Make A Statement

I LOVE statement jewelry. That's no secret--it's fun, a great way to embrace trends, and you get have an entire collection of different colors and shapes!

Pearls aren't really a "statement" necklace as much as a classic piece that everyone has. With that said, they still make a statement of class, order and professionalism. They can go great with a suit and a shirt and jeans. Talk about ultimate transition! This one from Macy's would make a great (investment piece) multi-strand that you'd have FOREVER!

You can find this popular bubble necklaces EVERYWHERE these days! They come in an absolute multitude of colors that will match any outfit that you can put together! J. Crew was the first to make the bubble, but I swear you can find it almost anywhere! This one from Bauble Bar is the best one I've seen--it's a pearl bubble that would match anything in your closet--it kinda combines the best of both statement necklaces! Need an invite to Bauble Bar? Click HERE and get started!

Enamel cluster necklaces are great statement necklaces too! While this one is a little different than my picture above, it is still among my favorite choices for sparkly, faceted, enamel cluster necklaces! The "Coco" from Bridier Baubles fits the bill on so many levels! Plus what's great about this is that you can wear it in October if your office has any kind of pink promotions for breast cancer awareness. My office lets us have some pink-laden freedom on Fridays for breast cancer awareness month!

This neutral necklace from Bauble Bar is a great addition to your fall closet! It's actually a specially curated collection from Blair from Atlantic-Pacific that is totally worth checking out as well!

What are your thoughts on statement necklaces?

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Preppy Profesh: Metallics and Neutrals

I wouldn't normally post OOTD's this fast, but everyone was wondering where this outfit was from! I have good and bad news--good news: it's all VERY affordable, bad news: it's all a little bit old...

Sweater: H&M (similar here)

Skirt: Target Merona (similar)

Flats: Target (similar)

Multi-Strand Pearl Necklace: J. Crew (similar)

One of the great things about an internship is practicing for a real job. Not only practicing work skills like computer programs or networking, but practicing what to wear. Some days are a hit, some days are a miss. Today was both. My boss told me that I looked great--total plus! I didn't realize though, however, when I was getting dressed that it was chilly outside! I had bare legs when covered legs may have been more suitable.

I also work for a relatively conservative non-profit, so I tend to always dress conservatively. I also almost always have a cardigan because where I work is ALWAYS cold. Our office building is huge and they keep it cold ALL the time. On the days I forget I'm always telling myself, "DON'T FORGET NEXT TIME!!!!" because it's so chilly! I sit and work at a computer for the majority of the time that I'm there so a cardigan is a great addition to have!

This outfit was definitely good practice for dressing for an office. While it's not "business professional" (to me that's a hard and fast SUIT rule), it's definitely more "business casual" or my new name for it "preppy profesh"!!

What do you usually wear to your work or internship?

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Preppy Profesh: Pink Blazer

Y'all know how much I love my pink blazer! It's rare when I buy a really TRENDY clothing item, but when I saw this I couldn't pass it up. My mom actually got it for me for Christmas and I LOVE it! I wore it to my first day of school last semester after my birthday and have worn it a few times since then--I don't want to over wear it, but I tried it over a professional dress and it worked great!

I was doing an interview on campus for a position within our Dance Marathon at USC. I think I was probably over-dressed by the time that I got to the interview, but I felt so much confidence in this outfit.

I paired my pink blazer with my Lilly Pulitzer Collins dress that I got at the warehouse sale! The print is among my favorites and the cut is great because it's both conservative for work, but still lovably Lilly!

I paired it with these gold basket weave wedges that are super comfortable and appropriate. The metallic is too fun as well!

Do you usually wear dresses or suits for interviews? Have you interviewed for anything recently?

Transitions!

As we start getting ready for back to school, it's important to look for pieces that will take your outfits from summer to fall. What's an easy way to transition? Accessories! I have just recently started browsing Stella & Dot. Their look is a little more refined and works well for someone in my position who's looking for pieces to perhaps use for work as well!

Sofia Pearl Bib Necklace

(this is my favorite piece offered by Stella & Dot!)

