My Favorite Outfit: Jana from Small Town, Big Smile

Note from Sammi: Hello, lovely readers!  I am currently out of town with *very* limited internet access, so I've decided to start a little mini-series on the blog while I'm gone.  I've asked some of my favorite blogger ladies to contribute a guest post about their absolute favorite outfits from their own blogs!  It's kind of a Sophie's Choice situation (at least, I know it would be for me!), since these are some of the most stylish girls I know, but I'm so excited to see what they've chosen!  Our first guest blogger is Jana from Small Town, Big Smile, whose retro-inspired fashions never fail to put a big smile on my face!  Take it away, Jana!

Hey everyone! As Sammi mentioned, I'm Jana from Small Town, Big Smile!, and I'll be the first of several stylish gals talking about our favourite outfit(s) while Sammi is away!  I'm not going to lie, this was definitely a difficult choice for me... sort of.  If any of you read my blog, you'll know I adore my My Kind of Pie dress. It's definitely my favourite item in my closet, so I had a difficult time choosing one outfit with it in particular.  That being said, seeing as I was so proud that I could actually narrow it down to one dress, I decided it was okay to show you how I've loved to remix this dress!

I love wearing this dress for different occasions.  Over Easter weekend, I had several family dinners to attend, so I figured, what better dress to wear than a dress with various pastel colours? I opted for a mint green polka dot cardigan, knee socks, and mint green Bait Ione's to match.  I was a little hesitant with the polka dot cardigan as there's polka dots in the dress, but they're subtle enough that the cardigan didn't clash with it.

I even found the perfect pie brooches (via The Dainty Geekery) to match this dress.  It's one of those really kitch prints that makes it so fun to match and accessorize!  I like to find very matchy-matchy accessories for my novelty print dresses.  I'm sure some think it's borderline over-the-top, but I love it.

I love shirt dresses. Sleeveless, collar, buttons... it's my favourite style of dress.  It makes pairing a cardigan over it very easy and comfortable, but to be honest, I love wearing it with nothing over it.  This style of dress reminds me of a '50s housewife, with their hair in curlers and red lipstick.  It's a style of dress that I always feel good in, even when I'm having one of those uncomfortable-nothing-looks-good kind of days.

I haven't gotten around to actually making a pie to use as a prop, but I've paired it with a floral apron and a matching flower for my hair, teapots and teacups, and my kitchen in general. 

And with having so many colours in it, it makes pairing it with tights and cardigans (which is a must in Canadian weather) very practical.  One of my go-to tricks with remixing tights and cardigans is to just reverse the colour options. Teal tights, tan cardigan, brown shoes, to tan tights (or knee socks), teal cardigan, teal shoes. Instant remix!

Smiles,

Jana

Starlight, sweetheart, melody

Outfit Details:

Iron Fist My Little Pony dress: eBay (available here)

Embellished cardigan: Storenvy

BAIT Footwear spectators: ModCloth

Lavender hair bow: Clip a Bow Boutique

Goodness gracious, do I love this dress!  I'd seen a blouse version of this dress in a couple of places, but I'm not exactly a blouse girl.  If it comes in a dress, I'd always rather have that!  This dress was carried by Hot Topic over a year ago, so I thought I'd missed out, but then it dawned on me to check eBay!  I had a lucky guess on sizing (juniors sizing is always a mystery to me) and it shipped incredibly quickly -- and fit perfectly!  The top of this dress is actually really flattering, but I felt a little too bare without a sweater.  I wish I had a plain cardigan that looked right with this dress, but this embellished one was the only one that hit at the right length.  The back heart patch is very My Little Pony. but I fear the combination is a little much.

I'm also thrilled that this design involves the classic My Little Pony cartoon.  I absolutely hate the style of the reboot version; it has none of the charm of the original, and this is how MLP should be.  I grew up watching the show and had a bunch of the ponies (inherited from a family friend's daughter), so I couldn't pass this dress up once I found it!  It's loud, to be sure, but a totally necessary addition to my closet. 

I had planned on posting something else for Easter, but since my hard-drive bit the dust on Thursday night, I had to amend my plans.  Still, this is pretty Easter-appropriate, I think.  I'm going out of town for a week starting on Monday, but I'm leaving my blog in very capable hands!  I can't wait for you to see what some lovely friends of mine have in store during my absence!  Stay tuned!

Have a super Saturday!

xox Sammi

Friday Favorites #46

Boy, oh boy.  This week actually went by pretty quickly, since I had only a 3-day work week! My family celebrated Passover on Monday, and we'll celebrate Easter on Sunday (though, in the interest of full disclosure, our idea of Easter is limited to candy-filled baskets -- plus, my mom and I are seeing Phantom of the Opera on Sunday night, which is more than cause for celebration!). Something I am certainly not celebrating, though, is the death of my MacBook's hard-drive. This is the fourth time I've had my Mac's hard-drive die on me (the first time with my newer laptop, though), and it's always incredibly traumatic. The saving grace is that, even though I haven't backed up to my external hard-drive in over a year, I did manage to upload upcoming blog photos to Flickr, so I don't think I lost anything on that front, but I know I lost other stuff. I couldn't get an appointment with the Genius Bar until tomorrow, so I'm using my parents' old MacBook (c. 2007) to write this. It never fails -- my computer always dies as soon as I'm about to go out of town.  By the way, I'll be out of town next week with no Internet access (and now, no computer), but the blog will be in good hands!  Stay tuned for some fun posts from dear friends! 

