Skirtmas in July Collaboration, Day 1: Ruffle Wrap Skirts.

As I mentioned in my latest post where I featured all those pretty skirts from Target, today July 9th 2018 marks the first day of a multiple-day collaboration with ELSIE from Polished Whimsy for our "Skirtmas in July" series (Christmas in July, get it?!). Actually the beautiful+stylish Elsie 'coined' this fashion name herself, as she started this series on her own, posted on her blog, last July in 2017. If you are not familiar with Elsie's Blog, she is a mom to a young girl (like myself), also a business professional who happens to wear and own a lot of skirts. Actually we own several of the same skirts (not just from Target) as you will see in the next 7 days or so - yes there will be a new style post each day, as time-consuming and committed as that is. As a matter of fact I am typing this out at 2.40 AM guys. I drank a lot of coffee, not to worry lol. 

For our first day we are featuring Ruffled Skirts and not just a 'typical' ruffle skirt (ruffled hem) but Ruffle Wrap Skirts. Both of my skirts today are from Loft, while Elsie's skirt which I wanted so bad is from Target but Loft too had a very similar one and unfortunately both are sold out from these retailers, in my size. I have to live vividly in those fresh blue stripes through Elsie. Love, love how she styled hers with the red top. Perfect for the 4th of July, Labor Day or Memorial Day. Her shoes are gorgeous too and she is ready for work in this business casual look.

...Meanwhile, since I have a ton of un-posted outfits and several ruffled wrap skirts (you will see one more actually blogged this week), I decided to show you TWO LOOKS today. I styled two different Ruffle Wrap Skirts two different ways. Both Outfits are dressy and one is for daytime, while the other one is for the nighttime. As a matter of fact I wore the day outfit just 2 days ago to work for a marketing event we had at a local hospital. The 'dress code' said dressy casual and I think my Black Eyelet Midi Ruffle Skirt paired with the Nude Heels and a Cute Tee suited this daytime work event. While the outfit with the Floral/Paisley Burnt Orange Mini Ruffle Skirt was worn two weeks ago exactly, for a night out. You might have seen it on my Instagram stories that day. As a matter of fact I even did a poll whether you liked the outfit or not and 22 people voted and everyone said YES. So thank you to everyone. In reality, I felt beautiful, sexy and confident in it. 

THE  RUFFLED  WRAP   SKIRT  DRESSED  UP   FOR  NIGHT.

...We will start with the night or evening dressy look, since chronologically I wore this one earlier. For the evening look I decided to style a Floral Ruffle Wrap Skirt. The print, the material and the vibe of this is more of a daytime type of skirt. But it is a mini skirt and it has vibrant colors so I wanted to make it work for the evening (dinner and drinks for a  Sunday night out). And I made it evening-appropriate by pairing with a Sexy Black Top. This Shoulder Cutout Blouse with the Laceup Neckline is a sexy number by Express from last Summer. I also added Fun Black Heels. These Strappy Bootie Sandals in Patent Leather have been in my closet for at least 10 years and they are by one of my favorite shoe brands - Nine West. I love the fun cone heel. As trendy as they are, they are so cool and sexy I could wear them any year and any season too. On the widget below I linked similar black cone-heel sandals as a current option by Nine West and they are just as gorgeous. I dressed this look up with a Mini Statement Necklace and Matching Bracelet by White House Black Market in Smoke Geometric-Shaped Stones and my Pomegranate Circle Stud Earrings by Loft. My hair was wavy and my makeup was simple yet a nighttime type of makeup with the heavier mascara, black eyeliner and bright fuchsia/magenta lipstick - my favorite lip shade for the Summer. It ends up being the perfect night out or date night look, just perfect for my weekend night out. It is a sassy, girly and sexy outfit showing some leg, some arm and a peak of cleavage, but all done in a tasteful + feminine way. My tip in Styling a Floral Ruffle Wrap Skirt for a Dressy Night Look is to go for a Solid Black Top - a Slinky Lace-Trimmed Camisole would have been another good option - and some Black Heels. Also because the top and the skirt both made a statement here and because I wore a bright lip, I did go for more demure jewelry and no statement earrings.

THE  RUFFLED  WRAP   SKIRT  DRESSED  UP   FOR  DAY.

For the daytime look I chose a daytime material/texture and that would be eyelet. Never has eyelet been more on trend than it has in 2018. It is the quintessential Summer material. Breezy yet sturdy. Girly with a little bit of edge. Fun and chic at the same time. My Black Eyelet Midi Ruffle Wrap Skirt is also by Loft (this skirt to be exact - on major sale now) as I mentioned and my co-collaborator Elsie owns this same skirt too. As a matter of fact we will BOTH style it on Thursday this week for Thursday Moda. I styled my Eyelet Midi Ruffle Wrap Skirt for a daytime event by pairing it with a Fun Tee which says "Ciao" (means both "Hello" and "Bye" in Italian). The Tee is by Loft in the softest 100% cotton and I love the Baby Pink/Blush Color of course. And the skirt was worn for daytime of course but heels are still important when going for a dressy look, so I went for some Faux Suede Laceup Stiletto Bootie Sandals which were purchased last year by Target. I hadn't worn any of my rings in a while so I went for the more the merrier (with the rings) in this dressy daytime look and wore 4 pretty ones. I also accessorized with the Prettiest Grey Stone Wrap Beaded Bracelet with Firefly Charm made by my talented new friend Sue Marie and you can find her on Instagram also. I purchased 5 very pretty bracelets from her and she surprised me with a 6th. The gradient grey stones of this pretty bracelet matched in color with the crystals in my Super Light Chandelier Earrings. For Lipstick I went with a Nudish Creamy Color and this was a very sunny day so a pair of sunnies where needed. My Blush Pink New Aeropostale Sunglasses matched all the pastels in this outfit beautifully. Last but not least I carried a Mini Grey Crossbody Bag by Gap and I looped a Baby Blue Pastel Silk Scarf through it (didn't tie it). As a matter of fact on my Thursday Moda post in a few days, when I re-style this skirt I will re-style this same silk scarf too. My tip in styling a Textured or an Eyelet Ruffle Wrap Skirt for a dressy daytime look is to go with a very simple and breezy material on top like a tank top, a thin tee (like I did), a graphic t-shirt or a camisole in cotton or silk, but always remember to wear some type of heel. Nude colored heels are the best. And dress it up with jewelry, too.

For reference I am wearing a size S (which can be between a 2 and a 6 in number sizes) in both of these skirts from Loft - it is my normal skirt size from there. The skirts run true to size. I could have probably even done the XS in the Eyelet Wrap Skirt. The Express Cold-Shoulder Top and the Soft Cotton Tee by Loft are both in a size Small.

Which of these dressy looks is your favorite today: the Day or the Night Look?! Which of these Ruffle Wrap Skirts is your favorite?! Let me know in the comments. And oh wait, there are more wrap skirts and more dressy looks coming on the blog, this week. ;-)