Trying Nuuly: Outfit 5

 

Perhaps the only other dress in my Nuuly order that was so tempting for me to buy was this 18th Mini Dress by Selkie.  While I don't love the lace around the neck, the colors are so lovely although not terribly well portrayed in these photos.  For myself, I liked the dress, but on my daughters, I absolutely loved the dress!   Note the appearance of my taffy tom cat back there.  He really needs for you to see him, but he doesn't want to seem like he needs you to see him, so he bombed the photo and then looked away.

If you are looking for a Selkie dress, the money you can save can make a Nuuly account truly worth it.  To purchase this dress, it would cost $133.25.  Factor in the $88 rental fee divided by six items (88/6 is about $14.60) added to the purchase cost and you have $147.85.  Given that this dress cost $325 from Selkie, you're saving $177.15 (that's a little over 50%)  off the retail cost and it's very likely that you'll get a new or nearly new dress.  

This officially wraps up my shopping experience with Nuuly and overall, I would say that it was positive.  If there is a downside, I would say that I wish I could keep everything for six weeks instead of four.  Since it took nearly a week to arrive, I feel like I barely had a chance to wear everything before it was time to send it back, but oh well.  I did enjoy having new things in my wardrobe to try out and maybe they'll release some other little gems that will make me want to try this again soon.

Cherish the Calm

The new year has dawned and I still have a little bit of hope that things will straighten up and turn out alright, the greater part of me feels like the world is in a tailspin and there's no pulling up.  That's for the world at large.  Personally I'm trying very hard to have order in my life, to make things better however I can.

After the calm comes the storm.  I suppose that's the reverse of how that old saying goes but for me it's not a matter of weathering the storms but expecting them.  It's that sense of unease when things are too quiet.  (This dress by the way, was one of my freebies from J.ING.  I'm so disappointed that they ended the $100 prize for submitting reviews!)

Anytime I get a nice little break from work or life in general it is immediately followed by a tempestuous season of high activity the likes of which a few days preemptive rest have barely readied me for. 

That's why I take my peace and quiet so seriously.  I know they won't last and if I don't make the most of them, I won't make it through the next storm with my health and sanity intact.

Right now I am in the middle of one of my busiest, and most physically demanding weeks of the year, so I am thankful for every morning I slept in, every healthy meal I took time to prepare, every quiet moment spent in reflection, staring out a window lost in thought.  I'll just have to hope that it's enough to get me through this crazy week so I can rest again and prepare for the next one on the way.

Shopping Info:  Melissa Black Bow Tie Dress-$69.99 from J.ING

Selkie Savings Goals

Selkie is having a sale right now and there's this one dress that I want soooooo badly.  But, here is a very hard truth:  As much as I love Selkie Dresses, they don't love me back.  I absolutely adore the prints, but Selkie's styles look truly awful on me.  I know I'm not alone because I see so many Selkie Dresses for sale that are either "just tried on" or "only worn for photos."  In a certain pose the dresses can look nice, but they're just not for regular wear.

Selkies are short where they should be long, and shockingly short where they could be tasteful mini dresses, extremely expensive for what more and more begins to feel like "fast fashion," poofy to the point of being overwhelming, and the size chart is baffling, and the list of complaints on the forums about dresses arriving defective and Selkie refusing returns keeps growing by the day.  Oh, Selkie, WHY?!

The Ritz gown for example is perfect in every way except it's waaaaay to long to wear on a daily basis.  The puff dresses have no waist, which most women need, so I thought I'd try this Royal Puff from a resale site.  It has more of a waist and it's the right length, but it's 80% sleeves!  I feel like I'm swimming in this dress.

And yet, I love several of the Spring 2022 collection prints.  Love Them!  So, I've been saving up to buy two or three when they release in a couple of months.  I'm glad I paid attention during the fashion week release so I know about how much to save and now I have six months in which to work on saving.  That's one of my strategies for buying pretty dresses is to save up for a few months until I can afford them because I don't do credit card debt and I can't have my family making sacrifices for my dress obsession. 

In the mean time, I intend to do a little tailoring to this dress, because I have plenty of dresses that are for special occasions only and I don't need anymore.  So, these sleeves have got to go and while I'm at it, I may take the entire bottom ruffle off my Ritz Gown too.  These dresses shouldn't just be for photos

Shopping Info:  Selkie Royal Puff in Cherry Blossoms from Poshmark

The Return of Date Night

The days are getting longer, the sun is shining a little brighter, and it is finally time to start shedding those layers!  I look forward to these warm summer days each year almost as much as I look forward to my collaboration with FemmeLuxe each month.  If you're new to reading my blog, then you should know that each month the lovely people at FemmeLuxeFinery.co.uk send over a few items for me to try and share with fellow fashionistas like you.  This month, in my honest but humble opinion, I have some really spectacular outfits planned and I am so excited to share them with you, I had a hard time deciding which one to do first.  

In the end, I decided to lead with this little shock of electric blue also known as the Royal Blue Ruched Cowl Neck Bodycon Mini Dress--Sofie.  I thought it was a great lead in to this month's collaboration because for the first time in so many months, it's warm enough for me to wear a mini dress and not get goosebumps, hooray!  I got up before sunrise this morning to go out and take these photos, (my photographer was not pleased about having to be up so early, but he good naturedly came along and I bought him coffee on the way which further improved his his mood) and even though the sun was just coming up when we arrived at this location, I didn't need a wrap or coat to wear while we walked to this street.  Forget about dates and meteorology, me being outdoors and comfortable is how I know it is finally summer.