But, I digress. On to my favorite finds of this week!  Since Easter is nearly here, I'm in a very bunny-like mood!  Here are some of my favorite rabbit-themed items:

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

In all honesty, my favorite part of Easter might just be Reese's peanut butter eggs.  I was in shock to find that Good Humor makes an ice cream version of them (a box of which are now in my freezer).  I have yet to try them, because I'm trying to be good... but it may be my Saturday night treat.

(via)

Speaking of sweet treats, I adore this cotton-candy-colored swimsuit (and '90s throwback lip balm to match)!  I like that Topshop tends to have good options for one-piece and high-waisted swimwear.

a // b

You can't mention sweet without talking about these bags from Lulu by Lulu Guinness.  I really love her designs (ASOS carries her more expensive main brand), and I think it's wonderful that JC Penney carries this more affordable brand.  Frankly, this line is sometimes way cuter than the other one!  I got a different daisy bag for my mom for her upcoming birthday (it's not a surprise, since she was there), and the Easter Bunny is apparently bringing me a different version of this ice cream bag in my basket.  :)

one // two

I'm actually not sure what I'm wearing for Easter (though I know there is no shortage of pastel prettiness from which to choose!), but I think these dresses are adorable options for Easter Sunday:

1 // 2 // 3

And while I hope it isn't cold or rainy on Sunday, either of these lovely pink jackets would brighten things up!

1 // 2

I'm not much one for shorts these days, but goodness, these pastel blue scalloped ones are beautiful.  

Though I have lots of love for the Easter Bunny, my mythological loyalty lies with unicorns and mermaids.  This series of mermaid-themed footwear is absolute perfection:

a // b // c

This mirror is so pretty and reminds me of my childhood:

Easter Bunnies aren't the only creatures I'm loving this week!  You can always count on me to find some good cat-centric pieces:

a // b

(via)

Either of these would convince me to wear sneakers way more often:

a // b

That being said, I'd probably rather have one of these pairs in my closet:

1 // 2

I would like one of these flower crowns, please.

1 // 2

Also, please feel free to make me a key lime marshmallow milkshake, while you're at it:

I have to take a moment and talk about Polka Dot Polly!  The lovely Amanda introduced me to this site yesterday, and oh my GOODNESS.  Not only do they have an extensive variety of retro-inspired silhouettes and prints -- all combined into high-quality garments -- but... YOU CAN DESIGN YOUR OWN DRESS.  You get to pick the type of bodice, skirt and fabric, plus you can add on extras (like boning, bows, ric rac trim and more) -- AND it will be custom-made with your own measurements!  They have some of the most amazing novelty prints I've seen (licorice all sorts, Care Bears, Curious George, you name it!), and they have beautiful "normal" fabric choices, too.  They're currently offering 15% off everything on their site, and this makes it all too-tempting to place an order from them.  Below are a few of my favorite pre-made designs from their shop.  How beautiful are these?!

a // sundae print dress

b // seaside scene dress

c // rose print dress

In closing... two links I loved this week:

23 Painfully True Lessons You Learn By Age 23 (I am still learning these -- slowly, but surely)

And finally, something I know *I've* been waiting for... a new trailer for season 2 of Orange Is The New Black.  Oh my godddddd.  So good.

That's all for this week.  Cross your fingers that some part of my hard-drive info is salvageable.

Have a great weekend!

xox Sammi

Let's do brunch

Outfit Details:

Breakfast print dress: Topb2c.cc

Boater hat: Generations Collective

Black cardigan: similar here

Shoes: BAIT Footwear

Necklace: ASOS (old)

Tea ring: find it here

White tights: Target

Red coat: eBay

I'm not sure why I thought of this dress as a summery dress.  I haven't worn it since last summer (see how I originally wore it here), but I actually like it way more with layers!  The breakfast novelty print is so charming.  Brunch is my absolute favorite of all meals (it encompasses all of the deliciousness to be had!), so this dress was a must-have.  I opted for more of a lolita look with this outfit, which suits the dress pretty well.  The only bad thing about this dress is that it makes me hungry!!

Isn't this hat the sweetest?  I already have a boater hat, but I couldn't resist this darling red ribbon.  By the way, if you're in the market for a boater, my other one is from River Island and they are carrying a wider brim version here, or this one from Forever 21 is pretty cute, too!  I actually was initially disappointed because this red ribbon boater was too small for my large head, but then I ended up pinning it to my hair and it sat on top pretty perfectly!  I was so happy that I was able to put it to good use, and not just for display!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

xox Sammi