"Denim for Days" with "Stylish Monday"

On the second Monday of every month a group of style bloggers and I pick a theme, style an outfit based on that theme, and then do a link up together where you can join too!  This month's theme is "Denim".

Is anyone else as confused about denim trends as I am?  Are skinny jeans "in" or "out"?  What about low- rise verses high-rise?  I remember when low-rise was all the rage and anyone who wore high-rise was mocked;  now the high-rise mom jeans are back in:  but so are the low-rise. In fact, when I went shopping recently it seemed every style was available to buy.  There is no distinct denim "trend" this season, so pick whatever style denim looks best on you!

I myself have a closet full of skinny jeans which I spent a small fortune on so I'm not in a rush to get rid of them.   However,  I eventually want to transition away from a skinny jean as I feel, ahem, I'm getting a "tad bit old for them" as my knobby knees are starting to show through.  I did buy a pair of straight leg Mavi  jeans this season, which I am really enjoying and they seem to have been my go-to-pair this past winter.

Here I am wearing my newest pair of denim:  Straight Leg Jeans by Mavi.

For this month's "Stylish Monday" post I decided to pull a VERY OLD denim dress from closet.  This dress is so versatile and classic which explains why it has lasted so long in my closet.  It is meant for warmer weather, but I can make it work for winter with the proper styling companions like a cardigan, tights, and booties.

I could literally wear any color cardigan with this dress, but on this day I chose a grey cardigan with an aztec print.

For footwear, I chose combat boots for both comfort and safety on ice covered sidewalks.  

And now to show you how versatile and OLD this dress is, here are a few other ways I've styled it in the past:

With a suede jacket and ballet flats.

                                                                With a sunhat and sandals.

                                                        With a black cardigan and booties.

                                                                       With dress shoes

Have I inspired you to add a denim dress to your closet if you haven't already?  They are so versatile, you will never regret purchasing one.

And now let's see what the rest of the ladies in the group are wearing.

Nina

Nina - Sharing a Journey - Are you tired of jeans?  Skinny jeans were with us for such a long time I actually was bored.  Things have changed my friends, it’s time to try the new silhouettes .

Emma

Emma - The Style Splash - Until recently, I had never owned a denim dress or skirt…and then I bought two denim vintage dresses on eBay! I love the style of this dress, with the shoulder pads and embellishment. Oh, and it has pockets too!

Nicole

Nicole - High Latitude Style - This look triples on denim with the shirt skirt and booties.Unfortunately, denim or the good old blue jeans are not a good idea in winter in Alaska. It dries too slowly and hence your sweat may freeze. Therefore, denim is either a cover-up in summer in the form of a jacket or mosquito protection when gardening in the form of jeans. Ever since my college time, I had a denim skirt despite they don’t drape nicely.

Ada

Ada - Elegance and Mommyhood - A pair of dark wash skinny jeans will never ever go out of style - I don’t care what “the style experts” say. Dark skinny jeans are something every woman needs in her closet. I paired mine with the color of the year in a gorgeous shade of lilac.

Julie

Julie - Fashion Trends and Friends and Instagram FashionTandF -  Dark wash, light wash, distressed, high, mid and low waisted, flares, bootcut, wide leg, skinny, curvy fit, boyfriend…so many choices with colors, fit and style!  How do you even begin?!  I’m taking the mystery out of how to style your body type and sharing my current favorite jeans!

Nancy

Nancy -  Nancy’s Fashion Style - I am, and never have been, a huge denim lover. Although I have to say that I already own 3 pairs of jeans! But I did love this jumpsuit years ago, it was a bit snug so gave it away. Might have to shop for another one! I think I will love denim one day!

Shelbee

Shelbee - Shelbee on the Edge - I am embracing the resurgence of the 90s denim trends with my oversized black distressed dad jeans. I remember wearing my dad’s jeans exactly this way 30 years ago!

Suzanne

Suzanne - Ask Suzanne Bell - Think jeans aren’t for you?  Think again. Like many women, I hate shopping for jeans. It's a pain in the butt. So perhaps you've given up - convinced yourself that jeans are not for you.  Like swimsuits and bras, jeans are not a one style fits all. But with some guidance, I think you will find that jeans can be a classic staple. Find the fit for you, and you’ll have a wardrobe workhorse for life.

And Me!

Amy - Amy’s Creative Pursuits -  Denim dresses never go out of style, but they are really trending right now.  I have had this denim dress in my closet for years.  I normally wear it in the warmer months, but here I styled it for cooler temperatures.

Have a Great Day! Amy

Linking up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

 

And now be sure to link up your favorite denim or fashion looks with us too!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Grandma & Me: Establishing Traditions

When my sweet granddaughter Alethea was visiting me for two weeks during the summer, one of the many places we took her was the famous "Nelson Cheese Factory".  I wrote all about the Cheese Factory in this post if you missed it.  Going to the Cheese Factory is a summer family tradition for us.  Most of the time, we just get ice cream, but I also love to go there for lunch with my girlfriends or to just enjoy some of their delicious coffee.

This was Alethea's first visit to the Cheese Factory and I said to my daughter,  "We should bring her here every summer and take a picture under the "Nelson Cheese Factory" sign.  It will be so fun to watch as she grows up in those pictures!" 

So here is Alethea's very first picture at Nelson Cheese Factory.  Just look at that smile!  What a doll.