Signature Clover Necklace

Pearl Bouquet Bracelet

Ava Cupchain Necklace

Tribute Bracelet

(great for work-appropriate stacking!)

Pave Eclipse Necklace (this one's on sale too!)

Glint Flower Earrings 

(this pair has a beautiful matching necklace that would make a PERFECT gift set for bridesmaids!)

Odette Infinity Necklace

A ton of these pieces have a great transition feel to them! Whether you're working on transitioning from summer to fall or college life to real life, many of these pieces would work great!

We have so graciously been offered a Stella and Dot code from Miss Lee, a friend of mine and a former Gamecock! Email Lee here to get your 25% off! 

Cup Dress Week: Tracy's Dress

I am loving this Tracy Negoshian dress for Cup! I envision it with a straw hat with a HUGE navy blue bow tied around and on it! This dress would be so comfortable and incorporates Spring pastels with a solid navy background! 

Y'all know how much of a shift girl I am too! You'd be confident in this dress and you wouldn't have to worry about tugging on or holding up a strapless dress all day! I know when I'm in strapless dresses, I'm constantly worrying about the top and pulling on it even out of habit too!

I also love this wrap dress for Carolina Cup! I'd pair this with a WAY oversized pearl necklace a la this on from Ralph Lauren:

And I'd add a wide hot pink grosgrain pink ribbon to a hat!

Do you like strapless or dresses with a shift shape or straps for Cup?

xxKatie

705: Port Winsor Giveaway!

I cannot say enough "Thank You's" to Port Winsor! The gals there have been so much fun to deal with and fit in BEYOND perfectly with my 7 for 700 Giveaway!

Port Winsor is home to FABULOUS tunics and accessories for everyone!

This Wellesley Tunic is my favorite of all the choices!

The wonderful Port Winsor crew is offering a giveaway of brand new custom earrings they released LAST week that look like this:

AND a $50 gift certificate toward any tunic in-stock!

In order to win the earrings and the gift certificate, you can enter in all the following ways:

1. Follow Let's Be Preppy (1 entry)

2. Like Let's Be Preppy on Facebook (2 entries)

3. Like Port Winsor on Facebook (3 entries)

4. Follow Let's Be Preppy on Twitter (4 entries)

5. Follow Port Winsor on Twitter (5 entries)

6. Tweet at @letbepreppy and @PortWinsor about the giveaway! (6 entries)

Good luck y'all!! Also, you can keep entering all the other giveaways this week too! This one will end Friday night at 11:59pm! I hope everyone is still loving all these giveaways as much as I am!!

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Boots ON

August 15 by letsbepreppy featuring frye boots

I wore this outfit to my friend Jill's birthday on Monday night! It was the first night out of my junior year AND my boots' debut in the South! I loved pairing them with a fun skirt and they were super comfy to wear out and walk around in! 


Everyone was pretty casual so the boots were perfect! It was great to see everyone finally back and relaxed before school starts tomorrow!! As fun as this summer has been, I can't wait to be back at school and in classes so that I finally have a real schedule! I just worked on updating my planner/agenda and calendar so that I can stay organized for the semester! The big calendar I have sits on the wall RIGHT next to my door so that if I forget anything, I can check it as I run out the door!


What do y'all wear to parties or birthdays? Do people dress more casually or dressier at your schools?


xxKatie

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Necklace

Everyone knows about a week ago I was at a crazy, huge family reunion after I went to the Cape! One of the days is devoted to a Ladies' lunch at a local place each reunion. Last year, one of the cousins was nice enough to host all the ladies of the family at her lake house and we had DELISH sandwiches from a local bakery. This year we ate at a local bed and breakfast in Lovell, ME.

These are some of the wonderful ladies in the family! Three generations are represented here!

While we were at lunch, we were all admiring one of the girls necklaces! You can actually see it, front row, girl in the black tank top and with shorts RIGHT in the center. It's a clear-ish necklace with a cluster of beads and a thinner strand of beads going around to the back. We got into hearing more about the necklace and for that family of girls, there were 12 of them and they all chipped in $100 and each girl gets the necklace for a month during the year!!

