Blog - Page 72 of 79 - Styled By BEC

Style It Project: Lee Cooper Chambray Polka Dot Shirt

June 4, 2014 / Fashion, Style tips / 7 Comments

I love a style challenge. When I read about Redcliffe Style and Kimba Likes creating the Style It Project, I knew that I wanted to be involved because sometimes even though I know how to style women and look stylish myself, the mum in me reverts to a boring uniform of a tee and shorts in Summer or jeans and jumper in Winter. I am a bit over my maternity wardrobe at the moment. I am longing for Winter because I feel so hot all the time and I can’t wait to break into my winter wardrobe. Hopefully it will start to get cooler in Brisbane soon… most likely the week I’m in hospital having my baby!!

Anyhow.

The last time I owned a Chambray Shirt was when I was around 13 and I bought it from Big W. It was back when the knotted shirts were a big thing and crop tops were like so on trend. One of my favourite, early teen casual outfits was my short sleeve chambray shirt and my short denim shorts. Double denim. I don’t think I could pull it off now. But Rachel from Redcliffe Style does it very well.

Big W at Mt Ommaney had none of these Lee Cooper Shirts in stock, so I visited the one at Browns Plains and there were only a handful left. I grabbed a size 16, knowing that it wouldn’t fit over my bump, but could be worn openly with a white tee underneath.

I know that I will get a lot of wear from this shirt after I have my baby because button down shirts are so handy when breastfeeding and I love a layered look.

I styled my new shirt with a white maternity tee from Kmart, maternity cargos from Big W, a yellow scarf from Sussan and caramel loafers from Wittner shoes. I am also wearing a pair of yellow rose stud earrings that I bought from the Australian Red Cross store at Coolangatta.

Denim, white and yellow are a great colour combo.

The shirt is still available at most Big W stores if you want to take part in the challenge. It retails for $25.

What is your favourite colour combo when wearing denim or chambray?

I’m linking up with the Style It Project and Kimba Likes for Wardrobe Wednesday.

Five tips for purchasing fashion on Ebay

April 24, 2014 / Fashion / 23 Comments

Just over a month ago I went to my cousin’s wedding. I left it a week before the wedding to find a dress to wear to the event.

I have a few maternity dress favourites that I turn to for special occasions but because I had worn them a fair bit this summer, I really wanted a new outfit but I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a new maternity dress.

In these situations I usually head to ASOS online but there was nothing there that was grabbing my fancy and the delivery wasn’t going to work with my tight time frame.

So I headed to Ebay. I wanted a dress which would have a hemline just above the knee and have some sort of black pattern so I could wear a black jacket and my black Easy Step wedges.

I scrolled and scrolled through Ebay. I searched for ‘Size 16 Cocktail Maternity Dresses’. I find the more broader the search, the more dresses that come up on the screen.

I ended up finding an Olian Maternity dress in size XL, brand new with tags. The hem length was exactly what I was looking for and it had a black swirl pattern which would tie in my shoes and jacket.

The dress was listed for $7.50 but it had another three days of bidding left and it was from Clare in SA which would mean the dress wouldn’t come in time for me to wear to the wedding.

Not to be put off by the circumstances of the sale, I contacted the seller and asked for a buy it now price and whether I could pay for the dress to be sent via Express Post.

The seller replied promptly and said I could have the dress for $35 and the express postage would be $10. I was happy to pay this because maternity dresses can cost a bomb!

I paid for the dress with Paypal and the dress arrived two days before the wedding!

My gamble worked and the dress fit me perfectly. I was shocked to see that the original price on the dress was $189!!!

This is the dress I purchased…

Here are five tips when purchasing fashion on Ebay.

You need to be realistic about your size. With maternity wear I always find that bigger can be better because you can grow into your item. Knowing what size you fit into a certain brand helps when purchasing that brand online. If in doubt, ask the seller for measurements.
Usually there are no refunds when purchasing from second hand sellers, but don’t despair if the item doesn’t fit, resell it on Ebay for the price you paid.
Have a good understanding of what suits your shape. The dress I bought is a very similar cut to another maternity dress in my wardrobe so I was fairly confident the style was going to suit me.
If you really love an item and can’t wait for the bidding to end or don’t want to miss out on the item, ask the seller for a ‘buy it now’ price. This price will be higher than the current bidding price. If the buy it now price is a bit extreme, you have no obligation to purchase the item. I remember bidding on an item that I really didn’t want to miss out on. When I asked for a buy it now price, the price given was much more than I was prepared to pay. I ended up waiting for the bidding to end and I ended up winning the item at a much lower cost than the seller wanted.
Always pay through Paypal. If the item sent to you is faulty or not like the description, you have the right to demand a refund. If the seller doesn’t give one, you can lodge a claim through Paypal and once proof has been shown that the item is faulty or not as per the description, Paypal will reverse the transaction. (This can take a couple of months though.)

What do you think of my bargain dress? Have you ever bought anything on Ebay?

How to get what you want within a budget

April 1, 2014 / Style tips / 15 Comments

I am on maternity leave which means our household has been living off one wage. There isn’t a lot of cash left over for personal spending, but I do try and put a little bit of money aside for clothes and shoes because they are a need.

Last winter, ankle boots were a big trend and they are making their season debut. Since clothes aren’t really on my radar due to my fluctuating size, a new pair of boots have been.

I fell in love with these Zoe Kratzmann Boots which are $289. I loved the colour and style, but not so much the heel height and they only go up to a size 10.

