Pull It Together

Top - Urban Outfitters, Skirt - ModCloth, Wedges - ?, Belt - Vintage 

Have you ever tried on an outfit that looks pretty good, but you just feel like it's missing something? Like something is keeping a just OK outfit from being truly fabulous? For me, that was the struggle I had with this outfit over the weekend. I loved how the navy looked with the leopard print, and I couldn't wait to rock open-toed wedges since the weather is FINALLY nice around here. But I tried on nearly every black belt I had, and the outfit just sort of fell flat. No belt felt right, and I thought about nixing the whole outfit before I decided to call in reinforcements.

My sis is basically my "Dial a Friend" person for all of my emergency fashion needs. We've been doing it since we were teens...I'd call her from the mall and ask her opinions about potential purchases. Or I'd text her before a big date and run through different outfit options and ask her what shoes to wear. Now with the amazing capabilities of smart phones, my asking for fashion advice has gotten even easier. I'll text her photos of things and have her weigh in on what I should wear with what. Some recent picture texts involved my asking things like, "Am I too old/curvy for bright pink skinny jeans?" and "Why do they only make neon camis for tweens and what does it say about my maturity level that I want one?" She's always available for a fashion consult (for free!), and her advice has never let me down.

So when I was trying on this outfit and had every black belt I owned strewn on the bed, I turned to the increasingly impatient Boyfriend who looked like he was about to throw me in the car belt-less and said, "It's time to bring in a professional." He knew exactly whom I meant, and after sending her a few photos, the glorious "Ping!Ping!" of the phone told me that help had arrived. "Why don't you try a reddish/tannish brown? That color really goes with everything." Oh. My. God. It was so simple! And she couldn't have been more right. The reddish brown color looked great with the navy and with the leopard and just sort of pulled the outfit all together. She saved yet another outfit and kept the Boyfriend from losing his mind.

So the moral of the story here is, obviously, make sure you have a reddish/brown belt (it really does go with everything!) or a fashion guru sister on-call for those fashion emergency moments. Happy Monday!