In Her Natural Habitat

My real life wardrobe is really struggling lately to stay relevant. Due to my frugality, I don't replace old pieces and pick up new clothes as often as I should in order to have a fully current and versatile wardrobe. I'm working to fix this without over-spending and feeling guilty for not using my money on, say, groceries.

That being said, I went shopping at Macy's on Sunday with my husband. I had a few key pieces in my head that I was looking for, then just had the goal of keeping and open mind and trying a lot of stuff on. I did try a lot of stuff on, but only left with three items. I would have stayed longer, but the husband was growing restless. Anyway, this dress is one of the things I found!

It's the first of it's kind (the skirt/tank top in one) that I've found that flatters me. The silk tiers are flitty and fun without adding too much bulk to my hips like some tiered skirts can. I added the belt over the elastic waist to help "clean it up" a bit and create a more smooth transition between the top and the bottom.

I wore this out to lunch on Monday with my dear husband, then back to a different Macy's afterward to see if I could find the pieces I couldn't find. Those are my $8 Aldo shoes, and they proved really comfortable while buzzing around the racks for an hour or two.

Dress: INC at Macy's, $89 $17.80
Shoes: Aldo, $100, $29.99, $8
Bracelet: Forever21, $5.90
Belt: Forever21, $7.90
Necklace: Hollygems at Etsy, $20

Grand Total: $59.60

A Day at the Beach

Or the pool for those of us who prefer chlorine over sand. I put this together with prompt from Lillyella's Couture du Jour monthly challenge. The challenge has no budget, so I decided to make it applicable (and more difficult!) and keep it under $100. As you see, I just barely made it! My goal, though, was to create something that could be worn as an outfit, say, if you're going to a pool party or running to the store to stock your cooler before the beach.

Swimsuit: Spiegel
Skirt: Forever21
Necklace: gkrissica at Etsy
Sandals: Urban Original

A Little Bit Country, A Big Bit Polyvore

So I've recently been introduced to Polyvore and even more recently introduced to their set creator. If you haven't heard of Polyvore, it's a great fashion community where you can shop for items from different websites in one place. Their set creator lets you put together outfits like the ones you find in the magazines. If you've read my introduction, you know that those are what inspired me to create this blog. Once you've created your set, you can share it with the rest of the Polyvore community, as well as Facebook and Twitter, and of course your own blog!

So today I've found myself without internet at home, so I'm at Starbucks using their wi-fi. One problem with this is that I don't have Photoshop on my laptop! So, I've decided that today would be the perfect day to finally test out Polyvore's set creator for myself.

Overall, I think it's a great tool. Being a fairly seasoned Photoshopper, it was a little difficult adjusting to certain limitations, but I am happy with the outcome. It will definitely be something I can use when I find myself without Photoshop, like today, and possibly more. My relationship with my blog is still new and very dynamic, and so will be my relationship with Polyvore.

So, without further ado, my first collection created %100 with Polyvore:

Little Bit Country by hundyandundy featuring Qupid shoes

Skirt: Wet Seal
Tank: Arden B
Boots: Urban Original
Bracelet: Forever21
Bag: Forever21