I researched boots online by looking at other shoe retailers and I loved these boots by Nine West and they were cheaper than my Zoe Kratzmann boots at $179.95. I even became quite partial to the orange boots (which were reduced by $20) but reasoned the beige colour would get much more cost per wear value.

Last week I went to Nine West at Robina to try the HippyChic boots on and their size 10 was a bit too snug for my foot. The sales assistant said that the leather would stretch but I’m not a fan of wearing shoes in while creating blisters on my feet. The assistant advised they didn’t go up to a size 11, although now looking online they actually did, but she mustn’t have had the size available.

I was disappointed because most of my online research and even window shopping hadn’t been successful for what I was looking for.

I decided to head to Harbour Town at Southport which is a factory outlet shopping mall, to see if I could find what I was looking for and low and behold, every shoe store I went into didn’t have my size (I’m a 10.5-11) or didn’t have the colour or style.

I then walked into Joanne Mercer and found these two pairs of boots.

The Orange Suede Boots were a size 10 and were reduced from $179.95 to $49.95. They were a generous size 10.

The Natural Tan Boots were a size 11 and were reduced from $169.95 to $69.95.

There was also an extra 30% off sale prices while I was in the store. I ended up with two new pairs of boots for $85. I was very pleased with my purchases and can’t wait to wear them this winter.

To get what you want within a budget comes down to good research and sometimes compromising on style and colour. It’s important to remember when buying shoes, a good fit is much more important than style, so don’t go and buy a style you love that doesn’t fit your foot properly. My natural colour boots aren’t beige like the original style boots I was intending to purchase, but I know they are a workable colour within my wardrobe.

In the end my compromise saved me money, and I got two pairs of boots.

How do you go about getting items to suit your budget? Had any good bargains lately?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I Blog on Tuesdays.

What I wore to a 30th Birthday Dinner Party

March 5, 2014 / Fashion / 26 Comments

I went out to my first 30th Birthday Dinner party for the year to celebrate a school friend’s Birthday. I rarely get the excuse to dress up these days, so I welcomed the night out and knew a new dress would be needed for the occasion. Sadly the dress that I had wanted to wear, had a hole under the underarm seam, and even though no one would notice, I didn’t want to constrict my arms all night trying to conceal my fashion faux pas.

I was nearly in tears before the party because every dress I tried on was too tight around my bump or too big around my hips. I’m in the middle of my pregnancy, so I have seemed to only have put weight on at my belly and nowhere else.

I bought this teal Kimono sleeve-like maternity dress for ASOS specifically for a wedding that I wanted to go to this weekend, but because of my wardrobe dilemma, decided to wear it earlier to the 30th.

This is the Skater Dress from ASOS Maternity:

And this is how I wore it.

What I love about this dress is the colour and the stretchy material and wider arm sleeves which will allow for future body expansion. I will be able to layer this dress in Autumn and Winter too with some black leggings and a long sleeve black tee underneath.

I limited my accessories by wearing this gorgeous peacock feather headband that I bought from the Portobello Markets in London. I matched the look with Easy Step black wedges (wedges and flats are all I seem to be able to wear these days) and my Zjoosh Accessories Black Sequin Clutch.

Have you ever had a wardrobe dilemma like me and decided to wear something you were keeping for another separate occasion?

I’m linking up with Kimba Likes for Wardrobe Wednesday.

If you choose to purchase this dress via the link above, I will receive a small commission but this is no extra cost to you.

What I’m Wearing – Zjoosh Accessories

February 28, 2014 / Fashion, News / 20 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that I love accessories. I think most women do. Accessories and shoes are the items that can be easily purchased to update your wardrobe if you don’t want to spend money on clothes while your weight is fluctuating. I find pregnancy is the perfect time to add to my accessory collection and feeds my need to wear something new without spending a lot.

There are so many accessory shops these days and most high street stores offer their own accessories which means we are spoiled for choice. So do we need another fashion accessory shop to feed our addiction? I say yes. In fact, the more the merrier! I’m excited to have found another online accessory retailer, Zjoosh. Zjoosh is also stocked in various retailers around Australia. Check out here for a local stockist in your area.

Zjoosh is a unique Australian retail concept for women of all ages, providing a large range of affordable fashion jewellery and accessories that will “Zjoosh” your capsule wardrobe. The idea behind Zjoosh is that a quality simple base wardrobe can be made brave and unique with statement jewellery at an affordable price. The pieces can be interchanged easily bringing a unique personality to your overall look. The clothing is the base, and the jewels are the ZJOOSH! Effectively you “decorate yourself”.

I was sent some Zjoosh accessories to play with my existing wardrobe and honestly they couldn’t have arrived at a better time. My pregnancy capsule wardrobe is full of basics, but adding the Zjoosh accessories made my uniform look more stylish and fun.

The Black Sequin Clutch is simple in design, but a great gripping size and will fill a small, thin coin purse, Iphone, tissues and a lippy. My car keys made the clutch look too bulky, so I left them at home and gave the key handling responsibility to my husband. If you’re on a night out with the girls, I suggest only keeping 1 car key and house key which would fit in with no problems.

I haven’t worn the black wrap scarf, only because the weather in Brisbane has been too warm to give it any use, but come Autumn and Winter, I’m sure it will be on high rotation and it will make an excellent cover up for breastfeeding.

Do you love accessories like I do? What are your favourite accessory stores?

This is not a sponsored post, but I was gifted the accessories in the above picture. All opinions are my own.

Previous 1 … 70 71 72 73 74 … 79 Next