Little Black Maternity Dress

Maternity Dress (love this casual dress or this dressier option if you aren't pregnant!) - Amazon / Coat (also available in other colors/sizes here - how pretty is the green?!) - J.Crew / Scarf - J.Crew Factory / Flats (these are my fav, so comfy!!) - Sam Edelman / Bag (similar here and here) - Sezane / Earrings (I couldn't find anything similar, but love these little bow studs!) - Charming Charlie

Okay, so you know how I said I wasn't going to buy any maternity clothes?

Yeah, I lied.

I was trying to decide what to wear to the baby shower my sister and mom hosted for me last weekend, and while I had a few shift dresses that would have worked, they didn't really show the bump! I mean, really, the point of a shift dress is to skim over your midsection, and when I wear one I barely look pregnant. Which, you know, is so not the point at your own baby shower!

So I decided to head to Amazon to see what I could find on the cheap, and landed on this dress! It was black, so it's super versatile, and the side ruching really shows off that baby bump. I initially was anti ruching on pregnancy clothes since they're so obviously maternity (i.e., harder to wear after baby) but really, they just make that baby bump look good! Plus I somehow still have a waist with ruching - it's like magic. I recently stocked up on a few ruched maternity tees too, and I love that they make me look actually pregnant! Unlike the oversized sweater I wore to the doctor two weeks ago where two different nurses didn't realize I was pregnant.

I thought I'd just wear this dress just for my shower, but I've already ended up wearing it a couple other times too - it's come in so handy for all of the holiday events we have this month! The styling options are basically endless too since it's such a simple black dress - you can pair it with a scarf, a cardigan, a faux fur or sherpa or puffer vest, a wrap, or even a flannel button up! No one will ever know that you're an outfit repeater. Well, except for me ;)

Maternity Dress (love this casual dress or this dressier option if you aren't pregnant!) - Amazon / Coat (also available in other colors/sizes here - how pretty is the green?!) - J.Crew / Scarf - J.Crew Factory / Flats (these are my fav, so comfy!!) - Sam Edelman / Bag (similar here and here) - Sezane / Earrings (I couldn't find anything similar, but love these little bow studs!) - Charming Charlie

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Bloglovin!

Holiday Party Dresses

Getting dressed up for a good holiday party or New Year's Eve party is always so fun. I just love any excuse to wear a pretty dress or some sequins! When I look for a dress for holiday parties, I love to check out really preppy brands I don't normally shop, like Tuckernuck and Vineyard Vines, as they always have their plaid games on point and the cutest details too! I own the Vineyard Vines dress pictured above from a few years ago (here's the same plaid but with sleeves), and love pulling it out every holiday season despite rarely wearing the brand the rest of the year. The holiday designs are so classic and timeless (and also really well made) so I know I'll have them for years to come!

These days, opportunities to get dressed up seem to be few and far between. We ended up skipping my big fancy work holiday party this year, and the other family holiday party I used to always dress up for seems to have gotten more and more casual every year, so I haven't gotten an excuse to buy a pretty new dress! And for NYE this year, thanks to baby, my plans probably include going out to dinner with our friends and then ringing in the new year from the couch. And let's be honest here, most likely from the couch asleep haha ;)

So, let me live vicariously over here - here are a few of the dresses I'd love to have an excuse to buy!

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Bloglovin!

Holiday Dressing

Have invites to holiday parties started rolling in? So far we've got a gift exchange with friends, a big family party, and a dressy work party on the horizon. I guess going crazy on the holiday clothes maybe wasn't such a bad idea. Of course, the first thing I do when I get a party invite is start thinking about what I'll wear. What makes a good holiday party look? I look for a couple of elements: sequins, metallics, leather, faux fur, bows, plaid, or anything in red. Here are a couple of outfit ideas for different holiday parties this season:

Sweater / Shirt / Earrings / Shoes / Bag / Denim

Shoes / Earrings / Tank / Bag / Skirt

Dress / Bag / Necklace / Shoes

I may have gotten over-excited while looking for holiday styles and pinned 4.8 million things, so here are the extras, broken down into categories that sort of make sense:

Dresses and Skirts:

Pants and Tops:

Accessories:

Jewelry:

Shoes:

So tell me, do you have any holiday parties on the horizon? Are they on the casual side, or do you get to dress up? 

Shop the post:

Linking up with Friday Fab Favorites.

Follow along with everything Kristina does via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin!

Holiday Party Look

I always wish I had some fancy holiday parties to dress up for, but all of my events every year are pretty casual.  Instead of going for jeans and sweaters though, I'm dressing up a tiny bit with some fancy skirts and metallic accessories.  I've never had any winter white items before, but this skirt is definitely my new favorite - the creamy white feels so luxe.

Tee - JCrew Factory / Skirt - Banana Republic (sold out online, similar) / Necklace - NY&Co (old, similar) / Flats - Payless / Bracelets - Baublebar & Michael Kors

When I wore this look, I had laid out my clothes before I did my hair and makeup.  When I came back to put them on, I found Jeff wearing a burgundy sweater, white shirt, and black pants.  Coincidence?  I think not!  Made me think of this.  Except both of us refused to change ;)



P.S. Don't forget to enter the Rebecca Minkoff giveaway!

Follow along via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin!