Word of the Day: Gingham

Apparently, gingham is a known word, but it was a new one for me. I must have missed this lesson in Home Economics back in school lol.

Gingham - A yarn-dyed cotton fabric woven in stripes, checks, plaids, or solid colors. 

Gingham has no right or wrong side with respect to color (didn't know that either!). It was originally a striped fabric when imported into Europe in the 17th century, but became a checkered pattern from the mid 18th century.

I was called into a 15 minute quickie meeting one day at work, when one of my female coworkers and I realized that we were both wearing these shirts. Mine was red and hers was blue. Then another coworker said, "Oh, you're both wearing gingham shirts!" Of course I had to inquire about this strange word. I had my coworker write it down on a post-it, and we carried on with our impromptu discussion. I then went back to my desk and brainstormed my next blog post. Here's my red and white gingham shirt, one of my casual favorites.






Keeping it Classy,
Janell
xoxo

Making Your Wardrobe Serve Dual Roles

Ideally, we should have separate wardrobes for work and play. However, sometimes women face the challenge of limited clothing options, so what works for the office might have to also serve for casual weekends or going out. If you work in a formal office environment where suits are required, this may be difficult to do. But if you work in a more laid back, casual environment, this can be easily achieved. Take today's look. I wore this to work today, but it could easily be worn to a night out just by making some simple changes. My workplace welcomes jeans any day of the week. I wore a straight leg pair with this fun ruffly red top and a cardigan. For evening, I would simply switch to skinny jeans, change my shoes, swap out the cardigan band for a fun belt, swap my work bag for a clutch,  add some fun jewelry, and my look is completely transformed and very appropriate for a night out with friends. Simple enough? I think so. Do you ever wear pieces both for work and play?






Keeping it Classy,
Janell
xoxo

Accessorizing a Red Dress

Ever wondered what accessory to wear with your red dress? That was a question I was posed with recently. I thought for a moment on what would work well other than gold or silver...the usual suspects. I immediately came up with several options....emerald green, purple, turquoise, yellow, and multi. I love the richness of the emerald green, the way the purple and red compliment each other, the surprise of the turquoise, and the brightness of the yellow. And why not just go wild with a bunch of colors all rolled in one! That's where the multi-colored necklace comes in. A red dress makes a statement. Make an even bigger statement with the right accessory.

What's your favorite color to accessorize with red?

Accessorizing a Red Dress

Accessorizing a Red Dress by janellsheppard 

Keeping it Classy,
Janell
xoxo

Why Are Pants So Complicated!

Have you ever been confused with all the options in pants there are today? There are styles such as curvy bootcut, bootcut trouser, curvy skinny, slim bootcut, curvy skinny flare...I would just like to buy a plain pair of jeans/pants for once! Then within each style, some retailers offer different "fits" which go by some sort of store-wide code name that only their everyday shoppers know the meaning of. Have you ever been in this situation? I sure have. Today's pants first caught my attention because of its rich color and that it was corduroy...perfect for Fall. It's a "flare wide-leg trouser," and even though that sounded a bit confusing at first, I love the fit and the softness of it. My best advice to anyone who ever gets confused with these different fits is to just try on a few. Depending on the style, you may need to go up or down in size. I had to go down in size for this pair, because wide legs usually fit a little bigger. At the end of the day, all you'll end up with is a great pair of pants...regardless of its complicated name. So to me, that's worth it!








Keeping it Classy,
Janell
xoxo

Lately, I'm Really Into...

...Striped dresses. I don't know what it is about them, but I'm just loving it.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Striped Dresses

Striped Dresses by janellsheppard

Keeping it Classy,
Janell
xoxo

Checking In

How is everyone's new year going so far? As I mentioned before, this year, I'm not making resolutions. I'm striving to achieve "goals." One of my goal is to exercise regularly, eat better, and live a healthier life. Yeah yeah, I know. Everyone says that. But I'm actually doing something about it. I'm determined to stick to this goal, so tonight was my first class in a 10 week kickboxing boot camp my friend and I signed up for. They say, "No pain, no gain," right? Well, let's just say I'll be heading to bed early tonight lol. It was BRUTAL! 







Keeping it Classy,
Janell
xoxo

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you're all safe and well and ready to conquer 2012. I stopped making resolutions a couple of years back, because I never stick to them. So this time around, I decided to make "goals" rather than resolutions. Each are very attainable, and they are all geared towards a better living.

My camera is still out of commission, but I managed to take a few pics on my friend's cell phone on New Year's Eve night. I went for a black sequin dress and paired it with a gold belt, jewelry, and clutch. My shoes were about 2 or 3 inches high, and I joked with my friends that I was wearing "flats." Compared to what I'm used to wearing, they were definitely flat! Since it was a bit chilly, I wore a blazer and rolled up the sleeves to keep it interesting. Check out the look.




Here's to 2012, may it be even more fabulous than 2011! :)


Keeping it Classy,
Janell
xoxo
© Cordially J

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