Belle Meets World

BEAUTY MUST-HAVES

FASHION EMERGENCY
CASUAL STYLE

FASHION EMERGENCY

Picture this, Dear Readers: You head to Charleston for a long weekend with your man to see friends and enjoy the sights. You pack one of your favorite looks so that you can shoot and write a fun little “What to Wear to Thanksgiving” post. I mean this multi-layered pleated mini-dress with fun fall colors is perfect with a pair of Over the Knee (OTK) boots, right?! You walk around in the bright South Carolina sunshine all morning thinking, “Man, I must be looking super-fly because I keep getting a lot of double-takes.” You engage in a quick photo shoot and then check in on the pics to make sure they’re turning out alright. And then you see it, the reason for all those double-takes: YOUR DRESS IS 100% SEE THROUGH AND THE WORLD CAN SEE YOUR BRA, SLIP, THONG UNDERWEAR, AND BUTT. 

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AFFORDABLE HAIRCARE
BEAUTY

AFFORDABLE HAIRCARE

It’s been a while since I’ve done a post focused on haircare – partly because I’ve been so uninspired by my hair products lately! Here’s why – my hair has changed dramatically over the last year. It used to be off-the-charts curly and very voluminous. In fact, I could get away with washing it once a week (no joke). Now that I’m solidly in my 30s, the natural curl has turned into an unpredictable semi-wave, it gets greasy after one day, and it is thinner. Then one day it’ll curl out of the blue after a shampoo, and then back to flat the next day. All of my expensive uber-curl products are now mostly useless to me, and I certainly can’t afford to spend tons of money on all-new expensive products. Any of you other ladies out there dealing with this weirdness?? Fortunately, I’ve found a couple solutions that you can buy at Target that I’m recommending today. 

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WHAT TO WEAR TO A FORMAL WEDDING
DRESS UP

WHAT TO WEAR TO A FORMAL WEDDING

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending my dear friend’s wedding in NYC. It was an extraordinary event – so beautiful and tasteful and full of love – with a formal wedding attire requirement. My most favorite part of attending any wedding is the dress code! When I saw ‘formal’ on the invite, I was so intrigued and ran straight for my sister’s Emily Post etiquette books to learn more. Would Evan need to wear a tux? Did this mean I needed a gown (yes, please I hope it meant a gown!!)? What about hair, makeup, shoes?! Oh boy – this was going to be fun.

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ON AGING, AT 34
BEAUTY

ON AGING, AT 34

I started writing this post on my 34th birthday, and it’s taken me two months to complete my thoughts on turning 34 and what it means to me. Last year I posted about beating the Birthday Blues on my 33rd by infusing self-love into your special day. The year before that, a fun little outfit post about my short skirt, smiling wide at 32. This year, I’m posting about ‘getting older’ because in the last year, my relationship with age has completely changed – suddenly I was ‘aging’. AGING. I’ve felt so many different emotions towards it, had so many different experiences with it, and sought out so many different ‘solutions’ for it this year – as if it’s a force to be reckoned with that I must control, deny and accept, all at the same time.

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WARDROBE CLASSICS EVERY WOMAN NEEDS
DRESS UP

WARDROBE CLASSICS EVERY WOMAN NEEDS

I’ve been so diligent about posting since my blog’s relaunch in August that I’ve found myself a little burnt out and a lot uninspired. When I told Evan I didn’t know what to post today (in fact I missed my Monday morning deadline!), he told me to be honest with my readers and asked if there was a quick outfit I had that we could shoot so that I could maintain my consistent posting schedule. I went to the closet and found myself reaching for this look almost without thinking about it. Which made me realize that there are some wardrobe classics that each woman’s closet should have – the oldies but goodies that you can wear all together or wear in separate looks that are timeless and always on point.

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STYLE FAIL – WHY THIS DRESS DOESN’T WORK
STYLE

STYLE FAIL – WHY THIS DRESS DOESN’T WORK

I usually write about styles that do work, and things you should wear. But every now and then, I’ll choose something for myself that does not work and fails in an epic way. Rather than not post about it and sweep those pictures under the rug, I’m going to share the fail with you today. I had the highest of hopes for this dress when I rented it – it’s a navy sleeveless trench dress with an extra flap of fabric on the front and an asymmetrical neckline by Opening Ceremony. I thought for sure the extra details would be fashion forward, yet work appropriate AND that they’d hide and flatter my worst parts. WRONG…

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