well, this has been somewhat of a lazy long weekend… I am trying to just take it easy and relax a bit before going back to work on Monday.

Thank you,

Juliana

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

I will be totally honest and tell you all we don’t really celebrate thanksgiving in our house, not the traditional way anyway. We usually go to the movies with the kids to watch whatever movie or cartoon comes out this week and we usually set up our Christmas decorations on Thanksgiving day. Today was no different. We got up early to catch the early bird show of ‘The Star’. Great movie by the way, very cute!!! Then came home, cleaned the house so we could decorate it for Christmas. It was a warmer day here in Portland, so I was able to wear a 3/4 sleeve top and that felt nice. This top is very appropriate for fall because of its colors. You can see the black fabric rose picking over my boots, you might remember from one of my earlier posts that I found them in NC during my mini vacation there. They are sure cute!!!

I like this top because it flows and hides all those imperfections that could make me feel a little more insecure at times.

Well, I hope you all had a great holiday with family and friends. Ours was quiet and relaxing… and even though I love shopping I am not going shopping this Black Friday. There is nothing I really need at this point and I should probably try to save some money.

Thank you,

Juliana

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Movie date with my youngest…

Hello and happy Wednesday before Thanksgiving day,

Today was the day to take my 10-year-old to the movies to watch Wonder. (Great movie but I cried from beginning to end)

Normally I am not big on ripped pants but these ones are not too bad, no skin shows and some of the rips even have fabric underneath it. I like them because they are comfortable, skinny jeans (so I can wear with boots) and makes me feel a little edgy. Some could say I am too old for them but I think I can still pull these ones off. The jeans came from Maurices and so did the undershirt – burnout white long sleeves top. The vest was a gift and it is reversible. Not sure where my friend got it though. The scarf is from Target. Great scarf because it goes with just about everything. The boots I got from JustFab. They are very comfortable because I wore them all day and no pain, and I went out shopping twice. Can you tell I like shopping? This time, however, it was all Christmas presents for my kids and my husband. I am all done Christmas shopping. It feels good to be done this early – hopefully this means less stress, right?

As always, thank you for reading!

Don’t forget to sign up for updates,

Juliana

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You can look cute even when working out…

Hello everyone,

A few weeks ago, I went hiking with my husband and wore this outfit. I got stopped a few times by other hikers about my outfit. They couldn’t believe I looked so put together for a hike. I always figure I should look nice no matter what I am doing. Believe it or not, the leggings are from Victoria’s Secret and they are very comfortable. The shirt and tennis shoes are both Nike so they match perfectly. I thought it was pretty funny that I got so many compliments and to be honest, that was a day I decided I should do something where I could share my thoughts about fashion. If complete strangers like how I dress then maybe I have something to share with the world. I hope you all agree…

Till next time…

Juliana

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Pretty nails…

Hello,

On this post I will talk about my nails. I used to have very strong and long natural nails when I lived in Brazil. I think the water in the midwest was too harsh on my nails and they became very weak. So just before I moved to the NW I decided to try the solar acrylic nails and I love them now. I even got my mom to get addicted to them. I am known for having all kinds of different colors and designs. This week I went much simpler but I am obviously ready for the holidays. Sparkly red and silver… I love having my nails done and after I started getting my pedicure done and my toe nails colored I believe my self-esteem has gotten better. I love looking at my toes all pretty and colorful.

So, my suggestion is, when you are feeling down, get your toes done and that should help you feel pretty. I am not sure why, but it certainly did the trick for me. I, personally, use shellac on my toes so they last longer especially in the fall and winter when we wear closed toe shoes. I do them for me, because others don’t even see them since I am wearing boots most of the time now. We should do things that makes us feel good and pretty. I spent too much time feeling sorry for myself because I had gained weight. It is not worth it! I now embrace my curves and find clothes that make me feel pretty. If I can find other things that help me feel pretty than why not? Like hair and nails….

Thank you,

Juliana

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A typical fall outfit…

Happy Sunday!

Now, this is a nice warm and comfy outfit for a breezy winter day. It is also very neutral and the boots could be of different colors. I have even worn booties with this outfit and it worked too. My personal favorite is wearing the boot cuffs. I have a whole bunch of them of different styles, different colors and different materials. They can work as a pop of color or just for fun inside your boots. I have to say that the part that made the most success though was the elephant necklace. Everyone asked me what it was made of and where I got it. No surprise the necklace came from Maurices but it is from last year or even longer.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed all my pictures so far. Stay tuned for more to come this coming week.

Juliana

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