Friday, August 2, 2013

Day to night out fit - smart casual

Aloha lovelies!
It is finally the month of August (oh how the year has flown by!) and I am still in the Sunshine State of Australia, and boy am I lapping up the sun and crisp, fresh winter air. As you may be able to tell, the back ground is back in my home in Vietnam, so yes, I am cheating a little here. These photos were taken about four weeks ago (on the day that I was leaving to Aus) but I'm working on them today as I have some down time. 

I created this look for my casual girls out there, and added a little twist for a day appropriate outfit, and a night appropriate outfit. 

This is the items I put together to create the day outfit. I wanted the key element of this look to be the vibrant blue shorts. The colour, I admit, has unfortunately faded due to washing, however it doesn't fail to be the focal point of the outfit. I paired it with a white singlet and a loose fitting button up blouse with the cute touch of studding across the colour for a slight edge. For accessories, I kept it simple with a thick gold, rusted bangel to match the studding and buttons on the shirt, my favorite (and only) owl necklace, some very muchly worn shoes, and a black satchel.
The plain singlet from target is one of my staple wardrobe essentials. As I am a girl who loves to layer my outfits, it's no surprise that I own five of these, and the collection is growing (I do throw out my ratty old ones though, I promise you). You can buy these for under $10, and you will usually find there are sales associated with them (like buy one get two free, get second one %50 off. I generally get these when they are on sale for $2/$5)  Over the top I wore the darling shirt from Forever 21 that I think I "scored" for 20 Singapore dollars - it was also within the newer stock. I decided it suited the look best unbuttoned for a more casual, laid-back approach. 
The owl necklace is also from forever 21 for 8 singapore dollars. I like to think my style is a casual with "bohemian elements" - and yes I laugh at myself for that, because really, it's an owl for heavens sake - and why not enforce that with the almighty queen accessory of all bohemianess: the owl.

I got this bagel from a friend back in grade 6 or something, and I've only fished it out from the bottom of my wardrobe a year ago. I find it's a nice touch to outfits that need a little something more. I'm not a huge fan of arm candy in the hot weather, but this is a cool metal and is actually not a pain to wear. The rusted look goes quite well with the studs and buttons on my shirt (I had a close up of the collar, but I accidentally deleted it sorry).
These brown, tri-colored shoes that I scored from Novo for $15 (they were new stock at the time and originally $50, I a price I would never pay for them) go with a lot of outfits of mine, as they are casual yet a statement piece themselves in a way. I chose these shoes because they worked best with the look, as anything more could have been too much for what I was going for.
This black satchel from Equip that I got for $20 ties the outfit together. I would have preferred a brown bag for this look, but as I didn't have one, this had to suffice. The rusted gold detailing on the bag also matches the studding on the shirt.
My mum bought these lovely earrings for me as they were on sale reduced to a very low, and unpassable price. I thought these added a nice, subtle touch to the outfit.
Now for the night outfit. I swapped the shorts for a black skirt with lace trimmings from Target ($30) and buttoned up the shirt. You'll see in the images below that unbuttoning the shirt is just as nice, and slightly more casual. With the collar buttoned, you're able to see the studding however. I thought a clutch suited the outfit more, and this wallet was only used for an example. 

For those wondering, despite the fact that I wouldn't intend on using this wallet, it's from Kate Hill.
I'm wearing a small, beaded bracelet for a minimalistic touch. 
Dainty bow earrings from Portmans seemed to do the trick.
Novo shoes (I apologize for my bruised, bitten and scratched legs and my unacceptable toe nail polish). 
These are both the shoes I used, and as you can see they are both Novo.

(PLEASE NOTE: this is not a post on showing you exact items to wear, but more a tutorial on how to change up your outfit for nighttime. In this case, showing you changing from shorts to a skirt and tucking it in to go from casual to chic, and tweaking accessories and re-styling your shirt to help it go with your changed outfit)
Oh Lola by Marc Jacobs is my current choice of perfume for transitioning your outfit into the night. I think it's a lovely, fresh, floral and slightly fruit scent that works well for both day and the evening.
 
I plan on doing a separate post on day to night makeup, but for a simple summary, you want to work on just making your day makeup a little more dramatic. So for starters, your makeup should be fresh and work on enhancing your features you day time wear. The pictures above is one of my recent favorite makeup looks. I've used the Revlon 12 hour eyeshadow in blushed wines. Starting off with the nude colour, I swept that across my lids, followed by contouring in the crease with the darkest colour. I used the top, lightest pearly colour across my brow bone and inner corners to add dimension and brighten my eyes, and finally the second lightest shade on the center of my lid, again to add dimension.
For the face, I've used a bb cream, concealer, and powder followed by a light sweep across my cheeks and temples of the body shops baked bronzer in warm glow, and a Bobbi brown shimmer brick in pink on the apples of my cheeks, and beside the bronzer up my temple. 
For the lips I kept it simple with stila's lip glaze in guava.

I hope you all enjoyed this post, and keep your eyes out for more. Please don't hesitate to comment ideas for my next posts. I have a couple lined up however, along with my July favorites.

Until next time,
Lots of love

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