It feels like it has been ages since I've been out, not just due to quarantine restrictions, I feel like I hadn't been out long before that.  Maybe I tend to stick close to home in the winter months all warm and cozy in my loungewear or T-shirts and joggers, or maybe, and I think this is the more accurate of the two possibilities, my schedule was overly full and I didn't realize it until everything shut down and I had the chance to breathe again and see just how many things were taking up my time.  I feel like I had let some of the important things, like setting aside time to go out on a date with Mr. Bleu.  

There is something about a slinky dress on a summer date night that I cannot resist and since many restaurants are reopening, I hope to wear this flirtatious little mini dress on date night soon.  There are some really great things about a mini dress like Sofie.  For starters, how about this brilliant royal blue?!  Talk about stunning, and the fit is amazing.  I love how comfortable this Sofie dress is too.  Short, sassy, but it lets me breathe and comfort is extremely important to me.  I don't mind suffering for fashion now and then, but I'll skip it for something more relaxed and enjoyable if I can.  Fortunately the Sofie dress is both very fashionable and comfortable.

Another great feature of the Sofie Dress is this lovely draped cowl neck which gives a softened feminine neckline.  I always trust FemmeLuxe's clothes to make me look fab and one of my favorite features on their bodycon dresses is ruching which this dress has plenty of.  If you feel insecure about wearing a bodycon dress, ruching  provides a visual camouflage for trouble zones.  And, as always, I try to note if I'm wearing any shape wear.  In this instance I am wearing a half slip which does not really do much shaping but does provide a smoother silhouette, which I love.  

I accessorized this dress just as I will when I get to wear it on date night, which will hopefully be very soon.  I kept things simple and classic with pearl earrings and a pearl necklace and some new shiny peep toe patent leather pumps in black.  Tomorrow I have another stunning dress to showcase for you, so please come back and join me again on Tuesday for a little something in white.

Shopping Info: Royal Blue Ruched Cowl Neck Bodycon Mini Dress - Sofie from FemmeLuxeFinery.co.uk, heels by Aldo, Fresh Water Pearl Earrings from Natuloth

A Warm Jumper and a Cup of Coffee

Another quiet Sunday morning in this sleepy little town and I thought this old truck would make nice backdrop for some photos this morning. It has been cloudy for weeks and it seems like everywhere I go people are taking notice of dreary it's been lately. Personally I have been feeling a little nostalgic for the Pacific Northwest and that tiny little island in the frozen sea where we spent three years of perpetual winter and gloom. 

 I know that sort of description doesn't make it sound like the sort of place I should miss now that I'm not there, but in spite of all the cold and fog and rain, I have some wonderful memories of long walk with my little girls on rainy afternoons all huddled under the same umbrella or down to the icy ocean to look but not touch for fear of hypothermia. Good times.

So, while others are starting to getting a little case of the winter blues, I've been taking these cloudy days in stride, because they remind me of happy times and because I know that even though it seems like winter will never end, it always does. As winter stretches on just a little longer and the busyness of life shows no signs of slowing down, it is nice to have something warm and comfortable to wear around the house or out running errands. I decided to go out for coffee this morning to this wonderful local shop that roasts their own beans and has the friendliest service around. It's funny how no matter how chilly it is outside and hot cup of coffee and a nice cozy sweater like this Grey High Neck Bodycon Jumper Dress - Esmelia can warm your heart as well as your body.

It is FemmeLuxe week here on the blog and I'm so excited to share my outfits with you this month. For today's post, and since it is still quite chilly outside, let's focus on the warm and fuzzy world of sweater mini dresses. You may remember last month that I wore a couple of sweaters from FemmeLuxe. The topics for those posts covered chic casual wear and how to wear a mini dress as a tunic and vice versa. You can see those posts here and here. I was so pleased with how both of those sweaters looked that I wanted to try another sweater and leggings post.

FemmeLuxe's sweaters look so polished and chic and yet they feel so comfortable that I could not resist adding another one to February's collaboration with FemmeLuxe and I knew exactly which sweater I wanted to showcase. This Esmelia sweater dress is so soft, with a nice ribbed pattern, mock turtle neck and just the right amount of stretch, and the perfect length for wearing with leggings. Although the Esmelia jumper could be worn as a mini dress, and I think it will look quite stylish that way, especially with a nice wide belt and heels, today is all about comfort so I thought I'd wear it as a tunic instead.

Last month for my sweater posts when I wore my sweaters as tunics, I chose a bright comic print to go with the bright pink sweater and a snake print accompanied the black sweater, so this time I thought I would go for gingham. Gingham is an understated print, especially in black and white, that I think it goes perfectly with the pale gray of the Esmelia Dress. 

Gray is a neutral color so it goes with anything which means the outfit potential is limitless. In the future I would like to try pairing my Esmelia jumper with bright red leggings, maybe in a shiny PU leather like FemmeLuxe's Skylar Trousers, a wide black belt, and black heels for something a little more edgy. But today is all about relaxing in comfort, so I'll save that outfit for another day and for now, I'll just enjoy my walk, my hot cup of coffee, and my nice cozy sweater.

Shopping Info: Sweater from FemmeLuxe, Pants from Shein