For our special first photo shoot at the Nelson Cheese Factory, we chose blue chambray dresses;  mine is a solid blue, Alethea's dress is a blue and white stripe.  We accented our dresses with black accents.  I wore black booties, a black cardigan, and carried a black bag (everything old).  Alethea wore pretty black shoes and she was suppose to wear a black hair bow but somehow we forgot to put it on her before we started to snap pictures.  Ah, the realities of fashion blogging.  😊  She finally reached the age where she started pulling hair bows off her head, so if there is a hair bow we want her to wear for photos, we have to put it on her right before we start taking pictures and distract her so she doesn't notice it!  Ha ha!  Oh, all the tricks we have learned to photograph Alethea!

I did not forget my hair bow though! 😊 I wore a light grey plaid hair band from Forever 21.

After we enjoyed our delicious coffees at the Nelson Cheese Factory, we headed to Wabasha to take a walk along their river walk.

Oh, my little pumpkin.  I miss her so much.  Thanksgiving can't come fast enough for me.  Only a few more weeks, and I will have her in my arms again!

So do you have any annual traditions with your grandkids?  What are your plans for Thanksgiving?  Will you be able to spend time with family?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

A New Chambray Dress

We finally had a warm spring day and I could wear one of new purchases.  I bought this Liz Claiborne chambray dress  last month and I have been dying to wear it.   I already owned a chambray dress from Old Navy (see This POST), but that one has longer sleeves and is more appropriate for cooler weather.  I wanted a chambray dress that is comfortable to wear in hot weather...and I found it in this dress!

On the day I wore this dress the temperatures started in the sixties and ended in the nineties.  It was our first really hot day, and would you believe people already started complaining about the heat?  Ugh, that just drives me crazy.  We suffer with bitter cold temperatures for so long most of the year, that we need to appreciate warm days when we have them...not complain about them.

Anyway, because it was chilly in the morning I wore a yellow cardigan over my dress.  When the temperatures warmed up, I simply rolled it up and put it in my tote in case I needed inside air conditioned buildings.

I bought this cardigan years ago from Kohl's, but I don't wear it much.  I really like it, and I always get compliments on it when I do wear it.  It is such a cheerful color, but because of the color and the odd asymmetrical cut, it doesn't go with much.  But it is way too much of a one-of-a-kind piece to ever get rid of, so it has become a permanent fixture in my closet.

The last time I showed you this cardigan was last year in THIS POST.  I wore it with a colorful tee shirt and white pants.

My tote I found in a garden center last Easter.  I love it for traveling because I can really pack a lot into it.  The day I wore this outfit and carried this tote, I went to the automotive repair shop and shopping.  I could easily fit my lap top inside this tote and carry it into the repair shop so I could get some work done while waiting for my car.

I tell you, I'm having so much fun having a new flowering tree or bush to take fashion photos in front of.  Usually I agonize trying to find a new photo location every week;   lately all I've had to do was step out my front door!  Aren't these pink blossoms on my flowering crab apple tree just gorgeous?

I absolutely LOVE this dress and I will most likely be wearing it all summer!  It is so, so comfortable.  The chambray is super soft, and for me it is very loose fitting.  I read a couple of reviews of this dress on JCP on-line where women said that they felt "the dress was made for a teen's body and they had difficulty getting it on and off".  I had no problems like that whatsoever, so I have no idea why they experienced that.  I did size up to a medium, but only because I wanted the dress to be loose to keep me cooler in hot temperatures.  I easily could have fit into a small, and a part of me things the dress might be a bit too loose and I should have went with a small.  I don't know, what do you think?  Good fit or too loose?

Here is the back of the dress.  I just love the wide hem and the style of the neckline.  I also like the length of this dress.  Most skirts and dresses are too short for my taste these days, and it's hard to find a nice length like this one.

My hat I also picked up at J.C. Penney and would you believe I only paid 97 cents for it?  I actually purchased about four hats the same day, because they were only 97 cents!   It was the end of summer and they were just trying to get rid of them, and lucky me, I got to them before anyone else did!

Speaking of hats, no, I did not wear this hat shopping.  I only put it on for the photo shoot.  And no, I'm not being a phony, because I would have worn this hat if the occasion would have required one.  Here is my philosophy on hats:  they are for protection from the elements.  If I went shopping outdoors, to a fair, hiking...anything where I would be outside all day,  I'd have a hat on.  But if I'm just walking from my car to the inside of a store, no, I would not wear a hat.  But, I do like to wear my hats for fashion photo shoots to show my readers all the different accessories you can add to an outfit.  And I have no problem whatsoever with anyone who likes to wear a hat indoors or for other reasons either.  It's just that I am not personally comfortable wearing a hat just to go shopping or if I'm indoors for a long period of time.

My sandals are wedges and they are from Famous Footwear (old)

 The wash of the chambray and the cut of the neckline, make this chambray dress so attractive.  The original price of the dress is $60.00.  It was on sale for 50% when I bought it, and I used a $15.00 off coupon...so the total cost of the dress was $15.00!!!!!!  What a steal for such a great dress!  And, I already washed it and it did not shrink!  I did have to iron it after washing.

My necklace is new.  I picked it up while vacationing in Florida.  I love the gold rope and the mix of colors.

I wore the dress with the belt it came with, but I think it would be really fun to wear it with a different belt too.  If it's really hot, you could just wear it loose with no belt at all!  On me, it would be too loose to wear it like that, so I would always have some type of belt on with this dress.

I wore gold, brown, and diamond bracelets on my wrist to coordinate with the colors and stone styles in the necklace.

I'm so happy with this dress and I envision myself practically living in it this summer.  It's so much more comfortable that shorts, and prettier too.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!