Celebrating Love | February Stylish Monday
I wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day. Strangely, it is my least favorite of all the mainstream holidays. I am a self-diagnosed love junkie so it should be the opposite, don’t you think? I should adore all the corniness of romance that this holiday shoves down our throats. But I don’t. I think it’s because I celebrate love every day of my life. I wake up every morning overflowing with abundant love and I take a moment to be grateful for the amazing gifts in my life. And because of those amazing gifts, I don’t really like to receive other gifts for occasions such as these. I am constantly receiving the gift of love and that is all I really need.
I am often so adamantly opposed to receiving material gifts that my husband actually apologized to me last night for getting me a “non-gift Valentine’s themed gift”. He had ordered a box of the most beautiful and super delicious THC edibles from one of his friends. As he presented me with the big pastry box wrapped in a pretty red ribbon, he was quick to explain to me that I was not to interpret this as a Valentine’s gift. He did not buy it for that reason at all. He was merely supporting a friend’s small business who just happened to be selling Valentine’s themed treats. Of course, I am okay with that kind of gift. And I do so love and appreciate how well my husband gets me!
For this month’s Stylish Monday, my lovely group of fabulous friends have decided to share Valentine’s Day outfits. Although I don’t much like the holiday itself, I love love and I love clothing and I love any reason to style a cute outfit even for corny over commercialized holidays. I also love weed and I love sweets so I will never be disappointed with sweet weed treats for any occasion, no matter how corny, and the icing on top is supporting a small business!
So I embraced all there is to embrace about this holiday of love and I got to styling. But the first version of my outfit went disappointingly wrong. It looked cute in the mirror but when I looked back at the photographs, everything was ill fitting which made the proportions just look off. I didn’t like it all. But I liked the idea in my head so I decided to try again the next day. With a few tweaks here and there and an extra layer, I loved the result. The first two sets of photos above are the first attempt at this outfit.
I knew I wanted to wear my black and white Love sweater with this particular red and black plaid skirt. At first I had layered a white button down under the sweater, but it felt too bulky so I ditched it. Also the collar was camouflaging my Love necklace which I wanted to show off. It is one of my favorite necklaces that is always in constant rotation. I was liking the idea of my white patent loafers with this skirt but then I changed my mind about that, too.
We took the above photos last Sunday and then we had an appointment the following morning to do our taxes. So I decided to wear this outfit again but tweak it to make it better. My biggest problem was the skirt is too big. As most of my clothes continue to be these days. But when I pulled it up to its proper place around my waist, it became way too short so I had to add black bike shorts. When I added the shorts, the flat loafers made my legs look stumpy so I switched to my white platform boots to elongate my legs.
I added the white button down back underneath my sweater. It is tunic length so when I tucked it in a little bit peaked out along the hem of my skirt which I was kind of interesting. I also tucked in my sweater and added a wide black stretch belt to prevent the skirt from sliding below my waistline again. I switched my white fingerless gloves to black ones because the white ones get disgustingly dirty after one day. And I kept the same jewelry, scarf, and coat. We took the photos after our appointment with the accountant and I lost one of my red puffball earrings at some point so I am missing an earring in all of these second photos. They were super cheap earrings but they always made me smile! I’ll have to find a replacement pair.
Which version do you prefer?
Stylish Monday is a monthly series published in collaboration with a group of 15 international fashion and lifestyle bloggers. It is another opportunity to be creative with our personal style as we join together each month with a style prompt or theme. We also host a link party where anyone is welcome to add their personal style posts.
We fashion bloggers love style prompts and themes! They keep us on our toes and they keep our creativity blooming. They force us to think outside the box and try new things. They push us out of our comfort zones and really great things tend to happen when you step out of your comfort zone.
For lots of inspiration from over a dozen women with different styles, you are bound to find something that appeals to you. Be sure to visit each of these amazing women for not just fashion inspiration…each woman in this group brings different and interesting elements to the blogging community.
