I briefly touched on this in my last blog post, but preppy style is back and I’m so excited to see its return! Button-ups, collegiate pullovers, tennis skirts, and headbands are the cutest combo right now, especially with Gen-Z. I went through a hardcore preppy phase when I was younger and I love that this is a more fashion-forward version of what I wore in high school.
I chose to layer my Oklahoma pullover on top of a classic white button-up. I matched the white stitching on the pullover to a white tennis skirt and added white Filas to keep my outfit looking sporty. I wanted to wear a fabric athletic headband but only had one in black, so I chose a black shoulder bag to tie in with my headband and the black Nike swoosh on my skirt. To give my pullover the slightest bit of structure, I lightly tucked one side into the waistband of my skirt. That little detail gave it such a cute asymmetric and casual hemline!
I love this look for days where I have class on campus, game day, or really any day that I’m looking to show my Sooner pride! Will you be watching the Red River Rivalry game tomorrow? I know I will be!
One of my favorite trends for fall 2020 has to be jewel tones. I love the classic white, cream, brown, and black colors that traditionally accompany fall and winter fashion, but jewel tones are making a statement this year and I’m super excited to be able to mix things up. Right now, my favorite jewel tone is ruby red (this might be because I’m an OU student and it’s incredibly close to crimson.)
I knew I wanted to pair my ruby shirt with my pleated skirt because the plaid pattern also has red in it. A match made in heaven! Since the pleated skirt already has a preppy vibe, I decided to really lean into it and accessorize with a pearl headband and matching white booties.
This is one of my favorite outfits I’ve styled lately! I plan to share another post later in the season about how preppy fashion is making a comeback, so be on the lookout for that. I’m definitely a prepster at heart so all these trends are making my heart sing!
It’s been a long time since I shared a day-in-the-life post! The pandemic and hybrid in-person/online school has made it really hard to set a routine for myself, but every week I get closer to finding a schedule that works for me. I’m going to show you what a typical day looks like for me on a day where I have plans with friends, get some work done solo, and have a class to attend in the evening. I hope this helps you get an idea for what life is like as a graduate student!
Even though I knew I was heading to brunch soon, the first thing I had to do when I woke up in the morning was make myself some iced coffee. I live for my caramel iced coffee that I make with a Keurig. Some days I take my iced coffee and a book out to read in our courtyard, but today I had plans and needed to start getting ready sooner. I drank this cup while sitting at my desk while checking my agenda/email and making sure I was caught up and ready for the day.
Because we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, I don’t get to see my friends as often anymore. The safest thing we know how to do is outdoor dining, and today the plan was brunch at a Norman favorite (Neighborhood JAM!) It was supposed to be a little chilly when we arrived but warm up as the morning went on, so I chose to layer a black turtleneck under a silk slip dress.
As always, brunch was *chef’s kiss*. I was the only one who treated myself to a mimosa (the others opted for coffee) and we all ordered “The Heap”, which is essentially just loaded hashbrowns. It kept me full through about 4:00 PM, which I was not mad about. Loved seeing my friends, it had been a while since I saw them since our schedules got a lot harder to plan around with school in full swing!
I checked the mail when I got home and realized that I had two surprises waiting for me! One was some CASETiFY phone cases I had ordered the week before, and the other was a postcard from my friend Erica who recently moved to go to graduate school in Indiana.
I had been wanting a new phone case for a while and immediately swapped out my old one for the black and pink one. It’s too cute, I’m obsessed!
After the high from opening my packages wore off, I decided I should try to get some work done. I was working to get ahead so I could relax when I went out of town in the coming days.
Once the weather warmed up even more, I took my studying outdoors and did some of my work from the comfort of my apartment complex’s rooftop deck. I love this area for relaxing, socializing, and studying, and I’m almost always alone up there! It really is a hidden gem of the complex and I can’t wait to watch football up here later in the season.
After a successful few hours of work, it was time for me to head to my evening class. I snapped this selfie right before heading out to campus. It’s weird having a class that only partially meets in person, but this was one of those days and I did feel a little relief of being able to get out of the house again.
When class ended, it was time to go home and start my evening routine. I had planned to get more work done after class, but I was feeling pretty drained and decided to call it an evening pretty early on. Overall, I had a good day and loved the combo of seeing friends, getting work done, and going to class!
