FEATURE: Inspired to wear...

I received another photo submission today :) Andrea was inspired to wear a blazer with a statement necklace.  Here are the photos she sent me & this is what she had to say about her outfit:

Hey Naty,  I wore this to a christmas dinner. At first I had absolutely no idea what to wear, I didn't want to look too fancy but I definitely wanted to look fab. I decided to look through your blog and I got inspired by your Blazers Galore post and I also got inspired by how you were able to make outfits stand out with a statement necklace. So thats exactly what I did, I wore a plain black shirt, with a pair of blue jeans and a black blazer which I got all at H&M. The blazer had beige sleeves so to give some life to my outfit, I rolled up the sleeves and wore my nude pumps from Steve Madden. I broke out of my comfort zone and wore a statement necklace from Aldo, I LOVED it!!  Thanks for inspiring to put together this outfit, and helping me step out of my comfort zone. I loved it!!!  <3 Andrea - Rutherford, NJ.  I'm loving this necklace and the way it breaks up the black on top. The blazer sleeves rolled up with the nude pumps was also a great touch to this outfit. I think that every woman should have a pair of nude pumps.   You look very fab & trendy Andrea! I'm happy that I was able to help inspire one of your outfits!! Thanks so much for sending me this. xo  Email photos to ALOVEAFFAIRWITHFASHION@GMAIL.COM <3 "A girl should be two things: Classy & Fabulous" - Coco Chanel

Military Trend

I received another special request for a blog post on the current Military trend that came back for this fall/winter. This trend has been around for years.  Military style coats and blazers are especially huge this season.  I've been seeing them everywhere and I'm sure you have too. Khaki, fatigues & greys are the most common colors for this. Big buttons, belts, lace up boots & emphasized shoulders are some of the main elements that come with this style. But besides the jackets, there are actually other ways to wear this trend & incorporate the military inspired pieces into your wardrobe.

Starting from left to right:

Button down belted shirt dresses (DAY Birger) are another military inspired piece as well as these suede knee high boots with button embellishments (FENDI).  Wear something similar with this belted coat (TOPSHOP) and it's a surefire way to wear this trend.

This double breasted blazer (BALMAIN BLAZERS) would look great with a pair of khaki colored skinny pants (TOPSHOP).  You can wear something like this with a plain shirt underneath and then accessorize with a military vintage scarf (CODELLO), tassel ankle booties (STEVE MADDEN) and a military tote (MARC JACOBS)

Military parkas (SCOTCH & SODA) are a great way to wear this trend without using the obvious button/belted style jackets.  For a more casual style, wear this parka over a sweater with shoulder embellishments (CARVEN), a pair of dark denim skinny jeans (CITIZENS) and combat boots (ALL SAINTS).

For something a little different, if you want to take this trend a little further, try wearing military inspired trousers (MALENE BIRGER) with a silk button down (CHLOE), military pin (BKE BROOCHES), lace up booties (TORY BURCH), and a handbag like this one (ZADIG & VOLTAIRE).

Another popular military inspired piece are hats like this (KERIN ROSE).  It would look great with a shoulder embellished cardigan (HOTEL PARTICULIER), black leggings (WAREHOUSE), and lace up booties (SAINTS OF FASHION).

Another surefire way to rock this trend are with longer length coats that have belts/buttons (T.BABATON) and knee high/over the knee boots (BCBG).  This is great if you are looking to be "military chic."

I hope this helped and that it inspires you to try out this trend! :)

Post Christmas

Christmas came & went with the blink of an eye! I have to say though that I had an amazing day with my family.  There was good food, good drinks & even better company.  I made my mother & sister very happy with their presents and they definitely did a great job with mine.  Moments like those are the ones you cherish forever.

I wanted to post the outfits that I wore this weekend and a few of my new gifts :)  Christmas Eve I spent half the day with my family and the other half with my best friend & her fam at their annual Christmas Eve party.  During the day, I wore this great new creme sweater from H&M.  It comes just to the waist and it's loose fitting.  So very comfortable & I actually want to go back and get this in other colors.  I wore it with ripped jeans, a printed scarf, and my Steve Madden lace up booties.  Very casual, trendy & most importantly, cozy!

I put on these flower earrings from Forever21 and my big white oval ring from Aldo.

I transformed myself at night for the party.  I'm wearing this green dress from Zara.  It's very simple with slightly puffy sleeves that I love.  I wore my favorite statement necklace that I thrifted a few months back (it really made the outfit) with my Nine West tan pumps. I'm wearing my rustic ring from H&M and the final touch was Ruby Woo lipstick.  I got a lot of compliments on this look.  Very chic & sohpisticated, just how I like it!

Christmas day was spent at my aunt's house for dinner & drinks.  It was really casual, so I went with this new oversized sweater from H&M.  It's a mix of gold and bronze and it's extremely warm!  Almost a little too warm.  I put it over leggings with my over the knee boots.  Then I added this new scarf that I got for Christmas from my mom that matched perfectly with this amazing oversized envelope clutch that I also got from her this Christmas.  The last touch was Sophisto lipstick from MAC. 

Here's a pic of me & my family from yesterday :) Only thing missing is my father, my guardian angel <3 

I absolutely loved everything that I got, but here's a few of my favorite gifts this year. 

