affordable fashion

The Shirtdress – 3 Ways: Part 1

One of my main goals when it comes to buying clothes is to be able to wear the item in several ways. I had been wanting this cute shirt dress from NY and Company for a minute but it was either not on sale or not in stock. So when I finally visited my local mall and it was there and on sale for 50% off I figured I would snatch it up. A shirt dress is a wardrobe essential because it easy to wear, just add some accessories and it can be styles in several ways.

I personally thought of at least 3 ways I could wear it and plan to show you in upcoming blog posts. First up is the obvious way, as a dress! I paired this with some simple silver jewelry which I got from my Boo The Cost Conscious Fashionista who is also my sponsor on our Paparazzi jewelry team. Check out my $5 bling here. I also went with simple wedges I got from Just Fab. They are a dupe for the popular Marc Fisher wedges for a fraction of the cost. To join JustFab use my referral link here (I do earn rewards so you’ll be helping me bring more cute shoes to the blog! LOL). Easy, lightweight and a perfect look for summer. Stay tuned for more ways to wear this item!

Love Ricki

A little Consideration

Dress: here (Currently 50% off )

I am going to make this post short and sweet. As a mother of four I do thoroughly enjoy Mother’s Day. I even bought this dress specifically to celebrate the holiday but as I have become more seasoned and experienced life changes I now understand that Mother’s Day can be a hurtful holiday for some. Of course celebrate the mothers in your life or your own motherhood but keep in mind our sisters who may be experiencing a not so good time. As we approach Mother’s Day I want us to remember these things.

Illustration is by Marie Andrews via Instagram

Also, be sure to remember to be sensitive to those who may have lost the people that celebrated them as mothers (i.e. spouse).

Just remember even if it means nothing to you, it may mean everything to them.

Love Ricki

Represent

When I first started my blog all I heard about was finding your niche and identifying your target audience. You had to know who you were speaking to and who you were serving. I really had no idea who that was. I knew I loved fashion and makeup and everything associated with those things. I knew I was a woman of a certain age and I could no longer relate to younger women who were showing more than I cared to show anymore. I settled on blogging for women who were my age and enjoyed the things I loved and who wanted to see what I saw. But eventually that wasn’t enough for me anymore. Fashion is awesome and where would I be without concealer but I wanted to cover topics that were relevant to me and possibly to other women who looked like me.

I wanted to represent for the ladies that are in that weird place in life (at least it was weird for me) where you are getting older but you are not old! You still have so much life to live and share but you can now do it with more confidence because life experiences have taught you valuable lessons. I was stuck on how to describe this woman when my good friend Sheena (who I actually met through Instagram follow her @she_is_fab) told me you are not getting old you are just becoming seasoned. Thank you Sheena because I took this word and as you know I ran with it! I think it is the perfect word to describe where I am in life as well as other ladies in my audience. What does it mean to be a seasoned woman? My definition is a woman who has not just survived but conquered all those things that life tends to throw at us like hurt, pain and loss. Even though those experiences (which we tend to collect as we age) can be hard those experiances are necessary and help to sprinkle us with wisdom, perseverance, strength and that certain je ne sais quoi! Shoot that description right there makes me proud to be a seasoned woman! I mean who really wants to be bland anyway?

I decided at the request of my fellow seasoned sisters to create merchandise geared for us. My first venture into this scary new world is a graphic tee. I love T-shirts like the next person but I am careful about what I broadcast across my chest. For instance, I love trap music just like the next mother of teenagers, but I don’t want a T-shirt that says TRAP QUEEN. I wanted a T-shirt that was fun but at the same time expressed my pride in being a Seasoned Woman. I designed two shirts so far that I felt expressed and I hope you like them. Of course, these are samples and the final edit will be a little different (and better quality, I am figuring all this out as I go!) but I am uber proud of what I have came up with. So be on the lookout in the future for these and more! (Hint: sign up for email so you can get updates on the launch, pre sale information and discount codes. Do it now!)

Are you a seasoned woman? Does the definition describe you? Also what do you think of the shirts, would you buy and wear one? Let me know in the comments!

Love Ricki

Back to Black: The Little Black Dress

Back to Black Series: The Little Black Dress (LBD) is a necessity in your wardrobe!

I am excited to participate in a collaboration with several other AWESOME bloggers showing you how to style those never ending black items that we love! Make sure to check out the other bloggers style picks via the links at the end of this post.

