Outfit // Red, White, & Blue

Happy belated 4th of July to my fellow American friends out there! It isn't too late to say that, is it? And it definitely isn't too late for a little patriotic outfit post, right? :) Of course, it was my goal to actually post this on the 4th of July, but you know... Things happen and holidays are busy! We had a great weekend, from start to finish. We went to the movies, I spent the day at the pool with my gal pals, we went out for drinks with friends, went to two different BBQs, watched fireworks, and watched the women's World Cup! It was quite the wonderful, busy weekend and I am sad that it is over. The last few weeks have been pretty great and have been filled with lots of summer fun! Hopefully I'll eventually get around to talking about it a bit more, but for now here's an outfit post featuring my cute pup as a special guest :)
With any holiday or event, I always love to plan out the most perfect outfit to go along with it. When I saw this beautiful blue gingham dress on eShakti, I knew I had to have it for the 4th of July. It is such a great dress to add a little American spirit and will be great for pretty much any occasion outside of that as well! Aside from the print, what I love about this dress is the fact that I got it for only $20, with shipping! I have discovered that there are many eShakti coupon codes out there that will help you get great quality dresses at a steal. I even ordered two more dresses at the same price. Oops! Can't pass up a deal like that though! ;)

I like how this dress ties in the front to create a cute little bow detail. It can also be tied in the back for some variation, but I prefer it tied in the front for myself.
I absolutely love the way this dress fits me and the nice shape that it gives me. I'm not gonna lie, I feel pretty great about myself in this particular dress and that never hurts! Gingham has recently become one of my favorite patterns and blue has always been one of the best colors on me since it brings out my eyes.
I don't know if Marly has ever been featured in an outfit post, but I think he has been enjoying being in the spotlight a bit more on the blog :) He is definitely a cute sidekick! I just wish that I had something patriotic for him to wear as well!
This week is going to be another busy, but good one! I have work, school, and will be heading down to San Diego to spend a week with my family. I am really looking forward to relaxing and hopefully going to the beach! I will also be heading up to LA for a day while I'm there for a fundraiser, so I will have to pick out the perfect outfit for that ;)

How was your holiday weekend? Do you have any fun summer plans?

Dress // eShakti

Sandals // Target

Outfit // An eShakti Story

Hello my dears! It has been a little while since my last outfit post, so I am really happy to be sharing this with you today. I don't really consider myself a fashion blogger, but style posts are probably my favorite ones to put together. I don't know when that happened, but I've learned to just go with it!

Recently, I was contacted by the online store eShakti to select a dress to feature here on the blog! For those of you who have not heard about eShakti until now, they are a women's clothing brand that offers vintage and retro inspired styles. In all honesty, I was super excited and it was a kind of "Hey, I must be doing something right with this whole blogging thing" moment for me. I have loved the dresses on the eShakti site for quite a while now and have seen many sponsored posts about them, so I was honored to finally be offered that opportunity haha it's the little things, you know?

I have always wanted so many dresses from their site, but never took the plunge to order one for myself. I am sorry that I have waited until now! I chose this embellished pinstripe number and customized it by adding short sleeves for a change from all the sleeveless ones I own and by shortening the hem a bit. That is the great thing about eShakti; basically every item they sell is customizable in some way. You can add or take away sleeves, change the neckline, adjust the hem, or even provide your measurements to have a dress made just for you! It is really such a great service to offer, and all at a fairly low fee.


I am really so pleased with the construction and details of this dress. The fabric is such high quality and has a lovely heaviness to it, which is especially nice for colder months. It has very nice lining that gives it a little more fullness in the skirt. All of the stitching is so well done and there is evident attention to detail by the way the pattern of the fabrics line up so impeccably, something I appreciate.
My only hesitation with this dress is the sizing. I was generous with the size that I chose, selecting one that I thought may be a little big on me. Unfortunately, the dress ended up being fairly snug, specifically in the bust area. Luckily it zips up, but it is a bit constricting and I feel that "the girls" are kind of stuffed in there. It definitely flattens everything down and does not look quite as flattering as it could have. This does not taint my opinion of eShakti though, since things are often a bit snug for me in this area and because eShakti has such great customization options for future orders. Next time I will definitely opt to enter my personal measurements so that there are no issues!  
In the end, this dress is such a high quality piece that will be great to wear during the holidays and the colder months to come! Though the fabric is a bit heavy, I think this dress will be great in the spring with flats or sandals too! It also has a full circle skirt, which, as you know is very important to me. Even though I am 20-years-old, a girl has got to be able to twirl!

So, my conclusions about eShakti:
+ Next time I will use my personal measurements to customize the size of my dress.
+ If you have your eye on something from their site, don't hesitate because you will not be disappointed!
+ Why did I wait so long to get my first piece from them?!

As a side note, Dai and I decided to shoot these photos at a new little spot I found near my house. It is actually just a patch of grass on the corner of a street, but you would never know that! I am really happy with how this scenery photographed and think it was the perfect choice for this dress. Plus, it is nice that you can actually see the Golden Gate Bridge from this spot :)

Thank you to eShakti for gifting me this dress and sponsoring this post!

Have you ever shopped with eShakti? How would you customize your dress?

Dress // c/o Eshakti

Tights // Kohl's

Shoes // Crowne Vintage via DSW

Belt // Macy's

Disclaimer: This was a sponsored post. While I may have been compensated in some way, all views and opinions are my own.

Outfit // Red Vixen

Let me just start off by stating the obvious: I am in love with this dress! Do you remember the minty floral dress I received from Voodoo Vixen over the summer? Well, this lovely red number is another piece they sent me from their latest collection!

