Kitchenette

Another day, another novelty print dress... and this one's a beaut! My Bernie Dexter dresses are among my most treasured and unique pieces, and when I saw this 50's kitchen print dress from Unique Vintage, I knew I had to add it to my collection. One thing's for sure: this print did not disappoint! It's even better in person than I had hoped – a retro-loving gal's dream! Because it's such a special and busy print, my styling was quite minimal, but I'll definitely wear a red or yellow cardigan with this in the future – or you could easily layer a sweater or a skirt over it to create separates!

This "Kelly" style dress is a relatively new one, and I was a bit unsure about it at first; I wasn't a fan of the zipper front, but then I realized that it would be the perfect solution to button gaping for well-endowed girls like myself. Because of the way it's designed, there's a bit more room in the bust than in a lot of other Bernie dresses and I felt more covered while wearing it (I love the "Paris" style, but it shows too much cleavage to be appropriate for some situations). If I worked in a more traditional office environment, I'd feel totally comfortable wearing it to work, which is a definite plus. (We'll just pretend that I don't work from home and wear my pajamas most of the time...)

Outfit Details

Bernie Dexter Kelly Dress in Kitchen Print: c/o Unique Vintage

Shoes: B.A.I.T. Footwear (similar)

Petticoat: Pinup Girl Clothing

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Belle

I have a soft spot in my heart for pale yellow dresses; there's just something about them that's very feminine, yet unexpected. I wore the mint version of the Unique Vintage Garden State dress in this blog post from last winter, but when they recently released it in some new shades, I knew I needed to have this yellow colorway. I also knew I wanted to pair it with this Beauty-and-the-Beast-inspired rose brooch from Deer Arrow – because honestly, as a lover of all things Disney, how could I not style this in a "tale as old as time" kind of way?

I'm thinking about change this week. This is a pretty extensive topic to cover, but I'm trying to figure out the next steps I want to take for my life. I've been living in this little safety bubble for quite some time now, and though I've crossed some major things off my to-do list, I still have a lot more left to tackle. I've been in a "caught in limbo" state for the last few years – pursuing my passion on a small scale, but feeling sort of left behind in terms of hitting certain milestones. It's always taken me a little bit longer to forge my own path, and I'm okay with that, but I don't want to feel stuck anymore just because I don't know what I want. I don't feel a strong pull to up and move somewhere else at the moment, but I don't think I want to feel settled here yet, either. I get really overwhelmed when I think about all the things I need to do, so right now, I need to focus on just a couple of major pieces of the puzzle. Taking these steps is a scary thing, but I have to remember that being brave means doing things before you necessarily feel ready, and putting myself outside my comfort zone is the only way I'll grow and learn... and I definitely want to do that. Anyone else feel this way?

Outfit Details

Garden State Dress: c/o Unique Vintage

Spellbound Rose Brooch: c/o Deer Arrow

Petticoat: Pinup Girl Clothing

Shoes: B.A.I.T. Footwear

Have a great start to your week!

PS: Don't forget, you have just a few days left to enter my 3-year blog anniversary giveaway! Get the details and enter here.

Girl Squad: Virtual Christmas Party

Continuing with my holiday outfit theme, our girl squad is styling some adorable wintertime brooches from Deer Arrow in our group post for today! We each styled a different brooch and decided to glam it up a bit with our outfit choices – it's like we're having a virtual Christmas party! Since we live so far away from each other, this is the closest we'll get to celebrating together this year. You can head over to Junebugs and Georgia Peaches and Southern (California) Belle to see additional photos and get more outfit details... but keep scrolling if you'd like to see how I styled my adorable Rudolph brooch with my new wintertime dress from Unique Vintage!

This dress from Unique Vintage is so darling – I really love the neckline and the sweet snowflake print. I just wish there had been a little bit of snow on the ground to complement it. So far, no snow yet. Although I'm sure I'll gripe about the never-ending snow later on this season, I can't help but wish for a white Christmas... even if it does mean I can't wear cute shoes anymore!

Outfit Details

Noelle Swing Dress: c/o Unique Vintage

Rudolph brooch: c/o Deer Arrow

Snowflake hair flower: Stardust Dames

Shoes: estate sale store

How would you style Deer Arrow's adorable brooches? Don't forget: for a limited time, Deer Arrow will include a free mini-snowflake brooch in any order $50+!

Have a great Wednesday!

Merlot + Gold

I can't believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow! I've always found that having pretty dresses for the holidays makes me even more excited for festivities, and this oxblood colored dress from Unique Vintage is no exception. I love the scalloped neckline and rich color, and the addition of the sleeves to this style comes in very handy for the cooler weather here. I found this particular style to run smaller than some other house brand vintage dresses, so I'd recommend sizing up – especially if you're like me and would prefer to have a bit of wiggle room in the waist to make it through Thanksgiving dinner!

