Dressing up is, like, totes hard, y'all.

Yesterday I realized that I am not that good at dressing up. When I go to events in which I'm expected to dress up (-ahem- like Austin Fashion Week) it is my natural inclination to put on a dress, some wedges, slick my hair back into a bun, and call it a day. No layers, no accessories, nothing too quirky. And I call myself a style blogger? FAIL. The red dress I wore for the kickoff event on Saturday was nice, but it was by no means exemplary of Austin style or even my own personal style. In short, I give this outfit a half smile and a small stifled yawn. In other words a C-.

(Right photo stolen from Diya)
Intern Rachel & I on the red carpet. Rachel looks awesome.
my dress: ModCloth | my heels: Franco Sarto (same exact outfit here)

I decided to get a little more creative last night for a girls' night out at Red House Pizzaria and more fashion week festivities at Blo and The Driskill:

Yes, I hiked up this skirt that was formerly a dress, then belted it and bloused it, to attempt to work it as a mullet-hemmed dress (short in the front, long in the back).

dress: LuLu*s via TxSCC (similar) | vest: Francesca's | necklace: Buffalo Exchange | wedges: c/o Wanted

Today I took the day off from Austin Fashion Week. I took Jude and my friend's son to Chick-fil-A to play on the indoor playscape, and then I nursed a sore throat with lots of peanut butter cookies that my best friend left here (they're all gone, Bee!).

blouse: c/o Electric Frenchie (last seen here) | shorts: PacSun | boots: c/o Wanted | headband: c/o Accessorize

Just so you know, I feel like this is closer to something that more accurately represents me, not the two outfits above. This is what I wear when I'm running Jude around town or when I'm doing nothing of great importance. This is the girl you're going to run into at the grocery store or at Savers.

I suppose if one store could approximate this go-to look, it'd be Free People. In fact, this entire look was cribbed from their summer catalog:

Except mine is a $78 silk blouse (theirs is rayon and polyester), $24 shorts, and $60 boots (i.e. $492 cheaper). I plan to repurpose some leather belts to DIY my boots like the lovely Free People ones.

I totally think it's possible, don't you?

Four more days of Austin Fashion Week to go, and I still have no idea what I'm wearing...