As ya’ll know from this post here I am re-organizing my closet and trying my best to include clothing I absolutely love. The little black dress (LBD) is definitely a staple I needed in my closet. I actually want to add another one more suited for our hot Houston weather. And even though we have had freezing temperatures here the dress I am wearing today fits our normal winter weather. This dress is made of a thicker ribbed sweater material and ruffles I love placed strategically around the armholes which helps to hide this big ole arms of mine! I found this dress on clearance at Express for additional 50% and ended up paying around $15!

I styled the dress for a date night in this post since V day is next month and kept the emphasis on the short hemline and plunging neckline. However I believe this dress can be styled with black opaque tights and a camisole or tank underneath for more conservative events.

I decided to show a little leg (my children were not pleased) and instead of wearing the usual over the knee boots I wore my black boots (4 yrs old from Forever 21) that reach right below my knee. I was trying to keep it sexy but these knees are a little chubby hunny! Hopefully the Keto diet will take care of that lol!

I know I love black for several reasons (especially the slimming aspect) and you will see all black everything in my closet quite often. Please be sure to check out the bloggers by clinking the link below to see how fabulously they styled everyday black pieces before we get with all the colors that spring bring!

Bianca from Curvaceously Bee

Briana from Confessions of a Beauty and Style Blog

Tia from The Millenial Wives Club

Love Ricki

She’s Basic: 5 Reasons I’m okay with being Basic

It’s okay to be basic

So I had planned another outfit for this post but last minute I had to pick something else. I couldn’t bring myself to wear much less promote anything from a company that obviously doesn’t want my coins and as a mother of a black son I’m just not here for it. So anyway I really had no idea what I wanted to wear and went to the mall for some inspiration. While browsing the clearance racks I found this gray duster and figured this would work with my favorite skinny jeans and a white shirt. But then it hit me! This outfit is so BASIC. No one will be excited about seeing these pics. I was on the verge of picking something else out, spending coins I shouldn’t when I said to myself this is a cute outfit. Why would I spend money I didn’t need to spend in order to impress anyone? I’m sorry that’s just not what a Seasoned Woman does. So instead I bought it and styled it (if you can even call it that) for the blog. I’m okay with being basic. And here are some reasons why:

Being Basic keeps my coins in my purse- When we try to impress people (people that don’t really care anyway) by being the flashiest or most extra, we are normally spending money we may not even have. Believe me ladies I know, I know. I’ve been the one with the designer bag and high heels trying to be the epitome of the Trina song we know so well. It didn’t do anything but leave me with no money to put in that purse and bad knees. As I’ve gotten more seasoned I’ve become okay with wearing basics. And this doesn’t just apply to clothes. It can happen when you try to be flashy and “front” as we used to say by being at every event knowing full well your gas light in your car is on or trying to keep up with Jones’ and having every cable channel, NBA league pass AND NFL ticket when no one humanly possible even has time to watch all that stuff much less pay for it! Hell I don’t even want cable anymore. I’ll Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime and chill any night. Or read a book (or listen to one).
Being Basic helps me stay in my own lane-A big part of being better (my word for 2018 -see the post here) is to focus on my strengths and improve upon my weaknesses and being basic helps me focus on that. When you’re not try to do all things and be everything and everywhere you learn to focus on what you love and what’s important. Suddenly losing so many loved ones last year helped me regain focus on truly living my life, discovering my passion and loving the ones I’m with.
Being Basic keeps me drama free-Nothing to see here cause I’m basic. When you give them nothing to talk about, there’s nothing to talk about. I’ll just stay over here making my moves in silence. Thanks.
Being Basic makes me unbothered- I don’t let too many things, people or situations bother me anymore. As a seasoned woman I have learned what is and what isn’t worth my time and energy. Sometimes that means being quiet, forgiving the offense and moving on to other things. I’ve also learned that worrying solves nothing and prayer solves everything. Saying just pray about it may be the most basic response someone can give when an issue arises but who can argue that prayer doesn’t work? I’ll wait.
Being Basic gets ish done- When you’re in your own lane, got a few dollars in that basic bag and you’re drama free and unbothered you get finish things. Honestly if I was trying to do the most, this blog post wouldn’t have gotten done. I think we all spend a little too much time on elaborate ideas instead of just executing simple plans, step by step. I always believe the mantra, progress is better than perfection. And who really wants to be fabulous but not moving forward in life. Not saying you shouldn’t present your best but just don’t get caught up that nothing is accomplished. Rather than trying to be the perfect most original blogger ever (in my opinion there is really no original idea only an original you!) I’ll just be basic and live my best life!

Love Ricki