The style was similar to this necklace but everything was clear!

After getting the wonderfully fun history of their necklace, I heard it was from a custom designer in Charleston so I piped up even more. Wanting to hear more to check it our for myself, Nancy told me if was from Felice Designs and so I typed it in my phone to remember it for sure! I checked a bunch more out (the necklace above is Felice Designs!) and they are all so much fun! Full of glass beads, they are such a statement piece!

I love the touches of pearls in this one!

How pretty are those beads!! Pair them with a white shirt and green shorts and you've got an automatic outfit!

Does your school have orange in it's colors? This would be ideal for Gameday!!

Have a fun story like a traveling necklace in your family? Please share!! It's such a fun idea, and one I certainly want to tuck away for my own little family!!

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Pink & Black

Typically whenever I think of pink and black together, visions of teenage girls in punk rock outfits comes right to mind. Claire's baubles, shiny plastic and ripped jeans--all of which should be left in the stores--flood my outfit making mind, anyone else?

I rarely pair pink and black together in the summer. Heck, I rarely wear black in the summer (minus swimwear) because it gets so hot! A few days ago though, I wore a new J. Crew outlet skirt that I got awhile back (see here) with my Lilly Wynne top! I typically will wear my Wynne the one-shoulder way (Tip: in your Wynne, slip your arm through the smaller side, the ruffles fall just so as to "shut" over the arm hole!! Voila, a new one-shoulder top!!).

July 24 by letsbepreppy featuring a folding tote bag

I toned down the pink and black with fun pink McKims and my white top!

I would totally wear this skirt in the fall and winter with tights and a different warmer top! I really like it and when I initially bought it I wasn't positive how to wear it! I'm glad I've found at least one alternative way to tone down the colors!

Do you ever get confused with some of your purchases? Do you ever find them downright hard to match things with?

I sure hope I'm not alone!!!

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Fall Temps + Rain

September 29 by letsbepreppy featuring sterling silver jewelry

Wednesday I wore this outfit to class. I had a rough start to the morning, so I was especially thankful that I had laid out what I wanted to wear the night before. I prepacked my breakfast, lunch and a snack to eat while I'm on campus because I'll be in class or working from 8-9 and 11-5:15. I grabbed my FABULOUS pink and green Palmetto Tervis Tumbler (HOW COMPLETELY PERFECT is that, I mean come on!) on the way out. 

I've written a lot about how I like white long sleeve T-shirts, and here's a prime example. You really cannot go wrong with wearing them in any look (unless you own the same brown/yellow/pink/cream floral printed J. Crew Outlet skirt that I cannot seem to find a top to wear with). I paired them with navy shorts (ask my friend Skyler about how much we love navy shorts...especially for guys. Y'all need to invest in a pair ASAP. And start reading her blog--shameless plug SEC.) The scarf is from the Merona section in Target, and I got it for $12.99. It is so pretty and it's pink, green, blue, purple, with some paisley print, and I really like it. I wore platinum Jacks with it and massive pearl earrings that I have. It was a nice look and kept me cozy while the weather starts to pick up.

Notice that I also said that it rained today. And yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. No joke. We haven't had rain for 3 or 4 weeks, and now we can't escape from it. It's so humid out that the "no sweat" Tervis Tumbler is sweating. Only in South Carolina, I'm convinced.  Going back to the rain though, I always wear 1 of 2 pairs of Jacks when it rains. I have a black "tour" pair and my platinum "wear-with-everything-it-doesn't-matter-where-you're-going" pair. The platinum ones, as I'm sure you remember have been to two proms, on tours, in the rain, in several dorms, to Five Points (any USC readers...Rocco's and Saloon made them sticky.), to Williams Brice Stadium, in many states, submerged in a pool, and still make it. The sides are losing a little bit of the color, but you know, it's from standard wear-and-tear (see above list). I love those Platinum Jacks, and I will never throw them away. They deserved to be dressed up yesterday!

