330 Swap Styling

330 clothing swap styling basics by jessiepea featuring flat shoes

Check out the styling post I did for our up coming clothing swap!

Rainy Day Dark

All photos by Lindsey.

Color Story

I have always wanted to try a bright colored tight, but I have been aprensive. I guess i have always thought of bright colored tights as like neon and scary and kind of something people wear to raves. I dont know why, but thats what I think of! Luckily a friend of mine has convinced me otherwise.

Jessica from Midwest Muse can literally pull of any color of tight and it’s adorable. The last time I saw her she was wearing these burgundy colored tights with a skirt and a blouse that matched perfectly. It was so cute. I expressed to her my concerns about bright colored raver tights and she said to choose tasteful colors, not neons.

It really makes sense. It is so easy to match with jewel tones, and brights are especially nice for spring. So here I had my first attempt! I chose these cobalt blue tights given to me by my friend Ashley. I took the tights, went to my closet, and dove in to find the perfect blue to match it. When I emerged, i had found this accordion pleated dress I got from Wet Seal a couple months before hand.
I have recently been into mixing different bright colors so this dress was a perfect choice! So here it is Jessica, my first attempt at colored tights. I hope I made you proud and didn’t put you to shame!

Here is Jessica with a very cute striped dress and colored tight outfit! Check out her blog for more colored tight options.

what was your first colored tight outfit?
all photos by Lindsey.

The 330 Clothing Swap

Ladies, I have some very exciting news! To those who are not already aware of it, The 330 group of bloggers is hosting North East Ohio's very first public clothing swap!

If you have been reading my blog you may have already seen how they work through my frock parties. This is about the same thing amplified by 100 for the public, with multiple vendors and prizes!

Here is the general run down for what the clothing swap has in store:
-you bring your older, gently or never worn clothes that go with the season(this time would be spring and summer) and you swap them for something that you would love. This way you will empty your closet and gain new items to love for your wardrobe with out spending a dime.
-You will sign up through pay pal, go to http://330swapandshop.blogspot.com/ to find out how, and you will save a spot for yourself in the swap! admissions will be five dollars and be sure to sign up because spots are filling quick!
-The swap is May 20Th, however before hand we are having two drop off dates for you to bring your things, that way we will organize them for you and that is how we will build our point system for you to swap.
-Be sure to bring clothes that are clean and in good shape, if you bring an old gym shirt it will be donated to good will.
-Anything that is not chosen at the swap will be donated to good will.
-Gift bags will be given to attendees as well as opportunities to shop our vendors and get manicure and pedicures provided by Studio MC.

This is very exciting for our area because it is the first public swap! Hopefully it can generate some buzz and can become and annual thing!

So if you are interest go to http://330swapandshop.blogspot.com/ to read about all the rules and vendors and check out a preview post by Rachel from http://www.forthebirdsblog.net/ and see what she is bringing!

Re-think Red

Back in elementary school we learned about the color red and why it was used for stop signs, logos, and by fast food restaurants- It is bold, abrasive and eye catching. This color tends to be avoided by people when getting dressed in the morning for this reason. Think about how often you see people wearing red. Really, the people who do feel comfortable in red are the only ones who tend to wear it most often. This is why red pants are the perfect solution.

I know it seems scary because they are jeans that aren’t blue of black, but that's ok! You can honestly just treat them the same and usually it still looks great! Its always safe to go black and white with them. Navy is great too. I personally love leopard and florals with them. If you are worried about making the plunge, head into Wet Seal, they have a good pair of inexpensive jeans that fit pretty well. Play around with them, and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.



Here I am wearing them with a Denim button up and my leopard loafers! How would you rock red jeans?

All photos by Lindsey

White Noise

With the amount designers, styles, trends and stores I can see how it is sometimes difficult to keep up with what if supposed to be seen as stylish or fashionable. Along with that there are magazines, critics and even bloggers telling which style is the best- after a while, it all starts to sound like a bunch of white noise.

Not saying that I have an expert opinion on what works for someone in fashion, I too have moments where I am completely dumbfounded on what looks good. And then I go to what i know best, just as I suspect every other girl or guy does- they resort back to their own personal style.

I believe in sticking to your own personal style. I have in looking to all the bloggers I find most inspirational and I noticed one common thing amongst all of them- they all have a very distinct style of theirs that they have showcased with their fashion blogs. They always look so great in what they wear because they show confidence and comfort in their style.

This is the best inspiration and I think each girl should strive to do the same- dress for them selves, like what they wear and be confident and comfortable in what they wear. This is not an easier said than done type thing either. They all coincide with the simple idea of "Being yourself!"

If a girl or guy doesn't feel comfortable in their style, they should draw inspiration from the styles they see and go from their. I believe that everyone has style or can have style.
Everyone knows what they like, they just have to man up and dress they way they like most.

These are the things I tell girls who come into my store and dont have a clue how to dress, after this sort of pep talk, I help them find outfits that go along with what they like and then they are happy, and then they see how easy it is to dress.
It's that easy, trust your insticts, you know what you like and what looks good to you.

If you aren't convinced, come in to Wet Seal and I'll show you.

Mixed Prints

I believe in mixing prints! Whole-heatedly! If you put different prints together, like how it looks, but are afraid of people thinking you will look like a mess...they are wrong. Trust your instinct on it, if you like how it looks it probably does look great. If you are concerned about the taste level I think there are a few tricks/tips you can go with:

1. Use classic prints. polka-dots and stripes, stripes and stripes, plaid and plaid. You get the idea.
2. Stay within the same color scheme or else keep it neutral.
3. If mixing classic prints with wild prints, keep the wild one to a minimum and keep the rest of the outfit basic.(my outfit for example is very basic with the classic stripe, then I mixed in the leopard only in with one smaller article.)

Still not convinced? Check out this article in The New York Times.

what prints do you like to mix?

photos by Lindsey.