I can't resist a good fit and flare with a full skirt and have found that they tend to be the most flattering on my figure. I love that the Voodoo Vixen site is full of dresses in this style! It feels nice to know that I will always find something that is sure to fit my body well and I feel very confident ordering online from them for this reason.

As a side note, I found these adorable shoes at the mall this past weekend and I am so in love with them! I have always wanted a simple, classic black pair of Mary Jane heels are wedges and these fit the bill perfectly. They are pretty comfy so far and I like the matte suede finish to them. Plus they even look great with pants! I apologize in advance for how often these babies are going to appear here on the blog ;)

I don't actually have any red dresses in my closet, so this lovely one is a nice addition to my wardrobe! I love this playful, unique print, as well as the interesting neckline. I have never seen a neckline like this before and it is one of the reasons I chose this specific dress. I also really like that this black cloth belt comes with the dress, which makes it a complete look on its own! No need to find a belt and there is no need for a necklace since the neckline is already pretty interesting. It's a win-win in my book!

Oh, and pockets? I love them! I really enjoy when any dresses have pockets, but I specifically like that the ones on this dress are visible instead of hidden in the seams.

Overall, I am so happy with my experience shopping with Voodoo Vixen! I followed the size chart listed on their website to choose which one would be best for me, and although this particular dress is a little big on my upper back, I find it to be pretty accurate all around. I love that the quality of materials and tailoring is impeccable, and that their shipping is pretty speedy!

Big thanks to Voodoo Vixen for gifting me this beautiful dress and I look forward to adding more of their pieces to my wardrobe in the future!

Have you ever purchased anything from Voodoo Vixen? What style dress have you found is most flattering on you?

I hope everyone had a great Monday! I worked all day, but am happy to have the entire day off tomorrow :)

Dress // c/o Voodoo Vixen

Shoes // Cathy Jean

Disclosure: This was a sponsored post. While I may have been compensated in some way, all views and opinions are my own.

Outfit // Minty Vixen

It has sadly been a few weeks since my last outfit post, but I have been saving up to share this very special one with you all! Voodoo Vixen, an online boutique catering to the modern, retro-chic vixen, sent me this floral beauty of a dress. I was so excited when they contacted me to pick out anything from their store that I would like and I knew as soon as I stumbled upon this dress that it had to be mine!
The colors are fabulous and the print is unlike anything I have. I was definitely lacking a good floral in my wardrobe! Mint has been one of my favorite colors for a while, and I always welcome a little bit of pink sneaking its way in since I don't tend to choose it on my own.
I was very happy that the dress landed at my doorstep within a week of ordering it, since I really couldn't wait to have it in my hot little hands! It is always a gamble to order things online, but this dress really fits me like a glove. It has a hidden side zipper that I didn't notice the first time I put it on, but I was able to easily slip it on without it. The quality is impeccable and it feels like this dress was tailored just for me! The fabric is just heavy enough and feels wonderful to the touch. This dress is just a bit tight in the bust to be buttoned without the fabric buckling, so I opted to wear it with a white tank underneath instead of buttoning it all the way and love it all the same!
And it has just the right amount of *swish* to it too! Very important in a dress, of course.

Simply put, I feel quite beautiful and feminine in this dress! I really feel like I can do anything in it and honestly feel 100% confident in myself when I wear it. I absolutely adore the 50s shape and the little bit of edge that the retro-vintage quality gives it. Just my kind of sexy!

Though this was my first experience with Voodoo Vixen, I can already tell that I will be a long-time customer to this brand if all my future pieces are anything like this one! Claps all around for this dream dress!

Dress - c/o Voodoo Vixen

Wedges - Kohl's

Belt - Macy's

Necklace - Forever21

Ring - Lucky Brand

Outfit // Coral Kiss

Happy Friday, friends! Can you believe we are at the closing of another week? I must say, it has been a pretty good week for me. I worked in the afternoons/early evenings and had the mornings to do things like sleep in, hang out with Marly, run errands, and work on the blog! I've been thinking a lot about some changes I'd like to make here and how I'd like to keep moving forward in the blogging world, but I'll save that for Monday, when I share my June goals!

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may have noticed that I love a good sale and that I love Anthropologie. When the two come together, it is like Christmas for me. I had loved this dress when it first came out, but forgot about it until I saw it waiting for me on the sale racks. When it is marked down $100 from the original price, how can I say no?

I was expecting a pair of shoes to arrive in the mail and originally wanted to wait until I got them to style this dress with them (partly because I am sick of wearing these brown sandals in every style post lately haha). However, I ended up throwing that plan out the window and styling it like this when we went to visit my mom last weekend, where the weather was going to be in the high 90s. As soon as I slipped this dress on, I felt great in it. I even got a lot of compliments and a little girl told me I looked really pretty. 
Body image is definitely something I struggle with and it isn't all to often that I feel 100% confident in something I am wearing. This dress does that for me and that simple fact made me decide to photograph it just the way it was. We ended up stopping off on our way home to get this shoot in just before sunset and I am really happy with how the images turned out!
I feel so light, feminine, and free in this dress and, really, that is empowering. I also love the delicate keyhole detail on the back and the criss-cross kind of pattern on the bust.
The soft texture of this dress is also really interesting and adds a lovely level of dimension to it. It is so fun to run my hands over! I'll take it in 10 colors, thanks.

There are definitely some changes I know I need to make to improve my over-all health and to simply make myself a priority in that way, but it is great to be able to feel good in the skin you are currently in, you know? Loving yourself is important, no matter what you are afraid of others thinking.

What are your thoughts on body image and self love? And on a lighter note, what are you up to this weekend?

Also, I'm looking for some new blogs to add to my reading list. Any recommendations?

Outfit Details:

Dress // Anthropologie

Belt // Gap

Sandals // Target

Bag // Madewell