What do your days typically look like? Everyone’s lives are turned upside down right now and we are all looking to add some normalcy to our daily and weekly routines. Let me know how you set a schedule for yourself!
Fall is in full swing here in Norman, Oklahoma and that means it’s time for one of my favorite times of year: layering szn! Being able to transition summer outfits to fall is so fun and easy because sometimes all you needs is a comfy jacket of your choice. That’s what I opted for in today’s #OOTD- I got to break my favorite corduroy jacket out of the closet and use it to warm up my summery outfit.
Corduroy is one of my favorite fabrics for fall, and I’m so glad I have this jacket as a closet staple. I found it while thrifting on my 2019 spring break trip and I’ve been relying on it in the spring and summer months ever since. It’s a little oversized, which makes it perfect for layering.
By the way, can we talk about how cute this white baguette bag from SHEIN is? I found this beauty while thrifting and it was still in perfect condition. Can’t wait to add similar styles to my collection, they’re the perfect size and are so trendy right now!
I need to be honest with you all- I wasn’t a fan of booties until this summer. For some reason, I always felt like whatever bootie I put on made my legs look shorter, and for someone with legs that are already on the shorter side, that was less than ideal. But then over the summer I purchased these white booties, and that was it- I knew I was going to need to get my hands on some black booties ASAP to round out my shoe collection.
These black booties from Steve Madden were floating around my TikTok “For You Page” a lot over the summer, and eventually (once my final paycheck hit my bank account) I knew it was time to take the plunge. They are almost exact dupes of these Gucci booties, but without the $1100 price tag. As a college student, I love saving money wherever I can and being able to get the look for $1000 less was absolutely amazing!
I have several friends that have purchased these booties as well, so I know they’re going to be a really popular shoe choice for fall 2020. I chose to style them with a white button-up, black skirt, and gold chain belt to coordinate with the gold encasing the jewels on the boots. I think it’s so chic and the booties definitely add a little bit of an edge to this feminine outfit!
A word of warning about the Steve Madden booties- they hurt like a b!tch until you finally have them broken in. They literally wore holes into my calves the first time I wore them. I’m actually not sure if I’m breaking in the shoes or if the shoes are breaking in me- either way, I’m excited to finally have them worn in enough to wear without needing bandaids!
One of my favorite style obsessions from this summer has to be wearing silk scarves as tops. I ordered 2 from Amazon immediately and have been loving them ever since. But be warned- do too much physical activity in these babies and they have a tendency to slide right down your torso, no matter how tight you think you tied the knot. I’m speaking from personal experience here.
While there are several different ways you can tie a silk scarf as a top, my personal favorite is the one pictured. This style definitely favors the IBTC, so if you need a little more coverage, this might not be the style for you- a halter-style tie may be more feasible. All you need to do to achieve the style I’m currently sporting is fold your square scarf into a triangle diagonally, then bring it around with the widest angle pointing straight down your back. Tie the 2 ends into a knot and adjust, then you’re done!
Having worked several retail jobs in my life, I’ve learned a few things about clothing. One thing I’ve especially picked up on is the difference between men’s and women’s clothing. While womenswear often caters to more trendy styles, menswear tends to stick to the basics. In my experience, it also tends to be higher quality, softer, more durable- the list goes on.
So why is it so uncommon for women to venture into the men’s section when purchasing clothing? Androgyny is becoming more and more mainstream, but as a sales associate I still rarely saw women venture into the men’s section, and vice versa. In reality, being able to purchase clothing because you like it, not just because of the gendered section it’s sorted into, opens up a whole new world of possibilities for both men and women.
For this outfit, the menswear piece I chose to style was the button-down shirt. While I appreciate a good androgynous look, that’s not completely my style, so I wanted to make sure I was able to style this men’s piece in a way that was still feminine. I chose to style this look with a black lacy bralette, high-waisted mom denim shorts, and gold accessories to balance out the masculinity of the men’s shirt. I also chose to partially tuck in my shirt to add visual interest with a faux asymmetric hemline.
Shoutout to my old coworker Mikey for being the inspiration behind my half-tucked shirt! I loved this style last summer but totally forgot about it until I saw him rocking it one day at work. If you’re not following him on Instagram, you should be- he’s a thrift and vintage stylist and a total fashion icon!