I don't wear a ton of jewelry, but I do love delicate necklaces (especially in gold for the holidays!). I've featured my custom name necklace from Onecklace before on my blog, which I wear often, but when they reached out to me again to review another item, I wanted to try something different. It's weird: music is such a huge part of my life, but I don't actually own that many music-themed pieces! As a singer (and as the child of two musicians), I had to go for this beautiful treble clef necklace. It's the perfect length (which you can choose yourself, along with your choice of chain and finish), and it's of excellent quality. Although I opted to review a necklace, Onecklace also makes earrings, bracelets and rings, and they have a huge selection filled with awesome gift ideas! If you're looking for something special for the holidays (for yourself or someone else!), you can use the code Sammi10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase!

I'm also totally thrilled that I finally have some Loly in the Sky flats to call my own! I love these dressy gold flats (aren't the squared-off toes such a cute feature?), and they're going to become a staple for many of my holiday outfits. Pretty much all of their shoes are so charming and sweet – I have about five pairs on my wish list right now, like these sprinkle flats(!) and these quotation mark flats. Although I normally wear a size 9 in heels, I sometimes wear an 8.5 in flats, and I was advised to size down to the 8.5 on these; the fit is absolutely perfect, and they're super comfortable and padded on the inside. Even the packaging the shoes came in was adorable!

Outfit Details

Roman Holiday Dress in Merlot: c/o Unique Vintage

Treble Clef necklace: c/o Onecklace

Eliana flats: c/o Loly in the Sky
Hair flower: ASOS (similar)

I'm feeling very thankful for all of the new and exciting things that have come my way this year: lots of new creative opportunities, achieving personal goals, new beginnings. I still have lots of work to do on myself, but that's always going to be the case. Right now, I'm glad to be where I am, and I feel very lucky to be surrounded by lots of love and constant support. I'm also thankful for pumpkin pie and my mom's mashed potatoes. :) What are you most thankful for this year?

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Pink princess

I don't think anyone can accuse me of not being a girly-girl. It's not that I feel like I have some obligation to be ultra-feminine or anything; I just happen to like it, and I feel like the most "me" when I'm wearing something pretty. I think it goes without saying that I feel like a total princess in this Unique Vintage dress – and I love it. It's the perfect birthday dress (pink AND polka dots!), which is very convenient, since my birthday is in just a few days!

The one drawback of this dress is that when I first received it, it was a little too revealing on me. I had initially asked for the next size up, but it proved to be much too big on me. The strapless top portion in this size isn't quite accommodating enough for my body, but this was an easy fix with a trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics for some ribbon. I have a really good color memory, and I happened to find some beautiful ribbon (in the clearance section!) that matches this dress perfectly. My mom sewed the ribbon onto the bodice to make halter straps (thanks, Mom!), and it instantly transformed the dress! I love it even more now, and it looks even more birthday-like – I look like a literal present!

Outfit Details

Dandrige Dress: c/o Unique Vintage
DIY halter straps: Jo-Ann's (similar)
Cake ring: Le Petite Bonbon

Bettie Page shoes: Amazon

Necklace: gift from Mom

Petticoat: similar

Have a great weekend – and don't forget to check back on Monday for something really exciting! :)

For the record

Since I am a self-proclaimed queen of kitschy prints, I don't often gravitate towards neutrals or even solid colors. But now that summer has given way to cooler weather, I found myself being drawn toward this classic 3/4-length sleeve dress from Unique Vintage. I'm slowly trying to add some more subtle, versatile pieces to my wardrobe. I expected to like this dress enough for it to become a staple, but I wasn't prepared for how va-va-va-voom-amazing it would be!

The sizing for Unique Vintage brand pieces can vary a lot depending on the dress. I've found myself in between sizes quite a bit, and luckily they're really good at listing exact measurements for each garment on their site. Some dresses have fit me better than others, but this one fits true to size and truly exceeded my expectations. I was absolutely thrilled when I put it on! It's so incredibly flattering, and I feel like a million bucks in it – both of which are imperative in my approach to fashion. It hits me in in all of the right places (plus it has a built-in crinoline hem and hidden pockets!), and it's almost as if this dress were made especially for me. For more retro clothing, be sure to check out the huge selection at Unique Vintage.

I can think of a thousand ways to style this dress, but since I think black is anything but basic, I decided to incorporate little pops of hot pink with a vintage hat and my new Erstwilder brooch. It was a stroke of luck that they happened to match so perfectly! And If you're a fan of Erstwilder like I am, don't forget to enter our Blogs, Besties + Brooches giveaway – you can enter to win 1 of 5 gift cards for Erstwilder.com!

Outfit Details

Diana Swing Dress in Black: c/o Unique Vintage

On the 45 Brooch: Erstwilder

Vintage hat: Straylight Vintage

Heels: similar


Have a wonderful Wednesday!