Hopefully this rain quits soon and we just have wonderful cozy sweater and jeans weather. I can feel that it's on it's way! I'm ready with arms wide open!

xxKatie

Outfit of the Day: Studying for Calculus (Ew.)

July 19 by letsbepreppy featuring Vanessa Bruno tops

Today I have to study all day for a calculus test later tonight. I wanted to be super comfy and have my hair pulled back so I could concentrate. (Does anyone else do that to do important stuff? I always take tests with my hair pulled back in a ponytail, braid, or bun so that it doesn't distract me, and I've always done that.) I popped in an adorable black headband from Forever21 and I have about 5 different colors of that bow set (3 black, creme, pink, navy, and grey). I've also been meaning to post about that fabulous pink scarf from Old Navy! If you can get one or want one, they're on sale for about half price if they're in-stock at your store. I got mine awhile ago while I was at school but I've worn it a bunch. I think it looks like something you'd find at Anthropologie or maybe even spring-y J. Crew. I really like the pink (...shocker) but it comes in a bunch of other colors too. I know it's a lot of black in one outfit, but the pink brightens it up and the jewelry helps too. I just didn't want to be studying in a dress and then commuting to take my test. Shorts was an easy and comfortable way to go! I have a calculus test in almost 3 hours exactly, so I have to get back to studying, but I hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

xxKatie

Adorable Ads

For my sisters Confirmation on Saturday, I was her official sponsor. She gave me a beautiful silver bracelet cuff with my monogram on it! I absolutely love it and I was trying to find it online, but had no such luck. It's from a local jeweler here and so I was looking at their website and came across their advertisements. Please look at them they are SO cute:

There is a rotating loop on the site and this is the first photo.

This was the second one on the site. They just keep getting cuter!

This was the last one, and it's my personal favorite. Since Annapolis is so historic, you know this is true!! I just love these advertisements and had to share them with everyone! The fact that it's hinting at a wedding is wonderful too, and I LOVE the three-string pearls that the model is wearing. Quite the classy, preppy ad if you ask me!

xxKatie

3:18 PM Edit: The jeweler is Tilghman Company--how could I forget that?! I'm so silly sometimes!

A Post for Me

Hi all! I'm sitting here watching the clock and counting the seconds to spring break! It is just about the only thing on my mind these days and I can't wait! I saw this post on another blog "In the Pink", so I thought I'd copy it and do it myself. I think these little introspective posts are fun sometimes, so definitely post it yourself!!

If I was a month, I would be late May or June. 

If I was a day of the week, I would be Friday.

If I was a time of day, I would be dinner time.

If I was a planet, I would be Momma Earth.

If I was a sea animal, I would be a giraffe!

If I was a direction, I would be East like the water.

If I was a piece of furniture, I would be a bean bag chair (90's throwback style).

If I was a liquid, I would be Cherry 7-Up.

If I was a gemstone, I would be a pearl.

If I was a tree, I would be a Magnolia Tree. 

If I was a tool, I would go on Tool Academy (haha...).

If I was a flower, I would be a Gerber Daisy.

If I was a kind of weather, I would be an Annapolis summer day minus the humidity.

If I was a musical instrument, I would be a electric guitar.

If I was a color, I would be PINK!

If I was an emotion, I would be happiness.

If I was a fruit, I would be an apple.

If I was a sound, I would be steel drums.

If I was an element, I would be Krypton (Kr).

If I was a car, I would be a navy blue Honda Civic (I miss you Little Car).

If I was a food, I would be a sugar cookie.

If I was a place, I would be home.

If I was a material, I would be printed cotton.

If I was a taste, I would be cupcake.

If I was a scent, I would be Lilly Pulitzer Beachy.

If I was an object, I would be a shell.

If I was a body part, I would be a heart.

If I was a facial expression, I would be a big goofy open mouth laugh.

If I was a song, I would be "On the Street Where You Live" by Willie Nelson--that's my new favorite, from the Valentine's Day soundtrack.

If I was a pair of shoes, I would be platinum Jacks--my signature!!

Now it's your turn!! Try one out for yourself! I had a lot of fun with this one!!

Here's the fam last spring break! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS!

xxKatie