new purchases, a wardrobe refresh, & some tricks that I've learned

Happy Tuesday, friends! (Bill, you may want to skip this post.) It's no secret that I've been updating my wardrobe lately; I thought I'd share the things I've learned in ordering through a company like Shein, I'll share who I follow who inspires me on Instagram, and I'll explain how I found my own personal style and how I stick with that look by know what I love and what looks best on me. 

First up is this t-shirt that I recently bought from the company LOVELLX. It sounds risqué, but I promise it's legit. It took two weeks to get here, but I love it and what it says: Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). I could definitely wear this out and probably will, but mostly I bought it to use as some of my lounging clothes on days that I'm home. I don't really wear pajamas at home, but I sleep in a nightgown that's short each night. When I'm at home on Mondays, I love to be comfy and yet also decent if someone were to drop by. And on that note of being decent, here are the bras that I love to wear all the time. I decided that life was too short to wear bras that I hate and made the change one year ago in June. It was life changing, and I couldn't be happier! Mom, I'm talking to you! Click on those links if you want to see them on Amazon.

Here is the first favorite dress that I ordered from Shein. Here is my trick to Shein: if you have any curve whatsoever to your body, meaning that if you are above a size ten or twelve, then you need to looking at the Shein "curve". The regular sizes are tiny, and even a small person would probably need to size up. I've learned that when I order from the curve part of Shein, I can size up one just in case, and it fits perfectly. My goal is for it to NOT fit like a glove 🤣 and for it to fit comfortably and in a flowy way. I'm normally an XL or 1X, and I got the 2X in these dresses, and they were perfect. 

This is another Shein dress! 

I love this one too; it's white with a blue stripe. I have this in two other patterns: one is white with black stripes and the other is black white white stripes. After these arrived last week, I ordered four more: one is denim blue with buttons down the front, another one like the first picture that's a wedgewood blue color, one that's white with pink and orange, and a white button down dress. 

Here's the white one with pink and orange. 

This black dress is an Amazon dress that I bought in both the black and a beautiful royal blue.  I paid attention to the measurements and because I wanted it to flow and not fit tightly, I ordered both in the 2x size. Mrs. Kari Clark has been influencing me on both Instagram and Facebook; if you follow her on FB, she posts the clickable link in the comments section. She is about my age and size, except that she's taller. 

These dresses in black, hot pink, and turquoise are from Walmart! These are what I used to replace the dresses like the one you see pictured below. I ordered these in 2x as well. Also, when I saw how much I loved the black one that I received first, I promptly ordered the other two colors. I love them both! It dawned on me that my favorite color is blue, and I didn't have any of it in my closet! I do now with this turquoise dress and the royal blue one from Amazon.

Another tip that I have is to add another piece to give your outfit some color or dimension. I love this old kimono that I bought from Amazon a few years ago; I'm sure you can find something similar. 

This is the same Walmart dress from Walmart that you see pictured above. 

This is the Amazon shirt that I bought and that's a cover-up! I bought it as an actual cover-up in hot pink, but this one I bought to wear as a shirt. I love it with the white pants that are fitted!

I recently bought myself some new pants to replace the ones that were older. These are from J. Jill, and while I don't always spend this amount on a pair of pants, I do believe that quality counts. These wash and wear like a dream, down to the satin lined pockets that I fell in love with! I wish I'd sized down in these, because they're a little too baggy, but they are very comfortable. I bought these in white and gray. 

These are this pair of jeans that I love from Dillard's; the brand is Westbound. These are on my wish

list! I love this top, but it was purchased at a boutique a few weeks ago; it's the Umgee brand that I love so much. 

And here is my closet that I cleaned out last week and that inspired this post. Here are a few things that I would recommend to someone wanting to update their look:

• take an honest assessment of yourself and decide what you love about your body and play that up, meaning that if you have great legs, wear some shorter dresses with strappy heeled sandals
• have a source for inspiration, whether someone you know in real life, someone you follow on Instagram, or if it's Pinterest
• decide what you want your style to be by choosing only the things that you love

For instance, I love for things to fit loosely, so I love flowy tops or dresses, and I have to be comfortable 100% of the time. You'll never hear me sacrificing comfort for style, so I never even wear shoes that hurt! There are great shoes out there for people who have problems with their ankles or feet that are stylish and comfortable. 

My example of this are these black strappy sandals with a wooden heal by Dansko.

• when you buy something, make sure it's only something you love
• when you bring in a new item, consider taking an older item out and giving it away
• use jewelry as accessories, whether earrings, rings, necklaces to layer or a stack of bracelets
• embrace whatever you love or don't love about yourself and don't fight it (I'm thinking of my own naturally curly hair that I used to fight to tame)...this could be related to hair, body shape, or rosy cheeks (again, I'm thinking of myself on that last one) 
• know your colors that are best on your skin tone, and consider your eyes and hair
• sometimes the bigger the earrings, the better

Do you have any tips that you'd like to add for us in the comments? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog today, friends. I'm linking up with Joanne for today's post; I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all! 

Jenn 🖤