[Michael Kors wallet]

[Oh, Lola perfume by Marc Jacobs]

[Oversized Envelope Clutch]

[Treble Clef necklace from Boutique]

[Makeup Case- Caboodle]

Now I just have to find something fab to wear on NYE :)  I hope that you all enjoyed this holiday weekend! 

xo Naty

Happy Holidays :)

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! I still can't believe that this year is almost over.  I know we will all be busy this weekend celebrating with our families and friends so I wanted to get one more post in before Christmas.  I created a few more holiday inspired sets to give you some ideas of things to wear for Christmas & New Years :)

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend & get everything that you want.  Make sure to appreciate your loved ones during this season & always! <3 Naty

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Max and I would like to wish everyone a very safe and happy holiday season!

Be sure to spend time with your favorite people and animals.  They are worth more than any of the "stuff" that's passed around.

If you are going to drink, be sure to be the passenger so we are all safe on the road.

We are thankful for all of you and wish you a very peaceful Christmas.

HOLY STRIPES!

[H&M striped top]

I got a special request for me to make some sets with different ways to wear stripes & since I just wore them yesterday I thought today would be a great time to post this.  Stripes are another trend that's been around for awhile and believe it or not, there's a lot of different ways you can wear them.
It all depends on your personal preference and how much of it you want to wear.

There's a lot going on here, so I'll start from left to right.
These blue/white loafer flats are from RiverIsland.com & I think they're adorable.  For a real casual look, these would look great with a pair of dark skinny jeans, a plain white tee & a navy blue blazer.  These shoes are a great way to incorporate stripes into your outfit in a more subtle way. These jeans are from J Brand, shirt is Alexander Wang & Blazer from Modcloth.

Next is an outfit with some edge.  You can wear a black & tan striped shirt like this one from Oasis with a pair of leggings or black skinny jeans and booties.  These leggings are from Warehouse & booties are from French Connection.  Put on a leather jacket like this one from Dynamite & add a red scarf to throw in some extra color.  This one is from Target.

For a more comfy vibe, try an oversized striped sweater like this blue & white one from TopShop.  Wear it over a pair of leggings, these are Monsoon, and a pair of combat boots like these from Jeffrey Campbell. Throw on a white/creme snood like this one from All Saints for extra warmth & texture.

If you want to incorporate more stripes & color, go with a top like this blue/white one from Pure Dash.  Wear it with some ripped skinny jeans, these are DSquared & add a red blazer like this one from Warehouse.  Put on some red pumps, these are from TopShop & accessorize with a matching striped bag like this one from RI2K.  When I think of stripes, I think of red.  It's a great color to add to give your outfit that extra something.

Next is this striped skirt from Daphne.  You can wear something like this with a tucked in blouse, this one from Soaked In Luxury and put on some Mary Jane pumps like these from Dorothy Perkins.  It's a more sophisticated way to wear stripes.

I have a striped blazer jacket from Forever21 that I have posted about before and it's one of my favorites.  It's somewhat similar to this one from Chloe & it's a great way to add stripes to your ensemble.  You can wear it over a plain black dress similar to this one from Religion Clothing and put on black wedges like these from Steve Madden.  And then to add some color, accessorize with a red clutch.  This one is Leola.

For something a little sexier and chic, wear a dress like this orange one from Supertrash and pair it with some striped heels.  These are LISKA by THOMAS KIRCHGRABNER.  I am loving these colors.  The shoes are a really nice touch here.

As you can see, there are different looks that you can pull off with stripes.  Some people are afraid to wear them, but they can be really fun.  As I mentioned before, start off with some striped accessories.  You can get a scarf, hand bag, hat, gloves, or shoes and slowly start incorporating them into your wardrobe.  Experiment! That's what finding your style is all about :)

XX NATY <3 

Sweaters & Cardigans

It's time to stock up on sweaters & cardigans if you haven't already done so.  I remember a time when sweaters weren't really thought of as fashionable.  I have all these memories of really ugly ones with terrible patterns.  I used to get them as gifts for my birthday and Christmas when I was really young and I hated them lol (sidenote: I would love to go to an ugly sweater party for Christmas!)
But now, I adore them & they are very trendy. I have a lot of them. They come in so many different styles too like cowl & v neck, long & cropped, oversized, etc.  Same with cardigans. They go great with jeans & boots.  The longer length ones look really nice with leggings & a belt.  If long enough, you can wear it as a sweater dress. They look really good with printed scarves as well.  Cardigans are great for wearing over a sleeveless dress or top.  Basically, you can do so much with them.

I wore this not too long ago to the city for a casual dinner.  This is probably my favorite sweater right now.  It's from H&M of course.  I put on a thin black belt, also from H&M, to bring it in around my waist and to break up some of the color. I wore it over leggings with my Bakers wedges.  Then I just accessorized with silver jewelry.  I wore this another time as a sweater dress with black stockings and boots.  

Here I'm wearing another pair of leggings with a plain black top, same wedges & my open cardigan/sweater from Forever21.  I love long cardigans like this.  I have on a printed scarf which I'm wearing 2 different ways.  I ended up just wrapping it around my neck like the photo on the left.  It kept me warmer that way :)

This outfit I've posted previously in (keeping warm in style) so I won't explan it again.  But I do love this  sweater & the way this outfit came out :)

  This sweater is from Express & I've worn it 2 different ways as shown.  Both times I wore my ripped jeans from Forever21 & used my Metro Park hand bag.  The first time I put on these low heel grey boots & used my wrap around creme scarf from Forever21. The second time I put on my grey pumps and didn't go with the scarf.  Very subtle changes, but still a difference. I put this on tonight just for the blog because I didn't have any pics in it.  I didn't have time to do that with my other sweaters, but as I start wearing them more & in different ways I'll be sure to take pics and post. :)

 Stay warm lovies! xx