- Ada of Elegance and Mommyhood
- Amy of Amy’s Creative Pursuits
- Andy of Pearls and Pantsuits
- Brigitte of Brigitte Marie Foret
- Emma of Style Splash
- Joy of Joyous Musings
- Julie of Fashion Trends and Friends
- Kim of For a Good Life After 50
- Lucy of Lucy Bertoldi
- Michele of @seechele_styles
- Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style
- Nicole of High Latitude Style
- Nina of Sharing a Journey
- Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge
- Suzanne of Ask Suzanne Bell
For today’s post, most of the group is only sharing on Instagram so we will not be hosting a link party this month. If you are looking for more love inspired outfit creations, definitely head on over to IG and check out these fabulous ladies…
- Amy of Amy’s Creative Pursuits: @ameliasfleurs
- Andy of Pearls and Pantsuits: @pearlsandpantsuits
- Emma of Style Splash: @thestylesplash
- Julie of Fashion Trends and Friends: @fashiontandf
- Kim of Good Life After 50: @foragoodlifeafter50
- Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style: @nancysstyle
- Nicole of High Latitude Style: @highlatitudestyle
- Nina of Sharing a Journey: @sharing_a_journey
- Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge: @shelbeeontheedge
Sending lots of love from the edge,
Shelbee
Joining these Fabulous Link Parties.
Outfit Details: Sweater and Shorts-Torrid / Shirt-Foxcroft / Skirt and Scarf-Charlotte Russe / Coat-Old Navy / Necklace-Queen Bitter / Loafers-DSW / Boots-Shoe Dazzle / Gloves-Amazon / Tights and Earrings-Old
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
20 Comments
Pepi
I really like the red and black skirt
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Pepi! I have a special fondness for plaid mini skirts!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jacqui Berry
Fun post Hun. We don’t celebrate on just one day, we enjoy every day to show our love. Lovely the look shelbee. Jacqui xx
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, thanks so much, Jacqui! I love that you are the same page as me when it comes to celebrating love all day every day! Have a happy Valentine’s Day and every other day after that, too!
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
Such nice gifts. Very cool. Looking very nice.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks. Patrick! I hope you are having a great week!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jennifer
Loving the plaid!!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Jennifer!
xoxo
Shelbee
Marsha Banks
We don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day except maybe as an excuse to go out for dinner…but never on that day because that would be just nuts! I like the second outfit best because of the white collar poking out above your sweater. Honestly, though, they’re both so cute!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Marsha, thanks so much! We have never gone out on Valentine’s Day! In fact, I can only recall going out on Valentine’s Day once ever in my life with a boyfriend many, many years ago. Actually, the day after Valentine’s Day is one of my favorites because all the fun candy goes at least to 50% off. By the weekend, it will all be like 90% off and then I go stock up on my pot snacks! Hahaha.
xoxo
Shelbee
Lovely
This is a fantastic look, Shelbee! Love the pattern mixing and all these pieces complement each other so well!
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Lovely! I love pattern mixing and I love plaids and I love red, black, and white together. So once I got this right, I love this outfit!
xoxo
Shelbee
Kathrine Eldridge
This look is so cute and cozy my friend! I adore that sweater and that skirt is so chic. Hope you enjoyed your day!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Kathrine! I did feel super festive and sassy in this outfit! It was a lovely day, for sure. I hope you also had a wonderful day of celebrating love!
xoxo
Shelbee
Alexandra
Cute skirt!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Alexandra!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
The first version was cut-ish, but your analysis of its issues is spot on. The second version addresses those and looks really awesome. We are not huge celebrators of Valentine’s Day either. We did the first year we were married, but Dan & I share our love and affection everyday. So a special day for it seems a bit off for us. I can see where busy people might need the reminder for doing a date night though.
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Michelle! I think a lot of my outfit shifted around driving to the photo location, too, and I didn’t even realize until I looked at the photos later. It was so cold that day that we didn’t the time to fuss and fidget with my clothes! Haha. But once I fixed all the issues, there was no fussing or fidgeting required!
Jeff and I acknowledge Valentine’s Day and wish each other a happy day, but like you, we do that every day anyway! But I can also see how the holiday would be a lovely reminder for other types of couples.
xoxo
Shelbee
Gail
Super cute look Shelbee. I agree with you, some of these “days”, like “Love Your Pet Day” are ludicrous because we love our pets all the time! Same with Valentie’s Day. But your husband had the right idea with a non-Valentine’s gift to help a friend’s small business! The treats looked delicious. Regrettably Mr Mutton bought a new toilet seat last week, so he would probably say that was my Valentine’s present (he only ever buys me practical things!).
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Gail! I am all light and love every day! Except on those days when I’m not, of course. Haha. I appreciate practical gifts like new toilet seats! I even asked my husband to buy a new vacuum for us as a gift because ours is so old and I can’t stand the way it smells when you run it these days. And my sister’s all time favorite Christmas present that I ever gave to her was a garbage disposal for her kitchen sink! So I think practical gifts are way better! I indulge all my other shopping whims myself. Ha.
xoxo
Shelbee