Category Archives: Outfit

4 Quick Steps for Turning ‘Clothes’ into an ‘Outfit’

I’m have a mostly analytical nature. I love having a process or steps to complete for any task. It helps me define is working for me and improve on anything I dislike.

We headed out on Saturday night with friends, these are the ‘boring’ chambray shirt & jeans I was wearing during the day. To walk the dog, clean house, and curl up on the couch and watch Bob’s Burger’s on Netflix instant view (I’m in love with Kristen Schaal). When we decided to met some friends for drinks I wanted to take my clothes and turn them into an outfit. I’ve been working on these steps for a while now, and while I don’t follow this list every time, having quick go-to steps helps me decide what to do next. Like any medium ‘You have to know the rules before you can break them’.

1.) Tuck it & belt it.

  • Add a belt to your outfit, and if you are wearing two pieces tuck in your top. This helps define your waist, and breaks up long stretches of color.

2.) Roll up & Unbutton.

  • My mother used to have to tell me to unbutton my top button, because I thought ‘if it’s there I should use it.’ That’s not really true. Unbutton your top couple buttons, you can wear a bright-colored camisole to add some interest here.
  • Rolling up your sleeves breaks up the color. I feel like it makes my arms look longer and less stuffy.

3.) Accessorize.

  • I’m admittedly not great at accessorizing yet, so I typically limit myself to one big statement piece. Dangly earrings (in this case), or funky bracelets, or chunky necklaces. I like to keep it simple by just choosing one.

4.) When in doubt. Bright lips.

  • Bright red lips are definitely in vogue this spring. In a couple more seasons you might try a bright pink, or a coral, or a dark mauve, or whatever complements your skin color. It adds a bit of contrast to your face and really adds that extra oomph to make you look put together.


Tada! Loren is ready to rock & roll! Or just dance with her friends and try to avoid all the night club creepers. Do you guys have steps for going from drab to fab?

Double Florals

Last week I wore double florals for the first time to work on Wednesday, and then my car broke down. Which means that I now consider double florals to be bad luck.

Also the broken car threw off the end of my week.

The car is already 16 years old, I’ve been driving it for 8. I’m not saying I want the car to die, but I’m preparing for it to die… by browsing for a new car. Like a very old, very sick pet who’s quality of life has really fallen. Maybe it is time? I’m thinking Prius C? Go ahead and judge my decisions now. But tiny car, major MPG, probably won’t need to be replaced for MANY more years. And I have a big ole’ chunk of change in my savings account with no defined purpose…

Double Your Fun

I snagged this dress from the sale rack at Target for a couple bucks and wore it to work on Friday and then out to the ‘clubs’ that evening. I wanted to show off my ‘restyling’. For work I tried to keep it classy with a little undershirt and chunky necklace (to neutralize any cleavage), and some flats.

For the bar that evening I put on my very favorite tallest ‘karaoke shoes’. And got ready to dance the night away. I know, this one isn’t exactly a big swing. But I always love how much ‘cooler’ I feel in a pair of good heels compared to plain flats.

We’ve had a lot going on at the casa de Cline lately. So I’ve been a little absent from the internet. Sometimes even when I have time to blog it seemed important to make a little other things a priority. Like the boyfriend, reading fantasy novels, taking naps, and realizing that my brunette roots are REALLY obvious, so I’ll be stopping to get some pick-me-up dye on the way home form work today.

I Language vs. You Language

I ordered this top (dress) from Modcloth a couple of months ago and even though I love the pattern & the cutout on the back I literally cannot wear it as a dress because the skirt part does not fit me.

I am pretty much totally happy with the way I look. I love my curvy bits, and my freckles, and my short legs, and my funky short hair.

But still I find plenty of things that don’t fit me, or aren’t flattering, or are just plain weird.

In college I took a business writing class. The professor went into specifics about ‘I language statements vs. you language statements’.

You Language

“Your joke wasn’t funny.’

I Language

“I don’t think that was funny.”

‘You language’ puts the blame on the receiver, and can easily be interpreted as an attack.  So you shouldn’t use in business writing (or arguments with your spouse).

When I am in the dressing room it’s easy to fall into those familiar “I language statements’

‘I am to fat for this dress’

‘My hips are to big for this’.

The truth is that the dress isn’t right. There is nothing ‘wrong’ with me, or with you. We are not at fault when an inanimate object doesn’t look good on us. It’s weird that I still use these statements because the clothing doesn’t have feelings, I won’t disappoint a skirt when I tell it ‘Things just aren’t working out’, there’s no reason to say to a dress ‘It’s not you, it’s me’.

I think ‘you language’ belongs in the dressing room. Lately when I step into a dressing room I’ve been practicing my ‘you language’ statements like.

‘This skirt is to small.’

‘This top doesn’t suit me.’

‘This dress is not proportioned correctly.’

Which is exactly the problem I ran into with this Modcloth dress, the top fits me well but the bottom will not pull over my hips, because my hips are wonderful and this dress is to not proportioned to fit my body type.

Progress is More Beautiful than Perfection

I need more skirts with a chiffon underskirt.

Everything seen here is second hand, don’t you love it when that happens?

Please know, I am paraphrasing Rhi from Hey Gorgeous in the title

This has become my mantra for the next couple weeks. Although I would not consider myself a perfectionist, I sometimes find myself paralyzed when things aren’t exactlythewaythatIneedthemtobe. (Is that what perfectionism is?) When that fear stops you from doing something new, or trying something different. Sometimes it is better to push forward than to try & make everything ‘exactly correct’. That is something I’ve been trying here on this blog. Sometimes I publish posts I am not 100% happy with or an outfit that didn’t turn out quite right, because movement & change are sometimes more important that being perfect.

Maybe you know the feeling… that you shouldn’t pick up the pen because you aren’t “talented enough”, that you shouldn’t have friends over because the house isn’t spotless, or even that you shouldn’t wash the dishes right now because you don’t have time to wash all the dishes. These moments, they are the ones that I want to avoid. I’m going to pick up the pen, and throw that party, and only wash five dishes.

Because five clean dishes is better than no clean dishes.

I think that is a metaphor. I’m not exactly sure what for, but I’m writing it here anyway because things don’t have to be perfect!

So I saw nearly this exact outfit on Pinterest a couple weeks ago. And I thought ‘oooo that is really pretty’ and I filed it away for a ‘special event’, or a night that I knew something amazing would happen. And then I waited for the ‘right’ time. But then I read Rhi’s post and decided I would wear it today, because everyday should be ‘special’ and I will make something awesome happen.