Dresses, Cardigan, and Jackets Oh My!

Okay more fashionable friends, I need some help. ER's obsession with dresses has gotten me in the mood to revisit them in my own wardrobe. It's dress season at LOFT, my favorite clothing store. Plus I happen to have a birthday gift card that's been burning a hole in my pocket since March ~ thank you again Norma, for that!

I was there last week and picked up a fun dress in basic black with spaghetti straps. It was already marked down and then a further forty percent off, a bargain. Not being brave enough to actually wear said dress out in public without something covering my arms, I also got this short sleeved cardigan from Target.

What do you think? Don't worry I can take it! Is it too long? Do I look too school marmish? Does the blue look odd with the black? All of these things are what's running through my mind. I should not be obsessing so much about a twenty dollar cardigan, I know. So I thought I'd run it by all my friends and see what they thought.

C'mon now, we're good enough friends for you to NOT let me leave the house in this, if it looks bad, right? I'd tell you if you had food in your teeth, I promise! To prove it, I'll even show you the "before" picture. Now you know the reason for needing the sweater! I tried a tank underneath at the store, so I could...ah, give the girls a little boost☺ but hated how that looked.

I also picked up a blue dress that ER loves, she wants me to wear it every day. It's pretty cute and since the top is has more coverage I feel more comfortable in it. But it's still rather daring for me, note the "plunging" neckline. Well it's plunging for me at least.

Back within the realm of safer bets for me, I finally found what I've been on the hunt for since February. While reading all the the Social Media Mom's Conference forums, I worked myself in a panic after reading the thread about what to wear.

Decided last minute I needed something more structured and less "mommy" than the usual zip of sweater that's my go to extra layer. So the search for a casual but dressy jacket, yes I know a total oxymoron.

For some reason I decided I had to have a jean jacket, because while business attire was required but nice casual was. I thought that would look more tailored without trying too hard. Yes I spent WAY too much time thinking about this.

My go to store the LOFT did have a perfect one, for about seventy bucks, and I just couldn't bring myself to plunk that down. Because when weighing the cost of the jacket against the price of a Disney Photo Pass CD, visions of fabulous photos of ER smiling happily with Cinderella won out. After the trip, I went back to try and snag it on sale, but of course they were all sold out. This time I was in luck and also got this on sale with an additional forty percent off. Remember I also got to use my gift card for both dresses AND the jacket. I even have a little bit left on it. {Insert Squeals of Delight Here} I really love it, I think it gives me a more polished look than my old sweaters. I just feel more pulled together and less dowdy. It feels a little trendier, for me anyway, than the normal very tailored suit jackets I'm normally attracted too.

As for the jean jacket, look what I also found at Target, along with the blue cardigan at the top, that I may or may not keep. The twenty five dollar price tag was a lot easier to swallow, even though I was tempted to wait and see if it went on sale.
What must have piece are you looking for this season? Got any obessions you want to add to your closet? Mine usually revolve around purses or shoes, because those fit no matter what the waist size is and NEVER make me look fat☺These purchases represent some of the most daring additions in recent times, normally I am strictly a v-neck t-shirt and khaki shorts kind of gal.

PS: Did you notice ER has to jump in all my pictures, she's such a camera hog! Can't tell she's the child of a blogger can you? Why the heck would Mommy need to take any pictures without her in them, LOL! She's even in the last one, just way off to the side so I cropped her out.