Occasions.

I’m happiest when I have an event to plan an outfit for. It’s fun to experiment day-to-day, but there’s something very appealing about planning a look, especially for an occasion that requires something kind of special. I’ve obviously been thinking about New Years as a way to psych myself up about my boyfriend’s concert (blue sequins, I haven’t given up on you), but I have a few other things coming up a bit sooner. In making these sets, I tried to stick to items that I have, or things that look like pieces in my closet.

1. A wedding. Going as the Plus 1 of my boyfriend and meeting a ton of his childhood friends for the first time. I’m leaning on him to fill me in on the details so I can decide how formal this is. He mentioned that the simple day dress I wore to the last wedding we attended would be okay, but I’m not in a simple mood lately. Two ideas:

2. The Nutcracker. Every year my mother takes my sister and me to see the Nutcracker Ballet. The venue is gorgeous and grand. People arrive in everything from dresses and heels to jeans. My denim will not be attending.

Of this outfit I only own the dress (a knit splurge at Anthropologie- fits like a dream) and the boots. I suppose I have a similar white shirt and my hard-working brown faux leather belt, though. The white shirt would layer under, of course:

3. The boyfriend’s birthday party. A joint party with another friend. I’m not actually super sure what it will be like, only that it starts around 6pm at that friend’s house. Seems like a casual, daytime affair- but it could end up in going out. I’m going to split the formal/informal difference. Could always ditch the sweater if things get fancy. My own LBD is mega-cute, but I couldn't find a thing like it on the internet. Ah well.