I’ve been moved into my new apartment for just over a week now and I’m so glad to be back in Norman. I’m already loving my bedroom and had such a good time planning it out in the weeks before my move. If you’ve been following along since my Austin room tour last summer, some things might look familiar, but I tried to incorporate a lot of new pieces as well! If I can find the new pieces online, I’ll have them linked down below.
My bed was super important to me when planning out my space because I knew it was going to be the focal point of the room. I had a mostly white comforter before, but decided to upgrade to full white for my new room. I tried to phase out navy as one of my colors and decided to shift more to light blue instead. It was a little hard to imagine the finished product without an actual bed to put things on, but I’m super happy with the final product!
My étagère is by far my favorite part of my whole room. This room is super limited on closet space (something I’m still getting used to) and I knew I would need something extra to help hold all my accessories. This TikTok was my inspiration, but obviously I knew my space was tight so I needed to scale it down a little bit. I decided it would be the perfect place to display my handbags and my favorite pairs of shoes, along with my jewelry organizers and my Burberry perfume! If I acquire more shoes and/or bags I may start rotating them out, but for now everything I wanted to display fits perfectly.
This little wall was perfect for my minimalistic portraits! I picked up this hobby in quarantine and have been loving it ever since. (Want one of your own? Visit Kayla Creative Co.) I usually frame actual photographs of my friends and I, but wanted to take a slightly different route this year. I got the frames from Michael’s for super cheap and printed the portraits myself, and I just feel like this wall adds so much personality to the space!
As a full-time graduate student with many side hustles, I knew my desk area had to be perfect. I love that it comes with a built-in light- no lamp necessary- and is a lot bigger compared to my last apartment desk. I was able to fill the upper shelves with more accessories, decor, and office supplies.
This photo board was the last thing to arrive (it was actually delivered to my apartment several days after I moved in) and I knew I wanted to turn it into a vision board. I work at my desk every day and wanted to have this in prominent view so I could always be reminded of what I’m working towards.
It’s crazy to me that the start of the school year is almost here! So excited to take on my final year of college (!!!) as a graduate student. It may look different, but overall I’m feeling optimistic. How does school look for your university this year?
I’ll be honest- when I first found out that combining denim washes was going to be a trend in 2020, I was hesitant. I wrote a blog post about easing yourself into it (using black denim and navy denim as my example) but was unsure if I would ever mix two shades of blue in my ensembles. Fast forward to July, and combining denim washes is now one of my favorite trends I’m seeing right now. Who would’ve thought? Not me!
I had been on the hunt for the perfect pair of two-tone denim jeans all summer and finally found them a few weeks ago. They’re different from anything else I have in my closet and I love how trendy (but simple) they are. When styling these, I like to try to keep my top pretty basic since I know that the jeans are the true star of the show. Paired with some trendy gold jewelry and a simple black headband, this outfit is good to go!
I’ve been sharing some fancier #OOTDs with you all lately, so I hope you enjoy this more casual look. This is a pretty good representation of what I wear on a day-to-day basis when I don’t have a ton of errands to run and I’m mainly working from home.
Do you all prefer the casual or fancy looks? Let me know in the comments!
You ever feel like dressing up “just because”? That was me this morning. No plans, no errands to run. I just felt like putting on a cute outfit and feeling good about myself. I snagged this Urban Outfitters romper one of my first days on the job at Uptown Cheapskate, and I’ve been looking for a reason to wear it ever since. As you can see, I eventually decided I don’t always need a reason to wear my favorite clothes. Simply wanting to is reason enough.
I wanted to keep this look pretty classic, so I decided to stick to the greyscale color scheme and accessorize with simple black accessories. I’m in love with the new bag I got from JW PEI and hope to add some more styles to my collection in the future. I feel like it added just the right amount of “extra” to my outfit!
For those of you who have been following along for a while, you may have noticed that this romper looks familiar to the dress I wore for my blog’s first anniversary shoot. I’m in love with plaid, so even though I recognized that I already had a similar item in my closet, I caved and bought this romper anyways. Do you have any prints or patterns that you’re drawn to over and over again? Let me know in the comments so I feel less alone!
Selfies & OOTDs 